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<bg> — Chatroom shorthand for "big grin." Sometimes also written *bg*. (( XXX )) — An ASCII "smiley" that means "hugs and kisses." 121 —
Short for "one-to-one." It means that you are communicating with someone
personally rather than talking to a whole group. Avatar — A graphic you can use in chat rooms to represent yourself. It allows you to have a visual identity like a princess or dog. It makes it easier for you to express your unique personality and to add some fun to chats.
Bitmap —
Pictures that are made up of digital dots or "pixels." Any picture you
see on a Web page is a bitmap. Bitmaps come in many file formats such
as GIF, JPEG, TIFF, BMP and PICT. Blog — A
Web log (or weblog). This is a personal journal that is updated often
and meant for the general public to read. It often includes personal philosophies
and favorite links. The author of a blog is commonly called a blogger.
Bozo filter
— A feature on many email programs that lets you block out email
from specific people or messages that contain specific words in the subject
line. It's one way to stop spam or flame mail. The list of addresses that
you want to block is called a bozo list. Button —
A graphic on a Web page which a user can "click on" to do something, such
as download a program, go to another Web site or submit a form.
Cache — Pronounced "kash," this is a place on your computer that temporarily stores information. It saves info about Web sites you've visited so that when you go back to the page later the site will load faster. Cancelbot — A program that catches and deletes email spam sent to an Internet server. Cc: — Abbreviation for Carbon copy. If you cc: someone an email message you send them a copy of the email message. You can usually cc: as many people as you want. Chips — Tiny devices that run your computer. Lots of electronic chips are put together on circuit boards to power everything from computer memory to cool graphics.Cobweb — A Web site that hasn’t been updated in a long time and has old information. Cookie — Information about you, your computer or sites you visit. Your browser saves this info and may pass it on when you visit a new Web site. CPU — The Central Processing Unit. The "brains" of your computer. It’s the powerful microprocessor (such as a Pentium chip) that powers your computer. Crash — When a computer program suddenly freezes up or aborts or when the whole computer stops working. CUL8R — Cyber shorthand for "see you later" used in online chats, IM and email. Cybersquatting — Registering a popular trademark or brand name as a Web site (AKA domain name) just so you can then sell it for a large sum of money. Cybrarian — Pronounced "sai-brehr-i-an," this is a librarian who specializes in using the Internet as a resource tool.
Debug — To fix errors or “bugs” in a software program. Often, debugged programs are released with a new version number. For example: Morpheus 1.1 would be a debugged Morpheus 1.0. DirectX — A program that you often need to have in order to play a game, view a Web page or use software for Windows. DirectX lets you to create and manage graphics and multimedia. It has five components that work together to bring 2D and 3D images, sounds and an interface together. Dirty Connection — An unusually slow connection between your computer and the Internet, which makes Web sites take a long time to download and display. DNS — The DNS (Domain Name System) translates words you type into the browser for a Web site (like www.example.com) into a numerical address (like 198.105.232.4). The Net can't read the letters so it needs to have them translated by the DNS. Domain name — The address or URL of a Web site, such as www.scholastic.com. It is also used to describe the part of an e-mail address that follows the "@" sign. Download — To copy pictures, music and other files from the Internet or a network and save them on your own computer. DPI — Short for dots per inch, DPI measures the quality of images. The more dots per inch, the better the image looks. Printers often print pages at 600 dpi. DSL — A "Digital Subscriber Line" gives you a high-speed Internet connection 24/7 without tying up your phone lines. DSL connections usually download information at speeds of 1.544 Mbps to 512 Kbps.
Easter Egg — A hidden surprise in a program, Web site or DVD. A special feature that is not otherwise made obvious but when "discovered" or "clicked on" offers something special. It could be an extra game level or movie scene, a secret area or message. Ego-surfing — Performing Internet searches for your own name. Encryption — A method of making data unreadable to everyone except the receiver. It's used so you can safely send credit card numbers or other personal information over the Internet. Emoticon — An emoticon, or "smiley," is a set of letters, numbers of keyboard characters that are uses in e-mails and chat rooms to show what mood a person is in. For example :-) says, "I'm happy" or :-( says, "That makes me sad." EOM — E-mail and chat abbreviation for "end of message." E-zine — An electronic magazine that is either the digital version of a printed magazine or a unique cyber publication. You can read them on the Web or have them emailed to you. F2F — Face to face. It's cyber speak shorthand that refers to seeing someone in person rather than just talking to them on your computer or on the phone. FAQ — Frequently asked questions. The FAQ area of a Web site is like a mini help page where you get answers to common questions about the site you're visiting. Firewall — A computer or computer software that stops unauthorized users from accessing private information. Flame — To send a nasty or insulting email message, usually as a response to someone who broke the rules of netiquette. Flash — A software program that lets you create animated, interactive programs that are small enough to stream online even over a regular modem connection. FTP — File Transfer Protocol. FTP is used to transfer files from one computer to another. You can use it to upload or download files to a Web site. Frames — A Web page feature that allows two or more separate sections to display at the same time although they have different HTML sources. Each of these sections is a single "frame." Sometimes clicking a link changes one of the frames while another frame stays the same. Often you can scroll through or adjust the width of each frame. FWIW — Cyber shorthand for “For What It's Worth” that is used in online chats and email. FYI — Short for “For Your Information.” It's often used in emails. For example, a forwarded message sent to keep someone updated might simply have the subject, “FYI.”
LAN — Stands for "local area network," which is a group of computers in the same place that share a server. It allows a group of people on different computers to share programs and files within the group. A local area network may serve as few as two or three users or as many as thousands of users. Laptop — An older term for a light, portable computer that can run on a battery or be plugged in. Today, many people refer to these computers as "notebooks." Linux — An operating system modeled after Unix that was written from scratch and whose source code is available for free. LCD — Liquid Crystal Display, used for some computer monitors, watches and handheld devices. Expensive versions give you a sharper picture. Linkrot — Cyber speak for a link that takes you nowhere because the Web page was either taken down or moved. LOL — Cyber Speak for "laughing out loud." It's used in email and chats. Lurk — To 'eavesdrop' on a chat room—to just 'listen' to what's being discussed without participating in the conversation. Some chat rooms encourage lurking so you get the feel of the area before jumping in, while other sites consider it bad netiquette—especially sites where personal matters are discussed. MB — Megabytes measure the size of a computer file or the space you have on your computer. One byte equals a single character (like the letter "a"). A megabyte equals 1,048,576 bytes. MHz — The speed at which your microprocessor (the computer's brain) works. One MHz or megahertz equals one million cycles per second. In each cycle, your computer processes information like "save this" or "open this." MIDI — Stands for “musical instrument digital interface,” and pronounced “middy.” MIDI files are like digital sheet music. They contain instructions for musical notes, tempo and instrumentation. They are used to create digital sound and music soundtracks for computer games. MIME — Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. Lets you send and receive email messages that include graphics, audio and video files. Mirror — An FTP server that provides copies of the same files as another server. It lets people access popular files when the volume of users at the original site is too heavy. Modem — A device that lets a computer send and receive information over telephone lines. Mouse Potato — The computer version of a television couch potato, this is someone who spends a lot of time on the computer. MP3 — Is a popular type of file that is used to put music files on the Web. MUD — Multi-User Dimension (or Dungeon). This is a virtual area online where you can play a game or interact with other netizens. Multicast — To send an email message to a select group of friends (like people on your email buddies list).
Native — A software application written specifically for the hardware it runs on. In general, native applications run faster and use the hardware's capabilities better than non-native applications. Net Nanny — A software program that blocks adult content on the Internet, and protects children's personal information from being seen or accessed by people on the Web. Netiquette — Rules of good manners on the Internet. Example: Do not use ALL CAPITAL letters in email or people will think you're yelling. Network Meltdown — When a Web site or an email server shuts down because there's too much traffic on the site or too many messages going out on the server. Node — A device that’s hooked up to a network and is in charge or taking care of a process like a printer that prints pages or a disk drive that reads software. Notcom — A company with no presence on the Web. NOYB — Cyber shorthand for "None of Your Business." O.S. — The operating system is the program that lets you run other programs on your computer. Windows 98 and MAC OS 8.0 are types of operating systems. They let you run programs like Word and Netscape. OCR — Stands for "optical character recognition." It's the technology that lets your computer 'read' the text in a picture and convert it to ASCII text. For example, this would allow you to use a scanner to load paper documents (like bound books) into your computer and then edit them in a word-processing program. PC — A personal computer that you can use at work or home. It usually refers to a computer that runs Windows but can also refer to a Macintosh computer. PDA — Stands for personal digital assistant A hand-held portable computer that combines the features of a computer, telephone/fax organizer and game. PING — Short for "Packet Internet Groper." A PING is a program that tests how long it takes for a host or server to respond to a request (like a request for a Web page to load). It does this by sending a out a message (know as a "packet") and waiting to see how long it takes to come back. Pixel dust — The thin coat of dirt on your computer screen. Platform — A type of operating system, such as Macintosh, Windows or Unix. When a software program can run on more than one of these platforms, it is called a cross-platform program. Plug-in — A program like Shockwave that you download so you can see videos, hear sounds or play games on the Web. Pop-up window — A window that suddenly appears when you go to a Web page or click on a link. Sometimes it contains results of a poll, an advertisement or another Web site. Often, a pop-up window is smaller than the page you first visited. POS — Cyber-shorthand for “parent over shoulder.” It’s used in chats and email to let others know your parents are watching what you type. Post — To publish a message in an online newsgroup. Also the name for the message itself once it's published. PPP — "Point-to-Point Protocol." A method of connecting computers to the Internet using phone lines and high-speed modems. PROM — Programmable read-only memory. You can save a program onto a PROM chip, but once it's saved you can't erase it or copy over it. QuickTime — A video and animation system that lets you view video clips on the Internet. QWERTY — Pronounced "kwer-tee," QWERTY refers to the arrangement of keys on a standard English computer keyboard or typewriter. The name refers to the first six letters at the top of the keyboard.
Radio button — A kind of “check box’” on Web page forms or lists that let users select something such “male” or “female.” Radio buttons allow you to choose only one option at a time. RAM — Random Access Memory. A computer’s short-term memory where information can be stored temporarily and then erased. Real Time — Something that happens right away happens in "real time." Instant Messaging happens in real time while email messages may be delayed by minutes or hours. RingMaster — A person who is responsible for verifying links in a WebRing, which is a group of sites that focus on the same topic. Roaming — In wireless devices like cell phones, roaming means that you can move from one area of service to another without losing service or your connection. Robot — A program that automatically searches or explores the Internet for a specific purpose. Robots are used to create searchable databases such as Lycos. Sometimes shortened to "bot." ROM — Read Only Memory. Permanent data that can’t be erased from a computer or devices such as a CD-ROM. ROTF — Shorthand used in email and online chats. You can also use ROTFL for "rolling on the floor laughing." RPG — An acronym that stands for "role-playing game." The Final Fantasy games are RPGs. RPGs allow you to step into the shoes of a character and usually have a storyline.
SCSI — Pronounced "scuzzy," this is a Small Computer System Interface. A SCSI interface or port lets you attach other devices (like a printer or scanner) to a computer. Search Engines — Programs like Yahoo that scan Web sites for keywords and return a list of pages where the keywords were found. Server — A host computer on a network that holds information such as the coded pages for a Web site. The server responds to requests for information and sends it out to other computers. SGTM — Cyber-shorthand for “sounds good to me,” used in text messaging and chats. Shareware — Software you "try before you buy." You can usually download a version for free and then need to pay a fee to keep using it. Shortcut — An icon (usually placed on your desktop) that lets you quickly and easily launch a computer program or file. Sig file — Short for "signature file," it's a file that is automatically attached at the bottom of an email message you send. Often used to include contact information and/or a quote. Site Map — A Web page that acts as a map to everything that's on an entire site. It lets people navigate through the site and get to different areas, just like a geographical map. Skin — A file that changes the appearance of a program interface (or a game character). It's like changing the faceplate of a phone—it works the same but the look can be more personal. Programs such as WinAmp let you download skins for their MP3 player. SMS — Cyber speak for “short messaging service.” This service lets people send text messages from one device to another. Messages may be as long as 160 characters. You can use SMS with some cell phones, beepers and handheld computers. Smileys — "Faces" made using letters and keyboard symbols. They tell whoever you're emailing what you're feeling. Some smileys or emoticons include :-) for smiling/happy; :-( for frowning/unhappy; d:) for a baseball player; *-O for yawning/sleepy. Snail mail — Regular mail delivered by the post office. Software — Electronic information and programs that run on a computer's hardware, like Windows 98 or SimCity 3000™. Spam — Junk email that you didn't ask for or want. It usually goes out to a large number of people at once and is sent to try to get you to buy or sign up for something. Spiders — Programs that help search engines like Yahoo find Web sites. They crawl the Web looking for pages that match your keywords. Splash page — The front page of a Web site that you "click-through" to enter the main part of the site. It often has just a welcome picture, animation or message. Spool — A list of files waiting to be printed. It is actually comes from shortening "simultaneous peripheral operations online." Spyware —
Internet technology used to gather information about which sites someone
visits.
Tags — Part of HTML code that is used to tell a Web browser how to display text and graphics on a page. For example, <B> would tell the browser to make the text bold. TCP/IP — Stands for "Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol." These protocols are used to send data from one computer to another over the Internet. They make FTP, email and other online services possible. Thread — A chain of postings about a single subject in a newsgroup. Thumbnail — A mini version of an image. A Web page can display the smaller version quickly or can show multiple images at the same time. Usually, by clicking on it, you can see a larger version of the thumbnail image. TTFN — Cyber shorthand for “Ta Ta For Now.” Used as a way of saying, “Goodbye and see you later.” TMI — Short for "Too Much Information." Trackball — Similar to a computer mouse, a trackball is like an upside down mouse. The device stays still while you roll the upturned ball to control your cursor (the arrow on your computer screen). Traffic — The number of people cruising through a site for a given time. Traffic can be tracked by the hour, day, month or even the year. Tradigital — The traditions that are being started by people who grew up with computers — like sending friends cyber cards on their birthday. Trojan Horse — A program that seems friendly (like a game application) but which is really destructive. If you open it, it can unleash a virus onto your machine. TTFN — Cyber Speak for "ta ta for now." It's used in email and chats. TY — Cyber shorthand for Thank You used often in chats and e-mail. Upgrade — To replace existing software or hardware with a newer version. UNIX — An operating system used by most Internet servers designed to be used by many people at the same time. Unix, invented in 1969, was the first standard operating system that anyone could improve or enhance. URL — Uniform Resource Locator. The address for a Web page, such as www.scholastic.com/swclubs.
WAN —
Wide-Area Network. A network of computers that are not located near each
other but are linked together by telephone lines or satellites. The largest
WAN is the Internet.
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