Addiction

The condition of being habitually or compulsively occupied with or involved in something.

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Anti-Virus Software

A utility that searches a hard disk for viruses and removes any that are found. Most anti-virus programs include an auto-update feature that enables the program to download profiles of new viruses so that it can check for the new viruses as soon as they are discovered.

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Asynchronous Communication

Not synchronized; that is, not occurring at predetermined or regular intervals. The term asynchronous is usually used to describe communications in which data can be transmitted intermittently rather than in a steady stream. For example, a telephone conversation is asynchronous because both parties can talk whenever they like. If the communication were synchronous, each party would be required to wait a specified interval before speaking.

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Bandwidth

The amount of data that can be passed along a communications channel in a given period of time.

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Base Station

A networking component of a mobile communications system from which all signals are sent and received. Also known as a "base transceiver station" or more commonly, a "cellphone tower".

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Broadband

A type of data transmission in which a single medium (wire) can carry several channels at once. CableTV, for example, uses broadband transmission. In contrast, baseband transmission allows only one signal at a time.

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Cable Modem

A modem designed to operate over cable TV lines. Because the coaxial cable, used by cable TV, provides much greater bandwidth than telephone lines, a cable modem can be used to achieve extremely fast access to the World Wide Web. This, combined with the fact that millions of homes are already wired for cable TV, has made the cable modem something of a holy grail for internet and cable TV companies.

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Cellphone

A mobile telephone.

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Chat

Real-time communication between two users via computer. Once a chat has been initiated, either user can enter text by typing on the keyboard and the entered text will appear on the other user's monitor. Most networks and online services offer a chat feature.

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Chatroom

A chatroom is a chat with multiple people at once.

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Child Pornography

Illegal writing, images or pictures of children under the age of 18 which are designed to provide sexual pleasure.

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Cookie

A message given to a web browser by a web server. The web browser stores the message in a text file called cookie.txt. The message is then sent back to the server each time the web browser requests a page from the server. The main purpose of cookies is to identify users and possibly prepare customized web pages for them.

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Copyrighting

The legal right granted to an author, composer, playwright, publisher, or distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work.

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Cyberspace

A term used to describe a vast electronic network in which everyday tasks such as banking, research and communication are conducted via the computer.

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Dailup

The internet which is connected through the phone line. Commonly connected through a 28k modem or 56k modem.

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Document Sharing

To allow a document to be accessed by another person or node on a network.

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E-Commerce

Conducting business on-line. This includes, for example, buying and selling products with digital cash and via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).

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Encryption Software

The translation of data into a secret code. Encryption is the most effective way to achieve data security. To read an encrypted file, you must have access to a secret key or password that enables you to decrypt it. Unencrypted data is called plain text ; encrypted data is referred to as cipher text.

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File Transfer

To send a file to another person or node on a network or over the internet.

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Hacking

To modify or enter a program or location through electronical means. Often in an unauthorized manner, by changing the code itself.

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Hate Literature

Writings or literature that is putting down, or is hateful towards another person or literature.

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Infection

When the computer has within itself a worm, virus or trojan horse.

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Internet

A global network connecting millions of computers. More than 100 countries are linked into exchanges of data, news and opinions.

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Laptop

A portable, mobile computer. Also, commonly called a notebook computer.

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Mailing List

A list of e-mail addresses identified by a single name, such as [email protected]. When an e-mail message is sent to the mailing list name, it is automatically forwarded to all the addresses in the list.

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Modem

Modulator-Demodulator -- A modem is a device or program that enables a computer to transmit data over telephone lines. Computer information is stored digitally, whereas information transmitted over telephone lines is transmitted in the form of analog waves. A modem converts between these two forms.

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Multi-Point

Multi-point allows a videoconference with more than two sites. For example if you have offices both interstate and overseas with Sony's unique Multi-point software you can connect four different sites to be involved in the one videoconference meeting. Other videoconference systems do not have this multi-point option; therefore you would have to link up to an external video bridge to achieve a four-way call.

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Netiquette

Internet Etiquette -- The etiquette guidelines for posting messages to online services, and particularly internet newsgroups. Netiquette covers not only rules to maintain civility in discussions (i.e., avoiding flames), but also special guidelines unique to the electronic nature of forum messages. For example, netiquette advises users to use simple formats because complex formatting may not appear correctly for all readers. In most cases, netiquette is enforced by fellow users who will vociferously object if you break a rule of netiquette.

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Off the Cuff

Phrases using word, numbers and symbols. For example, using [email protected].

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PCS

Personal Communications Service -- A U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) term used to describe a set of digital cellular technologies being deployed in the U.S. PCS is a second generation mobile communications technology. Three of the most important distinguishing features of PCS systems are:

• They are completely digital.
• They operate at the 1900 MHz frequency range.
• They can be used internationally.

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Point to Point

One computer connected directly to another computer.

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Pornography

Writing, images or pictures which are designed to provide sexual pleasure.

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Racism

Discrimination or prejudice based on race.

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Search Engine

A program that searches documents for specified keywords and returns a list of the documents where the keywords were found. Although search engine is really a general class of programs, the term is often used to specifically describe systems like Yahoo! and Google that enable users to search for documents on the World Wide Web and USENET newsgroups.

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Shopping Cart

A shopping cart is a piece of software that acts as an online store's catalog and ordering process. Typically, a shopping cart is the interface between a company's web site and its deeper infrastructure, allowing consumers to select merchandise; review what they have selected; make necessary modifications or additions; and purchase the merchandise.

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Time Zones

Any of the 24 longitudinal divisions of Earth's surface in which a standard time is kept, the primary division being that bisected by the Greenwich meridian. Each zone is 15� of longitude in width, with local variations, and observes a clock time one hour earlier than the zone immediately to the east.

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Traffic

The load on a communications device or system. One of the principal jobs of a system administrator is to monitor traffic levels and take appropriate actions when traffic becomes heavy.

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Trojan Horses

A destructive program that masquerades as a benign application. Unlike viruses, trojan horses do not replicate themselves but they can be just as destructive. One of the most insidious types of trojan horse is a program that claims to rid your computer of viruses but instead introduces viruses onto your computer. To rid the computer or a trojan horse, an anti-virus program is used.

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Whiteboard

An area on a display screen that multiple users can write or draw on. Whiteboards are a principal component of teleconferencing applications because they enable visual as well as audio communication.

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Wireless Devices

Devices that are used without wires or cables. They are used with either radio transmission waves or sensors.

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Worms

A program or algorithm that replicates itself over a computer network and usually performs malicious actions, such as using up the computer's resources and possibly shutting the system down.

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