ASP (Applications Service Provider)
A company that offers access to sophisticated capabilities, via an Internet link to customers for a fixed monthly fee.

ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode)
A high-speed switching technique that uses fixed size cells to transit voice, data, and video.

Avatar
A graphic or pictorial repesentation of a user in a 3-D chat area. Usually chosen by each user, the avatar can be an animal or caricature.

AVI (Audio Video Interleaved)
A Microsoft multimedia file format.

Bandwidth
The range of frequencies (data) a transmission line can carry and defined in bits/s (BPS). The larger the bandwidth, the greater the information capacity of a channel.

Broadband
A data transmission scheme in which multiple signals share the bandwidth. This allows the transmission of voice, data, and video signals over a single medium.

Browser
A software program that retrieves and processes server-side information in the form of integrated text, sound, and graphics, usually from the World Wide Web.

C (and/or C+, C++)
The name of a programming language so called because many features derived from an earlier compiler named "B" in commemoration of its parent, BCPL. Before Bjarne Stoustrup settled the question by designing C++, there was a numorous debate over whether C's successor should be named "D" or "P." C is now the dominant language and microcomputer applications programming.

Cache
A temporary storage bin in memory and on your hard drive. Browsers stash the contents from pages that have been downloaded in the event they are called upon to be displayed again.

Cookies
A handle or transaction identifier, or other token of agreement between cooperating programs. Cookies were introduced by Netscape to preserve state information on the browser. This permits a site to recognize you on subsequent visits. Shopping cart programs can record each item you have collected as you navigate through a site. When done shopping, the Web page can use all of your accumulated cookies to calculate teh charge. Some people believe that any site you connect to can read all the cookies on your disk. However, only the site that issued the cookie can read it.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets)
A World Wide Web Consortium specification for designing layout and style elements of a Web page. It permits you to control the appearance of fonts, colors, sizes and so on throughout the entire site by referencing one master page.

DSL (Digital Line Subscriber)
A family of communications services that enables high-speed communications over twisted pair copper wire. Members of the family include:ADSL (Asymmetric), HDSL (HighBit Rate), and SDSL (Symmetric).

Emoticon
Email emotions, or faces that you insert to express moods. Examples: Smiley face :-) or unhappy face :-(

Ethernet
The most common LAN transmission network.

Extranet
A close relative of an Intranet with the difference being that remote company offices not confined to the corporate location can utilize the Intranet via the Internet.

Firewall
Network security system used to monitor and restrict external and internal traffic.

Frame Relay
A form of packet switching that allows high-speed, statistically multiplexed connectivity over a shared network. The technology depends on high-quality transmission facilities and makes the intelligent end-points responsible for the integrity of the data.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
A fast method of exchanging data files across the Internet. FTP is commonly used as a verb that describes the sending of a file in this fashion (i.e. Can you FTP this file to me now?)

GIF
Developed by CompuServe. A common graphics format for Web images. GIF and JPG are the most common Web graphics formats in use today.

GUI (Graphics User Interface)
Pronounced "gooey," a navigational command or menu interface designed to be self-explainatory and easy to use by pointing and clicking on text selections and icons. The Windows GUI interfact, although originally pioneered in teh 1970s by Xerox, is not the de facto standard for American business.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
The Language used to create web documents.

HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol)
The language convention of the Web, used to deliver HTML documents.

Hypertext
A link between one document and other, related documents elsewhere in a collection. by clicking on a word or phrase that has been highlighted on a computer screen, a user can skip directly to files related to that subject.

Intranet
A term that describes an IP-based network that mimics the protocols and functionality of the Internet. It operates within the confines of a single organization.

IP (Internet Protocol)
The network layer of the TCP/IP protocol suite, widely used in ethenet-type networks, including the Internet.

ISDN (Intergrated Services Digital Network)
A widely available high-bandwidth service enabling digital communications at speeds of up to 128 Kbps (four times faster than a 28 kbps modem), for multiple devices (such as phone and fax) over standard phone lines.

ISP (Internet Service Provider)
A company, such as Bell Atlantic, that is connected directly to the Internet and which sells connection services to individuals and businesses who want to tap into the Internet.

LAN (Local Area Network)
A collection of computing resources (such as PCs, printers, mini-computers, and mainframes) linked by a common transmission medium such as a coaxial cable.

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)
A protocol that permits sounds from musical instruments to be converted to a program and read by a computer.

Modem
A device that modulates and demodulates digital signals so that computers may reliably and quickly exchange data over analog telephone lines.

NT (New Technology)
Windows NT is Microsoft's 32-bit version of windows. It is a standalone operating system (OS) that is also a network-ready system.

Ping
The TCP/IP service that lets you check to verify that you can reach another network node from your local host. Ping is usually a quick test to ensure that your connection is valid. The command will return the time in milliseconds that a packet takes to make the round trip from your local host to the remote host.

Plug-ins
A software application that allows you to view different information formats in your browser window.

Private Branch Exchange (PBX)
A telephone switching system local to a particular organization that provides services between users inside and the telephone company outside.

QoS (Quality of Service)
Establishing a set of guaranteed network metrics for particular traffic flows across a network.

Search Engine
An Internet related capability that enables a user to query for key words and phrases. There are hundreds of search engines on the web, and they are the main resources for finding Internet-based information.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
The addressing system for the World Wide Web.

Webcasting
A new technology that delivers live video and audio broadcast directly to your computer's desktop via the World Wide Web. It allows people to attend important events and meetings without leaving the office. Live events can be stored on a website or accessed later. WS-FTP
A file transfer program that is used to upload/download files and text to your Web Site. Designed for nonprogrammers but sophiscated enough for power users, WS_FTP Pro is widely recognized as the fastest, most powerful Windows file transfer client application available. Click here to download the current version (www.ipswitch.com/pd_wsftp.html)

XML (eXtensible Markup Language)
Like HTML, is an outgrowth of SGML that permits developers to control and display data in the same way they control text and graphics today. XML is not a replacement for HTML.