Rhyader's Web Pages : Glossary of Terms
Here are some definitions and comments on some of the Geekish terms in
these webpages, provided for the benefit of the
non-Geek.
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ASCII
=
American Standard Code for Information Interchange :
A standard method for defining how the binary numbers stored in computers are to
be translated for alphanumeric characters, such as the characters on your keyboard.
ASCII is the ANSI computer bitcode standard to map machine code bytes to printed
characters. (Standard ASCII encoded characters *should* come out the same
on any American made computer system, with any operating system or
program.) Developed by the
American National Standards Institute
( ANSI ).
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ANSI
=
American National Standards Institute :
See ASCII above.
The American National Standards Institute maintains official
standards of weight and measure, as well as official standards for
various methods of writing or standardizing things in the computer
and non-computer worlds.
-
BBS
=
Bulletin Board System :
A Computer program allowing users to dial in to the owner's computer
via telephone modem, and access the bulletin boards and functions.
Allowed users to "post" notes as if on a "bulletin board".
Also see The Pentode.
-
Cyon
=
My Symbol :
The "Cyon" is a four pointed symbol I made up for myself.
It appears frequently in these pages. For a page on the symbol,
click this link to [The Cyon] .
- Frames
=
In webpages and HTML, the term "frames" refers to
splitting the screen up into separate regions or windows,
called "frames", in which different elements of the
presentation are displayed. (These are actually different
HTML files.) These frames may be scrolled with a scroll bar.
Frames are supported by Internet Explorer and Netscape
web browsers. Frames can cause problems with browsers that
do not support them.
-
Geek
=
Geek (1)
- An intellectual person who is deeply into some kind
of science or technology. Usually shy or lacking in "social graces",
the geek tends to prefer the inner world of ideas to the mundane
outer world, and distains concepts such as "fashion".
(Not to be confused with the "Nerd". Nerds are unaware of fashion
and the "real" world"; while Geeks are aware of these things,
but choose to ignore them.)
Geek (2) - A Computer Geek.
One who is a Geek of Computers. Such people tend to speak constantly
of computers, computer acronyms, and computer things; and may be addicted
to games and worlds accessable through the Internet. If separated from a
computer for more than a few hours, they begin to suffer withdrawl symptoms,
but are mostly harmless.
Geek (3) -
Someone who bites the heads off of chickens.
-
GUI
=
Graphical User Interface :
a way of interfacing with a computer system or program using visual icons
on a screen and a pointing device, such as a mouse or light pen.
Examples: the MacIntosh System (Mac OS) and Microsoft Windows.
-
HTML
=
HyperText Markup Language :
the computer language that web pages are written in.
HTML files should be simple 7-bit ASCII text.
They should not contain any characters that are not on your computer
keyboard.
These files end in the "extension" .html or .htm .
-
ICQ
=
ICQTM - a program and internet communications system by Mirabilis LTD.
For more information go to their website.
( See my Contacts and Web Links pages. )
-
Internet
=
A global network of government, business, and educational computer systems
which are all linked using communication lines and common protocols, providing
the world's largest general computer network. The World Wide Web, through
which you are reading this, is a function of The Internet. Other Internet
functions and protocols include electronic mail (E-mail), file servers
(FTP) and chat servers (IRC).
-
IRC
=
Internet Relay Chat : a standardized program that
makes it possible to chat (by typing) in real time with other internet
users. You install the IRC client program on your computer, and then
use it to connect to an IRC server, and join a channel.
There are many, many different channels and many different servers.
Not all servers support the same channels.
-
ISP
=
Internet Service Provider :
A business or organization that provides access to the Internet
for it's customers or clients. Generally provides dial-up access for
telephone modems or other types of access for other types of modems
(cable modems, special lines, etc.) These companies provide access to the
Internet in general, as opposed to on-line services
(such as America Online) that offer a different custom service that may
also include access to Internet resources.
-
Koyaanisqatsi
=
From the Hopi Native American Language : a word meaning
"life out of balance": wrong life, unnatural life,
life that calls for a change in the way of living.
(See page.)
-
Lynx
(1) =
A feral preditory feline, also called wildcat or bobcat.
[picture]
-
Lynx
(2) =
A text-only web browser. Lynx is installed on most Unix computer systems.
Lynx can be run through a telnet client, or can be used with a
terminal and a text-only connection. (Lynx is also avaiable for non-unix
operating systems.)
-
Mosaic
=
NCSA Mosaic : A web browser made by NCSA.
Also see my notes on Mosaic in my Technical pages:
technical notes and
geek notes ;
and my web links page for links
to NCSA.
-
MUD
(1) =
Wet dirt, in capital letters.
(2) =
Extremely fine clay sized hydrated clastic material.
(3) =
Multi User Dungeon : a text computer game based on "Dungeons and Dragons"
and played by multiple users on-line.
Pentode
=
An electronic vacuum tube having five elements.
Pentode, The =
The Pentode was a computer Bulletin Board System (BBS)
that used to operate in San Luis Obispo, California.
(I was a member of this BBS.)
See my separate page on The Pentode and BBS's.
SLO
=
San Luis Obispo :
A city in the central coast region of California, USA. The County seat
of San Luis Obispo County.
Us people who live here refer to it as "SLO",
to avoid the pain of having to say "San Luis Obispo" over
and over again. It's much easier to say "SLO".
SLO-Net
=
An Internet Service Provider (ISP) in SLO county.
SLO-Net tries to create a computer community.
See my web links page.
Surfari Net
=
An Internet Service Provider (ISP) in SLO county.
That's SURFARI, not safari. A combination of "surfing" and "safari".
Picture a lion on a surf board. (No connection with the defunct musical
group known as "the Surfari's".)
See my web links page.
tables
=
in HTML code, a "table" is a structure for presenting and aligning text
and images in a row-and-column or tabular format.
Tao
=
"The Way" : the form of the formless; the name of the nameless;
the source of all things ...
See page on Taoism .
Unix
=
a computer operating system. (more powerful than DOS, Windows, OS/2, and
Mac OS) The Internet was mainly developed in, by, and for Unix, and
internet URL's follow Unix syntax.
(I've heard it said that
there are only 2 "real" operating systems, Unix and Windows NT.)
URL
=
Universal Resource Locator :
the "address" that points to an internet resource - such as a webpage,
a newsgroup, an E-Mail address, a telnet site, a local file, etc. etc.
All addresses are URL's; but a URL can be other things besides an address.
Webpage URL's begin with http: , news with news:
, and send-mail links with mailto: . A URL can point to a
file, a program, or a resource on your computer or on any internet
computer anywhere in the world that is on-line and which you are permitted
to access. It is a global protocol: hence the term "Universal" Resource
Locator. One can cause a web browser to go to a specified location by
typing the URL directly into the browser's URL field or window.
( the URL for my webpages is
http://www.surfari.net/~rhyader )
World Wide Web
=
The part of the Internet dealing with hypertext, HTML, and HTML or Web
resources. Web Servers provide access to documents, programs, databases,
and multimedia which can be viewed with a web browser (such as Microsoft
Internet Explorer, Netscape, Mosaic). The WWW is not, contrary to non-geek
belief, The Internet; but only a part of it.
Windows
=
A graphical computer operating system developed by Microsoft, Inc.
There are different versions of Windows, such as 3.1, 95, 98, 2000,
NT, CE ; etc.
WWW
=
World Wide Web.
See "World Wide Web" above.
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