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IMAGE MAP Image Maps are user-defined areas of an image, also known as hot spots, which move a user from an image to an associated URL or page within a URL when clicked. Images may have more than one defined area; each with its own associated URL. The top of this page features an image map. INTERNET Originally designed by the U.S. Defense Department so that a communication signal could withstand a nuclear war and serve military institutions worldwide, the Internet was first known as the ARPAnet. The Internet is system of linked computer networks, international in scope, that facilitates data communication services such as remote login, file transfer, electronic mail and newsgroups. The Internet is a way of connecting existing computer networks that greatly extends the reach of each participating system. INTRANET A private network inside a company or organization that uses the same types of software that you would find on the public Internet, but is only for internal use. IP ADDRESS Internet Protocol Address. A numeric address that is given to servers and users connected to the Internet. IRC Internet Relay Chat. A live chat area of the Internet in which real-time conversations among two or more people take place via special software. Each specific IRC channel begins with a # and is dedicated to a different area of interest. IRC is considered another part of the technology of the Internet the same way FTP, Telnet and the Web are. ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network. Provides a fast, commercially available link to the Internet. ISDN is a set of communications standards allowing a single wire or optical fiber to carry voice, digital network services and video. ISP Internet Service Provider. A company that provides access to the Internet. Before you can connect to the Internet you must first establish an account with an ISP. SpeediDialUp.com is an Internet Service Provider, offering Basic and Turbo Acelerator connection. SpeediDialUp uses the Latest Technology to connect you to the Internet Superhighway.

JAVA Developed by Sun Microsystems, Java is a programming language that is specifically designed for writing programs that can be safely downloaded to your computer through the Internet. Using small Java programs (Applets), Web pages can include functions such as animations, calculators, and other fancy tricks. JAVASCRIPT A scripting language for Web pages. Scripts written with JavaScript can be embedded into HTML documents. With JavaScript, you have many possibilities for enhancing your Web page with interesting elements. JPEG/JPG Joint Photographic Experts Group. A compressed graphics format for images. Jpegs can be used on the World Wide Web.

KILOBYTE A thousand bytes. Actually, usually 1024 (2^10) bytes.

LAN Local Area Network. A network that connects computers in a small pre-determined area (like a room, a building, or a set of buildings). LAN's can also be connected to each other via telephone lines or radio waves. Workstations and personal computers in an office are commonly connected to each other with a LAN. This allows them to have send/receive files and/or have access to the files and data. Each computer connected to a LAN is called a node. LINUX A freeware version of Unix, Linux is becoming popular as a powerful, low-cost operating system for running servers. LISTSERV A software program for setting up and maintaining e-mail discussion groups.

MEGABYTE A million bytes. A thousand kilobytes. MIME Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. A protocol for Internet e-mail that enables the transmission of non-text data such as graphics, audio, video and other binary types of files. MODEM MOdulator, DEModulator. A device that connects your computer to a phone line in order to communicate with other computers. A modem can be inside the computer (internal modem) or a stand-alone (external modem) unit. Modems have various capabilities in terms of speed. Many computers have internal V.90 modems and older versions prior to V.90. However, the latest version, V.92 with v.44 compression, has become the new industry standard. The new V.92 transfers information faster over dialup connections like those available from SpeediDialUp.com. MP3 MPEG Layer 3. A new standard for audio compression. It is capable of 10:1 compression with no noticeable loss in quality. MP3s have become a popular way to distribute CD quality music on the Internet. MPEG Motion Picture Experts Group. A type of audio/video (multimedia) file format, which is popular on the Internet. MTU Maximum Transmission Unit. The greatest amount of data or "packet" size that can be transferred in one physical frame on a network. This packet also contains the header and trailer information, which are like addresses for each packet that are required by the routers on the network. MUD Multi-User Dungeon or Dimension. A usually text-based, multi-user simulation environment. Some are purely for fun and game playing, while others are used for serious software development, education purposes, and all that lies in between. A significant feature of most MUDs is that users can create things that stay after they leave and which other users can interact with in their absence, thus allowing a "world" to be built gradually and collectively.

NETIQUETTE The rules of etiquette that govern online interaction on the Internet NEWSGROUP A discussion forum found on USENET. NODE A single machine on a network.

OS Operating System. The basic software that makes a computer run. An OS schedules tasks, allocates storage, handles the interface to peripheral hardware and presents a default interface to the user when no application program is running.

PACKET The unit of data sent across a network. PERL A UNIX-based scripting language that is often used on the World Wide Web. When you submit a complex form from your browser window, for example, a Perl script may handle the processing of the information. Perl scripts usually end in the extension .pl. POP Post Office Protocol. The protocol used by mail clients to retrieve messages from a mail server. PORT A place where information goes into or out of a computer. PPP Point-to-Point Protocol. Communication protocol used over serial lines to support Internet connectivity. PROTOCOL A specification that describes how computers will talk to each other on a network. PROXY SERVER A technique used to cache information on a Web server and acts as an intermediary between a Web client and that Web server. This is common for an ISP especially if they have a slow link to the Internet. Proxy servers are also constructs that allow direct Internet access from behind a firewall. They open a socket on the server, and allow communication via that socket to the Internet. For example, if your computer is inside a protected network, and you want to browse the Web using Internet Explorer or Netscape, you would set up a proxy server on a firewall.

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