Internet Word of the Day Archive

April 02, 2009

A type of audio and video broadcast over the Internet. A multicast requires superior hardware (a modem speed of at least 128K) and special software (such as RealPlayer). There are various Net radio stations that have live multicasting feeds.

The name for the modern version of a point-of-purchase display. Internet billboards use the Net to advertise in retail stores (such as department stores) in the real world. They deliver precisely targeted messages to consumers via high-definition, flat-screen displays. The stores control the ads via desktop computers that are connected to the Internet via broadband connections. A retailer can update images and ad campaigns in real time.

Lets Have Online Sex

A play on the intelligence jargon "humint" (human intelligence). For example, "According to rumint, the Air Force will reveal one or two black projects in April."

April 03, 2009

Just as some rent-a-truck companies will not allow you to drive faster than 55 mph, so do telcos and cable companies restrict the maximum speed of your DSL or modem connection to conserve their network bandwidth.

A buzzword for a company that claims it can do everything needed to create an online presence for another company, from strategic consulting to Web site design and programming to search engine optimization to hosting.

Synonym for "egghead" as in a scientist.

April 04, 2009

A hardware device you connect to your computer and to a phone line. It enables the computer to talk to other computers through the phone system. Basically, modems do for computers what a telephone does for humans.

Generally, there are three types of modem: external, PC card, and internal.

Most computers now have internal modems so you can plug the telephone cord directly into the back of the computer.

Slang for one who is obsessed with Gopher sites.

The achievement of something attempted, or the attainment of fame or prosperity.

April 05, 2009

The amount of user activity on a Web site. Visitors who have received some form of compensation are known as "incentivized traffic."

In another sense, the millions of data packets that stream through cables, cords, glass, and air are commonly referred to as "traffic."

A Word on Traffic:
It's easy to get dazzled by the notion of "traffic" and to assume that the more hits you're getting on the site, the better the site is performing. However, it's not uncommon for high-traffic business sites to perform poorly when it comes to sales conversions. What really matters to a business isn't the total number of visitors your site receives, but the number of relevant, qualified visitors. For example, a site that converts 25 out of 100 visitors into customers is significantly more effective than one that converts 10 out of 1,000 visitors. In other words, higher traffic can provide a great ego boost, but it doesn't necessarily improve your bottom line.

The use of voice recognition to translate spoken words into text. Words spoken into a PC's microphone can be recorded into memory, read on the computer screen, or saved as a file.

Computer media used for social purposes, as a means of exchange, collaboration, and the social construction of knowledge. Computer conferencing would be a perfect example of "sociomedia". Suggested by hypermedia theorist Edward Barrett in his book of the same name.

April 06, 2009

A method of transmitting light beams along optical fibers (which are actually bundles of glass). Optical fibers are intended to replace the copper wires employed in electronic networks. A light beam, such as that produced by a laser, can be modulated to carry data (information), and the result is very effective: high-speed transmission, clear signals, multiple streams of data, cost-effective performance. In fact, it's been said that fiber-optic technology is the greatest transmission medium currently known.

This describes a Web site that offers truly useful products and services, so much so that it will keep users on the site and/or keep them coming back.

MTV corporate slang for being a member of a targeted demographic group.

April 07, 2009

Any one of several online marketing methods whereby Web sites and media sites form alliances to refer customers back and forth to each other, thereby sharing in the revenue. Examples include affiliate marketing programs, pay-for-performance deals (like cost-per-action), revenue sharing agreements, bounty systems, bartering, and so on.

Some uses of kickback marketing are a result of the dot-com fallout; many companies still want to be first-to-market and to get big fast, but the industry realizes it must monitor costs and make a profit. This kind of marketing (like viral marketing) takes advantage of the very nature of the Web. Instead of marketing in a single outlet online, it makes more sense to get as widely distributed as possible.

The process of planning and implementing Web pages, Web sites, and Web applications using text, images, digital media, and programming (such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript). It is the art of designing for the Web and it is an integral part of the Web development process.

Web design and Web programming are often referred to as the two main parts of the Web development process. Web design refers to the visual, structural and navigational aspects of Web projects, while Web programming refers to the technical aspects (coding and Web server configuration). In reality Web design and Web programming are inter-related, since Web design is essentially impossible without Web programming and Web programming is a tool available for Web design.

April 08, 2009

A microchip for encoding information, it was originally intended so that the U.S. federal government could tap telephone calls in order to track criminal activity; it never became a standard, due to obvious civil liberty issues, and is now considered dead technology.

A nickname for a high-energy city with a heavy concentration of high-tech firms, easily accessible outdoor amenities, and a large number of coffeehouses. Examples include Austin, Texas, and Boulder, Colorado.

April 09, 2009

A market research technique in which a researcher goes out into the real world to see "what's cool" among the younger generation. A person who knows how to unearth new ideas and spot trends before others do is known as an "innovation scout." Check out the links below ;-)

To stammer or beat around the bush, as in, "Stop your hemming and hawing and just tell me what you think the problem is."

In a LAN or on the Internet, this is the computer you are using. As opposed to remote, which means off-site or "somewhere else," local means on-site or "what's in front of you."

April 10, 2009

Slang for an innovative technique or technology that solves something on a larger scale. For example, "The latest kernel modification was just the curry we needed to meet the new standard."

A technology for enabling two high-speed, bidirectional data control channels for video, audio, and text transmission over T1 lines. It is expected to be configured for interactive network television, depending on HDSL equipment availability.

A high-tech, creative team that tackles a problem in its own style. A skunkworks team usually possesses one or all of the following characteristics: a unique brand of management, as far from traditional structure as possible; a small and focused core group of people with no internal management hierarchy; a significant contribution from renegade programmers who work around the clock until the project is done; a unified desire to accomplish the goal without letting red tape or bureaucracy get in the way; and a level of secrecy from the corporation maintained until the first level of success is achieved.

April 11, 2009

One of several methods for determining how your keystrokes and screen interact with a public-access site's operating system. Most communications programs offer a choice of emulations that let you mimic the kind of keyboard that is directly attached to the host system computer.

Sarcastically, it's an engineer with no backbone, who just says yes to everything at a design meeting. More sincerely, a team player is someone who gets in early and makes coffee for everyone else.

People are gathered into a focus group and given an electronic dial. As the group watches a speech or commercial, each person adjusts the dial in a "feel negative about" or "feel positive about" direction. The group average is charted into a rising and falling line that records a collective second-by-second judgement on the presentation.

April 12, 2009

The reverse process of finding out who is hacking into a system. Attacks can usually be traced back to a computer or pieced together from "electronic bread crumbs" unknowingly left behind by a cracker.

A special, streamlined format of code unique to Java programs. Bytecode is translated source code. A bytecode is a program that contains instructions that must be interpreted. Users need JVM to interpret and execute bytecode.

A marketing term to describe the cost (or expense) associated with acquiring a new customer or user.

April 13, 2009

A numbering system with a base (radix) of 2, it is unlike the numbering systems most of us use, which have bases of 10 (decimal numbers), 12 (measurement in feet and inches), and 60 (time). Binary numbers are preferred for computers, for precision and economy. Building an electronic circuit that can detect the difference between two states (high current and low current, or 0 and 1) is easier and less expensive than building circuits that detect the difference among 10 states (0 through 9).

One who works on his or her own initiative. This person does not need orders to operate but rather works best with a hands-off manager.

Just Thinking Of You

April 14, 2009

A nickname for folks who convinced TPC to run a dedicated line (such as a T1) to their house or home office-long before the availability of cable modems or ISDN-in order to have always-on connectivity at a fixed IP address (regardless of the cost, which can run to the tune of thousands of dollars a month).

The opposite of high-tech. It generally refers to businesses that are not reliant on computer technology, such as a bakery or shoe repair shop.

The fields in an extended Web-server log file that indicate the browser and platform used by a visitor.

Laughing So Hard My Belly Hurts

April 15, 2009

A nickname for people who delete Usenet messages, posted to newsgroups, that they claim violate copyrights. A cancelbunny cancels other people's posts, taking advantage of a loophole in the overall Usenet posting mechanism.

A directory or folder on a server that is not in the actual server directory structure.

An employer whose best practices and admirable philosophy attract job applicants in droves. Sadly, such employers are few and far between.

April 16, 2009

An acronym for any type of collaboration among developers. For example, "If they intend to build the next best-selling software, they are going to need some major D2D collaboration between the programmers and designers."

Part of a string.

Someone who spends a lot of time scrambling from one computer net to another. A ubiquitous Net personality.

April 17, 2009

To become inaccessible except via e-mail or IM, when one is normally available via telephone or in person.

Refers to the growing trend of shifting many jobs so that the employee works out of his or her home instead of the office. The name "homeshoring" comes from the practice of "offshoring", or sending U.S. jobs overseas. Also referred to as the hidden labor force, "cyberagents" can be very cost effective for companies as they usually cover their own health care and computer costs. Working from home can also save the employee money on daycare and gas.

Being able to cut down on labor costs prevents the need for offshoring and provides many Americans with job opportunities that allow them to work from home. This opportunity can serve to be very beneficial for stay-at-home moms, people in rural areas, military spouses, disabled veterans, computer-savvy college students, corporate wives, and others.

Not In Your Wildest F***ing Dreams

April 18, 2009

On PCs, it is to click the button on the right side of your mouse. This opens a drop-down menu to access shortcut options. For Mac users (and those who don't have a right-side button), this drop-down menu of shortcut options can be accessed in some programs by clicking and holding down the mouse in a neutral area of the GUI.

The name for the space on a Web page that is reserved for online ads.

April 19, 2009

Developed by CompuServe, using file compression technology from Unisys, this is a graphics file format used on the Internet. It was originally referred to as a "CompuServe Bitmap" but it stands for "Graphics Interchange Format." You may hear GIF mentioned as "GIF format" (this is redundant, but it is widely used). On Web pages, the images (or pictures) you see are usually in GIF because the files are small and can be downloaded quickly. Another type of graphics format commonly used online is JPG; these files download even faster and contain a better resolution. However, JPGs cannot be "interlaced," so many Web authors use GIFs instead, to get that "melting onto the screen" effect that happens with interlaced images. Following are special kinds of GIF:

Animated GIF - a series of static images are displayed one after another or on top of each other, giving the effect of motion or animation.

Interlaced GIF - these appear first with poor resolution and then gain resolution once the entire image has arrived, as opposed to arriving linearly from the top row to the bottom row. This type of format is good for giving the user a quick idea of what the entire image will look like while they're waiting for the rest of the image to load.

Transparent GIF - useful because they appear to blend in smoothly with the Web page's background, even if the user has set a background color that differs from the one the developer expected. To make a GIF see-through or appear to be the same color as the background, you must assign one color to be transparent; if the Web browser supports transparency, that color will be replaced by the browser's background color, whatever it may be.

For a list of file extensions click here!

A popular term used to describe a person who knows a lot about computers and/or the Internet. In the past, it was considered somewhat derogatory to call someone "a geek," but now that the Internet has made computer usage mainstream, even computer savvy grrls affectionately call themselves "geeks."

Unconventional marketing programs designed to get maximum results out of minimal resources. Guerilla marketing by definition means making an investment in marketing with your time, energy, and imagination rather than merely your money. Coined by Jay Conrad Levinson, guerilla marketing is more about matching wits than matching budgets. Popular with the SOHO market, online tactics include newsletters, making use of e-mail lists, making appropriate newsgroup postings, sending out multiple press release announcements, establishing a dynamic Web site, submitting to the search engines, posting content such as product reviews, getting your business listed in all the appropriate places, and so on (as opposed to buying superbowl ads or investing in ad banners).

April 20, 2009

When new enterprises are developed within a corporation by a corporate executive, they are considered captive start-ups.

The process of removing a domain name and its corresponding record from the Domain Name System (DNS) and InterNIC's domain name database. A deleted domain name cannot be used to locate computers on the Internet and will be made available for other parties to register on a first-come, first-served basis. A domain name may be deleted at the request of the domain name registrant or as a result of nonpayment. To "delete" something is to manually remove it.

Modern slang for short-lived first marriages that end in divorce with no kids, no property, and no regrets.

Head MOFO In Charge

April 21, 2009

The generation of Americans born to the baby boomers, this includes people born between 1963 and 1979. It's a popular marketing notion to segment an audience into a particular demographic, and "GenXers" are known for making the transition between the old way of doing things and the new way. With a focus on a better balance between work and personal life, GenX demands in the workplace have resulted in more part-time jobs, telecommuting, self-employment, flex time, significant-other insurance coverage, and a variety of alternative work arrangements.

In Unix, DOS, Windows, OS/2, and other operating systems , it is a way of stringing two programs together so that the output of one is fed to the other as input. "Pipe" is also a name for the |-beam character (|) and is used as slang for cable (see: fat pipes).

The techie deep within each of us. It's what we turn to when we're searching for that abstract clue to help us unlock the secret to our favorite game or when we're trying to remember how we did something in a software program. For example, "If I could just get in touch with my 'inner geek,' I could reach the next level."

April 22, 2009

The nickname for an electronic magazine. Just like their real-world counterparts, online magazines primarily derive revenue from ad banner sales. Broadly speaking, a zine is any Web site that publishes content.

A list of options that "drops down" when you click on the downward-pointing arrow placed next to the first item on the list of a menu. These are often used in online forms.

The process of submitting your Web site's URL to a search engine or search directory with the intent of getting it listed on the search site.

April 23, 2009

A word referring to the first of two pre-release phases of a commercial software or hardware product. Alpha is the release prior to the beta test or beta version.

An acronym that describes business-to-business-to-consumer relationships.

The name for a cord or strap that is worn around the neck to hold an identification badge, whistle, keys, cell phone, thumb drive or other small object.

Lanyards come in various colors and types and can also be used as a tchotchke: an advertising tool with  customized logo or name printed on the strap. However it's totally geeky to walk around with a lanyard so you may want to take it off when venturing out into the real world otherwise you will be typecast as a modern version of the plastic pocket-protector set.

A lanyard can also come with different hardware. The O-ring is common for using with a whistle or keys. It may also have a split-connector so that it is easily removed and snapped back into place. A swivel snaphook is good for ID badges that have a rectangular hole at the top, and the bulldog clip is the type that when squeezed, both serrated jaws open, similar to how an alligator clip works.

Lanyards are used by businesses, schools, hospitals, at special events, conventions, reunions, in many recreational activities, and for backstage passes, etc., and because they are conveniently worn around the neck, they are considered more convenient than the clip style (which results in the dreaded wall humping). 

April 24, 2009

A series of reply posts to a message on Usenet. This term also refers to the arrangement of active windows on your computer screen so that each is organized in front of the other with a portion of the title bar appearing at the top.

Communication between data processing devices on one network and with other possibly dissimilar devices on another network.

One of several industry jargon terms to describe "the best" of something within its niche, such as a new company, a new application, or a new management. Most often, it refers to the top software or hardware in a particular class, or to the top company or VC firm in a particular industry. Companies usually make their software purchases through a variety of vendors to acquire the best-in-breed for each application as it is very rare that one company can excel in every area.

April 25, 2009

A medical reference for what sustains a business or product that's fighting for its life in the marketplace. For example, "Yeah, they're still in business, but definitely on life support."

It means the same as "on" or "live." For example, "When are you going to get your new Web site up?"

Another name for manual submission.

April 26, 2009

All the people and companies that serve, support, or develop the Internet. This particular industry includes software companies, hardware companies, networking companies, content companies, ISPs, OSPs, online advertising agencies, dot-com businesses, venture capital firms, technical recruiting agencies, new media consultants, high-tech journalists, telecommunication companies, fiber-optics manufacturers, voice recognition developers, e-mail marketing companies, and thousands of businesses that capitalize on a high-speed network known as the Internet. These businesses are located all over the world, with a heavy concentration in the new economy hotspots. Many are listed on the Nasdaq or the New York Stock Exchange.

That sick feeling you get when you wake up one morning and find your industry being dominated by a Web-based retailer, or etailer. It's a little less frightening now that multi-channel business models are back in vogue.

April 27, 2009

An acronym that describes online communications and transactions conducted between a business and the members of its distribution channel (such as resellers, distributors, agents, and retailers).

A term used to describe something slow or outdated, as in, "That dinosaur browser sure is clunky." It implies you can hear the machinery hobbling about trying to process your commands.

An advanced throughput model for establishing robust POPs (Points Of Presence). gigaPOP is a scaleable, high-speed, state-of-the-art interconnection point on the Internet's backbone, made up of switching and routing intersections. Using gigabit-based technology, gigaPOPs are expected to connect universities, laboratories, and urban, state, or regional networks, enabling Internet2 (I2) participants to exchange advanced services with other I2 participants.

For example, college campuses in a geographic region will join together to acquire a variety of Internet services at a regional gigaPOP.

Not Favorably Considered -or- No F***ing Chance

April 28, 2009

A play on words, it refers to electronic retailing. An etailer leverages electronic media and Internet technologies to sell goods and products online. Many etailers do not have a brick-and-mortar counterpart. Etailing is considered a B2C form of e-commerce.

For a discussion as to why "etailing" is not spelled with a hyphen and why "e-commerce" is, check out our e-mail definition.

The software-enabled ability of some computers to recognize handwritten letters, numbers, and symbols. This technology is commonly used by PDAs (see: graffiti).

Any one of the current (or in-production) Hollywood films about the big, scary Internet (for example, The Net, f2f, Hackers).

Not Online

April 29, 2009

Hacker jargon used to describe one who breaks security on a system. This term was coined circa 1985 by hackers in defense against journalistic misuse of the word "hacker." While it is expected that hackers will have done some playful cracking, most outgrow the desire to break security (except perhaps to get some work done). Crackers tend to gather in small, secretive groups that have little overlap with hacker culture. They like to describe themselves as hackers (but hackers consider them lame). A cracker is also one who can crack a software program.

The conversion of encoded data back to its original form. It's the process you must perform to see images that are downloaded from newsgroups, such as alt.binaries.pictures.

On the Internet, content delivery is the service of copying the pages of a Web site to geographically dispersed servers. When a page is requested, content is dynamically identified and served from the closest server to the user, enabling faster delivery. Typically, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and the owners of high-traffic Web sites hire the services of a company to provide content delivery. A common content delivery approach is the placement of cache servers at major Internet access points around the world. A special routing code redirects a Web page request to the closest server. When the Web user clicks on a URL that is content-delivery enabled, the content delivery network re-routes that user's request away from the site's originating server, sending it to the cache server closest to the user. The cache server determines what content in the request exists in the cache, serves that content, and retrieves any non-cached content from the originating server. Any new content is also cached locally.

Other than faster loading times, the process is generally transparent to the user, except that the URL served may be different than the one requested. The three main techniques for content delivery are HTTP redirection, Internet Protocol (IP) redirection, and Domain Name System (DNS) redirection. In general, DNS redirection is the most effective technique. Content delivery can also be used for specific high-traffic events, such as live Web broadcasts, by continually dispersing content from the originating server to other servers, via satellite links. Content delivery is similar to but more selective and dynamic than the simple copying or mirroring of a Web site to geographically dispersed servers.

April 30, 2009

Abbreviation for gigabyte.

The mysterious characters that sometimes appear on your computer screen, often in text documents and sometimes in code or e-mail messages.

For instance, if you copy the contents of a file from one program to another by highlighting the text with your cursor and then cutting-and-pasting, strange boxes or symbols may appear in the white space. At that point, you have to figure out another way to transfer the information or you have to go through and delete the bad characters, all the while muttering, "Darn gremlins."

Ideas that do not conform to conventional industry methods or practices. It is a phrase used in business to imply the need to think more creatively or to "develop a new angle." For example, "C'mon people, we keep marketing this product in the same way with no real results; we've got to get out-of-the-box on this one."