Internet Word of the Day Archive

May 01, 2010

A simulation of the real thing, it means the same as "almost." You will see this term appear before various Internet terms to indicate a simulation technology that enables you to cross boundaries and experience something without needing it to be physically present, as in virtual sex, virtual theme parks, and virtual communities. The Internet itself can be seen as a virtual world; however, most users prefer the term "online."

What Do You Think?

The incredibly complex yet tiny modules that store computer memory or provide logic circuitry for microprocessors. Perhaps the best known chips are the Pentium microprocessors from Intel. The PowerPC microprocessor, developed by Apple, Motorola, and IBM, is used in Macintosh personal computers and some workstations. AMD and Cyrix also make popular microprocessor chips. There are quite a few manufacturers of memory chips. Many special-purpose chips, known as application-specific integrated circuits, are being made today for automobiles, home appliances, telephones, and other devices.

A chip is manufactured from a silicon wafer (or, in some special cases, a sapphire wafer), which is cut to size and then etched with circuits and electronic devices. Chips are made out of semiconducting materials, and they alone can duplicate the function of several transistors and other electronic components. The achievement of chip manufacturing technology has spread the use of computer technology throughout society. A chip is also sometimes called an IC or integrated circuit.

In addition to computers and appliances, microchips are used in RFID, primarily for animal tracking and medical patients. However they are also used for so-called security purposes, for example, some employees are asked to have a microchip implanted in their arm so they can identify themselves by holding their arms in front of a scanner (as opposed to wall humping). Talk about a new meaning for the word chiphead!

A field of marketing which studies the human brain's response to marketing stimuli. Using medical technology such as functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), researchers measure changes in activity in parts of the brain and attempt to discover why consumers make the decisions they do, and what part of the brain is telling them to do it. "Neuromarketing" is being called the most important breakthrough in marketing research.

May 02, 2010

A family of Unix version operating systems developed around 1980 by Bill Joy and others at Berkeley (or "Berzerkeley," which was said to be known for BSD and LSD). Incorporating paged virtual memory, TCP/IP networking enhancements, and many other features, the BSD versions and the commercial versions derived from them held the technical lead in the Unix world until AT&T's successful standardization efforts after about 1986. BSD is still widely popular, and it is credited with establishing the Internet in colleges and universities since it included TCP/IP. The little dude above is the Berkeley daemon ;-)

FYI: "BSD licenses" represent a family of permissive free software licences, which have few restrictions compared to other free software licenses (such as the GNU GPL or even the default restrictions provided by copyright). Since BSD licenses are closer to the public domain, they have been referred to as "copycenter" as a comparison to standard copyright and copyleft free software.

A business title for a person who is responsible for the day-to-day maintenance of a BBS.

A portable computer that is smaller than a desktop computer. It weighs less and is easier to carry around, you can work on it on your lap.

Til Next Time

May 03, 2010

An industry-standard code that defines how an e-mail message is sent in code and then decoded when received at its destination. It is actually a protocol for e-mail that enables the transmission of non-text data, such as graphics, audio, video, and other binary types of files. These files are encoded into text that would look like gobbledygook to us.

An e-mail program, such as Eudora, is MIME-compliant if it can send and receive files using the MIME standard. The MIME standard is universally used by Internet servers to identify the files that are sent to clients. Since the files are identified by the servers, users can accommodate new file formats by adding them to their browser's list of MIME-types and programs for handling each type. S/MIME, the secure version of the standard, utilizes an encryption system to protect e-mail, even when it is sent between different e-mail clients. S/MIME messages include the message itself and the encryption information (such as a digital certificate).

A business service that automates, integrates, and controls Internet-related business processes for small and medium-sized companies. An IBS provider is very similar to an ASP since it is based on a one-to-many architecture, but IBS providers concentrate on business solutions as opposed to IT solutions. Business solutions include purchasing, project management, project billing, travel expense reporting, customer relationship management (CRM), and employee recruitment and retention. Business software, applications, and a centralized database are hosted on the provider's server and made available to client companies. Data begets data, and this is one way that companies manage all of it! Again, similar to an ASP, an IBS gives small businesses inexpensive access to sophisticated enterprise software that can be updated regularly or on an as-needed basis.

A derogatory name for a spammer. It is said that while spammers see themselves as cyber entrepreneurs, they are really just beer-drinking, chicken-bone-chewing lowlifes.

Put On A Happy Face

May 04, 2010

A feature of a table in HTML, it controls the "padding" or the area around the contents of the table's cells. In HTML, tables allow an author to render text and graphics on a Web page in columns and rows. There are many options available for laying out a table, and cellpadding is one of them. Basically, cellpadding allows for more "white space" within each cell, whereas cellspacing provides more space between the cells. Of course, the two can be used together, which gives the author flexibility in designing the table. It's a subtle distinction but very apparent when used: click on the "more info" button below to see an example :-)

A play on the words "competition" and "cooperation," it is the result of the joint efforts of two competing companies with overlapping products or technology. Companies like this in the industry find it beneficial to work together with the goal of increasing sales for both companies. One example are the many widgets companies develop for Facebook.

Passed Out At Keyboard

May 05, 2010

Technically it refers to a family of standards for mobile telecommunications as defined by the International Telecommunication Union which includes GSM, EDGE, UMTS, and CDMA as well as DECT and WiMax. Services include wide-area wireless voice telephone, video calls, and  wireless data. Compared to second-generation services, 3G allows simultaneous use of speech and data services and higher data transfer rates.

Even though it refers to third-generation technology, online slang has morphed the usage into something that is so happening, so right now, as in "Have you seen Dillon's iPhone yet? It is so 3G."

Another name for fluffy TV programs designed to appear as news programming, frequently to promote a product. The term "newszak" has morphed to include flat panel TV screens --carrying news, financial updates and advertising-- in office building elevators and at banks.

May 06, 2010

Internet crime began with small computer viruses received via e-mail that could shut down a computer. Now, Internet crime is a multi-billion dollar business that includes extortion, identity theft, phishing, and other forms of cyberfraud.

Excuse My Ignorance

Term of derision often used by young hackers who fancy themselves the legitimate residents of cyberspace and see the older generation of hackers and personal computer developers as parental party crashers. Also: techno-wimps and cyber-yuppies.

The open source operating system and application stack for Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), netbooks and mobile Internet devices.

Built around the Intel Atom processor, current builds are designed to minimize boot times and power consumption. Intel launched the Moblin.org site in July 2007 and significantly updated the site in April 2008 with the launch of the Intel Atom processor family at the Intel Developer Forum in Shanghai. Film at 11.

May 07, 2010

A list of e-mail addresses that represent people who share a similar interest or who regularly correspond. You can subscribe to some mailing lists to receive regular updates or electronic newsletters, among other messages. Depending on the structure of the list, it is relatively easy to copy all of the recipients' e-mail addresses and add them to another list without permission; this is considered an invasion of privacy, though, and should not be done. In fact, that sort of copying is why many Web sites now have a privacy policy that assures users they won't share mailing lists with third parties.

Slang for a good old fashioned printed book (as opposed to an e-book).

Temporarily Not Available

Coined by Jeff Howe of Wired magazine, "crowdsourcing" is a neologism for the act of taking a task traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, and outsourcing it to an undefined large group of people in the form of an "open call."

This term has become popular with business authors and journalists as shorthand for the trend of leveraging the mass collaboration enabled by Web 2.0 technologies to achieve business goals.

May 08, 2010

System software written onto read-only memory (ROM), it is a combination of software and hardware. ROMs, PROMs, and EPROMs are considered firmware if they have data or programs recorded on them.

Black, White or Other

The process of using software to automate the business tasks of sales, including order processing, contact management, information sharing, inventory monitoring and control, order tracking, customer management, sales forecast analysis and employee performance evaluation. You get the picture. SFA is used interchangeably with CRM, however, CRM does not always imply automation of sales tasks.

A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiney. "I'd like to work with Patrick, but he's too much of a stress puppy ... everything's always crisis."

May 09, 2010

An online marketing term used to describe a Website's visitors. Also referred to as "a pair of eyeballs," presumably all these marketers care about is whether or not you've seen their online ad.

A process of testing a Web site user interface for maximum functionality, early detection of design problems, and intuitiveness of design. It refers to the ease with which users are able to navigate a Web site.

Slang for a shoddy technician.

Don't Poop Your Pants

May 10, 2010

As Many As Possible -or- As Much As Possible

The act of selling a product which is still in development. This type of sales is also referred to as a "good faith sale" because the information the seller is presenting is based solely on a PowerPoint presentation.

When a search is performed, this tool scrapes the documents and takes out chunks of text, this text is what is displayed to the user at the end of the search.

Something that is happening in real time. Synchronous communication examples include: instant messaging, video conferencing, webcams, MUDs, MOOs, chat, Second Life. Examples of one-to-one synchronous communication include: instant messaging. Examples of one-to-many synchronous communication include: video conferencing, MUDs, and MOOs.

The opposite of synchronous is asynchronous, something that is not happening in real time, rather senders ship off their messages for recipients to open at their convenience. Asynchronous communication examples include: email, texting, newsgroups, listservs, blogs, MySpace, Facebook, YouTube. Examples of one-to-one asynchronous communication include: email and text messaging. Examples of one-to-many asynchronous communication include: newsgroups, listservs, blogs, MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube.

May 11, 2010

The standard TCP/IP protocol for transferring e-mail messages. To set up your e-mail account, you must know your server's SMTP address (just ask your ISP).

Fatal Error

Similar to a lurker who never posts on a newsgroup, it is slang for a user who visits online shopping sites but never makes a purchase.

On the Web, it's a term for figuring out how much each person who looks at your Web site is worth -- or is costing you. In today's Internet environment, there's a lot of "monetizing" going on.

May 12, 2010

A term which means "to kill" or "put something out" it can be used in the present or past tense; for example, "We kevorked that project last week." It comes from the last name of Jack Kevorkian, the man known as the death doctor in the United States.

The network of electrical power lines from which power companies buy electricity. Modern usage of this term suggests a desire to be independent from grid-transmitted electricity (including water lines, sewer mains, and supermarkets). Meaning many people, disillusioned with western civilization's dependence upon all things consumable, are reverting back to windmills, solar power, and other forms of homegrown energy, to promote self-reliance in an effort to get "off the grid."

Its meaning has extended to a few other uses, including not wanting to be "in the system" (for example, not wanting to give out your social security number to anyone and everyone). In another sense, "going off the grid" is an expression for creativity, similar to "thinking outside the box."

And You're Telling Me This Because

Network attached storage (NAS) is file-level computer data storage connected to a computer network. NAS provides both storage and a file system.

In the basic sense, a NAS unit is a computer connected to a network that only provides file-based data storage services to other devices on the network. Although it may technically be possible to run other software on a NAS unit, it is not designed to be a general purpose server. For a more in-depth technical description, search for this definition below.

FYI: NAS is not to be confused with SAN (Storage Area Network), which provides only block-based storage and leaves file system concerns on the client-side. Despite their differences, SAN and NAS are not mutually exclusive, and may be combined as a SAN-NAS hybrid, offering both file-level protocols (NAS) and block-level protocols (SAN) from the same system. An example of this is Openfiler, a free software product running on Linux.

May 13, 2010

Traditionally, it meant to increase system resources in order to allow applications to run faster. Now it also means to make a small modification or to fiddle with something in an effort to make it better.

As Late As Possible

Another scheme in Web advertising, these ads pop-up as the reader moves from one page to another. Advertisers like interstitials because they can be certain that users will notice their pop-up ads.

Content marketing is an umbrella term encompassing all marketing formats that involve the creation or sharing of content for the purpose of engaging current and potential customers. In contrast to traditional marketing methods that aim to increase sales or awareness through interruption techniques, content marketing subscribes to the notion that delivering high-quality, relevant and valuable information to prospects and customers drives profitable consumer action. Content marketing has shown benefits in terms of retaining reader attention and improving brand loyalty better than traditional marketing techniques.

Content marketing products frequently take the form of custom magazines, print or online newsletters, digital content, websites or microsites, white papers, webcasts/webinars, podcasts, video portals or series, in-person roadshows, roundtables, interactive online, email, events. Content marketing is the underlying philosophy driving techniques such as custom media, custom publishing, database marketing, brand marketing, branded entertainment and branded content.

The purpose of this information is not to spout the virtues of the marketer’s own products or services, but to inform target customers and prospects about key industry issues, sometimes involving the marketer’s products. The motivation behind content marketing is the belief that educating the customer results in the brand’s recognition as a thought leader and industry expert.

May 14, 2010

To send a large amount of e-mails to one recipient. As with mail bombs, this can block the recipient's mailbox and crash the mail server. Once the recipient's mailbox is full (and its disk quota is used), the mail is then stored in the spool-directory; after that, it will block (or crash) the server when the disk reaches its limit.

Slang for an outdated management group, especially one that restricts changes in production or company culture for fear it will lose centralized power.

Jargon that refers to the quality of a Web site's link power, as in page rank, number of link votes, etc. - that are obtained from backlinks. This expression was coined by SEO consultant Greg Boser, for example "I need to get some more link juice for my latest site."

Sorry

May 15, 2010

Mosaic is the common name of the first World Wide Web browser. It is a software application that was developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) in Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, by Marc Andreessen, Eric Bina, and others. Building on code written by Tim Berners-Lee, Mosaic was the first cross-platform browser available and became the precursor to Netscape, which officially started the popularity of the Web. It is copyrighted as "NCSA Mosaic," and the source code was licensed to several companies, including Netscape.

Been There Done That

Slang for a low-priority project. For example, "Have her put the Web site overhaul on the back forty so she can work on the CD-ROM upgrade this month."

A business term for something that is extremely important in terms of the overall mission or strategy of a dot-com company or other business venture.

May 16, 2010

A technical term for a packet of information that is placed within network frames for delivery over a network. The datagram's header shows the source, destination, and type of data it contains, as well as its relation to any other datagrams being sent. This header information enables the data to be transported from router to router to its destination; datagrams are unique to the particular protocol being applied.

To search for a job on the Internet takes patience. There are hundreds of thousands of career opportunities listed online. Online job searching can take many forms. For example, you can go to a search directory and type in the keywords "job sites" (or something similar) and you will get hundreds of results of Web sites that list career opportunities. One can also look through the classified listings of major newspapers' Web sites, browse job-related or geographically-oriented newsgroups, surf the Web to find the employment sections of corporate Web sites (most sites have a permanent icon on their homepage for career opportunities), post a resume on one of many job Web sites (it must be in ASCII text, so first save it to a SimpleText or Notepad file, then cut-and-paste it into the Web site's form), perform keyword searches on one of many job Web sites, subscribe to a job-related online newsletter, join a job-related mailing list, contact an online recruiter (ecruiter), use e-mail to network with fellow colleagues, and so on. Millions of netizens have found jobs via the Net, and if you're still reading this, you probably can, too.

Talk To You Later

May 17, 2010

A modern method of corporate espionage, it's the knowledge you collect about your competition. the Net makes it extremely easy to research company information online. You can assemble data on almost everything from market research to pricing to employee lists to the geographic locations of your competition.

A graphics file format created specifically for use with wireless, mobile computing devices, such as cell phones, pagers, PDAs, and palm-sized PCs. Each WBMP file includes a value that describes the file's image based on the organization of its pixels and the amount of compression used to store the image.

WBMP data is configured according to Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) specifications for accessing information via handheld devices.

For a list of file extensions click here!

A malicious category of software programs that assists criminals in accessing a computer user's online accounts at financial services companies and online retailers, for the purpose of stealing the user's private financial information.

Ciao For Now

May 18, 2010

When an e-mail message cannot get to its recipient for some reason, it is returned or bounced to the sender, with an error message informing the user that it was not sent. This is also known as "bouncing back." You may hear someone say, "I tried to send you an e-mail message but it got bounced back." If this happens to you, check the e-mail address and contact tech support at your ISP.

A virtual laboratory, as in a lab without walls, in which all communication is done via the Net.

The ability of a file format, program, or hardware device to recognize and work with a particular form of technology. For example, "That version of their Web browser doesn't support frames. It's too old." Technical support is a human resource. You may hear someone say, "If you can't get your new software to load, call the tech support team."

Oh My Lord

May 19, 2010

Solving a difficult problem by pulling staff and resources from all corners of the company to come up with a solution. You may hear, "We need to do some barn raising in order to solve this dilemma."

The smallest unit of a picture on a computer screen. When an image's quality is poor, you will see a bunch of square dots, commonly known as "pixelization" resulting in a "pixelated image." Most Web designers and developers agree, a width of 1024 pixels is considered the standard.

Too Darn Many

Ejected from the chat rooms on America Online for violating its Terms of Service (TOS) agreement. The ejection-happy arbiters of taste who do the TOSsing are sometimes referred to as cybercops.

May 20, 2010

To stay up very late at night working on a project. For example, "We had an impromptu NetLingo.com marathon last night and worked for hours, burning the midnight oil."

An acronym used as an expression by tech support personnel to disguise what they're really saying. For example, "That sounds like an I/O error. Let's try rebooting." It comes from the technical term Input/Output error.

Also seen as "ns" it is a unit of time representing one billionth of a second.

Oh My Buddha

May 21, 2010

You're in it ;-) "The Web," as it is more commonly called, can be described as a collection of graphical pages on the Internet that can be read and interacted with by computer. You need an Internet connection, a computer, a Web browser, and a few specialized programs (listed below) in order to access and view this online information.

The Web actually exists as a global system of servers that supports specially formatted files written in a code that links them together. Many of the files contain graphics, audio, and/or video. The Web is a hypertext system that you navigate by clicking on links.

One thing that makes the Web such an exciting and useful medium is that the next document you "visit" could be located on a server down your block or on a server halfway around the world. Note: Not all Internet servers are part of the World Wide Web, but the Web requires the Internet as its transport mechanism. Created in 1989 at a research institute in Switzerland (CERN), the Web relies upon the HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), an Internet standard that specifies how an application locates and acquires resources stored on another computer on the Internet.

Most Web documents are created using HyperText Markup Language (HTML), an easy-to-learn coding system for the creation and display of WWW documents; these documents incorporate hypermedia (graphics, sounds, animations, and/or video), making the Web the ideal medium for publishing information on the Net. With the development of secured server protocol (HTTPS), the Web has become an important commercial medium whereby consumers can browse online catalogs or purchase merchandise without worrying that their credit card information will be intercepted.

All in all, the Web makes the Internet fun to look at and easy to use, and now, with the convergence of technology and telecommunication, experts are predicting six Webs will emerge (see: evernet).

You're On Your Own

A marketing ploy that involves placing frequently used keywords, such as "free," "money," or "sex," on a Web site. The intent is to trick a search engine into listing the site whenever those keywords are typed in by a user, even though those words have nothing to do with the site's actual content. Generally, a bait-and-switch is any kind of tactic that attempts to trick someone into action.

The flow of data over a network connection.

May 22, 2010

A network (or any other computer system) that is vulnerable to being hacked by a cracker.

To give work to a third-party entity, such as an independent contractor or a freelance agent. This is also known as outsourcing. Companies farm out work when they believe a person or organization has better expertise and can complete a project quicker (or more efficiently) than in-house resources.

At its basic level, it is the construction of a network system that enables users within a single home to simultaneously connect to the Internet over a single account and to share printers and other peripherals. As smart homes become an everyday reality, a wide variety of devices that contain chips will become part of the system (including lighting, appliances, security, and televisions). Systems are based on coaxial cable, existing telephone wires (POTS), and wireless radio frequency (RF).

May 23, 2010

Similar to an "inbox" on a desk where incoming work gets placed until you are ready to process it, this refers to an area in your e-mail program that holds the incoming e-mail messages you receive. The outbox refers to e-mail messages that are waiting to be sent. You may hear someone say "I've got to clean up my inbox, that thread about the office party has taken it over."

see: PPL

Slang for international correspondence from someone whose command of English is well intentioned, but tenuous at best. For example, "We will most please thank you for investigating our problem in your computer."

Where Many Have Gone Before

May 24, 2010

A new window that suddenly appears on your computer screen is referred to as a "pop-up window."

You'll see one, for example, when you open a new program, when you switch from program to program (that's multitasking), and when you use a drop-down menu. Likewise, a Web browser may launch a second browser that pops-up in the form of a mini-window on your computer screen. If you don't want it there, just click on the X in the upper-right corner and close it ;-)

The NetLingo Pocket Dictionary on NetLingo.com is an example of something that pops-up.

A radius of approximately 300 feet, a "hotspot" is an area that enables wireless Internet access. For example, if your laptop is properly equipped with a wireless card, you can access the Internet without having to be connected by phone line or cable if you are in a hotspot.

You will see coffee shops such as Starbucks, advertise that they are hotspots. Unlike piggybacking onto a wireless network, you must usually pay per day or hour to access the net via a hotspot.

Don't Go There Girlfriend

Slang for a mistake in computer documentation. Used in the technical writing department (the "DocuZoo") at Sun Microsystems.

May 25, 2010

A standard that comes to pass because everyone uses it, not because it was ordained as such.

Act Locally, Think Globally

A term coined by Jupiter Research that describes online adults (age 18 and over) who are very concerned about the environment. Surveys show that 49% of online adults are concerned about the environment and 21% are "hard core" meaning they are serious about "green living" and are familiar with the terms carbon footprint and cleantech.

May 26, 2010

A source of funding for early-stage, risk-oriented business endeavors. A venture capital funding arrangement will typically require that the entrepreneur relinquish some level of ownership and control of the business. VC firms offset a high risk of failure for the promise of an even higher return on their investment. The investment is usually in the form of stock or something that can be converted into stock at a later date. As the business matures, an initial public offering (IPO) may take place, or the business may be merged, sold, or additionally funded. These events are intended to enable the company to buy out the venture capitalists. If the business does not mature, major amounts of money could be lost.

Whenever you receive information via a network, it flows downstream. The speed at which you receive (or download) the information is known as the "downstream rate." Whenever you send information over a network, the speed at which you send (or upload) the information is called the "upstream rate."

Trying To Keep a Straight Face

May 27, 2010

New and improved, I2 aims to increase the size and strength of the Internet, not to replace it. Internet2 is a TCP/IP-based network, just like the Internet, that uses substantially increased bandwidth between the backbone and local points of presence (POPs). On the Internet, the average POP connection is about 1 Mbps; Internet2 connections (also known as gigaPOPs) are expected to sustain data transfer rates of at least 100 Mbps. While it will play a vital role in uncovering next-generation application and protocols that may one day migrate to the commercial Internet, it is not a second-generation commercial Internet. Instead, it's a virtual laboratory where the research community can develop distributed video and audio and other multimedia applications (such as telemedicine procedures) without clogging up the commercial Internet.

I2 was set in motion in 1996, when the NSF awarded grants to thirty-five research institutions across America, helping them connect to the vBNS and thus enabling the NGI initiative to take form. There are hundreds of universities, corporations, and government entities collaborating on this Washington, D.C.-based project, but, for the end-user, its results will not be publicly debuted in the commercial sector beyond making a noticeable difference in how things work, notably in the speed.

Some I2 initiatives include I2-DSI (Distributed Storage Infrastructure), I2-DVN (Digital Video Network), and the Qbone (Quality of Service Backbone Test Bed).

For more information about Internet2, click here or on the "more info" button below!

When a company's profits exceed the average for its industry, the company has acquired a "competitive advantage" over its competitors. The goal for all organizations is to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage.

The act of telling too much about yourself or your past on a blog or social networking site.

For Crying Out Loud

May 28, 2010

A popular Web browser produced by Microsoft. Internet Explorer was first released after the Netscape browser had already gained market share. At that time, it supported many of the original Netscape HTML extensions (as well as some of its own, such as bgsound.src, which allows a sound file to load automatically when a Web page is accessed). There are now many versions of IE, and each one strives to offer more bells-and-whistles than the previous (which can become annoying because you finally get to know one interface and then it changes). Nonetheless, IE can grow on you.

Microsoft is currently being sued by the U.S. Department of Justice for violating antitrust regulations because it bundled IE with the Windows operating system, gaining a competitive advantage in the browser market (since Windows had already attained critical mass).

Even though many die-hard netizens were originally loyal to Netscape, the IE product line has proven itself as a reliable browser.

The extra stuff "shoveled" onto a CD-ROM or Web site just to fill up the extra space.

Vaya Con Dios, Amigo

May 29, 2010

To transmit meaningless data via networks (along communication lines) or keyboards (when communicating in chat).

Silicon Valley slang for a company that was developed in somebody's garage (or on someone's kitchen table) but has now moved into its first real office and is considered professional. The term arose from the fact that approximately 12 percent of Internet start-ups are actually started "out of garages" or in residential areas. Hewlett-Packard is a well-known example of a company founded by two men, William Hewlett and Bill Packard, who started by working out-of-the-garage.

You may hear this term when you move your Web site from one server to another. Put simply, it's the transmission of signals from one place to another. On the Net, it works like this: When you move your Web site from one IP address to another (by changing the server it is hosted on), the DNS must point to the new address. Once you make the request (with your ISP or with InterNIC) to have the DNS point to the new location, it may take 48 to 96 hours (or even up to 5 days) for all of the networks to process the change. This is because the Internet exists on many different networks. You could see your site listed under its new IP address using PacBell phone lines, for example, but a friend trying to look at it from another location using NYNEX phone lines, for example may not see the new address until the propagation takes full effect.

Doing Business As

May 30, 2010

A play on the phrase "leading edge," this term describes certain kinds of technology (and the people and companies who create it) that are so far advanced, there is no real, practical application for them yet.

One of several major Internet connection points in the United States. NAPs tie all of the ISPs together so that, for example, an AT&T user in Portland, Oregon, can reach the Web site of a Bell South customer in Miami, Florida. Originally, the NSF created and supported four NAPs (in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.). The program was part of the transition from the government-financed Internet to a commercially operated Internet. Since that time, several new NAPs have arrived, including WorldCom's MAE West, in San Jose, California, and ICS Network Systems' "Big East" in Washington, D.C. The NAPs provide major switching facilities that serve the public in general.

For example, the vBNS network, supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for research purposes, makes use of the NAPs. Much Internet traffic is handled without involving NAPs, though, using "peering" arrangements and interconnections within geographic regions.

An emerging rule of thumb that suggests that if you get a group of 100 people online, then one will create content, ten will interact with it (commenting or offering improvements) and the other 89 will just view it (also known as lurking). Earlier metrics garnered from online community sites suggested that about 80% of content was produced by 20% of the users, but the growing data due to social networking sites and blogs creates a different picture. The lesson? A Web site that demands too much interaction and content generation from users will see nine out of ten people just pass by.

I Love You

May 31, 2010

A scripting language to enable Web page authors to design interactive sites. Although it shares many of the features and structures of the full Java language, it was developed independently. JavaScript can interact with HTML source code, enabling Web developers to jazz up their sites with dynamic content. For example, it makes it easy to respond to user-initiated events (such as form input) without having to use CGI.

JavaScript is endorsed by a number of software companies and is an open source language that anyone can use without purchasing a license. It is supported by recent versions of Netscape and Microsoft browsers, although the latter (Internet Explorer) only supports a subset that Microsoft calls Jscript.

One who raises venture capital with the goal of earning significant financial returns for the participating institutional investors. Venture capitalists also specialize in assembling seasoned management teams and are often considered experts in the particular industries they come from. For example, in addition to being a partner in New Enterprise Associates, Stewart Alsop is a contributing editor to InfoWorld (having formerly served as editor-in-chief).

To copy and post another person's Twitter content.  When someone retweets you, it is considered the highest compliment you can get on Twitter because they are choosing to share your post with their own followers or contacts.