Blog – A blog (or “web log”) is a type of web page that is a publicly accessible personal journal. Blogs are typically updated daily and reflect the opinion of the author. Old entries are kept in archives and are searchable. “Blogging” is the act of writing a blog. And audio or video blog is known as a podcast.
Broadband – A connection to the Internet that allows a lot of information to be sent at once. Typically, these connections are provided by telephone companies (DSL) and by cable companies (referred to via many brand names). It provides a much faster connection than dialup.
Browse – Think of it as window-shopping on the Internet. By following links and entering web addresses you can visit different stores and sites. Browsing differs from searching, where you use keywords in a search engine like google.com to find sites that relate to what you’re searching for. Browsing often takes you to sites with unrelated information.
Browsers – This is the software program installed on your computer that lets you view web pages. They translate the html-encoded files into the text, images and sounds you see and hear. Internet Explorer, Firebox, Safari and Opera are all examples of browsers.
Cache – To speed up the loading of pages, your computer stores frequently used files from the web in the cache. When you click on the Forward or Back buttons, pages often load faster because they are pulled out of your cache rather than the web site.
CGI – Short for Common Gateway Interface, CGI allows web pages to interact dynamically with you. Search boxes, forms, guestbooks and other features us cgi scripts to trigger and process the actions requested by the user.
Cookie – When your computer contacts a server, a cookie is often generated by the server and sent back to your computer. This small piece of code is called a cookie. Cookies allow a web page to address you by name, remember your last session, log you in automatically and other important functions.
Dialup – A dialup connection is achieved when your computer dials up a local access number through a phone line to an Internet provider (AOL, Earthlink, Netzero, etc.). It is a relatively slow connection compared to broadband.
Domain, Top Level Domain – A top-level domain name is what appears after the dot in a domain name. Common top-level domain names are .gov, .edu, .org and the two most popular ones, .net and .com. There are other top-level domains available as well, such as ones specific to certain countries: .fr (France), .ca (Canada) and .uk (United Kingdom). Others are specific to organizations: .museum, .tv, .biz, etc.
