ICANN. Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. See InterNIC.

Icon. A graphic, usually small, which provides a link on a webpage. It is easier to find than a text link.

Image map. Click on a different part of the picture, and it will link to different pages. That's because that portion of the image has been "mapped" to go to that other location.

IMAP. Internet message access protocol. The rules followed by email programs. Differing from POP, IMAP can massage information that is stored on the server, without having to download it.

Internet. Two or more connected networks. The Internet is the largest Wide Area Network of computers on the planet.

InterNIC. Integrated Network Information Center. See also domain name and domain name server.

Intranet. A company-internal network. The Internet is an extranet because it is not held captive within the organization.

IP. Internet protocol. A set of Internet standards. Your IP address is essentially your DNS number. Every computer on the Internet is identified by a unique IP number.

IPP. See ISP.

IRC. Internet relay chat. A live network to share messages back and forth dynamically, in a conversation.

ISDN. Integrated services digital network. Whereas DSL connects point-to-point, ISDN may connect to many points, one at a time. ISDN speeds are in the range of 128 Kbps. ISDN supports voice, data and video.

ISO. International Standards Organization. This group sets standards, in our case, for computers, which are used around the world.

ISP. Internet service provider. This company offers you a usually local telephone number as your point of presence (POP) so that you may connect to the network. They also offer connection software. Common services include email as well as Web browsing. In common parlance, "ISP" is also used to describe the company which hosts your website, because ISPs often do that. A company which hosts a site but does not offer the POP service is more properly called an Internet Presence Provider (IPP).

Java. Designed for networks by Sun Microsystems, this is a cross-platform (works the same way on different computers) programming language. For it to operate on your computer, the commands ("classes") must first be downloaded. Java applets are designed so as to prevent putting viruses or worms onto your system.

JavaScript. Designed specifically for use in webpages, the JavaScript language differs from Java primarily in that it runs "on the fly." This means that the browser interprets the script line by line, as it is received, so it gets to work faster.

JPEG. JPG. Joint Photographic Experts Group. A Web-oriented graphics format. A .jpg image is usually better for color photographs than a .gif image.

Leased line. This is a wire or fiber optic cable which connects your computer to the phone company or other discrete point. Available around the clock, it provides the highest speed data connection, usually at the highest cost.

Link. A hypertext connection. Also see Anchor. A link may be absolute with the entire address such as
<a href="http://www.neguide.com"> Baughan's Northeast Guide</a> between one site and another or
<a href="http://www. rocksolidsite.com">Home Page</a> within the same site. Or, it may be a relative link such as
<a href="../index.htm">Home</a> within the same site. An external link is between pages, and an internal link is a bookmark (example at anchor) within the same page.

Link farm. This is not a place where you want to be. In theory, you would submit your site to these places solely to increase your "popularity" (the links coming in to your site). Actually, if you are there then you can expect the reverse to happen. Search engines will likely penalize you -- maybe even ban your site -- as they consider this tactic to be spamming. So, how do you identify such places?

• Is there descriptive text around the link, or just a series of links? If there is no meaningful text content, it may well be just a farm.
• Do they promote themselves as an FFA site (see free for all)? Offering a free listing is not the same as being an FFA... it's a "flavor" which becomes immediately evident.
• Are there dozens and dozens -- or maybe even hundreds -- of links on the same page? The number of links is arbitrary, but we think of anything over three dozen links on a page as being too excessive -- a well structured site would be better organized.
• Speaking of organization, is there any? Is everything just lumped together, or are there clear categories of links? (In a good site, restaurants would be grouped with other restaurants, etc.)
Do they require that you place a reciprocal link on your own site? (Encourage is not the same thing as require.)
• Look at the page's source code. Are there many links in there which are hidden to the casual viewer? (If so, run away real quick-like!)

Linux. This is a free operating system which is similar to and highly compatible with the Unix system. Being open-source, you can examine and alter the inner workings.

Log in. The process of entering your user name and password to connect to an otherwise secure area of the Internet.

Megabyte. 1,024 kilobytes. It is the same as 1 bit x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2 =
8 bits to count numerically 0 to 255 =
1 byte, then x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2 = 1,024 bytes = 1 kilobyte, then
x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2 = 1,048,576 bytes = 1,024 kilobytes = 1 Megabyte.

Now, why is a Megabyte 1,024,000 instead of 1,000,000? 'Cause a Kilobyte is 1,024 instead of 1,000, that's why. The strange number comes from the computers base-2 orientation instead of base-10. That's 'cause a bit is a digital switch on "1" or off "0." The first bit is 1 or 0. The second bit is 1 or 0. They are additive. So, in just two bits you can count to 4 elements, 0-3 -- 00=0, 01=1, 10=2, 11=3. In one byte, 8 bits, you can count from 0-255. So, "base ten" is a purely human creation, to go along with our (hopefully) ten fingers and ten toes. It has nothing to do with the real world. If it weren't for cavemen inventing shoes, we'd probably be on base 20.

Think about it. In 1793, the "meter" was defined to be 1 / 10,000,000 of the distance from the pole to the equator. In 1906 it was defined to be 1,000,000 / 0.64384696 wavelengths in air of the red line of the cadmium spectrum. In 1960 it was changed to 1,650,763.73 wavelengths in vacuum of the radiation corresponding to the transition between levels 2p10 and 5d5 of the krypton 86 atom. In 1983 they made it the length traveled by light in vacuum during 1/299,792,458 of a second.

Luckily, Nature couldn't care less about our inventions. Base 2. On or off. That's it. That's Her way. And that's why it's 1,024.

Meta tag. Information stored in the header of a webpage (normally invisible to the visitor). It contains information and instructions to the browser about the page itself.

MIDI. Musical instrument digital interface. A format for music files.

MIME. Multipurpose Internet mail extension. This is a protocol which allows you to attach graphics, videos, music and word processing documents to email messages.

Mirror site. This is a website which contains the same information that is located on another site. If the site abc.com is the same as def.com, then it may be disqualified from listing by search engines.

Mnemonic. A created word or words which allows you to remember. See also domain name.

Modem. Modulator/demodulator. This piece of hardware connects your computer to the telephone line.

Mosaic. NCSA Mosaic (tm). Archaic. This is the first browser that was implemented on Windows, Macintosh and Unix. It came out in 1993, from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

MPEG. Moving Pictures Expert Group. A format for video and music.

Multimedia. The ability to combine sound with pictures and text.

Nest. To have one item within another. The figure is nested in the small table which is nested within the larger table on the page.

Network. Two or more computers connected together through a network hub, switch, or router.

NOC. Network operations center. The group that controls the daily operation of the network.

Node. A single computer connection on a network.

Octal. A method of encoding a character in 3 bits, 000 to 111, representing 0 to 7. If your office computer is in such a Base8 configuration, it might be about time to notify the boss that Elvis has left the building.

Open source. Program software of which the code is made available so that implementers may alter it to meet user requirements.