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Glossary of Computing and Internet Terms |
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Account
A subscription which enables you to use the services of an Internet Service Provider (ISP). There are monthly subscription accounts for both broadband and dial-up ISPs but with dial up connections it is still also possible to register with an ISP for an account and pay for that account ONLY by virtue of the telephone call charges (so called "Free" account).
Address
The phrase which identifies the location of a particular web site or web page on the world wide web - also known as the URL (Uniform Resource Locator). If you know the address of a web site (e.g. www.makingmusic.org.uk ) you can type it into your web browser in order to view the web site.
Apple Macintosh Computers
The most popular brand of computers optimised to run an Apple operating system, a rival to Windows, although they can optionally be set up to run Windows additionally. Often known as "MACs".
Application
A particular computer program or collection of programs.
Attachment
A file attached to an e-mail message so that it can be sent via the Internet. For example if you had a photograph you wanted to show to a friend or relation overseas you could scan the photograph to create an image file and then attach this file to an e-mail message and send it across the Internet: within a minute or so your friend or relation would then be able to see the photograph on the computer screen.
Banner
A rectangular box which appears at the top or bottom of many web pages often containing advertisements for web sites or other products or services.
Bitmap
A basic and common PC format for storing images in files. You should normally be able to see that the file name ends with .bmp.
Broadband
A high speed data connection between the customer and the ISP either over telephone wires or a cable network system. Generally an always ON connected arrangement. High speed meaning greater than 128 Kbper second up to 8-20 Mbits of information per second.
Camera-ready
Clean, sharp original photographs, drawings or other visual material suitable for scanning (not photocopies, faded prints or faxes).
Click
Pressing a button on your mouse while pointing to an item on the computer screen will tell the computer to activate the item in question and do something (depending on the item concerned), e.g. clicking a link in your web browser will tell the computer to display a different web page.
On Windows there are two main forms of clicks;
1) Left button clicks - often the first click selects the object and a second causes that object to be actioned (double clicking on a program icon starts the program)
2) Right button click - Opens up a menu, often adding more choices
Database
A collection of information ("data") stored on a computer in a way that you can easily find particular items and cross references.
Disk
A device for storing computer files - either within the computer itself (known as a "hard disk") or a removable disk which can be removed from one computer and inserted into another to transfer files between the two machines.
Compact Discs (CDs) can typically stror up to 700Mb of information, Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs) can typically store about 4 Gb of information.
Both of these come in a variety of types depending on whether or not data can be erased as well as added.
Domain name
The part of the address of a web page which is common to all web pages in a particular web site. For example the Making Music web site (eg www.makingmusic.org.uk ) has the domain name "makingmusic.org.uk" - you can register any word or combination of words as a domain name providing it has not already been taken. There is usually a charge to do this. The alternative is for your web site to have an address which is included within the domain name of your Internet Service Provider (ISP). For example; if your ISP is Demon Internet your web site address might be www.mysociety.demon.co.uk whereas, if you had paid to register your own domain name your web site address could be www.mysociety.co.uk
Electronic format
Refers to any information stored in computer files rather than on paper.
E-mail
Electronic mail is the universal system for sending text messages from person to person via the Internet. The benefits of e-mail are that it is cheap (at most the cost of a very brief local telephone call in order to connect your computer to the Internet), fast (e-mail can be received within a minute of sending anywhere in the world - provided your machine is connected to the Internet at the time - otherwise the message is held for you on a server until the next time you connect), you can send the same message simultaneously to multiple recipients, you can amend the text of a message you have received and forward it to someone else etc. Unlike the world wide web, e-mail messages are only seen by the person to whom they are sent. As well as sending text messages you can use e-mail to send files via the Internet: these are attached to the e-mail message and are usually referred to as attachments. For example if you had a photograph you wanted to show to a friend or relation overseas you could scan the photograph to create an image file and then attach this file to an e-mail message and send it across the Internet: within a minute or so your friend or relation would then be able to see the photograph on the computer screen.
Email client
The name for the program you read and write E mails with. Microsoft produces 2 clients - Outlook (as part of the Microsoft OfficeSuite) and Outlook Express (provided free with Windows XP). Other popular E mail clients are: Thunderbird, Eudora, Opera.
Engineered for very high transaction rate
A web site which is designed not to fail even if thousands (or millions) of people try to use it at the same time.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
This is an internet communication protocol used to enable a person to browse folders and files on a remote computer from their computer through an internet connection.
Files
Discrete packets of information stored on a computer. Files can contain text or an image or an entire web page.
Gif
A popular web format for storing images in files. (gif, pronounced "jiff" or "giff" (hard g), stands for "graphics interchange format"). This is a compressed format so will always be smaller than a bitmap (.bmp) version.
Home page
The principal web page in a web site, ie the material the creator of the web site wants people to view first: usually describes the contents of the rest of the web site and includes links to the other web pages in the web site.
HTML
HyperText Markup Language - an older computer language used to create web pages. This is being gradually suceeded by more adaptable and powerful versions such as XHTML (Extensible HTML) which as the name implies can be extended beyond the previous capabilities of HTML.
HTTP
HperText Transfer Protocol
This is an internet communication protocol used to organise the transfer of all the web page components (the text of the page and images or audio) between the distant Web Server to the customer.
Images
Visual information (photographs, logos, drawings, cartoons etc) stored in files on a computer, e.g. for use in web sites.
Internet
The collective name for the network of computers across the world linked by telephone lines, cables etc.
Internet Service Provider (ISP)
A company which owns or leases a server machine which is connected to the Internet. The company allows its members (or account holders) to connect to its server (and through it to the Internet) by providing relevant user names and passwords.
JPEG (file extension .jpg or .jpeg)
A popular web format for storing images in files. (JPEG, usually pronounced "jay-peg", stands for "Joint Photographic Experts Group"). This is a group of people that defined the coding algorithms used to compress pictures to reduce the amount of data needed to reproduce the image. The JPEG image format is lossy i.e. the compression loses detail in the image but is much smaller, maybe a fifth or tenth of the orignal .bmp image file.
Link (or hypertext link)
Text or image on a web page which enables you to jump directly to another web page or web site (links usually appear as underlined text which you can click).
Link page
A web page listing and providing links to other relevant web sites.
Microsoft Internet Explorer
A popular web browser program.
Microsoft Windows
The predominant "operating system" for personal computers (PCs) - i.e. the set of instructions the computer uses to understand how to process programs and files.
Microsoft Word format
A particular method of storing text and font and text formatting information used by the Microsoft Word program. This has been updated many times over the years but the Word 97 format can be read by all later versions of Word and has become a de-facto standard for Word document interchange. Other word processing programs can import Word documents in this format easily.
Mouse
A small plastic device attached to a computer by a wire or other means: when the mouse is moved across a flat surface (e.g. a desk or table) a pointer on the computer screen moves accordingly. This enables you to "point" to items displayed on the computer screen and then click to tell the computer that you want to select a particular item and do something with it.
Netscape Navigator
A popular web browser program.
Opera
A popular web browser program.
Password
A word or series of letters and numbers which you provide when necessary to confirm to your Internet Service Provider or other organisation that you are authorised to use its services - may be provided by the ISP or you may be asked to invent your own password. The password tells the ISP that you are who you say you are when you try to use its service.
PC
Personal Computer: computers compatible with the IBM Personal Computer (this usually means computers which use Microsoft Windows). This includes most personal computers but may exclude some Apple Macintosh machines if they use only Apple's own operating system.
PC formats
Methods of storing information (e.g. text or images) in files which can be used on computers compatible with the IBM Personal Computer (this usually means computers which use Microsoft Windows). This includes most personal computers but excludes Apple Macintosh machines which use a completely different system.
Plain text
A method of storing text in files on computers which merely remembers the letters and numbers used without reference to the type-face, size of the characters or additional features such as bold, underlining or italics. Plain text is a universal system used and understood by all computers. Most e-mail messages use plain text so that they can be understood by the recipient's computer whatever kind it is. (Plain text is sometimes also referred to as ASCII (pronounced "ask-ee") which stands for the "American Standard Code for Information Interchange")
PNG - Portable Network Graphic Format
A graphic format which compresses image but, unlike .jpg files, the image file are loss-less - there is no loss of detail. Developed as a Copyright free replacement for the GIF format in 1995.
Pdf - Portable Document Format
Portable Document Format (filename extension .pdf)
Often used as an electronic version of a printed (or printable) electronic document. Developed by Adobe from it's definition of the Postscript printing language. These documents can have passwords in them to restrict access but are generally only restricted in the ability to modify the underlying document
Portal
A web site which displays information about (and links to) a changing selection of other web sites. Portals are designed to be sites that people return to frequently as a gateway to other web sites. Using a portal saves you having to know the address of a web site or having to use a search engine to find a web site: it is therefore increasingly important for web sites to feature on portals.
Program
A package of instructions to the computer that get it to perform a particular function: using an established program such as a web browser means that you can, for example, ask the computer to display a web page merely by specifying the address of the web page.
Rich text format (rtf)
A method of storing text in files on computers which includes reference to the type-face, size of the characters and additional features such as bold, underlining or italics. Rich text format is a fairly common system used and understood by most word processing programmes (particularly those using Microsoft Windows).
Scan
To create an image file from an original photograph or drawing using a scanner (which resembles a small photocopier). This can be either a bitmap or compressed image file such as a .jpg file depending on the capabilities of the scanning program used.
Search engines
Web sites which act as directories of other web sites allowing you to search for web sites by entering key words. The world wide web is so big that there are only really three ways of finding a particular web site: (i) someone tells you the address of the web site (e.g. www.makingmusic.org.uk ), (ii) you find a link to the web site on another web site (probably through a link page) or (iii) you search for the web site using a search engine.
Some search engines widen their search by using other search engines to find a wider range of web site matches.
For example: Type into a search engine "Making Music" and www.makingmusic.org.uk is the first link that a Google web search would find. Popular search engines: www.google.com, www.yahoo.com, www.dogpile.com (for the name alone! - searches google,yahoo,msn and others)
Secure data-warehousing and backups
To avoid losing all the information on a server if it fails or is damaged it is good practice to copy all the information periodically to another server or other information storage system: this is known as creating a backup or data-warehousing. In the same way as it is important for the original data to be protected from accidental or malicious damage the backup should also be protected (made "secure") both physically and in terms of being available to other computers.
Secure multiple server environment
A system which uses copies of information on a number of servers (in case any one server fails) in a safe room or building which is protected against intruders.
Server
A large computer which is permanently connected to the Internet.
Text
Any information that is conveyed (on a web site or in an e-mail message) purely by letters and numbers with no additional visual elements.
Encryption services
Data sent accross the internet can be cryptically encoded in such a way that the information can only be read by those authorised to do so. Encryption services are a service provided by a third party supplier that give a way of checking that the computer receiving the encrypted information and decoding it are who they claim to be.
Uptime
The period of time while a server is switched on. Most servers are on almost continuously but all require switching off from time-to-time for maintenance.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator: the phrase which identifies the location of a particular web site or web page on the world wide web - also known as the address of the web site. If you know the URL of a web site (e.g. www. makingmusic.org.uk ) you can type it into your web browser in order to view the web site. (Technically the URL has to be preceded by "http://" which stands for "hyper text transfer protocol" - this signifies that the address is a web site. Most web browsers assume this and add the "http://" automatically so you do not need to type that part.)
User name
A unique word or combination of words which identifies your account with an Internet Service Provider or other organisation - may be provided by the ISP or you may be asked to invent your own user name. The user name tells the ISP who you are when you try to use its service.
WAP
Wireless Application Protocol - the system which enables mobile telephones to display text from web pages, a few lines at a time. Most WAP telephones display web pages specially designed for this purpose which contain less text and images than normal web pages.
Web browser
A program which enables you to look at web sites on your computer.
Web formats
Methods of storing information (e.g. text or images) in files which can be displayed on the world wide web. These methods are understood by any computer with a web browser and are universally usable by all kinds of computer.
Web pages
A visual arrangement of words and pictures which can be displayed on a computer screen: usually programmed in HTML and almost always including links to other web pages.
Web site
A collection of web pages created by the same person or organisation and joined together by links - web sites are usually stored on servers which are permanently connected to the Internet so that the web sites are always available for people to look at.
World Wide Web
An electronic "notice board" on which anyone with a computer connected to the Internet can post notices in the form of web pages which can then be seen by anyone else in the world with a computer connected to the Internet.
World Wide Web Consortium (w3c)
An independent organisation which promotes standards for the programming of web pages. w3c will validate the computer code behind a particular web page to confirm whether it conforms to programming standards. w3c compliant code is slightly more likely to look similar in most browsers.
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Content last updated:
28 October 2008 |
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 Making Music Website Development Service, 2-4 Great Eastern Street, London, EC2A 3NW |
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 Stuart McPherson, 020 7422 8282 |
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 stuart@makingmusic.org.uk |
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Service overview |
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Funding |
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Making Music offers four different ways to develop and maintain your group's web presence. |
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Are you looking to fund a special project or ongoing musical activity? There is funding out there to help you. |
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