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Introduction to Internet terms 

Modum A device which connects your computer to a phone line (or a cable TV system) and allows your computer to link up with other computers. A modem can be a box sitting next to your computer, or it may be built-in to your computer.
Server A computer that is attached to a network.
ISP A company who provides you a connection to the Internet and its various components such as e-mail, and the  WWW.  When you sign-up with an ISP, you are given a local phone number which your computer "dials" into. Once your computer is connected to the ISP, the ISP then switches your computer's connection directly out to the Internet network.
Browser A software program which lets you request and view web sites.
User Name The name you use to sign on to a network.
Password The secret name that you use with the user name to sign on to a network.
E-Mail An Electronic message sent from one person's computer to another person's computer, usually through the Internet.  E-Mail can include attached files such as pictures or sounds.
E-Mail Address apollo - user ID
@      - at
aol    - where the user is (Domain Name)
com    - users domain
Domain Name The name of a particular web site. Activitiesforkids site, for example, has a domain name of activitiesforkids.com.  Domain names are used to make it easier for humans to remember the address of a Web site.
URL Uniform Resource Locator which represents the unique address for a specific web page.
http://www.activitiesforkids/printout/definitions.htm
http               - hypertext transport protocol
www               - world wide web
activitiesforkids - domain name
com               - commercial
summer            - directory
definitions       - web page file name
htm               - type of file
User Domain The most commonly used User Domains are
com - commercial
edu - education
gov - government
mil - military
org - other organizations
net - networks
HTML Hypertext Markup Language is the computer language used to build web pages.
Hyperlink or Link A clickable area on a Web page which takes you to another page, or to a different place on the same page. The Web is based on pages and links.
ICON The small image on the computer screen that represents a link or another screen that you can go to.
Online Your computer is connected to another computer, usually through a modum.  (logged on)
Offline You are not connected to another computer through a modum. (logged off)
Cursor The blinking box or line on your computer
   
Plug-ins Special pieces of software which add new capabilities to a web browser program.
Shockwave A browser plug-in that lets you view interactive Web content like games, business presentations, entertainment, and advertisements from your Web browser. Shockwave is free, easy to get, and available to everyone on the Web. Shockwave ships with Windows 95, 98, MacOS, Internet Explorer CD, America Online, and Netscape Navigator. The Shockwave logo specifies that the site was built with Macromedia Shockwave.
Acrobat The Adobe Acrobat Reader lets you view and print PDF files on all major computer platforms.
CGI (Common Gateway Interface) activities use scripts that run the page.
Java Java is a programming language that enables software developers to create programs called applets. When a web browser (such as Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer) finds a page that contains an applet, one of two things can happen. If the browser understands Java, it downloads the applet and hands it off to your computer to be run. If the browser doesn't understand Java, it ignores all of the applets and displays the rest of the page as usual.
Java Script JavaScript allows activities to be interactive. When a browser finds JavaScript in a web page, one of two things can happen. If your browser understands JavaScript, it will download the script to your computer along with the page. If your browser doesn't understand JavaScript, it will ignore it and download the rest of the page.