FTP File transfer protocol. Used primarily for transferring
large files over the internet.
Gopher A format for accessing text on the internet. This has
fallen into disuse, but used to be an important medium for sharing information.
HTTP Hyper-text Transfer Protocol. A protocol for allowing
the interaction of different resources over networks. You know this through web
pages and their hyperlinks.
HTTPS A form of HTTP for securely transferring data.
Information passed using HTTPS is encrypted, so only the sender and the receiver
know what it contains.
hyperlinks, links An address contained within another
document, typically activated by clicking. Basically, a string of characters in a
pre-defined format. When you click it with your mouse, your computer analyzes the
contents of the string, and forwards you to the relevant information.
LDAP Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. Used to request
directory listings over the internet. These could be listings of organizations,
telephone numbers, computers, files, or any number of other things.
Mnemonic Merriam-Webster
defines mnemonic as something "assisting or intended to assist memory." LinkFrog
uses it to mean the characters on the end of shrunken URLs : the key-word
"passwordCreator" in the link
http://linkfrog.net/passwordCreator is its mnemonic.
Path The address of the resource relative to the base
authority address. For instance, if a URL's path is : /steve/index.htm,
it is a file named "index.htm" found in the sub-directory "steve".
Query Custom information to send to the resource when
loading it. These are in key/value pairs separated from the path by a question
mark and from each other by an ampersand. The link
index.htm?key=value&another-key=its-value thus
has two key/value pairs in its query.
Scheme The protocol used for retrieving the resource.
http:// is the most common; you might also have seen https://, ftp:// or gopher://
Server It literally servers resources to people who
request them. It can refer either to a specific computer, or to a program on
a given computer. (Ultimately it is both; the server computer must have a
server program running on it.) It listens constantly on a particular address,
interpreting incoming requests and returning appropriate responses, or forwarding
the request to another server. Think of a hotel telephone operator, waiting
patiently for incoming calls. When one is received, the operator quickly decides
whether a quick answer is enough, or if the call should be forwarded to another
department, or if the call should simply be ended immediately.
Spam Bulk e-mails used primarily commercially. Spam got its
name from the Monty Python
"Spam" sketch, where succesive meals in a restaurant are comprised increasingly of
spam, e.g., eggs, spam, bacon, spam, spam, spam, spam, eggs and spam.
URI Uniform Resource Identifier A URI is an
"address" to a resource. The point is to provide a standard way of addresses any
resource in any medium, whether it be the internet, a database, or your local
computer. URIs have four component parts: scheme://authority/path?query. Officially,
only the query does not have to be provided. Ultimately however, web browsers typically
add a scheme if none is provided, and web-servers add any missing paths. Thus, entering
google.com will get you where you want to go, even though both the scheme and the path
are missing.
URL Uniform Resource Locator The most common form of
URIs. URLs are used to reference and link to web pages and their resource, for instance
http://example.com
Web-Server A particular kind of server supplying web-pages
and their associated resources over the internet.