Internet Guide |
I. What is the Internet
Definition: a network of networks
History:
II. Who uses the Internet and Why?
Internet users are everyone from government researchers to university professors to companies to journalists.
The Internet is used for many reasons:
III. Why do journalists need the Internet?
Uses of the Internet for journalists:
Hazards on the Internet for journalists:
IV. Why do media organizations need the Internet?
To give journalists access to these many resources so that they can:
To disseminate information within the organization by:
To save money by:
To make money disseminating information outside the organization by:
IV. How are you connected and how do you learn to use it?
Computers are connected to the Internet by three methods:
The best ways to learn to use the Internet are to:
Electronic mail (e-mail) is the most widely used and most widely accessible tool on the Internet. You can use e-mail not only to communicate with others, but also to retrieve documents and files.
Definition: a system for exchanging messages electronically between users of a computer network; users on the Internet can exchange e-mail with anyone else on the Internet.
Uses for journalists:
Address structure: The Internet has an addressing structure that can tell you something about not only an e-mail address, but also any site on the Internet. E-mail addresses consist of two main parts:
com | U.S. commercial domains, corporate sites (ibm.com) |
---|---|
edu | U.S. educational sites (harvard.edu) |
gov | U.S. government sites (whitehouse.gov) |
mil | U.S. military sites (navy.mil) |
net | U.S. sites that are administrative networks (psi.net) |
org | U.S. sites that do not fit in the other categories (un.org) |
Example: kflynn@ajc.com or president@whitehouse.gov
Finding a person's address: The easiest and most effective way to get a person's e-mail address is still to ask them for it. There is no comprehensive directory of e-mail addresses on the Internet. If you know the person's organization you can check to see if they have a directory. In addition, there are a few tools for finding addresses that you can try. You can find a list of these tools on Yahoo's White Pages.
Netiquette: Read the guide "Netiquette Guidelines" for rules governing e-mail exchanges. Remember that the Internet has a culture of its own and it is polite to observe proper etiquette. In particular,
Mailing lists: a list of e-mail addresses of people who share a particular interest; users subscribe to the list and receive copies of all messages sent to the list; some lists have moderators to determine whether a message is related to the objectives of the list.
Mailing lists are helpful to learn about new resources on the Internet and elsewhere, to get questions answered, and to keep up with what is happening in a particular subject area or business.
Helpful Hints:
The Internet has a distinctive culture. Like any culture it has specific etiquette and rules. Here are guidelines to help you fit in:
1. Read the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file or welcome message. Know the focus of the group you are posting to and the rules. Read the list or newsgroup for a few days before posting.
2. Make the subject line substantive. Be clear and concise so that the person receiving the message knows what the message is about without having to read the full text.
3. Do not use all capital letters. Typing all in capitals is considered to be SHOUTING and thus rude. In addition, all capitals or all lowercase is hard to read, so use standard mixed case. If you need to emphasize, use *around* your text or use capitals SPARINGLY.
4. Be concise and stay on topic. Everyone is pressed for time and time is money.
5. Make references clear. When replying quote enough of the message so that the person or readers of the list know to what you are referring. DO NOT quote the entire message.
6. Be discreet. Don't send e-mail that you wouldn't mind seeing on the front page of the New York Times. Nothing on the Internet is truly confidential. Copying or forwarding a message to someone else is a very simple task. When using reply be careful to note the address -- replies to messages from a list go to everyone on the list, not the person who wrote the message.
7. Identify yourself in the body of the message. Your messages from the company e-mail system will identify your name, e-mail address, and company. It is polite, however, to identify yourself in the body of a message with a "signature" including your name, your e-mail address, and the AJC as your employer. Your signature should not be more than four lines.
Example:
Jill Reporter | jill_reporter@ajc.com |
Atlanta Journal - Constitution | 404-526-0000 |
9. Ignore flames. If for some reason a person takes offense at something you or the AJC have said or done, be careful in responding. Any complaints, questions, or threats of litigation, should be directed to the appropriate supervisor. If the comment is personal and you feel a need to address the issue, do so through private e-mail, not on a mailing list or newsgroup. The best way to make inappropriate messages stop is to ignore them. Don't add to the flames.
The following mailing lists are discussion groups. Via e-mail, these groups discuss topics of interest to journalists and others involved in journalism. Any message posted to the list is copied to every member of the list. Unless otherwise indicated in the entry, to subscribe send a message to the address listed. Leave the subject line blank. In the message body, type:
SUBSCRIBE listname your_first_name your_last_name
For example: subscribe spj-l Roxanne Reporter
Save the welcome message you receive. This message will tell you how to post, what the list's focus is, and how to unsubscribe. If you need to know more list commands, such as how to temporarily stop receiving mail or how to search the archives, read the document "Essential commands: listserv, listproc, mailbase, mailserv, majordomo"
General Journalism Lists
Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ-L)
General discussion of journalism issues, research tips, current events and resources.
Subscription address: listserv@psuvm.psu.edu
Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE-L)
General discussion of investigative reporting, both techniques and ethical debates.
Subscription address: listserv@mizzou1.missouri.edu
Journalism and Technology Lists
Computer-Assisted Reporting and Research (CARR-L)
Focuses on how to find and use computer data from negotiating to software tips to writing to ethics. Very active list of journalists, educators and librarians worldwide.
Subscription address: listserv@ulkyvm.louisville.edu
Internationally-Oriented Computer-Assisted Reporting (INTCAR-L)
Focuses on computer-assisted reporting from an international perspective. Members from around the world.
Subscription address: listserv@american.edu
National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR-L)
NICAR focuses on the techniques of computer-assisted reporting with input from the staff based at the University of Missouri.
Subscription address: listserv@mizzou1.missouri.edu
New Information Technologies (NIT)
Information on new and rediscovered Internet resources for journalists, mostly from list owner Joe Abernathy, an editor at PC World.
Subscription address: majordomo@chron.com
Message body: subscribe nit your e-mail address (your name your news organization)
Online News (ONLINE-NEWS)
Discussion of the electronic presentation and publishing of newspapers and magazines, including design, advertising, and marketing.
Subscription address: majordomo@marketplace.com
Message body: subscribe online-news
Specific Aspects of Journalism
Copy Editing (COPYEDITING-L)
List for copy editors which focuses on tips on grammar, usage, and sentence construction.
Subscription address: listproc@cornell.edu
National Press Photographers Association (NPPA-L)
List for news photographers, system operators, photo editors and graphics editors. Discussions about photojournalism, ethics and new technologies.
Subscription address: listserv@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu
News Research (NEWSLIB)
Discussions about news research and resources, both electronic and otherwise. Lots of helpful information from this group which consists primarily of news librarians/researchers and increasing numbers of journalists.
Subscription address: listproc@ripken.oit.unc.edu
Journalism Education
Journalism Education (JOURNET)
Discussions on course content, resources, teaching strategies, ethics, and current news events. Frequented by professors.
Subscription address: listserv@qucdn.queensu.ca
Radio and Television Education (RTVJ-L)
Discussions by radio and television professors and students about the trade, courses, equipment, and ethics.
Subscription address: listproc@listserv.umt.edu
Student Media (STUMEDIA)
Discussions of interest to beginning journalists.
Subscription address:listserv@uabdpo.dpo.uab.edu
Newsletters
AIRWAVES
Daily digest of the rec.radio.broadcasting newsgroup, which is for radio professionals.
Subscription address: subscribe@airwaves.com
Subject line: SUBSCRIBE
Message body: (leave blank)
EDUPAGE
Digest from newspapers on media issues and information technology. Excellent source of information, sent three times a week.
Subscription address:listproc@educom.unc.edu
SHOPTALK
Published by TV news consultant Don Fitzpatrick. Includes information about the broadcast news industry.
Subscription address: listserv@listserv.syr.edu
Experts via E-mail
MediaNet
MediaNet is a journalist-owned-and-operated research service to help journalists quickly find sources, case studies and information from corporations, associations and nonprofit groups. Requests from the media are sent out electronically from MediaNet every business day to subscribing organizations who represent a wide variety of disciplines and industries. In turn, these MediaNet members respond to the requests if they are able to help. Journalists' confidentiality and privacy are paramount in this process. Contact 71344.2761@compuserve.com or uslifeline@aol.com, tel. 717-243-4285, fax: 717-243-1810.
ProfNet
ProfNet (Professors Network) is a cooperative of public information officers (PIOs) linked by the Internet to provide journalists and authors convenient access to expert sources at no charge. At ProfNet's core is an email distribution list that enables its news staff to send journalists' queries simultaneously to public information officers throughout North America and overseas. PIOs respond directly to the inquirer by email, fax, phone or hard mail, whatever route you specify. Direct queries to ProfNet at profnet@vyne.com, 73163,1362@compuserve.com, fax: 516689-1425, phone: 800-PROFNET (800-776-3638) or 516-941-3736.
The World Wide Web (WWW or W3 or Web) integrates different Internet resources, letting you browse many resources with ease.
Definition: an information system that allows users to create, edit and browse documents on the Internet using hypermedia, which links related concepts; helps you to find information on related topics by links and helps you to share information using a simple computer language; in addition to text, can play audio and display graphics and video by means of a graphical browser.
History:
How it works: A Web browser lets you jump from document to document using links. The links are coded using a language called hypertext markup language or HTML. Links are usually shown as highlighted or underlined text or graphics. Your cursor turns into a hand when placed over a link. Selecting a link will take you to the referenced document. You move from place to place by selecting links, moving back along the path you came, or by entering the address of a specific document. Web browsers will also let you use some Gopher, FTP, and telnet resources.
Choose Add Bookmark from the Bookmarks menu to add the current page to your bookmark list. Choose Window Bookmarks to get a view of your bookmark list with editing options. Bookmarks can be grouped together to make long lists easier to use.
NOTE: You don't need to save the file as Source if you just want to look at the HTML in the file. Instead, open the View menu and choose Source. Doing this opens the source document as a text file that you can scroll through and save.
The URL is an address that completely defines a resource of the World Wide Web. A URL consists of the protocol, the computer where the resource resides, a port number (if necessary), and the path and filename of the resource (optional). Example: http://www.yahoo.com/text/Regional/Countries/Czech_Republic/
The computer's address is called a domain name. Domain names provide the most specific information to the most general, separated by periods or dots. Addresses end with the two letter abbreviation for the country in which the computer resides, except for the majority of U.S. addresses. U.S. addresses have several possible endings which describe the type of organization:
com | U.S. commercial domains, corporate sites (ibm.com) |
---|---|
edu | U.S. educational sites (harvard.edu) |
gov | U.S. government sites (whitehouse.gov) |
mil | U.S. military sites (navy.mil) |
net | U.S. sites that are administrative networks (psi.net) |
org | U.S. sites that do not fit in the other categories (un.org) |
Sometimes a domain name will be represented with the actual IP address, which is numeric. For example: 157.150.195.19 is the same as www.un.org
Since much of the Internet uses the UNIX computer language, filenames are often case sensitive. When typing be certain to observe the proper case of the words.
If you are unable to access the document, try going to a higher level. This process is achieved by erasing from the end of a URL to the previous slash.
For example: http://lcweb.loc.gov/homepage/Congress.html
would become: http://lcweb.loc.gov/homepage/
The minimum URL consists of the protocol and the computer's address.
Unable to locate server - check the spelling of the URL or address that you have typed in. If the spelling is correct, the site is probably temporarily down.
A network error occurred: unable to connect to server [TCP Error:EBADF] The server may be down or unreachable. - Message you get when the server you are trying to access is too busy to accept your request or when the server itself is down.
Not Found - the URL or address you are trying to access does not exist.
404 Not Found - the URL name you have provided does not exist. Probably a spelling or syntax error.
403 Forbidden - You are trying to visit a Web site to which you do not have access.
Connection Refused By Host - Most likely the system you are trying to access is temporarily down.
Too many users - The site you are trying to access already has the maximum allowable number of visitors.
Broken pictures - inline images that are unreadable because they contain bad or missing data. Netscape shows these by a broken picture icon. Click on the icon and Netscape will download the picture again.
Here are a few popular subject guides:
Clearinghouse for Subject Oriented Internet Resource Guides
Magellan Internet Directory -- detailed site descriptions and ratings
Tips for searching the Web
Search engines on the Web all operate differently. Searchers may look for keywords in the titles and documents only, in all hypertext links in documents, or they may search the entire text of the documents. Search engines also differ in that some allow you to qualify your search, which will increase your chances of finding what you want.
Some basic tips for doing searches:
Here are a few search engines:
Back Takes you back to the last Web page you were viewing.
Forward Takes you one page forward in the history list. You must have already made at least one Back move.
Home Takes you back to your home page.
Reload Loads a page again. Useful if on a continuously updating page or if a page comes in unclear.
Images Loads images if Auto Load Images is turned off. Turning image loading off saves time browsing because images are slow to download.
Open Goes to a known address or URL that you enter.
Print Prints any Web document that you currently have on your screen. You can preview how the document will look by selecting File, Print Preview from the menu.
Find Finds a word or a string of words in the current document (not the same as searching the Web for documents.)
Stop Stops the loading of a document. Use this if a page you are trying to access is taking too long to display.
File Menu (New Web Browser, New Mail Message, Mail Document, Open Location, Open File, Close, Save as, Upload File, Page Setup, Quit)
Edit Menu (Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Clear, Select All, Find..., Find Again)
View Menu (Reload, Reload Frame, Load Images, Document Source, Document Info, Frame Source, Frame Info)
Go Menu (Back, Forward, Home, Stop Loading, View History)
Bookmarks (Add Bookmark, View Bookmarks)
Options Menu (General Preferences, Mail and News Preferences, Network Preferences, Security Preferences, Show Toolbar, Show Location, Show Directory Buttons, Show Java Console, Auto Load Images, Document Encoding)
Directory Menu (Netscape's Home, What's New, What's Cool, Customer Showcase, Netscape Destinations, Internet Search, People, About the Internet)
Window Menu (Netscape Mail, Netscape News, Address Book, Bookmarks, History)
Definition: the ability to access a computer from outside its network via the Internet.
History: Telnet is one of the earliest tools used on the Internet. It allowed users to login to a computer somewhere else and use the programs on that network without dialing through a phone line.
How to use telnet: From your Web browser, use the Go or Open Location command and type the URL.
Example: telnet://database.carl.org
Note that not all sites allow for telnet access. Sites that do allow access may request a login of guest or visitor. If asked for your terminal type, try VT100 or dumb.
How it works: Telnet connects you to a remote computer so that the other computer's screen display is sent to your computer, and your keyboard data is sent to the other computer. Programs on the remote computer appear to be running locally. Most of the commands you use when telnetted are related to the other computer.
Basic commands: (NOTE: These commands vary greatly from system to system. Look for the help command on the system you use.)
<Ctrl>] or ^-] Escape sequence; breaks out of your session and returns you to a telnet prompt.
From a telnet prompt:
<Enter> Returns you to your telnet session, if one is active; otherwise it exits telnet.
close Ends the current session and disconnects from the remote computer.
open Connects to a remote site when already in telnet; performs the same function as using telnet from your system prompt.
quit Exits the telnet program, terminating connections.
? Provides help information.
.
Definition: a navigational tool that presents Internet resources in a hierarchy of menus; Gophers provide easy access into other computers and databases.
History:
How to start Gopher: From your Web browser, use the Go or Open Location command and type the URL.
Example: gopher://marvel.loc.gov
How it works: Gopher lets you browse through resources on the Internet without needing to know where they are located or what their address is. Netscape displays a gopher site as file folders and documents. Click a folder to open and then select a document. Use the File, Save As command to save a document to your local drive.
Veronica and Jughead: tools that allows for keyword searches of an index of titles of Gopher items. Veronica's index consists of items on Gopher menus throughout gopherspace; Jughead's index is limited to a particular Gopher directory. Veronica and Jughead only search terms listed in the menu item, not the full text of a document or file.
Veronica sites: There are very few Veronica servers. Look for Veronica on your favorite Gopher or go to Yahoo.
Helpful Hints for Veronica:
Definition: a protocol that enables a user to transfer files electronically from a remote computer to the user's computer.
History: FTP was developed early in the 1970s by ARPANET to allow for the transfer of files between researchers.
How to use FTP: From your Web browser, use the Go or Open Location command and type the URL.
Example: ftp://sunsite.unc.edu
Many FTP sites allow public access and are referred to as anonymous FTP sites. Netscape will let you view anonymouse FTP sites. Sites that do not accept anonymous FTP will need to be accessed using an FTP client. Call News Research at 404-526-5420 for help.
How it works: FTP lets you connect to a remote computer, view its directories, and copy files back to your own computer. There are different versions of FTP, but they work similarly.
Basic commands: Netscape displays an FTP site as file folders and documents. Click a folder to open and then select a document. Use the File, Save As command to save a document to your local drive.
Note: Program files and large text files are often compressed so that they will transfer faster. For instance, PKZip is a common compression program that gives files a .zip extension. Files that are compressed must be uncompressed or exploded by their compression program in order to use them. You will not be able to view a compressed document until you download it to a local drive and uncompress it. Call News Research at 404-526-5420 for help.
Archie: a system for locating files and directories publicly available through anonymous FTP. Performs the same function for FTP sites that Veronica does for Gopher sites. Archie searches the names of files and directories, not the content of files.
Archie servers: Following are some forms for Archie servers:
http://www-ns.rutgers.edu/htbin/archie http://hoohoo.ncsa.uiuc.edu/archie.html
alias: nickname substituted for a more complex or numeric name.
anonymous FTP (File Transfer Protocol): a procedure for connecting to a remote computer as an anonymous or guest user, in order to transfer files back to your own computer.
Archie: a system for locating files and directories that are publicly available through anonymous FTP.
ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network): the early research network that served as the beginning for the theories and software upon which the Internet is based; the forerunner of the Internet.
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange): one of the standard formats for representing characters; text files are put in ASCII format to exchange between programs.
backbone: a network that interconnects other networks; NSFNET was a backbone for the U.S. for many years.
BBS: See bulletin board system.
binary: a system of counting that uses only the digits 0 and 1; binary files are those that contain characters that are not printable, such as formatting codes for a word processing program.
BITNET (Because It's Time Network): a network that connects academic and research institutions around the world. BITNET supports mail, mailing lists, file transfer, and connects to the Internet.
bookmark: an Internet address that a Web browser or Gopher keeps a record of in order for a user to return to it easily. See also hotlist.
boolean operators: the words used by a search system to define the relationship between search terms; AND, OR, and NOT are common boolean operators.
bulletin board system: a computer service where users communicate and share information on a topic of common interest; users post messages, as well as store and retrieve files.
cache: for a Web browser, an area of disk space set aside to hold data that would normally have to be read from the Net each time a user requested it; a cache speeds up access to data.
compress: a technique for reducing the size of a file. See also zip.
CompuServe: a U.S.-based commercial computer service that offers BBS services, databases, and access to the Internet.
DNS (Domain Name System): a naming convention for the alias for a computer's numeric IP address; DNS is a hierarchical sequence of names, from the most specific to the most general, separated by dots. Example: www.eunet.sk or www.whitehouse.gov
downloading: the process of transferring information from a remote computer to yours.
ELM: an e-mail reader.
e-mail (electronic mail): a system for exchanging messages electronically between users of a computer network; users on the Internet can exchange e-mail with anyone else on the Internet.
e-mail address: an identifying address for a user's mailbox; characters identifying the user are followed by the @ symbol and the address of the mailbox's computer.
Example: kflynn@ajc.com
emoticons: characters used to express emotion and replace the visual clues from face-to-face conversation. See also smiley.
Eudora: a popular e-mail manager developed by Qualcomm Inc.; both freeware and commercial versions.
FAQ (frequently asked question): a list of commonly asked questions and answers provided for new users of a mailing list or newsgroup; also used for many services and tools on the Internet.
finger: a program that displays information about a particular user or users of a system; usually gives full name and last login time.
flame: a strong opinion or criticism of some idea or statement expressed in a public mail or newsgroup message.
freeware: software that is supplied by the author at no charge.
FTP (file transfer protocol): a protocol that enables a user to transfer files electronically from a remote computer to the user's computer; part of TCP/IP. See also anonymous FTP.
Gopher: a navigational tool that presents Internet resources in a hierarchy of menus; Gophers provide easy access into other computers and databases.
header: the part of an e-mail message, usually preceding the body, that provides the message originator, date, time, and other identifying information.
home page: a page that you designate as the startup page for your Web browser or a page that you have created; the term is often used generically to refer to any Web page.
hotlist: a personal list of favorite Web addresses; same as a bookmark list. See also bookmark.
HTML (HyperText Markup Language): a convention for inserting tags into a file that Web browsers can interpret to display or link to hypermedia; HTML files usually have the extension .HTML or .HTM. See Lynx, Mosaic, Netscape, World Wide Web.
hypermedia / hypertext: data in a document that provides a link to other related concepts or documents; hypertext is words or phrases linked; hypermedia includes audio, graphics and video.
Internet: the network of computer networks around the world; networks on the Internet use the same protocol (see TCP/IP) to communicate with each other.
IP (Internet Protocol): the Internet standard communications protocol for moving packets of data over dissimilar networks.
IP Address: the numeric address of a computer connected to the Internet. See DNS.
Jughead: a tool that allows for keyword searches of an index of titles of a particular Gopher directory; searches the menu item, not the full text of a document. See also Veronica.
link: in a hypermedia environment, an item that provides a path that connects to another part of the document or another document.
LISTSERV: one common program for managing messages from a mailing list. See mailing list.
Lynx: a World Wide Web browser that allows users to view the Web as text only; useful for users on dial-up connections since the lack of graphics speeds up the display rate for pages. See World Wide Web.
mailing list: a list of e-mail addresses of people who share a particular interest; users subscribe to the list and receive copies of all messages sent to the list; some lists have moderators to determine whether a message is related to the objectives of the list before posting.
MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions): an extension that provides the transfer of binary or non-textual data, including word processed documents or graphics, by e-mail.
Mosaic: the first graphical World Wide Web browser developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois; made the Web easy to use.
netiquette: term created to refer to proper and tasteful behavior on the Internet.
Netscape: a graphical user interface which takes full advantage of the multimedia capabilities of the Web; a descendent of Mosaic. See Mosaic, World Wide Web.
newbie: a person new to the Internet and unfamiliar with its culture.
newsgroup: a worldwide network of people exchanging messages grouped by subjects; similar to the communication part of a BBS; like mailing lists, some newsgroups are moderated to keep the discussion on topic; not to be confused with real, verified news.
NSF (National Science Foundation): a United States government agency that promotes the advancement of science.
NSFNET (National Science Foundation Network): the network funded by the NSF that is the backbone for much of academic and research communications, connecting Canada, Mexico, and Europe.
Pine: an e-mail reader.
PING (Packet InterNet Groper): a program designed to test the accessibility at a given time of a particular computer site.
PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol): a convention used to make a computer connected to the Internet via a dial-up connection serve the same role as a computer directly on the Internet. See also SLIP.
protocol: a set of formats and procedures governing the exchange of information between computer systems.
public domain: text or software with title and copyright explicitly relinquished by the author, so that anyone can use it as they please.
relevance feedback / ranking: a technique that involves the arranging of documents on the basis of their degree of relevance to the search request.
readme files: files that give information about a site or a program, helping you understand and access information.
remote access: the ability to access a computer from outside its network; access is usually gained by either dialing into the computer using a modem and communications software or connecting to the computer using telnet via the Internet.
remote login: connecting to a remote computer so that its screen display is sent to your computer, and your keyboard data is sent to it; programs on the remote computer appear to be running locally. See telnet.
RTFM: an impolite acronym meaning "read the manual."
shareware: software distributed publicly for which the author hopes to receive some monetary compensation. See also freeware.
signature: the text at the end of an e-mail message or newsgroup posting that identifies the sender; signature line should be four lines or less.
SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol): a convention used to make a computer connected to the Internet via a dial-up connection serve the same role as a computer directly on the Internet; acronym often used interchangeably with PPP.
smiley: a group of characters that, when viewed sideways, constitute a face. Example :-) or :-( See also emoticon.
source document: for the Web, the raw file that displays HTML coding, as distinct from the rendered Web page which is the representation of the hypertext.
tag: name given to the code strings in HTML documents that tell the Web browser what to display. Example: <H1></H1>
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol): the set of protocols that allows computers on the Internet to talk to one another; the equivalent of the common computer language of the Internet.
telnet: one of the TCP/IP protocols that enables a user to log in to a remote computer from the user's local computer. See remote login.
terminal emulation: program that enables a computer to communicate with a remote host as if it were a terminal directly connected to the computer or network. Example: VT-100
Trumpet Winsock: a popular Winsock package. See winsock.
UNIX: an operating system invented by AT&T; a predominant operating system on the Internet.
uploading: the process of transferring a file from your computer to a remote computer.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator): an address that completely defines a resource of the World Wide Web; consists of the protocol, the computer where the resource resides, a port number (if necessary), and the path and filename of the resource. Example: http://www.yahoo.com/text/Regional/Countries/Czech_Republic/
USENET newsgroups: see newsgroups.
Veronica (Very Easy Rodent-Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized Archives): a tool that allows for keyword searches of an index of titles of Gopher items.
WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers): a tool for searching the full text of documents using natural language; results are displayed in relevance order.
web browser: user interface to the World Wide Web; Lynx, Mosaic and Netscape are browsers.
web page: document that is readable by a Web browser. See also home page.
whois: a program that permits users to query a database of and provides information on people, domains, networks, or hosts.
winsock: short for Windows Sockets; the interface between your Web browser and your Internet connection.
World Wide Web (WWW or W3 or Web): an information system that allows users to create, edit and browse documents on the Internet using hypertext links; helps you to find information on related topics by links and helps you to share information using a simple computer language; in addition to text, can play audio and display graphics and video by means of a graphical browser. See also hypermedia, Lynx, Mosaic, Netscape.
zip: a commonly used method of compression; files have a .ZIP extension and can be unzipped using programs like PKUnzip or WinZip.
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