A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
ANSI - (American National Standards Institute) is the primary organization for fostering the development of technology standards in the United States. ANSI works with industry groups and is the U.S. member of the International Standards Organization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
Apache - a free or public domain Web server that you can download and install on a UNIX system. According to the Apache developers, in April 1997, over 400,000 Internet servers were running Apache. Although Windows-based systems with Web servers from Microsoft, Netscape, and other companies are probably gaining in terms of numbers, Apache is likely to remain popular in enterprises and server locations (such as universities) where UNIX-based systems are prevalent.
ARPANet - (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) the network that became the basis for the Internet. It was funded mainly by U.S. military sources and consisted of a number of individual computers connected by leased lines and using a packet-switching scheme.
ASCII - (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) the most common format for text files in computers and on the Internet. In an ASCII file, each alphabetic, numeric, or special character is represented with a 7-bit binary number (a string of seven 0s or 1s). 128 possible characters are defined.
Assembler - a program that takes basic computer instructions and converts them into a pattern of bits that the computer's processor can use to perform its basic operations. Some people call these instructions assembler language and others use the term assembly language.
BBS - a computer that can be reached by computer modem dialing (and, in some cases, by Telnet) for the purpose of sharing or exchanging messages or other files. Some BBS's are devoted to specific interests; others offer a more general service. The definitive BBS List says that there are 40,000 BBS's world-wide.
Blue bomb - (also known as "the blue screen of death" or "WinNuke") a technique for causing the Windows operating system of someone you're communicating with to crash or suddenly terminate. The "blue bomb" is actually an out-of-band network packet containing information that the operating system can't process. This condition causes the operating system to "crash" or terminate prematurely. The operating system can usually be restarted without any permanent damage other than possible loss of unsaved data when you crashed. The blue bomb derives its name from the effect it sometimes causes on the display as the operating system is terminating - a white-on-blue error screen. Blue bombs are sometimes sent by multi-player game participants who are about to lose or users of Internet Relay Chat (IRC) who are making a final comment. This is known as "nuking" someone. The program that causes the blue bomb is known as WinNuke. Many Internet service providers are filtering out the packets so they don't reach users.
C - C is a structured, procedural programming language that has been widely used both for operating systems and applications and that has had a wide following in the academic community. Many versions of UNIX-based operating systems are written in C. With the increasing popularity of object-oriented programming, C is being rapidly replaced as "the" programming language by C++, a superset of the C language that uses an entirely different set of programming concepts.
Cracker - A cracker is someone who breaks into someone else's computer system, often on a network. A cracker can be doing this for profit, maliciously, for some altruistic purpose or cause, or because the challenge is there. Some breaking-and-entering has been done ostensibly to point out weaknesses in a site's security system.
Daemon - (pronounced and sometimes spelled like "demon") is a program that runs continuously and exists for the purpose of handling periodic service requests that a computer system expects to receive. The daemon program forwards the requests to other programs (or processes) as appropriate. Each server of pages on the Web has an HTTPD or Hypertext Transport Protocol daemon that continually waits for requests to come in from Web clients and their users.
Decryption - the process of converting encrypted data back into its original form, so it can be understood.
Easter Egg - An Easter egg is an unexpected surprise, perhaps a message, an image, or a sound, hidden in a Web site or in an application program. Netscape's Navigator browser has hidden a number of Easter eggs behind or among the "About" pages you get to from the Help pulldown menu. Among these are pictures of Netscape's mascot, Mozilla. Over the years many application developers have hidden more than their names behind rarely-clicked Credit buttons.
Encryption - the conversion of data into a form, called a cipher, that cannot be easily read if intercepted by unauthorized people.
Firewall - a set of related programs, located at a network gateway server, that protects the resources of a private network from users from other networks. (The term also implies the security policy that is used with the programs.) An enterprise with an intranet that allows its workers access to the wider Internet installs a firewall to prevent outsiders from accessing its own private data resources and for controlling what outside resources its own users have access to.
Gateway - A gateway is a network point that acts as an entrance to another network. In a company network, a proxy server acts as a gateway between the internal network and the Internet.
General Protection Fault - (GPF, or general protection error) is a phrase that users of personal computers see when an application program they are running (for example, Microsoft Word or the Netscape Web browser) tries to access storage that is not designated for their use. An operating system (such as Windows 95) manages the use of random access memory (RAM) for its own needs and for those of the application programs that it manages. The application programs are actually managed as tasks. When a task attempts to write to a place in RAM that is outside its assigned storage area, the operating system requires that the task or application be closed. Users usually get a message that tells you this is happening, but there isn't much you can do about it other than to restart the program and hope it will run successfully the next time.
Hacker - a very capable programmer. In The New Hacker's Dictionary, Eric Raymond lists five connotations for this term as applied to programming, which we paraphrase here:
- A person who enjoys learning details of a programming language or system
- A person who enjoys actually doing the programming rather than just theorizing about it
- A person capable of appreciating someone else's hacking
- A person who picks up programming quickly
- A person who is an expert at a particular programming language or system, as in "UNIX hacker"
Hexadecimal - a base-16 number system. That is, it describes a numbering system containing 16 sequential numbers as base units (including 0) before adding a new position for the next number. (Note that we're using "16" here as a decimal number to explain a number that would be "10" in hexadecimal.) The hexadecimal numbers are 0-9 and then use the letters from A-F.
Host - any computer that has full two-way access to other computers on the Internet. A host has a specific "local or host number" that, together with the network number, forms its unique Internet Protocol address. If you use PPP to get access to your access provider, you have a unique IP address for the duration of any connection you make to the Internet and your computer is a host for that period. In this context, a "host" is a node in a network.
ICQ - ("I Seek You") is a program you can download that will let you know when friends and contacts are also online on the Internet, page them, and chat with them. In order to get maximum benefit from ICQ, both parties must have downloaded the ICQ program and have received a user identification number (UIN). The download and registration procedure are simple and enable you to send messages, files (single, multiple or whole directories), and URLs directly to your friends' desktops. In addition, you can initiate an IRC-style chat session or voice and video-voice connection and play games with other ICQ members that you are in touch with. Your contact is signalled of an incoming event as soon as it arrives and has immediate access to it.
Internet Protocol - handles the address part of each data packet that is transmitted from one computer to another on the Internet. (A protocol is the set of rules computers use to talk to each other.) Each computer (or host) on the Internet has a unique address containing four numbers separated by periods (for example, 199.0.0.2). Each file you request (for example, someone's Web home page) is identified in part by a domain name that maps to the Internet address of its computer. The file you request is in turn sent to you at your associated Internet address by the IPs at either end of the exchange.
IRC - Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a system for chhating that involves a set of rules and conventions and client/server software. On the Web, certain sites provide an IRC server and help you download an IRC client to your PC.
ISO - ISO, founded in 1946, is the leading international standards organization. Among its developed standards is Open Systems Interconnection (OSI), a suite of communication protocols used widely in Europe. Many countries have national standards organizations such as the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) that participate in and contribute to ISO standards making.
Kernel - The kernel is the essential center of a computer operating system, the core that provides basic services for all other parts of the operating system. A synonym is nucleus. A kernel can be contrasted with a shell, the outermost part of an operating system that interacts with user commands. Kernel and shell are terms used more frequently in UNIX and some other operating systems than in IBM mainframe systems.
LAN - (Local Area Network) a network of interconnected workstations sharing the resources of a single processor or server within a relatively small geographic area. Typically, this might be within the area of a small office building. However, FDDI extends a local area network over a much wider area. Usually, the server has applications and data storage that are shared in common by multiple workstation users. A local area network may serve as few as four or five users or may serve several thousand.
Newbie - any new user of a technology. The term is commonly applied to new users of personal computers and to new users of the Internet. According to Eric Raymond's The New Hacker's Dictionary, the term is a variant of the English public school term, new boy, someone in the first year or period of school. The term predates the Web and has been used for some time in Usenet newsgroups.
Nuking - a technique for causing the Windows operating system of someone you're communicating with to crash or suddenly terminate. The "nuke" is actually an out-of-band network packet containing information that the operating system can't process. This condition causes the operating system to "crash" or terminate prematurely. The operating system can usually be restarted without any permanent damage other than possible loss of unsaved data when you crashed.
OOB - (Out of Band) the urgent data transmission method that is exploited in WinNuke's.
Peer to peer - Peer-to-peer is a communications model in which each party has the same capabilities and either party can initiate a communication session. Other models with which it might be contrasted include the client/server model and the master/slave model.
PGP - PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) is free encryption software that uses a highly secure public key program. It is regarded as a defacto standard for e-mail encryption on the Internet. The program encrypts your e-mail or files so that only the intended receiver can read it. In addition to the freeware version of PGP, there is at least one commercial version.
Ping - (Packet Internet Groper) a basic Internet program that lets you verify that a particular Internet (IP) address exists and can accept requests. The verb ping means the act of using the ping utility or command. Ping is used diagnostically to ensure that a user's PC is properly connected to the Internet. If, for example, a user can't ping a host, then the user will be unable to use a browser or any other TCP/IP application with that host. Ping can also be used to learn the number form of the IP address from the symbolic domain name.
Port - a "logical connection place" and specifically, using the Internet's protocol, TCP/IP, the way one process identifies another process elsewhere in the network. Higher-level applications that use TCP/IP such as the Web protocol, HTTP, have ports with preassigned numbers. These are known as "well-known ports" that have been assigned by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Other application processes are given port numbers dynamically for each connection.
Registry - the space where Windows stores most application and system data. Stored in the file system.1st and accessible through the program regedit.
Router - a device or, in some cases, software in a computer, that determines the next network point to which a packet should be forwarded toward its final destination. The router is connected to at least two networks and decides which way to send each information packet based on its current understanding of the state of the networks it is connected to. A router is located at any juncture networks or gatway, including each Internet point of presence. A router is often included as part of a network switch.
Server - 1) a computer program that provides services to other computer programs in the same or other computers. 2) The computer that a server program runs in is also frequently referred to as a server (though it may contain a number of server and client programs).
Sniffer - A sniffer is a program that monitors and analyzes network traffic, detecting bottlenecks and problems. Using this information, a network manager can keep traffic flowing efficiently. A sniffer can also be used illegitimately to capture data being transmitted on a network. A network router reads every packet of data passed to it, determining whether it is intended for a destination within the router's own network or whether it should be passed further along the Internet. A router with a sniffer, however, may be able to read the data in the packet as well as the source and destination addresses.
Socket - the endpoint in a connection. Sockets are created and used with a set of programming requests or "function calls" sometimes called the sockets application programming interface (API). The most common sockets API is the Berkeley UNIX C language interface for sockets. Sockets can also be used for communication between processes within the same computer.
Spoof - 1) To deceive for the purpose of gaining access to someone else's resources (for example, to fake an Internet address so that one looks like a certain kind of Internet user) 2) To simulate a communications protocol by a program that is interjected into a normal sequence of processes for the purpose of adding some useful function
Sysop - A sysop is the person who runs a computer server. The term is used mainly in the world of bulletin board services (BBSs) . In general, a sysop or system operator is one who runs the day-to-day operation of a server and the term suggests a person who is available when the system is. A related term is administrator. In larger computer systems, the administrator manages security and user access while a system operator monitors and performs routine operations at the computer. In smaller computer systems (for example, UNIX systems), the administrator and the system operator tend to be the same person.
Telnet - the way you can access someone else's computer, assuming they have given you permission. (Such a computer is frequently called a host computer.) More technically, Telnet is a user command and an underlying TCP/IP protocol for accessing remote computers. The Web or HTTP protocol and the FTP protocol allow you to request specific files from remote computers, but not to actually be logged on as a user of that computer. With Telnet, you log on as a regular user with whatever privileges you may have been granted to the specific applications and data on that computer.
UDP - a communications transport protocol layer that is an alternative to the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) layer. Like TCP, it interfaces with the Internet Protocol (IP) layer. UDP, however, does not provide the data gathering reliability of TCP. For example, it doesn't provide sequencing of the packets that the data arrives in. This means that the application program must be able to provide these services.
UNIX - an operating system that originated at Bell Labs in 1969 as an interactive time-sharing system. Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie are considered the inventors of UNIX. The name (pronounced "yew-nix") was a pun based on an earlier system, Multics. In 1974, UNIX became the the first operating system written in the C language. UNIX has evolved as a kind of large freeware product, with many extensions and new ideas provided in a variety of versions of UNIX by different companies, universities, and individuals. Partly because it was not a proprietary operating system owned by any one of the leading computer companies and partly because it is written in a standard language and embraced many popular ideas, UNIX became the first open or standard operating system. The "official" trademarked UNIX is now owned by the industry standards group, X/Open Company, which certifies and brands UNIX implementations.
Virus - a piece of programming code inserted into other programming to cause some unexpected and, for the victim, usually undesirable event. Viruses can be transmitted by downloading programming from other sites or be present on a diskette. The source of the file you're downloading or of a diskette you've received is often unaware of the virus. The virus lies dormant until circumstances cause its code to be executed by the computer. Some viruses are playful in intent and effect ("Happy Birthday, Ludwig!") and some can be quite harmful, erasing data or causing your hard disk to require reformatting.
Warez - (pronounced as though spelled "wares" or possibly by some pronounced like the city of "Juarez") is a term used by software "pirates" to describe software that has been stripped of its copy-protection and made available on the Internet for downloading. People who create warez sites sometimes call them "warez sitez" and use "z" in other pluralizations.
WinNuke - see "blue bomb"