A

B

• Browser

Browser is short for Web browser, a software application used to locate and display Web pages. The two most popular browsers are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer. Both are graphical browsers, which means that they can display graphics as well as text. In addition, most modern browsers can present multimedia information, including sound and video, though they require plug-ins for some formats.

C

• Cable (Internet Connection)

Cable provides a continuous connection between your computer and the Internet by sharing the lines used for television. In Alberta, cable connections cost about $50 a month plus an installation fee. To operate a cable Internet connection, you need an Ethernet card and modem. A cable connection has a relatively fast rate of data transfer, which means that Web pages and programs download faster than with a slower connection. A cable connection is appropriate for users in an area where cable service is available who are willing to pay higher rates for unlimited connection time and faster data transmission rates.

• Cache (Browser)

A browser cache lets you set aside a section of your computer's hard disk to store objects such as Web pages that you've seen using your browser. The browser cache will check to make sure that the objects refreshed, usually once a session.

The cache is useful to return to a web page you have already visited as the web page is loaded more quickly from the cache than from the Web server that hosts the web page.

• Chat

Chat allows multiple users to talk in groups or privately in a real-time environment called "chat rooms". You communicate with other people by typing what you want to say. Other people's comments are displayed on your computer screen prefaced by each speaker's name. Chat can be used in an online course to facilitate the following activities:

• virtual brainstorming sessions within groups
• group discussions
• virtual office hours
• guest speakers
  
  
• Configure

To configure means to set up a program or computer system for a particular application. For online courses that use the course management software WebCT, you must configure your browser to be compatible with that software.

D

• Desktop

The desktop on the computer is similar to a real desk in that it is the place where files, documents, and programs are stored for easy access. Several programs or files can be open at once on the desktop.

• Directory

In Windows and Macintosh environments, a directory is a special kind of file used to organize other files into a hierarchical structure. Directories contain bookkeeping information about files that are, figuratively speaking, beneath them. You can think of a directory as a folder or cabinet that contains files and perhaps other folders.

• Download

To copy data (usually an entire file) from one computer to another. This word is often used to describe the process of copying a file from a computer that hosts an online site to a computer connected to the Internet.

E

F

• File

A collection of data or information that has a name, called the filename. Almost all information stored in a computer must be in a file. There are many different types of files: data files, text files, program files, directory files, and so on. Different types of files store different types of information. For example, program files store programs, while text files store text.

• Folder

In Windows and the Macintosh environments, a folder can contain multiple documents or files in the same way that a folder from a filing cabinet can contain several different documents. Folders are used to organize information that is stored on your computer.

G

H

• Hard Drive Capacity

The hard drive or disk drive is the device inside your computer that reads data from and writes data onto a disk. (use picture?) One way to think about a hard drive is to compare it to a binder; you can add, store, and remove information. A larger hard drive can store more information than a smaller one, though every hard drive has a fixed capacity.

• Hardware

Objects that you can actually touch, such as disks, disk drives, display screens, keyboards, printers, boards, and chips. In contrast, software is untouchable. Software exists as ideas, concepts, and symbols, but it has no substance.

Books provide a useful analogy. The pages and the ink are the hardware, while the words, sentences, paragraphs, and the overall meaning are the software. A computer without software is like a book full of blank pages – you need software to make the computer useful, just as you need words or pictures to make a book meaningful.

• Home Page

The main page of a Web site. Typically, the home page serves as an index or table of contents for other documents stored at the site.

• Hyperlink

An element in an electronic document that links to another place in the same document or to an entirely different document. Typically, you click on the hyperlink to follow the link. Hyperlinks are the most essential ingredient of all hypertext systems, including the World Wide Web.

I

• Internet

A vast global network of computers that are linked together to exchange information. In 1999 the Internet had more than 200 million users worldwide, and that number is growing rapidly. The Internet is decentralized in that no one owns it. Each computer or server is independent. People who host servers can choose what they make available to the global Internet community. Anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can publish information to one of these servers.

For more information about the Internet, click here.

For a more detailed description of the Internet, visit Zen and the Art of the Internet site.

J

K

L

M

• Macintosh

A popular model of computer made by Apple Computer. Introduced in 1984, the Macintosh features a graphical user interface (GUI) that utilizes windows, icons, and a mouse to make it relatively easy for novices to use the computer productively. Rather than learning a complex set of commands, you need only point to a selection on a menu and click a mouse button.

• Menu

A list of commands or options from which you can choose functions within a program or application. You can choose an item from the menu by pointing to the item with a mouse and clicking a mouse button.

• Modem

The word MODEM is an acronym for MOdulator-DEModulator. Modems accept digital data supplied by a local computer, and convert it to a modulated analog wave form that can be transmitted over a normal analog phone line. Conversely, modems also accept a modulated analog wave from the telephone line, convert it to a digital form, and pass it on to a local computer.

Different modem speeds affect how quickly you are able to download Web sites from the Internet.

The following table compares the amount of time it takes to download a 1.0 MB file.

(Note: these times are approximate, as download times can vary significantly.)

Factors other than modem speed that affect how fast you can download and display Web sites include:

how busy the server is (the computer that hosts the Web site)



how fast your computer is (For complex Web pages, your computer will take time to translate the data once it is downloaded; slower processors will take more time.)



the quality of your telephone lines (Older lines are slower.)

For more information about modems, visit
Curt's High Speed Modem FAQ.

N

O

• Operating System

The operating system is the most important program that runs on a computer. Every general-purpose computer must have an operating system to run other programs. Operating systems perform basic tasks, such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral devices such as disk drives and printers.

For large systems, the operating system has even greater responsibilities and powers. It is like a traffic cop – it makes sure that different programs and users running at the same time do not interfere with each other. The operating system is also responsible for security, ensuring that unauthorized users do not access the system.

Operating systems provide a software platform on top of which other programs, called application programs, can run. The application programs must be written to run on top of a particular operating system. Your choice of operating system, therefore, determines to a great extent the applications you can run. For PCs, the most popular operating system is Windows, but others are available, such as Linux. For Macintosh, there is only one operating system, the Macintosh operating system.

P

• PC (Personal Computer)

A small, relatively inexpensive computer designed for an individual user. The first personal computer produced by IBM was called the PC, and increasingly the term PC came to mean IBM or IBM-compatible personal computers, to the exclusion of other types of personal computers, such as Macintoshes.

• Processor

(Short for microprocessor, also called CPU or Central Processing Unit) The processor is the brain of the computer. The processor is responsible for calculating every command or task performed by your computer. Computer power is measured in MHz (megahertz) units; the higher the number, the more powerful the processor. Not all computer tasks require a high-end processor. Computer tasks that require a more powerful processor include:

• playing 3D games
• image and video editing
• playing multimedia (video, animations, sound)
• creating 3D animations
• video computer conferencing

Computer tasks that are less demanding on the processor include:

• word processing
• spread sheets
• programming
• surfing the Internet
• using e-mail
  

Q

R

• RAM

RAM stands for Random Access Memory, a type of computer memory that can be accessed randomly; that is, any byte of memory can be accessed without touching the preceding bytes. RAM is the most common type of memory found in computers and other devices, such as printers. A computer with 32MB RAM has approximately 32 million bytes of memory that programs can use.

S

T

U

• URL

URLs, or Uniform Resource Locators, specify the location of Internet computer files.

Using its URL, you can retrieve a file from any computer on the Internet.

URLs are very similar to e-mail addresses. However, they include additional information that makes them considerably more powerful.

Below the URL for the following page is analyzed part by part.

http://learn.gmcc.ab.ca/lol/students/tutorial/

The first part of the URL identifies the protocol necessary to retrieve the file.

http://learn.gmcc.ab.ca

This part of the URL is the domain name of the machine on which the file is located. Understanding domain names can help you guess URLs. Interpreting this domain name from right to left, we can decipher some information about this URL.

ab.ca – identifies the site as Alberta, Canada

gmcc - Identifies the site as Grant MacEwan College

learn – Identifies the name of the server hosting the web page

The last part of the URL specifies the fully-pathed filename for this page. "Fully pathed" means that the name tells what directory the file is stored in on the Web server's hard disk drive. In these examples, the file for this page is "lol/students/tutorial".

URLS may seem long and cumbersome, but each part is necessary. When you consider that a URL tells exactly where the file is and how to get it, it's worth all that typing!

V

W

• Web Page

A document on the World Wide Web. Every Web page is identified by a unique URL (Uniform Resource Locator).

• Web Site

A site (location) on the World Wide Web. Each Web site contains a home page, which is the first document users see when they enter the site. The site might also contain additional documents and files. Each site is owned and managed by an individual, company, or organization.

• Word Processor

A word processor is a software program used to create and edit documents that are largely text-based, although most word processors also have features that can be used to insert graphics or pictures into documents. Commonly used word processors include Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, and AppleWorks (ClarisWorks).

X

Y

Z