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So, are you ready to do a little surfing?  Or are you feeling a little wobbly and need a hand to hold?  Well,  hopefully you’ll gain a little “security” after you peruse these few pages!

There are many books available to answer your questions in more depth, but this paper was designed to get you familiar with some of the terms and jargon used by those who are old-timers on the net.  Don’t worry, you’ll soon be an experienced surfer, too! 

WHAT IS THE INTERNET?  Think of it as a series of highways with on and off ramps where you can “visit” various towns or cities with connecting secondary roads or even dirt roads! The Internet lets you access a variety of information resources from all around the world, and to communicate with other Internet users.  Some information is strictly text-based, while other may have full color pictures, even movies!

HOW DO I  CONNECT TO THE INTERNET?  If you're not yet online, check your local yellow pages for Internet providers.  Or, try America Online (800-827-6364).. They all offer a trial period so that you can get a feel for using their services.  Compare prices and features!  Once you  have a "provider", you need hardware to get connected.   You’ll need a modem (just a device for translating the digital data of computers into analog signals).  Modems come in  a  number of “sizes”.  You’ll want faster modems to save you money down the road.  The faster speeds allow you to shorten the time it takes you to work online.  Second, you need software so that you can connect to the Internet provider.  This should be provided by your Provider, and they’ll tell you how to get “hooked up”!  The software given to you by your Provider will either configure your modem to dial the access phone number, or it will be provided in the documentation with the software.    It shouldn’t be too difficult.

WHAT TYPES OF CONNECTIONS ARE AVAILABLE?  Email allows you to send and receive text messages from another computer with Internet access.  This is referred to as a Shell account, such as Juno.  Shell accounts provide text base access to the Internet for news groups or simple email operations.   More extensive Internet access is necessary for you to go

ACRONYMS

Following is a list of abbreviations you may encounter while exchanging email or conversing on a list.   Many of us have the tendency to carry it over into our snail mail or FAX communications…maybe a bad habit, but sometimes very convenient!  They aren’t necessarily designed to confuse you, but some use them to confuse or annoy online friends!

AFAIC  As Far As I’m Concerned

AISI     As I See It

ASAP  As Soon As Possible

AYR  As You Requested

BCNU  Be Seeing You

BRB  Be Right Back

BTA  But Then Again (in response to IOW)

BTW  By The Way

CCF  Crippled Computer Fingers

DLM  Disregard Last Message

DTRT  Do The Right Thing

EOM  End of Message

FOAF  Friend of A Friend

FWIW  For What It’s Worth

GAL  Get A Life!

IAE  In Any Event

IMAO  In My Arrogant Opinion

IMHO  In My Humble Opinion

IMO  In My Opinion

IOW  In Other Words  

DICTIONARY OF TERMS

@  The “at” sign is used at the end of the user name and points you to the domain.  When reading it, say “at”!  {Our address is khimaira@shentel.net.   Khimaira is the “user” and “shentel” is the domain, and this would be read khimaira at shentel dot net}.

Access:  To connect to or to log on to the computer or a portion of the Internet.

Address:  See @.

ALIAS:  Just as it sounds, it’s a nickname or substitute name, or a “handle”.  Many people get very creative and come up with some great names!  When you put someone’s name and address in your computer address book, you can use a shortened name or alias so that you can type it in quickly.  Also, if you want to compile a group of names, you can put them all together and call that group by an alias name.  For instance, if you want to be able to send messages to everyone in your goat club at once, you create an alias, like gclub.  Then you compile all your names under gclub, and your message goes to all.

AOL:  American Online  is an online service with a direct Internet connection, as opposed to CompuServe and Prodigy, which only allow you to have email access.  There may be another service in your area that offers Internet access (for example, our service is through shentel).

AND:  When you are doing Internet searches and  you put the word “and” between them, the search will be limited to finding only text that has both words.  For instance, if you searched for “windows” and “doors”, you would only pull up items that have both words.

APPLICATION:  This is simply a software program such as word processing programs, databases or spreadsheets.

ARCHIVE:  This is either the place where an Internet host stores or keeps files, or a file itself.

BANG:  An exclamation point!

BAUD:  This is the speed of a modem, measuring how many times per second a communications channel changes as it sends it through the phone line.  It is expressed in numbers.  A 9600 baud modem changes the carrier signal 9600 times a second!  

BODY:  The message part of your email.

BOOKMARK:  A feature of most Web Browsers.  It’s a way to “mark your spot” for places that you might want to frequently visit.

BOUNCE:   Like checks that bounce, mail will bounce if the address is “insufficient” or incorrect.  The message comes back to you as undeliverable.  Often it’s the result of a simple typo.

BBS:  Bulletin Board System.  This is a place where people can leave messages, read information, even exchange software.  Services such as Compuserve, American Online and Prodigy operate like a big BBS. 

BROWSER: or Web Browser  is a program that allows you to access information on the WWW.  They can be text-based or graphic.  Some typical examples are:   Play with them a while and see which ones you like.  Netscape is a popular Browser.

CFV:  Call for Vote. When setting up a newsgroup, you could poll the participants or call for a vote, to see of there is enough interest.  Also, when there are issues being discussed, you could CFV to see how many are in favor or opposed.

CAPTURE:  This sends whatever is in the computer’s RAM (See) buffer and puts it on disk or prints it out.  This is a way of saving something you’ve found on the Internet, so that you can read it later.

CASE-SENSITIVE:  With some systems, it is very important that you use the correct case (upper case or lower case) in your address and other information.  DOS systems are not case sensitive, but UNIX is.

CC:  Carbon Copy.  This is a way of adding a name to your email recipients.  The main name(s) would be on the “To” line, with others that you want to keep in the loop on the CC line.  If you use the BCC line, this is a Blind Carbon Copy, and does not appear when the message is received by those on the To or CC line.

CD-ROM  Compact Disc Read Only Memory.   Many software applications come on a CD, especially when there is extensive information or programming.

CHAT: An interactive talk opportunity!  There are many ”chat rooms” you can access, so that you can carry on “conversations” with people around the world!

COM:  You’ll see this at the end of addresses.  It stands for commercial.

CONNECT TIME:  This is important!  Your connect time is what your service provide charges you for using electronic access!

CYBERSPACE:  It’s “where” you are when you are online!  It’s also where your email messages sometimes disappear and never reach the intended recipients!

DATABASE:  This is simple a way to store data or information.  Information is stored in “records” that are divided up by “fields” of information.  The data is accessible in a logical format for searching or retrieving information.  The Internet is like one big database!

DEDICATED LINE:  A telephone line used extensively for use by your modem.  It is helpful to have it you plan to spend a lot of time “surfing.”

DIGEST:  If you are on a mailing list  and want to get your message in Digest form, it will come as a single file with all the individual messages together.  It’s handy, but makes it a little harder to reply, as you can’t simply hit the reply button to zip off a personal response.

DOWNLOAD:  From a user’s standpoint, this just means to receive or retrieve data (such as your messages) from another computer.  UPLOAD is to send.

DOWNTIME:  When you can’t access or log on!

ENCRYPTION:  A way of making data unreadable to everyone except the retriever.  Often used when sending credit card numbers when making purchases on the net.

EMAIL - Electronic mail!

EDU- The domain that includes educational  institutions (see it at the end of an address).

EMOTICONS - See section below.

EXPIRE:  If you don’t regularly retrieve your messages, they could expire or be automatically removed.

FAQ:  Frequently Asked Question file.  When you get started on a newsgroup or mailing list, ask the group if there is a FAQ file for you to see.  It can give you a lot of beginner information and save you (and others on the list) time!

FLAME:   This could range from a little hostility to an all out war!  It’s an angry remark, sometimes just used to let a person know they have violated the rules of “netiquette”. FLAME BAIT is an intentionally inflammatory message that is intended to cause readers to react or FLAME someone. 

FOLDER:  This is a simple  way to store your messages by category or other organizations.  For example, you might want a Folder for vet-related discussion; recipes; funnies; or whatever you want to keep!

GIF:  This is seen at the end of a picture file, standing for graphic interchange format. 

HEADER:  In an email message, the header is above the message.  It has the recipient, sender, subject, date and time.

HIT:  When you search for something on the Internet, the “hits” are the pages or locations based on what you were searching.

HOME PAGE:  This refers to the first page of WWW site.  Think of it as the cover of a book.  You’ll probably see words, phrases, or buttons that are different colors.  You can click on these with your mouse and these “links” take you to more sites with more specific information.  (These links are also known as hypermedia or hypertext).

HTML:  Often seen in web addresses.  It stands for Hyper Text Markup Language.  It’s a tool to create linked text files.

INTERNET:  Think of it as a huge base of information and a way for computers to  communicate that information to one another.  Also called the “web” or “electronic superhighway” or just the “net.”  Once you get “plugged into the net”, you’ll be absolutely amazed at the vast variety of information at your fingertips!

LISTSERV:  This is a program that maintains discussion lists such as Goats.  You subscribe to the list by sending a request to the computer where the LISTSERV is running.  (It would be listserver, but it runs on IBM computers and got chopped to 8 characters!).

LOG IN:  Also know as sign on or logon.  This is how you identify yourself so that you can gain access to the computer’s operating system.  Usually it means typing in a username and a password.  If you make a typo…it catches you!

LURKING:  Hanging around a mailing list without “talking”!  Especially helpful for the new kid on the block.  It gives you a chance to see how things are done on the list!

MAILING LIST:  A discussion group for particular topics.   There’s one for virtually every interest!  In an unmoderated list, the mail gets forwarded to everyone on the list automatically.  In a moderated list, the mail is screened for appropriate material.

POP:  Post Office Protocol.  This specifies how email is exchanged between your computer and a provider (or server’s) computer (protocols are like “rules” or standards).

POST:  Simply to send a message, not what holds up your fence.

QUOTING.:  When  you include text from a message to which you are replying,  the quoted material is indicated by a > at the beginning of each line.

RFC:  Request for comments  RFD:  Request for discussion. 

SHOUTING:  TYPING IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS!!

SNAIL MAIL:  The alternative to email…good old Uncle Sam’s post office!

SPAM:  To post an annoying (often commercial) message to people on  a list.

THREAD:  Series of messages with a common theme.

URL:  Universal  Resource Locator.  Add address you use to tell your browser where to find a particular resource, part of a web address.

VIEWER:  Most browsers use helper appplications called “viewers” to display  graphics and play sound and video clips. 

VIRTUAL:  An adjective referring to objects or activities that exist or are carried on in cyberspace.  There’s even a virtual goat dairy out there!

WHITE PAGES:  Refers to Internet databases that contain information such as usernames, email and postal  addresses and telephone numbers.

WWW:World Wide Web…the “net”!

ACRONYMS

Following is a list of abbreviations you may encounter while exchanging email or conversing on a list.   Many of us have the tendency to carry it over into our snail mail or FAX communications…maybe a bad habit, but sometimes very convenient!  They aren’t necessarily designed to confuse you, but some use them to confuse or annoy online friends!

AFAIC  As Far As I’m Concerned

AISI     As I See It

ASAP  As Soon As Possible

AYR  As You Requested

BCNU  Be Seeing You

BRB  Be Right Back

BTA  But Then Again (in response to IOW)

BTW  By The Way

CCF  Crippled Computer Fingers

DLM  Disregard Last Message

DTRT  Do The Right Thing

EOM  End of Message

FOAF  Friend of A Friend

FWIW  For What It’s Worth

GAL  Get A Life!

IAE  In Any Event

IMAO  In My Arrogant Opinion

IMHO  In My Humble Opinion

IMO  In My Opinion

IOW  In Other Words