Glossary

alpha test The testing on software performed by the developers, usually during the development process; also, the first of several stages in the software testing process (see beta test).

anchor In HTML, an anchor is a tagged text or graphic element that acts as a link to another location inside or outside a given document, or it may be a location in a document that acts as the destination for an incoming link. The latter definition is how we usually use it in this book.

animation computerized process of creating moving images by rapidly advancing from one still image to the next.

anonymous ftp A type of Internet file access that relies on the File Transfer Protocol service, where any user can typically access a file collection by logging in as anonymous and supplying his or her user name as a password.

Apple Script The scripting language for the Macintosh operating system, used to build CGI programs for Macintosh-based Web servers.

Archie An Internet-based archival search facility, based on databases of filenames and directory names taken from anonymous ftp servers around the Internet.

attribute In HTML tags, an attribute is a named characteristic of an associated tag. Some attributes are required, while others are optional. Some attributes may also take values (if so, the syntax is ATI RIB UT E=" va 1 U e ') or not, depending on the tag and the attribute (see Chapter 5 for tag details in alphabetical order).

authoring software In the context of HTML, authoring software refers to programs that understand HTML tags and their placement. Some such programs can even enforce HTML syntax; others can convert from word-processing or document-formatting programs to HTML formats.

back end The server-side of client/server is called the back end because it is usually handled by programs running in obscurity on the server, out of sight (and mind) for most users.

bandwidth Technically, bandwidth is the range of electrical frequencies that advice can handle; more often, it's used as a measure of a communications technology's carrying capacity

beta test The phase of software testing where a program or system is turned over to a select group of users outside the development organization for use in more or less real-life situations.

body The body is one of the main identifiable structures of any HTML document. It is usually trapped between the head information and the footer information.

bookmark Most Web browsers include a facility for building a list of URLs that users want to keep for future reference. Netscape calls such references bookmarks in its browser.

browser A Web access program that can request HTML documents from Web servers, and render such documents on a user's display device (see also client).

BTW Acronym for By The Way; commonly used in e-mail messages.

bugs Small verminous creatures that sometimes show up in software in the form of major or minor errors, mistakes, and gotchas. Bugs got their name from insects that, having been attracted to the glow of the filament in a tube, were found in antiquated tube-based computers of the late 'SOs and early '60s.

case sensitive Means that the way computer input is typed is significant; for example, HTML tags can be typed in any mixture of upper- and lowercase, but because HTML character entities are case sensitive, they must be typed exactly as shown in this book.

CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory) A computer-readable version of the audio CD; CD-ROMs can contain up to 650 MB of data, making them the distribution media of choice for many of today's large (some would even say bloated) programs and systems.

character mode When referring to Web browsers, character mode (also called text mode) means that such browsers can reproduce text data only. They cannot produce graphics directlywithout the assistance of a helper application.

clickable map A graphic in an HTML file that has had a pixel coordinate map file created for it, to allow regions of the graphic to point to specific URLs for graphically oriented Web navigation.

client The end-user side of the client/server arrangement, the term client typically refers to a consumer of network services of one kind or another. A Web browser is therefore a client program that talks to Web servers.

client/server A model for computing that divides computing into two separate roles, usually connected by a network: The client works on the end-user's side of the connection and manages user interaction and display (input and output, and related processing), while the server works elsewhere on the network and manages data-intensive or shared-processing activities, like serving up the collections of documents and programs that a Web server typically manages.

Common Gateway Interface (CGI) The specification governing how Web browsers can communicate with and request services from Web servers; also the format and syntax br passing information from browsers to servers via forms or document-based queries in HTML.

computing platform A way of referring to the kind of computer someone is using, this term encompasses both hardware (the type of machine, processor, etc.) and software (the operating system and applications) in use.

content For HTML, content is its raison detre; although form is important, content is why users access Web documents and why they keep coming back for more.

convention An agreed-upon set of rules and approaches that allows systems to communicate with one another and work together.

dedicated line A telephone line dedicated to the purpose of computerized telecommunications; a dedicated line may be operated continuously (24 hours a day) by its owner. In this book, such lines usually provide a link to an Internet Service Provider.

default In general computer-speak, a default is a selection that's made automatically in a program, instruction, or whatever, when no selections are made explicitly. For HTML the default is the value assigned to an attribute when none is supplied.

dial-up A connection to the Internet (or some other remote computer or network), made by dialing up an access telephone number.

DNS (Domain Name Server; see domain names).

document The basic unit of HTML information, a document refers to the entire contents of any single HTML file. Because this doesn't always correspond to normal notions of a document, we refer to what could formally be called HTML documents more or less interchangeably with Web pages, which is how such documents are rendered by browsers for display.

document structure For HTML, this refers to the methods used to organize and navigate within HTML documents or related collections of documents.

domain names The names used on the Internet as part of a distributed database system for translating computer names into physical addresses and vice versa.

DOS (Disk Operating System; see also OS) The underlying control program used to make most Intel-based PCs run. Microsoft's MS-DOS is the most widely used implementation of DOS and provides the scaffolding atop which its (equally widely used) MS-Windows software runs.

DTD (Document Type Definition) A formal SGML specification for a document, a DTD lays out the structural elements and markup definitions that can then be used to create instances of documents.

dumb terminal A display device with attached keyboard that relies on the intelligence of another computer to drive its display and interpret its keyboard inputs. Such devices were the norm in the heyday of the mainframe and minicomputer and are still widely used for reservation systems, point of sale, and other specialized-use applications.

e-mail An abbreviation for electronic mail, e-mail is the preferred method for exchanging information between users on the Internet (and other networked systems).

electronic commerce The exchange of money for goods or services via an electronic medium; many companies expect electronic commerce to do away with mail order and telephone order shopping by the end of the century.

encoded information A way of wrapping computer data in a special envelope to ship it across a network, encoded information refers to data-manipulation techniques that change data formats and layouts to make them less sensitive to the rigors of electronic transit. Encoded information must usually be decoded by its recipient before it can be used.

error message Information delivered by a program to a user, usually to inform him or her that things haven't worked properly, if at all. Error messages are an ill-appreciated art form and contain some of the funniest and most opaque language we've ever seen (also, the most tragic for their unfortunate recipients).

Ethernet The most common local-area networking technology in use today, Ethernet was developed at about the same time (and by many of the same people and institutions) as the Internet.

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) Usenet newsgroups, mailing list groups, and other affiliations of like-minded individuals on the Internet usually designate a more senior member of their band to assemble and publish a list of frequently asked questions, in an often futile effort to keep from answering them quite as frequently.

file extension In DOS, this refers to the three-letter part of a filename after the period; for UNIX, Macintosh, and other file systems, this refers to the string after the rightmost period in a filename. File extensions are used to label files as to their type, origin, and possible use.

footer The concluding part of an HTML document, the footer should contain contact, version, date, and attribution information to help identify a document and its authors.

forms In HTML, forms are built on special markup that lets browsers solicit data from users and then deliver that data to specially designated input-handling programs on a Web server. Briefly, forms provide a mechanism to let users interact with servers on the Web.

front end In the client/server model, the front end part refers to the client side; it's where the user views and interacts with information from a server; for the Web, browsers provide the front end that communicates with Web servers on the back end.

FTP (sometimes ftp; File Transfer Protocol) An Internet file transfer service based on the TCP/IP protocols, FTP provides a way to copy files to and from FTP servers elsewhere on a network.

gateway A type of computer program that knows how to connect to two or more different kinds of networks, to translate information from one side's format to the other's, and vice versa. Common types of gateways include e-mail, database, and communications.

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) One of a set of commonly used graphics formats within Web documents. It is used frequently because of its compressed format and compact nature.

Gopher A program/protocol developed at the University of Minnesota, Gopher provides for unified, menu-driven presentation of a variety of Internet services, including WAIS, telnet, and FTP.

graphics In HTML documents, graphics are files that belong to one of a restricted family of types (usually GIF or JPEG) that are referenced via URLs for in-line display on Web pages.

GUI (Graphical User Interface) Pronounced gooey GUIs are what make graphical Web browsers possible; they create a visually oriented interface that makes it easy for users to interact with computerized information of all kinds.

helper applications Today, browsers can display multiple graphics files (and other kinds of data); sometimes, browsers must pass particular files - for example, motion picture or sound files - over to other applications that know how to tender the data they contain. Such programs are called helper applications because they help the browser deliver Web information to users.

hierarchical structure A way of organizing Web pages using links that make some pages subordinate to others. (See tree-structured] for another description of this kind of organization.)

history list Each time a user accesses the Web, his or her browser normally keeps a list of all the URLs visited during that session; this is called a history list, and provides a handy way to jump back to any page that's already been visited while online. History lists normally disappear when the user exits the browser.

hotlist A Web page that consists of a series of links to other pages, usually annotated with information about what's available on that link. Hotlists act like switchboards to content information, and are usually organized around a particular topic or area of interest.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) The SGML-derived markup language used to create Web pages. Not quite a programming language, HTML nevertheless provides a rich lexicon and syntax for designing and creating useful hypertext documents for the Web.

hyperlink A shorthand term for hypertext link, which is defined in its own entry.

hypermedia Any of a variety of computer media - including text, graphics, video, sound, etc. - available through hypertext links on the Web.

hypertext A method of organizing text, graphics, and other data for computer use that lets individual data elements point to one another; a nonlinear method of organizing information, especially text.

hypertext link In HTML, a hypertext link is defined by special markup that creates a user-selectable document element that can be selected to change the user's focus from one document (or part of a document) to another.

image map A synonym for clickable image, this refers to an overlaid collection of pixel coordinates for a graphic that can be used to locate a user's selection of a region on a graphic, and in turn, used to select a related hypertext link for further Web navigation.

IMHO Acronym for In My Humble Opinion, mostly used in e-mail messages.

lnfobahn A psuedo-Teutonic synonym for Information Superhighway (taken from autobahn, the German highway system), commonly used because it's shorter and "cooler" than Information Superhighway

Information Superhighway The near-mythical agglomeration of the Internet, communications companies, telephone systems, and other communications media that politicians seem to believe will be the "next big thing" in business, academia, and industry. Many people believe that this highway is already here, and that it's called the Internet.

Internaut Someone who travels using the Internet (like astronaut or argonaut).

IP (Internet Protocol; see TCP/IP) IP is the specific networking protocol of the same name used to tie computers together over the Internet; IP is also used as a synonym for the whole TCP/IP protocol suite.

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) An emerging digital technology for telecommunications that offers higher bandwidth and better signal quality than old-fashioned analog telephone lines. Not yet available in many parts of the U.S. or in the rest of the world.

ISO (International Standards Organization) The granddaddy of standards organizations worldwide, the ISO is a body made up of standards bodies from countries all over the place. Most important communications and computing standards - like the telecommunications and character code standards mentioned in this book - are the subject of ISO standards.

JPEG or JPG JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts' Group, an industry association that has defined a particularly compressible format for image storage that is designed for dealing with complex color still images (such as photographs). Files stored in this format usually take the extension .JPEG (except DOS or Windows machines, which are limited to the three-character .JPG equivalent). Today, JPEG is emerging as the graphics format standard of choice for use on the World Wide Web.

Kbps (Kilobits per second) A measure of communications speeds, in units of 210 bits per second (210 = 1024, which is just about 1,000 and explains the quasi-metric Knotation).

KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!) A self-descriptive philosophy that's supposed to remind us to "eschew obfuscation," except it's easier to understand!

LAN (Local Area Network) Typically one of a variety of communications technologies used to link computers together in a single building, business, or campus environment.

layout element In an HTML document, a layout element is a paragraph, list, graphic, horizontal rule, heading, or some other document component whose placement on a page contributes to its overall look and feel.

linear text Shorthand for old-fashioned documents that work like this book does: by placing one page after the other, ad infinitum in a straight line. Even though such books have indexes, pointers, cross-references, and other attempts to add linkages, they must re applied manually (rather than by clicking your mouse).

Iistserv An Internet e-mail handling program, typically UNIX-based, that provides mechanisms to let users manage, contribute and subscribe to, and exit from named mailing lists that distribute messages to all subscribed members daily. A common mechanism for delivering information to interested parties on the Internet, this is how the HTML working group communicates among its members, for example.

Mac Web A Macintosh-based graphical-mode Web browser implemented by MCC

maintenance The process of regularly inspecting, testing, and updating the contents of Web pages; also, an attitude that such activities are both inevitable and advisable.

map file A set of pixel coordinates on a graphic image that corresponds to the boundaries of regions that users might select when using the graphic for Web navigation. This file must be created by using a graphics program to determine regions and their boundaries, and then stored on the Web server that provides the coordinate translation and URL selection services.

markup A way of embedding special characters (metacharacters) within a text file to instruct a computer program how to handle the contents of the file itself.

markup language A formal set of special characters and related capabilities used to define a specific method for handling the display of files that include markup; HTML is a markup language that is an application of SGML and is used to design and create Web pages.

MCC (Microelectronics and Computing Corporation) A computing industry consortium based in Austin, Texas, that developed the WinWeb and MacWeb browser programs.

metacharacter A specific character within a text file that signals the need for special handling; in HTML the angle brackets (< >), ampersand (&), pound sign (#), and semicolon (;) can all function as metacharacters.

MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) http communications of Web information over the Internet rely on a special variant of MIME formats to convey Web documents and related files between servers and users, and vice versa.

modem An acronym for modulator/demodulator, a modem is a piece of hardware that converts between the analog forms for voice and data used in the telephone system and the digital forms for data used in computers. In other words, a modem lets your computer communicate using the telephone system.

Mosaic A powerful graphical Web browser originally developed at NCSA, now widely licensed and used for a variety of commercial browser implementations.

MPEG or MPG An acronym for Motion Picture Experts' Group, MPEG is a highly compressed format designed for use in moving pictures or other multi-frame-per-second media (such as video). MPEG can not only provide tremendous compression (up to 200 to 1), it also updates only elements that have changed on-screen from one frame to the next. This feature makes it extraordinarily efficient as well - .MPEG is the common file extension to denote files using this format, and MPG is the three-letter equivalent on DOS and Windows systems (which can't handle four-letter file extensions).

MPPP (Multilink Point-to-Point Protocol) An Internet protocol that allows simultaneous use of multiple physical connections between one computer and another, to aggregate their combined bandwidth and create a "larger" virtual link between the two machines.

multimedia A method of combining text, sound, graphics, and full-motion or animated video within a single compound computer document.

MVS (Multiple Virtual Storage). A file system used on IBM mainframes and clones.

navigation In the context of the Web, navigation refers to the use of hyperlinks to move within or between HTML documents and other Web-accessible resources.

navigation bar A way of arranging a series of hypertext links on a single line of a Web page to provide a set of navigation controls for an HTML document or a set of HTML documents.

NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing Applications) A research unit of the University of Illinois at Urbana, where the original Mosaic implementation was built, and where the NCSA httpd Web server code is maintained and distributed.

nesting In computer terms, one structure that occurs within another is said to be nested; in HTML, nesting happens most commonly with list structures, which may be freely nested within one another, regardless of type.

netiquette A networking takeoff on the term etiquette, netiquette refers to the written and unwritten rules of behavior on the Internet. When in doubt if an activity is permitted or not, ask first, and then act only if no one objects (check the FAQ for a given area, too - it often explicitly states the local rules of netiquette for a newsgroup, mailing list, etc.).

network link The tie that binds a computer to a network; for dial-in Internet users, this is usually a telephone link; for directly attached users, it is whatever kind of technology (Ethernet, token-ring, FDDI, etc.) is in local use.

numeric entity A special markup element that reproduces a particular character from the ISO-Latin-i character set, a numeric entity takes the form &I/n nfl; where nfl n is the one-, two-, or three-digit numeric code that corresponds to a particular character (Chapter 6 contains a complete list of these codes).

on-demand connection A dial-up link to a service provider that's available whenever it's needed (on demand, get it?).

online A term that indicates that information, activity, or communications are located on, or taking place in, an electronic, networked computing environment (like the Internet). The opposite of online is off-line, which is what your computer is as soon as you disconnect from the Internet.

OS (Operating System) The underlying control program on a computer that makes the hardware run and supports the execution of one or more applications. DOS, UNIX, and OS/2 are all examples of operating systems.

packet A basic unit (or package) of data used to describe individual elements of online communications; in other words, data moves across networks like the Internet in packets.

pages The generic term for the HTML documents that Web users view on their browsers.

paragraphs The basic elements of text within an HTML document, <B> is the markup tag used to indicate a paragraph break in text (the closing <F> tag is currently optional in HTML).

PC (personal computer) Today PC is used as a generic term to refer to just about any kind of desktop computer; its original definition was as a product name for IBM's 8086-based personal computer, the IBM PC.

Pen A powerful, compact programming language that draws from the capabilities of languages like C, Pascal, sed, awk, and BASIC, Perils emerging as the language of choice for CGI programs. Its emergence is partly owing to its portability and the many platforms on which it is currently supported, and partly owing to its ability to exploit system services in UNIX quickly and easily

pick list Generally, a list of elements displayed for user selection of one or more choices; in HTML, the result of the <SELECT> and <OPTION> tags to construct such a list for use in a form.

pipe As used here, pipe generally refers to the bandwidth of the connection in use between a user's workstation and the Internet (or the server on the other end of the connection, actually).

plain text Usually refers to vanilla ASCII text, as created or viewed in a simple text-editing program.

platform Synonym for computer.

port address TCP/IP-based applications use the concept of a port address to know which program to talk to on the receiving end of a network connection. Because there maybe many programs running on a computer at one time - including multiple copies of the same program - the port address provides a mechanism to uniquely identify exactly which process the data should be delivered to.

POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) The normal analog telephone system, just like the one you probably have at home.

PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) A modern, low-overhead serial communications protocol, typically used to interconnect two computers via modem. Most Web browsers require either a PPP or SLIP connection in order to work.

protocol A formal, rigidly defined set of rules and formats that computers use to communicate with one another.

RAM (Random-Access Memory) The memory used in most computers to store the results of ongoing work and to provide space to store the operating system and applications that are actually running at any given moment.

resource Any HTML document or other item or service available via the Web. Resources are what URLs point to.

return (short for carriage return) In text files, a return is what causes the words on a line to end and makes the display pick up at the leftmost location on the display As used in this book, it means don't press the Enter or Return key on your keyboard in the middle of a line of HTML markup or a URL specification.

robot A special Web-traveling program that wanders all over the place, following and recording URLs and related titles for future reference (like in search engines).

ROM (Read-Only Memory) A form of computer memory that allows values to be stored only once; after the data is initially recorded, the computer can only read the contents. ROM is used to supply constant code elements such as bootstrap loaders, network addresses, and other more or less unvarying programs or instructions.

router A special-purpose piece of internet working gear that makes it possible to connect networks together, a router is capable of reading the destination address of any network packet. It can forward the packet to a local recipient if its address resides on any network that the router can reach, or on to another router if the packet is destined for delivery to a network that the current router cannot access.

screen The glowing part on the front of your computer monitor where you see the Web dolts thing (and anything else your computer might like to show you).

search engine A special Web program that can search the contents of a database of available Web pages and other resources to provide information that relates to specific topics or keywords supplied by a user.

server A computer on a network whose job is to listen for particular service requests and to respond to those that it knows how to satisfy.

service provider An organization that provides individuals or other organizations with access to the Internet. Service providers usually offer a variety of communications options for their customers, ranging from analog telephone lines, to a variety of higher-bandwidth leased lines, to ISDN and other digital communications services.

SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) An ISO standard document definition, specification, and creation mechanism that makes platform and display differences across multiple computers irrelevant to the delivery and rendering of documents.

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) The underlying protocol and service for Internet-based electronic mail.

spider (also called Web spider, Webcrawler) AWeb -traversing program that tirelessly investigates Web pages and their links, while storing information about its travels for inclusion in the databases typically used by search engines.

superstructure In HTML documents, we refer to superstructure as the layout and navigational elements used to create a consistent look and feel for Web pages belonging to a document set.

syntax Literally the formal rules for how to speak, we use syntax in this book to describe the rules that govern how HTML markup looks and behaves within HTML documents. The real syntax definition for HTML comes from the SGML Document Type Definition (DTD).

tag The formal name for an element of HTML markup, usually enclosed in angle brackets

TCP (Transfer Control Protocol; see also TCP/IP) The transport layer protocol for the TCP/IP suite, TCP is a reliable, connection-oriented protocol that usually guarantees delivery across a network.

TCP/IP (Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) The name for the suite of protocols and services used to manage network communications and applications over the Internet.

teardown When a network communication session is ending, the two computers agree to stop talking and then systematically break the connection and recover the port addresses and other resources used for the session. This process is called teardown.

technophobe Literally someone who's afraid of technology, this term is more commonly applied to those who simply want to use technology without understanding it.

telnet The Internet protocol and service that lets you take a smart computer (your own, probably) and make it emulate a dumb terminal over the network. Briefly, telnet is a way of running programs and using capabilities on other computers across the Internet.

template Literally, a model to imitate, we use the term template in this book to describe the skeleton of a Web page, including the HTML for its heading and footer, and any consistent layout and navigation elements for a page or set of pages.

terminal emulation The process of making a full-fledged, stand-alone computer act like a terminal attached to another computer, terminal emulation is the service that telnet provides across the Internet.

test plan The series of steps and elements to be followed in conducting a formal test of software or other computerized systems; we strongly recommend that you write - and use -a test plan as a part of your Web publication process.

throughput Another measure of communications capability this term refers to the amount of data that can be "put through" a connection in a given period of time. It differs from bandwidth in being a measure of actual performance, instead of a theoreti-cal maximum for the medium involved.

thumbnail A miniature rendering of a graphical image, used as a link to the full-sized version.

token-ring The second most common type of local-area networking technology in use, token-ring is always and forever associated with IBM, because it helped to develop and perfect this type of network. It takes its name from passing around special permits to transmit called tokens, in a ring-shaped pattern around the network, to give all attached devices a fair chance to broadcast information whenever they need to.

transparent GIF A specially rendered GIF image will takes on the background color selected in a browser capable of handling such GIFs. This makes the graphic blend into the existing color scheme and provides a more professional-looking page.

UNIX The operating system of choice for the Internet community at large and the Web community, too, UNIX offers the broadest range of tools, utilities, and programming libraries for Web server use.

URI (Uniform Resource Identifier) Any of a class of objects that identifies resources available to the Web; both URLs and URNs are examples of URIs.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) The primary naming scheme used to identify Web resources, URLs define the protocols to be used, the domain name of the Web server where a resource resides, the port address to be used for communication, and the directory path to access a named Web file or resource.

URL-encoded text A method for passing information requests and URL specifications to Web servers from browsers, URL encoding replaces spaces with plus signs (+) and substitutes special hex codes for a range of otherwise unreproducible characters. This method is used to pass document queries from browsers to servers (for the details, please consult Chapter 13).

URN (Uniform Resource Name) A permanent, unchanging name for a Web resource, URNs are seldom used in today's Web environment. They do, however, present a method guaranteed to obtain access to a resource, as soon as the URN can be fully resolved (it sometimes consists of human or organizational contact information, instead of resource location data).

Usenet An Internet protocol and service that provides access to a vast array of named newsgroups, where users congregate to exchange information and materials related to specific topics or concerns.

Veronica A search tool for navigating the global collection of Gopher servers, collectively referred to as Gopherspace.

WAIS (Wide-Area Information Service) A collection of programs that implements a specific protocol for information retrieval, able to index large-scale collections of data around the Internet. WAIS provides content-oriented query services to WAIS clients, and is one of the more powerful Internet search tools available.

Web Shorthand for the World Wide Web (or W3), we also use Web in this book to refer to a related, interlinked set of HTML documents.

Web pages Synonym for HTML documents, we use Web pages in this book to refer to sets of related, interlinked HTML documents, usually produced by a single author or organization.

Web server A computer, usually on the Internet, that plays host to httpd and related Web-service software.

Web site An addressed location, usually on the Internet, that provides access to the set of Web pages that correspond to the URL for a given site; thus a Web site consists of a Web server and a named collection of Web documents, both accessible through a single URL.

white space The breathing room on a page, this refers to the parts of a document or display that aren't occupied by text or other visual elements. A certain amount of white space is essential to make documents attractive and readable.

Windows (also called MS-Windows) Microsoft's astonishingly popular (and sometimes frustrating) GUI environment for PCs, Windows is the GUI of choice for most desktop computer users.

WinWeb The Windows version of a popular Web browser developed at MCC.

World Wide Web (also called WWW or W3) The complete collection of all Web servers available on the Internet, which comes as close to containing the "sum of human knowledge" as anything we've ever seen.

WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) A term used to describe text editors or other layout tools (such as HTML authoring tools) that attempt to show their users on-screen what final, finished documents will look like.

X Windows The GUI of choice for UNIX systems, X Windows offers a graphical window, icon, and mouse metaphor similar to (but much more robust and powerful than) Microsoft Windows.