HomeTechnology todayJargon Buster

Jargon Buster

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y

A
Account
Algorithm/
Algorithmic Search
Algorithm search refers to set of rules applied to the search engine’s database which determines the order in which websites are listed in search results.
AOL
AOL is the global internet services and media company best known for its online software suite; also called "AOL".
Attachment
An attachement is a computer file which is sent along with an e-mail message. It can be any type of software file, and can be opened by the receiver if the appropriate software to view the file attachment is installed or available.
AUP/TOS/COS (Acceptable Use Policy/Terms and conditions/Conditions of Service)
An acceptable use policy is a set of rules applied by many transit networks which restrict the ways in which the network may be used. AUPs are are used by entities with a large user base and multiple computers, delimiting what is and is not permitted for use of the computers.Most providers of services on the internet include an AUP as one of the key provisions of their terms and conditions.
Authoring tool
An authoring tool is a software package that is used by developers to create and package content deliverable to end users. Such tools are commonly used to create e-learning modules.

B
Back-end
In software design, the front-end is the part of a software system that interacts directly with the user, and the back-end comprises the components that process the output from the front-end.
Bebo
Bebo is the next generation social networking service where members can stay in touch with friends, share photos, discover new interests and just hang out.
Becta
Becta is the UK government's leading agency for Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in education, covering the United Kingdom. Becta leads the national drive to inspire and lead the effective and innovative use of technology in learning.
Block
On the internet, a block is a technical measure intended to restrict access to information or resources. User may have their access blocked, preventing them from publishing content or communicating with other users.
Blog
Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is a journal (or newsletter) that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption.
Blogging
Blogging means to maintain or add content to a blog.
Bluejacking
Bluejacking refers to sending unsolicited messages over Bluetooth to Bluetooth-enabled devices.
Bluetooth
Bluetooth is a service that allows users to connect and exchange information between devices over a secure, globally unlicensed short-range radio frequency.
Browser
Browser is a program that allows users to find, view and interact with material on the world wide web. Netscape Navigator, Microsoft internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox are examples of popular browsers.
Buddy list
A buddy List is a window that shows all friends, family, co-workers, and others who are signed on to AOL, CompuServe (CS2000), or AIM.
Buongiorno

C
Cache
A cache is a special high-speed storage mechanism. It can be either a reserved section of main memory or an independent high-speed storage device.
CEIR
The Central Equipment Identity Register is a database of the IMEI numbers of blacklisted handsets. If a device's IMEI number is listed on CEIR, it is not supposed to work on any service provider.
CEOP
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre – Primary law enforcement authority in the UK for child protection on the internet.
Chat
Chat is the synchronous communication over the internet through written messages, by using chat and instant messenger applications.
Chatroom
Chatrooms are virtual environments that allow users to share information via text with a group of other users.
Community
A community is a group of people that primarily interact via communication media rather than face to face.
Content
Content refers to the ideas, information, images, sounds, videos, animation, etc encountered on websites.
Content control/ filter
Content-control software determines what content is available on a particular machine or network to prevent persons from viewing content restricted for various reasons.
Convergence
Convergence is the synergistic combination of voice, data and video onto a single network. These previously separate technologies are now able to share resources and interact with each other to improve efficiency.
Cookie
A cookie is a piece of information sent to a user’s computer by a website. The computer then returns that information to the website. This is how some websites “remember” your previous visits.
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept that gives the author a set of exclusive rights regulating the use of an idea, work or information. Copyright is represented by the symbol “©”.
Crawlers
Crawlers are computer robot programs used by search engines to roam the world wide web via the internet, visiting websites and databases, and updating the search engine’s database of web pages. (Synonym for Spider)
Creative commons
Creative Commons licenses are copyright licences that give users specified rights e.g. to distribute the copyrighted work without changes, at no charge.
Cyber-bullying
Cyber-bullying refers to bullying, harassing, humiliating, threatening, embarrassing or targeting another personin some way over electronic media, usually through instant messaging and e-mail.
Cyber café
A cyber café or internet café is a place where one can use a computer with internet access, usually for a per-minute or hourly rate.
Cyberstalking
Cyberstalking refers tothe use of information and communications technology, particularly the internet, to harass an individual, group of individuals, or organization.

D
Database
A database is an electronic store of information usually categorised and ordered into a holding structure.
Discussion board
Downloading
Downloadingrefers to the process of transferring internet content from an online service to a user's local computer.

E
ECPAT
End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes. ECPAT is a network of organizations and individuals working together to eliminate the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
E-mail
E-mail is a method of composing, sending, receiving and storing messages over electronic communication systems.
E-mail address
An e-mail address is the virtual location to which e-mail messages are delivered.
ESN (electronic serial number)
The Electronic Serial Number is a unique number used to identify mobile devices. An ESN is 32 bits long.
European Schoolnet
European Schoolnet (EUN) is a unique not-for-profit consortium of 28 ministries of education in Europe that provides major education portals for teaching, learning and collaboration and leads the way in bringing about change in schooling through the use of new technology.

F
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking free-access website that allows users to join one or more social networks.
FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions or FAQs refer to a list of questions and answers frequently asked in a specific context and pertaining to a particular topic.
File sharing
File sharing refers to theonline exchange of files between computer users. Most users who engage in file sharing on the internet both provide (upload) files and receive files (download).
Flaming
Flaming is the hostile and insulting interaction between internet users. Flaming usually occurs in the social context of a discussion board, internet Relay Chat (IRC) or even through e-mail.
Flickr
Flickr is a platform that offers users photo sharing tools and online community access.
Friendster
Friendster is an internet social network service mostly used in Asia and based on the Circle of Friends and Web of Friends techniques for networking individuals in virtual communities.
Profile
A profile is an easy-to-create webpage which contains personal information a user gives about themselves. It can include all kinds of information, and users can upload their favourite music, pictures and video clips to their profile for other users to view.

G
Game
A game is an activity usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool.
Google
GPRS
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a data transfer service available to users of mobile phones.
Grooming
Grooming refers to actions undertaken by paedophiles of befriending and establishing an emotional connection with a child, in order to lower the child's inhibitions in preparation for sexual abuse or rape.
GSME
GSM Europe (GSME) is the European premier global body behind the world's leading wireless communications standard, representing around 147 operators in 50 countries/areas in Europe.

H
Habbo Hotel
Habbois a social networking website aimed at teenagers. Habbo features chat rooms that allow users to share content and create groups with discussion forums.
Happy Slapping
Happy slapping is a fad in which an unsuspecting victim is attacked while an accomplice records the assault (commonly with a camera phone). The name can refer to any type of violent assault, not just slapping, even rape and sexual assaults have been classified as "happy slapping" by the media.
Harassment
Harassment is defined as physical, verbal and psychological offensive behavior perpetrated against an individual, by one or more persons.
Hate site
A hate site is a website that promotes hatred by criticising a specific race, religion, sexual behavior, gender or nationality.
Hosting
Hosting on internet means to run servers that allow organizations and individuals to serve content to the Internet. There are various kinds and levels of services offered, the most basic being webpage and small-scale file hosting, where files can be uploaded via File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or a Web interface,
Hypertext
Hypertext is text that appears on a web page and which, when clicked on, will take the user to a different area or website.

I
Identity theft
Identity theft is a relatively new term used to describe the practice of stealing money or getting other benefits by pretending to be a different person.
IMEI
The IMEI number is a unique number on every mobile phone used by the GSM network to identify valid devices.
Impersonation
Impersonation is the act of imitating or copying the behavior or actions of another person.
IP Address
An IP address (Internet Protocol address) is a unique address that certain electronic devices use in order to identify and communicate with each other on a computer network utilizing the internet Protocol standard – in simpler terms, a computer address.
Instant Messaging
Instant messaging or IM is a form of real-time communication between two or more people and is based on typed text. The text is conveyed via computers connected over a network such as the internet.
Internet
Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible network made up of interconnected computer networks through which data transmission and exchange takes place.
ISP
An internet service provider is a company or business that provides access to the internet and related services.
IWF
The Internet Watch Foundationis the only recognised non statutory organisation in the UK operating an internet ‘Hotline’ for the public and IT professionals to report their exposure to potentially illegal content online.

L
Link/hyperlink
A hyperlink (often referred to as simply a link) is a reference or navigation element in a document to another section of the same document, another document, or a specified section of another document, that automatically brings the referred information to the user when the navigation element is selected by the user.
Log in/Log off
To log in refers to identifying oneself to the system in order to obtain access while to log out is to close off one's access to a computer system after previously having logged in.

M
Malware
Malware is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. It is a combination of the words "malicious" and "software".
Meta-tag
A meta-tag is a coding statement in HTML that describes some aspects of the contents of a Web page. Meta-tags are used by search engines to index Web pages.
Microsoft
Microsoft is a multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices.
MMS
Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is a standard for telephone messaging systems that allows users to send messages that include multimedia objects.
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is an electronic portable telecommunications device that has the same basic capability as a conventional fixed line telephone.
Moblog
A moblog is a blog published directly to the web from a phone or other mobile device.
Moderation
Moderation is the monitoring and filtering of user generated content by human or technical means.
Moderator
A moderator may remove unsuitable contributions from the website, forum or IRC channel they represent in accordance with their moderation policy.
MP3
MP3 is an encoding format for consumer digital audio storage.
MSISDN
The Mobile Station Integrated Services Digital Network (MSISDN) is the mobile equivalent of ISDN. MSISDN refers to the fixed number of digits (10 or 15-digits, depending on the service provider) that uniquely identifies a subscription in a GSM or UMTS mobile network.
MSN
MSN (The Microsoft Network) is a collection of internet services provided by Microsoft.
MySpace
MySpace is an online community that allows users to share photos, journals and interests with a network of friends.

N
Navigation
Navigation refers to the act of moving from one area to another within a website, or between websites, by clicking on links.
Network
A network is a group of interconnected computers capable of exchanging information.
NSPCC
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children is a UK charity working in the area of child protection and the prevention of cruelty to children.

O
Online
Online refers to being connected to a computer service through a modem Online can also be used to designate the virtual world..
Orange
Orange is the key brand of France Telecom, one of the world's leading telecommunications operators. In 2006, Orange became the group's single brand for internet, television and mobile services in the majority of countries where the company operates.
Outing
Outing can broadly mean to publicly disclose personal characteristics, such as political affiliation or religion, that someone wishes to keep secret.

P
Parental controls
Parental controls refer to settings used to customise web tools, television or computer games in view of making them more children friendly by restricting or time-limiting their access.
Password
A password is a secret combination of signs used to control access to a resource.
Peer2Peer (P2P) networks
Peer-to-peer (P2P) network allows connected users to exchange files by uploading and downloading. This is only one of several ways files are shared on internet.
Pharming
Pharming is the act of redirecting a website's traffic to another site. Currently the most efficient way to prevent pharming is for end users to make sure they are using secure web connections to access sites such as those for banking or taxing.
Phishing
Phishing is the attempt to fraudulently acquire personal information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by luring users to give personal details to a fake website.
Piczo
Piczo Inc is a privately held blog company that offers services such as online photo website and community builders.
PIN
A personal identification number (PIN) is a secret code used by users to authenticate to a system.
Podcast
A podcast a pre-recorded audio program posted to a website and made available for download.
Pop-up ads
Pop-up ads are online advertising messages that appear on the screen and that attract web traffic or capture e-mail addresses.
Posting
Posting refers to a user’s contribution to a blog, internet forum, e-mail or Usenet message.
Privacy (settings)
Privacy refers to the ability to control what information one reveals about oneself over the internet, and to control who can access that information.
Profile
Profiles contain personal information users give about themselves in instant messaging and online chat applications for people to better understand who they are. They can include all kinds of information including some “sensitive” information such as sexual orientation, religion etc.
Publishing
Publishing is the activity of making information available for public view. With the advent of digital information systems and the internet, the scope of publishing has expanded to include electronic resources.

R
RSS
RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated digital content such as blogs, news feeds or podcasts.
Runescape
RuneScape is a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game that offers a free-playing option, simple interface and accessibility to most web browsers.

S
Samaritans
Samaritans is the lead organisation in the UK providing support for people experiencing feelings of distress or despair, including those that may lead to suicide. Its mission is to be available 24 hours a day to provide confidential emotional support. It also has international links to similar support services
Scams
Scams or confidence tricks are attempts to obtain money dishonestly by deceiving and cheating somebody. Scams are difficult to classify as they keep changing and often contain elements of more than one type.
Screenshot
A screenshot is a digital image taken by the operating system or software running on the computer device, but can also be a capture made by a camera or a device intercepting the video output of the computer.
Searching / search engine
A search engine is an internet-based tool used to search for information contained on websites.
Second Life
Second Life is an internet-based virtual world that enables its users to interact with each other through motional avatars, providing an advanced level of a social network service.
Self-harm
Self-injury or self-harm refers to inflicting deliberate injury upon one’s own body without suicidal intent.
Server
A server is a computer on a network which is dedicated to a particular purpose and which stores all information and performs the critical functions for that purpose.
SMS
Short Message Service (SMS) is a communications protocol that allows users to exchange short text messages between mobile telephone devices.
Social Networking
Social networking refers to online communities where people from all over the world can meet and share common interests. There are several hundred social networking websites. Most of them are free to join and allow users to set up their own personalized profile or blog.
Spam (e-mail)
Spam refers to unwanted e-mail, usually of a commercial nature, sent out in bulk to an indiscriminate set of recipients.
Spiders
Spiders are computer robot programs used by search engines to crawl the world wide web via the internet, visiting websites and databases and updating the search engine’s database of web pages.
Splash Pages
Splash pages appear once the user has submitted their search query and is waiting for the results. Can be used as a warning to alert users that they are about to view results which may be considered potentially harmful.
Spyware
Spyware is malware secretly attached to files downloaded from the internet. Spyware usually installs itself on the PC and monitors activity in order to send private information to a third party.

T
Telecom Italia
Telecom Italia is an Italian telephone company that operates landline telephone services, GSM phone services and ADSL services.
Telefonica
Telefónica, S.A., is a Spanish telecommunication company operating fixed-line and mobile telecommunications services.
Terms of Service
Terms of Service are rules that have to be respected in order to use a service. Usually, terms are legally binding.
Text messaging
Text messaging, or texting, refers to sending "short" text messages from mobile phones using the Short Message Service (SMS).
T-Mobile
T-Mobile is a mobile network operator that operates GSM and UMTS networks in Europe and the United States.
Trojans
In the context of computer software, a Trojan Horse is a program that contains or installs a malicious program (sometimes called the payload or 'trojan'). Trojan horses may appear to be useful or interesting programs (or at the very least harmless) to an unsuspecting user, but are actually harmful when executed.
Txt spk
SMS language (also known as chatspeak, txt, txtspk, texting language or txt talk) is the abbreviated language used in mobile phone SMS. It does not obey or follow standard English grammar.

U
UKCGO
UK Children Go Online: research conducted by the London School of Economics.
Uploading
URL
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. This is another name for a web address. It indicates where a file, image or document can be accessed via the internet.
Username
A username is a name defined by the user which allows access to a computer system or online service.

V
Virus
A computer virus is a computer program which distributes copies of itself, even without permission or knowledge of the user. To distribute itself, a virus needs to be executed or interpreted. Viruses often hide themselves inside other programs to be executed.
Vlogging
Vlogging is as a video form of blogging and a continuation and expansion of video diaries and bulletins. It usually combines embedded video or a video link with supporting text, images and other metadata.
Vodafone
Vodafone is a mobile telecommunications network company. It mainly deals with mobile phones, but it is also moving into integrated mobile and PC communication services.

W
Walled Garden
A walled garden refers to a selection of sites which have passed through human editorial intervention to ensure that content is handpicked and verified for inclusion.
WAP
Wireless Application Protocol or WAP is an application that uses wireless communication to enable access to the internet from a mobile phone or PDA.
Web 2.0
Web 2.0, a phrase coined by O'Reilly Media in 2004,refers to a perceived or proposed second generation of Web-based services – such as social networking sites, wikis, communication tools and folksonomies – that emphasize online collaboration and sharing among users.
Webcam
Website
A website is a location on the world wide web, usually containing multiple web pages and normally owned by an individual, group, organisation or business.
Wi-fi
Wi-Fi is the common name for wireless technology used in home networks, mobile phones, video games, etc. Wi-Fi is supported by nearly every modern personal computer operating system and most advanced game consoles.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a multilingual, Web-based, free content encyclopedia project. Wikipedia is written collaboratively by volunteers, its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the website. The name is a fusion or portmanteau of the words wiki (a type of collaborative website) and encyclopedia.
Windows Live Spaces
Windows Live Spaces (also known as MSN Spaces) is Microsoft's blogging and social networking platform.
Wireless network
A wireless network is a telecommunications network that interconnects without the use of wires. Wireless devices use radio instead of wires to transmit data back and forth between devices connected to the same network.

X
Xanga
Xanga is a free Web-based service that hosts weblogs, photoblogs, videoblogs, audioblogs and social networking profiles and is popular among teenagers. Users are allowed to post any number of weblog entries per day. Xanga sites are most commonly used as personal journals.

Y
Yahoo
Yahoo! Inc. is a public corporation that offers global internet services. It provides a wide range of products and services including a Web portal, a search engine, the Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, news and postings.
YouTube
YouTube is a popular free video-sharing website that allows registered users to upload and share video clips online.

Opinion poll

Have you or any of your colleagues been cyberbullied?

Yes

No

Don't know

View results