Index of Terms
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Have you ever come across an acronym or a computer term that you had never seen before? Here is a little help from CaTS.

applet bandwidth BASIC baud
bit browser byte CaTS
CD-ROM CGI client COM1
Dynamic HTML DVD frames FTP
HTML http Internet address IP address
ISDN ISP Java LPT1
MB MIDI PPP protocol
RAM ROM server telnet
URL W3 Consortium webmaster  

applet
Small application program that runs inside another, larger program; applets can be contained within a Web document to create a more dynamic environment than is possible with HTML alone
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bandwidth
Rate of transmission of information per unit of time over a telecommunications medium; for computers, bandwidth is measured in bits per second
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BASIC
Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
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baud
Bits per second (an old school term, baud is not very accurate because of the varying rates of state changes per second)
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bit
Binary digit; the smallest unit of storage in computers, a bit is either a 1 or a 0; computers generally process information in packets of 8 bits (called a byte); abbreviated b
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browser
Program that reads code from a server and presents it to the user, allowing him/her to view and navigate hypertext
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byte
Unit of storage that represents one character; equal to 8 bits; abbreviated B
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CaTS
Computing and Telecommunication Services (Wright State University)
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CD-ROM
Compact Disk - Read-Only Memory
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CGI
Computer generated image
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client
An application that requests information from a server and/or relies on it to perform specified functions
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COM1 (COM2, or COM3)
First (second, or third) serial port (usually on the back of the computer)
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Dynamic HTML
New set of HTML extensions that allows a user to interact with a web page without multiple requests from the server
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DVD
Digital versatile disk holding at least 4.7GB (and up to 17GB) of information; developed for multimedia, a single DVD can hold enough information for a full-length movie; one can potentially hold 28 times the information of a CD-ROM
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frames
A web page feature that allows the viewer to see multiple areas of information (frames) simultaneously
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FTP
File-transfer Protocol ; format for transmitting files across the Internet
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HTML
Hypertext Mark-up Language; code used for creating the majority of pages on the World Wide Web
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http
Hypertext transfer protocol ; standard format for the transfer of information on the World Wide Web
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Internet address
Registered IP address for a private network connected to the Internet
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ISDN
Integrated services digital network; international standard for transmitting data across digital telephone lines; capable of sending data much faster than the traditional analog lines
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ISP
Internet service provider
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IP address
Internet Protocol address; a 32-bit numeric address, represented by four numbers ranging from 0 to 255, for a computer or device on a TCP/IP network
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Java
A simple, platform-independant, object-oriented programming language for writing applets into Internet applications
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LPT1 (LPT2, or LPT3)
First (second, or third) parallel printer port
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MB
Megabyte (equal to 1,024 kilobytes)
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MIDI
Musical Instrument Digital Interface
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PPP
Point-to-Point Protocol; protocol for transmission of IP packets between previously configured serial point-to-point links; a PPP connection is created between a client and a server to allow the transmission of data
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protocol
Agreed-upon format for transmitting data between systems
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RAM
Random access memory; a computer temporarily stores data in RAM to increase operating speed; the amount of RAM in a computer determines how many applications it can run similtaneously
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ROM
Read-only memory
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server
A computer that processes and responds to requests from a client
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telnet
Process of connecting to a remote computer from from a local one via modem lines
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URL
Uniform Resource Locator; a World Wide Web address that contains the protocol to use and the IP address or domain name that describes the resource's location
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W3 Consortium
The main standards body for the World Wide Web, the W3 Consortium consists of the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science and the INRIA (a European computer research organization)
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webmaster
The person responsible for maintenance and development of a server and its pages on the World WideWeb
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