Since most web pages are static documents with little interactivity, Microsoft created a programming language, called ActiveX, to remedy this situation. ActiveX “controls” promise to make the web-surfing experience comparable to that of highly produced CD-ROMS, where you can listen to music, watch animation and video clips, and interact with the pr [..]

This is a graphics card expansion port designed by Intel that resides on the motherboard of a computer. PCI graphics ports typically run at 33 MHz and have a maximum transfer rate of 132 MB/sec. AGP ports, on the other hand, run at 66 MHz and can transfer data up to 528 MB/sec. This allows games and applications to store and retrieve larger, more r [..]

The precursor to the Internet. Developed in the late 60’s and early 70’s by the U.S. Department of Defense as an experiment in wide-area-networking to connect together computers that were each running different systems so that people at one location could use computing resources from another location.

This is the world-wide standard for the code numbers used by computers to represent all the upper and lower-case letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. There are 128 standard ASCII codes each of which can be represented by a 7 digit binary number: 0000000 through 1111111. The usual pronunciation is AS-KEY.

A networking technology that transfers data in packets or cells of a fixed size. Extremely small cells can be processed through an ATM switch fast enough to maintain data transfer speeds of over 600 mbps. Not to be confused with the bank machine ATM.

A file that is included with an email message. Often, the file must be saved to the desktop before it can be opened. The recipient must have the appropriate application to use/view/listen to the contents of the file. You can attach any file, including word processing, spreadsheet, graphic, sound clip, or a complete application.

A program or script on a mail server that automatically replies to e-mails received for a certain account. It is normally used to inform a person that has sent a message to a specific address that the message has been received and will be duly processed.

A high-speed line or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network. The term is relative as a backbone in a small network will likely be much smaller than many non-backbone lines in a large network.

Remote administration programs that, once installed, allow other people to access and control your computer.

This refers to how much data you can send through a network or modem connection. Usually measured in bits-per-second. A full page of English text is about 16,000 bits. A fast modem can move about 57,000 bits in one second. Full-motion full-screen video would require roughly 10,000,000 bits-per-second, depending on compression.