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Glossary of computer terms
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A
Address bar
The portion of the screen that contains the current Web address and drop-down list of recently visited sites.
Ad-ware
Software applications in which advertising banners are displayed while the program is running is called Adware. Any Software that sends data back to a third party - WITHOUT ASKING the user - is Spyware.
Anonymous FTP
Part of the Internet's appeal is the huge number of files available for download. Anonymous File Transfer Protocol (FTP) enables anyone to download files from a properly configured FTP server. This allows users without accounts to access files by entering the username anonymous, along with their email address as a password. Because anyone can access files that have been set up for anonymous FTP, Webmasters need to be careful to use it only for files meant for public consumption.
Applet
Applet is a diminutive form of app (application), and it refers to simple, single-function programs that often ship with a larger product. Programs such as Windows' Calculator, File Manager, and Notepad are examples of applets.
Authentication
Authentication ensures that digital data transmissions are delivered to the intended receiver. Authentication also assures the receiver of the integrity of the message and its source (where or whom it came from). The simplest form of authentication requires a username and password to gain access to a particular account. But, authentication protocols can also be based on secret-key encryption, such as DES, or on public-key systems using digital signatures. On top
B
Bandwidth
The transmission capacity of the lines that carry the Internet's electronic traffic. In the past, this has imposed severe limitations on the Internet's ability to deliver everything that is demanded from it. However, fiber-optic cables will ensure that bandwidth will soon be essentially limitless and free.
Browser
If you can read this, it's highly likely that you're using a Web browser. In brief, a browser is your interface to the World Wide Web; it interprets hypertext links and lets you view sites and navigate from one Internet node to another. Among the companies that produce browsers are NCSA Mosaic, Netscape, and Microsoft, as well as commercial services like CompuServe, Prodigy, and America Online.
Browser sniffing
Browser sniffing describes the process by which a Web site detects which versions of various browsers users are running, in order to determine whether or not they can access certain Web site features. Browser sniffing--usually accomplished with JavaScript--can also be used to detect whether or not a user has a specific plug-in required to access the site (such as Macromedia's Flash or RealNetworks' RealPlayer). On top
C
Cache
The browser cache plays an important role in providing a smooth and speedy surfing experience. Cache, pronounced "cash", is a temporary holding area for images, sounds, videos, and other items that may appear on a web page that you visit. The way the browser cache works is by eliminating the need to re-download an image or web page if the content has not changed since your last visit.
Size of the disk cache varies depending on the size of your hard-drive, and if you have manually altered the size in your browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape…etc). Typical cache size is 10% of your hard-drive space.
Once the cache is full, the internet browser begins clearing items to make room for new stuff. If the cache is too small (like only 1 mb) then a 2 mb cartoon can cause a problem. Choose preferences or settings on the browser menu and look for something called 'Cache' or 'disk cache size', and increase it to 15 megs, or even higher if you have enough hard disk space. For example, in Netscape, the path is preferences > advanced > cache >disk cache. For Microsoft Internet Explorer, the path is tools > internet options > temporary internet files > settings > amount of disk space to use.
The best way: close all web pages, adjust the cache size, hit the clear cache button, quit and restart your browser.
CGI (common gateway interface)
The CGI standard lays down the rules for running external programs in a Web HTTP server. External programs are called gateways because they open up an outside world of information to the server.
ComDlg32 list
A list stored in the Windows registry which contains names of all recently run applications and files.
Cookies
The most common meaning of "Cookie" on the Internet refers to a piece of information sent by a Web Server to a Web Browser that the Browser software is expected to save and send back to the Server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the Server.
Depending on the type of Cookie used, and the Browsers' settings, the Browser may accept or not accept the Cookie, and may save the Cookie for either a short time or a long time.
Cookies might contain information such as login or registration information, online "shopping cart" information, user preferences, etc.
When a Server receives a request from an internet browser that includes a Cookie, the Server is able to use the information stored in the Cookie. For example, the Server might customize what is sent back to the user, or keep a log of particular users' requests.
Cookies are usually set to expire after a predetermined amount of time and are usually saved in memory until the Browser software is closed down, at which time they may be saved to disk if their "expire time" has not been reached.
Cookies do not read your hard drive and send your life story to the CIA, but they can be used to gather more information about a user than would be possible without them.
More... On top
D
Dial-up connection
An Internet account that can connect any stand-alone PC directly to the Internet. The account is used by having a PC-based (most often, Windows-based) software application dial-in to an Internet service provider (ISP). The software connects with the ISP and establishes a TCP/IP link to the Internet that enables your software to access Internet information. The PC that accesses a dial-in connection needs either a modem to connect via a regular phone line or a terminal adapter (TA) to connect via an ISDN phone line.
Digital certificate
Citing concerns about security, many people are still wary of online transactions. In an attempt to assuage those fears, software vendors, security specialists, and online vendors have developed the concept of digital certificates. A digital certificate is a password-protected file that includes a variety of information: the name and email address of the certificate holder, an encryption key that can be used to verify the digital signature of the holder, the name of the company issuing the certificate, and the period during which the certificate is valid. Certificate authorities (CAs) gather information about a person or company and then issue certificates. These certificates can be used as online identification, much in the same way a driver's license can verify your identity in the physical world. If an email message or order form comes through with an attached digital certificate, the recipient can be more confident that the document is genuine. Several technologies (including SET, SSL, and Authenticode) are currently competing for market share, each hoping to become the certificate of choice.
Digital signature
Forgery is a growing concern among Netizens. After all, who's to say that a message with your name on it is really from you and not somebody pretending to be you? Digital signatures are a means of proving that a file or email message belongs to a specific person, much as a driver's license proves identity in real life. Digital signatures have the added benefit of verifying that your message has not been tampered with. When you sign a message, a hash function--a computation that leaves a specific code, or "digital fingerprint"--is applied to it. If the fingerprint on the recipient's message doesn't match the original fingerprint, the message has been altered.
Digital signatures are often used in combination with strong-encryption software to create a secure channel of communication, in which both privacy and identity are protected.
"Documents" log
Links to documents, images, etc. that were accessed by your system. These are displayed as icons when you press the Windows "Start" button and select "Documents".
Domain name
Looking for a domain name? You'll find it to the right of the @ sign in an email address, or about ten characters into a URL. U-Wipe's domain name is u-wipe.com. The domain name of info@nrlab.com is nrlab.com. Domain names are issued by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and they come with different extensions based on whether the domain belongs to a commerical enterprise (.com), an educational establishment (.edu), a government body (.gov), the military (.mil), a network (.net), or a nonprofit organization (.org). Some domains use a geographical notation too (such as the United Kigdom, www.amazon.co.uk)
Downloaded Program Files
ActiveX controls and Java applets downloaded automatically from the Internet when you view certain pages. They are temporarily stored in the Downloaded Program Files folder on your hard disk.
DSL (digital subscriber line)
Digital subscriber lines carry data at high speeds over standard copper telephone wires. With DSL, data can be delivered at a rate of 1.5 mbps (around 30 times faster than through a 56-kbps modem). Also, DSL users can receive voice and data simultaneously, so small offices can leave computers plugged into the Net without interrupting phone connections. Currently, DSL is expensive because specialized equipment--a splitter--needs to be installed at the subscriber's location. DSL Lite, the consumer-ready version of DSL, requires no such splitter, and promises comparable access speeds at a cheaper rate. xDSL is the collective term for different variations of DSL, such as ADSL and HDSL. On top
E
Expired Digital Certificates
E-mail (electronic mail)
Whenever you send messages to people using a computer and they read it later, you've sent a piece of email. You can send email in several ways--across a local area network, via the Internet, or through an online service like CompuServe or America Online--and you can send it to a single recipient or to a whole slew of them. But all email behaves pretty much the same way: you send it to a virtual mailbox, and the recipient has to pick it up or can use software that does it automatically.
Encryption
Encryption is the process of changing data into a form that can be read only by the intended receiver. To decipher the message, the receiver of the encrypted data must have the proper decryption key. In traditional encryption schemes, the sender and the receiver use the same key to encrypt and decrypt data. Public-key encryption schemes use two keys: a public key, which anyone may use, and a corresponding private key, which is possessed only by the person who created it. With this method, anyone may send a message encrypted with the owner's public key, but only the owner has the private key necessary to decrypt it. PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) and DES (data encryption standard) are two of the most popular public-key encryption schemes.
Ethernet
Ethernet is a standard for connecting computers into a local area network (LAN). The most common form of Ethernet is called 10BaseT, which denotes a peak transmission speed of 10 mbps using copper twisted-pair cable. On top
F
"Find" log
A log of files, computers and users, searched by Windows "Start" - "Find".
Firewall
A firewall prevents computers on a network from communicating directly with external computer systems. A firewall typically consists of a computer that acts as a barrier through which all information passing between the networks and the external systems must travel. The firewall software analyzes information passing between the two and rejects it if it does not conform to pre-configured rules.
Freeware
Programming that is offered at no cost. However, it is copyrighted so that you can't incorporate its programming into anything you may be developing.
FTP (file transfer protocol)
This Internet protocol is used to copy files between computers--usually a client and an archive site. It's old-fashioned, it's a bit on the slow side, it doesn't support compression, and it uses cryptic Unix command parameters. But the good news is that you can download shareware or freeware apps that shield you from the complexities of Unix, and you can connect to FTP sites using a Web browser. On top
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Gateway
A gateway is a program or piece of hardware that passes data between networks. You'll see this term most often when you either log in to an Internet site or when you're passing email between different servers. On top
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Hit
Probably the most misused term in Net vocabulary, a hit can refer to any one of a few different things. If you perform a search using MSN or Google , the results are called hits. If you load up a Web page, you've hit the site. However, when people say, "Our Web site had 2,000 hits" (meaning that there were 2,000 visitors, or 1,000 visitors looking at two pages each), that's simply wrong. Technically, a hit is a request made to the Web server. For example, if you look at a Web page that contains ten GIF files, one person visiting one page will make 11 hits on the server: one for the page, and ten for the graphics on the page. On top
I
Index.dat file
A specially formatted type of data file used by Internet Explorer to contain URLs and other reference data like ‘Hits’, last access date and pointers to associated files such as Cookies and Temporary Internet Files. These files could not be deleted by standard methods. More...
Internet
Often abbreviated as the Net. The global collection of networks that transfer information, between each other using Internet Protocol. Interestingly, the Internet was named after the protocol rather than the other way around. The Internet was created by the US Military as a network designed to transmit data even if one point of the network went down (i.e. - due to nuclear attack). It was called ARPAnet. Universities and research institutes began to connect to the network and exchange research information. Users made information or software freely available and were able to access others' information for free as well. A CERN physicist developed a hypertext system which spread over the Internet and became the World Wide Web. For viewing the WWW you need a software browser like Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape.
Internet History
Both your browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape…. Etc) and Microsoft Windows keep track of certain pieces of information in order to provide a more pleasant computing and surfing experience. These history trails can be invaluable at times. For instance, if you found an interesting piece of information on a web site, and then later moved on to other web sites, the browser history provides an easy to follow trail back to the previous web site.
Unfortunately these history items also provide a way for others to view and gain an understanding into what you have been doing, searching for, etc. on a particular computer, and it is often desirable to remove these history trails.
All of these history trails can be cleared. There are various methods in which to clear these history trails, and some of the options are not readily accessible from your desktop.
Most web browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape keep a list of the most recent web sites and links that you have visited.
The URL, or drop-down URL history as is sometimes referred, typically contain the last URL (web site links) that you have typed into your browser.
Internet Explorer's AutoComplete Data and AutoComplete Passwords
Internet Explorer's AutoComplete Data and AutoComplete Passwords stores and automatically enters your information for Web-based forms and password-protected Web sites. When you submit the information in the form, Internet Explorer records each input field's data in the Registry in a list associated with the particular field name. The next time you start typing in a field that has the same internal name, whether on the same Web page or a different one, IE will pop up a list of previous values that begin with the text you've typed up to that point. This information could be available to any person who uses your computer and thus is a source of privacy invasions.
IP address (Internet protocol address)
This address is a unique string of numbers that identifies a computer on the Internet. These numbers are usually shown in groups separated by periods, like this: 124.198.76.1. All resources on the Internet must have an IP address--or else they're not on the Internet at all.
ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)
The plain old telephone system doesn't handle large quantities of data, and the phone companies realized this a long time ago. So the ISDN spec was hammered out in 1984 to allow for wide-bandwidth digital transmission using the public switched telephone network. Under ISDN, a phone call can transfer 64 kilobits of digital data per second. But it's not always easy to adopt. On top
J
Java
A programming language that developers use to create applets, small programs that are embedded in Web pages and that run when a user accesses the page or clicks on a certain area. If you have visited sites that play sounds, have animated figures trotting across the screen, or display scrolling text, you have already seen Java. Java was created by Sun Microsystems and is specifically designed to run on any computer regardless of the operating system.
JavaScript
Designed by Sun Microsystems and Netscape as an easy-to-use adjunct to the Java programming language, JavaScript code can be added to standard HTML pages to create interactive documents. As a result, JavaScript has found considerable use in the creation of interactive Web-based forms. Most modern browsers, including those from Microsoft and Netscape, contain JavaScript support. On top
K
Kbps
Your modem's speed is measured in the number of bits it can transfer in a second. Modems rated in kilobits per second are now the standard.
Kernel
Modern operating systems are typically built in layers, with each layer adding new capabilities, such as disk access techniques or a graphical user interface. But the essential layer, the foundation on which the rest of the operating system rests, is typically called a kernel. In general, the kernel provides low-level services, such as memory management, basic hardware interaction, and security. Without the kernel, your system would stop. On top
L
List of Most recently Used (MRU) files of Microsoft Office programs
Such as MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point, MS Access etc.
List of Most recently Used (MRU) files of Standard Windows programs
Located in Windows "Start" - "Programs" - "Accessories" - such as Paint, WordPad etc. On top
M
Mirror server
Sometimes a Web server will receive more traffic than it can handle. When this happens, the server's administrator may add extra servers--containing identical data--to accommodate the flow. These duplicates are called mirror servers. By adding mirror servers and telling users how to access them, an administrator can keep users from receiving error messages or unacceptably slow response times when they try to access a site. Mirror servers also act as backups if the primary site goes down. On top
N
Netscape cache files
A temporary storage for the pictures and text that are downloaded as parts of every web page you look at using Netscape. Usually Netscape cache folder is located in the current Netscape profile folder.
Netscape's saved passwords
Netscape's Password Manager stores and automatically enters your login information for password-protected Web sites.
These saved passwords could be decrypted.
Newsgroup
Think of newsgroups as worldwide bulletin boards, organized more or less stringently around a topic. Some are technical, others silly--and some you don't even want to know about. On top
O
OS (operating system)
A computer by itself is essentially dumb bits of wire and silicon. An operating system knows how to talk to this hardware and can manage a computer's functions, such as allocating memory, scheduling tasks, accessing disk drives, and supplying a user interface. Without an operating system, software developers would have to write programs that directly accessed hardware--essentially reinventing the wheel with every new program. With an operating system, such as Windows NT or Mac OS 8, developers can write to a common set of programming interfaces called APIs and let the operating system do the dirty work of talking to the hardware.
quadratic texture mapping
This technique, used with Nvidia-based 3D graphics boards, speeds up texture mapping and redrawing by reducing the amount of work required. Nvidia chips use fewer polygons to render an acceptable-looking rounded object. Filling the screen, therefore, takes less time and CPU horsepower than it would using another rendering chip. On top
P
POP (Post Office Protocol)
The current champ in Internet email mailbox access standards, but its limitations--basically, you connect to a server and download all your messages, which are then deleted from the server--discourage flexibility. Of course, some clients let you leave all messages on the server, and/or refuse to download messages above a certain size. Still, as messages become longer--with multimedia (such as sound or video) objects and the likes--we'll want some flexibility in what we retrieve and when we retrieve it. That's where IMAP comes in.
Pop-up
A pop-up is a graphical user interface display area, usually a small window, that suddenly appears ("pops up") in the foreground of the visual interface. Pop-ups can be initiated by a single or double mouse click or rollover (sometimes called a mouseover), and also possibly by voice command or can simply be timed to occur. A pop-up window must be smaller than the background window or interface; otherwise, it's a replacement interface.
On the World Wide Web, JavaScript (and less commonly Java applets) are used to create interactive effects including pop-up and full overlay windows.
A menu or taskbar pulldown can be considered a form of pop-up, and so can the little message box you get when you move your mouse over taskbars in many PC applications.
PPP (point-to-point protocol)
PPP is the Internet standard for serial communications. Newer and better than its predecessor, SLIP, PPP defines how your modem connection exchanges data packets with other systems on the Internet.
Privacy
The interest that individuals have in sustaining a 'personal space', free from interference by other people and organizations. The issue of Internet privacy has become increasingly important over the past few years, as policymakers, industry leaders, and privacy advocates have come together to decide how to deal with the prolific collection and distribution of personal data in the electronic world. One of the most thorough privacy bills introduced in Congress, and one cited in the ACT study, is the Consumer Privacy Protection Act (S. 2606), introduced in May 2000 by Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C. The bill requires Web sites to provide users access to personal information that the site has collected about them, and to allow users to "correct, delete, or supplement" that information. You can guard your online privacy on the Internet, but not every Web site takes measures to secure and keep your confidential information private. Look for evidence of such measures as you move from site to site. If you need to send confidential information and are unsure about a internet site's security, you should consider sending it by phone or by regular mail instead. Email on the Internet is not secure unless you are using a special secure email program. If any organization or individual asks you for confidential information - for instance, your social security number or a bank or credit card account number - you should check to make sure that the organization or individual needs the information in order to conduct business with you and guarantees the security of the information during transmission by using encryption to find out how you can tell if such a system is active.
Proxy servers
A proxy server is a system that caches items from other servers to speed up access. On the Web, a proxy first attempts to find data locally, and if it's not there, fetches it from the remote server where the data resides permanently. On top
Q
QuickTime
Developed by Apple Computer, QuickTime is a method of storing sound, graphics, and movie files. If you see a MOV file on the Web or on a CD-ROM, you'll know it's a QuickTime file. Although QuickTime was originally developed for the Macintosh, player software is now available for Windows and other platforms. If you don't have a QuickTime player, you can always download versions for either Mac Mac or PC from Apple's Web site. On top
R
Recycle Bin
Contains files you have deleted from your computer. These files are not permanently removed until you empty the Recycle Bin.
"Run" log
A log of commands and paths to programs, entered in Windows "Start" - "Run". On top
S
Server
The business end of a client/server setup, a server is usually a computer that provides the information, files, Web pages, and other services to the client that logs on to it. (The word server is also used to describe the software and operating system designed to run server hardware.) The client/server setup is analogous to a restaurant with waiters and customers. Some Internet servers take this analogy to extremes and become inattentive, or even refuse to serve you.
Shareware
Shareware is software that is distributed free on a trial basis with the understanding that the user may need or want to pay for it later. Some software developers offer a shareware version of their program with a built-in expiration date (after 30 days, the user can no longer get access to the program). Other shareware (sometimes called liteware) is offered with certain capabilities disabled as an enticement to buy the complete version of the program.
S/MIME (Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions)
S/MIME defines a means to make email messages more secure by adding both digital signatures and encryption. Using S/MIME-compliant email packages, users can make sure that a message in fact comes from the supposed sender (thanks to the signature), and that no one else could read the message before it arrived (thanks to encryption).
SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol)
When you're exchanging electronic mail on the Internet, SMTP is what keeps the process orderly. It's a protocol that regulates what goes on between the mail servers.
Spam
Spam is unsolicited e-mail on the Internet. From the sender's point-of-view, it's a form of bulk mail, often to a list culled from subscribers to a usenet discussion group or obtained by companies that specialize in creating e-mail distribution lists. To the receiver, it usually seems like junk e-mail. In general, it's not considered good netiquette to send spam. It's generally equivalent to unsolicited phone marketing calls except that the user pays for part of the message since everyone shares the cost of maintaining the Internet.
Some apparently unsolicited e-mail is, in fact, e-mail people agreed to receive when they registered with a site and checked a box agreeing to receive postings about particular products or interests. This is known as both opt-in e-mail and permission-based e-mail.
Spyware
Spyware is software that transmits information back to a third party without notifying the user. Some privacy advocates also call legitimate access control, filtering, Internet monitoring, password recovery, security or surveillance software "Spyware" because it could be used without notifying the users.
SQL (Structured Query Language)
A type of programming language used to construct database queries and perform updates and other maintenance of relational databases, SQL is not a full-fledged language that can create standalone applications--but it is strong enough to create interactive routines in other database programs. If you're looking into buying relational database software, make sure it has SQL support. Incidentally, SQL was developed as a result of an IBM project called Structured English Query Language, so to this day it is pronounced "sequel," not "squeal."
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)
A protocol designed by Netscape Communications to enable encrypted, authenticated communications across the Internet. SSL is used mostly (but not exclusively) in communications between web browsers and web servers. URL's that begin with "https" indicate that an SSL connection will be used. SSL provides 3 important things Privacy, Authentication, and Message Integrity. In an SSL connection each side of the connection must have a Security Certificate, which each side's software sends to the other. Each side then encrypts what it sends using information from both its own and the other side's Certificate, ensuring that only the intended recipient can de-crypt it, and that the other side can be sure the data came from the place it claims to have come from, and that the message has not been tampered with.
ScanDisk *.CHK files
Files created by Scandisk during checking the disks of your computer. On top
T
TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/Internet protocol)
These two protocols were developed by the U.S. military to allow computers to talk to each other over long distance networks. IP is responsible for moving packets of data between nodes. TCP is responsible for verifying delivery from client to server. TCP/IP forms the basis of the Internet, and is built into every common modern operating system (including all flavors of Unix, the Mac OS, and the latest versions of Windows).
TEMP folder
A folder which contains temporary files created by various Windows software.
Temporary Internet Files
MS Internet Explorer uses this folder for saving recently viewed web pages and graphics. It allows you to speed up pages that you've already been to. On top
U
URL (universal resource locator or uniform resource locator)
URLs are the Internet equivalent of addresses. How do they work? Like other types of addresses, they move from the general to the specific (from zip code to recipient, so to speak). Take this URL, for example:
http://www.u-wipe.com/download.html
First you have the protocol:
http:/
then the server address or domain:
/www.u-wipe.com
finally the page:
/download.html
Two debates rage: first, does the U stand for uniform or universal? Universal was the original definition of choice but was deemed by most to be too ambitious, and the more frequently used uniform was instated by the now-defunct URI Working Group.
Second, is URL pronounced "you are ell," or does it rhyme with hurl? Both pronunciations are widely used. On top
V
Virus
A virus is a piece of programming code usually disguised as something else that causes some unexpected and usually undesirable event. A virus is often designed so that it is automatically spread to other computer users. Viruses can be transmitted as attachments to an e-mail note, as downloads, or be present on a diskette or CD. The source of the e-mail note, downloaded file, or diskette you've received is often unaware of the virus. Some viruses wreak their effect as soon as their code is executed; other viruses lie dormant until circumstances cause their code to be executed by the computer. Some viruses are playful in intent and effect ("Have a nice day, Peter!") and some can be quite harmful, erasing data or causing your hard disk to require reformatting.
VPN (Virtual Private Network)
A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, is a private network of computers that's at least partially connected by public phone lines. A good example would be a private office LAN that allows users to log in remotely over the Internet (an open, public system). VPNs use encryption and secure protocols like PPTP to ensure that data transmissions are not intercepted by unauthorized parties. On top
W
World Wide Web
Also known as the WWW, the W3, or most often simply as the Web, it originally developed by CERN labs in Geneva, Switzerland. Continuing development of the Web is overseen by the World Wide Web Consortium. The Web can be described (dryly) as a client/server hypertext system for retrieving information across the Internet. On the Web, everything is represented as hypertext (in HTML format) and is linked to other documents by their URLs. The Web encompasses its native http protocol, as well as ftp, Gopher, and Telnet. On top
X
XML
(Extensible Markup Language)
XML is the Extensible Markup Language, a system for defining specialized markup languages that are used to transmit formatted data. XML is conceptually related to HTML, but XML is not itself a markup language. Rather it's a metalanguage, a language used to create other specialized languages. On top
Y
Ymodem
This is a protocol for transferring files during direct dial-up communications. So named because it builds on the earlier Xmodem protocol, Ymodem sends data in 1,024-byte blocks and is consequently faster than Xmodem. However, it doesn't work well on noisy phone lines, unlike its successor, Zmodem. Ymodem has undergone a few enhancements: Ymodem-Batch can send several files in one session; Ymodem-G drops software error correction, which speeds up the process by leaving hardware-based error correction in modems. On top
Z
Zmodem
This file transfer protocol should be your first choice for sending and receiving files using dial-up connections. Zmodem's speed and error checking recommend it, and it can resume a file transfer after a break in communications, so make sure this protocol is available in your communications software and any BBS you dial into. In case you couldn't tell, it's so named because it's intended to supersede Xmodem and Ymodem. On top
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