2016 SENIOR COMPUTER CLASS 2016 SENIOR COMPUTER CLASS – JGAPL Table of Contents INTERNET TERMINOLOGY 2

2016 SENIOR COMPUTER CLASS 2016 SENIOR COMPUTER CLASS – JGAPL Table of Contents INTERNET TERMINOLOGY 2 HARDWARE TERMINOLOGY 10 Bits and Bytes 69 Page | 1 Patrick Landers | Judge George W. Armstrong Library|220 S. Commerce St, Natchez, MS 39120 http://www.armstronglibrary.org | http://ebooks.armstronglibrary.org | http://catalog.armstronglibrary.org INTERNET TERMINOLOGY INTERNET = The Internet is a global wide area network that connects computer systems across the world. It includes several high-bandwidth data lines that comprise the Internet "backbone." These lines are connected to major Internet hubs that distribute data to other locations, such as web servers and ISPs. In order to connect to the Internet, you must have access to an Internet service provider (ISP), which acts the middleman between you and the Internet. Most ISPs offer broadband Internet access via a cable, DSL, or fiber connection. When you connect to the Internet using a public Wi-Fi signal, the Wi-Fi router is still connected to an ISP that provides Internet access. Even cellular data towers must connect to an Internet service provider to provide connected devices with access to the Internet. The Internet provides different online services. Some examples include: Web – a collection of billions of webpages that you can view with a web browser Email – the most common method of sending and receiving messages online Social media – websites and apps that allow people to share comments, photos, and videos Online gaming – games that allow people to play with and against each other over the Internet Software updates – operating system and application updates can typically downloaded from the Internet In the early days of the Internet, most people connected to the Internet using a home computer and a dial-up modem. DSL and cable modems eventually provided users with "always-on" connections. Now mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones, make it possible for people to be connected to the Internet at all times. The Internet of Things has turned common appliances and home systems into "smart" devices that can be monitored and controlled over the Internet. As the Internet continues to grow and evolve, you can expect it to become an even more integral part of daily life. URL = Stands for "Uniform Resource Locator." A URL is the address of a specific webpage or file on the Internet. For example, the URL of the Armstrong Library website is "http://armstronglibrary.org". While all website URLs begin with "http," several other prefixes exist. Below is a list of various URL prefixes: http – a webpage, website directory, or other file available over HTTP ftp – a file or directory of files available to download from an FTP server news – a discussion located within a specific newsgroup telnet – a Unix-based computer system that supports remote client connections gopher – a document or menu located on a gopher server wais - a document or search results from a WAIS database mailto - an email address (often used to redirect browsers to an email client) file - a file located on a local storage device (though not technically a URL because it does not refer to an Internet-based location) HTTP = Stands for "Hypertext Transfer Protocol." HTTP is the protocol used to transfer data over the web. It is part of the Internet protocol suite and defines commands and services used for transmitting webpage data. Page | 2 Patrick Landers | Judge George W. Armstrong Library|220 S. Commerce St, Natchez, MS 39120 http://www.armstronglibrary.org | http://ebooks.armstronglibrary.org | http://catalog.armstronglibrary.org HTTPS = Stands for "HyperText Transport Protocol Secure." HTTPS is the same thing as HTTP, but uses a secure socket layer (SSL) for security purposes. Some examples of sites that use HTTPS include banking and investment websites, e-commerce websites, and most websites that require you to log in. Websites that use the standard HTTP protocol transmit and receive data in an unsecured manner. This means it is possible for someone to eavesdrop on the data being transferred between the user and the Web server. While this is highly unlikely, it is not a comforting thought that someone might be capturing your credit card number or other personal information that you enter on a website. Therefore, secure websites use the HTTPS protocol to encrypt the data being sent back and forth with SSL encryption. If someone were to capture the data being transferred via HTTPS, it would be unrecognizable. You can tell if a website is secure by viewing the URL in the address field of your Web browser. If the Web address starts with https://, you know you are accessing a secure website. Most browsers will also display a lock icon somewhere along the edge of the window to indicate the website you are currently visiting is secure. You can click the lock icon to view the secure certificate that authenticates the website. So whenever you are asked to enter personal or financial information on a website, make sure that the URL starts with "https://" and that the lock icon appears in the window. Then you can be sure that the website is secure and any data you enter will only be recognized by your computer and the Web server. CLIENT = In the real world, businesses have clients. In the computer world, servers have clients. The "client-server" architecture is common in both local and wide area networks. For example, if an office has a server that stores the company's database on it, the other computers in the office that can access the datbase are "clients" of the server. On a larger scale, when you access your e-mail from a mail server on the Internet, your computer acts as the client that connects to the mail server. The term "client software" is used to refer to the software that acts as the interface between the client computer and the server. For example, if you use Microsoft Outlook to check your e-mail, Outlook is your "e-mail client software" that allows you to send and receive messages from the server. Isn't exciting how it all works? ADDRESS BAR = an address bar is a text field near the top of a Web browser window that displays the URL of the current webpage. The URL, or web address, reflects the address of the current page and automatically changes whenever you visit a new webpage. Therefore, you can always check the location of the webpage you are currently viewing with the browser's address bar. While the URL in the address bar updates automatically when you visit a new page, you can also manually enter a web address. Therefore, if you know the URL of a website or specific page you want to visit, you can type the URL in the address bar and press Enter to open the location in your browser. NOTE: The URL typically begins with "http://", but most browsers will automatically add the HTTP prefix to the beginning of the address if you don't type it in. The appearance of the address bar varies slightly between browsers, but most browsers display a small 16x16 pixel icon directly to the left of the URL. This icon is called a "favicon" and provides a visual identifier for the current website. Some browsers also display an RSS feed button on the right side of the address bar when you visit a website that offers RSS feeds. In the Safari web browser, the address bar also doubles as a progress bar when pages are loading and includes a refresh button on the right side. Page | 3 Patrick Landers | Judge George W. Armstrong Library|220 S. Commerce St, Natchez, MS 39120 http://www.armstronglibrary.org | http://ebooks.armstronglibrary.org | http://catalog.armstronglibrary.org Firefox includes a favorite’s icon on the right side of the address bar that lets you add or edit a bookmark for the current page. The address bar is sometimes also called an "address field." However, it should not be confused with a browser toolbar, such as the Google or Yahoo! Toolbar. These toolbars typically appear underneath the address bar and may include a search field and several icons. BOOKMARK = A bookmark is a saved shortcut that directs your browser to a specific webpage. It stores the title, URL, and favicon of the corresponding page. Saving bookmarks allows you to easily access your favorite locations on the Web. BROADBAND = refers to high-speed data transmission in which a single cable can carry a large amount of data at once. The most common types of Internet broadband connections are cable modems (which use the same connection as cable TV) and DSL modems (which use your existing phone line). Because of its multiple channel capacity, broadband has started to replace baseband, the single-channel technology originally used in most computer networks. So now when you see companies like AT&T and CableOne pushing those fancy "broadband" ads in your face, you'll at least know what they are talking about. CAPTCHA = A captcha is program used to verify that a human, rather than a computer, is entering data. Captchas are commonly seen at the end of online forms and ask the user to enter text from a distorted image. The text in the image may be wavy, have lines through it, or may be highly irregular, making it nearly impossible for an automated program to recognize it. (Of course, some captchas are so distorted that they can be difficult for humans to recognize as well.) Fortunately, most captchas allow the user to regenerate the image if the text is too difficult to read. Some even include an auditory pronunciation feature.

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