Sparks Fly
[Home] [PBS VideoDatabase] [Social Studies] [TSU] [UVA]

Browser    The software that allows a user to view web documents. Netscape and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer are two examples of browsers.

Cyberspace    A trendy term for the Internet.

Downloading   The act of transferring data onto your computer from another  computer.

Home Page   The first page users see when they visit a web site; the site’s entry point.

HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)   The language World Wide Web documents are written in.

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)   The way hypertext documents are rapidly distributed.

Internet   The global collection of networks that transfer information between each other. 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). Universities and research institutes began to connect to the network and exchange research information. A physicist developed a hypertext system which spread over the Internet and became the World Wide Web.

Intranet   A "mini-Internet." Intranets are usually company networks where the company’s computers are linked together.

Modem   A device that converts digital signals (how our computers talk) into analogue signals (how phones talk) and the other way around. Modems are used to connect computers to the Internet.

Search Engine  Web sites that catalog other web sites by topic. By entering your subject or title, you access their database which provides you with a list of web sites that have the information you want. Some popular search engines are Lycos and Yahoo.

Surfing   A trendy term for aimlessly exploring the World Wide Web.

URL (Uniform Resource Locators)   The "address" of a document or file on the World Wide Web.

WWW (World Wide Web)   A user-friendly global network that allows information providers to electronically display their information.