Basic Terms

You should know these.  All of them.  Sorry about the length, but they are important.
 

Basic Computer Terms

 
TERM Definition
Char (Character) One letter or space or digit.
Byte One char
Kilobyte 1024 bytes (about 1000).  A short page of text is about 1 KB
Megabyte 1,048,576 bytes (about 1,000,000).  A HUGE picture is about 1/2 MB
Gigabyte 1,073,741,824 bytes (about 1,000,000,000).  A CS filled with music is 0.7 GB.
Processor The part of the computer that does the "thinking".  Usually made by Intel (ick!!)
Moherboard The main circuit board of the computer.  Not the case!!
Case The part of the computer visible from the outside
Resolution How many pixels the screen holds.  The most common resolution is 1024 height x 768 width
Hardware Any part of the computer you can physically touch.  Your mouse is a piece of software.
Software The "programs".  Netscape is a piece of software.
 

Web Terms

TERM Definition
Web Page A page written in HTML
HTML Hypertext markup language
VRML Virtual reality modeling language.  Stores 3-D graphics.
Bandwidth The rate at which data moves through the network
Latency How long it takes a bit of data to get from source to destination across the network
Cache A place used to temporarily hold data in hopes of using it again
Tag An individual piece of HTML code.  One tag achieves just one effect.
Client The computer running the browser
Browser The program the user uses to access the web.  Normally either Netscape or Internet Explorer
Server (1) The computer that holds web pages and offers then to clients
Server (2) The program running on the server computer that offers web pages to clients.

File Types

File Type Use
HTML A web page
HTM A web page on a PC that cannot have more than 3 letter extensions
JPG A "jay-peg".  A picture format that is small but can have losses.
GIF A picture format that is bigger but lossless.
AVI A format for storing whole movies.
MPG An "em-peg".  Another movie format
WRL These are VRML files.
AU A soundfile format
MID A sound synthisizer format