ACCESS PROVIDER
A company that sells Internet access. More commonly called an Internet Service Provider (ISP).
ADDRESS
Otherwise known as a URL, the unique location of a Web page on the Internet. Can also mean your email address.
ANONYMOUS FTP
Enables a casual user to download files from an Internet site without registering a user identity or password.
ANSI
American National Standards Institute.
ATTACHMENT
A file (which may contain text, graphics or sound) sent as part of an email message.
ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange. A basic language understood by all computers.
BACKBONE
The central link that allows data to travel from one network provider to another. Many small Internet access providers use the backbones of larger providers to carry their data. A backbone is the motorway (freeway) of the information highway.
BANDWIDTH
The total amount of date passed through a connection. Usually quoted as Kbs (kilobits per second) or Mbs (megabits per second).
BAUD RATE
The speed of a modem, expressed as the number of transitions in modem signals per second - i.e. the higher the number, the faster the modem.
BOOKMARK
Netscape Navigator's way of allowing you to save the addresses of Web sites you want to be able to return to easily.
BROWSER
Program that enables your PC to view and download documents and files from the Web. The two most common are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Explorer.