Glossary
ActiveX: Microsoft's answer to Java, a programming language for creating multi-media applications on the Web. Active X "controls," or programs, are inserted into pages so that when you hit a page that contains one, it's automatically downloaded. Once downloaded, however, it resides permanently on your machine (more like a plug-in), and whenever another page asks to use that specific control, the code gets pulled off of your local disk, rather than off the Net. Basically, Active X looks a lot like Java, except that it's owned by Microsoft, it is not platform-independent, and there is a lot of concern about its security. (A Web surfer could click on a page with Active X and have the contents of their hard drive scanned without their knowledge.)
DVD, or Digital Video Disc: First there was beta, then there was VHS, then LaserDisc, and now DVD. It uses a red wavelength laser that has a smaller focus range, enabling more data storage on the disc -- a DVD can include a film dubbed in three languages, subtitles in four languages and,
theoretically, will make you dinner while you watch the flick. In the
future, the laser will be finer (and a prettier blue color), which will
enable enough room for HDTV-image quality.
Cable modems: The cable modem is a device that provides high-speed Internet transmission via a cable television (CATV) network. The cable modem functions differently than a telephone modem, since the cable modem is always online. With no more busy signals and no need to dial, the cable modem provides a direct and fast Net connection.
Flat panel monitors: The name pretty much says it all. Liquid Crystal Displays like the one on your Casio watch (and your PowerBook) provide an alternative to the cumbersome cathode-ray tubes in your TV and desktop monitor. Also, flat screens aren't distorted, which allows for a wider viewing range. As technology improves the color and brightness of flat
monitors, those old boxes will probably go... down the tubes.
Java: Java is a high-level programming language designed for programmers building applications on networked, cross-platform environments -- in other words, it's a language designed to do cool, interactive things on the Web. Instead of downloading pages off the Web, with Java you download a little bundle of code. That code, or Java "applet," then executes on your computer. Java is generally held to be a well-conceived, secure language with a lot of potential -- even if that potential seems distant.
Javascript: Introduced by Netscape, JavaScript is a programming language designed to extend the browser's functionality. It has been used to craft such features as the floating tool bar on the front door of HotWired and Web-based clocks (and the "ticker tape" application that co-opts URL preview bars). It's not the same as Java, nor is it as powerful or elegant as Java.
Netscape:
Here's a story, of a brilliant hacker
Who had written up some pretty nifty code
It was a browser - called Mosaic
But he made no dough
Here's a story, of a man named Jim Clark
Who was busy making money on his own
He was wealthy, beyond comprehension
But he was all alone
And then one day when Andreessen met this fellow
And they knew it was much more than a hunch
That these two would somehow form a corporation
That's the way they all became the Netscape bunch.
The Netscape bunch, the Netscape bunch....
That's the long version.
The short version:
Marc Andreessen and some other folk at the University of Illinois National Center for Supercomputing Applications wrote Mosaic, a browser. Mosaic was the original graphical-user interface (i.e., easy-to-use) software for looking at the World Wide Web. Mosaic was largely responsible for the take-off in popularity of the Web. Then Jim Clark, of the multi-million dollar Silicon Graphics company, teamed up with Andreessen and came up with Netscape Navigator, Mosaic's successor. Now, Netscape and Microsoft (with Internet Explorer) have engaged in a much-covered "war" to dominate the browser market.
Newton: The hand-held operating system from the folks at Apple. Gives a new option to the businessman (or schoolchild) on the run -- it lets them "write" on a "scratch pad." The user's chicken scratch is then translated into type, although, like even the best of assistants, Newtons need time to get used to a particular handwriting.
UNIX: UNIX (a trademark; it doesn't really stand for anything) was invented in 1970 at Bell Labs by a couple of guys with long hair and really scary beards. It was one of the first time-sharing operating systems, which meant that a bunch of users could use the same machine at the same time - incredibly important at that time since computers then cost
upwards of $100,000. What set UNIX apart from other time sharing operating
systems is that Bell/AT&T; decided not to market the operating system. You
could obtain it, but there was no support, no advertising, no bug fixes, and
no guarantees. This meant that users had to build their own tools,
bugfixes, workarounds, and other extensions to the system. Users added
whatever they needed to the system, and the operating system evolved in a
very organic way.
Nowadays, most of the computers that run World Wide Web sites are UNIX
machines. More to the point, most of the large and powerful computers in
the world run UNIX. This means that learning to use UNIX is a very useful
and marketable skill. Unfortunately, UNIX isn't exactly easy to use - the
guys who invented it in the first place would have laughed at the term
"user-friendly." Consequently, most of the people who use, understand, and
love UNIX are, you guessed it, guys with long hair and really scary beards.
MPEG compression: MPEG stands for Motion Pictures Expert Group. These folks have developed a standard way to compress (i.e. shrink the file size) of digital video files. This kind of compression allows video clips to be transferred over the Net without a noticeable lost of image quality.
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