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Delta Web Design 4036 Cypress Gardens Drive Fort Worth, Texas 76123-1440 PH 817-370-1169 FX 817-370-7212 E-mail Delta Privacy Statement |
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| INTERNET DICTIONARY - LETTER "B" | |
| backbone | The top level in a hierarchical network. Stub and transit networks which connect to the same backbone are guaranteed to be interconnected. See also: stub network, transit network.The Internet's high speed data highways that serve as major access points to which other networks connect. |
| bandwidth | The range of frequencies a transmission line or channel can carry: the higher the frequency the higher the bandwidth and the greater the information carrying capacity of a channel. For a digital channel this is defined in bits per second or BPS. For an analog channel it is dependent on the type and method of modulation used to encode the data. ALSO: expressed in cycles per second (hertz), the amount of information that can flow through a channel. On the less technical side bandwidth is used to measure the amount of time it takes for a Web page to fully load. Internet users occasionally refer to larger graphics on Web pages as "bandwidth hogs" -- the use of the term bandwidth in this case isn't quite accurate but what it means is that the graphic is loading slow due to it's large file size. |
| bang | ! - An exclamation point used to signify surprise in an online forum. |
| bang path | A series of machine names used to direct electronic mail from one user to another, typically by specifying an explicit UUCP path through which the mail is to be routed. See also: email address, mail path, UNIX-to-UNIX CoPy. |
| baseband | A transmission medium through which digital signals are sent without complicated frequency shifting. In general, only one communication channel is available at any given time. Ethernet is an example of a baseband network. See also: broadband, Ethernet. Source: NNSC |
| Basic Encoding Rules (BER) | Standard rules for encoding data units described in ASN.1. Sometimes incorrectly lumped under the term ASN.1, which properly refers only to the abstract syntax description language, not the encoding technique. See also: Abstract Syntax Notation One. Source: NNSC |
| batch | A method of organizing several files into a single group for transmitting or printing which serves to increase the efficiency of the data transmission. |
| baud | In common usage the "baud rate" of a modem is how many bits it can send or receive per second. Technically, "baud" is the number of times per second that the carrier signal shifts value - so a 1200 bit-per-second modem actually runs at 300 baud, but it moves 4 bits per baud (4 x 300 = 1200 bits per second). It is no longer fashionable, however, having been replaced by the more direct "bits per second" or BPS. |
| BBL | Be Back Later - A shorthand appended to a comment written in an online forum. To see more e-mail shorthand click here. |
| BBS | See: Bulletin Board System |
| B Channel | Bearer Channel - This wire used in ISDN service can carry up to 64 kbps of data when operating at full capacity. It is a clear-channel "pipe" that carries voice, data, or video over ISDN. The Basic Rate Interface (BRI) service offered to home users has two B channels. |
| BCNU | Be Seein' You |
| BER | See: Basic Encoding Rules |
| Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) | Implementation of a DNS server developed and distributed by the University of California at Berkeley. Many Internet hosts run BIND, and it is the ancestor of many commercial BIND implementations. |
| Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) | Implementation of the UNIX operating system and its utilities developed and distributed by the University of California at Berkeley. "BSD" is usually preceded by the version number of the distribution, e.g., "4.3 BSD" is version 4.3 of the Berkeley UNIX distribution. Many Internet hosts run BSD software, and it is the ancestor of many commercial UNIX implementations. Source: NNSC |
| beta | In the preliminary or testing stage, as in "they're still in the beta mode with that software." Software developers encourage users to report bugs while beta testing their program. |
| BFD | Big F---ing Deal - an acronym used in e-mail shorthand or IRC to say "big deal" with obvious emphasis. |
| BFT | binary file transfer - A method of transferring files using fax modems (as an extension to the fax protocol). |
| BGP | See: Border Gateway Protocol |
| big-endian | A format for storage or transmission of binary data in which the most significant bit (or byte) comes first. The term comes from "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift. The Lilliputians, being very small, had correspondingly small political problems. The Big-Endian and Little-Endian parties debated over whether soft- boiled eggs should be opened at the big end or the little end. See also: little-endian. Source: RFC1208 |
| binary | A numbering system involving the use of '1' and '0' e.g. 11001001 |
| binary numbers | A numbering system with a base (radix) of 2, unlike the number system most of us use, which have bases of 10 (decimal numbers), 12 (measurement in feet and inches), and 60 (time). Binary numbers are preferred for computers for precision and economy. Building an electronic circuit that can detect the difference between two states (high current and low current, or 0 and 1) is easier and less expensive than building circuits that detect the difference among 10 states (0 through 9). The word bit dervives from the phrase BInary digiT. |
| BIND | See: Berkeley Internet Name Domain |
| BinHex | BINary HEXadecimal - A method for converting non-text files (non-ASCII) into ASCII. This is needed because Internet e-mail can only handle ASCII. |
| bios | Basic Input/Output System - The bios is what's coded into a PC's ROM to provide the basic instructions for controlling system hardware. The operating system and application programs both directly access BIOS routines to provide better compatibility for such functions as screen display. Some makers of add-in boards such as graphics accelerator cards provide their own bios modules that work in conjunction with (or replace) the bios on the system's motherboard. |
| Birds Of a Feather (BOF) | A Birds Of a Feather (flocking together) is an informal discussion group. It is formed, often ad hoc, to consider a specific issue and, therefore, has a narrow focus. |
| bit | The basic unit of information in a binary numbering system. The electronic circuitry in computers detect the difference between two states (high currnet and low current) and represents these two states as one of two numbers 1 or 0. These basic high/low, either/or, yes/no units of information are called bits. eight bits comprise what is called an octet, sometimes referred to as a byte. |
| bitmap | Any picture you see on a Web page is a bitmap. Bitmaps come in many file formats such as GIF, JPEG, TIFF, BMP, PICT, PCX, and DIB (device independent bitmap, which allows the image to be. They can be read and edited by paint programs and image editors such as Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. As its name suggests, a bitmap is a map of dots or "pixels". If you zoom in on or try to scale up a bitmap, it will look blocky. |
| BITNET | Network created by Ira Fuchs in 1981 to connect IBM computer centers around the world. An academic computer network interconnecting over 2,300 academic and research institutions in 32 countries that provides interactive electronic mail and file transfer services, using a store-and-forward protocol, based on IBM Network Job Entry protocols. BITNET-II encapsulates the BITNET protocol within IP packets and depends on the Internet to route them. Now merging with CSNET and running the RSCS protocol over TCP/IP protocol(BITNET II), the network is now called Computer Research and Education Network (CREN). |
| blatherer | A user who takes three screens to say something where three words suffice. |
| .bmp | A Microsoft Windows bitmap format. The images you see when Windows starts up and closes, and the wallpaper that adorns your desktop, are all in BMP format. |
| body | Can either be the part of an e-mail message you are sending which contains just the message itself without all the header and server information, or it is refferred to in HTML as the section of a Web page which contains all the text and graphics you see in a browser window. In HTML this section is designated by the use of a body tag. |
| BOF | See: Birds Of a Feather |
| bookmark | A bookmark is considered by some to be the best thing about surfing the Web. By "bookmarking" a Web site while you visit it, you can easily return to it at a later time with a simple mouse selection rather than remembering or typing in very long and sometimes cryptic URLs. The World Wide Web can be seen as a HUGE library of information. Finding your way around can be confusing at first. Bookmarks are just one way of personalizing the Web experience, by enabling you to quickly return to areas of the Web which interest you. Customarily Web sites have a "links" section which are really just a collection of bookmarks and are sometimes called hot lists. |
| boolean | or "boolean logic" is a system for searching and retreiving information from computers by using and combining terms such as AND, OR, and NOT to sort data. |
| boot | To start a computer; more frequently used as re-boot. When you shut down a system then restart, you are re-booting. It tends to clear out bugs that are hampering smooth computing. |
| BOOTP | The Bootstrap Protocol, described in RFCs 951 and 1084, is used for booting diskless nodes. See also: Reverse Address Resolution Protocol. |
| Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) | The Border Gateway Protocol is an exterior gateway protocol defined in RFCs 1267 and 1268. It's design is based on experience gained with EGP, as defined in STD 18, RFC 904, and EGP usage in the NSFNET Backbone, as described in RFCs 1092 and 1093. See also: Exterior Gateway Protocol. |
| bot | Robot - A bot is a program that runs on a computer [usually] 24 hours a day 7 days a week that automates mundane tasks for the owner, even if the owner is not logged in. Bots are used on the Internet in a variety of ways, most popular is its use in IRC and Web search engines. IRC bots are programs that connect to an IRC network and interacts with IRC in very much the same way a normal users does (in fact, IRC servers treat bots as regular users). Most IRC bots are used for channel control. Bots have also been called automatons but that term isn't used as much as it was in the past. Many long time users & IRC ops have a strong dislike for bots. Because of the system resources they use, very few bots are used for much more than vanity channel control, and many bots have been used for annoying or trouble making purposes. While it's true bots have not lived up to their full potential, new bot coders should try to think of ways their creation can add value and service to IRC and not just be a system drag. In the world of Web searching, bots are also called spiders and crawlers. They explore the World Wide Web by retrieving a document and following all the hyperlinks in it; then they generate catalogs that can be accessed by search engines. Popular search sites like Alta Vista, Excite, and Lycos use this method. |
| bounce | When e-mail cannot get to its recipient, it bounces back to the original sender unless it goes off into the ether, never to be found again. |
| bozo filter | A program that filters e-mail from or posting by individuals who are on your b-list (bozo list). |
| BPS | bits per second - The amount of data that can be transmitted over a communications medium; not to be confused with baud. |
| BRB | Be Right Back - A shorthand appended to a comment written in an online forum or e- mail. |
| bridge | A device which forwards traffic between network segments based on datalink layer information. These segments would have a common network layer address. See also: gateway, router. |
| broadband | A high-speed, high-capacity transmission channel. Broadband channels are carried on coaxial or fiber-optic cables that have a wider bandwidth than conventional telephone lines, giving them the ability to carry video, voice, and data simultaneously. The @Home network is an example of broadband connectivity. |
| broadband - a definition circa 1994 | A transmission method in which the networks range of transmission frequencies is divided into separate channels and each channel is used to send a different signal. Broadband is often used to send different types of signals simultaneously. |
| broadcast | A special type of multicast packet which all nodes on the network are always willing to receive. See also: multicast. |
| broadcast storm | An incorrect packet broadcast onto a network that causes multiple hosts to respond all at once, typically with equally incorrect packets which causes the storm to grow exponentially in severity. |
| broken link or broken graphic | A link or hyperlink which no longer works when a page loads, or when it is "clicked on" or does not take the user to the destination it was supposed too. This can also apply to a graphic which does not "load" on to a page. This can occur for several reasons, among them being that the server hosting the Web site has shut down temporarily or has been restarted, the Web site has moved to an entirely new server, the file or files have been moved or deleted, or the HTML code for the hyperlink is incorrect. Note that the broken graphics image can also appear when you have your browser's graphics turned off or if you hit the Stop button before the page finishes loading and the transfer gets interrupted. |
| broken pipe | This term is usually seen in an error message by programs such as Netscape Navigator to let the user know that the stream of information which was downloading at the time has been forcibly cut. This can occur for many reasons, most commonly because you are on a very crowded network or your access provider is experiencing heavy traffic. |
| brouter | A device which bridges some packets (i.e., forwards based on datalink layer information) and routes other packets (i.e., forwards based on network layer information). The bridge/route decision is based on configuration information. See also: bridge, router. |
| browser | The computer software loaded on a clients computer that interprets the digital information from the internet and displays it on your computer screen. |
| BSD | See: Berkeley Software Distribution |
| BTW | By The Way - A shorthand appended to a comment written in an online forum or e- mail. |
| bug | A programming error that causes a program or computer system to perform erratically, produce incorrect results, or crash. The term bug was coined when a real insect was discovered to have fouled up one of the circuits of the first electronic digital computer, the ENIAC. To report any NetLingoTM bugs, click here. Not to be confused with a glitch, which refers to a hardware problem. |
| bullet | In HTML, a bullet is a large dot used to separate listed items on a Web page. |
| Bulletin Board System | A dial-up computerized meeting and announcement system for carrying on discussions, uploading and downloading files, and generally obtaining online information and services - Or - a congregation gathered electronically via a modem that allows the users to post messages. They began as informal communities but now include political, commercial, adult, etc., categories. There are many thousands of BBS's around the world, most are very small, running on a single IBM PC or Mac clone with 1 or 2 phone lines. Some are very large and the line between a BBS and a system like CompuServe gets crossed at some point, but it is not clearly drawn |
