Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
DNS - Domain Name System. A protocol and set of servers that translates
human-oriented server names such as mail.google.com into their numerical
addresses, which are used by the network routing systems.
Ethnography - The observation, study and description of organizations and
small societies.
Feed - A supply of data to a system, but most often used as a data format for
providinguserswithfrequentlyupdatedcontent.Usersmaysubscribetoafeed
to receive its content. (See also, RSS.)
Flaming - Deliberately hostile communication in a forum, chat list or mailing
list. It is often a response to new users not conforming to the conventions of
the forum, but may simply be hostile disagreement to someone's statement.
FTP-FileTransferProtocol.Aprotocolfortheuploadinganddownloadingof
files from a remote computer system. Transmission is usually unencrypted or
“in the clear”, so it is potentially possible for snoopers to gather passwords if
they are sent. Many data provider sites offer anonymous FTP for download
whereby clients may connect without using any log in (See also, SCP.)
GIS - Geographic Information System. An application or set of applications
that handles map data, including feature outlines and attribute information to
geographic features.
HTML - HyperText Markup Language. The language standard that web
browsers use to interpret and display web pages. (See also, CSS, CGI, HTTP.)
HTTP-HyperTextTransferProtocol.Theprotocoltocontrolcommunication
between web servers and web browsers. (See also, CGI, HTML.)
IM-InstantMessaging.Acommunicationmethod,usuallybetweencomputers,
but also with advanced telephones, where messages appear directly on the
receivingsystemifitisloggedin.
IMAP - Internet Message Access Protocol. One of the mail client protocols
used to retrieve users' mail from a mail server. Mail messages are usually left
on the server. (See also, POP, SMTP.)
IRC - Internet Relay Chat. One of the methods used to provide multi-user
instant messaging or chat.
ISP - Internet Service Provider. A company or organization that provides
access to users to the internet.
Log Files - Files created by applications that list actions taken by the applica-
tion. For instance, web servers maintain logs of all page requests, and instant
messagingclientsoptionallymaintainlogsofconversations.Logfilesareoften
text and easily analyzed with appropriate tools, but sometime logs need to
explicitly exported to text files before they can be analyzed.
