ActiveX
A relatively new technology that makes it easy to embed animated objects, data, and computer code on Web pages. With ActiveX controls, a Web browser that supports ActiveX can play just about any item you might encounter on a Web page.
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For those who want to be up-to-date
A Guide to using ActiveX and HTML together
ActiveX FAQ's
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Animated GIF
Let's start with the beginnning. What the heck is a GIF? This stands for Graphics Interchange Format, a common standard for images on the web.
An animated GIF is a graphic image that moves - for example, a twirling icon or a banner with a hand that waves or letters that magically get larger. This is caused by flashing several similar pictures up, one right after another which creates the illusion of movement, much like a movie. Animated .gifs are very effective on web pages because they attract attention. To be really "techie", an animated GIF is a file in the Graphics Interchange Format specified as GIF89a that contains within the single file a set of images that are presented in a specified order. An animated GIF can loop endlessly (and it appears as though your document never finishes arriving) or it can present one or a few sequences and then stop the animation.
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This is one of my personal favourites...(please be patient it may take some time to load).
For the Adventurous
Try making your own with some help from the Animated Artists Guild!
Shareware that might help you
An animation tool you can buy (if you're superkeen)
Or if making your own seems like a little too much work, borrow someone else's!
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Authoring Tools
These are graphical web browsers that let you build and edit pages as you view them. These type of programs can be very particularly helpful when planning, implementing and managing large Web sites. They offer help with higher level tasks such as automatic link verification and testing, multi-author tracking, and multimedia Web publishing.
The Webopedia Definition
For the Creative
Answers to your questions about authoring tools
A Guide to On-line Reviews of some of the Most Popular Web Authoring Tools
Helpful links to authoring tools available on-line
Help with multimedia authoring
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Browser
Basically, a browser is a software program for viewing HTML pages. The browser gives some means of viewing the contents of nodes (or "pages") and of navigating from one node to another.
Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, Mosaic, and Lynx are examples of browsers for the World-Wide Web. Browsers can be text-based or graphical, however the most popular are graphical.Graphical browsers can render images and many different text fonts; non-graphical browsers cannot.
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For the Curious
Browser downloads, reviews, tips and articles
We are in the midst of a browser war...find out what browsers people are using!
Some of the latest insight into the Browser War from the Globe and Mail
A Guide to On-line Reviews of the Most Popular Browsers
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Cache
Cache serves as a temporary storage area that a Web browser uses to store pages that it has recently opened. The cache enables the browser to quickly load these pages if you decide to return to them.
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For the Technically Challenged
Netscape Tech Support
Why do I always have to click on the reload button to keep pages current in my browser?
Netscape Navigator: Cache/Performance Tips
Internet Explorer: Cache/Performance Tips
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CGI
CGI stands for Common Gateway Interface. This is an interface for external programs to talk to a Web server. It's a way of interfacing computer programs with HTTP or WWW servers, so that a server can offer interactive sites instead of just static text and images. External programs are called gateways because they open up an outside world of information to the server. Programs that are written to use CGI are called CGI programs or CGI scripts, and are commonly used for processing HTML forms. One of the most common programming languages used to create CGI scripts is Perl.
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For the Super-Techie Wannabes
CGI Information from the National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois
The CGI Resource Index
CGI Programming Bulletin Board
Finally a page more at my level! The Idiot's Guide to Solving Perl CGI Problems
More CGI links and a TEST for the very keen
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Cyberspace
This is a broad expression used to describe the activity, communication, and culture happening on the Internet and other computer networks.
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For Those Desiring to be Cyber Savvy
An Atlas of Cyberspace
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DNS
DNS or Domain Name System is an Internet addressing system originally developed at U of Wisconsin, that uses a group of names that are listed with dots (.) between them, working from the most specific to the most general group, no longer requiring users to know the exact path to other systems. In the U.S., the top (most general) domains are network categories such as .edu (education), .com (commercial), and .gov (government). In other countries, a two-letter abbreviation for the country is used, such as .ca (Canada) and .au (Australia).
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For Techie Gurus
Setting up DNS
More about setting up a basic DNS server for a domain
DNS Controversies: Do you own your own Name in Cyberspace?
gTLD-MoU: The International Framework governing DNS
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E-mail
E-mail (A.K.A. Electronic mail) is a system that enables a person to compose a message on a computer and transmit that message through a computer network, such as the Internet, to another computer user. The word based address of a user is typically made up of a username, an at (@) sign, and a domain name (eg.user@domain). E-mail addresses are translated from the numeric IP addresses by the domain name system (DNS).
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For Those with the Gift of the Gab
A Beginner's Guide to Effective E-mail
E-mail Essentials
Take Control of your E-mail with help from PC Magazine
E-mail Utilties: Send a Message to a Celebrity or search for Someone's New Address
eFilter and Spamnet: Software Utilities that help you identify and Destroy Junk Mail
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FAQ
Short for Frequently Asked Questions, this is a computer file containing the answers to frequently asked questions about a particular subject or Internet resource.
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For Those with an Inquiring Mind
FAQ's about FAQ's
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HTML
This Hypertext Markup Language is a formatting language used to create pages on the World Wide Web. The funny thing is HTML isn't really a design tool; it's a display language that was created to let academics share information and ideas across the Net using a common format that almost any computer could read. By limiting the design elements to about 40 formatting elements, or "tags," HTML was meant to be the simplest way to display text and some simple graphics. This flexibility is the reason the Web spread so much faster than other elements of the Internet.
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For the Enterprising
How do they do that with HTML? Answers for Novices and Experts
Learn all About it at HTML User 101
Learn How to Do it with a Basic, Intermediate or Advanced Tutorial
Web Authoring Tools for Nearly Nothing
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HTTP
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol is the protocol most often used to transfer information from World Wide Web servers to browsers, which is why Web addresses begin with http://. At the beginning of every URL, you see these four letters. They tell the Web server how your browser intends to communicate with it. When you connect to a World Wide Web server, both systems use this protocol to transfer the document from the server to your system. In other words, the transfer protocol tells the program looking at the data what to use it as. So, a document coming in HTTP is read as an HTML document.
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For Computer Geniuses or Those Willing to try Really Really Hard
The Origins of HTTP and it's Advantages over FTP
A REALLY Techie look at a Model of an HTTP server
World Wide Web Consortium: The people who coordinate the HTTP standards
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HTTPd
HTTPd stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol daemon. A World Wide Web server from NCSA, for making hypertext and other documents available to World-Wide Web browsers. HTTPd is designed to be small and fast and to work with most HTTP/0.9 and HTTP/1.0 browsers.
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For Those with Nothing Better to Do
Answers to your Questions about HTTPd
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Hypertext

Text that allows readers to jump spontaneously among onscreen documents and other resources by selecting highlighted keywords that appear on each screen like this. Hypertext most often appears on theWorld Wide Web.
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For all 'Net Users
A History of Hypertext
Answers to Some of your Questions about Hypertext
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Hypermedia
Hypermedia acts the same as hypertext in that allows you to jump among documents. However, with hypermedia you can click on more than just words-you can use images like this...
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Internet
A large, loosely organized integrated network connecting people around the world so that they can exchange messages and share information.
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For Everyone
History of the Internet
A Timeline detailing the History of the Internet
One Possible Future for the 'Net
More Predictions...
The Internet in 2015...don't you wish it was really this easy to see into the future?
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ISDN
This Integrated Digital Services Network essentially operates as a digital phone line and is a set of standards for transmission of simultaneous voice, data and video information over fewer channels than would otherwise be needed, through the use of out-of-band signalling. ISDN delivers many benefits over standard analog phone lines, including multiple simultaneous calls and higher-quality data transmissions. ISDN data rates are 56 Kbps to 128 Kbps. The most common ISDN system provides one data and two voice circuits over a traditional copper wire pair, but can represent as many as 30 channels.
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For Those who Think that this Page took Forever to Load
ISDN History
An Introduction to ISDN and How it Works
Some Technical Help from the ISDN Help Desk
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ISP
Your Internet Service Provider is a company that provides you with access to the Internet. ISPs usually have several servers and a high-speed link to the Internet.
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For All 'Net Users
Information on over 4,500 ISP's
Why you're paying more for your ISP
Get the Basics with ISPUser 101
A PC Magazine Guide to Choosing your ISP
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Java
A Web-oriented language developed by Sun Microsystems which allows authors to write applications just once, which will then run automatically on any Java-enabled computer platform. It is a language especially made for writing client/server and networked applications, and especially well suited to the internet. Java can be used to write applets that animate web
pages, or to create interactive web sites that are 'alive.' Java can also be used to transmit objects and modules that a Java enabled client might put together on the fly to create a new type of application.
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For Those Who Like to Live on the Edge
A Diagram depicting the History of Java
A Recent Article on the Revival of Java
Java Resources
The People who Created It!
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Modem
Modem stands for Modulator/Demodulator. It is a device that converts the digital signals of a computer to an analog format for transmission across telephone lines.
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Modem Help
Advice on How to Buy a Modem from the Computer Shopper
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Network
A set of computers interconnected so that they can communicate and share information. Most major networks are connected to the global network-of-networks, called the Internet.
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For Those Interested in our Techie Roots
A Brief History of the Internet and Related Networks
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PPP
Point-to-Point Protocol is a communications protocol that enables a dial-up Internet connection.
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A Good Overview of PPP
Answers to your Questions about PPP
Configuring and Debugging a PPP Connection
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Search Engines
This is really nothing more than a program that provides a way to search for specific information.
The Webopedia Definition
For the Curious
Search Engine Facts
A PC Magazine Review of Search Engines
A Comprehensive guide detailing what they are, how they work and how to get the most out of them
Some of my favourite search engines
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Shareware
Software programs that users are permitted to acquire and evaluate for free. Shareware is different from freeware in that, if a person likes the shareware program and plans to use it on a regular basis, he/she is expected to send a fee to the programmer.
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For those who wish their computer could do something else
Shareware Applications for Windows 95/98
The Top Shareware of 1998
Yahoo's Shareware Library
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TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol is the agreed-on set of computer communications rules and standards that allows communications between different types of computers and networks that are connected to the Internet.
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For those aspiring to be True Techies
An introduction to TCP/IP
A history of TCP/IP and other Internet protocols
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Text Editor
Any program that allows you to edit text with your computer.
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UNIX
UNIX was one of the first operating systems to be written in a high-level programming language, namely C. This meant that it could installed on virtually any computer for which a C compiler existed. Due to its portability, flexibility, and power, UNIX has become the leading operating system for workstations. It has been less popular for portable computers.
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For Those Who enjoy the sweet torture of non-graphical interfaces
Unix Resources and Information
UNIX Reference Desk
An introduction to UNIX
A listing of FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions) about UNIX
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URL
A URL is a Uniform Resource Locator. It is also commonly referred to as a location or address. This is an addressing system that locates documents on the Internet
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For Newbies
A guide to URL's
A beginner's guide to URL's
Help with URL's
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World Wide Web
A set of Internet computers and services that provide an easy-to-use system for finding information and moving among resources. WWW services feature hypertext, hypermedia, and multimedia information, which can be explored through browsers such as Netscape or Internet Explorer.
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For anyone trying to find their way in Cyberspace
Help navigating the World Wide Web
An introduction to the World Wide Web
A tutorial on exploring the World Wide Web
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Web Server
A computer connected to the Internet that hosts data that can be accessed through Web browsers using the HTTP protocol.
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For those who want to become the Techie Guru
The Ultimate Guide to Web Servers
Microsoft's Server Page
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