Glossary of Internet Service Related Terms

E-business

Any business conducted via the Internet, whether through email, web site, world wide web, etc.

E-commerce

Performing business transactions on the Internet - which may include the use of credit cards, 'shopping trolleys', forms, and secure servers.

E-mail

Short for electronic mail, e-mail consists of messages, often just text, sent from one user to another via a network. E-mail can also be sent automatically to a number of addresses.

E-mail Address

This refers to a computer mailing address to which electronic mail may be sent. Each computer system handles e-mail addressing differently, but relies on various protocols for exchanging mail with other, dissimilar systems.

Email POP Account

POP (Post Office Protocol) refers to a an e-mail account on the web host's e-mail server. Each seperate account allows a different email name and mailbox such as: webmaster@yournamet.com, or bob@yourname.com.

Emoticon

Another name for a "smiley," an emoticon is a sequence of keyboard characters used to punctuate a message or posting by expressing the writer's emotional state. For example: a smile :-) sadness or consternation :-( a wink ;-)

Encryption

A way of coding the information in a file or e-mail message so that if it is intercepted by a third party as it travels over a network it cannot be read. Only the person or persons that have the right type of decoding software can unscramble the message.

Entry Page

The page by which visitors enter your site.

Ethernet

A very common method of networking computers in a LAN . Ethernet will handle about 10,000,000 bits-per-second and can be used with almost any kind of computer.

Excite

Regarded as one of the best search engines, with an index of 55 million pages. It can be slow to index new sites. The URL is http://www.excite.com. Sites using frames must have a NOFRAMES section in order to be listed. Some spamming has been noticed. Excite previously ignored the DESCRIPTION meta tag, but is now using this in its listings (although the contents do not affect relevancy, which is based mainly on the title and body text). The use of gateway pages and hidden text is allowed. Excite has an audio/video search facility which is a branded component of RealNetworks' RealPlayer G2.

Executable File

An executable file refers to a program file. Executables in DOS and Windows usually have an .exe or a .com extension. In UNIX and Macintosh environments, executable files can have any name.

Expansion cards

Small circuit boards which are plugged into the main motherboard. They are used for controlling the video output, processing sounds, or communicating with modems and network cards.

Expired Domain

A domain that has not been reregistered by the owner in the grace period allotted eventually becomes expired, or unusable by the owner, and is placed into the pool of available names again.

Extensions

Files are identified by a three or four letter or number code, called an extension. This comes after the full stop following the filename. Common types include .doc and .txt for word-processor documents. Files ending in .gif and .jpg generally contain images. Files ending in .exe and .com usually contain executable programs which load into memory and carry out a set of instructions.

External Viewer

An external viewer is an additional piece of software that "helps" your browser interpret and display specific file types that it doesn't have the built-in ability to do itself.

Extranet

An extranet is a network that allows a company to share information with other businesses and customers. Extranets transmit information over the Internet and require a user to have a password to access data on internal company servers.