Pixel:
Short for picture element - the smallest unit of resolution on a monitor.
Commonly used as a unit of measurement.
Plug-In:
A small application which extends the built in capabilities of your Web browser.
Examples include Macromedia's Shockwave, providing animation, and
RealAudio, offering streamed sound files over the Internet. Compared to helpers,
the multimedia files do not need to be downloaded before shown or played.
PKZIP:
A widely available shareware utility allowing users to compress and
decompress data files. Helps reduce storage space and transfer times.
POP:
Post Office Protocol - a method of storing and returning email.
Post:
To send a message to a mailing list or newsgroup.
PPP:
Point-to-Point Protocol - a protocol for converting a dial-up
connection to a point-to-point connection over the Internet.
Frequently used for accessing the World Wide Web over phone lines.
Considered more stable than a SLIP connection.
PGP:
Pretty Good Privacy - an encryption scheme which uses the "public
key" approach - messages are encrypted using the publicly available
key, but can only be deciphered by the intended recipient via the private
key.
Protocol:
An agreed upon set of rules by which computers exchange information.
Provider:
An Internet Service Provider, or ISP.
Q
QuickTime:
A common video file format created by Apple Computer. Video files found on
the Internet are often stored in the QuickTime format - they require a
special viewer program for playback.
R
Register:
With shareware,
when you contact the vendor and pay for the product, you are registering.
In return, you will receive either a password to turn off the nag
notices or a copy of the full commercial version.
Robot:
A program that automatically searches the World Wide Web for files.