Words L-N

 

*  LAN (Local Area Network): Any physical network technology that operates at high speed over short distances (up to a few thousand meters).

*  Listserv: A UNIX program that is used to subscribe and unsubscribe people from mailing lists. Listserv can also search through old messages for specific information, send out updates of standard files to those who want them, and give you information about who else is subscribed to a particular mailing list.

*  Lurking: A term used to describe browsing a Newsgroup for the purpose of tracking its discussions. It is advisable to lurk through a Newsgroup before posting to it.

*  Lynx: A character-based World Wide Web browser program usable through a telnet connection to almost all UNIX servers on the Internet. Because Lynx is run on the UNIX server to which you connect your Windows or Macintosh client computer, you don't have to install it on your client system. In fact, this is impossible because Lynx is a UNIX based program and can't be run in a Windows or Mac environment.

*  Mailbox: A folder or directory into which E-mail is downloaded or transferred when it is sent from a server to a client.

*  Mailing List: Any of the tens of thousands of discussion group pertaining to all imaginable subjects that involve the distribution of E-mail from a central computer (see Listserv). Anyone with E-mail capabilities on their computer, including those not really on the Internet who are members of online services like America Online, CompuServe, and Prodigy, can subscribe to mailing lists.

*   Milnet: Milnet is the non-secure (unclassified traffic) segment of the U.S. Defense Data Network. Milnet sites use standard Internet domain name addresses for E-mail. Many U.S. sites on this network or on associated networks have Internet domain names ending in ".MIL". Access to this network and associated government networks is controlled by mail-bridges which can be used to restrict access.

*  Modem: Short for Modulator/DEModulator, a communications device that enables a computer to transmit information over a standard telephone line.

*  Mosaic: A World Wide Web browser application available for the Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX (XWindows) platforms, Mosaic was originally developed in 1992 at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illionis at Urbana/Champaign.

*  National Information Infrastructure (NII): The National Information Infrastructure (NII) is the communications network of computers, databases, and consumer electronics that will put vast amounts of information at users' fingertips in the future. It may either evolve from the Internet or replace it.

*  National Research and Education Network (NREN): The High-Performance Computing Act established the National Research and Education Network (NREN). This major federal initiative, designed to give students access to networked information, is bringing thousands of public schools and other K-12 institutions onto the Internet.

*   Netiquette: A pun on "etiquette," proper behavior on the Internet, especially in use of E-mail.

*  Netscape: A company that creates software related to the Internet, such as Web servers, Web browsers and E-mail. They grew extremely fast based on the popularity of their Web browser: Netscape Navigator.

*  Network: A group of machines connected so they can transmit information to one another. There are two kinds of networks: local networks and remote networks.

*  Newsgroup: See Usenet. Newsgroups are electronic bulletin boards. The collection of Newsgroup son the Internet is called Usenet. This conferencing system encompasses more that 15,000 Newsgroups devoted to interactive conversation about specific topics.

*   Nicknames: A short easy to remember name for a person who has a complicated Internet E-mail address. Nicknames are a feature found in many popular E-mail applications.

*   Node: A computer that is attached to a network; also called a host.

*   NSFnet: Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), this network is an essential part of academic and research communications. It is a highspeed "network of networks" comprising 16 nodes connected to a 4 Mbps facility which spans the continental United States. NSFnet also has connections out of the U.S. to Canada, Mexico, Europe, and the Pacific Rim. The NSFnet is part of the Internet and one of the Internet's original and primary backbones.

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