Before he passed away, William Safire asked me to compile a list of new Internet terms that were both clever and relevant. Even though he referenced NetLingo in his column, the list never got published. Here are 25 Internet terms for word lovers, enjoy!
vlog - (pronounced like blog) - It is a blog that provides a video journal on a subject rather than text entries. Basically this is blogging using video, and can best be thought of as an online video diary. Video blogs may be watched on the computer or downloaded to a portable device for later viewing. Like audio Podcasts, vlogs may also be delivered on demand via RSS feeds.
blogosphere - "Reaction was swift in the blogosphere." Blogs are transforming the way journalists report, filter and break the news. Are you part of the community?
phishing - (pronounced "fishing") - An online scam in which the perpetrator sends out a large number of legitimate looking e-mails that appear to come from respected companies, but in fact lead to a spoof Web site in order to steal your information. I've listed everything you need to know including an example.
pharming (pronounced "farming") - The latest cyberswindle, pharming, threatens to reel in entire schools of victims. It is a fast-spreading online scam which redirects Web users to phony sites where criminals can capture passwords and other data. Unlike phishing, which targets one user at a time, pharming nabs multiple victims at once.
harvest or harvesting - Similar to the traditional definition of gathering crops off the fields, harvesting in the online world refers to gathering e-mail addresses or IM addresses from the Internet. For example, harvesting is the leading method spammers use to acquire new addresses.
keylogger - Short for keystroke logging, this is a computer program or a hardware device designed to record a user's keystrokes. The "keylogger" records everything the user types in, including e-mails, login names, passwords, credit card numbers, bank account info, etc., in order to steal this information. It was originally created as a diagnostic tool for software development. Known as the computer virus that takes spying on victims to another level, this malicious program is capable of switching on a webcam for instance, allowing the hacker to literally peek into victims' lives!
whack - Online jargon used to describe a forward slash (/) in a URL. For example: you may hear "http colon whack whack dub-dub-dub dot netlingo dot com". I've heard it 8 times in the last week! For a full explanation, and a second definition, look it up in the dictionary.
RFID (pronounced: R-F-I-D) It used to be for cattle, now it's for humans. High-tech tagging goes mainstream, you've got to read these real life examples!
RSS - "Really Simple Syndication" which is basically a format for syndicating Web content. To learn more about it, see examples, and get the code to use it yourself, go to this definition.
ransom note - Chances are you've seen one of these by now but didn't know it had a name. You know, those images of wavy letters
or numbers you have to manually type in to go to the next page. Go to this definition to see an example.
geocaching - Got an adventurous streak? Are you a gadget freak? How about a big fan of the great outdoors? Then this high-tech treasure hunt may be for you...
travel bug - This refers to the hidden cache or newly discovered treasure one locates when geocaching.
telematics - This describes the technology that wirelessly connects the electronics in a vehicle to external hardware, usually GPS satellites. The role of telematics will expand to allow music to download directly to a car stereo through a wireless broadband connection. In fact, the Consumer Electronics Association predicts that the future of telematics lies in entertainment: TV, movies and games piped into the car wirelessly.
silver surfer - An adult, generally 50 years of age or older, who frequently surfs the Web and spends time online. Unlike neophytes, silver surfers are considered netizens.
hot spot - Many national and local retailers, especially coffee shops, are now hot spots, places with wireless Internet connections.
tribal knowledge - For those of you who have worked on a particular project since its inception, you're more than just a knowledge worker, you've got tribal knowledge.
breadcrumb - This one is clever, it's the nickname for the kind of top navigation menu that uses a string of section names to identify where you are. Used as a verb it's even better, such as "We can breadcrumb this section so we don't have to pile up content in the left nav." Go to this link to see an example.
eating your own dog food - If you're in the software industry and you're not "eating your own dog food" you'd better sit up. Even Microsoft does it daily. The phrase "eating your own dog food" has morphed into a verb: "We've got to dog-food that product" (meaning we've got to start using our own product internally at our company).
cookies - you've heard of them, are you sure you know what they are? If you do, then you know it is important to find, view, edit, and delete some of them on a regular basis. Speaking of cookies, they continue to prevail as an important Internet technology and like many good oldies but goodies, their usage has since morphed into a verb: "Don't worry about the backend reporting yet, we first have to cookie them." Love it!
little r - Yesterday I received an e-mail at work from a colleague asking "Can you please little "r" me?" I was like, what does that mean?
photonics (pronounced: foe-tahn-ix) - foreign to you? Over the coming years it will become as much a part of the popular lexicon as "electronics" is today. It is the science and technology of using light particles (photons) to carry information over hair-thin fibers of glass (as in fiber-optics).
microphotonics - It is said that photonic crystals are to photons what semiconductors are to electrons. Things keep getting smaller.
push - as opposed to pull, do you know difference? Is the Web push or pull technology? Is e-mail push or pull? Answer: The Web is pull technology and e-mail is push. It's easy to understand once you read the explanations.
contextually aware - Wireless apps of the future will know what you're doing, where you're doing it, and maybe even why. The idea is also known as
"conceptually aware" software and networks. I love reporting on stuff like this, but are we really ready for all these sensors?
grid computing - A form of networking that uses the resources of many computers in a network to a single problem at the same time. IBM's VP for
Internet strategies says, "it's the next big thing." Alien enthusiasts, on the other hand, have known about it for quite some time :^)
cloud computing - A style of computing in which dynamic, scalable and virtual resources are provided over the Internet. Cloud computing refers to services that provide common business applications online, which are accessed from a Web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers.
If you haven't already, use the links to subscribe to NetLingo: The Blog ;-)
Erin
Posts
