Internet Terms & Definitions

 

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E

 

e-commerce
A buzzword referring to buying and selling products and services online.

electronic mail
Usually called email.

email
Abbreviation for electronic mail. Email (also spelled e-mail) is the most popular use of the Internet, allowing any Internet user to send a nearly instantaneous electronic message to anyone else on the Internet who has an email address.

email address
An email address tells the world where to send all your electronic mail. You can usually spot an email address because it begins with a username, has an @ sign in the center, and ends with a domain name, like blink@earthlink.net. Don't confuse an email address with a URL, which is a Web address and always begins with http://.


Emblaze
A streaming video tool used to compress video files and play them instantly over the World Wide Web. Emblaze uses a Java applet, rather than a plug-in, to play video in the viewer's browser.


emoticons
Term for all the "smiley" symbols used by people in emails, chats, and bulletin boards to represent facial expressions and convey emotions. :-)
See lots of examples at the The Unofficial Smiley Dictionary.


encryption
A method of providing secure communications by scrambling the message or information file so that it cannot be read by anyone other than its intended recipient. This enables you to perform secure transactions.

Ethernet
A common protocol used on all kinds of computers for exchanging data across LANs (local area networks). It is the most widely used LAN access method. Ethernet speeds reach almost 10Mbps.


extension
A filename suffix that indicates what type of file it is. For example, in a file named "readme.txt", the extension is ".txt", indicating that "readme" is a text file. Extensions commonly contain three letters, but some contain fewer or more than three.

extranet
A generally large intranet used by corporations and other organizations that is open to selected individuals outside the organization, such as customers, suppliers, and partners.