Spaminator's Glossary Page

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Abacus

an instrument for performing calculations by sliding counters along rods or in grooves.

Aberrant

a person whose behavior departs substantially from the standard.

Anime

1) A form of Japanese Animation.

2) The Japanese 'sound' of the word 'animation'.

B

B.B.B.

Better Business Bureau

BlackList

Term used to describe a list of people, or things, that have been determined to be bad for people/users.

Browser

The software used to view files on the Web.

Bulletin Boards

1) A way to allow people to share information without using EMail or Usenet. People post something, and others read it.

2) Name given to a system run by a person, or persons, for people to call up and play games, chat, post messages, transfer files, etc. Normally regionally specific, they still serve a vital point of information exchange. Several of the larger even have a POP on the WWW.

C

Cache

A place, in memory or hard drive, to store items that are used a lot. Such as web pages, or program instructions. Normally used to speed up the process of accessing that data.

CGI

Common Gateway Interface. Programming language used with certain parts of some web pages.

Cross Post

Name used to describe a message in the Usenet newsgroups that was posted to multiple newsgroups. This generates less waste of Net resources than Spam, but is still abused by cross posting to newsgroups that don't want/need the subject matter.

D

DNS

Domain Name Server. The server used to translate named internet addresses into their digit IP address, and vice-versa.

Domain

Term used to describe a "place" that an IP falls into. ie: .gov, .com, .org, .edu, etc.

E

EMail

Electronic Mail. A way for people to send a message from one user to either another user, or a group of users. Semi-secure and Semi-private, but your email can be intercepted along the way.

F

Facsimile

AKA: FAX. A copy of a paper, or electronic, letter or memo, sent from one station to another.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions. Pronounced 'FAK' or spelled out, like F.A.Q. (Any questions? ;-)

FAX

See facsimile

Flame

Term used to describe messages, directed to someone from someone else, that's inflammatory, or detrimental to the receiver.

FlameWar

The starting of a thread that will generate a lot of responses on both side of the topic. Normally started to get people off the REAL subject..

Fraud

Term used to describe what happens when people misrepresent themselves, or a product, when they know it's not true.

F.T.C.

Federal Trade Commission

G

Good Times Virus

Started years ago, and still goes on today. Originally started on bulletin boards, and on-line services. It was stated that you could have your system infected, and wiped out, by reading a message with the subject line of "Good Times". This was, later, proved to be a hoax, but people still post about it, even with hundreds of text files, and FAQs, telling people that it's a hoax.

Gopher

It used to be the MAIN way for people to get information from the Internet, but has been relegated to the back burner. Mostly now used by people getting information from colleges and universities. It's still a valuable source of resources.

H

HTML

HyperText Markup Language. The language of the Web.

I

I Love You virus

Virus created to infect computer systems via opening Email with "I Love You" in the subject. Very dangerous.

ID theft

ID theft. The means for a person to steal your identity. Done through many means, they can have credit cards issued in your name, get fake driver's Licenses and all types of other things, of which you may be responsible to rectify.

IP

Internet Protocol. The means for a computer to communicate with other computers on the Internet.

IRC

Internet Relay Chat. Text based chat program.

ISP

Internet Service Provider. Gives users a connection to the Internet, but little of the extra content/services as an On Line Service.

J

Junk EMail

See UCE.

K

Kevin Mittnik

A person who is a very well known hacker. He served several years in prison and was released with the caveat of not being able to touch a computer, or enter the Internet, for several more years. He was recently released from that on live television on The Screen Savers show.

killbot

Automated program that can be used to "kill" certain things based on a set of filters. This might include junk email, unwanted chats, people on online MUDs, etc.

L

M

Mail Bomb

When someone sends multiple copies of the same message, or file, to another person with the purpose of filling their EMail box up fully. Against most ISPs terms.

Mailing List

A list of people to receive a message, or messages, on some item or concept.

Midi

Musical Instrument Digital Interface

MMF

Abbreviation of the words Make Money Fast. A type of pyramid scam.

MMF

Abbreviation of the words Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.

Examples are Everquest and The Sims Online.

MUD

Abbreviation of the words Multiple User Dungeon.

A game played on the Internet with multiple people involved in the game.

Forerunner to the MMORPG.

N

N.F.I.C.

National Fraud Information Center

Net Abuse

Term used, in general, to describe either the abuse of the net in general, or specific abuse of the Net's resources.

Newbie

Term used to describe people new to the Net.

NNTP

Network News Transfer Protocol. Protocol used to transfer articles in the Usenet Newsgroups. Protocol used by programs to receive/transmit articles to/from the Usenet newsgroups.

O

On-Line Service

Large company that gives users lots of services, such as stock quotes, games, chatting, file transfers and also gives users access to the Internet. Some are AOL, MSN and Earthlink.

P

Ponzi

Name given for a Pyramid type of scam.

POP

Point of Presence. Where an ISP is, or has dial up numbers to gain access.

POP3

Post Office Protocol revision 3. This is the normal means for people to get their email from their ISP.

Pyramid

Name given to a scam that is used to get a lot of people to part with a little bit of money, or other items of value. This scam only benefits a few people, and the ones at the bottom see little, or no, amount of value returned as the "market" gets saturated with the scam.

Q

R

S

Scam

Term used to describe any of a multitude of ways people can use to get you to part with your money, or other property of value.

S.E.C.

Securities and Exchange Commission

SMTP

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

Spam

The name given to either EMail or Usenet news for 1 message posted to multiple users or newsgroups. Normally placed individually into each newsgroup, therefore generating a large waste of net resources.

Spam Bot

The name given to a piece of software that gathers email addresses from web pages and newsgroup postings. If you can find the site that generates JavaScript from your email address, you can fool the Spam Bots like I do here. Go To: hivemind.com.

Spider

Term used to describe a program that scans the net, in whole or part, to find certain information such as EMail addresses, unusual web pages, etc.

SysAdmin

System Administrator

T

U

UCE

Unsolicited Commercial EMail. Commercially based EMail sent to a user, or users, without them requesting it. Sometimes referred to as "being spammed".

Urban Legend

Term used to describe something that either isn't true, or can't be substantiated. Generally something that was started years before, and still shows up in EMail or other places. Good examples are the "Good Times" virus, or the bloody hook on the car door handle.

Usenet

The Usenet. The major place we get newsgroups from.

U.S.P.S.

United States Postal Service

V

Velvetta

The name given to either EMail or Usenet news for 1 message posted to multiple users or newsgroups. Normally cross-posted to each newsgroup, therefore generating less waste of net resources. Velvetta has one copy on the server whereas Spam can have multiple copies of the same message. Both are bad.

W

Web Page

A page on the WWW. Normally HTML, but could contain ASCII text, CGI or other objects.

WhiteList

Term used to describe a list of people, or things, that have been determined to be good for people/users.

Whois

A program/utility used to find out both contact information, and domain information on an IP address.

Web

See WWW.

WWW

World Wide Web. What some people think is the entire Internet.

X

Y

Z

Hits since 05/01/1997

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