Hooray, we have some new friends. That lovely team of developers at MWM is open to questioning on all things, well, webbie. So don't be shy now, please ask away by emailing askmaurice@copyshopnews.co.uk To start off we have used some historical unanswered questions aimed at CSN when we previously did not have the nous to come up with the answers. Well we now have the MWM mouse, Maurice, who is to be our on line agony aunt. A bit like that famous song by whoever - "There are more questions than answers". So here we go, which coincidently is a song by the famous Brighton and Hove Albion on their way to Wembley What's a Domain Name? A domain name is a qualified name, or set of names, connected by dots. If you take the website, www.interprinter.co.uk, the domain name is interprinter.co.uk. The ".co" indicates it's a commercial organisation, and the ".uk" indicates it's UK based. Domain names are registered for one or more years for a fee, and the provider you buy the domain from will normally provide you with remote control of DNS. What's DNS? DNS stands for domain name service. This is normally running on servers provided by your ISP (Internet Service Provider) and operates in a kind of pyramid fashion, with just seven master servers at the very top. These servers update each other regularly, and maintain a kind of yellow pages translating each domain name into the numeric internet protocol address which is unique to your website. What's a website? A website is one or more pages which appear under a domain name - for example, www.interprinter.co.uk. What's a web browser? The most common web browsers are Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and Mozilla Firefox. These two browsers constitute the vast majority of browser traffic across the internet, although there are a small number of other browsers out there as well. Most websites are built to operate correctly with Internet Explorer and Firefox. ISP Internet Service Provider - this is the organisation that provides you with access to the internet. There are many such companies with a wide variety of pricing structures. IP Address IP, or Internet Protocol address, is a unique numeric address given to any device connected to the internet directly. There are two private ranges intended for use internally to homes and businesses, which cannot be routed across the internet - this is for security. These ranges are 192.168.X.X, and 10.X.X.X LAN Local Area Network - if you have multiple machines connected together, this is most likely achieved using a LAN. Modem Modulater/Demodulator. This device turns data into audible tones that can be sent over a telephone line, and back again. Dial Up Normally associated with a modem, this indicates a connection which is made on demand, rather than classic broadband, which is "always on". Desktop The common term for a computer which sits flat on a desk, often with the monitor sitting on top of it. RAM Random Access Memory - this is the volatile storage within your computer. CPU Central Processing Unit - this is the processor which performs most of the calculations in your computer. Tower The common term for a desktop PC which stands upright. Server The common term for any computer which typically runs unattended - web servers, mail servers, or in fact anything serving a back office function. TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol over Internet Protocal. Pretty much all traffic running over the internet will be done through packets of data transmitted using TCP/IP as a communications system. RSS Really Simple Syndication - a standardised method of distributing information, usually news stories to subscribers who often republish. Mouse This is a pointing device which controls your computer pointer. These come in many different sizes and flavours, but it's important to get one which fits comfortably in your hand. Optical mice do not suffer from the same problem as "ball" mice, which pickup grease and dirt from the desktop, accumulating internally until the rollers stop working properly giving you a poor experience. HTML Hyper Text Mark-up Language. This is a standardised (in theory!) language which web sites use to explain to the web browser how to display information. Javascript This is a client side scripting language - so it runs in your browser rather than on the server hosting the website, which can enrich your web browsing experience. MWM FAQs - Ask Maurice |