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e-mail
emoticons
encryption
EtherNet
extension |
e-mail
E-mail is electronic mail. It's the digital,
packetized means of transmitting messages via phone
lines to other people's computers. Top
emoticons
This is the name for all those little sideways
smiley faces -- and other non-smiling variations
on the theme -- that you see sprinkled throughout
e-mail messages. A smiley face or a substitute
such as :( tells the message's recipient(s)
that you're only kidding or, in certain cases,
being sarcastic.
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encryption
Computer telecommunications are notoriously
insecure, a fact that our Web browsers (not to
mention the media) remind us of at every turn.
Because of this troublesome fact, if you want
to transmit something you don't want anyone else
to see (such as credit card information, passwords,
or trade secrets) you have to use one of the variety
of encryption schemes which convert files into
a secret code before transmission. At the other
end, if all is going well, your intended recipient's
software will "decrypt" it for their
use. The most secure form of encryption available
right now is called public key encryption. Everyone
using this system has two keys, a public key (available
to the public) and a private key (to be kept secret).
If Person A wants to send Person B a document,
Person A encodes it using person B's "public
key." Once it's been encoded, only Person
B's "private key" can decode it.
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EtherNet
EtherNet is the dominant scheme for networking
PC-level computers and related hardware. Initially
developed by Xerox, Digital, and Intel, EtherNet
initially let you transmit files and data at 10
megabits per second, or 10 million bps. The many
competing versions of the newer Fast EtherNet,
however, go ten times that speed. In District
108, only the Intermediate and Junior Highs have
some ethernet labs.
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extension
PCs use file extensions -- a dot (period)
and two, three or four letters -- at the end of
file names to keep track of what kind of file
it is. For instance, Microsoft Word files usually
have a ".doc" extension, while Web pages,
which use hypertext
markup language, have an ".htm"
or ".html" extension. (Why two kinds?
Older PCs running Windows 3.11 or DOS can't handle
extensions with more than three letters. On the
other hand, Macintoshes understand so well that
Mac users don't have to use or see extensions
at all.) Recognizing file extensions helps you
when you're trying to figure out something your
browser has found but can't understand. Netscape
users can see a list of the extensions their browser
knows about by clicking on "Options,"
then (for 2.0 users) General Preferences, then
Helpers. As you add plug-ins
to your browser, you'll find yourself making changes
to the Options list and its set of known extensions.
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