i-mode
The character information service "i mode" of the portable telephone started by NTT DOCOMO in February, 1999.  Currently only available in Japan.  Tries to convert web pages to be read on Mobiles.

IAB
Internet Architecture Board. A technical advisory group of the Internet Society, whose responsibilities include:
· Oversee the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
· Oversee the Internet standards process
· Publish and manage Request for Comments (RFCs)

IANA
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, an organisation working under the auspices of the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) that is responsible for assigning new Internet-wide IP addresses.

ICANN
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a nonprofit organisation that has assumed the responsibility for IP address space allocation, protocol parameter assignment, domain name system management and root server system management functions previously performed under U.S. Government contract.

Ice
A webpage whose content is "fixed" in terms of its optimum display resolution and window size. It is usually aligned along the left margin.

ICMP
Internet Control Message Protocol is an extension to the Internet Protocol that allows for the generation of error messages, test packets, and information messages related to IP.

IDE
(1) Intelligent Drive Electronics or Integrated Drive Electronics. An IDE interface is an interface for mass storage device, in which the controller is integrated into the disk or CD-ROM drive. Although it really refers to a general technology, most people use the term to refer the ATA specification, which uses this technology. Refer to ATA for more information.

(2) Integrated Development Environment. A programming environment integrated into an application. For example, Microsoft Office applications support various versions of the BASIC programming language. You can develop a WordBasic application while running Microsoft Word.

IEEE
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. IEEE is an organisation composed of engineers, scientists, and students. It is best known for developing standards for the computer and electronics industry. In particular, the IEEE 802 standards for local-area networks are widely followed.

IETF
Internet Engingeering Task Force is the main standards organisation for the internet. It is a large open international community of network designers, operators, vendors and researchers concerned with the evolution of the Internet architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet.

IGMP
Internet Group Management Protocol. Employed by IP hosts, the protocol that reports their multicast group memberships to an adjacent multicast router.

IGP
Interior Gateway Protocol. examples include RIP, IGRP, and OSPF.

IGRP
Interior Gateway Routing Protocol. Upgrade from the RIP protocol.

iHTML
inline HTML. An advanced server-side scripting/programming language that functions as an extension to HTML, allowing the customisation of dynamic Web sites that depend on interaction with databases. iHTML eliminates the need for Javascript or CGI programs as it provides the same functionality.

IIOP
Internet Inter-ORB Protocol was developed by the Object Management Group (OMG) to implement CORBA solutions over the World Wide Web.

IIS
Internet Information Server, Microsoft's Web server.

IITF
Information Infrastructure Task Force, is an intellectual property working group, that codifies copyright law as it applies to digital information.

IM
Instant Messaging, a type of communications service that enables you to create a kind of private chat room with another individual in order to communicate in real time over the internet, analagous to a telephone conversation but using text-based, not voice-based, communication. Typically, the instant messaging system alerts you whenever somebody on your private list is online. You can then initiate a chat session with that particular individual.

IMAP
Internet Message Access Protocol, a protocol for retrieving e-mail messages.

IMEI
International Mobile Equipment Identity, a unique number given to every single mobile phone, typically found behind the battery.

IMIS
Institute for the Management of Information Systems.

Incubator
An organisation that funds and nurtures internet businesses that have potential for growth in their early stages.

Inode
inodes are data structures that contain information about file in Unix file systems. Each file has an inode and is identified by an inode number (i-number) in the file system where it resides. inodes provide important information on files such as user and group ownership, access mode (read, write, execute permissions) and type. A file's inode number can be found using the ls -i command, while the ls -l command will retrieve inode information.

Integer
A whole number.

Internesia
Used to denote the failure to remember where something was seen on the web. Bookmarks are one way of avoiding this malady.

Internet
A global network connecting millions of computers. More than 100 countries are linked into exchanges of data, news and opinions. Unlike online services, which are centrally controlled, the Internet is decentralised by design. Each Internet computer, called a host, is independent. Its operators can choose which Internet services to use and which local services to make available to the global Internet community. Remarkably, this anarchy by design works exceedingly well. There are a variety of ways to access the Internet. Most online services, offer access to some Internet services. It is also possible to gain access through a commercial ISP. The Internet is not synonymous with WWW.

Internet Protocol (IP)
The specification on which the internet is built for transferring packets of data around networks.

InterNIC
Internet Network Information Center, assigns IP addresses, amongst other services, for the Internet.

Interoperability
The ability of software and hardware on different machines from different vendors to share data.

Intranet
A network using the same protocols as the internet, but separated from the outside world by a firewall. Installed by some companies allow data to be distributed quickly around offices.

IP Address
A series of four numbers between 0 and 255 separated by dots (e.g. 192.45.10.105) which, interpreted according to the Internet Protocol, can identify uniquely any machine on the network.

IPsec
IP Security. A set of protocols developed by the IETF to support secure exchange of packets at the IP layer. It has been deployed widely to implement VPNs.

IRC
Internet Relay Chat is a multi-user chat system allowing users to meet in channels and to talk to each other in real time.

IRM
(1) Information Resource Management.

(2) Information Rights Management.

IRQ
Interrupt ReQuest line, are hardware lines over which devices can send interrupt signals to the microprocessor.

IRTF
Internet Research Task Force, is an activity of the of the Internet Society. It works on network technology.

IS-IS
Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System. An OSI link-state hierarchical routing protocol.

ISA
Industry Standard Architecture, is the bus architecture used in earlier PCs.
Starting in the early 90s, ISA began to be replaced by the PCI local bus architecture. Most computers made today include both an AT bus for slower devices and a PCI bus for devices that need better bus performance.
In 1993, it was upgraded to a new specification so that the operating system could automatically configure the expansion boards without the need for DIP switches and jumpers.

ISAPI
Internet Server Application Program Interface, an API for Microsoft's Internet Information Server (IIS) Web server. ISAPI enables a programmer to develop Web-based applications that run much faster than conventional CGI programs because they're more tightly integrated with the Web server.

ISDN
Integrated Services Digital Network, is an international standard for sending voice,video and data over digital telephone lines or normal telephone wires.  It supports data transfer rates of 64Kbps.

ISEB
Information Systems Examinations Board.

ISO
International Organisation for Standardisation. Founded in 1946, ISO is an international organisation composed of national standard bodies from over 75 countries. For example, ANSI is a member of ISO. ISO has defined a number of important computer standards, the most significant of which is perhaps OSI, a standardised architecture for designing network.

ISoc
Internet Society, is an international non-profit organisation that acts as a guide and conscience for the workings of the Internet. It supports the IAB.

ISP
Internet Service Provider. A company that hosts your web-site on the Internet.

ITU
International Telecommunication Union, an intergovernmental organisation through which public and private organisations develop telecommunications. The ITU was founded in 1865 and became a United Nations agency in 1947. It is responsible for adopting international treaties, regulations and standards governing telecommunications. The standardisation functions were formerly performed by a group within the ITU called CCITT, but after a 1992 reorganisation the CCITT no longer exists as a separate body.

IVR
Interactive Voice Response. A telephony technology in which someone uses a touch-tone telephone to interact with a database to acquire information from or enter data into the database. IVR technology does not require human interaction over the telephone as the user's interaction with the database is predetermined by what the IVR system will allow the user access to. IVR technology is also used to gather information, as in the case of telephone surveys in which the user is prompted to answer questions by pushing the numbers on a touch-tone telephone.

J2EE
Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition. J2EE is a platform-independent, Java-centric environment from Sun for developing, building and deploying Web-based enterprise applications online. The J2EE platform consists of a set of services, APIs, and protocols that provide the functionality for developing multitiered, Web-based applications.

J2ME
Java 2 Platform Micro Edition. J2ME allows developers to use Java and the J2ME wireless toolkit to create applications and programs for wireless and mobile devices. J2ME consists of two elements -- configurations and profiles.

Jabber
(1) Talking a lot of nonsense when communicating in chat.

(2) Error condition in which a network device continually transmits random, meaningless data onto the network, often then the device is about to fail.

Jaggies
Stairstep lines that appear where there should be smooth curves. this is most commonly occurs because there is not enough resolution available, be it on the printer or screen. Often seen in bitmapped Image's.

Janet
A network that linked the UK universities, introduced in 1984 by the British Government.

Java
A high-level programming language designed primarily for use in internet-related applications. A major feature of Java is that it enables its programmes to run on a variety of computer platforms without modification, providing compatibility between otherwise incompatible systems.

Javabeans
A specification developed by Sun that defines how Java objects interact. An object that conforms to this specification is called a JavaBean, and is similar to an ActiveX control. It can be used by any application that understands the JavaBeans format.

Javascript
A cross-platform, World Wide Web scripting language. The code is inserted directly into an HTML page to add interactivity to that page.

JDBC
Java Database Connectivity, a Java API that enables Java programs to execute SQL statements. This allows Java programs to interact with any SQL-compliant database. Since nearly all relational database management systems (DBMSs) support SQL, and because Java itself runs on most platforms, JDBC makes it possible to write a single database application that can run on different platforms and interact with different DBMSs. JDBC is similar to ODBC, but is designed specifically for Java programs, whereas ODBC is language-independent. JDBC was developed by JavaSoft, a subsidiary of Sun Microsystems.

JDK
Java Development Kit, a software development kit (SDK) for producing Java programs. The JDK is developed by Sun Microsystem's JavaSoft division. The most recent versions include the JavaBeans component architecture and support for JDBC.

Jello
A webpage whose content is centred.

Jini
Software from Sun that seeks to simplify the connection and sharing of devices, such as printers and disk drives, on a network. Currently adding such devices to a computer or network requires installation and boot-up, but a device that incorporates Jini will announce itself to the network, provide some details about its capabilities, and immediately become accessible to other devices on the network. Under this technology it would be possible to create distributed computing, whereby capabilities are shared among the machines on a common network.

JIT
Just-In-Time compiler, a code generator that converts Java bytecode into machine language instructions. Some Java Virtual Machines (VMs), including the VM in the Netscape Navigator browser, include a JIT in addition to a Java interpreter. Java programs compiled by a JIT generally run much faster than when the bytecode is executed by an interpreter.

Jitter
Analogue communication line distortion caused by the variation of a signal from its reference timing positions. It can cause data loss, particularly at high speeds.

JNI
Java Native Interface. A Java programming interface, or API, that allows developers to access the languages of a host system and determine the way Java integrates with native code.

Jolt
Jolt is a denial of service attack caused by a very large ICMP packet that is fragmented in such a way that the targeted machine is unable to reassemble it for use.

JPEG
Joint Photographic Expert Group - a popular graphics data compression format most commonly used to store photographs and pictures to be viewed on the internet.

JSP
Java Server Page. A server-side technology, Java Server Pages are an extension to the Java servlet technology that was developed by Sun. JSPs have dynamic scripting capability that works in tandem with HTML code, separating the page logic from the static elements -- the actual design and display of the page -- to help make the HTML more functional (i.e. dynamic database queries). A JSP is translated into Java servlet before being run, and it processes HTTP requests and generates responses like any servlet. However, JSP technology provides a more convenient way to code a servlet. Translation occurs the first time the application is run. A JSP translator is triggered by the .jsp file name extension in a URL. JSPs are fully interoperable with servlets. You can include output from a servlet or forward the output to a servlet, and a servlet can include output from a JSP or forward output to a JSP.

JTAPI
Java Telephony Application Programming Interface, is a Java-based API for computer telephony applications.

Jumper
Electrical switch consisting of a number of pins and a connector that can be attached to the pins in a variety of different ways.

JVM
Java Virtual Machine. An abstract computing machine, or virtual machine, JVM is a platform-independent programming language that converts Java bytecode into machine language and executes it. Most programming languages compile source code directly into machine code that is designed to run on a specific microprocessor architecture or operating system, such as Windows or UNIX. A JVM -- a machine within a machine -- mimics a real Java processor, enabling Java bytecode to be executed as actions or operating system calls on any processor regardless of the operating system.

KDE
K Desktop Environment. A network-transparent contemporary desktop environment for UNIX workstations. KDE is part of the free software, or open source, movement, which competes with the more common commercial operating system / desktop platforms on the market.

Kerberos
An authentication system developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Kerberos is designed to enable two parties to exchange private information across an otherwise open network. It uses the DES cryptographic algorithm.

Kermit
A protocol, and the name of the program that employs this protocol, for the transferring of files from one computer to another. It is commonly used on BBS systems.

Kernel
The central module of an operating system. It is the part of the operating system that loads first, and it remains in main memory. Because it stays in memory, it is important for the kernel to be as small as possible while still providing all the essential services required by other parts of the operating system and application. Typically, the kernel is responsible for memory management, process and task management, and disk drive management.

Keyword
(1) In text editing and database management systems, a keyword is an index entry that identifies a specific record or document.

(2) In programming, a keyword is a word that is reserved by a program because the word has a special meaning. Keywords can be command or parameter. Every programming language has a set of keywords that cannot be used as variable name. Keywords are sometimes called reserved names.

(3) A word used by a search engine in its search for relevant Web pages.

Kilobyte
A collection of 1,024 bytes.

KIP
Kinetics Internet Protocol, is a protocol for encapsulating and routing Appletalk datagrams over an IP internet.

Lag
A period of time in which it seems a computer is not connecting to a requested Website. It is also a term used in connection with IRC. The lag is the time it takes for a message to travel from the user's server to the Net. If it is bad, then it maybe hard to keep up with the conversation.

LAMP
Short for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP. An open-source Web development platform that uses Linux as the operating system, Apache as the Web server, MySQL as the RDBMS and PHP as the object-oriented scripting language. Perl or Python is often substituted for PHP. LAMP has become a de facto development standard.

LAN
Local Area Network. A network of two or more computers usually spanning a relatively small geographical area. May be connected to other LANs to form a WAN.

Landgrab
The mad rush for domain names and the establishment of brands at the start of the dot-com boom.

LAT
Local Area Transport, a DEC proprietary Ethernet protocol for connecting terminals to a LAN. Connections are typically between a DEC terminal server and a VAX.

Latency
The time it takes for a packet to arrive at its destination.

LAWN
Local Area Wireless Network.

LBA
Logical Block Addressing, a method used with SCSI and IDE disk drives to translate the cylinder, head and sector specifications of the drive into addresses that can be used by an enhanced BIOS. LBA is used with drive's that are larger than 528 Mb.

LCD
Liquid Crystal Display, a type of display used in watches and many portable computers.

LCP
Link Control Protocol, a protocol that is part of the PPP. In PPP communications, both the sending and receiving devices send out LCP packets to determine specific information that will be required for the data transmission.

LDAP
Lightweight Directory Access Protocol, a set of protocols for accessing information directories. LDAP is based on the standards contained within the X.500 standard, but is significantly simpler. And unlike X.500, LDAP supports TCP/IP, which is necessary for any type of Internet access.

LEC
(1) Local Exchange Carrier. Is the term for a public telephone company in the U.S. that provides the local service.

(2) LAN Emulation Client. Software providing the emulation of the link layer interface that allows the operation and communication of all higher-level protocols and applications to continue.

Link
See hyperlink.

Link Farming
(1) The process of exchanging reciprocal link with Web sites in order to increase search engine optimization (SEO). The idea behind link farming is to increase the number of sites that link to yours because search engines such as Google rank sites according to, among other things, the quality and quantity of sites that link to yours. In theory, the more sites that link to yours, the higher your ranking in the search engine results will be because the more links indicate a higher level of popularity among users of the Internet. However, search engines such as Google consider link farming as a form of spam and have been implementing procedures to banish sites that participate in link farming, so the term link farming has garnered negative connotations across the Internet. A link farm is a Web page that is nothing more than a page of links to other sites.

(2) In UNIX systems, a link farm is a directory tree containing links to files in a master directory tree of files.

Linux
A freely-distributable open source implementation of UNIX that runs on a number of hardware platforms, including Intel and Motorola microprocessors. Another popular, free version of UNIX that runs on Intel microprocessors is FreeBSD.

Liquid
A webpage whose content is designed to fit no matter the display resolution or window size of a user's browser.

LLC
Logical Link Control, a sublayer of the Data Link Layer of the OSI 7 layer model. Provides an interface between the MAC sublayer and the Network Layer.

LMHOSTS
A static file containing NetBIOS name to TCP/IP address mappings.

Load
(1) To install. For example, to load a disk means to mount it in a disk drive.

(2) To copy a program from a storage device into memory. Every program must be loaded into memory before it can be executed. Usually the loading process is performed invisibly by a part of the operating system called the loader. You simply enter the name of the program you want to run, and the operating system loads it and executes it for you.

(3) In programming, load means to copy data from main memory into a data register.

(4) In networking, load refers to the amount of data (traffic) being carried by the network.

LSA
(1) Large Scale Array.

(2) Linux Standards Association.

Lurker
A visitor to a newsgroup or chat room who simply views activity without taking part.

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