Web Vocabulary #10

ADO - short for ActiveX Data Objects, Microsoft's newest high-level interface for data objects. ADO is designed to eventually replace Data Access Objects (DAO) and Remote Data Objects (RDO). Unlike RDO and DAO, which are designed only for accessing relational databases, ADO is more general and can be used to access all sorts of different types of data, including web pages, spreadsheets, and other types of documents.   Click here for source

DAO - short for data access objects, objects that work with the Jet database engine. DAO objects are generally created with Visual Basic. Once created, a DAO object can be accessed and manipulated by any application that can use the Jet engine. This includes all of the applications in Microsoft Office, such as MS-Word, MS-Access, and Excel.   Click here for source

Google Gears - a plug-in for web browsers which aims to make browsers a lot faster, allow them to store data on a user's machine, identify where a user is via geo-location and provide the ability to write files to the desktop.   Click here for source

Favicon - short for Favorite Icon, a customized icon that is used by Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) versions 5.0 and later. When a user bookmarks a specific Web page, that Web page loads a customized icon into the user's browser, typically a tiny version of a company or Web site's logo. The favicon is displayed next to the Web site's name in the Favorites list and can also be displayed in the Links toolbar. When a site has not created a favicon, IE will load the IE logo into the browser by default.   Click here for source

QR Codes - is like a bar code. It can be read by a mobile phone with a camera. The mobile device must have a QR reader installed on it. The QR code usually contains  a web site address and will automatically connect the mobile phone user to the address of the web site contained in the code. However up to 3 kilobytes of information can be stored in a QR code which is about 3000 text characters.   Click here for source

"New Search Tool Aims at Answering Tough Queries, but Not at Taking on Google"

The article introduces a new online search service on a market – WolframAlpha. The biggest question is whether it can beat Google or not. A creator of WolframAlpha, Stephen Wolfram says that “Despite the online chatter comparing it to Google, his service is not intended to dethrone the king of search engines.” There is a big difference between those two. Mainly, WolframAlpha does not search through Web pages, “instead it computes the answers to queries using enormous collection of data the company has amassed.” Whereas Google find information that already exists online. “When a user types in a query, WolframAlpha tries to determine the relevant area of knowledge and find the answers often performing calculations on its data.” However, “in its current state there are many queries that WolframAlpha can not answer, either because it does not understand the question or because it does not have the requisite data.” WolframAlpha is based on program Mathematica, which Mr. Wolfram had created.

I think that this new search engine has a potential where it comes to finding specific information from a specific field that has been already gathered. It would really save us a lot of time if we could find the exact answers to our questions Well, we will have the opportunity to test it next week and we’ll see how effective it is.

WolframAlpha is launching next week at www.wolframalpha.com

Click here for article source

Web Vocabulary #9

Network File System (NFS) – a network file system protocol originally developed by Sun Microsystems in 1984, allowing a user on a client computer to access files over a network as easily as if the network devices were attached to its local disks. NFS, like many other protocols, builds on the Open Network Computing Remote Procedure Call (ONC RPC) system. The Network File System is an open standard defined in RFCs, allowing anyone to implement the protocol.   Click here for source

POP – short for point of presence, an access point to the Internet. ISPs have typically multiple POPs. A point of presence is a physical location, either part of the facilities of a telecommunications provider that the ISP rents or a separate location from the telecommunications provider, that houses servers, routers, ATM switches and digital/analog call aggregators.  Click here for source

Socket –  in UNIX and some other operating systems, a software object that connects an application to a network protocol. In UNIX, for example, a program can send and receive TCP/IP messages by opening a socket and reading and writing data to and from the socket. This simplifies program development because the programmer need only worry about manipulating the socket and can rely on the operating system to actually transport messages across the network correctly. Note that a socket in this sense is completely soft - it's a software object, not a physical component.  Click here for source

Real Time Web – a phrase used by some people to distinguish sites which publish content on a frequent basis from those web sites that publish less frequently. News web sites and active blogs are usually classed as part of the real time web where as a regular company web site is not.

What separates and helps define the real time web from the ordinary web is the speed at which their content is indexed by search engines such as Google.

Sites which are classed as part of the real time web are indexed very frequently (e.g. hourly) where as other sites may only be indexed every two weeks.  Click here for source

Slip - short for Serial Line Internet Protocol, a protocol for connection to the Internet via a dial-up connection. Developed in the 80s when modem communications typically were limited to 2400 bps, it was designed for simple communication over serial lines. SLIP can be used on RS-232 serial ports and supports asynchronous links.

A more common protocol is PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol) because it is faster and more reliable and supports functions that SLIP does not, such as error detection, dynamic assignment of IP addresses and data compression.

In general, Internet service providers offer only one protocol although some support both protocols.  Click here for source

"Losing Popularity Contest, MySpace Tries a Makeover"

The article is about the “fight” between two big social portals – MySpace and Facebook. It says that Facebook popularity is growing while the number of MySpace users is decreasing. The author of the article also notices that MySpace “draws disproportionate numbers of teenagers, twentysomethings and people whose household income is less than $25,000 a year.” For this reason higher-end advertisers are more attracted by the other social sites like Facebook where “audience tends to be more affluent.” This is true that MySpace has been criticized for its clunky and sometimes raunchy appearance. However, important is to distinguish one site from the other by its purposes. David Bank, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets says that “MySpace is where you go to express yourself, while Facebook has been a place where you go for two-directional conversation.”

Click here for article source

Web Vocabulary #8

Webmaster – an individual who manages a Web site. Depending on the size of the site, the Webmaster might be responsible for any of the following:

- Making sure that the Web server hardware and software is running properly

- Designing the Web site

- Creating and updating Web pages

- Replying to user feedback

- Creating CGI scripts

- Monitoring traffic through the site

The exponential growth of the World Wide Web has created an unprecedented demand for Webmasters.  Click here for source

WAIS – short for Wide Area Information Server, and pronounced ways, a program for finding documents on the Internet. WAIS is rather primitive in its search capabilities.  Click here for source

Utility Computing – in a utility model, resources such as storage, bandwidth and computer processing time are charged for based upon how much you actually use over a given time period. This differs from more traditional models of web hosting where the web site owner purchases or leases a single server or space on a shared server irrespective and is charged a fixed fee.  Click here for source

Adobe AIR – The Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) is an interesting development that enables web designers and developers to use the technologies used to build web sites - HTML, Javascript, Flash - to build applications that are used on the desktop.

The types of applications being built with AIR are those that integrate closely with websites. Some are used to follow and analyse information published by web sites while others are used to updates web sites and blogs.

Because they run on the the desktop and not in a web browser they can offer more features and access and save files on the local hard drive or network. AIR also has built in database for storage and synchronisation so you can work offline and then synchsronise the information to your website at a later date.

At present AIR runs on Windows and Mac OS X. A version for Linux is available to developers and a version for mobile devices is in development.  Click here for source

Content Delivery Network (CDN) – a specialist network of computers optimized to deliver web sites, pictures, videos and software downloads to people visiting a web site in the quickest, most efficient way possible. Computers in the network work together to share the load of delivering these files and to enable companies to deal with large peaks in demand. CDN providers include companies such as Akimai, Coral CDN and Limelight Networks.

When delivering a web page from a web server to a user's machine, distance is a factor. The distance from a user's machine to the actual location where the files are hosted does have an impact on download speeds. Use of a CDN can reduce download delays by detecting country the user is located in and using files from the geographically nearest web server.  Click here for source

"Google puts flu tracker to work on swine flu"

Well, lately swine flu has been threatening everyone. Today (April 29, 2009) Google said that it "saw a spike in searches for information about flu among people in Mexico last week even before news of the outbreak became widely known." Google found it by tracking information submitted through people’s searches - those who were sick were looking for the same type of information about the disease. Such results are generated by  U.S. Google Flu tool launched last fall. In the future such tool or any other similar can help predict outbreaks before they become widely spread. 

Click here for article source

Web Vocabluary #7

Heat Map – a picture of a web page that shows where users click when they visit a particular page. The areas that are clicked most often appear in red (hot spot), while the areas clicked least often appear in blue or with no color at all.

Heat maps are a tool used by web developers as part of their website usability testing routines. Understanding how your visitors behave when they visit your web site is crucial to improving its effectiveness. Click here for source

 

WCAG - stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and is a set of guidelines used by web designers and developers to help improve the accessibility of their web sites to people with disabilities.

The recommendations in the guidelines are divided into 3 different levels of priority. These are, level A, AA and AAA. People sometimes talk about their site being double A or triple A compliant, referring to the extent to which they have implemented the accessibility guidelines.

WCAG is created by the W3 consortium and has been a controversial set of guidelines. On 3 November 2008, WCAG 2.0 became a W3C Proposed Recommendation which is actually a lot more concrete than it sounds. Click here for source

 

Screen Reader – a piece of software interprets what is currently on a users computer screen.

The screen reader reads aloud what it finds on screen or outputs what it finds to a braille keyboard. Screen readers are mostly used by people that are blind, have a visual impairment or a learning disability. It is important that web sites are built in such as way as to be accessible to screen readers and their users.  Click here for source

Landing Page – a marketing term used to describe a page on a web site that is designed specifically to close a sale. It is sometimes called a lead capture page.

Visitors usually arrive at this page through some kind of online or print advertising and the landing page will probably contains some kind of special offer.

Specific pages can be created for an advertising campaign to measure the effectiveness of a campaign. Different variations of the landing page are sometimes tested to see which converts the highest number of visitors to customers.  Click here for source

Direct Traffic – occurs when a visitor to a web site types the name of a web site directly into the address bar of their browser, they arrive at site they have requested. Web sites of well known companies with strong brands usually receive more direct traffic than other web sites.  Click here for source

"Oracle to Buy Sun"

With the acquisition of Sun Microsystems, Oracle finds reciprocal benefits.

"There are substantial long-term strategic customer advantages to Oracle owning two key Sun software assets: Java and Solaris. Java is one of the computer industry's best-known brands and most widely deployed technologies, and it is the most important software Oracle has ever acquired. Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle's fastest growing business, is built on top of Sun's Java language and software. Oracle can now ensure continued innovation and investment in Java technology for the benefit of customers and the Java community.

The Sun Solaris operating system is the leading platform for the Oracle database, Oracle's largest business, and has been for a long time. With the acquisition of Sun, Oracle can optimize the Oracle database for some of the unique, high-end features of Solaris. Oracle is as committed as ever to Linux and other open platforms and will continue to support and enhance our strong industry partnerships."

About:

Oracle Corporation specializes in developing and marketing enterprise software products — particularly database management systems. Through organic growth and a number of high-profile acquisitions, Oracle enlarged its share of the software market. By 2007 Oracle ranked third on the list of largest software companies in the world, after Microsoft and IBM. Subsequently it became larger than IBM after its acquisition of Hyperion and BEA.

The corporation has arguably become best-known due to association with its flagship Oracle database. The company also builds tools for database development, middle-tier software, enterprise resource planning software (ERP), customer relationship management software (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM) software.  Click here for source

Sun is one of the largest sellers of server computers and is known for systems based on its Sparc chips. It has a vast software portfolio, including the Solaris operating system, the open-source MySQL database and the Java programming language. Click here for source

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Web Vocabulary #6

ActiveMovie – A multimedia streaming technology developed by Microsoft. ActiveMovie is already built into the Internet Explorer browser will be part of future versions of the Windows operating system. Supporting most multimedia formats, including MPEG, ActiveMovie enables users to view multimedia content distributed over the Internet, an intranet, or CD-ROM.  Click here for source

DB2– Short for Database 2, a family of relational database products offered by IBM. DB2 provides an open database environment that runs on a wide variety of computing platforms. A DB2 database can grow from a small single-user application to a large multi-user system. UsingSQL, users can obtain data simultaneously from DB2 and other databases. DB2 includes a range of application development and management tools.   Click here for source

Archie – A program that enables you to search for files anywhere on the Internet by filename. Click here for source

ColdFusion – A product created by Allaire Corporation of Cambridge, Mass. (in 2001, Allaire merged with Macromedia) that includes a server and a development toolset designed to integrate databases and Web pages. With Cold Fusion, a user could enter a zip code on a Web page, and the server would query a database for information on the nearest movie theaters and present the results in HTML form. Cold Fusion Web pages include tags written in Cold Fusion Markup Language (CFML) that simplify integration with databases and avoid the use of more complex languages like C++ to create translating programs. See application server.   Click here for source

JSP – Short for 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).   Click here for source