October 25, 2000 - Can you speak geek?

Can you speak geek?

Analysis/Commentary
With 145 million Americans currently online, even the worst computer haters are turning to PC literacy. After all, if you can't beat them, why not join them? Nobody gets any social points anymore from making fun of computers or from jeering at the Internet. Tune in, turn on, boot up.
Everyone is learning to be a geek -- but it isn't so easy. The personal computer and the Internet evolved in layers, like geological time.
Here's a cheat sheet:

First came the "OS" -- the operating system, the software on your computer that handles basic commands. From the early OSs, we learned to "boot" our systems. The early word was "bootstrap," like someone pulling himself up from his bootstraps, and referred to the self-check operation the computer performed before loading functional programs like word processing "applications." (Your Internet browser is an application.)

Then came the "log in," the network function that asks you to type in your user name (same as log in name) and your password. Possibly, the word log in goes all the way back to the early hotel trade -- before credit cards -- when customers were required to sign a register to obtain entry.

Then came all the terms associated with the Internet "hypertext" functions, especially "domain," "url," and "keyword." And finally, there came the words associated with the pipelines for data: service provider (ISP), host, and email address.

Let's try to map out some of these Internet words for the truly hard-at-understanding:

A "domain" is the root location for a site. The domain XYZCompany.com, for example, would be the spot on the Net where all the activities of XYZ Company would begin, even though XYZ Company might have a chat room or free email, or even a shopping area. Another company -- a "host" -- would usually provide the platform for all of XYZCompany.com's activities so that XYZ wouldn't have to hire people to watch computers night and day. (Of course, a company can host its own site.)

A "url" (pronounced you-are-el) is a "uniform resource locator." This may be visualized as "page number." The url is the address of a page, just like "64" might be the second page of chapter three in a book. Urls are part of the "hypertext" layer of the Internet, created by Tim Berners-Lee. The hypertext layer rides on TCP/IP, a communications protocol -- or standard -- that enables networks to connect to begin with. Historically, HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) launched Netscape and the World Wide Web as we know it today.

"Keyword." Do you know what a keyword is? It's an artificial intelligence shortcut used by Web applications (browsers). The Netscape and Internet Explorer browsers read keywords as commands to go ("redirect") to a different location. For example, if you type "newyorktimes" in the Netscape address line, you are automatically taken to "http://www.nytimes.com/" -- the domain of The New York Times. Now try typing "new york times" with the spaces between the words -- you get taken to: "http://www.nytimes.com/" -- again the domain of The New York Times. In short, keywords are plain English words that your browser sends to a database for translation into an Internet-understandable domain code. Capice? (Pronounced kapeesh, for those of you unfamiliar with Italian.)

Finally, think of ISPs, hosts, and email servers as pipelines for Internet signals. When you apply for Internet service, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) gives you a name and number. Each time you access the Web, your name and number inform the networks you visit who you are (your Internet ID number) and where they should send information. Each time you load up a page on your browser, a server (a computer) somewhere says, "Hey, I know you," and sends you a page via your ISP. Likewise, when you use email, an email server at your ISP opens up a holding area for you to create, send, and receive email.

So there you have it, the Internet in a nutshell, the night school special. Your geek teacher bids you http:// www.goodnightandgoodbye.com/ seeyourealsoon.html.

October 25, 2000