Glossary of Terms

In an effort to provide our clients with a better understanding of the more commonly used Internet terminology, we have created this Glossary of Internet Terms, Abbreviations and Acronyms.

 

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Mail Server  ::   A software program that distributes files or information in response to requests sent via e-mail. Internet examples include Almanac and netlib. Mail servers have also been used in BITNet to provide FTP-like services.

Mailbot  ::   A program that automatically responds to incoming e-mail requests. See Infobot or Autoresponder.

Mailing List  ::   An e-mail address that expands to multiple e-mail addresses. A mailing list is very much like a conference, except that the conversation comes to you in your e-mailbox. Each time you or any member of the list posts a reply to the conversation, it is distributed to the e-mailbox of every member of the list.

Manual Submission  ::   The process of submitting Web sites or Web pages to search engines and directories for inclusion in their databases using specific guidelines unique to each index.

MAPI  ::   Messaging Application Programming Interface. Is Microsoft's standard for the interface to e-mail.

Mbps (Megabits per second)  ::   1 megabit = 1,000 kilobits) is a measurement of digital transmission speeds.

Megabyte (MB)  ::  Approximately one million bytes of data. A measure of data storage and/or data transfer on your Web site. One Megabyte = 1,000 Kilobytes. 1,000 Megabytes = 1 Gigabyte. For data storage and data transfer 10MB is roughly 330 Web pages viewed.

Message Board  ::  Enables you to create your own message boards so that the users of your Web site can interact with each other. 

Merchant  ::   The party which offers goods for sale or provides services in exchange for payment. A merchant that accepts payment cards must have a relationship with an Acquirer.

Meta  ::   A prefix meaning "information about". Information about data, or more specifically, the descriptive information provided in Meta tags in an HTML or XML document header about that document. Active efforts are ongoing to propose standards for machine and human readable metadata to be used with web resources to aid in resource discovery.

Meta Search  ::   Searching multiple databases and combining results.

Meta Tag  ::   Information placed in the HTML header of a Web page, providing information that is not visible to browsers. Commands that instruct the browser or search engines to perform specific tasks, identify keywords, site definitions, page authors, plug-in requirements, etc. that are invisible to the user. The most common meta tags relevant to search engines are keyword and description tags.

Metafile  ::   A graphics format that combines the features of bitmap and vector graphics. Common types of metafile formats are CGM, Corel Draw CDR files, encapsulated Postscript EPS files, Adobe Illustrator, Word Perfect Graphics WPG files, PICT, and RTF.

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)  ::   A protocol that permits sounds from musical instruments to be converted to a program and read by a computer.

MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions)  ::   A specification in multimedia documents.

Mirror Sites  ::   Multiple copies of Web sites or Web pages, often on different servers.

Misspellings  ::   People quite often spell words incorrectly when using search engines. Pages which use common misspellings will quite often receive extra hits, so it is a useful technique to include common misspellings of words in alt tags, keywords, page names and titles.

Modem  ::   Modulator Demodulator. A hardware device that connects to the phone lines that permits computers to exchange information. Modems convert binary data into analogue for the purpose of passing that data over copper phone lines.

Moderator  ::   A person, or small group of people, who manage moderated mailing lists and Usenet newsgroups. Moderators are responsible for determining which e-mail submissions are passed onto a list.

Mouseover  ::   A JavaScript element that triggers a change on an item (typically a graphic change, such as making an image or hyperlink appear) in a Web page when the mouse pointer passes over it.

MPEG  ::   Motion Picture Experts Group - A video file format offering excellent quality in a relatively small file. Video files found on the Internet are frequently stored in the MPEG format. Full length movies (like Top Gun) are available on CD and are stored in the MPEG format.

MSN  ::   One of the top 5 search engines.

Multi-tasking  ::   The simultaneous execution of two or more assignments by one program or the co-ordinated use of one program that performs many functions at the same time.

MySQL Database  ::   An advanced server-side relational database system, designed for corporate users or those with intensive transactions. MySQL is a relational database management system. A relational database stores data in separate tables rather than putting all the data in one big storeroom. This adds speed and flexibility. The tables are linked by defined relations making it possible to combine data from several tables on request. The SQL part of MySQL stands for "Structured Query Language" - the most common standardized language used to access databases.

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