Select
a letter to view the defination of the terms beginning with
that letter.
0-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
- Maillist
- (or
Mailing List) A (usually automated) system that allows
people to send e-mail to one address, whereupon their
message is copied and sent to all of the other subscribers
to the maillist. In this way, people who have many different
kinds of e-mail access can participate in discussions together.
- Megabyte
- A
million bytes. A thousand kilobytes.
- MIDI
- Musical
Instrument Digital Interface -- A network and accompanying
protocol developed in the 1970's for transmitting various
information between musical and other devices including
keyboards, samplers, lights, controllers, etc.
- MIME
- (Multipurpose
Internet Mail Extensions) -- The standard for attaching
non-text files to standard Internet mail messages. Non-text
files include graphics, spreadsheets, formatted word-processor
documents, sound files, etc.
An
email program is said to be MIME Compliant if it can both
send and receive files using the MIME standard.
When
non-text files are sent using the MIME standard they are
converted (encoded) into text - although the resulting
text is not really readable.
Generally
speaking the MIME standard is a way of specifying both
the type of file being sent (e.g. a QuicktimeĊ video file),
and the method that should be used to turn it back into
its original form.
Besides
email software, the MIME standard is also universally
used by Web Servers to identify the files they
are sending to Web Clients, in this way new file
formats can be accommodated simply by updating the Browsers'
list of pairs of MIME-Types and appropriate software for
handling each type.
- Mirror
- Generally
speaking, 'to mirror' is to maintain an exact copy of something.
Probably the most common use of the term on the Internet
refers to 'mirror sites' which are web sites, or
FTP sites that maintain exact copies of material
originated at another location, usually in order to provide
more widespread access to the resource.
Another
common use of the term 'mirror' refers to an arrangement
where information is written to more than one hard disk
simultaneously, so that if one disk fails, the computer
keeps on working without losing anything.
- Modem
- (MOdulator,
DEModulator) -- A device that you connect to your computer
and to a phone line, that allows the computer to talk to
other computers through the phone system. Basically, modems
do for computers what a telephone does for humans.
- Modify
(Domain Name)
- The
database that the TLD registries maintain need to be accurate
in order for name resolution, billing, renewal notices and
public records to be processed correctly. Typically modifications
are required when nameservers need to change or the contacts
change email or postal address or phone number. The procedures
for modifying records will depend on the registry.
- MOO
- (Mud,
Object Oriented) -- One of several kinds of multi-user role-playing
environments, so far only text-based.
- Mosaic
- The
first WWW browser that was available for the Macintosh,
Windows, and UNIX all with the same interface. Mosaic really
started the popularity of the Web. The source-code to Mosaic
has been licensed by several companies and there are several
other pieces of software as good or better than Mosaic,
most notably, Netscape.
- MUD
- (Multi-User
Dungeon or Dimension) -- A (usually text-based) multi-user
simulation environment. Some are purely for fun and flirting,
others are used for serious software development, or education
purposes and all that lies in between. A significant feature
of most MUDs is that users can create things that stay after
they leave and which other users can interact with in their
absence, thus allowing a world to be built gradually and
collectively.
- MUSE
- (Multi-User
Simulated Environment) -- One kind of MUD - usually with
little or no violence.
- MX
Record: Mail Exchange
- Mail
Exchange record is part of the zone file and is used to
designate which mail server machine should process email
for a specific domain.
|