Internet Terms-L

lag sometimes called hang time. A delay or waiting period encountered while a computer processes data or a Web page loads onto a browser.

landscape a document with horizontal orientation. In other words, the page is wider than it is tall. Landscape orientation is opposite of Portrait.

laptop a portable computer small enough to sit on the user’s lap. It has a pop-up screen and is powered by batteries. Laptop computers are popular for travelers as evidenced by the many fee-for-service docking stations appearing in airports.
These service centers provide plug-in power, printers, and dial-up connections for getting online. see Figure L.02.

laser printer a printer known for its output of high quality documents. The device uses a laser beam that produces an image on a drum while changing the drum’s electrical charge. The drum rolls through a supply of toner and adheres to the L Figure L.01. landscape orientation v. portrait orientation 74 cylinder’s charged portion. Toner is then transferred to paper to produce the document. Most laser printers come with a wide variety of internal fonts and are known for their high resolution.

latency similar to lag, latency refers to elapsed time while waiting for a computer function. In network functions, latency is the time it takes for data to travel from the source to the destination.

lasso a tool in many graphics programs that isolates an area allowing the user to make changes. It is used by dragging the mouse cursor freehand around the border of the designated area.

launch 1. to start up a software program. 2. the premiere of a new Website. High profile Websites with generous start-up budgets can turn a launch into a major media event to attract attention to the company.

LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) a power and space-efficient type of display used on many clocks, calculators, and laptop computers.

leased line a telephone line devoted entirely to a network or single computer connection.
. laser printers latency 75 LED (light emitting diode) a device that emits light (usually red) when an electrical current is passed through it. LEDs last for a long time, however, require more power than LCDs.

left click to press the left mouse button. This often initiates a command and can be the equivalent of pressing the Enter key on the keyboard.

left justify to orient text so it conforms to a horizontal margin on the left side of a document.

legacy applications and data, usually running on mainframe computers, that have been in existence for a long time. Often it is difficult to phase out legacy system data because subsequent applications have been written using the legacy material.

license an agreement whereby a user, usually for a fee, is granted permission to use copyrighted or proprietary materials such as software. Users of most retail software applications agree to a limited-use licensing arrangement when installing the program.

light pen a computer input device that acts somewhat like a mouse. A user points a wand or pen at the monitor and the computer responds to commands sensed from the emission of light from the device. Light pens are rare in modern computing due to the popularity of the mouse. Light pens are sometimes used in casinos to mark numbers in computerized Keno games.

line 1. a connection device such as a cable, used to link two or more hardware components. 2. an isolated statement within a program. 3. a horizontal or vertical arrangement of words, characters, or images in a document.

link 1. to attach. 2. on the World Wide Web, a link refers to a line of text or an image on a Web page, that when clicked with a mouse, provides a connection to another page within the site or a connection to an entirely different Website.


Linux pronounced lee - nux, a free, UNIX-compatible operating system, developed by Linus Torvalds that runs easily on Personal Computers and Macintosh.

ListBot a free Microsoft program conveniently placed on a Web page that allows a Website manager to create a client database and communicate directly with customers by sending them email messages with product announcements, newsletters and special offers. ListBot can be used for the initial gathering of customers and direct email marketing. For example, customers requesting an ezine ListBot 76 from a Website will sign up with ListBot. The database is automatically maintained by the service, allowing the Webmaster to mail the publication to all subscribers with ease.

Live3D a virtual reality program that expands the capabilities of Netscape Navigator 3.0 allowing users to experience enhanced sounds, sights, music, and animation.

load to transfer data from one source to another. On the World Wide Web, a Web page is said to be loading during the time it takes to get from the server to your browser. Often, large image files prolong loading time.

local-area network (LAN) a group of computers linked together in close proximity such as a building, a suite of offices, or even a single room. Due to the limited size of the network, data is usually transferred rapidly. This arrangement is useful in business for the sharing of information.

local-area wireless network (LAWN) a type of local-area network that transfers data using high frequency radio transmission instead of telephone wires.
Star LAN Departmental LAN Ethernet Segment LAN Center Figure L.04. local area networks Live3D 77 lock to guard a file, program, program component, or some other piece of data from modification by users who have access to the data at the same time.

log as a verb, to record information in some logical fashion. Used as a noun, a record of recorded information.

log on (log in) to connect to a computer; to begin a session, or to connect to a network. Usually, there are a series of required functions, often including the entering of a password that must be completed to log on to the Internet. Fortunately, these functions may be set one time (a password may be retained and called up automatically at the start of each session), and kept as a file by your Web browser, so the process is easy each time.

log out (log off) to end a computer or Internet session by closing the appropriate files and programs.

look and feel the general impression a user comes to associate with using a particular software product. This is based on the program’s features, style, ease of use, and a number of other considerations. We are beginning to see software developers make claims to particular look and feel attributes as exclusive, and therefore, subject to protection under certain laws such as copyright and trademark statutes.

Look@Me a free interactive program that allows a user the ability to view another user’s screen in realtime anywhere in the world.

loop a series of basic programming instructions that causes a function to repeat until a specific goal or condition has been reached. Each cycle is called an iteration.

Lotus (Lotus Development Corporation) a subsidiary of IBM since 1995, and leading spreadsheet developer since the early 1980s, with products such as Lotus 1-2-3.

lowercase keyboard characters (letters) that are “small,” such as x, y, z, as opposed to the uppercase or CAPITAL letters, X, Y, Z. The term dates back to the early days of printing when the small letter characters were stored in drawers (cases) underneath the capital letters.

lurk to watch what is taking place in an online public forum. see lurker.

lurker a slang term for an individual who watches the interaction of others in public forums such as chat rooms, bulletin boards and message centers without ever contributing himself.

lurker Lycos a popular full-text search engine on the World Wide Web that allows users to customize a search.

Lynx a Web browser that supports text and not graphics. The benefit here is, because Lynx does not have to load graphics it is much faster than the more popular graphical-access browsers.

Lycos  Mac short for Macintosh.