Internet Terms-N

Name the identification of a folder or program, given by the manufacturer or the creator of the file, which is made up of keyboard characters. For example, you might collect recipes, in a word processing file named “yummy.” name server also referred to as a domain name server, a computer that translates domain names into IP addresses.

Napster a free software application developed by Napster Inc., founded by John Fanning and his nephew Shawn Fanning (Shawn wrote the program code), that allows a user to download music over the Internet using the MP3 format.
Additionally, the program allows users access to a worldwide library of music maintained by subscribers, as well as the ability to chat online. The company claims more than 20 million users. The name Napster was Shawn Fanning’s childhood nickname. Napster has stirred a great deal of controversy over intellectual property rights. Many artists have spoken out against Napster as they feel their work is being taken without payment. At present, several lawsuits have been filed to stop the upstart company from facilitating the distribution of copyrighted music. Proponents maintain that subscribers simply allow other subscribers to borrow music they own, thus contend, no copyright violation. In the summer of 2000, the US Senate listened to testimony of artists claiming financial harm from the company as well as a representative of the firm contending no laws have been broken. Shortly thereafter, a federal judge ordered the site to shut down. It is almost certain that this issue will end up being resolved in court.

N 90 native the original operating environment of a particular software program. Although an application may adapt to more than one format, the native format is the one that is exclusive to the software.

nav bar (navigation bar) various on-screen controls found on a Web page allowing the user to scroll from left to right, or up and down. Utilizing these helpful tools offer a user a wide range of menus, instructions, FAQs, and allow for easier access to the World Wide Web. Nav bars might also be hyperlinks pointing to other pages or Websites.

Navigator see Netscape Navigator.

near letter quality (NLQ) a printing standard where the documents produced resemble the higher standard, “letter quality” produced on a quality typewriter.
Laser printers produce letter quality documents. Although some inkjet printers advertise “near letter quality” performance, it is difficult for the untrained eye to distinguish NLQ from letter quality documents.

Net when written with upper case N, short for Internet. When written with lower case n, .net is the suffix for a domain name or an email address such as cutiepie@cybertown.net.

net guru sometimes referred to as net god, or net personality, an individual who has been on the Internet for a long time, is recognized in many public and private chat or message forums, and who’s opinion is highly regarded.

Net Nanny software designed to keep children from accessing undesirable Websites such as pornography or violence-oriented destinations.

Net PC a computer designed by Intel and Microsoft with the intention of providing users with a low cost machine whose sole purpose is navigating the World Wide Web. As the cost of PCs continues to decline, the idea seems to have lost momentum.

net police sometimes called a den mother, an individual who takes it upon himself to enforce the unwritten rules of a chat or message forum, often using his own standards, while continuously reminding others of those standards.

netiquette the combination of the words net and etiquette, the term refers to the unofficial standards of good behavior on the Internet. Acceptable online behavior was established, for the most part, in newsgroups and online communication forums, and has become the adopted protocol. For example, it is bad netiquette to post a message using all uppercase letters (caps) because that is native 91 considered shouting and it’s hard to read. Other violations of netiquette include, blatant posting of commercial messages, using foul and abusive language, and posting messages that are not related to the topic of the forum.
Enforcement and consequences for violators of netiquette is handled by other users and might include some form of admonishment such as flaming or simply ignoring the culprit.

netizen slang expression for an inhabitant of cyberspace or the Internet.

Netscape Communications Corporation founded by James H. Clark and Marc Andreesen in 1994 and located in Mountainview, California, the company is a leading provider of open software that links people and information over the Internet and intranets. Netscape offers a full line of client and server software, development tools, and commercial applications to create a complete platform for next-generation, live online applications.

Netscape Navigator a popular Web browser formerly called Mozilla and developed by Netscape Communications Corporation. It is widely felt that the introduction of Netscape Navigator helped to bring the Internet to the masses.

network two or more computers linked together for the purpose of communicating with each other.

network computer a computer that utilizes the resources of a network. Such a machine doesn’t have the need for a great deal of computing power such as memory and disk space. see Net PC.

Network Solutions the world’s leading Registrar of Web domain names, helping businesses and individuals to establish an online identity, communicate with their customers and conduct commerce, all online.

neural network computer programs loosely modeled after the functioning of the human nervous system. A type of artificial intelligence pioneered by Bernard Widrow of Stanford University that recognizes and records sequences and patterns and makes subsequent evaluations based on previous conclusions. Such conclusions are approximations, and not definitive.

newbie a newcomer or novice in almost any field, in this context, to computers and the Internet.

newsfeed similar to a syndicate. The network sources from which Internet Service Providers (ISPs) receive news groups and make them available over the Internet.

newsgroup an online discussion forum existing on any network, however, the term most often refers to forums that use the Internet. There are literally thousands of topics for newsgroups. Before joining in a discussion, it is usually wise to read a number of postings and get a feel for the topic and flow. Many newsgroups consider their topics and forums seriously and tolerate little or no nonsense.

newsreader a software program (there are many freely available for downloading) that facilitates the reading and posting of messages on a newsgroup. Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator both include newsreaders.

nibble four bits or half a byte.

NiCad battery (Nickel Cadmium) a common type of battery used in laptop computers.

NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol) the protocol used by both Web browsers and servers to send and receive USENET postings and news articles.

node an individual computer or hardware device functioning as part of a network.

noise any type of interference such as static that hinders communications. Telephone, cable, and radio transmissions are all subject to noise.

Norton Anti-Virus popular software designed to keep computers safe from viruses that might come in from e-mail attachments, Internet downloads, floppy diskettes, software CDs, or a network. It can be scheduled to automatically retrieve new anti-viral definitions as often as once a week.

Not Found 404 an error message sometimes encountered while navigating the Internet that reads as follows: The Web server cannot find the file or script you asked for. Please check the URL to ensure that the path is correct. There are various reasons for getting this message. Several possibilities include: one of several servers needed to deliver the page to a user might not be functional at the time the page was requested; the Website may no longer be operational; a hyperlink may be broken; the page might be hosted by a new carrier, or the URL was typed incorrectly.

notebook computer a lightweight computer slightly smaller than a laptop with similar features such as a pop-up display monitor, battery pack, and disk drives.

Novell Inc. a leading provider of Net services software that delivers services to secure and power all types of networks; the Internet, intranets, and extranets; wired to wireless; corporate and public, and across leading operating systems.

numeric keypad a set of keys isolated from the main character keys on a computer keyboard. These include the numbers 0 through 9 as well as the Home key, Num Lock key, Pg. UP and Down Keys, Arrows up, down, left and right keys, a Del key, Ins key, and End key. The functions of the keys on the numeric keypad depend on whether the pad is in numeric mode or cursor control mode.

Numeric mode is activated by pressing the Num Lock key. Numeric mode allows the user to work with numbers, while cursor mode allows for the use of the arrow keys to move the cursor around the screen.

Num Lock a key found on the numeric keypad of a computer keyboard that switches functions between numeric mode and cursor mode. see numeric keypad.

numeric keypad Num Lock object a graphical image such as a photograph visible on a display monitor, that may be manipulated using one or more components of a software application.