BITNET

Because It's Time NETwork or Because It's There NETwork , A network of educational sites separate from the Internet, but e-mail is freely exchanged between BITNET and the Internet.Listservs, the...

 BMP

A resolution-dependent file format for images created by Windows Paint, PaintBrush, and other applications.

 Backbone

A high-speed line or series of connections that forms a major pathway within a network. The term is relative, as a backbone in a small network will likely be much smaller than many non-backbone...

 Background Image

These are images which are designed to sit in the background of a web page so that all other information, (e.g. text, images) is seen to sit on top.

 Background sound

A sound file that you associate with a page. When the page is displayed in a Web browser, the sound file repeats the number of times that you specify.

 Backup/Restore

The process of copying files so that they are preserved in the case of equipment failure or catastrophe.If files are damaged on the server, we resort to the backup copy to restore the files back to...

 Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transferred over the network in a fixed amount of time. On the Internet , it is usually measured in bits-per-second (bps). A 56K modem transfers data up...

 Baud

Unit of signaling speed equal to the number of discrete signal elements transmitted per second. Baud is synonymous with bits per second (bps). In common usage the baud rate of a modem is how many...

 Benchmark

A test used to compare performance of hardware and/or software.

 Binary

Pertaining to a number system that has just two unique digits.Computers are based on the binary numbering system, which consists of just two unique numbers, 0 and 1.

 Binhex

BINary HEXadecimal , A method for converting non-text files (non-ASCII) into ASCII.This is needed because Internet e-mail can only handle ASCII.

 Bit

Binary DigIT , A single digit number in base-2, in other words, either a 1 or a zero.The smallest unit of computerized data. Bandwidth is usually measured in bits-per-second.

 Bookmark

Nearly all web browsers support a bookmarking feature that lets you save the address (URL) of a web page so that you can easily revisit the page at a later time.

 Bps

Bits-Per-Second , A measurement of how fast data is moved from one place to another. A 28.8 modem can move 28,800 bits per second.

 Broken hyperlink

A hyperlink that does not correctly point to a page or other Internet file. A broken hyperlink indicates either an incorrect URL or a missing page or file.

 Browser

Client software that is used to look at various kinds of Internet resources. Examples include Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape's Navigator.

 Bulletin board BBS

Bulletin Board System ,A computerized meeting and announcement system that allows people to carry on discussions, upload and download files, and make announcements without the people being...

 Byte

A set of Bits that represent a single character. Usually there are 8 Bits in a Byte, sometimes more, depending on how the measurement is being made.