• Download: to move a program from the internet or a disc onto
  • your own system or another disc.
  • Drive: the place where a disc (CD, DVD) or other information containing item
    can be placed and run (“played”).  your Hard Drive is your computer itself.
  • Ebay: an electronic auction.
  • Email: electronic mail.
  • Hardware: the computer, screen, keyboard, mouse, and other things that
    you can see, feel, touch that are part of the computer.
  • IM: instant messenger.  Similar to email, this is used to communicate to
    another computer user, but with IM you interact “live” with another person
    who is online at the same time.  Such an interaction is called "chatting".
  • Online: connected to the internet.
  • Pop-up ads: advertisements that just “appear” on your screen while you
    are working on your computer.  
  • Search Engine: a tool such as “google” or "yahoo" which finds websites on
    the World Wide Web based on keywords that you type into a blank area
    labeled “search”.
  • Software: computer programs that you can buy or that come with the
    computer to do the things you want.
  • Spam: Spam refers email sent to you from a phony account, which solicits you
    in unwanted ways. Some common forms of spam include Viagra (or Viagra
    imitation) advertisements, and the “Nigerian bank scam” in which a person
    tells you they are an attorney for someone who has expired and wants to
    leave you money--they usually ask you to share your bank account numbers "so
    that they can send you the money (sic)".   Some state that they are your bank
    or mortgage company themselves.   Never respond to these.  If you are not
    sure, call your bank to check.  Its best not to reply to emails from senders
    you don’t recognize, and simply use the “delete” button!
  • URL: this stands for Uniform Resource Locator, but few people know what it
    stands for--no one says its full name.  This is a string of characters that
    represents the location or address of a resource on the Internet. World
    Wide Web pages are assigned a unique URL. In other words, its the address
    of a webpage or website.  It is usually written in the format http://xxx.yyy.
    com (commercial), http://xxx.yyy.gov (government), or http://xxx.yyy.org
    (organization).  The URL of this website is http://www.doctorgwinn.net, for
    example.
Brief Internet Terms Glossary
from Living Older, Living Better! by Katrina Gwinn, MD