| Scumware | See Malware. |
| SDSL | Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line - A type of telephone connection that allows fairly high speed long distance computer Network connections, usually to an ISP, using existing old-fashioned telephone wiring. Sounds great, but it is only available if you are close to (e.g. within 3km of) the telephone exchange. Symmetric means that the Download speed is the same as the Upload speed, as opposed to the considerably cheaper Asymmetric DSL (ADSL). SDSL is commonly used for smaller school and some business Broadband Internet connections. Typical speeds are 512Kbs (0.5Mbs) to 4Mbs, which is high enough to support a basic two-way full-screen video link. |
| Search Engine | Search engines are the "directory enquiries" of the Internet, except they're free! Using the Internet to find information usually involves using a search engine, because without one would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. In the dark, without a torch. The aim of using a search engine is to get a useful, relevant list of Web Sites ("hits") matching a set of criteria (words) that you have specified. You can then easily look at the sites on the list and see whether they really are what you were looking for, or use them as a starting point for further enquiries. Search engines consist of several parts; the bit you see, the interface, is where you type in words or phrases that will narrow down your search. It is the tiny tip of an iceberg. Behind the interface is an enormous index of words cross-referenced to the Web Pages (and other resources such as Newsgroups) that they were found in. When you do a search, the search engine only searches its index, rather than actual websites. However, the index is continually being updated and expanded by another part of the search engine that actively seeks out new pages to index. There are well over a hundred search engines, excluding the ones that are specific to one site or organisation, of which about 10 are well known and general purpose. The others tend to be specialised, e.g. for scientific papers. By far the best known, and probably the biggest, is Google. Big really means big, with volumes of pages indexed being measured in billions. Search engines are also amazingly fast. For example, searching for "Google" on Google found over 44 million references and took a fifth of a second. That is fast. Some search engines, such as MetaCrawler, actually send your query to several other engines and then collate the results. There is a useful list of search engines here. |
| Server | A provider of services. Technically it is Software that makes a computer into a "server", but in practical terms server software usually runs on specialised Hardware, so the hardware tends to be called a server too. A single computer can perform many different server roles at the same time, and this is often the situation in small Networks with only one or two physical servers. Typical server roles are: Fileserver, Print Server, DHCP server, DNS server, Domain Controller, WINS server, communications server. Servers are usually intended to run all the time, so reliability is paramount. Server hardware is often "fault-tolerant" to some extent, meaning that even if certain parts break down the server will soldier on and not lose any data. Servers typically operate unattended most of the time, but they do require periodic maintenance and, usually, backups. In a large installation with many servers such as an ISP would have, there will be round-the-clock monitoring so that problems are detected and fixed quickly. |
| SGML | Standardised General Markup Language - The mother of all Markup languages - literally, since HTML, WML and XML are all subsets of SGML. SGML is an ISO Standard and has been around since the early 80's. |
| Signature | The end part of an E-mail, not part of the message itself. Usually the E-mail Client has a facility to include a signature automatically, to save having to type your name, job title, contact details or whatever every time. Some people think it's cool to include in their signature a pithy quote or a long list of personal likes and dislikes or even the exact specifications of their computer. It's a matter of taste. |
| Site | Short for "Web Site". |
| Skinning | Literally, putting a new skin on an Application in order to change its appearance. Some applications, for example the popular Firefox Web Browser, are designed to be "skinnable" so that the User can change its appearance to suit their whim. Skins are usually designed by enthusiasts or commercial organisations and made available for Downloading over the Internet. |
| Slash | Nothing to do with knives, toilets or serial killers. The slash character "/" is used to separate the final parts of a Web or FTP address. Definitely not called a "stroke" or "oblique". |
| Smiley :-) | Those silly little sideways faces :-( that some people type to indicate emotion :-D and mood >:-| that they are unable to express verbally. Perhaps they should consider counselling :-S |
| SMS | Simple Messaging System - Or "Texting". Everything to do with mobile phones and nothing to do with the Internet, you might think, except that it is now possible to send text messages to a phone from the Internet, just as you can buy ring tones on the Internet and have them down(up?)loaded to your phone. |
| SMTP | Simple Mail Transfer Protocol - The system upon which the world's E-mail depends. SMTP is the Protocol used by "mail Servers" to send e-mails to each other. in order to be able to send e-mail using an E-mail Client, rather than WebMail, you (or your technician) need to know the address of your ISP's or Hosting provider's SMTP Server. You will probably also need your account Login details. Some ISPs do not require password-protected Authentication for their SMTP servers, which sounds simpler, but these ISPs will not allow you to connect to their SMTP server unless you are using their ISP service. This is a lazy way of protecting their mail server from being hi-jacked for sending Junk E-mail (Spam), but it is a pain in the backside if you take your laptop around with you and want to send e-mails. This type of ISP is best avoided by laptop-users, even if they provide an alternative SMTP connection, because it will be inconvenient, to put it mildly. |
| Software | Any type of computer program, including Applications and Operating Systems. |
| Spam | Junk e-mails. The best way to avoid being sent junk e-mail is never to give out your real e-mail address, especially to Web Sites that want you to "Register". The source of the term "Spam" is often attributed to a well-known Monty Python sketch. See also Junk Mail, Virus. |
| SPI | Stateful Packet Inspection - Without getting too technical, this is the key technology you should look for when buying a basic Firewall, for example a Broadband or DSL Router with an integrated firewall. An SPI firewall looks at all the Network Traffic wanting to pass through in either direction and decides whether to let it through, taking into account where (and how) the traffic originated as well as where it is destined for and what type it is. |
| Splitter | A device that splits an electrical signal between two or more outlets. In networking it is likely to refer to a DSL Microfilter, because these are usually also splitters, with one filtered (telephone) and one unfiltered (Broadband) outlet. |
| Spyware | Software that spies on you, and it is very common. Not as far-fetched as it sounds, because spyware is basically about covertly collecting marketing statistics such as which Web Sites you visit. The main problem with it is the covert element. If you are a regular Web user, and your computer/Network does not have any anti-spyware defences such as a Firewall, there is a strong probability that your system is already infected with spyware and you won't realise it is there until you run a detection program such as Ad-aware or Spybot Search & Destroy. Some spyware is more subversive, actually controlling aspects of your Browser or, worse still, collecting Passwords that you type in. See also Adware, Malware, Web Bug. |
| SSL | Secure Sockets Layer - A cryptographic security system often used during E-commerce to ensure that confidential details, such as Passwords and credit card numbers, cannot be picked up by people snooping anywhere on the connection between the trader and their customer. Sounds like a good idea, but statistically your card details are far more likely to be stolen en masse from the bank or trader's ~Online~ computers by a Hacker, than picked up individually by a snooper while in transit. Therefore the security of the trader's computers is far more important than the security of the link between you and them. But using SSL is better than not. See also Encryption, PGP and PKI. |
| Stable | The ability (or otherwise) of Software or Hardware to work properly at all times under all circumstances. By definition, software that is not stable has Bugs, i.e. all useful, commercially-available software has bugs unless you know of any that does not (in which case please let us know!). Therefore the term is relative - all commercial software is unstable, but some is much more stable than others. See our ~Software Stability Guide~ for RS infotech's specific experiences. Contrary to expectation and rationality, size or wealth of publisher is no indicator of likely software stability - for example Microsoft is (and always has been) one of the worst offenders. |
| Standards | Formal specifications and/or recommendations by non-proprietary bodies that have been determined by some form of consensus and so are widely accepted. See Web Standards. |
| Streaming | Sending a continuous stream of data from a specialised Server to, usually, a desktop application or Browser Plug-In. Streaming is typically used to deliver audio or video via the Internet, for example anyone in the world can freely listen to the many Internet "radio" stations, or even the most recent edition of "The Archers", if they really want to. |
| Subnet | A technical term relating to IP Networks. A subnet is a group of computers that can communicate with each other without needing the services of a Router. It is not a physical thing: computers can be connected to the same physical cabling system but not be able to communicate because they are configured to be on different subnets. |
| Subnet Mask | A technical term relating to IP Networks. An adjunct to a computer's IP Address that determines what Subnet the computer's network connection belongs to. A typical subnet mask looks like: "255.255.255.0". |
| Surfing | Wandering aimlessly about in the World Wide Web, riding the waves in your Browser to wherever they take you. One way to discover the diversity of the Internet, and the Web in particular, is to try surfing from a random starting point, clicking on any Links that catch your eye. It is probably best to steer clear of flashing banner adverts unless you enjoy "in-your-face" selling tactics. Also, make sure you say No to any ActiveX prompts you meet along the way. |
| SVG | Scalable Vector Graphics - A new graphics format for animated vector graphics (i.e. "outline and fill" drawings that can change over time). SVG is an official Web Standard but it is not yet widely supported by Browsers or graphics Software, although Adobe (of Acrobat fame) does produce a free browser Plug-In. SVG uses XML to describe the lines, curves, text and shading of an image, along with other technologies such as CSS formatting and PNG pictures. The elements of the drawing can be animated using JavaScript, making SVG a direct competitor to the well-established but proprietary Flash format. |
| Switch | A box that allows locally Networked computers to talk to each other. All the computers are directly or indirectly plugged into the switch. If there are only 2 computers, a switch is unnecessary. Switches have superseded Hubs, even for small networks. A small network only needs basic, "Unmanaged" switches, whereas a large network may benefit from more expensive and sophisticated "Managed" switches. |