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Date: Thu, 3 Feb 1994 23:18:56 -0500 (EST) From: Nancy Ammerman <emoryu1!phoenix.Princeton.EDU!nancyamm> To: Jackie Ammerman emory!emoryu1!awwe!root@phoenix.Princeton.EDU Message-Id: Pine.3.89.9402032339.P3501-0100000@flagstaff.Princeton.EDU Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Appendix A: THE LINGO

      As has any community, the Net has developed its own language.  

What follows is a glossary of some of the more common phrases you'll likely run into. But it's only a small subset of net.speak. You an find a more complete listing in "The New Hacker's Dictionary," compiled by Eric Raymond (MIT Press). Raymond's work is based on an online reference known as "The Jargon File," which you can get through anonymous ftp from ftp.gnu.mit.ai.mit as jarg300.txt.gz in the pub/gnu directory (see chapter 7 for information on how to un-compress a .gz file).

ASCII Has two meanings. ASCII is a universal computer code

              for English letters and characters.  Computers store 
              all information as binary numbers. In ASCII, the 
              letter "A" is stored as 01000001, whether the computer 
              is made by IBM, Apple or Commodore.  ASCII also refers 
              to a method, or protocol, for copying files from one 
              computer to another over a network, in which neither 
              computer checks for any errors that might have been 
              caused by static or other problems.

ANSI Computers use several different methods for deciding

              how to put information on your screen and how your 
              keyboard interacts with the screen.  ANSI is one of 
              these "terminal emulation" methods.  Although most 
              popular on PC-based bulletin-board systems, it can also 
              be found on some Net sites.  To use it properly, you 
              will first have to turn it on, or enable it, in your 
              communications software.

ARPANet A predecessor of the Internet. Started in 1969 with

              funds from the Defense Department's Advanced Projects 
              Research Agency. 

backbone A high-speed network that connects several powerful

              computers.  In the U.S., the backbone of the Internet is 
              often considered the NSFNet, a government funded link 
              between a handful of supercomputer sites across the 
              country. 

Baud The speed at which modems transfer data. One baud is

              roughly equal to one bit per second.  It takes eight 
              bits to make up one letter or character.  Modems rarely 
              transfer data at exactly the same speed as their listed 
              baud rate because of static or computer problems. More 
              expensive modems use systems, such as Microcom Network 
              Protocol (MNP), which can correct for these errors or 
              which "compress" data to speed up transmission.

BITNet Another, academically oriented, international computer

              network, which uses a different set of computer 
              instructions to move data.  It is easily accessible to 
              Internet users through e-mail, and provides a large 
              number of conferences and databases.  Its name comes from 
              "Because It's Time." " 

Bounce What your e-mail does when it cannot get to its

              recipient -- it bounces back to you -- unless it goes 
              off into the ether, never to be found again.

Command line On Unix host systems, this is where you tell the

              machine what you want it to do, by entering commands.

Communications A program that tells a modem how to work. software

Daemon An otherwise harmless Unix program that normally works

              out of sight of the user. On the Internet, you'll most 
              likely encounter it only when your e-mail is not 
              delivered to your recipient -- you'll get back your 
              original message plus an ugly message from a "mailer 
              daemon. 

Distribution A way to limit where your Usenet postings go. Handy for

              such things as "for sale" messages or discussions of 
              regional politics. 

Domain The last part of an Internet address, such as "news.com."

Dot When you want to impress the net veterans you meet at

              parties, say "dot" instead of "period," for example: "My 
              address is john at site dot domain dot com." 

Dot file A file on a Unix public-access system

              that alters the way you or your messages interact with 
              that system.  For example, your .login file contains 
              various parameters for such things as the text editor you 
              get when you send a message.   When you do an ls command, 
              these files do not appear in the directory listing; do ls 
              -a to list them. 

Down When a public-access site runs into technical trouble,

              and you can no longer gain access to it, it's down.

Download Copy a file from a host system to your computer. There

              are several different methods, or protocols, for 
              downloading files, most of which periodically check the 
              file as it is being copied to ensure no information is 
              inadvertently destroyed or damaged during the process. 
              Some, such as XMODEM, only let you download one file at 
              a time.  Others, such as batch-YMODEM and ZMODEM, let 
              you type in the names of several files at once, which 
              are then automatically downloaded. 

EMACS A standard Unix text editor preferred by Unix types

              that beginners tend to hate.                

E-mail Electronic mail – a way to send a private message to

              somebody else on the Net. Used as both noun and verb.

Emoticon See smiley.

F2F Face to Face. When you actually meet those people you

              been corresponding with/flaming.

FAQ Frequently Asked Questions. A compilation of answers to

              these.  Many Usenet newsgroups have these files, which 
              are posted once a month or so for beginners. 

Film at 11 One reaction to an overwrought argument: "Imminent death

              of the Net predicted. Film at 11."

Finger An Internet program that lets you get some bit of

              information about another user, provided they have first 
              created a .plan file. 

Flame Online yelling and/or ranting directed at somebody else.

              Often results in flame wars, which occasionally turn into 
              holy wars (see). 

Followup A Usenet posting that is a response to an earlier

              message.

Foo/foobar A sort of online algebraic place holder, for example: "If

              you want to know when another site is run by a for-
              profit company, look for an address in the form of 
              foo@foobar.com." 

Fortune cookie An inane/witty/profund comment that can be found around

              the net.  

Freeware Software that doesn't cost anything.

FTP File-transfer Protocol. A system for transferring files

              across the Net.

Get a life What to say to somebody who has, perhaps, been spending a

              wee bit too much time in front of a computer.

GIF Graphic Interchange Format. A format developed in the

              mid-1980s by CompuServe for use in photo-quality graphics 
              images.  Now commonly used everywhere online. 

GNU Gnu's Not Unix. A project of the Free Software

              Foundation to write a free version of the Unix operating 
              system. 

Hacker On the Net, unlike among the general public, this is not

              a bad person; it is simply somebody who enjoys stretching
              hardware and software to their limits, seeing just what 
              they can get their computers to do.  What many people 
              call hackers, net.denizens refer to as crackers.

Handshake Two modems trying to connect first do this to agree on

              how to transfer data.

Hang When a modem fails to hang up.

Holy war Arguments that involve certain basic tenets of faith,

              about which one cannot disagree without setting one of 
              these off.  For example: IBM PCs are inherently superior to 
              Macintoshes.                     
       

Host system A public-access site; provides Net access to people

              outside the research and government community.

IMHO In My Humble Opinion.

Internet A worldwide system for linking smaller computer

              networks together.  Networks connected through the 
              Internet use a particular set of communications 
              standards to communicate, known as TCP/IP.

Killfile A file that lets you filter Usenet postings to some

              extent, by excluding messages on certain topics or from 
              certain people. 

Log on/log in Connect to a host system or public-access site.

Log off Disconnect from a host system.

Lurk Read messages in a Usenet newsgroup without ever saying

              anything.

Mailing list Essentially a conference in which messages are delivered

              right to your mailbox, instead of to a Usenet newsgroup.  
              You get on these by sending a message to a specific e-
              mail address, which is often that of a computer that 
              automates the process. 

MOTSS Members of the Same Sex. Gays and Lesbians online.

              Originally an acronym used in the 1980 federal census.

Net.god One who has been online since the beginning, who knows

              all and who has done it all.

Net.personality Somebody sufficiently opinionated/flaky/with plenty of

              time on his hands to regularly post in dozens of 
              different Usenet newsgroups, whose presence is known to 
              thousands of people.

Net.police Derogatory term for those who would impose their

              standards on other users of the Net.  Often used in 
              vigorous flame wars (in which it occasionally mutates to 
              net.nazis). 

Netiquette A set of common-sense guidelines for not annoying others.

Network A communications system that links two or more

              computers. It can be as simple as a cable strung 
              between two computers a few feet apart or as complex 
              as hundreds of thousands of computers around the world 
              linked through fiber optic cables, phone lines and 
              satellites.

Newbie Somebody new to the Net. Sometimes used derogatorily by

              net.veterans who have forgotten that, they, too, were 
              once newbies who did not innately know the answer to 
              everything. "Clueless newbie" is always derogatory.

Newsgroup A Usenet conference.

NIC Network Information Center. As close as an Internet-

              style network gets to a hub; it's usually where you'll 
              find information about that particular network. 

NSA line eater The more aware/paranoid Net users believe that the

              National Security Agency has a super-powerful computer 
              assigned to reading everything posted on the Net.   They 
              will jokingly (?) refer to this line eater in their 
              postings. Goes back to the early days of the Net when
              the bottom lines of messages would sometimes disappear
              for no apparent reason.

NSF National Science Foundation. Funds the NSFNet, a

              high-speed network that once formed the backbone of the 
              Internet in the U.S. 

Offline When your computer is not connected to a host system

              or the Net, you are offline. 

Online When your computer is connected to an online service,

              bulletin-board system or public-access site.

Ping A program that can trace the route a message takes from

              your site to another site.

.plan file A file that lists anything you want others on the Net to

              know about you.  You place it in your home directory on 
              your public-access site.  Then, anybody who fingers (see) 
              you, will get to see this file. 

Post To compose a message for a Usenet newsgroup and then send

              it out for others to see.

Postmaster The person to contact at a particular site to ask for

              information about the site or complain about one of 
              his/her user's behavior. 

Protocol The method used to transfer a file between a host

              system and your computer. There are several types, 
              such as Kermit,  YMODEM and ZMODEM.                             

Prompt When the host system asks you to do something and

              waits for you to respond.  For example, if you see 
              "login:" it means type your user name. 

README files Files found on FTP sites that explain what is in a given

              FTP directory or which provide other useful information 
              (such as how to use FTP). 

Real Soon Now A vague term used to describe when something will

              actually happen.

RFC Request for Comments. A series of documents that

              describe various technical aspects of the Internet.

ROTFL Rolling on the Floor Laughing. How to respond to a

              particularly funny comment.

ROT13 A simple way to encode bad jokes, movie reviews that give

              away the ending, pornography, etc.  Essentially, each 
              letter in a message is replace by the letter 13 spaces 
              away from it in the alphabet.  There are online decoders 
              to read these; nn and rn have them built in. 

RTFM Read the, uh, you know, Manual. Often used in flames

              against people who ask computer-related questions that 
              could be easily answered with a few minutes with a 
              manual. More politely: RTM.

Screen capture A part of your communications software that

              opens a file on your computer and saves to it whatever 
              scrolls past on the screen while connected to a host 
              system. 

Server A computer that can distribute information or files

              automatically in response to specifically worded e-mail 
              requests. 

Shareware Software that is freely available on the Net. If you

              like and use the software, you should send in the fee
              requested by the author, whose name and address will be 
              found in a file distributed with the software. 

.sig file Sometimes, .signature file. A file that, when placed in

              your home directory on your public-access site, will 
              automatically be appended to every Usenet posting you 
              write. 

.sig quote A profound/witty/quizzical/whatever quote that you

              include in your .sig file.

Signal-to-noise The amount of useful information to be found in a given ratio Usenet newsgroup. Often used derogatorily, for example:

              "the signal-to-noise ratio in this newsgroup is pretty low."

SIMTEL20 The White Sands Missile Range used to maintain a giant

              collection of free and low-cost software of all kinds, 
              which was "mirrored" to numerous other ftp sites on the
              Net.  In the fall of 1993, the Air Force decided it had
              better things to do than maintain a free software library
              and shut it down.  But you'll still see references to
              the collection, known as SIMTEL20, around the Net.

Snail mail Mail that comes through a slot in your front door or a

              box mounted outside your house.

Sysadmin The system administrator; the person who runs a host

              system or public-access site.

TANSTAAFL There Ain't No Such Thing as a Free Lunch.

TCP/IP Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. The

              particular system for transferring information over a 
              computer network that is at the heart of the Internet.

Telnet A program that lets you connect to other computers on

              the Internet.

Terminal There are several methods for determining how your emulation keystrokes and screen interact with a public-access

              site's operating system.  Most communications programs 
              offer a  choice of "emulations" that let you mimic the 
              keyboard that would normally be attached directly to 
              the host-system computer. 

UUCP Unix-to-Unix CoPy. A method for transferring Usenet

              postings and e-mail that requires far fewer net resources 
              than TCP/IP, but which can result in considerably slower 
              transfer times.

Upload Copy a file from your computer to a host system.

User name On most host systems, the first time you connect you

              are asked to supply a one-word user name.  This can be 
              any combination of letters and numbers. 

VT100 Another terminal-emulation system. Supported by many

              communications program, it is the most common one in 
              use on the Net.  VT102 is a newer version. 

Appendix B: ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION INFORMATION

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a membership organization that was founded in July of 1990 to ensure that the principles embodied in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are protected as new communications technologies emerge.

From the beginning, EFF has worked to shape our nation's communications infrastructure and the policies that govern it in order to maintain and enhance First Amendment, privacy and other democratic values. We believe that our overriding public goal must be the creation of Electronic Democracy, so our work focuses on the establishment of:

o new laws that protect citizens' basic Constitutional rights as they use new communications technologies,

o a policy of common carriage requirements for all network providers so that all speech, no matter how controversial, will be carried without discrimination,

o a National Public Network where voice, data and video services are accessible to all citizens on an equitable and affordable basis, and

o a diversity of communities that enable all citizens to have a voice in the information age.

Join us!

I wish to become a member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. I enclose:

$ Regular membership – $40 $ Student membership – $20

Special Contribution

I wish to make a tax-deductible donation in the amount of $ to further support the activities of EFF and to broaden participation in the organization. Documents Available in Hard Copy Form The following documents are available free of charge from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Please indicate any of the documents you wish to receive. _ Open Platform Proposal - EFF's proposal for a national telecommunications infrastructure. 12 pages. July, 1992

_ An Analysis of the FBI Digital Telephony Proposal - Response of EFF-organized coalition to the FBI's digital telephony proposal of Fall, 1992. 8 pages. September, 1992. _ Building the Open Road: The NREN and the National Public Network - A discussion of the National Research and Education Network as a prototype for a National Public Network. 20 pages. May, 1992.

_ Innovative Services Delivered Now: ISDN Applications at Home, School, the Workplace and Beyond - A compilation of ISDN applications currently in use. 29 pages. January, 1993. _ Decrypting the Puzzle Palace - John Perry Barlow's argument for strong encryption and the need for an end to U.S. policies preventing its development and use. 13 pages. May, 1992.

_ Crime and Puzzlement - John Perry Barlow's piece on the founding of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the world of hackers, crackers and those accused of computer crimes. 24 pages. June, 1990. _ Networks & Policy - A quarterly newsletter detailing EFF's activities and achievements.

Your Contact Information:

Name: Organization: Address: Phone: () _ FAX: () _ (optional) E-mail address: _

Payment Method

_ Enclosed is a check payable to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. _ Please charge my:

      ___ MasterCard  ___ Visa  ___ American Express

Card Number: _ Expiration Date: _ Signature:

Privacy Policy

EFF occasionally shares our mailing list with other organizations promoting similar goals. However, we respect an individual's right to privacy and will not distribute your name without explicit permission.

___ I grant permission for the EFF to distribute my name and contact information to organizations sharing similar goals.

Print out and mail to:

   Membership Coordinator
   Electronic Frontier Foundation
   1001 G Street, N.W.
   Suite 950 East
   Washington, DC  20001
   202/347-5400 voice
   202/393-5509 fax

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a nonprofit, 501©(3) organization supported by contributions from individual members, corporations and private foundations. Donations are tax-deductible.

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