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who's running the Internet? | algorithms | standards
numeracy | webmaking | site metrics | The Geek Line
| Moore's Law | caching
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In any foreign land, you have to be able to understand if not speak the language. Matteo Ricci learned enough Chinese to contribute to its literature. Customhouse is where to find explanations of the concepts and vocabulary used on Ricci Street.
For starters, search just the Ricci Street pages at Google.com:
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If you're looking for a concept that's not coming up with the keywords you're using, please send it along to me via direct email, which the form box below will do. Include your name and email if you'd like credit or a response.
Meanwhile, try these free Internet tools:
whatis.com or the C|Net Glossary or the NetLingo.com online dictionary
for computer terms
The only online dictionary and search engine you need for computer and Internet technology.
Sharpened.net
Glossary of computer
and Internet terms: E-mail
and online chat acronyms | List of "Emoticons"
| Domain name suffixes
explained
Matisse's
Glossary of Internet Terms
dictionary.com for more general terms
the
Acronym Finder: A searchable
database containing 100,500+ common acronyms and abbreviations
about all subjects, with a focus on computers, technology, telecommunications,
and the military.
xrefer.com has a "reference engine",
a meta-search of several dozen reference titles
BuzzWhack: The Buzzword Compliant Dictionary -- definitions for business buzzwords, slang and jargon. "Dedicated to de-mystifying buzzwords."
If you're looking for where these terms are used on Ricci Street, try the Search Bureau or the Google search on the Ricci Street Welcome page.
Bits and atoms are terms used to understand the
difference between the "real" world and the "virtual" world.
Networks are mysterious even though we use them every
day. How does a packet-switched network like the Internet work? What's are some
of the big events in Internet history?
What
about the metrics, architecture, and plumbing of the Internet?
How does it really work? What's the difference between the Internet and the Web?
Who's
in charge? Who's running the Internet? What
technical standards make it work?
To
think of organizations as machines is a metaphor with limited use. Another
metaphor is the organization as a self-organizing system. This metaphor also
helps explain what's going on with the Internet. Underneath it all are algorithms.
Even
though no one seems to be in charge, commonly agreed-upon shared standards make it all work together. Professional
associations of webmasters and geeks help, too.
If
you want to understand what the Internet and computers are doing, you need a
sense of very large and very small numbers, what is called numeracy.
Many
people confuse some of the basic terms used for making
Web pages, such as page and site. What exactly is a "home page"?
Confused
about the terms used to describe and measure Web site
traffic?
Where
would you draw the Geek Line, over which MBAs should
not have to cross?
Moore's Law describes the progress computing has made in
the last forty years.
There
can be many reasons for the unexpected and confusing. One reason is caching.
According to the U.S. Department of Commerce's definitions:
A consumer visits a bookstore and inquires about the availability of an out-of-stock book. A bookstore employee downloads a digital copy of the book and prints it along with cover. Not an e-commerce retail transaction by the consumer since agreement to purchase did not occur over an electronic network. However, the right to access the digital archived copy is an e-commerce service transaction by the employee.
A consumer uses Internet to research the purchase of a computer, but calls a toll free number and places the order with an operator. Not an e-commerce transaction because agreement to transfer ownership did not occur over computer-mediated network; neither telephone was computer-enabled.
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