(Frequently Asked Questions) -- FAQs are documents that list and answer the most common questions on a particular subject. There are hundreds of FAQs on subjects as diverse as Pet Grooming and Cryptography. FAQs are usually written by people who have tired of answering the same question over and over.

(Frequently Asked Questions). A collection of questions and answers about a particular topic.

(Fiber Distributed Data Interface) -- A standard for transmitting data on optical fiber cables at a rate of around 100,000,000 bits-per-second (10 times as fast as Ethernet, about twice as fast as T-3).

A method of transmitting light beams along optical fibers. A light beam, such as that produced in a laser, can be modulated to carry information.

This makes computer data smaller so less is needed to represent the same information and, consequently, the information takes up less disk or file space and may be transmitted in less time.

A file-storage device on a local area network (LAN) that is accessible to all users on the network. It is sophisticated, also serving as a manager of sorts, maintaining order as users request files and make changes to them.

To fill an image means to paint the inside of it with a selected color or pattern. The fill can be used to create shading and other simple effects. In HTML, a popular technique is to fill tables with colors, especially in long lists of information. For example, if you are making a Web page showing the 50 top-grossing movies of the year, it will be easier to read if you fill the rows of the table and alternate the background colors.

A filter is a program that receives a specified kind of data, then manipulates and outputs the results. Visual filters as a part of dHTML modify the appearance of a control. In fact, a visual filter can have complete authority over the control's visual output. An Alpha filter, for example, can control the opacity of its target, while the author controls the amount of opacity expressed as a percentage. Currently, visual filters are only supported by Microsoft Internet Explorer.

A means of narrowing the scope of a report or view by specifying ranges or types of data to include in or exclude.

An Internet software tool for locating people on other Internet sites. Finger is also sometimes used to give access to non-personal information, but the most common use is to see if a person has an account at a particular Internet site. Many sites do not allow incoming Finger requests, but many do.

A program used to find out if someone is online -- it may also reveal their full name and their plan and project files.

A combination of hardware and software that separates a LAN into two or more parts for security purposes.

Special computers that are set up on a network to prevent intruders from stealing or destroying confidential files.

To heap written abuse on someone or to excessively criticize them for their ideas, spelling, grammar, etc. Flaming is considered impolite, juvenile behavior, but is not uncommon in some newsgroups

Originally, flame meant to carry forth in a passionate manner in the spirit of honorable debate. Flames most often involved the use of flowery language and flaming well was an art form. More recently flame has come to refer to any kind of derogatory comment no matter how witless or crude.

When an online discussion degenerates into a series of personal attacks against the debators, rather than discussion of their positions. A heated exchange.

Many image-processing programs, like Photoshop, allow you to build images in layers. These layers are created one at a time and placed on top of each other to assemble the whole image. While the file is a pile of little layered images, you can manipulate each layer individually and look at how each change will alter the completed picture. In order to move the file to another program or save it as a GIF or JPEG, however, you must flatten all these layers into one file.

A reply to a Usenet posting.

A font is the overall design for a set of characters. It describes the size, weight, and spacing of a character and shouldn't be confused with a typeface, which is a more general term. Courier is a typeface; Courier 24-point bold is a font. Computers display fonts in either a bitmap or a vector format. In a bitmapped font, each character is represented by an arrangement of dots. In a vector font system, the shape or outline of each character is defined geometrically. Since a vector font is scalable according to the defined outline, a vector system can make many differently sized fonts from one defined set of characters. Currently, the most widely used vector font systems are PostScript and TrueType.

An HTML page which passes variables back to the server. These pages are used to gather information from visitors. Also referred to as scripts.

A formatting device that allows a Web page to be viewed in separate, independently scrollable windows. Since each frame houses its own HTML document, frames allow multiple documents to be viewed within a single browser window. (NOTE: Frames are not supported by older browsers.)

An open-access, community-sponsored and maintained computer network, affiliated with the National Public Telecomputing Network.

Non-copyrighted software made available free for public use by the author (compare "shareware").

Frequency is the number of times a person sees your message. Many advertising theorists note a marked decrease in direct response to online advertisements after three impressions per user, but no one's done a thorough audit of how frequency impacts brand awareness. Of course, this is extremely measurable online, so we can look forward to such data in the future. An advertiser trying to gain quick awareness will often specify that frequency be upped to enormous levels. Ever hear the same radio ad five times a day for a week? That's high frequency.

File Transfer Protocol) -- A very common method of moving files between two Internet sites. FTP is a special way to login to another Internet site for the purposes of retrieving and/or sending files. There are many Internet sites that have established publicly accessible repositories of material that can be obtained using FTP, by logging in using the account name anonymous, thus these sites are called anonymous ftp servers.

(File Transfer Protocol). The principle of FTP is simple. You logon to a site (using your FTP software), then you choose a file to transfer. All FTP activity requires you to log on to the remote computer with a user name and password. To get to files shown on the map, it's important to understand the concept of anonymous FTP. Here, you log on to the machine as a guest rather than as an authorized account holder. In this situation, type "anonymous" as the user name and your full e-mail address as the password. Once you log on, you'll be able to access specified directories as an anonymous user. You can also access FTP sites with your Web browser. In the location or dialog box, type ftp://xxx.xxx.xxx, then click from directory to directory. But be warned: this procedure doesn't always work, and Web browsers tend to be much slower at file transfers than dedicated FTP clients.

File Transfer Protocol is a standard method of sending files between computers over the Internet.

A function is a named group of statements in a program that performs a task when it is invoked. Other programming languages make a distinction between a function, which returns a value, and a procedure, which performs some operation but does not return a value. Since JavaScript does not make this distinction, you can create functions that return values elsewhere in your code.

For Your Information) A subseries of RFCs that are not technical standards or descriptions of protocols. FYIs convey general information about subjects related to TCP/IP or the Internet.