by Michelle on May 12, 2009
in Lexicon
You’ve probably seen the acronym “VPN” here and there, but it seems like it’s rarely explained so most people remain mystified. If you try to look it up, you’re likely to find information that makes it even more confusing rather than clearing things up. So I’m going to keep this simple.
VPN stands for virtual private network, and the technology behind it can be very complicated (as you saw if you clicked on that link above) but the concept is actually pretty simple. A VPN allows you to connect securely to an otherwise closed network.
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Tagged as:
vpn
by Michelle on May 4, 2009
in Lexicon
If you have an Internet connection–and I imagine most people reading this do–then you may have encountered the acronym “DNS” before. Most of the time, DNS works quietly in the background so chances are you won’t have to worry about it. Since you’ve probably seen this mysterious acronym here and there, a quick explanation seems to be in order.
DNS stands for Domain Name System. A domain, or domain name, is the human-readable address by which you access websites. For instance, firstbytes.com is a domain name. Domain names are meant to be easy for humans to read and understand–and remember–making it relatively easy for people to find a particular website.
While domain names make it easy for humans to find websites, they don’t help computers much. All computers connected to the internet are assigned an IP address, such as 67.205.34.43. These addresses are what computers on the Internet actually use to communicate with each other. It’s a lot like dialing a telephone number to call a person, really. The name is easier to remember, but the phone system needs you to use a number.
The Domain Name System is like an automatic phone book–you type in the words, the DNS server translates, “OK, what she really means is this IP address“–and, so long as all the parts are communicating well, you are on your way to the website you requested without having to remember some crazy string of numbers.
There’s quite a bit more to it than this, such as how DNS is organized and precisely how it functions, but these are topics for a more in-depth article.
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dns
by Michelle on May 1, 2009
in Lexicon
It might seem a little funny to explain what a blog is when you’re reading the explanation ON a blog, but it seems a good place to start. Lexicon will be a regular feature of First Bytes, so I thought I’d kick it off today.
So what is a blog?
The word “blog” is a shortened form of “weblog,” which literally means a log (or journal) that is posted on the web. Blogs have been around for some time, but have really taken off in the last few years. Some people use them precisely as journals, posting about their personal lives, families, etc. Others use them to focus on a particular subject.
Regardless of the subject matter, blogs typically have some defining characteristics in common. The main page of a blog is usually a list of recent posts, with the newest listed at the top. Most blogs can be searched and are often categorized and tagged to help visitors find posts of interest. Blogs may have one author or multiple authors.
Anyone can start a blog and post anything they like, which can be very freeing. No publishers or editors stand in the way of getting your words out. At the same time, that lack of editorial oversight means that it’s up to readers to decide whether the information provided on a blog is worthwhile.
Personally, I love reading blogs and it’s a rare day when I don’t stumble across a new and interesting one. We have been having a lot of fun planning this one, and hope you’ll find it worth your time.
