For more information, check whatis.com or wikipedia.com
Web sites or pages vs. Blogs vs. Wikis
Websites are groups of web pages, all with a common topic or theme and usually a similar look and feel. Blogs and wikis are particular kinds of websites.
Blogs (a.k.a. web logs) are websites in which the posts (entries) are listed in chronological order, with the most recent at the top. One definition of a blog is that it’s an online diary. Blogs usually have a single author. Blogs are created using software created specially for this purpose.
Wikis are collaborative websites. They, too, use special software that was created to make it easy for multiple authors to contribute their ideas without requiring special skills.
BlogLines
A free website to help manage your RSS subscriptions.
Blogroll
A list of blogs. Typically bloggers post a list of the blogs they read regularly.
Browser
The software interface you use to interact with the web. Most people use either Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox.
Del.icio.us
A popular website for storing, organizing, and sharing bookmarks for web pages.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions (inevitably referred to by the acronym FAQ) is the part of a website with answers to common questions.
Flickr
Flickr is a popular website that hosts digital images. For free.
JPEG
Used in this context, it’s a format for compressed images. If you are collecting trivia, JPEG is pronounced like JAY-Peg and stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. Images are commonly saved in JPEG format for displaying on websites, because the images will load quickly and are rendered with accurate color when compared to the originals.
LibraryThing
A social networking website used to catalog collections of books, keep lists of the books you’ve read or want to read, and meet people with similar reading interests. Up to 200 books is free, although for a fee you can add more. Most people share their information, although it can be kept private.
MP3
MP3 is a format for audio files. Sound is encoded in such a way as to make the file very compressed (think small) yet retain good sound quality. MP3 files can be downloaded to computers or handheld MP3 players or to various storage media, such as memory sticks or CD’s. In order to listen to an MP3 file, you need an MP3 player or special software. More in Week 11.
Newsreader or Aggregator
Any of several ways to manage your subscriptions to blogs, podcasts, and other web services that support RSS. BlogLines is one example. The newer versions of web browsers have this functionality, too.
Pixel
Short for picture element (there’s a bit of trivia few people know). Commonly thought of as the smallest single component of an image. The more pixels in an image, the more closely that image resembles the original.
Podcast
An audio blog or an audio MP3 file distributed through RSS. Audio with video podcasts are more precisely termed videoblogs or vodcasts.
Podcatcher
Software that manages RSS subscriptions of podcasts and videoblogs.
Rollyo
A customized search engine based on Yahoo that searches only the websites and blogs you indicate.
RSS
RSS is an acronym with several deconstructions, such as Really Simple Syndication or more accurately but cryptically, RDF site summary. RSS refers to a family of web feed formats used to publish content for websites, blogs, podcasts, etc. Users subscribe by entering the URL into their news readers (e.g., BlogLines) or browsers (e.g., Internet Explorer or Firefox) and receive updates automatically.
Why use RSS? With RSS you don’t have to check sites for updates; syndication alerts you automatically that a site of interest to you has been updated.
Social networking
Participating in a web-based virtual community to share an interest or activity.
Tags
Single word descriptors assigned to an object that help retrieve it later. Used on social networking sites such as Flickr and Del.icio.us.
URL
Uniform Resource Locator, although everyone refers to it by the acronym. The URL is the address for a web page and what you type into the address bar on your browser to retrieve it.
YouTube
YouTube is a popular website for sharing video clips. For free.
