A set of technologies created by Microsoft to enable interactive content  on Web sites. With ActiveX, websites can be animated using multimedia effects, interactive objects, and sophisticated applications that create a user experience comparable to a high-quality CD ROM. The same effects can be experienced with Java,  Shockwave, Flash, and numerous other applets and programs - the difference is that ActiveX is an exclusive Microsoft Program making use of ActiveX Controls.

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line
A DSL line where the upload speed is usually different from the download speed. Usually the download speed is much greater.

Active Server Pages
These are used for creating dynamic content of a web page. Technically said it is a server side scripting language. It is mostly used on Windows platforms.

The Cascading Style Sheets specification is a presentation language that is used to write formatting instructions (rules). These rules tell a browser how a web page should ‘look’—in terms of content layout (position, alignment) and style (typefaces, colours, borders, etc.). The CSS language was created to meet the aesthetic demands placed on HTML

A firewall is a security system (typically software-based) that manages the connection between computers, networks and the Internet. Its purpose is to prevent unauthorised access and use of your computer by unauthorised individuals (or programs).
Firewall software can be programmed to prevent the download of specific file types as a virus-protection measure. This can be an issue with sites that use rich media formats (such as Flash).

Forms are the cornerstone of web-based interaction using X(HTML). They are used anywhere information is collected from users. For example, forms are commonly used to:

• subscribe to email newsletters;
• provide shipping and shopping details for e-commerce;
• conduct online surveys;
• support e-learning activities (quizzes, tests, etc.).

Often shortened to ‘link’, the hyperlink is the core concept/technology that allows the web to operate. A hyperlink connects a web page to either;

• another document (web page or file), or
• a different part of the same document.

Allows a user to manipulate the outcome of certain events (for instance, by filling out a form, requesting a new Web page, or taking an online survey) within a two-way communication system that supports direct and continual responses. As opposed to static media (something that stays the same) or television (which is essentially a one-way medium), the Internet is interactive and dynamic in that all computers require input. This Glossary is interactive.

1. Any time you connect 2 or more networks together, you have an internet- as in inter-national or inter-state.
2. The vast collection of inter-connected networks using TCP/IP protocols.

Portable Document Format
is a file standard developed by Adobe to allow documents to be distributed electronically while maintaining layout integrity.
PDFs are useful where a large amount of information is to be provided and where reading such material onscreen in unfeasible or inappropriate.

An opt-in policy requires a potential customer to self-select the services they wish to subscribe to, and how any information they provide may be used. Also referred to as permission-based marketing
In practice, an opt-in policy involves creating forms where services such as email newsletter subscriptions are unchecked by default. The benefit of this approach is that a user who has actively considered the offering before signing-up, is a more qualified potential customer.

Unit of measurement. 6 picas equal one inch

A plug-in is third-party software that extends the capabilities of a computer program.

In a web browser, a plug-in may be required to display non-standard (often multi-media) content formats. Common browser plug-ins include Flash, Quick Time and Shockwave.

(Not a Jamaican with dreads) The file format whereby a value is ascribed to every pixel on the screen as opposed to vector mapping where only the differences are stored. Raster images, also called raster Bitmaps, are very large files.

A server is a networked computer that allows other users to access files (e.g. web pages) and/or applications (e.g. email).

Traffic is the amount of data transferred (downloaded) from a web server, as users view web pages, movies, documents, etc.). The term traffic is also used when describe the popularity of a website, i.e. more traffic is loosely equivalent to more people visiting.

A session is the time spend by a single user at a web site. The recording of the path taken through the site is referred to as session tracking.

Session tracking can be used to store user generated information (as in the case of shopping cart sites) or help a developer refine site structure by recording behaviour patterns of users.

Vectors are a method of describing graphic elements using a mathematical relationship (magnitude and direction) between points.
Programs such as Freehand and Illustrator allow the user to create graphic elements by this method

Viral marketing is a method of promotion that involves the dissemination of messages from person-to-person without the involvement of the originator.
This is commonly achieved through the use of email, but web-based postcards and ‘recommend this site to a friend’ links are other means to the same end.
Viral marketing campaigns generally rely on the strength of the original proposition: be it a product, service or (increasingly) entertainment value.

A virus is a program installed on your computer without your knowledge and typically with malicious intent. The biological description is in reference to the program's ability to replicate and transmit itself to other computers.

A virus may be the cause of you computer restarting unexpectedly, lacking of system memory or the being unable to run applications

Wireless Application Protocol is the connection standard for delivering information to wireless devices such as mobile phones and PDAs.

Blog, a contraction of ‘web’ and ‘log’, describes a website consisting of date-related entries (or posts). Blogs are typically of a personal nature, although their use by companies as a marketing tool is increasing.

 A wiki is a website that allows the visitors themselves to easily add, remove, and otherwise edit and change some available content, sometimes without the need for registration

A wiki enables documents to be written very collaboratively in a simple markup language using a browser. A single page in a wiki is referred to as a "wiki page", while the entire body of pages, which are usually highly interconnected via hyperlinks, is "the wiki"; in effect, a wiki is actually a very simple, easy-to-use user-maintained database for searching or even creating information.

eXtensible Markup Language

A widely used system for defining data formats. XML provides a very rich system to define complex data structures such as invoices, molecular data, news feeds, glossaries, inventory descriptions, real estate properties etc.

As long as the programmer has an XML defination for a collection of data (usually called a 'schema') they can ceate a program to reliably process any data formatted according to those rules.