A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.

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MAILING LIST: A mailing list is a list of people who subscribe to a periodic mailing distribution on a particular topic. On the Internet, mailing lists include each perso

MAILSERVER: The computer (and software running on it) that allows sorting and retrieval of E-mail messages.
MB: see BITS

MEDIUM: also MEDIA: The specific physical makeup of a network's connection. Commonly found media include Ethernet and copper phone lines.

MEGABYTE: 1) As a measure of computer processor storage and real and virtual memory, a megabyte (abbreviated MB) is 2 to the 20th power bytes, or 1,048,576 bytes in decimal notation.
2) According to the IBM Dictionary of Computing, when used to describe disk storage capacity and transmission rates, a megabyte is 1,000,000 bytes in decimal notation.
According to the Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary, a megabyte means either 1,000,000 bytes or 1,048,576 bytes.
According to Eric S. Raymond in The New Hackers Dictionary, a megabyte is always 1,048,576 bytes on the argument that bytes should naturally be computed in powers of two.

MHz: A megahertz (MHz or sometimes Mhz) is a million cycles of electromagnetic currency alternation per second and is used as a unit of measure for the "clock speed" of computer microprocessors. In designing computer bus architectures, the microprocessor speed is considered together with the potential speed or amount of data that can come into the computer from I/O devices in order to optimise overall computer performance.

MIME: MIME (Multi-Purpose Internet Mail Extensions) is an extension of the original Internet e-mail protocol that lets people use the protocol to exchange different kinds of data files on the Internet: audio, video, images, application programs, and other kinds, as well as the ASCII handled in the original protocol, the Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP). In 1991, Nathan Borenstein of Bellcore proposed to the Internet Engineering Task Force that SMTP be extended so that Internet (but mainly Web) clients and servers could recognize and handle other kinds of data than ASCII text. As a result, new file types were added to "mail" as a supported Internet Protocol file type.
Servers insert the MIME header at the beginning of any Web transmission. Clients use this header to select an appropriate "player\" application for the type of data the header indicates. Some of these players are built into the Web client or browser (for example, all browsers come with GIF and JPEG image players as well as the ability to handle HTML files); other players may need to be downloaded.
New MIME data types are registered with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).
MIME is specified in detail in Internet RFCs 1521 and 1522, which amend the original mail protocol specification, RFC 821 (the Simple Mail Transport Protocol) and the ASCII messaging header, RFC 822.

MIRROR: A mirror site is a Web site or set of files on a computer server that has been copied to another computer server in order to reduce network traffic, ensure better availability of the Web site or files, or make the site or downloaded files arrive more quickly for users close to the mirror site. Mirroring is the practice of creating and maintaining mirror sites.
A mirror site is an exact replica of the original site and is usually updated frequently to ensure that it reflects the content of the original site. Mirror sites are used to make access faster when the original site may be geographically distant (for example, a much-used Web site in Germany may arrange to have a mirror site in the United States). In some cases, the original site (for example, on a small university server) may not have a high-speed connection to the Internet and may arrange for a mirror site at a larger site with higher-speed connection and perhaps closer proximity to a large audience.
In addition to mirroring Web sites, you can also mirror files that can be downloaded from an FTP server. Netscape, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, and other companies have mirror sites from which you can download their browser software.
Mirroring could be considered a static form of content delivery.

MODEM: A modem modulates outgoing digital signals from a computer or other digital device to analog signals for a conventional copper twisted-pair telephone line and demodulates the incoming analog signal and converts it to a digital signal for the digital device.
In recent years, the 2400 bps modem that could carry e-mail has become obsolete. 14.4 Kbps and 28.8 Kbps modems were temporary landing places on the way to the much higher bandwidth devices and carriers of tomorrow. From early 1998, most new personal computers came with 56 Kbps modems. By comparison, using a digital ISDN adapter instead of a conventional modem, the same telephone wire can now carry up to 128 Kbps. With Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) systems, now being deployed in a number of communities, bandwidth on twisted-pair can be in the megabit range.

MOO: A MOO is an object-oriented MUD. According to Canton Becker, author of "The Unofficial Moo Guide Tutorial," a MOO is:
"...just a programming language in which you design objects. Everything is an object. Rooms are objects, exits are objects, possessions are objects, even your MOO alter-ego/avatar is an object. We will be looking at how you (1) make objects, and (2) write verbs that allow you to do Interesting Things with those objects. Im not going to talk too much about the philosophy of object-oriented programming (thats what the OO in MOO stands for) so lets go ahead and make your first object:"
Canton Beckers first example (of creating an object) looks like this:
@create $thing called kleenex
You can then go on to relate the object to other objects and define the verbs that work with the object (which is given a number by the MOO server). Effectively, you can set up how other MOO participants will be able to use or view your object.

MP3: MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3) is a standard technology and format for compressing a sound sequence into a very small file (about one-twelfth the size of the original file) while preserving the original level of sound quality when it is played. MP3 files (identified with the file name suffix of ".mp3") are available for downloading from a number of Web sites. Many Windows 98 users will find that they have a player built into their operating system. Otherwise, you can download a player from one of several popular MP3 sites. MP3 files are usually download-and-play files rather than streaming sound files that you link-and-listen-to with RealPlayer and similar products (However, streaming MP3 is possible.) Winamp (PC), MacAmp (Mac), and mpeg123 (UNIX) are popular MP3 players, but there are many others. To create an MP3 file, you use a program called a ripper to get a selection from a CD onto your hard drive and another program called an encoder to convert the selection to an MP3 file. Most people, however, simply download MP3s from someone else and play them.

MPG or MPEG: MPEG (pronounced EHM-pehg), the Moving Picture Experts Group, develops standards for digital video and digital audio compression. It operates under the auspices of the International Oganization for Standardization (ISO). The MPEG standards are an evolving series, each designed for a different purpose.
To use MPEG video files, you need a personal computer with sufficient processor speed, internal memory, and hard disk space to handle and play the typically large MPEG file (which has a file name suffix of .mpg). You also need an MPEG viewer or client software that plays MPEG files. (Note that .mp3 file suffixes indicate MP3 (MPEG-1 audio layer-3) files, not MPEG-3 standard files.) You can download shareware or commercial MPEG players from a number of sites on the Web.

MUD: A MUD or Multi-User Dungeon is an inventively structured social experience on the Internet, managed by a computer program and often involving a loosely organized context or theme, such as a rambling old castle with many rooms or a period in national history. Some MUDs are ongoing adventure games; others are educational in purpose; and others are simply social. MUDs existed prior to the World Wide Web, accessible through telneting to a computer that hosted the MUD. Today, many MUDs can be accessed through a Web site and some are perhaps better known as 3-D worlds or chat worlds.
MUD participants adopt a character or avatar when they join or log in to a MUD. Typically, you can describe your avatar to the other participants. Each MUD has its own name, special character and ambience, and set of rules. MUDs are run by advanced participants or programmers called wizards.
Although many MUDs continue to be entirely text-based, some new MUDs use virtual reality settings and you can see the characters. However, the focus is on the exchange of text between participants who are logged in at a particular time. There are a number of variations on the MUD, including MOOs, MUCKs, and MUSHes, each associated with a server program of that name and varied mainly by the programming language used and the capabilities offered.

MUSE: Multi-User Simulated Environment -- One kind of MUD - usually with little or no violence. See Also: MOO , MUD