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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WAIS: Wide-area information servers (WAIS) is an Internet system in which specialized subject databases are created at multiple server locations, kept track of by a directory of servers at one location, and made accessible for searching by users with WAIS client programs. The user of WAIS is provided with or obtains a list of distributed databases. The user enters a search argument for a selected database and the client then accesses all the servers on which the database is distributed. The results provide a description of each text that meets the search requirements. The user can then retrieve the full text.
WAIS (pronounced "ways") uses its own Internet protocol, an extension of the Z39.50 standard (Information Retrieval Service Definition and Protocol Specification for Library Applications) of the National Information Standards Organization. Web users can use WAIS by either downloading a WAIS client and a "gateway" to the Web browser or by using Telnet to connect to a public WAIS client.
Most Web users will find that the abundance of server files and search engines already available on the Web will make WAIS superfluous. However, librarians, medical researchers, and others may find some specialized information available through WAIS that is not currently available on the Web.

WAN: A WAN (wide area network) is a geographically dispersed telecommunications network and the term distinguishes a broader telecommunication structure from a local area network (LAN). A wide area network may be privately owned or rented, but the term usually connotes the inclusion of public (shared user) networks. An intermediate form of network in terms of geography is a metropolitan area network (MAN).

WAP: The WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) is a specification for a set of communication protocols to standardize the way that wireless devices, such as cellular telephones and radio transceivers, can be used for Internet access, including e-mail, the World Wide Web, newsgroups, and Internet Relay Chat (IRC). While Internet access has been possible in the past, different manufacturers have used different technologies. In the future, devices and service systems that use WAP will be able to interoperate.
The WAP layers are:
Wireless Application Environment (WAE)
Wireless Session Layer (WSL)
Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS)
Wireless Transport Layer (WTP)
The WAP was conceived by four companies: Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, and Unwired Planet (which is now Phone.com).

WAREZ: Warez (pronounced as though spelled "wares" or possibly by some pronounced like the city of "Juarez") is a term used by software "pirates" to describe software that has been stripped of its copy-protection and made available on the Internet for downloading. People who create warez sites sometimes call them "warez sitez" and use "z" in other pluralizations. In our brief investigation of warez sites, we found a number of sites to be permanently "under construction." Several included freeware and shareware that is legally downloadable.

WEBCAM: A cam, homecam, or webcam is a video camera, usually attached directly to a computer, whose current or latest image is requestable from a Web site. A live cam is one that is continually providing new images that are transmitted in rapid succession or, in some cases, in streaming video. Sites with live cams sometimes imbed them as Java applets in Web pages. Cams have caught on; there are now (we estimate) several thousand sites with cams. The first cams were positioned mainly on fish tanks and coffee machines. Many of today's live cams are on sex-oriented sites. For travel promotion, traffic information, and the remote visualization of any ongoing event that's interesting, webcams seem like an exciting possibility that will become more common as users get access to more bandwidth.

WEBMASTER: A Webmaster is a person who either:
Creates and manages the information content (words and pictures) and organization of a Web site.
Manages the computer server and technical programming aspects of a Web site
Or does both.
Companies advertising for a Webmaster vary in their use of the term. In a smaller company, a Webmaster typically "does it all." In a larger company, a Webmaster tends to be someone with either a writing and/or graphics design background who has acquired Web site creation skills (mainly knowledge and experience with HTML) or a more technical person with some programming skills. The "technical" Webmaster runs the server (for example, by managing the creation and authorization associated with file systems) and writes programs or PERL scripts required by the Web site.
In a very large corporation, there may be a Webmaster team of people at the top of the corporation who establish the overall corporate Web design and policies, arrange the necessary technical resources (working with the people who provide the corporation its network infrastructure), and supervise the design of the corporation's Web site (which is often done by an outside firm). At division and product levels, there may be additional Webmasters who organize and develop the Web content and programming for their division or product. In addition, there is likely to be an interrelated effort to create a Web design, organization, and content for the corporation's intranet.
At a small corporation, the Webmaster may be in charge of creating the site and putting it on a separate company's server or setting up one within the company. The Web design and creation may be done initially by an outside Web design firm that turns the finished site over to the company's in-house Webmaster to maintain and perhaps add content within the established design.
And if you are a firm that specializes in creating Web sites, you may refer to the overall producer or art director as the Webmaster for a site. Obviously, this term (and job) is is still defining itself. A Webmaster is what a company says one is. In general, almost any Webmaster would be expected to know the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and have a good understanding of why a company should want a Web site.

WINSOCK: Winsock - a Micorsoft Windows DLL file that provides the interface to TCP/IP services, essentially allowing Windows to use Web browsers, FTP programs, and others.

WINZIP: WinZip is a Windows program that lets you archive and compress files so that you can store or distribute them more efficiently. WinZip is a more capable and easier-to-use Windows equivalent of two earlier programs, commonly used in the DOS operating system, PKZIP and PKUNZIP. Using WinZip, you can create, open, or expand file packages or archives that are called zip files. WinZip has a simple drag-and-drop interface that allows you to view individual files in a zip file without unzipping the file. WinZip will also launch installation programs from a zip file and automatically clean up after the installation.
When creating a zip file (or archive), you can choose from five levels of compression, including "None," for each added file. With a disk-spanning add-on, you can also create a zip file that will span multiple diskettes.
WinZip also supports other popular Internet file formats, including tar, gzip, Unix compress, UUencode, BinHex, and MIME. ARJ, LZH, and ARC files are supported through other programs. WinZip provides an interface to most virus scanner programs and is available in 16-bit and 32-bit versions.

WORM: 1) A search utility on the World Wide Web that locates resources following user-determined guidelines.
2) WORM (Write Once Read Many) device is used to write information to a master disk from which CD-ROM disks are replicated. It can only be written to once. An additional updating would require that the disk be demagnified and the entire content be written to the disk all over again.

WWW: World Wide Web -- Frequently used (incorrectly) when referring to "The Internet", WWW has two major meanings - First, loosely used: the whole constellation of resources that can be accessed using Gopher, FTP, HTTP, telnet, USENET, WAIS and some other tools. Second, the universe of hypertext servers (HTTP servers) which are the servers that allow text, graphics, sound files, etc. to be mixed together.