First a note: Read the inclusion topic if you don't read anything else. Remember that badwidth (you can look it up under terms below) costs someone money. In this case we are talking about the List Owner who has to pay to store all your precious notes in the archives. So don't put the entire content of the note you are responding to in your reply. Maybe just a few words so we know what the topic was (if it isn't apparent from the "subject"). And maybe the person's name "Jane wrote > about beardie tantrums " then our reply. Some of the other thing here - especially in the first section - are just for fun. But remember, if the others on the list haven't read this they may not have a clue to what your Acronym means. I think most the smiles below are self explanatory. The final sections on Terms may be helpful if you are new to the WWW.
Back to B-BOP

List, USENET and E-mail Techniques and Expressions

• Inclusion - Most netters view an inclusion as a promise that comment on it will immediately follow. The preferred, conversational style looks like this,
• > relevant excerpt 1 response to excerpt , > relevant excerpt 2 response to excerpt , > relevant excerpt 3 response to excerpt. PLEASE DO NOT INCLUDE THE ENTIRE MESSAGE IN YOUR RESPONSE UNLESS THE ORIGINAL MESSAGE WAS VERY SHORT!
• Though `>' remains the standard inclusion leader, `|' is occasionally used for extended quotations where original variations in indentation are being retained (one mailer even combines these and uses `|>'). One also sees different styles of quoting a number of authors in the same message: one (deprecated because it loses information) uses a leader of `> ' for everyone, another (the most common) is `> > > > ', `> > > ', etc. (or `>>>> ', `>>>', etc., depending on line length and nesting depth) reflecting the original order of messages, and yet another is to use a different citation leader for each author, say `> ', `: ', `| ', `} ' (preserving nesting so that the inclusion order of messages is still apparent, or tagging the inclusions with authors' names). Yet another style is to use each poster's initials (or login name) as a citation leader for that poster.
• Occasionally one sees a `# ' leader used for quotations from authoritative sources such as standards documents; the intended allusion is to the root prompt (the special Unix command prompt issued when one is running as the privileged super-user).
• Acronyms
• 2U2 to you, too
• AAMOF as a matter of fact
• AFAIK as far as I know
• AFK away from keyboard
• ASAP as soon as possible
• BBG big beardie grin (this one from the list)
• BBL be back later
• BG or more appropriately <BG> big grin, see also VBG, VVBG, etc.
• BOT back on topic
• BRB be right back
• BSG big sheepish grin (this one from the list)
• BTW by the way
• BYORL bring your own rocket launcher
• C4N ciao for now
• CFD call for discussion
• CFV call for vote
• CU see you
• CUL(8R) see you later
• CYA see ya
• DAMIFINO - self explanitory
• EOD end of discussion
• EOT end of transmission
• F2F face to face/flesh to flesh
• FAQ frequently asked questions
• FOAF friend of a friend
• FWIW for what it's worth
• FYI for your information
• GAL get a life
• GFC going for coffee
• GRMBL grumble
• GTG got to go
• HAND have a nice day
• IAC in any case
• IC I see
• IDGI I don't get it
• IMHO in my humble opinion
• IMNSHO in my not so humble opinion
• IMO in my opinion
• IMHO:    in my humble opinion
• IMNSHO:  in my not so humble opinion
• IMPE in my previous/personal experience
• IMVHO in my very humble opinion
• IOW in other words
• IRL in real life
• LOL laughing out loud
• NC no comment
• ONNA oh no, not again!
• OOTC obligatory on-topic comment
• OTOH on the other hand
• PCMCIA people can't memorize computer industry acronyms
• REHI hello again (re-Hi!)
• RO(T)FL rolling on the floor laughing
• RTDox read the documentation
• SHTSI somebody had to say it
• SNAFU situation normal, etc..
• SO significant other (e.g. boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, pet dog)
• THX thanks
• TIA thanks in advance
• TTFN ta-ta for now
• TTYL(8R) talk to you later
• VBG:     very big grin usually <VBG>
• VVBG:    very, very big grin or <VVBG>
• WIIWD what it is we do
• WYSIWYG what you see is what your get
• WWDWIIWD when we do what it is we do
• YGWYPF you get what you pay for
• YMMV your mileage may vary
• Useful expressions
• B4 before
• 2nite tonight
• n case in case
• EZ easy
• B-D breakdown
• BTL Better Than Life
• R&D research and development
• SBD silent but deadly
• TBT talking by typing
• T-P telepathy
• Smiles
  1. :-) Your basic smiley. This smiley is used to inflect a sarcastic or joking statement since we can't hear voice inflection over e-mail.
  2. ;-) Winky smiley. User just made a flirtatious and/or sarcastic remark. More of a "don't hit me for what I just said" smiley.
  3. :-( Frowning smiley. User did not like that last statement or is upset or depressed about something.
  4. :-I Indifferent smiley. Better than a :-( but not quite as good as a :-).
  5. :-O shocked/oops etc
  6. :-D laughing
  7. :-x sending a kiss
  8. :-> User just made a really biting sarcastic remark. Worse than a ;-).
  9. >:-> User just made a really devilish remark.
  10. >;-> Winky and devil combined. A very lewd remark was just made.
  11. -: User is left handed.
  12. :-? puzzled (or what did I say?)
  13. %-) User has been staring at a green screen for 15 hours straight.
  14. :*) User is drunk.
  15. [:] User is a robot.
  16. 8-) User is wearing sunglasses.
  17. B:-) Sunglasses on head.
  18. ::-) User wears normal glasses.
  19. B-) User wears horn-rimmed glasses.
  20. 8:-) User is a little girl.
  21. :-)-8 User is a Big girl.
  22. :-{) User has a mustache.
  23. :-{ 2 User wears lipstick.
  24. {:-) User wears a toupee.
  25. }:-( Toupee in an updraft.
  26. :-[ User is a vampire.
  27. :-E Bucktoothed vampire.
  28. :-F Bucktoothed vampire with one tooth missing.
  29. :-7 User just made a wry statement.
  30. :-* User just ate something sour.
  31. :-)~ User drools.
  32. :-~) User has a cold.
  33. :'-( User is crying.
  34. :'-) User is so happy, s/he is crying.
  35. :-@ User is screaming.
  36. :-# User wears braces. (someone else submitted "toothache)
  37. :^) User has a broken nose.
  38. :v) User has a broken nose, but it's the other way.
  39. :_) User's nose is sliding off of his face.
  40. :<) User is from an Ivy League School.
  41. :-& User is tongue tied.
  42. =:-) User is a hosehead.
  43. -:-) User is a punk rocker.
  44. -:-( Real punk rockers don't smile.
  45. :=) User has two noses.
  46. +-:-) User is the Pope or holds some other religious office.
  47. `:-) User shaved one of his eyebrows off this morning.
  48. ,:-) Same thing...other side.
  49. |-I User is asleep.
  50. |-O User is yawning/snoring.
  51. :-Q User is a smoker.
  52. :-? User smokes a pipe.
  53. O-) Megaton Man On Patrol! (or else, user is a scuba diver)
  54. O :-) User is an angel (at heart, at least).
  55. :-` User spitting out its chewing tobacco.
  56. :-S User just made an incoherent statement.
  57. :-D User is laughing (at you!)
  58. :-X User's lips are sealed.
  59. :-C User is really bummed.
  60. <|-) User is Chinese.
  61. <|-( User is Chinese and doesn't like these kind of jokes.
  62. :-/ User is skeptical.
  63. C=:-) User is a chef.
  64. @= User is pro-nuclear war.
  65. *<:-) User is wearing a Santa Claus Hat.
  66. :-o Uh oh! \
  67. (8-o It's Mr. Bill!
  68. *:o) And Bozo the Clown!
  69. 3:] Pet smiley.
  70. 3:[ Mean Pet smiley.
  71. d8= Your pet beaver is wearing goggles and a hard hat.
  72. E-:-) User is a Ham radio operator.
  73. :-9 User is licking his/her lips.
  74. %-6 User is brain dead.
  75. [:-) User is wearing a walkman.
  76. (:I User is an egghead.
  77. <:-I User is a dunce.
  78. K:P User is a little kid with a propeller beenie.
  79. @:-) User is wearing a turban.
  80. :-0 No Yelling! (Quiet Lab)
  81. :-: Mutant smiley; the invisible smiley.
  82. .-) User only has one eye.
  83. ,-) Ditto...but he's winking.
  84. X-( User just died.
  85. 8 :-) User is a wizard.
  86. -=* :-) User is a TeX wizard.

USENet - Newsgroup or List Common terms

• List Owner - List servers are not free. The List owner pays for space on a server, and for use of various services to mail and receive, archive, etc. The List Owner has registered the list name on the internet and is in fact the true owner of the list. Ultimately, the list owner has control and final say as to how the list operates. This is a service to you and for you and should be appreciated highly. I can say this as I am not the list owner, and only volunteer space for a page for members of the list to provide links to other members and helpful suggestions. So, like you, I am just a person who benefits from the services provided by the List Owner. Don't spoil it, live with the rules. And when asked, respond with your ideas to ways the list can be improved. Please Remember, the list owner can remove for any reason any person (generally those who do not comply with the rules). This is to benefit others on the list.
• Netiquette: The etiquette on the Internet.
• Netizen: citizens of the Internet or other network who are expected to have high standards of (civic) responsibility and participation.
• Posting: Sending a single message to a communications system such as a newsgroup or list..
• RFC (Request For Comments):- The result and the process for creating a standard on the Internet. New standards are proposed and published as a Request For Comments. The Internet Engineering Task Force is a consensus-building body that facilitates discussion leading to a new standard being established. The reference number/name for the standard retains the acronym RFC. You may often see these published in discussion groups.
• Spam (or Spamming): The inappropriate use of a mailing list, Newsgroup (USENET) or other networked communications facility to broadcast the same message to a large number of people who didn't ask for it. You can guess its origin - as a waste of resources.
• Sysop (System Operator): The person(s) responsible for the physical operations of a computer system or network resource. see also systems administrator.
• System's administrator: Responsible for management of the system. A System Administrator decides how often backups and maintenance should be performed and directs the SYSOP the to performs those tasks.

• Anonymous FTP: See also FTP. You can generally log on to FTP sites with user name as Anonymous, it is good practice to use a password which is your email address.
• Archie: A tool (software) which helps find files stored on anonymous FTP sites. Search for exact file names or sub strings of file names.
• ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange): This is the standard for the code numbers used by computers to represent all the upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. There are 128 standard ASCII codes each of which can be represented by a 7 digit binary number: 0000000 through 1111111.
• Backbone: The main international telecommunications networks that carry Internet traffic among other national, regional, and local networks.
• Bandwidth: The amount of data that can travel in a given time, usually one second, across a network or a connection to a network such as a modem.
• Baud: (see also Modem) The baud rate of a modem is the number of bits it can send or receive per second (for example a 14,400 bit-per-second modem).
• BINHEX: One software method for converting files from binary to hexadecimal so that they can be sent across the Internet via e-mail. See also UUENCODE. Most modern email programs no longer require this sort of conversion use MIME.
• Bit: The smallest unit of computerized data.
• Bps: Bits Per Second.
• Browser: Software that allows a user to navigate the World Wide Web by clicking with a mouse on underlined text and graphical objects similar to those found in the Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh operating systems.
• Byte: A set of Bits that represent a single character.
• CGI (Common Gateway Interface) -- A set of rules that describe how a Web Server communicates with another piece of software on the same machine, and how the other piece of software (the “CGI program”) talks to the web server. Any piece of software can be a CGI program if it handles input and output according to the CGI standard. A CGI program is a program that takes data from a web server and does something with it, like putting a web counter on your web page t, or turning the data into a database query. CGI programs are usually located in your provider's “cgi-bin” directory (in a URL), but not always. Best to check with your provider who often provides a how to description. Some provides require your referring web page is marked as a shtml (rather than a html or htm extension), the s for server side action.
• Client: A personal computer attached to any network, including the Internet. Also, personal-computer software that gives access to, and enables use of; the Internet, either by modem connection or by connection to a local area network and related hardware.
• Cookie “Cookie” on the Internet refers to a piece of information sent by a Web Server to a Web Browser. Many browsers now have an option to approve cookies before accepting as these are ways of obtaining information from your system. Mostly harmless - ways to store specific information for the next time you visit the site.
• Cyberspace: A popular term encompassing all computer networks, including the Internet on line services, and private networks
• Domain Name: An Internet address, commonly in the generic form company.com Six types of domain names are currently used in the United States: .com for businesses, .edu for educational institutions, .gov for government agencies, mil for the militia; net for networks, and org for organizations.
• Download: Bringing data from the Internet into a personal computer
• EDI: Electronic data interchange. It allows companies to place orders, bid on projects, and make payments over the Internet or private networks.
• Electronic Commerce: Conducting sales or other business transactions over the Internet or private networks.
• E-mail: Electronic mail. A message sent from one person to one or more other persons over the Internet or a private network.
• E-mail Address: An electronic location for receiving and sending e-mail. E-mail addresses are used to identify and contact users. They take the form username@company.com
• FAQ: Frequently asked questions. A list of common questions about a particular subject such as a newsgroup or a Web site.
• Finger An Internet software tool for locating people on other Internet sites. Some sites do not allow incoming Finger requests.
• Firewall: Computer hardware and software that prevents Internet users from accessing part or all of a private computer network that is attached to the Internet.
• Flame: An angry e-mail message or newsgroup posting.
• FTP: File transfer protocol. A software protocol that allows people to copy or move files from a remote computer called an FTP site -to their own computers over the Internet.
• Gateway: Hardware or software set-up that translates between two dissimilar protocols. Often your providers term to accessing the internet areas and web space
• Gopher: Gopher is a Client and Server style program which has been mostly replaced by Hypertext,(World Wide Web). There are still thousands of Gopher Servers on the Internet and thus you should not forget to search these. See also Veronica.
• HTML (HyperText Markup Language): The coding language used to create Hypertext documents for use on the World Wide Web. This is really a simple programming language. So simple that your Windows (or other) text editor such as notepad can be used to make web pages. Generally the majority of web page authors use a more sophisticated editor which helps to make the tasks easier as you don't have to remember the program language.
• HTTP: Hypertext transfer protocol. A communications protocol that allows people to navigate among documents or pages linked by hypertext and to download pages from the World Wide Web.
• Hypertext: A software format that lets users embed into documents the links to other documents, It also allows multiple documents to be represented by one page.
• Internet: A global network of computer networks that allows people to send e-mail, participate in discussions, and access information.
• ISP: Internet service provider A company that sells access to the Internet to businesses and individuals. Also called an Internet access provider.
• Intranet: A private network within a company or organization that may allow users to connect to the Internet but limits access from the Internet.
• IP Address: Internet protocol address. This identifies a particular computer on the Internet.
• IRC (Internet Relay Chat): A multi-user live chat facility. IRC servers around the world are linked to each other. Anyone can create a channel and anything that anyone types in a given channel is seen by all others in the channel. Private channels are sometimes created for multi-person conference calls.
• ISDN: Integrated services digital network. A high-speed communications system that allows people to connect to the Internet and to send and receive data in digital form over telephone lines using a device called a terminal adapter like modems, ISDN does not require computer data to he converted into analog voice signals. ISDN can transfer data at speeds of up to 128 kilobits per second.
• JAVA: A software language that allows people to build interactive Web sites.
• Link: A hypertext code that allows people to move from one document to another by clicking on the link with a mouse.
• Lurk: The activities of a discussion group such as a newsgroup, chat room, or mailing list before posting messages.
• Mailing List: Similar to newsgroups (see below), mailing lists allow people to discuss common interests by posting messages, which are received by everyone in the group. Unlike newsgroups, people must subscribe to a mailing list to post and receive messages. Also called a listserv.
• MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions): The standard for attaching non-text files (pictures, sound files, etc.) to standard Internet mail messages. Not all mail programs have this capacity, especially some used in third world countries. Most modern ail programs easily handle MIME. An email program is said to be MIME Compliant if it can both send and receive files using the MIME standard.
• Modem: A device that allows a computer to connect to the Internet over phone lines.
• Network: A group of computers linked by a common communications protocol.
• Newsgroup: One of more than 10,000 discussion groups on the Internet where people with similar interests can post messages. Also called Usenet groups. See also mailing list.
• On Line: The generic term for the Internet and on line services.
• On Line Services: Services such as America Online, CompuServe, the Microsoft Network, and Prodigy that provide members Internet access, e-mail, discussion areas, and information.
• POP: Point of Presence and Post Office Protocol such as a city or location where a network can be connected to. The way e-mail software mail from a mail server. You obtain a SLIP, PPP, or shell account with POP server account with it which your e-mail software uses to get your mail.
• PPP (Point to Point Protocol): A protocol or standard that allows a computer to use a regular telephone line and a modem to make TCP/IP connections to a the Internet.
• Search sites: World Wide Web sites that allow users to search for specific content by key words or phrases. Popular search sites some are search engines, others are Web directories include Alt Vista, Excite, Lycos, WebCrawler, and Yahoo.
• Server: A computer that people dial into by modem or over a network to gain access to the Internet. A server is also used to host e-mail, Web, FTP, and chat sites.
• Secured Server: A server using software that protects the privacy' of electronic transactions conducted over the Internet.
• shtml: see CGI
• SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol): A standard for using a regular telephone line (a serial line) and a modem to connect a computer as a real Internet site. SLIP is gradually being replaced by PPP.
• SQL (Structured Query Language): A programming language for sending queries to databases - all SQL-capable databases support a common subset of SQL.
• Sysop (System Operator): The person(s) responsible for the physical operations of a computer system or network resource. see also systems administrator.
• System's administrator: Responsible for management of the system. A System Administrator decides how often backups and maintenance should be performed and directs the SYSOP the to performs those tasks.
• TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol): A system of protocols that defines the Internet which results in Internet use with all functions. Often a dial up to a gateway provider (some of those large systems with their own chat and newsgroups - sorry I don't want to mention names) is not a true TCP/IP connection, thus you may have limited access to the internet. Thus WWW browsing may not support animation, sound and some of the more interesting resources of the internet.
• UNIX: A computer operating system designed to be used by many people at the same time with TCP/IP built-in. Still the most common operating system for servers on the Internet but their are many competitors.
• URL: Uniform resource locator. The location or address of Web page; an example could be http://www.company.corn
• Usenet: See Newsgroup.
• UUENCODE (Unix to Unix Encoding): One software method for converting files from Binary to ASCII (text) so that they can be sent across the Internet via e-mail. See also Binhex. Most modern email programs support but no longer require this sort of conversion.
• Veronica (Very Easy Rodent Oriented Net-wide Index to Computerized Archives) -- Developed at the University of Nevada, Veronica is a database of the names of menu items on gopher servers which can be searched from most major gopher menus.
• WAIS (Wide Area Information Servers) -- A software package that indexes and makes searchable huge quantities of information. WAIS results are ranked (scored) according to how relevant the hits are, and subsequent searches can refine the search process.
• World Wide Web: The matrix of graphical information stored on servers connected to the Internet.