If you create a file on your home computer and want to send it to others on your BBS, you need to upload it first. See download , which is just the reverse.

This is an abbreviation for Uniform Resource Locator. Documents on the Web all have their own URL or address. As the popularity of the Web explodes, you'll find URL's everywhere -- in commercials, on billboards, on business cards, and even in .sig files. Here's an example of a URL: http://www.echonyc.com/ . The "http" is a common prefix in these addresses and stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol.

This is the name for the network of computers that exchanges news or newsgroups .

This is your name or the name of your account on a computer system. It's also part of your e-mail address. Be careful not to confuse this with your handle. Sometimes your handle and user I.D. are the same, but not always.

This is slang for the World Wide Web , which is certainly a mouthful to say.

This is what we call a hypertext document on the Web . Each web page has its own URL .

This is either a single web page or a collection of them. Multiple pages in a site are linked together with hyperlinks .

This is the whole universe of hypertext documents, and it spans the globe. When you're on the Web, you can access information (graphics and sound, too) about almost anything under the sun, from body piercing to home schooling. You can find product information, travel tips, love advice, and the latest issues of your favorite magazines -- all online. Along the way, you'll also run across terrific web sites put together by plain old janes and joes -- people who publish pictures of their poodles and girlfriends, people who share their favorite recipes for clam sauce, people who write about their hopes and dreams and strange hobbies for all the world to see. The Web will knock your socks off.