- macro -Sequence of
instructions to a computer that, for the convenience of
the user, can be issued with one simple command alias,
such as a control key stroke.
- mail bomb - An
e-mail message with huge binary files included, sent with
the intent to crash the recipients mailserver or
mailreader. Mail bombing is a form of electronic
harrassment which is one step beyond flaming, and can on
many systems result in the cancellation of the bomber's
account.
- mailing list - A
list containing names of recipients of a mail. You
normally subscribe to a mailing list (normally to receive
e-mails from a discussion group / chat forum / product
information, etc)
- mail server -A
computer whose primary function is e-mail management for
a group of subscribers.
- manpage -Explanatory
text file ("manual page") available to UNIX
users to remind them of UNIX command syntax.
- Matrix - The set of
all networks that can exchange electronic mail either
directly or through gateways - including Internet, UUCP,
etc. and commercial on-line services like America Online,
Compuserv. This term was coined by John S.Quarterman in
his book The Matrix.
- megabyte - 1000 K
bytes. - 2 10 x 10 3 bytes -
approx. 1 million bytes
- metafile -Small
data file whose sole purpose is to pass on information
about another file---its address, format, length, etc.
- MIDI (.mid) - (Musical
Instrument Digital Interface) This is a connectivity
standard which enables you to hook together computers,
musical instruments, and synthesizers to make and
orchestrate digital sound with no vocals. Pronounced
"middy," the term is used to describe the
standard itself, the hardware that supports the standard,
and files that store information that the hardware can
use. MIDI files are like digital sheet music--they
contain instructions for musical notes, tempo, and
instrumentation--and are widely used in game soundtracks
and recording studios. MIDI sound files usually have an
extension of .mid and is one of the most popular form of
audio in the web.
- MIME -(Multipurpose
Internet Mail Extensions) A set of agreed upon formats
enabling binary files to be sent as e-mail or attached to
e-mail. "MIME types" have come
to mean hypermedia formats in general, even when not
communicated in e-mail. WWW browsers such as the
Navigator depend upon MIME type declarations, tacked on
as headers to incoming data, to decide how to deal with
the data.
- mirror site -A
subsidary FTP site that has the same content as the main
site it reflects. Used to take the load off sites so
popular that they frequently become inaccessible due to
congestion.
- mixing -In audio
operations, the creative art of taking several audio
sources and dynamically adjusting their levels to make a
single smooth recording that includes all of them.
- MMX - (Multi-Media
eXtension or eXcellence?) A technology developed by the
Intel Corporation which is the next step after the famed
Pentium Proccessor. This new CPU chip enables greater
handling of multimedia such as video and audio on the
desktop as well as over the Internet.
- MODEM - (MODulator-dEModulator).
A device that uses digital data to alter a signal
(modulates) that can be transmitted over an analog
transmission facility (telephone lines) and can also
receive signals from an analog line and transfers
(demodulates) to digital signals.
- mosaic -A World
Wide Web graphical browser, forerunner of Netscape
Navigator.
- .mov - File extension
for a video (movie) clipping.
- mozilla -Pet name
the authors gave to Netscape Navigator during the
development, which has survived as the name of green
master who decorates many of the Netscape information
pages.
- MPEG -(Motion
Pictures Experts Group) Modern standard format for
compression and storage of vedio hypermedia files.
- multicast - A
type of audio and video broadcasting over the Internet
which requires superior hardware (at least 128k modem
speed) and special software such as Real Audio and/or
StreamWorks.