W3C (World Wide Web Consortium also called W3O) - The main body that creates standards for the World Wide Web. Based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), it also produces reference software.

Wallpaper - A picture or pattern displayed as a background to the windows or other items on the computer's desktop in a graphical user environment. The user can choose the wallpaper from a group of available patterns, or create original wallpaper.

WAN (Wide Area Network) - a system of connected computers spanning a large geographical area.

WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) - A global standard for developing applications over wireless communication networks.

Warm Boot - Restarting the computer without turning the power off. Same as soft boot; the opposite of cold boot.

Watermark - A watermark is a normally invisible pressure mark in expensive paper which can be seen only when the paper is held up to the light. Some computer files have digital watermarks embedded in them as a pattern of bits which appear to be part of the file and are not noticeable to the user. These patterns can be used to detect unauthorized copies. 'Watermark' images may also be embedded into web pages.

WAV - Waveform Audio (.wav filename extension) - a common audio file format for DOS/Windows computers.

Web Based E-Mail - A technology that allows you to send and receive e-mail using only a browser (as opposed to an e-mail software program like Eudora).

Web Based Instant Messaging - Instant-Messaging technology that works in Web sites (as opposed to a commercial online services).

Web Browser - A program such as ActivatorDesk, Netscape, Internet Explorer, and others that are used to view pages on the World Wide Web.

Web Bug - Web bugs are an acknowledged tool used by an advertising services company that fetches data from multiple Web sites without the users' knowledge and sends the information to its server databases for tracking users browsing habits, analysis, and storage. Web Bugs are in Web pages, email messages, and are of concern regarding security or privacy on the Web. Web bugs are typically invisible to the user as tiny transparent images in a web page.

Web Cam (Web Camera) - A digital camera that uploads images to a Web site for broadcast.

Web Crawler - A program which visits remote sites and automatically downloads their contents for indexing.Web crawlers are part of the effort to organize the millions of documents on the World Wide Web.

Web Hosting - A web hosting company (usually an ISP) leases server space and web services to companies and individuals who wish to present a web or e-commerce presence but do not wish to maintain their own servers. The servers are connected to the same fast internet backbone as the ISP. Cost structures are determined by the amount and complexity of services offered such as Scripting Tools, SQL Databases, Credit Card Processing, etc.

Web Master - The administrator responsible for the management and often design of a Web site.

Web Page - A document on the World Wide Web. It is written in hypertext so it can contain text, pictures, movies, sounds, or links to other Web pages.

Web Server - A server on the Internet that holds World Wide Web documents and makes them available for viewing by remote browsers.

WebSite - An address and place on the Internet where a Web Browser (like Netscape or Internet Exoplorer) may be used to 'read' files and images. These are usually managed by individuals or business to make information or products and services available on the Internet.

Winsock A Micrsoft Windows DLL file that provides the interface to TCP/IP internet services, essentially allowing Windows to use Web browsers, FTP programs, and other internet programs.

Whiteboard - The equivalent of a blackboard, but on a computer screen.A whiteboard allows one or more users to draw on the screen while others on the network watch, and can be used for instruction the same way a blackboard is used in a classroom.

WhoIs - An Internet directory service which can be used to find information about users registered on a server, or other information about the network.

WinZip - A graphical user interface from Microsoft Windows for PKZIP, including a help resource, which makes it easier to use PKZIP. (can be downloaded from www.winzip.com)

World Wide Web - A Internet-work wide, menu based, software program providing hypertext and hypermedia links to information resources the world over on the internet

Worm - Known primarily as a virus, a worm is a computer program that can replicate itself. First postulated by computer science researcher Fred Cohen in the '70s, computer viruses are small programs that propagate by attaching copies of themselves to other programs.

WWW (World Wide Web) Frequently used incorrectly when referring to “The Internet”, WWW is a hypertext system that allows users to “travel through” linked documents. World Wide Web documents contain topics that when selected, lead to other documents.

WYSIWYG Short for 'What You See Is What You Get' -- that is, the image you see on screen matches what will print on paper. Pronounced "wizzy-wig."