TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. You've heard those phrases a lot, or at least you've seen the acronyms. They refer to the protocols used to connect hosts via the Internet. TCP/IP is supported by pretty much all networks, and is essentially the standard for communication protocols in today's enterprise environment. How do these two things work together? In a nutshell: the TCP part of the partnership assembles and sends packets of data. The IP part is responsible for the address and destination, so the packet(s) get to where they need to be. One makes the package, the other makes sure it's delivered. Make sure to send your packets early so they get there by Christmas.
Threads
Thread is what holds us all together. Well, it does if you happen to be Frankenstein's monster. It holds my clothes together, too... and I'm pretty sure that's a good thing. Did you know that threads are just as important on the Internet, also? Well, they are. I featured Newsgroups as an earlier GnomeWORD, and I mentioned it was a good idea to "lurk" inside a particular newsgroup before posting. This allows you to get a feel for the community of a particular newsgroup, plus it could save you the embarrassment of asking a question or making a statement that has already been mentioned fifty times in the past week. Anyway, Newsgroup messages and responses are set up in sequences known as "threads." These threads show the original message and consequential public responses. See, it's like a thread of responses. Get it? I knew you could. E-mail discussion lists can be threaded as well. The easiest way to spot a thread is by reading the subject line. Most often, responses begin with the "RE:" abbreviation. Dig my threads?
Thumbnail
You don't know what a thumbnail is? It's that hard, flat thing on the top of your thumb, silly. Next you'll be asking me what "finger" means. That's for a future GnomeWORD. Yeah, anyway... a thumbnail (as it pertains to electronic media) is a smaller version of a (larger) graphic. These shrinky-dinks are used to make Web pages load faster. For example, if you have a page with twenty pictures of your poodle, Froo Froo, you'd probably want to show thumbnails instead of full-size pictures. Unless you want people to wait two hours for your page to load... and they probably won't. They'd much rather click on the more interesting thumbnails to see their bigger counterparts. Just the other day, I caught Sprocket panting over some pictures of Froo Froo. Where's the parental lock for this thing, anyway? I never thought I'd have to worry about this.
Trace Route
Some of you may recall that I defined the term "ping" for ya awhile back. That's a way to check for a response from a specific IP address. Great, but what happens if your "ping" isn't returned? In that case, you can use something called "traceroute" to help uncover why it's not answering. This is a utility that, oddly enough, traces the route between your computer and the computer or device you're trying to contact. Without getting too technical, traceroute basically shows where problems may have occurred as it displays the responses from each stopping point (or hop) along the way. Just as you can "ping" an address by typing "ping whatever.com" in MS-DOS, you can use trace route by typing "tracert whatever.com" sans quotes. Of course, "whatever" stands for whatever domain you're looking into. But you knew that.
Trap
Have you ever clicked over to a Web site and found it impossible to go back? I'm not saying the site was so good that you just couldn't tear yourself away. I'm saying that it was literally impossible to go back because the Back button on your browser had been disabled. Who could do such a thing? Well, some web pages do that so you'll be forced to stay and check the site out. This type of page is called a "trap," and (needless to say) it's not a very popular way to get people to come back. If your site is good, there's really no reason to do any "trapping." Users don't like having to close their browser and re-open it. You can always escape by typing a URL into the address bar, too. Double check your taskbar to see if another (older) browser session is still open. You may not be trapped after all.
Trojan Virus
Those of us who read Homer's 'The Iliad' (how did he find time to write an epic while working at the nuclear power plant?) or saw 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' understand a Trojan Horse (or Rabbit) reference. A bunch of soldiers hid inside this giant, wooden horse -- which was presented to an ancient city as a gift. Once inside the city walls, the soldiers climbed out of the crate and took over the township. Today, a 'Trojan Horse' is used to describe any sneaky, underhanded attack. It's also the term used to describe a 'harmless' program containing hidden code that's actually not-so-harmless. Once inside your system, the Trojan horse is then free to do whatever damage it was designed to do. No one knowingly allows viruses to infiltrate their computer, and that's why Trojan horses are somewhat ingenious (in their own malicious way). They're embedded within another program, such as (and this has happened before) a virus scanning program; they're not easily detected. For that reason, it's always a good idea to make sure everything you download is from a trusted source, though double checking will never be out of the question. You can also download programs designed specifically for finding Trojan horses on your system. Remember: the Knights Who Say "Ni" were never a trusted source. I'd certainly never bring 'em a shrubbery.
Trolling
Ever go trolling? It's a great way to catch trolls, ya know. They're a lot slower than leprechauns. Besides, it's way past St. Patty's Day. Actually, "trolling" is a newsgroup term that defines the action of a person who posts a message which is created only for enticing a response from other users. Wow... long sentence. For example, you might post a message that says: "I just found a great new freeware program in Lockertroll," just to get people to respond. In case you haven't figured it out, trolling isn't looked upon very favorably. Trolling doesn't just occur in newsgroups, of course; it can happen anywhere on the Web. Most often, though, it happens within forums and discussion groups.
Twain
Put in the simplest terms possible, a TWAIN is what Elmer Fudd uses to get to and fwum work. Next week, we'll be talking about hard dwives. Actually, if you're running a scanner, you're most likely using a TWAIN dwiver... er, driver. A TWAIN driver lets you scan an image directly from your scanner into an application (say, something like Adobe PhotoShop). Without this mighty binary driving your images, you'd have to open a program to retrieve the image, then open another program to work on it. It'd get to be a big ol' mess right quick. If you're wondering what TWAIN stands for, you'll be wondering for a long time. It's the "Technology Without An Interesting Name," for the lack of... an interesting name. Even the companies who developed it and made it an industry standard haven't given it a proper title.
