L

LAN
Stands for "Local Area Network," and is pronounced like "land" without the "d". (Computer people will think you're weird if you pronounce it "L-A-N"). A LAN is a computer network limited to a small area such as an office building, university, or even a residential home. Most mid to large-sized businesses today use LANs, which makes it easy for employees to share information. Currently, the most common type of LANs are Ethernet-based and use software from Novell or Oracle. However, with the emergence of wireless networking, wireless LANs have become a popular alternative.
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Latency
This is the amount of time it takes a packet of data to move across a network connection. When a packet is being sent, there is "latent" time, when the computer that sent the packet waits for confirmation that the packet has been received. Latency and bandwidth are the two factors that determine your network connection speed.
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LCD
Stands for "Liquid-Crystal Display." LCDs are super-thin displays that are used in laptop computer screens and flat panel monitors. Smaller LCDs are used in handheld TVs, PDAs, and portable video game devices. The image on an LCD screen is created by sandwiching an electrically reactive substance between two electrodes. This color of this substance can be changed by increasing or reducing the electrical current. Since LCD screens are based on the principle of blocking light (rather than emitting it), they use up much less power than standard CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube) monitors.
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LDAP
Stands for "Lightweight Directory Access Protocol." If you want to make directory information available over the Internet, this is the way to do it. LDAP is a streamlined version of an earlier directory standard called X.500. What makes LDAP so useful is that it works great over TCP/IP networks (unlike X.500), so information can be accessed through LDAP by anyone with an Internet connection. It is also an open protocol, which means directories can be stored on any type of machine (i.e. Windows 2000, Red Hat Linux, Mac OS X).

To give you an idea of how an LDAP directory is organized, here are the different levels of a simple LDAP tree hierarchy:

The root directory
Countries
Organizations
Divisions, departments, etc.
Individuals
Individual resources, such as files and printers.

Most LDAP connectivity is done behind the scenes, so the typical user probably won't notice it when surfing the Web. However, it is a good technology to know about. If nothing else, it is another term to impress your parents with.
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Link
When you are browsing the Web and you see a highlighted and underlined word or phrase on a page, there is a good chance you are looking at a link. By clicking on a link, you can "jump" to a new Web page or a completely different Web site. While text links are typically blue and underlined, they can be any color and don't have to be underlined. Images can also serve as links to other Web pages. When you move the cursor over a link in a Web page, the arrow will turn into a little hand, letting you know that it is a link. The term "hypertext" comes from the way links can quickly send you to another Web destination.
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Linux
Pronounced "lihnuks," this is a Unix-based operating system created by Linus Torvalds. His reason for developing it was that he wasn't happy with the currently available options in Unix. So he did what anybody else would do, and created his own operating system. He freely distributed his OS, which helped it gain popularity. Today, Linux is used by hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Computer hobbyists (a.k.a. geeks) love it because it is very customizable and you can actually add your own code to the operating system. Linux is also the OS of choice for many Web hosting companies because it is far cheaper to set up and maintain than a Windows-based server. The current supported hardware platforms for Linux software are Intel, PowerPC, DEC Alpha, Sun Sparc, and Motorola.
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Listserv
This term looks like it's missing an "e", but that's how it's spelled. A listserv, or list server, is a small program that automatically sends messages to multiple e-mail addresses on a mailing list. When someone subscribes to a mailing list, the listserv will automatically add the address and distribute future e-mail messages to that address along with all the others on the list. When someone unsubscribes, the listserv simply removes the address. At least that is the way it supposed to work. Unfortunately, with some SPAM lists, unsubscribing only adds you to more lists.
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Login
If you are ever asked to enter your username and password, you are being asked to enter your login information. A login is a combination of information that authenticates your identity. This could be a name and password or an ID number and security code. Many secure Web sites use login information to authenticate visitors before allowing them access to certain areas of the site. Unlike the words "brush" and "comb," this term should not be used as both a noun and a verb. It should only be used as a noun, (you don't login to a server, you log in to it).
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