Innovative Word Formations Found on the Internet

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. Places of Recherch é

III. Logbook of the Search

IV. Word Formations
A. Compounding
B. Prefixation
C. Suffixation
D. Acronyms
E. Unpredictable Formations
1. Blends

V. Literature and URLs of Interest14
A. Some useful literature
B. Internet
1. Further Informations
2. Dictionaries

VI.Index

I. Introduction

In the case of surfing the Internet one uses a browser that gives the possibility to reach by typing in the URL of a special service as search engines, gophers, newsgroups or the IRC. It is often better to reach the online-offers by clicking hyperlinks. This method is often used when one calls upon a service within one or several HTML document(s). Commonly (and that is nearly in the past) we used to utilize as platform a PC which needs of course, an OS as MS Windows, or, very popular among the Anti-Microsoft community, LINUX with its open source code. Sorry, did I leave you in the dark about the topic?

In the last three years (from 1998 onwards) the so-called Internet has developed its own jargon and even own words or word formations. There is a lot of new stuff every time you look. Completely new words and more commonly new word-formations are among them.

In every computer magazine - also in quite normal news magazines - on nearly every web page, as content of the most emails and more and more in everyday language - in English and in German as well - one will find a lot of acronyms with their roots in the new medias, especially of course from the internet. Everybody has the power to compose their own combinations, especially as acronyms and prefixes. For instance, the official and unofficial names of computer systems or applications, or everything else that has to do with IT (Information Technology) is often related to the use of acronyms or playing with words.

For that reason I think it could be useful to have always a look at some important and distinguished sources of knowledge in general (I mean the “older” medias like Encyclopaedia Britannica, OED or Webster’s) - the internet community has its own laws and leading ideas, figures and manuals. It doesn’t mean that everything that is older than three years, or related to the common sources of knowledge is old hat. But there were and still are many pioneers, enthusiasts, newcomers and start-ups who noticed early enough the coming influence and importance of the Internet. Consequently they often have more sources and material to offer.

The influence of Internet on everyday English is quite important and the speed of development is becoming faster (not only in download rates). Most important for all the new words and word-formations is the demographic background of the “typical” user: in the age of 14-29, with high school, college or university degrees. Even many of those people which the common user call computer crack or hacker.

Most members of this generation are quite familiar with computers and Internet. And if one looks around nearly everybody has a mobile phone. Do you remember last years developments? At first we got WAP and now the next generation - UMTS. The future is just beginning. In the not too distant future everybody will have the facilities to use email, SMS, ICQ … wherever he or she is at that moment. Very seldom - if you compare it with our parents or grandparents - do the geeks¹ have no fear of contact or reservations.

Another important influence on the English language is the multiculturalism of the Internet in spite of the American determination. But even Americans are multicultural, aren’t they? From this point of view the Internet has to be seen as the new melting pot of the nations and languages with its own ideas and languages. Or as the most common term tells: the community.

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Internet traffic²

II. Places of Research

There exist a lot possibilities to find new words or word-formations that are used on the Internet. However, for better understanding in a first step we have to clarify: What is the Internet as such? It is a big computer network which computers are situated all over the world. And within this gigantic network you can make out a lot more networks (called LANs, WANs, intranets etc.) and more important for us several services for various tasks.

If most people tell you about the Internet they mean in fact the WorldWideWeb, also known as www or web - but nevertheless it is only one part of the Internet. Although there are further interesting facilities as:

- Telnet
- Gopher
- FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
- E-Mail
- Newsgroups (also Discussion groups), Usenet
- IRC (Internet Relay Chat).

Especially within the newsgroups, in the IRC and on the homepages on the web one can find an amazing amount of innovativly used English. My main sources to discover new English words or word-formations are the traditional extremely innovative sites of the hackers. In their effort to suck everything in their mind that has to do with computing and that implies the Internet they are always the first to use a special slang term.

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Domains and landmarks of cyberspace³

Magazines are another good base for computing, computer games and the Internet. Some magazines are more popular and are very general in their descriptions and tips but others are so specialized and published only for a limited audience. The same goes for books as well. What these books and magazines have in common is that they are both using the vocabulary of Internet users.

III. Logbook of the Search

To get an impression what one has to look for, the best start is to use a homepage like Michael Quinion’s. As one of the Internet enthusiasts he started a project called World Wide Words⁴. “World Wide Words is devoted to the English language - its history, quirks, curiosities and evolution.”⁵

Then in a next step one could use the links on his page or by using search engines to find more information in online dictionaries⁶ or what ever seems to be of interest. But in this way by using one homepage or special keywords as stepping stones you will find an enormous amount of material.

Now we have something like a picture of what is meant. Nevertheless there is no way to get the theoretical background knowledge without using standard linguistic works. Now we are ready to discover the new words and to analyze them.

IV. Word Formations

A lot more forms of word formations exists than are described here. However, there is not enough space to mention all of them and it would break the borders of the paper to give examples and to analyse and describe their meanings. To name only some, e.g.: compounds in any form, conversions, back-formations, unpredictable formations (as clipping, blends, acronyms, word manufacture and mixed formations) and avoidance of word-formation.

The discussion in the major sources about English word-formation is unsatisfactory.⁷ Most authors have their own method to determine what is what and so it is not surprising that many scholars use a mixture of two or more of these methods of classification⁸. There are completely different points of view about the classifications The work of John December in charting cyberspace. These conceptual cybermap show the key information domains and landmarks of cyberspace, circa 1994/95, and the interrelationships between them. of what is what. For instance Brekle⁹ uses to sub classify compounds about one hundred classifications whereas Hatcher¹⁰ needs only four.

I think everybody has to their own conclusion about the classification of word- formations and their sub-classifications. Two different points of viewe can both make sense.

A. Compounding

As the name suggests this means the compounding or composition of two or more words. Here everything seems to be possible. You could say it’s completly out of control - that is the idea of the Internet: no censorship. Sometimes word formations look a little bit strange and it can be rather confusing.

Not only the establishment is empowered to create new words or word-formations. Even enterprises or private person are enabled to do so. There is only one determining rule: everything is possible.

The most common classifications seem to be:

1- compound nouns
2- compound verbs
3- compound adjectives
4- compound adverbs
5- and some others that are not always clear

These and all other classifications are combined by noun+verb, verb+noun, noun+adjective, adjective+noun, verb+adjective, adjective+verb, noun+particle …and so on.

Some noun-noun compounds:

- Address-Spoofing: (to) log-in while using another Internet-Address
- Bit rate: (bps = Bits per second) figures for data transfer when uploading/downloading
- Content pages: pages of online presentations, normally navigations and advertisement pages
- Country Code: part of the Internet address or domain name, serves as criterion for the country e.g. ".de" of Germany
- DocMaster: editor who’s generating and hosting the domain name
- Domain Name: part of the URL, after "http://" or "http://www." And finishes with the domain, e.g. ".de" or ".com" or “ed“).
- Homepage: main page of an website
- Inter net Nanny: to protect children so that they are not able to reach pages with adult content; inter- is an prefix
- Killer application: applications which have as most important feature the success of an online offer
- Millennium Bug: problems caused by new millennium (some years ago when hard disk space
- Hard disk space: space for saving information on the drives
- Chaos Computer Club: famous (original) German club of hackers (some also use their abilities for cracking)
- Netscape: popular browser of the Anti-Microsoft community: the Internet + (architecture/botanic) scape as base
- Web- Appliances: applications designed for the Internet, e.g. browser, download-proggies (but it seems as web is often used as prefix to, e.g. web pad)
- Dreamcast and Playstation: both computers for gaming (also to play music and surfing the web) not for working; Playstation is often used as synonym for gaming computers
- Service/Release Pack: to complete computer programmes (service, bug fixes, updates etc.)
- Network Installation: installation of a computer network
- Express Installation: fast set-up
- Knowledgebase: all known stuff about specific problems etc. on a homepage etc.
- Personal Firewall: hard- or software solution that helps to keep intranets/computers secure

Some more (various) compounds:

- Open source project: e.g. Mozilla (the Netscape-browser) with open source code of a computer programme/application; everybody is invited to read and change the source code
- Flat rate: for a guaranteed price surfing as much as possible; usually never finished
- Online/offline: on means connected to the net (if you have dialled in); off the opposite
- Bluetooth iMac: a special production line of the iMac
- The New Economy: determined by the development of the last years (new jobs, new resources ….); post-industrial
- LAN-Party: sessions where gamers in smaller groups or as events with hundreds of participants indulge in their hobby: fighting each other (esp.: strategy games or first person shooter); LAN alone is an acronym · Quick install: fast installation of an application · Bug fix: (to) fix problems of programmes
- Set-up: (both the set-up and to set-up) installation of programmes

B. Prefixation

Words with prefixes are out of control as well. Sometimes there exist two or three or more prefixes for the same idea. The overlapping meaning of some prefixes causes this fact. Really good examples here are e-/ tele-/cyber -/ inte r- or online - shop, which have all nearly, complete the same meaning - the same facility: a shop where you can buy an article (similar to mail order services) via its homepage. Caused by the inflationary utilization only some of the most important prefixes are shown below.

- e-: stands for electronic: e-commerce, e-business, eBay (name of an Internet-company), e-volution…

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

IBM logo for the Internet business eBay logo

- tele-: is the prefix for far away, over a longer distance etc.: television, teletutoring, teleuniversity, teletubbies…

- cyber-: stands for 3D virtuality, the internet etc.: cybergeography/ cybermapping (pictures…); cybergeography: Multi User Dimensions (MUDs)/Virtual Worlds: very famous Ultima Online etc. graphical 3D virtual worlds, Cyberspace, 3D electronic space, virtual worlds Abandon all hope (MUD) HyperSpace

- inter-, intra-: both imply the meaning of connecting between something/somebody, especially via the new medias: intranet as the network within one corporation/enterprise etc. (if you want the very own internet only for “a special membership”) ; Internet as the whole network expanding all over the world

C. Suffixation

Words with an ending syllable known as suffixes. Very popular among hackers is the suffix -warez that implies any software. But in connection to special sites to be found on the net they usually use cracked software (that is illegal versions).

D. Acronyms

For a better understanding of the very common use of acronyms I will first give some definitions. Acronyms can be built by derivation and compounding. Even the term ACRONYM is an acronym, too. The very popular website V.E.R.A. (Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms)¹¹ for instance is an acronym (although here of course the name is programme). Sometimes one can notice acronyms (or abbreviations) written with periods after each letter (e.g., U.S.A.).

The WorldWideWeb Acronym and Abbreviation Server¹² gives us some definitions: …an acronym is any string of characters formed from the initial letters of several words (or occasionally from other letters), regardless of whether the result is pronounceable or not . This is different from the popular — and in my view, mistaken — belief¹³ that an acronym is a `word' which has to be pronounceable. An acronym is just made up of the beginnings of words. But we can definitely say acronyms are initials with a longer linguistic as it is seen in the written/spoken form And the good old Britannica asks: What's an Acronym?

Here's an example of an acronym: North Atlantic Treaty Organization = NATO. An acronym is a pronounceable word formed from each of the first letters of a descriptive phrase. An acronym is actually a type of abbreviation. The database of the Britannica contains abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms and they make no distinctions between them in their database or on their site.¹⁴

There are of course some differences between one group, which is spoken as a word and one that is spoken as initials. And here some very common examples of the first group found on the Internet:

- LAN: the Local Area Network is commonly a “smaller area” network; e.g. so called LAN-Parties which take place in a semi-detached house or often as event or competition in a former factory hall etc.
- WAN: the Wider Area Network is the bigger counter part (if you want the Internet for the intranets)
- WAP: Wireless Application Protocol

The definition of a network to be LAN or WAN depends on the point of view. If you overview it from a point anywhere in the outer space you could suggest the Internet is only a Local Area Network and therefore the connection between the Internet and the other webs on Mars, Venus etc. are build by WAN.

- ICANN: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (directory of the Internet administration)
- DENIC: Deutsches Network Information Center; appoints the German domain names (URLs)
- WYSIWYG: is an editor (application) which gives a helping hand in the circumstances of unknown programming languages, esp. (D)HTML - the editor programmer has no contact with tags and attribs. What You See Is What You Get means no programming codes and only what the user recognizes on the desktop (pictures, tables, headlines etc.)
- MUD: Multi User Dimensions
- RIPE: Reseaux IP Europeenne, European counterpart of DENIC
Some examples for the initial group:
- CCC: the Chaos Computer Club (founded by the German Hacker scene)
- ISP: Internet Service Provider
- DNS: Domain Name/Naming Server/System
- gTLD: generic Top Level Domains as .com, .org, .de etc. · IP: Internet Protocol
- HTTP etc.: the typical used transfer protocol which is necessary to read/send information, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol is in use on Internet for the PCs, same goes for the WAP which does the same for handy to send/receive webinformations
- GSM: the Global System for Mobile Communication is a European standard for mobile phoning

Other really nice examples are Y2K and W3. Y2K contains not only the initials of some words. The initial Y stands for year, the number 2 for itself and K for kilo in its prefixation-meaning for thousand. If you read this in context the result is Year two thousand. This acronym was often used in connection with the upcoming new millennium in the last years of the 90’s in 20th century and especially common a word formation Y2K Bug ¹⁵ caused by the feared trouble for the EDP (Electronic Data Processing). W3¹⁶ is only one of several nicknames for the World Wide Web. The most URLs contain www as first part of their address.

Then we have also a group of acronyms called homonymous which are spoken as a still existing word but in a second meaning:

- BASIC: Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code, a programming language that survived as MS Visual Basic.
- FAQ: to pronounce as the typical slang word fuck, but nevertheless with a more positive meaning Frequently Asked Questions (often as section on a homepage similar to a forum for troubleshooting etc.)
- EDGE: Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution is the last step on the GSM based networks but under the viewpoint of reaching the UMTS

Especially digeratis are very innovative in acronym-speak. Acronyms are not only used as words. The popular sport Gotcha ¹⁷ for instance stays for a whole sentence that says: I got ya! Another acronym-speak is ICQ for "I Seek You"- it is one of the most popular Web utilities around. What makes this instant chat tool a favourite among Netizens is its ability to locate riends and colleagues online and alert you when they are available to chat. Unlike some other chat tools, which seem to cater to teenagers, this one is gaining popularity among business users as a handy communication tool, and it is free of charge.¹⁸ And last but not the least the world's longest acronym¹⁹:

NIIOMTPLABOPARMBETZHELBETRABSBOMONIMONKONOTDTEKHSTROMO NT which means: the Laboratory for Shuttering, Reinforcement, Concrete and Ferro concrete Operations for Composite-monolithic and Monolithic Constructions of the Department of Technology of Building Assembly Operations of the Scientific Research Institute of the Organization for Building Mechanization and Technical Aid of the Academy of Building and Architecture of the USSR .

E. Unpredictable Formations

1. Blends

Using or creating blends is very similar to playing scrabble because of mixing two or more words and making a new sense including the former meanings. It is compounding and clipping of words at the same time so that they make sense.

- SuSE: German Linux Distributor, here to pronounce as a girl’s name
- Go!ZILLA: download programme pronounced as the furious monster which is able to find the trace again in the case of interrupt while data transfer
- Mozilla: nickname for Netscape-browser; open source project of Netscape
- M17: Milestone 17= Mozilla community
- Napster, Gnapster (GNU + Napster = Napster clone), Gnutella (from GNU + Nutella)
- Yellowww on: http://www.branchenbuch.com/ (= the name): Yellow pages + www = online version
- DNScalation: acronym DNS and Escalation: Domains Name Escalation
(means there are only limited domain names but a lot more applicants)animatronics: a blend of Animated and Electronics · the Digerati: are the computing elite leading the information technology revolution. There have been a number of facetitious blends based on the long- standing literati: the digerati are the computing elite leading the information technology revolution
- Netiquette: Net and Etiquette, some rules for the way of talking/communication to each other in chat rooms etc., e.g. CAPITALS mean as one would shout all the time
- Netbeat: Creation of NBC Giga²⁰: they substituted heart through net - the Internet is alive.
- Netizen: Net and Cititizen, “inhabitant” of the Web,
- Dot-conomy: Dot.Com-Economy (eBay etc.)
- Emoticon: Emotion and Icon; emoticons, often smileys, are little pictures made with text signs. They are used in Emails, SMS …to show emotions and feelings
- Foobar: When `foo' is used in connection with `bar' it has generally traced to the Second World War-era US Army slang acronym FUBAR (`Fucked Up Beyond All Repair'), later modified to foobar. Early versions of the Jargon File interpreted this change as a post-war bowdlerization, but it now seems more likely that FUBAR was itself a derivative of `foo' perhaps influenced by German `furchtbar' (terrible) - `foobar' may actually have been the original form.

Orthographic blends are a very special form of blendings because one is not able to hear the difference but if writing down the special message is quite clear:

- Micro$oft: the enterprise is most hated among the other communities (LINUX etc.), a fact which also caused by the very expensive applications, to say MS is too expensive

- E-volution: The word already exists of course. However, by substituting the normal e by the prefix e with “-“it means as already mentioned electronic. Nevertheless, it is in this context not only a prefixation.

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

A Bill of Writes: original Bill of Rights²¹

In addition sometimes even a lack of orthographical differences can be recognized:

- Holy Wars ²²: are flame wars over religious issues. Great holy wars of the past have included ITS vs. UNIX, C vs. PASCAL, and of course LINUX vs. Microsoft, etc. In the year 2000, popular favourites of the day are KDE vs. GNOME, VIM vs. ELVIS, LINUX vs. [Free|Net|Open]BSD. The characteristic that distinguishes holy wars from normal technical disputes is that in a holy war most of the participants spend their time trying to pass off personal value choices and cultural attachments as objective technical evaluations. This happens precisely because in a true holy war the actual substantive differences between the sides are relatively minor.
- Jargon File: "The New Hacker’s Dictionary" includes the so-called technobabble, techspeak, or slang of the Internet community.²³
- Carnivore: ironically self-named by the FBI - is the name of the snooping system of this firm In the PC -game Age of Empires 2, exist Bill Gates as entries/exits. They were named by the developers to mock Microsoft head Bill Gates.

V. Summary

Everybody is able to create new words/ word-formations. I hope that I have given a short survey of what the Internet means to the further development of the English language. Many representives of the pre-Internet generation are of course confused about this fact, but the new medias will rule the language. Neither linguist nor any other scientist will be able to prevent from the impact of the Web not only on the written but also on the spoken language.

Sometimes it was quite unclear in my opinion if the example is a prefixation or a compound, especially if one looks at such words/syllables as web or net. If somebody is talking about the Web than is usually meant the World Wide Web (the www, the multi media part of the Internet), but in combination with other words it becomes difficult. Is the web application a programme that is made for the Web? As a rule of course not because most of the applications can run in every other network as well. Is it then a noun or a syllable?

Often I have used examples which I would be able to use in the same way for another group or classification or at least in parts, DNScalation for instance (DNS as acronym and compounded with (e)scalation as blend).

Another problem is the correct orthographic form, or better do we write Internet (and other words too) with a capital letter or not? In the case of Internet I decided it exists only once (in opposition to intranets). The same problems occur when using acronyms. Some of them, as foobar that derived from FUBAR, although it is so common in everyday language nobody really knows the roots and original forms, can be written in both ways I think - with CAPITALS or in normal spelling.

There will be enough work for the linguists in the future. In some cases it could be useful to have standardized classifications. Nevertheless, language goes on its own way. The Internet has become for the English language the same as the Angevinian Empire or the settlement of the New World. What America is for the nations the World Wide Web is for the languages - a melting pot.

VI. Literature and URLs of Interest

A. Some useful literature

Christina Gitsaki, Richard P. Taylor: Internet English: www-based communication Oxford: Oxford University Press 2000.

Patrick Bryce Bjork, Richard Cummins: Reading, writing & the world wide web New York, NY [u.a.]: Peter Lang, 1999.

Jennifer Campbell; Michael Keene: Mayfield's quick view guide to the Internet for students of English Mountain View, Calif. [u.a.]: Mayfield Publ., 1998

Victor J. Vitanza: Writing for the World Wide Web / Victor J. Vitanza Boston, Mass. [u.a.]: Allyn and Bacon, c1998

Dave Sperling: The Internet guide for English language teachers / Dave Sperling Upper Saddle River, NJ [u.a.]: Prentice Hall Regents, c1997

Eric Crump: English online: a student's guide to the Internet and the World Wide Web / Eric Crump; Nick Carbone Boston, Mass. [u.a.]: Houghton Mifflin, 1997

Edited by Doris Feldmann: Anglistik im Internet: proceedings of 1996 Erfurt Conference on Computing in the Humanities <1996, Erfurt> Heidelberg : Winter, 1997

Mark Warschauer: E-Mail for English teaching: bringing the Internet and computer learning networks into the language classroom Alexandria, Va.: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, 1995

Ruffin Prevost: Internet insider Berkeley, Calif. [u.a.]: Osborne McGraw-Hill, 1995

John R. Levine; Carol Baroudi: The Internet for dummies: [a reference for the rest of us! The fun and easy way to learn the Internet; your first aid kit for popular services & commands on the Internet; what to do when bad things happen - explained in plain English; covers DOS, Mac, & UNIX platforms]

San Mateo, Calif. [u.a.]: IDG Books, 1993

The Internet TESL journal: for teachers of English as a second language.

B. Internet

1. Further Information

- Articles on the theme:

http://clever.net/quinion/words/index.htm

- Jargon File Resources “ The New Hacker's Dictionary ”: http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/

- Dot.Com Knowledge Center for the New Economy: http://www.dotcom.com/

- NUA Internet Surveys:

http://www.nua.ie/surveys/

- Information zum Internet:

http://user.cs.tu-berlin.de/~schwartz/Internet.html#AKTUELL

- An Atlas of Cyberspaces:

http://www.cybergeography.com/atlas/atlas.html

2. Dictionaries

- On-line Dictionnaires- Survey:

http://pc-78-120.udac.se:8001/www/Biblioteca/Dictionaries.html

- The WorldWideWeb Acronym and Abbreviation Server: http://www.ucc.ie/info/net/acronyms/acro.html

- V.E.R.A. Virtual Entity of Relevant Acronyms: http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~oheiabbd/veramain.cgi

- XachBot:

http://www.xach.com/xachbot/urls.html

- FOLDOC the Free On-Line Dictionary Of Computing: http://wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/index.html

3. Sites of Internet Enthusiasts (Alive Examples of Speech)

- ChaosComuterClub: http://www.ccc.de

- RAW Syndicate’s Linklist:

http://www.maskarill.de/raw/index.html

- AstaLaVista:

http://www.astalavista.com

- Cracks.Ru:

http://www.cracks.ru/

- GameCopyWorld:

http://www.gamecopyworld.com/

VII. Index

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

[...]

---

¹ Someone who’s somewhat social with his/her computer 2/2

² http://www.bell-labs.com/user/eick/NetworkVis.html on 24th of August 2000

The arc map dis plays a 3D network structure as arcs curving smoothly above a flat map of the world. The data being visualized is Internet traffic flows between fifty countries, as measured by the NSFNET backbone in 1993. The colour, thickness and height of the arcs are used to encode the traffic statistics for particular inter-country links.

³ http://www.cybergeography.com/atlas/conceptual.html on 17th of August 2000 13:30 PM 4/4

⁴ While using the three Ws it a blend as well by substituting Web by Words

⁵ http://www.quinion.com/words/index.htm on 17th of August 2000 13:30 PM

⁶ for a list of online dictionaries for computing and internet look at http://pc-78- 120.udac.se:8001/www/Biblioteca/Dictionaries.html

⁷ Laurie Bauer: English Word-Formation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1983, p. 201.

⁸ dto., p. 202.

⁹ H. E. Brekle: Generative Satzsemantik und transformationelle Syntax im System der englischen Nominalkomposition. München: Wilhelm Fink Verlag 1970.

¹⁰ A. G. Hatcher: An introduction to the analysis of English noun compounds. 1960. 6/6

¹¹ http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~oheiabbd/veramain-e.cgi 07.08.2000

¹² http://www.ucc.ie/info/net/acronyms/acro.html 07.008.2000

¹³ e.g. Laurie Bauer: English Word-Formation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1983, p. 237.

¹⁴ http://search.britannica.com/frm_redir.jsp?query=acronym&redir=http://www.AcronymFinder.com/ 07.08.2000

¹⁵ Roots of this problem are to find in the 70’s/80’s when computer space was really short and expensive. Only two numbers were used for counting years to save space. Nevertheless with the new millennium there existed the danger of starting at point zero (in fact most companies and home users owned already “newer” computer and software versions).

¹⁶ It is also the base for W3C - the World Wide Web Consortium

¹⁷ Paint ball game

¹⁸ It is quite similar to Zone Friends (MSN Gaming Zone) but you haven’t to be a member of a site or forum, the world's most popular Internet instant-messaging software. It supports direct messages, email, and multi-user chat rooms. Build a list of your family members, friends, and business contacts, and ICQ will notify you of their online presence. Finding friends is easy with search features as well as address book scan in your email client. Chat; send messages, files, and URLs; play games; or just hang out while surfing the Web or working.

¹⁹ found on the Britannica

²⁰ German TV Show on NBC that deals with everything around the Internet.

²¹ www.cybergeography.com/atlas/info_spaces.html am 24.08.2000 13:30

²² The paper by Danny Cohen that popularised the terms big-endian and little-endian in connection with the LSB-first/MSB-first controversy was entitled "On Holy Wars and a Plea for Peace".

²³ `slang': informal language from mainstream English or non-technical subcultures (bikers, rock fans, surfers, etc).; `jargon': without qualifier, denotes informal `slangy' language peculiar to or predominantly found among hackers. `Techspeak': the formal technical vocabulary of programming, computer science, electronics, and other fields connected to hacking.