Instant messaging worked when phone failed

Instant messaging became one of stars in early hours after attack as consumers and businesses corresponded one-to-one when phone lines quit working in part of New York City. America Online reported that 1.2 billion messages were sent via instant messaging and on AOL's proprietary client software on September 11 alone.

Amazon and Yahoo accepted Red Cross donations

Both Amazon.com and Yahoo.com allowed contributors to make donations to Red Cross to help victims of disaster. By Friday morning after disaster, Amazon reported 121,579 payments had been made to Red Cross, totaling $4,394,870.41, according to News.com. Both companies waived fees they normally charge for facilitating payments.

Hackers waged vigilante strikes against Palestinian and Afghani sites

Online hacker groups hacked into Palestinian and Afghani Web sites after terrorist attacks. One vigilante group, The Dispatchers, is a group of 60 hackers that includes The Rev, a hacker who defaced New York Times financial quote service last February. The hackers released a statement claiming they had united to fight back and disable sites. According to The Rev, several Palestinian-affiliated Internet service providers have now been disabled. The group claimed it will next work to shut down Afghani sites.

Online scams exploited disaster

Address: The location of an Internet resource such as a web site or e-mail. An internet address (also known as a URL) example is http://www.virtualhelpcenter.com and an e-mail address example is Bonnie@virtualhelpcenter.com.

Banner: An image usually created for advertising displayed on a web site.

Blog: Blog (or weblog) is a form of web page containing a collection of links mixed in with commentary. Similar to a diary.

Bookmark or Favorites: A list of intenet web sites selected by you in either Netscape or Internet Explorer.

Browser: A program on your computer that allows you to view internet pages. The three most popular browers are Netscape, Internet Explorer and Mosaic.

Cache: A portion of memory either on your computer or your internet provider’s computer where data can be stored for rapid access.

Client: A program such as a Web browser or e-mail program that connects to and requests information from a server.

Cookies: Files stored on your hard drive by your web browser that holds information about your viewing habits on internet. Information stored may include web sites visited, passwords and user names and newsgroups you visit. Web sites you visit can use this information to tailor type of information they provide to you.

Cyberspace: A term that is used for everything connected to internet.

Dial-up Connection: A connection to internet via phone and modem.

Direct Connection: Fastest internet connection usually through a cable modem or ISDN.

Discussion Group: Also called a newsgroup. Usually accessed via your e-mail program or on a web site server. Normally dedicated to one subject area.

Domain Name: An alphabetical name for a website such as www.virtualhelpcenter.com.

Domain: The extension after a web name, i.e., .com (business), .gov (government), .edu (educational) and many others.

Download: Copying a file from a remote computer to your local computer.

E-mail: Electronic mail.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions – a group of commonly asked questions and their answers.

File: Information stored and organized by computer software.

Flame: Insulting someone via e-mail or newsgroups. Do not do this!

Home Page: The very first page or entrance to any web site.

Host: Any computer on a network that is a repository for services available to other computers on network.

HTML: HyperText Markup Language – main programming language used to design web sites.

HTTP: HyperText Transfer Protocol - a set of instructions for communication between a server and a World Wide Web client.

Hyperlink: Any text on a web site that when clicked will take you to another page or another web site.

Hypertext: The text that contains hyperlinks.