1337: the number, leetspeak symbol, and cultural signifier 1337 1337 is an integer with simple arithmetic properties and a widely recognized internet symbol—pronounced “leet”—used in hacker culture, gaming, memes, and stylized writing since the…
2 Girls 1 Cup: Viral shock trailer and its internet legacy 2 Girls 1 Cup An overview of the shock trailer known as 2 Girls 1 Cup, its origins as a scatological viral video, the widespread reaction-video meme it generated, and the cultural and regulatory…
4chan: English-language imageboard, community, and cultural influence 4chan 4chan is an anonymous English-language imageboard founded in 2003. It hosts thousands of discussion boards, has influenced internet culture and memes, and has been the subject of c…
Acid2 — web browser rendering conformance test Acid2 Acid2 is a reference test page used to reveal flaws in browser implementations of HTML and CSS. It encouraged interoperability among layout engines and helped drive improvements in…
Active Worlds — an early, user-created 3D virtual world platform Active Worlds Active Worlds is a long-running 3D virtual-world platform with a Windows client where users create avatars, build environments, host worlds and socialize in persistent online space…
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) Address Resolution Protocol ARP maps IPv4 addresses to link-layer (MAC) addresses on local networks. It enables hosts to discover physical addresses, supports caching, and has related variants and security im…
Adobe Flash (Adobe Animate): history, features, uses, decline, and legacy Adobe Flash Overview of Adobe Flash (later Adobe Animate): origin, main components (SWF, ActionScript, Flash Player), common uses, reasons for decline, end-of-life and preservation efforts.
Adware — software that displays ads and may collect user information Adware Adware is software that presents advertising to users and often gathers browsing or usage data. It ranges from legitimate, consented apps to intrusive programs installed without cl…
Afrikaans Wikipedia The Afrikaans-language edition of Wikipedia, created in 2001. Covers its history, content growth, community, distinctive features, and role in preserving and expanding Afrikaans kn…
Ajax: web technique, mythic heroes, sports club and other uses Ajax Ajax is a multi‑meaning term: a web development approach (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), two Greek heroes of the Trojan War, a famed Dutch football club, and a consumer brand, a…
AJAX (programming): asynchronous web requests and partial page updates Ajax (programming) AJAX is a set of web techniques for making asynchronous HTTP requests from the browser to update parts of a page without a full reload, improving interactivity and responsiveness.
Albanian Wikipedia The Albanian-language edition of Wikipedia, launched in October 2003. A volunteer-built online encyclopedia in Albanian that documents culture, history, science and everyday topics…
Alexa Internet — website traffic ranking and analytics service Alexa Alexa Internet was a web traffic analytics and ranking service (Alexa.com), providing site popularity metrics, ranks and tools for webmasters. It operated from 1996 until its retir…
Apache HTTP Server (Apache): open-source web server software Apache HTTP Server Apache HTTP Server is a widely used open-source web server that served as a foundation for the growth of the World Wide Web. It is modular, configurable, and maintained by the Apac…
App Store: digital marketplaces for software and mobile applications App Store An App Store is a curated digital marketplace for discovering, buying, and updating software and mobile apps. This article explains structure, history, functions, uses, and notable…
Arabic Wikipedia The Arabic-language edition of Wikipedia, launched in 2001. A major online encyclopedia in Arabic with a large multilingual community, handling right-to-left script, dialect issues…
Arena (web browser) Arena was an early W3C web browser created as a testbed to demonstrate and exercise HTML 3 and Cascading Style Sheets during the 1990s standards work.
Armenian Wikipedia The Armenian-language edition of Wikipedia, launched in February 2003. A collaborative, Armenian-script encyclopedia supporting Eastern and Western Armenian with hundreds of thousa…
ARPANET: the pioneering packet‑switched research network ARPANET ARPANET was a US Department of Defense–funded packet‑switched network begun in 1969 that demonstrated key technologies that became the Internet, including early protocols and netwo…
ASAP (As soon as possible): meaning, usage, and background ASAP ASAP is an English acronym for 'as soon as possible'. This article explains its meaning, common uses, stylistic variations, historical background, and advice for clearer communicat…
Ask.com — history, features, and role as a question-focused search engine Ask.com Ask.com (originally Ask Jeeves) is a search engine launched in 1996, known for natural-language questions and page-preview features; it evolved from a question-and-answer service i…
Australian Music Online (government music portal, 2003–2007) Australian Music Online Overview of Australian Music Online, a government-supported web portal launched in 2003 to document and promote Australian music; actively maintained until March 2007 and since con…
Azerbaijani Wikipedia (Azərbaycanca Vikipediya) Azerbaijani Wikipedia The Azerbaijani-language edition of Wikipedia, launched in January 2002. A volunteer-maintained online encyclopedia serving Azerbaijani speakers and preserving language content acr…
Baidu Baike: China’s large, commercial online encyclopedia Baidu Baike Baidu Baike is a Chinese-language, company-run online encyclopedia owned by Baidu. Launched in 2006, it grew rapidly and is notable for its scale, integration with Baidu search and…
Basque Wikipedia (Euskarazko Wikipedia) Basque Wikipedia The Basque-language edition of Wikipedia, launched in December 2001. An overview of its origins, structure, community, significance for Basque speakers, and notable milestones.
BBC iPlayer — BBC's on-demand television and radio service BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer is the BBC's streaming and download service for TV and radio programmes, offering catch-up, live streams, downloads, accessibility features and apps across web and conn…
BBC Online (bbc.co.uk) — the BBC's UK web services BBC Online BBC Online is the BBC's internet portal providing News, Sport, Weather, iPlayer, Bitesize and other UK services. Launched as BBC Online in 1997, it is a major public-service digita…
Belarusian Wikipedia: editions, orthographies, and community Belarusian Wikipedia Overview of the Belarusian-language Wikipedias, their two orthographic editions (official and classical), history, community, content characteristics, and cultural significance.
Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash (Facebook group) Bernie Sanders' Dank Meme Stash A large Facebook community that shared user-made memes about Bernie Sanders, formed during his presidential campaigns and noted for youth engagement, spin-offs, and influence on on…
Bersirc — free IRC client written in C Bersirc Bersirc is a free, open-source IRC client written in C. First released in 1999, its last official release was 2.2.14 in 2005. It is distributed under the LGPL and aimed at desktop…
Big Cartoon DataBase (BCDB) Big Cartoon DataBase A long-running, fan-oriented online database documenting cartoons, animated films, shorts and TV series with credits, synopses, episode guides and cross-references.
Bing: Microsoft's web search and decision engine Bing Bing is Microsoft’s web search service introduced in 2009 as a ‘decision engine’. This article summarizes its purpose, core features, history, partnerships, technical platform and…
Blacklist (computing): concept, implementations, and trade-offs Blacklist (computing) A blacklist in computing is a list of entities denied access or execution. This article explains how blacklists work, common implementations, history, uses, limitations, and differ…
Block (Internet) An internet block is a technical or administrative restriction that prevents a user, device, or network from accessing online services or content. Common forms include IP blocking,…
Bob Braden — Internet protocol researcher and standards contributor Bob Braden Profile of Robert (Bob) Braden, an American computer scientist known for work on end-to-end network protocols, contributions to Internet architecture and standards, and service on…
Bob Kahn: Co‑creator of TCP/IP and Internet pioneer Bob Kahn Robert E. "Bob" Kahn (born 1938), American electrical engineer who co‑designed TCP/IP and helped develop the architecture that became the Internet; founder of CNRI and Turing Award…
Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) — the Internet's interdomain routing protocol Border Gateway Protocol BGP is the protocol that exchanges routing information between autonomous systems on the Internet. It determines interdomain paths, supports policy-based routing, and underpins glo…
Botnet A botnet is a network of compromised devices controlled remotely by an attacker, often used for spam, credential theft, and distributed denial-of-service attacks.
Breton Wikipedia — the Breton‑language edition of Wikipedia Breton Wikipedia Breton Wikipedia is the Breton‑language edition of Wikipedia, launched in June 2004. It hosts tens of thousands of articles and serves as an online reference and language resource…
Bulgarian Wikipedia (Българоезична Уикипедия) Bulgarian Wikipedia The Bulgarian-language edition of Wikipedia. Launched in 2003, it is a community-run, Cyrillic-script online encyclopedia covering Bulgarian topics and global subjects; reached 100…
Cable modem: device for internet over cable television networks Cable modem A cable modem connects homes and businesses to the internet by carrying data over cable television infrastructure. Overview, operation, standards, common features, and distinctions…
Camino (web browser) Camino was an open-source web browser for macOS that combined Mozilla's Gecko layout engine with a native Cocoa interface, developed by a volunteer community focused on Mac integra…
Canoe.com — Canadian online portal and media network Canoe.com Canoe.com is an English-language Canadian web portal and site network, part of Postmedia, offering news verticals, classifieds, job and lifestyle services; its French counterpart C…
Cantonese Wikipedia The Cantonese-language edition of Wikipedia, created in 2006. A community-written encyclopedia in Cantonese, covering local culture, language, history and general topics for speake…
Cascading Style Sheets (CSS): Overview, Concepts, and Uses Cascading Style Sheets A concise guide to Cascading Style Sheets (CSS): its purpose, core concepts (selectors, cascade, box model), history, usage patterns, file format and browser support.
Cebuano Wikipedia (Wikipedya sa Sinugboanon) Cebuano Wikipedia The Cebuano-language edition of Wikipedia, launched in 2005. It grew rapidly through automated article creation and is notable for its large article count and role in representing…
Censorship by Google: removal, filtering, and controversies Censorship by Google Examination of how Google limits or removes content across its services—why it happens, how it is done, notable examples, transparency measures, and the debates over free expressio…
Censorship of YouTube: reasons, methods, history, and responses Censorship of YouTube Overview of why and how access to YouTube is restricted or removed, common blocking techniques, historical patterns, impacts on information flow, and ways people and institutions r…
