Glossary

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | XYZ

A

AAC: (Advanced Audio Coding) an audio file format; AAC files use the .aac extension.
Access level: a predefined set of access settings appropriate for a specific age range of users.
Account settings: user-specified options that are stored with a user’s AT&T Access account information; these settings are enforced whenever the user logs in to the account from any computer.
Active module: the module currently displayed in the active content area of the Yahoo! Sidebar.
Address Book: a listing of people and their email addresses associated with each AT&T Mail account; another name for Yahoo! Contacts.
Address field: displays the web address of the displayed page.
AddressGuard: a feature of AT&T Mail that allows you to create and use disposable email addresses.
Advanced schedule: an Online Timer schedule where the child’s restrictions on when and how much time she spends online can be different every day.
Adware: software that opens pop-up or pop-under ads when the main product isn’t running, or shows windows that don’t appear to be connected with the application or web page that you’re viewing.
Album: in Yahoo! Music, a named collection of songs, often by a single artist.
Allowed list: a user-defined list of sources or domains from which Pop-Up Blocker does not block pop-up windows.
Archive: a place to save a history of all of your instant messages, alerts, conferences, and text messages.
Article: a summary of web content from an RSS feed along with a link to the full version of the document.
Ascending order: from smallest to largest; for alphabetical sorting, from A to Z; for date sorting, from oldest to most recent.
Attachment: a separate file included as part of an email message; for example, a multimedia or document file.
Attack signature: a unique arrangement of information used to identify an attacker’s attempt to exploit a known operating system or application vulnerability.
Audible: an animated character inserted in an instant message that says something out loud to your contact after you send your message, such as "Welcome" or "Dude!"
Avatar: a character that you can personalize to express your mood at any given time. It’s like a virtual you. By changing hairstyles, clothes, accessories, and backgrounds, you can create your own unique persona.

B

Base name: the first part of your disposable address, which is common to all the addresses you create using AddressGuard.
Blocked address: an email address or domain from which you never want to receive messages.
Blocked list: a user-defined list of sources or domains from which Pop-Up Blocker always blocks pop-up windows.
Blog: a personal or topical journal on the Internet that is frequently updated and intended for general public consumption (short for weblog).
Bookmark: a pointer to a song in the Yahoo! Music Unlimited collection that you’d like to listen to when you’re online.
Bookmark: a link to a web page that is stored with a browser. Select a bookmark to go directly to the designated page.
Bookmark folder: a container that holds related bookmarks.
Browse: to explore videos by channels and make selections based on recommended offerings.
Browse tray: the bottom section of the video player where you are presented with a series of videos based on the specific channel that’s currently highlighted.
Browsing history: the history of the web pages you have visited over the last few weeks.
Bulk folder: a permanent folder that SpamGuard Plus uses to hold messages it identifies as spam.
Burn: to copy music to a CD for playback through your home, car, or portable CD player.
Burnable download: a song you purchase individually that you can burn to a CD for playback through your home, car, or portable CD player.

C

Case-sensitive: lower and uppercase letters are not treated the same; for example, a is not the same as A.
Category: a group of closely-related modules in the content directory; more specific than a topic.
Category: a group of contacts in your Yahoo! Address Book. Categories let you send the same email to a group of people and let you organize information by groups.
CD: short for "compact disc", a small, portable medium for electronically recording, storing, and playing back audio, video, text, and other digital information.
Channels: custom-designed video selections based on Yahoo! Music programs such as emerging artists, exclusive performances, your recommendations, and more.
Cleaning: removing a virus or other infection from your computer.
Clipboard: a temporary storage area in Windows that is used for storing various types of data (such as text, graphics, sound, and video). The clipboard can hold one piece of information at a time for use in a program or to cut/copy and paste information between programs.
Compose: to enter the text of an email message.
Compose page: the page in AT&T Mail where you address, write, and send email messages.
Condition: the part of a filter that defines what constitutes a matching message.
Contact: a person with whom you interact; someone to whom you might want to send an email, instant message, or text message.
Content: information on an AT&T Home Page that changes on a regular basis, such as news items, sporting events, and the weather.
Content directory: the collection of available modules that AT&T and Yahoo! maintain for users to browse.
Conversation: an exchange of instant messages between you and a contact.
Cookie: information that a web site puts on your hard disk so it can remember something about you at a later time.

D

Descending order: from largest to smallest; for alphabetical sorting, from Z to A; for date sorting, from most recent to oldest.
Display image: a picture or avatar that represents you in some way and that you share with your contacts during IM conversations.
Disposable email address: a customized email address that you create using AddressGuard to protect your regular AT&T Mail address.
Distribution list: a group of contacts to whom you want to send the same email message.
Domain: a set of Internet addresses, such as for a web site or email. On the Web, a domain is the part after "www." such as "my-domain.com".
Download: to transfer a file from a remote computer to your computer.
Draft: an unfinished version of an email message that you save in the Draft folder to complete and send at a later time.
Drag and drop: the ability to move an object from one place to another by placing the cursor over an object, pressing the left mouse button, dragging the selected object to another location, and releasing the mouse button.

E

Email address: A contact’s address that identifies an electronic location where email can be sent. An email address includes the contact’s email name followed by the "@" followed by the contact’s email domain, such as "person@domain.com".
Email domain: a set of Internet addresses, such as for a web site or email. In email addresses, a domain is the part after the "@", such as "my-domain.com".
Emoticon: a small character that shows someone how you feel during an IM conversation, such as happy, sad, or laughing.
External email account: an email account that used a mail server other than the AT&T Mail server.

F

4-star rating tool: a graphical evaluation tool consisting of four stars and a ban icon, used to rate music, artists, albums, and genre.
Feed: an XML file used to deliver documents or other content using RSS.
File transfer: the ability to send and receive files between computers.
Filter: a rule that AT&T Mail uses to direct an incoming message to a particular folder.
Firewall: a program used to protect a computer from intruders.
Folder: a container that holds individual elements specific to the context; for example, email messages in AT&T Mail or bookmarks in the Bookmarks Sidebar module.
Forward: (two uses in AT&T Mail) to send an email message that you receive on to someone else or to configure AT&T Mail to send all email messages that come into your AT&T Mail account to another email address.
Friends list: a list of friends, family, and others who also use Yahoo! Messenger; an older name for Messenger List.

G

Genre: a category of artistic composition marked by a distinctive style, form, or content, such as rock, classical, or jazz.
Group: one or more contacts that you organize together under one unique name, similar to an email list. By default, Messenger adds contacts to the "Friends" group included in the application.
Guest mode: the state of the AT&T Yahoo! Browser when you use it without signing in.

H

Hacker: an individual who uses his knowledge of networks and computer systems to gain unauthorized access to computer systems.
Hijacking: hijacking software redirects or changes your search results, home and error pages, and other browser settings to some place other than your default settings or preferences without your permission.

I

Identity: your AT&T Username or Yahoo! ID. Your identity is closely tied to your Yahoo! profile. You can have more than one identity and choose which one your contacts see.
Ignore List: a list of people from whom you don’t want to see or hear anything while you’re using Messenger.
IM: the acronym for instant message.
Import: to receive data into one program from another.
Import: to copy music from an external source, such as a CD or your computer’s hard drive, into My Music.
IMVironment (IMV): a themed environment that you can select when instant messaging your friends. Potentially, both you and your friends see the IMV during your conversation.
Inbox: a folder where you receive incoming email.
Influencer: a LAUNCHcast user that you select to influence the music played on your station. Songs that an influencer rates highly are more likely to play on your station.
Inline reply: when you type your reply to a message between the lines of text in the original message.
Instant approval: a permission slip that you grant immediately on the computer that your child is using.
Instant messaging: the ability to exchange messages in real time with other people over the Internet.

J

Java applet: a program written in the Java programming language that can be included in an HTML page. When you view a page that contains an applet, the applet’s code is transferred to your system and executed by the browser.
Junk mail: unsolicited email on the Internet; also called "spam".

K

Keyword: the unique, second part of a disposable address you create using AddressGuard.

L

LAUNCHcast plus: the premium, advertisement-free version on LAUNCHcast Radio.
LAUNCHcast Radio: a streaming music service that allows you to create your own customized station tailored to your tastes and provides an extensive collection of other music stations that offer a wide variety of genres and themes to choose from.
List: a group of contacts to whom you want to send the same email message.
LiveWords: this feature enables contextual searches from any topic, word, or phrase in Yahoo! Messenger.
Local music: content in My Music that’s stored on your computer. You can listen to local music anytime, whether you’re online or offline.

M

Mail server: an application that receives incoming email and forwards outgoing email for delivery. A computer dedicated to running such applications is also called a mail server.
Mailing list: a group of contacts to whom you want to send the same email message. In AT&T Mail, a category includes mailing list capability.
Member account: an account linked to the primary account, typically for another member of the household; same as "sub account".
Member ID: the name by which a person is known to the Yahoo! network.
Message header: the information used to deliver an email message, including the To, From, Date, and Subject fields.
Message input area: the text box at the bottom of the IM conversation window where you type in your message.
Messenger ID: the Member ID or Yahoo! ID a person uses to sign in and use Messenger or Chat in AT&T Mail.
Messenger List: a list of coworkers, friends, family, and associates who also use Messenger.
Messenger Music: a feature in the Yahoo! Music Jukebox that allows you to share music with friends using Yahoo! Messenger.
Messenger Music friends: your Yahoo! Messenger contacts with whom you can share music because they are currently running the Yahoo! Music Jukebox.
Mini-module: an application module that can be displayed in the Yahoo! Sidebar.
Mobile device: a wireless communication device for exchanging voice, text, and/or graphic information; includes pagers, mobile phones, web phones, pagers, two-way pagers, PDAs, and Internet appliances.
Module: a small version of a Yahoo! service that can be displayed in the active content area of the Yahoo! Sidebar.
Module: a self-contained block of content on an AT&T Home Page, which you can add, edit, move, or remove.
Mood: a profile you can set up to listen to your customized LAUNCHcast Radio station filtered by one or more genres. When you listen to that mood, you hear music within the genres you selected.
MP3: (MPEG audio, layer 3) an audio format that the Yahoo! Music Jukebox supports; MP3 files use the .mp3 and .m3u extensions.
Music profile: a public web page provided with a Member ID that lets other learn something about the person associated with the ID, such as hobbies and favorite links. You and each of your contacts have a profile that others can view. You can have more than one profile and choose which profile others see.
My Music: your personal music collection in the Yahoo! Music Jukebox, where music that you’ve imported, downloaded, or bookmarked is stored.
My Station: your customized radio station in LAUNCHcast Radio.

N

New message tab: a tab in AT&T Mail where you address, write, and send a new email, chat, or text message.
Nickname: a shortcut to a person’s contact information.
Now Playing: Yahoo! Music Jukebox’s temporary scratchlist that keeps track of songs as you play them. It is also a tool that lets you build your own playlists.
Now Playing Radio: the version of Now Playing that appears when you listen to LAUNCHcast Radio using the Yahoo! Music Jukebox.

O

Offline: not connected to the Internet or any other network.
On hold: when the connection during a phone call is maintained, but the person on the other end cannot hear anything on your end.
Online: connected to the Internet.
Online: connected to the Internet. When you’re online, you can access and stream music from Yahoo! Music Unlimited.
Online Protection Dashboard: a tool that allows you to view and control the suite of security tools that Yahoo! provides, including Norton AntiVirus, Norton Personal Firewall, Parental Controls, AddressGuard, and SpamGuard Plus.
Online Status: a setting that lets others know when you are available to chat.
Open Talk: a Messenger feature that lets your friends connect a PC-to-PC call to your PC without waiting for you to accept the call.

P

Packaged content: a pre-defined package of related content created by the people at AT&T and made available to you as a quick way to add tabs of content to your AT&T Home Page.
PC-to-PC calling: the ability to call another person’s computer from your computer; similar to placing a phone call. Both you and the person you are calling must have a Messenger ID and be logged into Messenger.
Permanent folder: a mail folder that is automatically created in an AT&T Mail account and can’t be deleted.
Permission slip: a message that Parental Controls sends to a parent on behalf of a child who is requesting Internet access beyond his current restrictions.
Personal folder: a mail folder that the user created.
Plain text: text that has no formatting defined; how this text appears (for example, its size) depends on the web browser or email application that you use.
Playlist: a list of songs that you assemble and organize. Use playlists to program your listening, as well as to copy files to portable devices or to burn your own CDs.
Plug-in: a software program that adds a specific feature or to another program.
POP3: Post Office Protocol 3, a standard client/server protocol for receiving email in which a mail server receives and holds email messages for you.
Pop-up window: a window that tries to open automatically on top of or under a browser window.
Portable music player: a small electronic device for playing music. Different types of devices support transferring different types of music from the Yahoo! Music Jukebox.
Primary account: the person who has financial responsibility for a household’s AT&T account; same as "primary member".
Primary member: the person (an adult) who has financial responsibility for a household’s AT&T Internet Access account; same as "primary account".
Profile: a public web page provided with a Member ID or Yahoo! ID that lets others learn something about the person associated with the ID, such as hobbies and favorite links. You and each of your contacts have a profile that others can view. You can have more than one profile and choose which profile others see.
Prompt: a message that guides the user to take some action, such as "Please leave a message after the tone."
Public playlist: a playlist whose creator has made available for sharing with other Yahoo! Music users.

Q

Quarantined item: a file or other item on your computer that online protection software has determined to be infected. After cleaning the infection, the online protection software modifies the item so that the file system can no longer access it. The quarantined item remains on your computer, so that you can restore it to its original location if you choose.
Quick Launch Toolbar: a row of icons at the bottom left of your computer screen that represent programs or applications.

R

Rating: information that a member provides about how much he likes a particular song, artist, or album. Yahoo! Music bases its recommendations on a member’s previous ratings.
Read Later: a bookmark folder that allows you to store bookmarks temporarily for later reading.
Reply: to respond to an email message you received.
Report card: a summary of your child’s online activity for the past week.
Rich text: a format that lets you change font style, add color, and more to your outgoing message text.
Ringtone: a brief audio file played to indicate an incoming call. You can select your preferred ringtone in Messenger.
RSS: a standard distribution format that web sites and blogs can use to send updated headlines to users through a service like Yahoo!. (The acronym is commonly expanded to Really Simple Syndication.)

S

Scan: the process of checking files to see if they contain known viruses or other types of nuisance software.
Shortcut: underlined text in an email message that lets you act on the text. For example, you can click a phone number and add it to your Yahoo! Address Book or click a physical address and view a map of its location.
Sidebar: a customizable area in the Yahoo! Browser or Internet Explorer where you can display information or applications that you use often, such as AT&T Mail and Yahoo! Messenger.
Sign in: enter your Member ID and password to identify yourself to the network and to gain access to your personal information.
Sign out: the opposite of sign in; to remove all of your personal information and preferences with regard to Yahoo! products and services, so no one else can use your account.
Signature: a short text file that you create for AT&T Mail to attach to the end of your outgoing email messages. The file might contain your name, position, a favorite quote, or whatever you want to convey with every email message you send.
Signature file: the component of the Anti-Virus software responsible for detecting the latest viruses.
Similar member: a Yahoo! Music member who has similar music tastes based on his or her ratings of songs, artists, albums, and genres.
Similar playlist: a playlist generated for you, based on a particular artist or song that you like.
Simple schedule: an Online Timer schedule where the child’s restrictions are the same every day.
Skin: a selection that controls the overall look of the Yahoo! Browser or the Messenger windows.
Smart tag: information, such as a phone number or email address, found in an instant message and underscored for your use. Clicking a smart tag allows you to act on the information, such as sending a text message to a mobile phone number, sending an email to an email address, or adding the information to your address book.
Snippet: a few lines of text from the body of an email message or web page, displayed in search results.
Spam: unsolicited email on the Internet; also called "junk mail".
Spam folder: a permanent folder that SpamGuard uses to hold messages it considers spam.
Spammer: someone who sends spam.
Spyware: software, typically installed on your computer without your permission, that can track personal information, serve as an unauthorized entry point for a remote user, or transmit data to an external source.
Start group: a group of web pages that each appears on a separate tab whenever you start up the AT&T Yahoo! Browser.
Stationery: a predefined format that you can apply to an outgoing message text, including a background image or color and a specific font.
Stealth setting: a setting that allows you to choose when specific contacts see you as online or offline.
Stream: to play music from a server (for example, over the Internet) rather than from source files on your computer or from a CD.
Sub account: an account linked to the primary account, typically for another member of the household; same as "member account".
Subscriber: a LAUNCHcast user who has chosen you to influence his or her LAUNCHcast Radio station. Songs, artists, and albums that you rate highly are periodically included on your subscribers’ playlists.
Subscription-compatible music player: a portable music player that supports Windows Media DRM (digital rights management), which the Yahoo! Music Unlimited service uses.
Subscription music: songs added to My Music from the Yahoo! Music Unlimited library. You have access to this music as long as your subscription is current.
Synchronize: to cause items in multiple locations to match exactly.
System tray: the row of icons in the lower-right corner of your screen that displays an icon for each application running in the background.

T

Tab: an organizational unit in an AT&T Home Page used to orgainize content into meaningful groups. Your AT&T Home Page can have up to 9 tabs.
Tab bar: a row of one or more tabs across the top of the browser window, each of which can display a different web page.
Tabs: browser elements that each displays the content of one web page.
Text messaging: sending and receiving written messages on a variety of devices via ’short message service’ (SMS).
Theme: a predefined set of colors and background images that you can apply to an AT&T Home Page.
Thumbnail: a small version of an image, often linked to a larger version.
Toolbar: a row of buttons across the top of the browser window that you can click to perform various tasks.
Topic: a group of related modules in the content directory; more general than a category.
Tracking cookie: a cookie that’s used to track your web browsing behavior for the purpose of displaying targeted advertising. Tracking cookies don’t pose a security threat.
Trash folder: the folder into which AT&T Mail moves all deleted email messages.
Trojan: a software program that has hidden, unwanted intent.

U

Upload: to transfer a file from your computer to a remote computer.
URL: Universal Resource Locator; specifies the location of a file or web page, such as http://att.yahoo.com.

V

Video Lineup: a playlist of videos offering recommended choices, or created by the watcher by searching or browsing, and adding to the video lineup.
Videos: music videos streamed to your computer from Yahoo! Music. You can watch them for free; you can also order them in playlists (Video Lineup) for ease of viewing.
Virus: a computer program that attaches itself to other programs and causes harm to computer software, data, and/or hardware, often undetected until it’s too late.
Virus definition: the component of the antivirus software responsible for detecting the latest viruses.
Voicemail: a message left in the caller’s own voice for the intended recipient to listen to later.

W

Web-based mail client: a program (usually a web site) that any computer with an Internet connection and a web browser can use to access the mail server.
Webcam: a video camera typically attached to a computer.
Windows Live™ Messenger: Microsoft® Windows’ free instant messaging application.
WMA: (Windows Media Audio) an audio file format that the Yahoo! Music Jukebox supports; WMA files use the .wma and .wmx extensions.

XYZ

Yahoo! Briefcase: a tool that allows you to store files online and then access them from anywhere using a browser.
Yahoo! Contacts: a listing of people and their email addresses associated with each AT&T Mail account; also known as Address Book.
Yahoo! ID: the name by which a person is known to all Yahoo! networks.
Yahoo! Local: a subject-based guide to businesses and services organized by location.
Yahoo! Messenger: an application that lets you communicate using your voice, text, or other means with one or more people over the Internet in real time (instantly).
Yahoo! Music Jukebox: a free desktop application that lets you listen to music, mix and burn CDs, import, manage, and share music, transfer music to portable music players, and more.
Yahoo! Music Unlimited: a collection of more than one million songs, available by subscription and for purchase through the Yahoo! Music Jukebox.
Yahoo! Toolbar: a customizable toolbar that allows you to use your favorite AT&T and Yahoo! features from buttons on your browser.