media glossary - H

hacker
The reason you have a fire wall. Actually, the politically correct term for computer pranksters these days is "cracker." In some lexicons, hacker is a term of praise for the plucky pioneers who explored networks before there were rules or instruction manuals. Can also be used to refer to those who make unauthorized use of mainframe, programs, or files, most likely accessed through a network.

half page island
Half page ad with no other advertisement on the same page. Designed to run in conjunction with editorial only. Island halfs are more expensive than standard half pages. (See Island, Island Half)

halftone
In lithography, a photograph that has been broken into a pattern of small dots by shooting it through a screen. When printed, the halftone closely simulates the appearance of the original photograph.

handshake
What networking devices do when they first get together. The ritual consists of sending introductory signals back and forth to establish a connection.

hard copy
A colloquial term for computer print-outs or other documents reproduced on paper.

hard disk
A computer disk similar to a floppy disk but larger and not flexible. Hard disks hold more data, allow for higher access speeds and are more expensive.

hard drive
A built-in disk drive on a Personal Computer as opposed to a floppy disk which is removable. A hard disk has a lot more storage capacity than a floppy disk.

hardware
The keyboard, monitor, circuitry, and other non-software elements that make up a computer.

Hayes-compatible
Responding to the same commands as a modem manufactured by Hayes Microcomputer Products, originators of the standard for microcomputer modems.

HDTV
Any of the wide-screen, high-definition TV formats invented in Japan, Europe, and the United States, offering better resolution than pre-1970 TV formats.

Head
The top of a page.

Heads
Headlines for stories, charts, and graphs.

hexadecimal (hex)
The representation of numbers in base-16, using the digits 0 through 9 and letters A through F. Hexadecimal numbers are used when manually entering some virus definitions.

Hickey
A small spot of "missing ink" on a printed page that occurs because of impurities or contaminants on the blanket, plate, or inking rollers.

Hit
A nebulous term. Generally, every request for information that a user makes by Browsing a Web page is a hit. The trick here is that clicking once usually involves several requests for information; it often takes more than one request to build a Web page. So, each piece of information requested, whether graphic or text, used to build the page is considered a hit. Even requests that result in an error message can be counted as hits. Often confused with page views, hits are not a realible measure-ment of a site’s popularity.

home page
The opening page of a website.

homes passed
Homes that are connected or could be connected to a local cable or telephone system because the feeder lines are in the immediate area.

host
A host or a node on a computer network.

hot-line list
The names most recently added and available on a specific list. Use of the term "hot-line" should be further modified by "weekly", "monthly", etc. Hot line names are usually more productive for promotions than the average of the list.

house ads
These are ads that promote the publication and are used to fill holes or blank spaces that remain after all the editorial and all the advertisements have been laid out.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
A software code for defining hypertext links between documents that has become the standard language of the World Wide Web.

HTML editor
Software that allows a page designer to edit HTML code. This can be either text only or what you see is what you get. (See WYSIWYG)

HTTP

An acronym for HyperText Transport Protocol.  HTTP is a networking protocol for retrieving data from a server on the Internet.

HTML documents.
The client software application used in HTTP transactions is a web browser.
hub One of the most widely used types of networking hardware, hubs are boxes that connect and funnel network wiring. All the wires from a group of PCs in a department typically are strung into one side of a hub, which has wires coming out the other end to link with other departments or larger computers. The most sophisticated hubs come with fancy software that let a manager keep track of all the PCs on a network.

hyper- (prefix)
Greek-oriented prefix meaning over. Used recently on the Internet in words like "hypertext" or "hyperlink" to denote momentum, interactivity. Emerging meaning – any actions involving the Internet or handled electronically, particularly transactions, could deserve this prefix. "We should develop a hyperlink of financial-planning sites."

hypermedia
The ability to display a range of different media, accessible through hyperlinks. A World Wide Web page, for example, may contain photographs or drawing, textual formatting, and links to audio and video sources.

hypertext
An easy method of retrieving information by choosing highlighted words in a text on the screen. The words link to documents with related subject matter.