Internet Terms of U and V

Vlog

1. Vlog is short for "video blog" and is pronounced "vlog" (one syllable). 
2. A vlog is a blog, or web log, that includes video clips. It may be entirely video-based or may include both video and written commentary. Several types of vlogs are available on the Web, including instructional videos, travel updates, and personal commentaries.
3. People who create vlogs are known as "vloggers." 

VoIP

   

1. Stands for "Voice Over Internet Protocol," and is often pronounced "voip." 
2. VoIP is basically a telephone connection over the Internet. 
3. The data is sent digitally, using the Internet Protocol (IP) instead of analog telephone lines. This allows people to talk to one another long-distance and around the world without having to pay long distance or international phone charges.
4. In order to use VoIP, you need a computer, an Internet connection, and VoIP software. You also need either a microphone, analog telephone adapter, or VoIP telephone.
5. The largest provider of VoIP services is Vonage, but there are several other companies that offer similar services. While Vonage charges a monthly service fee, programs like Skype and PeerMe allow users to connect to each other and talk for free. However, these free services may offer fewer connections, lower audio quality, and may be less reliable than paid services like Vonage.
6. VoIP is also referred to as IP telephony, Internet telephony, and digital phone.

VPN

1. Stands for "Virtual Private Network" (not a successor to the UPN television network). 
2. VPN is a network term that most computer users don't need to know, but at least you can impress your friends by talking about it. 
3. A virtual private network is "tunneled" through a wide area network WAN such as the Internet. 
4. This means the network does not have to be located in one physical location like a LAN. However, by using encryption and other security measures, a VPN can scramble all the data sent through the wide area network, so the network is "virtually" private.
5. Businesses often use VPNs to communicate across multiple locations. For example, a large company that has offices in several cities may need to send data to the different locations via the Internet. To keep the information secure, the company might set up a VPN with an encrypted connection. This is similar to having a secure intranet over the Internet. On a smaller scale, individual users may have a VPN account with their company, which allows them to connect to their office computer from their home or another location. 
6. This is especially helpful for business travelers who need to access office data from their laptops.

UDP

1. Stands for "User Datagram Protocol." 
2. It is part of the TCP/IP suite of protocols used for data transferring. 
3. UDP is a known as a "stateless" protocol, meaning it doesn't acknowledge that the packets being sent have been received. 
4. For this reason, the UDP protocol is typically used for streaming media. 
5. While you might see skips in video or hear some fuzz in audio clips, UDP transmission prevents the playback from stopping completely.

UGC

1. Stands for "User Generated Content." 
2. In the early years of the Web, most websites were static, meaning each page had fixed content that did not change unless it was updated by the webmaster. As the Web evolved, dynamic websites, which generate content from a database, became the norm. Now, in the Web 2.0 era, many websites now include UGC, or content created by visitors.
3. Many different types of websites contain user generated content. 
4. One example is a Web forum, which allows users to discuss topics by posting comments online.
5. Another example is a wiki, which allows users to directly add and edit website content. Wikipedia, for instance, contains information written and submitted by thousands of authors around the world. 
6. Social networking websites like Facebook and LinkedIn, are also UGC websites that allow users to create personal profiles and share information with each other. 
7. These websites simply create a platform for users to add and share content with each other.
8. While wikis, Web forums, and social networking websites contain nearly all user generated content, many other sites now contain both original content and UGC. 
9. For example, blogs often include a section where visitors can post comments about the author's articles. 
10. News websites typically allow visitors to post their feedback below the news stories. Often, these hybrid pages eventually contain more user generated content than original content. 
11. Thanks to UGC, the Web is now a more interactive medium, allowing users to actively participate in the creation of website content.