The Lexicon of New Media Terms

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Note: These entries have been loosely complied from hundreds of online and print sources. Make independent confirmation and proper citation before using any of this material for professional or academic purposes.

Terms beginning with "P"

P2P: Peer-to-peer exchanges in which products or services are openly shared (for example, Napster).
packet: A basic unit of Internet data marked with an address and error-checking data and transfered from point A to point B.
packet switching: Sending packets through a network or the Internet, allowing for alternate routing if a particular network link fails.
pageview: The sum total of what content a user sees in a browser window.
Paint Shop Pro: A commercial image editing program.
palette: The specific colors which a computer or program knows how to show when displaying images.
PalmPilot: A popular handheld minicomputer made by 3Com; newer models have wireless Internet access.
parse: Breaking something down into units that can be analyzed, like finding the main verb of a sentence or a directory name within a URL.
patch: A small program used to fix problems in how a larger application program works.
path: A tool in Photoshop which allows parts of an image to be traced or selected, then altered or saved separate from the complete image.
PC: Personal Computer, usually a system of box, monitor, keyboard and mouse running some version of Microsoft Windows (95/96/ME/NT/2000).
PDA: Personal Data Appliances, small handheld computers such as PalmPilots.
PDF: Portable Document Format, the cross-platform document format created by Adobe's Acrobat application.
Pentium: A type of processor made by Intel Corp.; not as good as a Celeron processor.
Perl: Practical extraction and reporting language, a scripting language widely used for CGI scripting.
PGP: Pretty Good Privacy, a method of encryption.
Photoshop: Adobe Inc.'s image editing software program which is a standard for photographers, graphic artists, Web designers and professional illustrators.
PHP: A server-side scripting language for creating dynamic Web pages
pico: A text editor for use with the UNIX operating system.
PICS-Label: Platform for Internet Content Selection, a W3C system of labeling content, esp. in terms of appropriateness similar in fashion to television's V-chip.
PICT: An image file format popularly used with Macintosh software.
pine: An e-mail program for use with the UNIX operating system.
ping: A program utility which checks to see if a specific server or host is reachable on a network or through the Internet.
Pixar: A high-end computer animation company co-founded by Steve Jobs; created the "Toy Story" movies.
pixel: A square dot on a computer monitor display screen; originally named from the term Picture Element.
platform: A combination of hardware and software working together, specifically what processor and operating system is inside a user's computer.
plug-and-play: Software or hardware that is easy to install.
plug-ins: Software modules that add specific features or services to a larger program or system.
PMS: Pantone Matching System, a popular system of specific codes used for matching colors in printing inks.
PNG: A compressed graphics file format which creates a smaller file size by only remembering a limited number of colors for use in the image.
point-and-click: A program interface which can be used almost entirely with a mouse, no text typing required.
PointCast: A failed attempt in the mid-1990s using push technology to send Web pages to online "channel" subscribers.
POP: Post Office Protocol, an e-mail storage and delivery program.
port: A program's specific location on a server or Internet host computer.
portal site: A Web site which serves as a point-of-entry for services or sites related either by geography, industry or topic; for example, OnWisconsin.com.
POTS: Plain old telephone service, using a phone jack and a modem to connect to the Internet.
PowerBook: A type of Macintosh laptop computer.
PPP: Point-to-Point Protocol, a way to exchange packets over the Internet.
Premiere: Adobe's video editing application.
process color: A printing term for creating a color with varying shades of cyan, magenta, yellow and black inks.
Prodigy: A propritary online network service big in the 1980s but which mostly died off following the Web boom of the early 1990s.
Project: Microsoft's project tracking and management application.
protocol: A specific way that a computer communicates with other computers, machines or systems.
proxy server: A server which caches information on a network to speed up acess for users by sending local copies of content instead of copies from remote servers.
psychographics: Broad data about consumer attitudes such as politics, education, and music which advertisers can use to target their messages.
pull media: A system in which users request content on demand, and mostly only get what was asked for (for example, Web sites).
push media: A system in which content is sent to the audience without the users requesting it (for example, broadcast TV).
Python: A scripting language.

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