definitions of computer terms

Finger is a program that tells you whether someone is logged on to a particular local or remote computer. The results of "fingering" a user may indicate their full name, terminal location, last time logged in, and other information, depending on the data that is maintained about users on that computer. Finger originated as part of BSD UNIX.

To finger another Internet user, you need to have the finger program on your computer or you can go to a finger gateway on the Web and enter the name of the user. The user's computer must be set up to handle finger requests. A ".plan" file can be created for any user that can be fingered.

definition from Alex Layton, found at whatis.com

gateway:

A gateway is a network point that acts as an entrance to another network.

Network Solutions:

Network Solutions is the organization responsible for registering companies and organization on the Internet with their own domain names.

All people registering with Network Solutions are required to pay an initial $70 fee for two years service, with $35 payments required for each additional year.

You can use Network Solutions' web site to see if a domain has already been taken by visiting

http://www.networksolutions.com/cgi-bin/whois/whois/

UNIX:

UNIX is an operating system that originated at Bell Labs in 1969 as an interactive time-sharing system. Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie are considered to be the inventors of UNIX, naming the system as a play on an earlier system's name, Multics.

Because UNIX is not a proprietary operating system owned by a single company, UNIX became the first open and standard operating system. Over time, many variatons have appeared, including Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, SunOS, Irix, and others.