IF you want to get behind the "green door" in cyber space, you must be able to tell a fox from a wolf. Following are some of the most important animal nicknames you will need to know:
Cat - A conventional modem that can link your computer or digital gadgets to the World Wide Web.
Mouse - Your right-hand man in surfing the Internet. It can help you save typing time.
Bug - Nickname for a net buff in China. If you are a greenhorn, you can be referred to as a crawling bug, while a good net surfer and Internet fan becomes a giant bug.
Bird - You are just a baby learning to crawl and walk. The term refers to those who have just started playing online games.
Wolf - A female netizen's nightmare when a "wolf" shows up. This type always targets young girls in chatrooms, BBS and emails. Well, you know how to get rid of it....
Ant - You may hate ants in real life but when it comes to the cyber world, an ant can be a good friend. It is a software that can help you download online content at high speed.
Dog - A man's best friend in life. The friendship may extend into the cyber world. A software named Hotdog is a nice tool for a net buff to create a homepage.
Fox - A villain in the eyes of Chinese people can be turned into a useful assistant in the cyber world. It is a nickname for Foxmail, a software that can help you remember the code to access your mailbox.
Bull - It is not bull fighting. Just an indication appearing on the front page of a homepage for the latest updates of the contents.
Horse - It is the Trojan Horse in cyber space. A bad virus that, once transmitted via emails, can control your hardware, browse your files and penetrate your personal information stored in the computer.
(Shanghai Star 02/22/2001)
