Welcome to the all-you-can-eat buzzword buffet, where you can choose from a hearty selection of trendy words and catchphrases to use at your next interview or networking event. Belly up to the e-everything table -- where adding a simple little vowel before a word can make it irresistible to venture capitalists and angel investors (don't worry, we'll explain those later). Or load up on delicacies such as branding and click-and-mortar from the online marketing cart. Just be careful not to eat too much, or they may start calling you a visionary.

The list here covers a selection of common terms you'll hear related to the Networked Economy, online marketing and Web technologies. Some you've probably heard before, some may be new. Either way, this is a handy resource for you to add to your bookmark collection.

Angel: A wealthy individual who provides startup capital to very young companies to help them grow, taking a large risk in exchange for a potentially large return on investment. Also called angel investor.

Bandwidth: The amount of data that a transmission line can carry, usually measured in bits per second (bps). A high-bandwidth Internet connection such as a T-1 line, DSL or cable modem can transfer millions of bits per second (megabits per second, or Mbps), while standard PC modems transfer thousands of bits per second (kilobits per second, or Kbps).

Banner ad: The most common form of online advertising, banner ads come in a variety of standard sizes and appear on a Web page as a box containing text, images, animation or other effects. Users who click on a banner follow a hyperlink to the advertiser's Web site.

Brand: According to AllBusiness.com, brand is a company's "face to the world" -- the company's name, how that ame is visually expressed through a logo and how that name and logo are extended throughout an organization's communications. A brand is also how the company is perceived by its customers: the associations and inherent value they place on your business.

Broadband: A high-speed transmission medium. T-1, ISDN, DSL and cable modems are broadband media. Besides downloading Web pages more quickly, broadband can also transmit high-quality streaming video.

Click Through: The process of a visitor clicking on a Web advertisement and going to the advertiser's Web site. Also called ad clicks or requests. The click rate measures the amount of times an ad is clicked versus the amount of times it's viewed.

Click and Mortar: Click-and-mortar describes a store that exists online and in the physical world. Barnes & Noble is an example of a click-and-mortar store.

Convergence: According to Webopedia, convergence is the coming together of two or more disparate disciplines or technologies: for example, the integration of Web technologies with TV.

Cookie: A string of text sent by a Web server that a browser stores in a small text file on the user's hard drive. Cookies store information supplied by the user and read it back later to keep track of user behavior.

E-commerce: The buying and selling of products and services by businesses and consumers over the Internet. Also called e-commerce.

Hit: Each time a Web server sends a file to a browser, it is recorded in the server log file as a "hit." Hits are generated for every element of a requested page (including graphics, text and interactive items). If a page containing two graphics is viewed by a user, three hits will be recorded -- one for the page itself and one for each graphic. Webmasters use hits to measure their server's workload. Because page designs vary greatly, hits are a poor guide for traffic measurement.

Plug and Play (PnP): A Microsoft/Intel standard that lets users install new components into their computer system and begin using them immediately. In order for Plug and Play to work, both the computer and the peripheral device must support the standard.

Portal: A portal is a site that's intended to be your all-in-one entrée to the Internet. More than just a search engine, it's a site that provides you with a variety of Internet services including email, chat rooms, free personal Web pages, shopping, guides, etc. Yahoo! and Go.com are very good examples of portals. AOL is a kind of portal as well -- a customized interface to the Internet designed to make you feel comfortable and to make it easy to find things.

Sticky: Sticky sites are those where the visitors stay for an extended period of time. For instance, a relocation site that offers a moving calculator is stickier than on that doesn't because visitors do not have to leave to find a resource they need.

Stock option: A right to buy a given amount of company stock at a given price for a given period of time.

Streaming Media: Streaming technology lets users play audio or video files as they download, rather than waiting for the whole file. Popular streaming media platforms include QuickTime, RealPlayer and Windows Media Player.

Unique Users: The number of different individuals who visit a site within a specific time period. To identify unique users, Web sites rely on some form of user registration or identification system.

Venture Capital: Funds made available for startup firms and small businesses with exceptional growth potential. Managerial and technical expertise are often also provided. Also called risk capital.

Vortal or Verti-Port: A Web site that focuses on a particular industry, subject matter or target group. Internet.com and Industry.net are verti-ports in Internet and engineering.