The words,
explained.

An AI model that is given tools and allowed to use them: search, send, book, run commands. It decides its own next step, which is what makes agents useful and what makes them risky.

Also written: agentic

#ai-agent

Keeping a system or a backup physically disconnected from every network, so nothing online can reach it, ransomware included.

Also written: air-gapped, air-gap

From the Journal → #air-gap

Application programming interface: a door one program offers so that other programs can ask it for data or tell it to do something, with no person clicking through screens.

#api

Amazon Web Services, Amazon's cloud. A large share of the web's servers, databases and storage runs on it, so a fault there reaches businesses that never signed up with Amazon themselves.

Also written: Amazon Web Services

aws.amazon.com ↗ #aws

Microsoft's cloud: servers, storage, databases and AI models, rented by the hour and billed by use.

Also written: Microsoft Azure

azure.microsoft.com ↗ #azure

The open standard calendar apps use to read and write calendars on a server. Because most calendar apps speak it, a calendar kept on a CalDAV server can move to another one with every entry intact.

datatracker.ietf.org ↗ #caldav

Content delivery network: servers spread around the world that keep copies of a website close to its visitors, so pages load faster and attacks can be filtered on the way in. Cloudflare runs one of the largest.

Also written: content delivery network, content delivery networks

#cdn

Continuous integration: every change to the code is built and tested automatically as soon as it is pushed, so a mistake shows up within minutes, before it reaches a live system.

Also written: continuous integration

#ci

A US law from 2018 that lets American authorities order a US-based provider to hand over data it holds, wherever in the world the server is. It reaches data that US companies keep in their UK and European data centres too.

Also written: Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act

justice.gov ↗ #cloud-act

A company that sits in front of millions of websites, speeding them up and filtering attacks before they arrive. Its outages in November and December 2025 took large parts of the web offline at once.

cloudflare.com ↗ #cloudflare

A DNS record that makes one name an alias for another, so the lookup carries on at the second name. Microsoft 365 uses two of them to publish a domain's DKIM keys.

Also written: CNAME record, CNAME records

From the Journal → #cname

Attaching a cryptographic signature to software, so Windows and other systems can check who published it and that nobody has altered it since.

Also written: code-signing

From the Journal → #code-signing

How much text an AI model can take in at once: its instructions, any documents and the conversation so far. Past that limit, something has to be dropped or summarised.

From the Journal → #context-window

Microsoft's AI assistant, built into Windows, Edge and Microsoft 365. GitHub Copilot, the coding assistant, is a separate product with the same name.

Also written: Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot

#copilot

Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public catalogue of known security flaws. Each one gets an identifier such as CVE-2024-3094, so everyone can refer to the same bug.

cve.org ↗ #cve

The UK government's baseline security certification, delivered for the NCSC by IASME. It checks five controls: firewalls, secure configuration, security updates, user access and malware protection. Old Forge is certified.

From the Journal → #cyber-essentials

DomainKeys Identified Mail. The sending server signs each email with a private key, and the receiver checks the signature against a public key published in the domain's DNS. It proves the message came from the domain and was not changed on the way.

From the Journal → #dkim

A DNS record that tells receiving mail servers what to do with a message claiming to be from your domain when neither SPF nor DKIM vouches for it: deliver it, quarantine it or reject it. It also asks them to send you reports.

From the Journal → #dmarc

Domain Name System, the internet's directory. It turns a name like oldforge.tech into the address of the server that answers, and says where the domain's email should be delivered.

Also written: Domain Name System

#dns

Software that packages an application with everything it needs into a container, so it runs the same way on any server and can be started, stopped or replaced in seconds.

Also written: Docker container, Docker containers

docker.com ↗ #docker

A company whose AI turns text into natural-sounding speech. It voices the podcast on this site.

elevenlabs.io ↗ #elevenlabs

Lists of numbers that capture what a piece of text means, so a computer can find passages with a similar meaning even when they share no words. They are what semantic search runs on.

#embeddings

Microsoft's sign-in service, called Azure Active Directory until 2023. When a business signs in to Outlook, Teams and other apps with one Microsoft account, Entra ID is what checks who they are.

Also written: Microsoft Entra ID, Azure AD, Azure Active Directory

#entra-id

The General Data Protection Regulation. Since Brexit the UK has its own version, the UK GDPR, alongside the Data Protection Act 2018. It sets out what an organisation may do with personal data and what people can ask of it.

Also written: UK GDPR

ico.org.uk ↗ #gdpr

The version-control system nearly all software is written with. It records every change to the code, who made it and why, and lets many people work on one project without overwriting each other.

git-scm.com ↗ #git

A Git server you run yourself, with most of what GitHub offers: repositories, issues, pull requests and automated builds. Old Forge's code has lived on its own Gitea since October 2026.

about.gitea.com ↗ #gitea

Microsoft's hosting service for Git repositories and the place most open-source software lives. Many companies also run their testing, releases and deployments through it, which ties a great deal to one account.

From the Journal → #github

Open-source software that turns monitoring data into dashboards and alerts.

grafana.com ↗ #grafana

When an AI model states something false with full confidence, such as a quote nobody said or a source that does not exist. The model predicts plausible text; it does not look facts up.

Also written: hallucinate, hallucinates, hallucinated

#hallucination

Microsoft's hypervisor, built into Windows Server and Windows Pro. It runs several virtual machines on one physical computer.

From the Journal → #hyper-v

Running a trained AI model to get an answer. Training happens once; inference happens every time somebody asks a question, and it is what a chat service pays for.

#inference

Microsoft's service for managing a business's laptops and phones: installing apps, enforcing security settings and wiping a device that has been lost.

Also written: Microsoft Intune

From the Journal → #intune

A European hosting company, owned by United Internet in Germany. Old Forge's server and mailboxes are hosted with IONOS in the UK.

ionos.co.uk ↗ #ionos

A prompt written to talk an AI model out of its safety rules, usually through role-play, invented authority or a long build-up.

Also written: jailbreaking, jailbroken

From the Journal → #jailbreak

Free, open-source video meeting software that runs in the browser, with no account or download needed. Old Forge runs its own at meet.oldforge.tech, where calls booked on this site are held.

Also written: Jitsi Meet

jitsi.org ↗ #jitsi

Open-source single sign-on software, first developed at Red Hat. One login covers many applications. It runs this site's sign-in at id.oldforge.tech.

keycloak.org ↗ #keycloak

The hypervisor built into the Linux kernel. It turns an ordinary Linux server into a host for virtual machines, with no licence to pay.

From the Journal → #kvm

An open-source framework for building applications on language models, connecting prompts, tools and data sources into one program.

langchain.com ↗ #langchain

A free, open-source operating system. Most of the world's servers run it, and so does every Android phone.

#linux

Large language model: an AI trained on vast amounts of text to predict what comes next. ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are built on them.

Also written: large language model, large language models

#llm

Model Context Protocol: an open standard for connecting AI assistants to tools and data, so one integration works with any assistant that speaks it. Anthropic published it in November 2024.

Also written: Model Context Protocol

modelcontextprotocol.io ↗ #mcp

Free, open-source software for controlling and managing computers remotely through a web browser, from a server you host yourself.

meshcentral.com ↗ #meshcentral

The company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, called Facebook until it renamed itself in 2021. It also makes AI models: the open-weights Llama series and the Muse family.

Also written: Meta Platforms

about.meta.com ↗ #meta

Multi-factor authentication: proving it is you with something besides a password, such as a code from an app, a prompt on your phone or a security key. A stolen password on its own is then not enough.

Also written: 2FA, multi-factor authentication, two-factor authentication, two-factor

#mfa

Microsoft's subscription bundle for businesses: Outlook and Exchange email, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive and the Office apps, all run from Microsoft's cloud.

Also written: Office 365, M365

#microsoft-365

Managed service provider: a company that runs another business's IT for a monthly fee, looking after its computers, servers, security and backups.

Also written: managed service provider, managed service providers

#msp

Meta's family of AI models. Muse Spark is the main model, Muse Code a coding agent that writes and runs software from a brief, and Muse Glimmer an open-weights model a business can run on its own hardware. Old Forge built Eyewitness with them at Meta's hackathon in October 2026.

Also written: Muse Spark, Muse Code, Muse Glimmer, Muse Image, Muse Wonder

From the Journal → #muse

A workflow automation tool you can host yourself. It connects apps and services in steps you draw on screen, and runs them on a schedule or when something happens.

n8n.io ↗ #n8n

Open-source messaging software that lets programs send each other messages quickly and reliably, as they happen.

nats.io ↗ #nats

A fast, widely used web server. It answers every request to this site directly, with nothing in front of it.

nginx.org ↗ #nginx

OpenID Connect, the standard behind "Sign in with Google" and similar buttons. One service vouches for who you are to another, and your password never leaves the first.

Also written: OpenID Connect

#oidc

Free software for running open AI models on your own computer or server, so prompts and answers never leave the machine.

ollama.com ↗ #ollama

Software whose code is published for anyone to read, change and share. Most of the internet runs on it, and a good deal of it is maintained by volunteers.

Also written: open-source

#open-source

Open-source intelligence: what can be learned about a person or a company from public sources alone, such as websites, social media, company records and DNS. Attackers do this homework first, so it is worth doing it on yourself.

Also written: open-source intelligence

#osint

The Open Worldwide Application Security Project, a non-profit that publishes free guides and tools for web security, including the OWASP Top 10 list of the most common risks.

owasp.org ↗ #owasp

A replacement for passwords, kept on your phone or computer and unlocked with your fingerprint, face or PIN. It only works on the genuine website, so a phishing page has nothing to steal.

From the Journal → #passkey

Messages that pretend to come from someone you trust, to get you to click, pay or type in a password. The UK government's breaches survey finds it the most common attack on businesses, year after year.

Also written: phish, phishing email, phishing emails

From the Journal → #phishing

A programming language for websites. It runs on the server and builds each page before it is sent. Around three-quarters of websites whose server language is known use it, WordPress among them.

php.net ↗ #php

A free, open-source database with a long record of reliability. This site's articles, bookings and messages are stored in it.

Also written: Postgres

postgresql.org ↗ #postgresql

Microsoft's command-line shell and scripting language, used to automate Windows and Microsoft 365 administration.

learn.microsoft.com ↗ #powershell

Hiding instructions in something an AI reads, such as a web page, an email or a document, so the model follows them as if its user had asked. OWASP ranks it first among the risks of applications built on language models.

#prompt-injection

A small open-source calendar and contacts server that works with any app speaking CalDAV, from an iPhone to Thunderbird. The diary behind this site's booking page runs on it.

radicale.org ↗ #radicale

Retrieval-augmented generation: before answering, the AI searches a set of documents and is handed the passages that matter, so its answer comes from your material and can point to it.

Also written: retrieval-augmented generation

#rag

Malicious software that encrypts a business's files and demands payment for the key, often after copying the data so it can threaten to publish it too. A recent offline backup means the files can come back without paying.

From the Journal → #ransomware

The company you rent a domain name from. Whoever controls that account controls where the domain points, including its website and its email, so its login deserves the strongest protection you have.

Also written: domain registrar

#registrar

A flaw that lets an attacker run their own commands on someone else's server over the network. It is the most serious kind of vulnerability, because the attacker then controls the machine.

Also written: RCE

From the Journal → #remote-code-execution

Remote monitoring and management: the software MSPs use to watch, update and fix their clients' computers from a distance. Because it reaches every machine, an attacker who gets into it reaches them too.

Also written: remote monitoring and management

#rmm

A simple, open format for following a website or a podcast. Your reader or podcast app checks the feed and shows what is new, with no account or algorithm involved.

Also written: RSS feed, RSS feeds

#rss

Software as a service: software you rent and use through a browser, such as Microsoft 365 or Xero, with the supplier running the servers.

Also written: software as a service

#saas

Running software on servers you control, which puts the data and the uptime in your own hands. This site is self-hosted, and so are its meetings and its sign-in.

Also written: self-hosted, self-host, self-hosts

From the Journal → #self-hosting

Sender Policy Framework: a DNS record listing the servers allowed to send email for a domain. Receiving servers check it to spot forged senders.

Also written: SPF record, SPF records

From the Journal → #spf

An attack where text typed into a form is crafted so the website's database runs it as a command, letting the attacker read or change data. It has been understood since the late 1990s and still turns up.

#sql-injection

Secure Shell: an encrypted connection for controlling a remote server from the command line. Most servers are administered through it.

#ssh

Single sign-on: you log in once and every connected application accepts it. There are fewer passwords to steal, and one place to switch someone's access off.

Also written: single sign-on

#sso

The standing instructions an AI model is given before the conversation starts: who it is, what it may do and how to answer. Visitors never see it, yet it shapes every reply.

From the Journal → #system-prompt

The part of most Linux systems that starts services at boot, restarts them when they fail and runs scheduled jobs through its timers.

systemd.io ↗ #systemd

Transport Layer Security, the encryption behind the padlock in your browser. It keeps what passes between you and a website private and proves the site is the one it claims to be. SSL is its older name.

Also written: SSL

#tls

A self-hosted monitoring tool that checks websites and services at regular intervals and raises the alarm when one stops answering.

github.com ↗ #uptime-kuma

A complete computer simulated in software, with its own operating system, running alongside others on one physical server.

Also written: VM, VMs

#virtual-machine

A message one system sends to another automatically when something happens, such as a payment arriving or a form being submitted, so the second system can react straight away.

#webhook

A free scanner that probes a website for common security holes the way an attacker would. Fenrir, Old Forge's scanner, is built on it.

Also written: OWASP ZAP

zaproxy.org ↗ #zap