HTAccess Authentication/other methods?

What does that mean? I know its a way to password protect one's pages. (I 
guess I'm asking, what does the HT stand for?) I've been looking at this 
process and have read that there are 3 basic skills involoved in doing this:
    * ability to telnet and log in to your virtual domain
    * ability to use a text editor
    * working knowledge of paths and basic filesystem navigation          
(cd, mkdir, etc)
(I got this from http://www.barryslipart.com/ht.html)
What is the "ability to telnet"? What is a "virtual domain"? I use Notepad as 
my text editor.....does this quailfy? And I have no idea what the last skill 
there means; if I have the knowledge, it ain't working (lol). I think having 
my site on AOL could also be a hinderance to using this method?

I know there are many ways to password protect some pages. Let me tell you 
what I want to protect and I'd appreciate some thoughts as to which method 
would be preferable for my needs! Its for 150-200 names, addresses and phone 
numbers to be only accessible only to those names on that list. It would be 
great if I could set username and password as their first name and their 
phone number (for example).

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