OLE Automation

I have a really dumb question, but I am unsure of what exactly is meant by an OLE automated object? I know what OLE mean (Object Linking Embedding) but what exactly is the automation about? And whats the difference between regular OLE objects and OLE automated objects? Also is OLE the same as an activeX control (i.e. .ocx file)? I just need a little straighting and clearification please. Thanks

OLE Automation means, that you are able to control the OLE Object out of a program which is written for instance in VB