techopedia

TECHOPEDIA

-1-

ABI

-

Application Binary Interface

ACA

-

Application Control Architecture

ACE

-

Advanced Computing Environment

ACE

-

Adaptive Communication Environment

ACL

-

Agent Communication Language

ASP

-

Active Server Pages

ADAIC

-

Ada Information Clearinghouse

ADDD

-

A Depository of Development Documents

ADL

-

Assertion Definition Language

ADT

-

Abstract Data Type

AES

-

Application Environment Specification

AFS

-

Andrew File System

AGOCG

-

Advisory Group On Computer Graphics

AIA

-

Application Integration Architecture

AIS

-

Advanced Informatics Support

AIX

-

Advanced Interactive Executive

ALRT

-

Adobe Integrated Runtime Technology

AMS

-

Andrew Message System

ANDF

-

Architecture-Neutral Distribution Format

ANSA

-

Advanced Network Systems Architecture

ANSI

-

American National Standards Institute

AOCE

-

Apple Open Collaboration Environment

APA

-

Application Portability Architecture

-2-

API

-

Application Program Interface

APL

-

A Programming Language

API

-

Application Programming Interface

APSE

-

Ada Programming Support Environment

ASCII

-

American Standard Code for Information Interchange

ASE

-

Advanced Software Environment

ASIC

-

Application-Specific Integrated Circuit

ASIS

-

Ada Semantic Interface Specification

ASQ

-

Automated Software Quality

ASQC

-

American Society for Quality Control

ASSET

-

Asset Source for Software Engineering Technology

ATFS

-

ATtributed File System

ATIS

-

A Tools Integration Standard

ATM

-

Asynchronous Transfer Mode

AUI

-

Adaptable User Interface

AVI

-

Audio Video Interleaved

AVS

-

Application Visualisation System

B2B

-

Business To Business

B2C

-

Business To Customer

B2E

-

Business To Employee

BB

-

Base Band

BBC

-

Boston Business Computing

-3-

BBS

-

BIOS Boot Specification

BBS

-

Bulletin Board System

BBS

-

Bulletin Board Service

BBT

-

Basic Block Testing

BBT

-

Bit Block Transfer

BC

-

Binary Coded

BC

-

Blind Copy

BC

-

Borland C

BC

-

Business Calculator

Bc

-

Burst committed

BA

-

Basic Access

BAL

-

Basic Assembly Language

BAM

-

Bi-directional Associative Memory

BAN

-

Boundary Access Nodes

BAP

-

Brain Aid Prolog

BAPI

-

Bridge Application Program Interface

BARRNET

-

Bay Area Regional Research NETwork

BART

-

Bootable Antivirus & Recovery Tools

BASH

-

Bourne-Again SHell

BASIC

-

Beginners All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code

BC

-

Booting Catalogue

BCC

-

Block Check Character

BCC

-

Blind Carbon copy

-4-

BCD

-

Binary Coded Decimal

BCD

-

Bipolar CMOS/DMOS

BCDIC

-

Binary Coded Decimal Interchange

BCE

-

Boston Computer Exchange

BCL

-

Batch Command Language

BCPL

-

Basic Combined Programming Language

BCS

-

Binary Compatibility Standard

BCS

-

British Computer Society

BCW

-

Borland C for Windows

BDC

-

Borland Dbase Compiler

BDE

-

Borland Database Engine

BDF

-

Business Design Facility

BDL

-

Block Diagram compiLer

BDL

-

Borland Dbase Linker

BDLC

-

Burroughs Data Link Control

BDM

-

Big Dumb Mistake

BDM

-

Boss Document Manager

BDOS

-

Basic Disk Operating System

BDV

-

Boot Volume Descriptor

BE

-

Batch Enhancer

BECN

-

Backward Explicit Congestion Notification

BEDO

-

Burst Extended Data Output

BeOS

-

Be Operating System

-5-

BFTP

-

Background File Transfer Program

BGA

-

Ball-Grid Array

BGP

-

Border Gateway Protocol

BINAC

-

BINary Automatic Computer

BIOS

-

Basic Input Output System

BIT

-

BInary DigiT

BIU

-

Bus Interface Unit

BJ

-

Bubble Jet

BJT

-

Bipolar Junction Transistor

BLOB

-

Binary Large OBjects

BNF

-

Backus-Naur Form

BOA

-

Basic Object Adapter

BPB

-

BIOS Parameter Block

BPI

-

Bytes Per Inch

BPM

-

Beats Per Minute

BPP

-

Bits Per Pixel

BPM

-

Business Process Modelling

BPR

-

Business Process Reengineering

BPS

-

Bits Per Second

BQR

-

Best Quality Reception

BRAM

-

Broadcast Recognizing Access Method

BRI

-

Basic Rate Interface

BSD

-

Berkeley Source Distribution

-6-

BS

-

BackSpace

BSA

-

Business Software Alliance

BSC

-

Base Station Controller

BSD

-

Berkeley Software Distribution

BSDI

-

Berkeley Software Design Inc

BSDL

-

Boundary-Scan Description Language

BSP

-

Binary Search Partition

BTB

-

Branch Target Buffer

BTS

-

Base Transceiver Station

BYTE

-

BinarY digiT Eight

BVD

-

Boot Volume Descriptor

CA/CG

-

Computer Animation/Computer Graphics

CAD/CAM

-

Computer Aided Design/Computer Aided Manufacturing

CADD

-

Computer Aided Detector Design

CAE

-

Computer Aided Engineering

CAE

-

Common Applications Environment/Computer Aided Engineering

CAFM

-

Computer Aided Facility Management

CALS

-

Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistic Support

CAM

-

Common Access Method

CAM

-

Computer Aided Manufacturing

CAMEL

-

Customized Application for Mobile Enhanced Logic

CAN

-

CANcel

-7-

CAN

-

Controller Area Network

CAR

-

Collect And Return

CarIN

-

Car Information and Navigation

CAS

-

Contact Addressed Storage

CAS

-

Column Address Strobe

CAQ

-

Computer Aided Quality

CASE

-

Computer Aided Software Engineering

CAST

-

Computer Aided Software Testing

CATE

-

Computer Aided Test Engineering

CAV

-

Constant Angular Velocity

CBIOS

-

Compatibility Basic Input Output System

CBS

-

Critical Business Services

CCC

-

Chaos Computer Club

CCD

-

Charge Coupled Device

CCE

-

Concurrent Command Engine

CCL

-

Common Command Language

CCS

-

Common Communication Services

CCSDS

-

Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems

CD

-

Compact Disc

CDA

-

Compound Document Architecture

CDC

-

Control Data Corporation

CDC

-

Certificate Distribution Center

CD-DA

-

Compact Disc-Digital Audio

-8-

CD-E

-

Compact Disc-Erasable

CDE

-

Common Desktop Environment

CDF

-

Common Data Format

CD-I

-

Compact Disc-Interactive

CDM

-

Content Data Model

CDMA

-

Code Division Multiple Access

CD-MRW

-

Compact Disc-Mount Rainier reWritable

CDN

-

Contact Delivery Network

CDP

-

Continuous Data Protection

CD-R

-

Compact Disc-Recordable

CD-RAM

-

Compact Disc-Random Access Memory

CD-ROM

-

Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory

CD-RW

-

Compact Disc-reWritable

CDSA

-

Common Data Security Architecture

CD-WO

-

Compact Disc-Write Once

CD-XA

-

Compact Disc-Extended Architecture

CE

-

Compute Elements

CEDA

-

Central European Data Agency

CENTO

-

Central Treaty Organization

CEO

-

Chief Executive Officer

CERT

-

Computer Emergency Response Team

CESNET

-

Czech Educational and Scientific NETwork

CETI

-

Communication with ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence

-9-

CF

-

Compact Flash

CFML

-

ColdFusion Markup Language

CFOOT

-

Corporate Facilitators of Object-Oriented Technology

CGA

-

Color Graphics Adapter

CHAP

-

Challenge Handshake Authentication Protocol

CHAP

-

Cryptographic Handshake Authentication Protocol

CHTML

-

Compact Hyper Text Markup Language

CGI

-

Common Gateway Interface

CGM

-

Computer Graphics Metafile

CIA

-

Central Intelligence Agency

CICERO

-

Control Information system Concepts based on Encapsulated Real-time Objects

CIDR

-

Classes InterDomain Routing

CIE

-

International Commission on Illumination

CIF

-

Cells In Frames

CIM

-

Compaq Insight Manager

CIM

-

Computer Integrated Manufacturing.

CIP

-

Common Indexing Protocol

CIPA

-

Camera & Imaging Products Association

CIRC

-

Cross Interleave Reed Solomon product Code

CIS

-

Case Integration Services

CISC

-

Complex Instruction Set Computer

CIX

-

Commercial Internet eXchange

CLDC

-

Connected Limited Device Configuration

- 10 -

CLIP

-

Component Library Integration Package

CLI

-

Command Line Interface

CLOS

-

Common Lisp Object System

CLP

-

Constraint Logic Programming

CLUT

-

Color Look-Up Table

CLV

-

Constant Linear Velocity

CM

-

Configuration Management

CM

-

Connection Machine

CMC

-

Common Message Calls

CMM

-

Capability Maturity Model

CMOS

-

Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor

CMRR

-

Common Mode Rejection Ratio

CMS

-

Content Management System

CMSS

-

Creative Multi-Speaker Surround

CMY

-

Cyan/Magenta/Yellow

CMVC

-

Configuration Management Version Control

CMYK

-

Cyan/Magenta/Yellow/blacK

CNR

-

Communication Network Riser

COAST

-

Cache On A STick

COBOL

-

Common Business Oriented Language

COCOMO

-

Constructive Cost Model

COCOT

-

Customer Owned Customer Operated Telephone

COM

-

Common Object Model

- 11 -

COM

-

Computer Output on Microfilm

CORBA

-

Common Object Request Broker Architecture

COSE

-

Common Open Software Environment

COSS

-

Common Object Services Specification

COTS

-

Commercial off the Shelf solution

CPAN

-

Comprehensive Perl Archive Network

CPHB

-

Computer Protocol Heart Beat

CPI

-

Character Per Inch

CPI

-

Common Program Interface

CPLIP

-

Compressed Parallel Line Internet Protocol

CPM

-

Critical Path Method

CPNX

-

Computer Protocol Network eXecutive

CPS

-

Character Per Seconde

CPSR

-

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility

CPU

-

Central Processor Unit

CR

-

Carriage Return

CRC

-

Cyclic Redundancy Check

CRM

-

Customer Relationship Management

CRT

-

Cathode Ray Tube

CS

-

Cable Select

CS

-

Clear to Send

CS

-

Crystal Semiconductor

- 12 -

CSA

-

Chief Software Architect

CSCW

-

Computer Supported Cooperative Work

CSD

-

Circuit Switched Data

CSDI

-

Compressed Serial Digital Interface

CSDN

-

Circuit Switched Data Network

CSG

-

Constructive Solid Geometry

CSH

-

C SHell

CSI

-

Computer Security Institute

CSM

-

Central Switch Matrix

CSMA/CD

-

Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection

CSP

-

Communicating Sequential Processes

CSP

-

Cryptographic Service Provider

CSS

-

Cascading Style Sheet

CSTM

-

Cinema SubTitles Machine

CSU

-

Channel Service Unit.

CTI

-

Computer Telephony Integration

CTCP

-

Client-to-Client-Protocol

CTS

-

Clear To Send

CUA

-

Common User Access

CVE

-

Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures

CVS

-

Concurrent Versions System

CWDM

-

Course Wavelength Division Multiplex

D3D

-

Direct 3D

- 13 -

DAA

-

Distributed Application Architecture

DAB

-

Digital Audio Broadcasting

DAC

-

Digital/Analog Converter

DAME

-

Dark Avenger Mutation Engine

DAO

-

Disk At Once

DASD

-

Direct Access Storage Device

DASE

-

Distributed Application Support Environment

DAT

-

Digital Audio Tape

DBA

-

Database Administrator

DBB

-

Dynamic Bass Boost

DBD

-

Data Base Driver

DBF

-

DataBase File

DBI

-

Data Base Interface

DBI

-

Dynamic Bus Inversion

DBMS

-

DataBase Management System

DBR

-

DOS Boot Record

DC

-

Direct Current

DC

-

Dual Channel

DCA

-

Document Content Architecture

DCC

-

Digital Compact Cassette

DCC

-

Digital Content Creation

DCC

-

Direct-Client-to-Client

DCC

-

Display Communication Channel

- 14 -

DCD

-

Data Carrier Detect

DCE

-

Data Circuit-terminating Equipment

DCE

-

Data Communications Equipment

DCE

-

Distributed Computing Environment

DCF

-

Design rule for Camera File system

DCF

-

Document Composition Facility

DCI

-

Direct Control Interface

DCI

-

Display Control Interface

DCMA

-

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

DCOM

-

Distributed Component Object Model

DCR

-

Digital Colour Restoration

DCSA

-

Distributed Component Software

DCT

-

Discrete Cosine Transform

DD

-

Double Density

DDA

-

Digital Differential Analyzer

DDB

-

Device Dependent Bitmap

DDC

-

Display Data Channel

DDC/CI

-

Display Data Channel Command Interface

DDE

-

Dynamic Data Exchange

DDIF

-

Digital Document Interchange Format

DDK

-

Device Driver Kit

DDK

-

Driver Development Kit

DDL

-

Data Definition Language

- 15 -

DDMA

-

Distributed Direct Memory Access

DDML

-

Document Definition Markup Language

DDNS

-

Dual Dynamic Noise Suppresser

DDNS

-

Dynamic Domain Name Service

DDO

-

Dynamic Drive Overlay

DDP

-

Datagram Delivery Protocol

DDR RAM

-

Double Data Rate RAM

DDS

-

Digital Data Service

DDTS

-

Distributed Defect Tracking System

DEC

-

Digital Equipment Corporation

DECT

-

Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications

DEP

-

Data Execution Prevention

DES

-

Data Encryption Standard

DFC

-

Dynamic Feedback Circuit

DFC

-

Dynamic Focus Circuit

DFD

-

Data Flow Diagram

DFP

-

Digital Flat Panel

DFS

-

Distributed File System

DFT

-

Discrete Fourier Transformation

DGL

-

Data Generation Language

DGP

-

Dissimilar Gateway Protocol

DGPS

-

Differential Global Positioning System

DHCP

-

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

- 16 -

DIAC

-

DIode Alternate Current switch

DIB

-

Device Independent Bitmap

DIB

-

Dual Independent

DIGIC

-

DIGital Imaging Core

DII

-

Dynamic Invocation Interface

DIIG

-

Digital Information Infrastructure Guide

DIL

-

Dual In-line Package

DIME

-

DIrect Memory Execute

DIMM

-

Dual Inline Memory Module

DIP

-

Dual In-line Package

DIP

-

Document Image Processing

DIRECT X

-

DIRECT eXtension

DIRT

-

Design In Real Time

DISA

-

Data Interchange Standards Association

DIT

-

Directory Information Tree

DIX

-

DEC-Intel-Xerox

DKI

-

Dynamic Keyword Insertion

DLG

-

Digital Line Graph

DLL

-

Dynamic Link Library

DLP

-

Digital Light Processing

DLS

-

Digital Loop Service

DLS

-

Distributed Link Services

DLS

-

Directory Location Service

- 17 -

DLS

-

Dynamic Load Sharing

DLS

-

DownLoadable Sounds

DLT

-

Digital Linear Tape

DMA

-

Direct Memory Access

DMCA

-

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

DMD

-

Digital Micromirror Device

DME

-

Distance-Measuring Equipment

DME

-

Distributed Management Environment

DMI

-

Desktop Management Interface

DMM

-

Diamond MultiMedia

DMOS

-

Diffused Metal Oxide Semiconductor

DMS

-

Document Management System

DMT

-

Discrete Monitor Timings

DMTF

-

Desktop Management Task Force

DMU

-

Digital Mock-Up

DN

-

DOS Navigator

DNA

-

Distributed interNet Architecture

DNR

-

Digital Noise Reduction

DNS

-

Distributed Name Service

DNS

-

Domain Name Server

DOC

-

Distributed Object Computing

DOCSIS

-

Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification

DOE

-

Distributed Object Environment

- 18 -

DOI

-

Digital Object Identifier

DOM

-

Document Object Models

DOMAIN

-

Distributed Operating Multi Access Interactive

DOMF

-

Distributed Object Management Facility

DOORS

-

Dynamic Object Oriented Requirements

DOS

-

Disk Operating System

DOW

-

Direct Over Write

DPI

-

Dots Per Inch

DPMI

-

Dos Protected Mode Interface

DPMS

-

Display Power Management System

DPMS

-

Dos Protected Mode Services

DPOF

-

Digital Print Order Format

DPS

-

Digital Processing Systems

DRA

-

Data Recovery Agent

DRAM

-

Dynamic Random Access Memory

DRAW

-

Direct Read After Write

DRDRAM

-

Direct Ram bus Dynamic Random Access Memory

DS

-

Double Side

DSAM

-

Data Set Access Method

DSC

-

Digital Sound Control

DSC

-

Dynamic Smart Cooling

DSD

-

Document Structure Description

DSDM

-

Dynamic Systems Development Method

- 19 -

DSE

-

Data Structure Editor

DSEE

-

Domain Software Engineering Environment

DSL

-

Data Link Service

DSM

-

Directory Service Migration

DSN

-

Deep Space Network

DSP

-

Digital Signal Processor

DSP

-

Display Systems Protocol

DSP

-

Digital Signal Processing

DSR

-

Data Set Ready

DSS

-

Digital Signature Standard

DSS

-

Decision Support Systems

DSSSL

-

Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum

DSSSL

-

Document Style and Semantics Specification Language

DSU

-

Data Service Units

DT4DTD

-

Data Types For DTD

DTA

-

Dave's Targa Animator

DTA

-

Disk Transfer Area

DTA

-

Dynamic Traffic Assignment

DTC

-

Distributed Transaction Coordinator

DTCP

-

Digital Transmission Content Protection

DTD

-

Document Type Definition

DTE

-

Data Terminal Equipment

DTL

-

Digital Tape Library

- 20 -

DTL

-

Diode-Transistor Logic

DTLS

-

Descriptive Top-Level Specification language

DTP

-

DeskTop Publishing

DTR

-

Data Terminal Ready

DTS

-

Digital Theatre System

DTS

-

Distributed Time Service

DUN

-

Dial-Up Networking

DV

-

Digital Video

DVB-C

-

Digital Video Broadcasting-Cable

DVB-T

-

Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial

DVB-TS

-

Digital Video Broadcasting-Satellite

DVD

-

Digital Video (Versatile) Disc

DVI

-

Digital Video Interactive

DWANGO

-

Dial-up Wide Area Network Gaming Organization

DWM

-

Desktop Windows Manager

DXF

-

autocad Drawing eXchange Format

DXR

-

Dynamic eXtension Resolution Information Systems Agency Network

E-DDC

-

Enhanced Extended Display Data Channel

E3

-

Electronic Entertainment Expo

EAGLE

-

Easily Applicable Graphical Layout Editor

EAPS

-

Ethernet Automatic Protection Switching

EAX

-

Environmental Audio eXtension

- 21 -

EBCDIC

-

Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code

ECC

-

Error Checking and Correction

ECC

-

Error Correction Code

ECD

-

Enhanced Color Display

ECM

-

Enterprise Component Modelling

ECO

-

Engineering Change Order

ECP

-

Enhanced Capability Port

ED

-

Extra Density

EDA

-

Electronic Design Automation

EDC

-

Error Detection Code

EDES

-

Expanded Data Encryption Standard

EDGE

-

Enhanced Data rate for Global Evolution

EDH

-

Electronic Document Handling

EDIF

-

Electronic Design Interchange Format

EDI

-

Electronic Data Interchange

EDID

-

Extended Display Identification Data

EDIP

-

Electronic Document Image Processing

EDM

-

Engineering Data Management

EDMS

-

Electronic Document Management System

EDORAM

-

Extended Data Output Random Access Memory

EDP

-

Electronic Data Processing

EDPT

-

Enhanced Drive Parameter Table

- 22 -

EEMS

-

Enhanced Expanded Memory Specification

EER

-

Equal Error Rate

EFS

-

Encrypting File System

EFT

-

Electronic Funds Transfer

EGA

-

Enhanced Graphics Adapter

EGP

-

Exterior Gateway Protocol

EIDE

-

Enhanced Integrated Device Electronic

EIR

-

Equipment Identity Register

EIS

-

Executive Information Systems

EJB

-

Enterprise JavaBean

ELD

-

Electronic License Distribution

ELF

-

Executable and Linking Format

ELF

-

Extra Low Frequency

ELM

-

Enterprise Content Management

ELSI

-

Extreme Large Scale Integration

E-mail

-

Electronic mail

EMA

-

Enterprise Memory Architecture

EMD

-

External Memory Drive

EMI

-

ElectroMagnetic Interference

EMM

-

Expanded Memory Manager

EMP

-

Emergency Management Port

EMS

-

Expanded Memory Specification

- 23 -

ENIAC

-

Electronic Numerator, Integrator, Analyzer and Calculator

EOF

-

End Of File

EON

-

Enhanced Other Network

EOS

-

Equation Operating System

EOT

-

End Of Transmission

EP

-

Enterprise Portal

EPC

-

Electronic Product Code

EPIC

-

Electronic Privacy Information Center

EPIC

-

Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing

EPICenter

-

Electronic Photography and Imaging Center

EPP

-

Enhanced Parallel Port

ERP

-

Enterprise Resource Planning

EPROM

-

Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory

EPS

-

Encapsulated PostScript

ERMES

-

Enhanced Radio MEssage System

ERD

-

Entity-relationship diagram

ERP

-

Enterprise Resource Planning

ESA

-

Electronic Shock Absorption

ESC

-

ESCape

ESD

-

Electronic Software Distribution

ESD

-

ElectroStatic Discharge

ESDI

-

Enhanced Small Device Interface

ESIS

-

Element Structure Information Set

- 24 -

ESMA

-

Extended Server Memory Architecture

ESML

-

Extended Systems Modelling Language

ESP

-

Encapsulated Security Payload

ETHERIP

-

ETHERnet-within-IP encapsulation

EU

-

Execution Unit

EULA

-

End User License Agreement

EVC

-

Enhanced Video Connector

EVD

-

Enhanced Versatile Disc

FAQ

-

Frequently Asked Questions

FAR

-

False Acceptance Rate

FAT

-

File Allocation Table

FATSERV

-

FATmen SERVer

FC-AL

-

Fibre Channel-Arbitrated Loop

FCB

-

File Control Block

FCC

-

Federal Communications Commission

FCP

-

Firewall Control Protocol

FCPGA

-

Flip Chip Pin Grid Array

FCS

-

Fibre Channel Standard

FDC

-

Floppy Disk Controller

FDD

-

Floppy Disk Drive

FDD

-

Frequency Division Duplex

FDDI

-

Fibre Distributed Data Interface

- 25 -

FE/TE

Focus Error/Tracking Error

FEA

-

Finite Element Analysis

FEC

-

Forward Error Correction

FED

-

Field Emission Display

FET

-

Field Effected transistor

FF

-

Form Feed

FFD

-

Free Form Deformation

FFP

-

Free Form Prism

FFT

-

Fast Fourier Transformation

FHSS

-

Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum

FIFO

-

First In-First Out

FIMS

-

Form Interface Management System

FIPS

-

First nondestructive Interactive Partition Splitting

FIR

-

Fast serial InfraRed

FIR

-

Finite Impulse Response

FIRE

-

Flexible Routing Engine

FITS

-

Flexible Image Transport System

FLOPS

-

Floating Point Operations

FM

-

Frequency Modulation

FMA

-

File Management Appliance

FMD

-

Fluorescent Multilayer Disc

FOOM

-

Formal Object Oriented Method.

FORML

-

Formal Object Role Modelling Language

- 26 -

ForTran

-

Formula Translator

FOSI

-

Formatted Output Specification Instance

FPA

-

Function Point Analysis

FPDI

-

Flat Panel Display Interface

FPGA

-

Field Programmable Gate Array

FPIC

-

Field Programmable Integrated Circuits

FPM

-

Fast Page Mode

FPM

-

Function Point Metric

FPMPMI

-

Flat Panel Monitor Physical Mounting Standard

FPROT

-

File PROTect

FPS

-

Frames Per Second

FPU

-

Floating-Point Unit

FQDN

-

Fully Qualified Domain Name

FRR

-

False Rejection Rate

FRS

-

File Replication Service

FSAA

-

Full Scene Anti-Aliasing

FSB

-

Front Side Bus

FSK

-

Frequency Shift Keying

FSMO

-

Flexible Single Master Operation

FTD

-

Fluorescent Tube Display

FTP

-

File Transfer Protocol

FTR

-

Formal Technical Review

FTS

-

Favorite Track Selection

- 27 -

FVD

-

Forward versatile disc

FWA

-

Fixed Wireless Access

FWH

-

FirmWare Hub

GART

-

Graphics Address Remapping Table

GCA

-

Graphic Communications Association

GCC

-

GNU C Compiler

GDI

-

Graphics Device Interface

GDT

-

Global Description Table

GDTR

-

Global Description Table Register

GGP

-

Gateway to Gateway Protocol

GHA

-

Gigabit Highway Alliance

GID

-

Group Identification

GIF

-

Graphics Interchange Format

GIGO

-

Garbage In Garbage Out

GIMP

-

General Image Manipulation Program

GIS

-

Geographical Information System

GKS

-

Graphical Kernel System

GLB

-

Generic Logic Block

GLUT

-

Graphics Library Utility Toolkit

GNAT

-

GNU Ada Translator

GNU

-

GNU's Not Unix

GOP

-

Group Of Pictures

GPA

-

Graphics Port Accelerator

- 28 -

GPC

-

GNU Pascal Compiler

GPF

-

General Protection Fault

GPIB

-

General Purpose Interface Bus

GPL

-

General Public License

GPP

-

GNU C++ compiler

GPRS

-

General Packet Radio System

GPS

-

Global Positioning System

GPSS

-

General Purpose System Simulator

GPT

-

Graphics Performance Tool

GPU

-

Graphics Processing Unit

GRE

-

General Routing Encapsulation

GREP

-

Generalized Regular Expression Parser

GRP

-

Global Routing Pool

GSM

-

Global System for Mobile Communication

GTF

-

Generalized Timing Formula

GTL

-

Gunning Transceiver Logic

GTLB

-

Graphics Translation Look-aside Buffer

GTO

-

Gate Turn Off

GTP

-

GPRS Tunneling Protocol

GTS

-

GigaTexel Shading

GUI

-

Graphical User Interface

GUIDE

-

Graphical User Interface Development Environment

GUS

-

Gravis UltraSound

- 29 -

HAL

-

Hardware Abstraction Layer

HAN

-

Home Area Network

HAVI

-

Home Audio Visual Interoperatibility

HCG

-

Hercules Graphics Card

HCI

-

Human Computer Interface

HCS

-

Heterogeneous Computer System

HCT

-

Hardware Compatibility Tests

HDA

-

Hard Disk Assembly

HDC

-

HardDisk Controller

HDCD

-

High Definition Compact Disc

HDF

-

Hierarchical Data Format

HDD

-

HardDisk Drive

HDI

-

High Definition Imaging

HDL

-

Hardware Description Language

HDLC

-

High level Data Link Control

HDR

-

Hard Disk Recording

HDR

-

High Dynamic Range

HDSS

-

Holographic Data Storage System

HEL

-

Hardware Emulation Layer

HFS

-

Hierarchical File System

HGC

-

Hercules Graphics Controller

HIC

-

Hybrid Integrated Circuit

HID

-

Human Interface Devices

- 30 -

HIDS

-

Host based Instruction Detection

HIPPI

-

High Performance Parallel Interface

HIR

-

Hidden Internal Registers

HLR

-

Home Location Register

HMA

-

High Memory Area

HMP

-

Host Monitoring Protocol

HOE

-

Holographic Optical Elements

HOOD

-

Hierarchical Object Oriented Design

HP

-

Hewlett Packard

HPC

-

Hand-held Personal Computer

HPFS

-

High Performance File System

HPGL

-

Hewlett Packard Graphics Language

HPOM

-

Home Page Object Model

HPSB

-

High Performance Serial Bus

HRTF

-

Head-Related Transfer Function

HS

-

High Speed (modem connection)

HSCSD

-

High Speed Circuit-Switched Data

HSDRAM

-

High speed Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory

HSM

-

Hierarchical Storage Management

HST

-

High Speed Technology

HT

-

Hyper Threading

HTML

-

Hyper Text Markup Language

HTTP

-

Hyper Text Transfer Protocol

- 31 -

HUD

-

Heads-Up Display

HURD

-

HIRD of Unix Replacing Daemons

HVD

-

High Voltage Differential

HW

-

HardWare

IA-64

Intel Architecture 64bit

IAB

-

Internet Architecture Board

IANA

-

International Article Numbering Association

IANA

-

Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

IBASES

-

Intel Baseline AGP System Evaluation Suite

IBM

-

International Business Machine

IBMR

-

Image Based Method Rendering

IC

-

Integrated Circuit

ICB

-

Image Capture Board

ICB

-

Intel Code Builder

ICD

-

Installable Client Driver

ICL

-

Iob Control Language

ICMP

-

Internet Control Message Protocol

ICS

-

Internet Caching System

ICU

-

ISA Configuration Utility

ICW

-

Internet Connection Wizard

ID

-

Identification

IDAPI

-

Independent Database Application Programming Interface

IDE

-

Integrated Developement Environment

- 32 -

IDEA

-

International Data Encryption Algorithm

IDL

-

Interface Description Language

IDPR

-

Inter-Domain Policy Routing Protocol

IDPR-CMTP -

IDPR Control Message Transport Protocol

IDRP

-

Inter-Domain Routing Protocol

IDS

-

Identification of Digitized Roads

IDSA

-

Interactive Digital Software Association

IDT

-

Integrated Device Technology

IEAK

-

Internet Explorer Administration Kit

IEEE

-

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

IETF

-

Internet Engineering Task Force

IFM

-

Intelligent Flow Management

IGBT

-

Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor

IGDT

-

Inert Gas Discharge Tube

IGP

-

Interior Gateway Protocol

IHS

-

Integrated Heat Spreader

IHV

-

Independent Hardware Vendor

IIC

-

Inter IC Bus

IIOP

-

Internet InterORB Protocol

IIR

-

Infinite Impulse Response

IIS

-

Internet Information Server

IIT

-

Integrated Information Technology

IKE

-

Internet Key Exchange

- 33 -

ILS

-

International Lyrics Server

IMAP3

-

Interactive Mail Access Protocol v3

IMB

-

InterModule Bus

IM-BUS

-

InterMetal-Bus

IMSI

-

International Mobile Subscriber Identification

IMSP

-

Interactive Mail Support Protocol

IN

-

Intelligent Network

INTEL

-

INTegrated Electronic

INTERNET -

INTERnational NETwork

IO

-

Input/Output

IOC

-

IBM Open Classes

IOL

-

Internet OnLine

IORQ

-

Input/Output ReQuest

IPC

-

Inter-Process Communication

IPCU

-

Internet Packet Core Utility

IPEAK

-

Intel Performance Evaluation and Analysis Kit

IPI

-

Internal Processor Interrupt

IPL

-

Initial Program Load

IPN

-

InterPlanetary Network

IPNRG

-

Interplanetary Internet Research Group

IPPC

-

Internet Pluribus Packet Core

IPS

-

Intelligent Power Switch

IPsec

-

Internet Protocol Security

- 34 -

IPX

-

Internetwork Packet eXchange

IQ

-

Intelligence Quotient

IR

-

InfraRed

IRC

-

Internet Relay Chat

IrDA

-

Infrared Data Association

IRP

-

I/O Request Packed

IRQ

-

Interrupt ReQuest

IRTP

-

Internet Reliable Transaction Protocol

ISA

-

Industry Standard Architecture

ISA

-

Instruction Set Architecture

ISA

-

Instruction Set Architecture

ISA

-

Industry Standard Architecture

ISDN

-

Integrated Services Digital Network

ISI

-

Information Sciences Institute

ISM

-

Input Switch Matrix

ISM

-

Integrated Switch Module

ISO

-

International Standard Organization

ISO-IP

-

ISO Internet Protocol

ISO-TP4

-

ISO Transport Protocol class 4

ISP

-

Internet Service Provider

ISS

-

International Space System

ISS

-

Integrated System Services

IT

-

Information Technology

- 35 -

ITT

-

International Telephone and Telegraph

IVC

-

Integrated Visual Computing

IWU

-

Inter Working Unit

IXP

-

Image processing eXternal Process

JAM

-

Just Another Metafile

JANET

-

The Joint Academic Network

JBIG

-

Joint Bi-level Image Expert Group

JDK

-

Java Development Kit

JEDI

-

Joint Electronic Document Interchange

JEPI

-

Joint Electronic Payment Initiative

JFET

-

Junction Field Effected transistor

JFIF

-

Joint File Interchange Format

JIPA

-

JUMPtec Intelligent Panel Adaptation

JIT

-

Just In Time

JOOP

-

Journal of Object-Oriented Programming

JPEG

-

Joint Photographic Expert Group

JRC

-

JUMPtec Remote Control

JRE

-

Java Runtime Environment

JSP

-

Java Server Pages

JTC

-

Joint Technical Committee

JVM

-

Java Virtual Machine

KBS

-

Knowledge-Based System

KCC

-

Knowledge Consistency Checker

- 36 -

KDC

-

Key Distribution Center

KDD

-

Knowledge Discovery in Databases

KDE

-

K Desktop Environment

KIF

-

Knowledge Interchange Format

KMS

-

Knowledge Management System

KRA

-

Key Recovery Agent

KRSL

-

Knowledge Representation Specification Language

KSH

-

Korn SHell

KUIP

-

Kernel User Interface Package

KXP

-

Keyframer eXternal Process

L2TP

-

Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol

LADDR

-

LAyered Device Driver aDchitecture

LAN

-

Local Area Network

LARP

-

Lotus Address Resolution Protocol

LASER

-

Light Amplification Stimulated Emission of Radiation

LBA

-

Logical Block Addressing

LBE

-

Language-Based Editor

LCC

-

Logical Link Control

LCCC

-

Leadless Ceramic Chip Carrier

LCD

-

Liquid Crystal Display

LCF

-

Logic for Computable Functions

LCGN

-

Logical Channel Group Number

LCI

-

Logical Channel Identifier

- 37 -

LCM

-

LANDesk Configuration Manager

LCN

-

Logical Channel Number

LDAP

-

Lightweight Directory Access Protocol

LDP

-

Linux Documentation Project

LDT

-

Local Description Table

LDTR

-

Local Description Table Register

LED

-

Light Emitting Diode

LEDA

-

Library of Efficient Data types and Algorithms

LEO

-

Low Earth Orbit

LF

-

Line Feed

LIFO

-

Last In-First Out

LIFN

-

Location Independent File Name

LiLo

-

Linux Loader

LIM

-

Lotus Intel Microsoft standard

LIMDOW

-

Light Intensity Modulation Direct OverWrite

LIMM

-

Light Intensity Modulation Method

LIMOS

-

Laser Intensity MOdulation System

LINQ

-

Language Integrated Query

LL

-

Leased Lines

LLC

-

Logical Link Control

LLTD

-

Link Layer Topology Discovery

LMA

-

Light Memory Architecture

LMS

-

Learning Management System

- 38 -

LPAC

-

Lossless Predictive Audio Compression

LPT

-

Line Printer Terminal

LQ

-

Letter Quality

LRU

-

Last Recently Used

LSB

-

Least Significant Bit

LSI

-

Large Scale Integration

LSM

-

Linux Software Map

LSE

-

Language Sensitive Editor

LTO

-

Linear Tape-Open

LUA

-

Limited User Account

LUN

-

Logical UNit

LUT

-

Look-Up Table

LVD

-

Low Voltage Differential

LW

-

Long Wave

M68k

-

Motorola 68xxx processor

MAC

-

Media Access Controller

MAC

-

Message Authentication Code

MAGLEV

-

MAGnetic LEVitation

MAJC

-

Microprocessor Architecture for Java Computing

MAME

-

Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator

MAN

-

Metropolitan Area Network

MARS

-

Multicast Address Resolution Service

MAS

-

Multilevel Analog Signaling

- 39 -

MASH

-

Multi Stage Noise Shaping

MAU

-

Media Attachment Unit

MAU

-

Multistation Access Unit

MaxMTU

-

MaxiMum Transmission Unit

MB

-

MainBoard (Motherboard)

MBONE

-

Multicast BackbONE

MBPS

-

MegaBits Per Second

MBR

-

Master Boot Record

MCA

-

MicroChannel Architecture

MCB

-

Memory Control Block

MCC

-

Media Control Center

MCCS

-

Monitor Control Command Set

MCD

-

Mini-Client Driver

MCD

-

Motherboard Configurable Devices

MCGA

-

Multi-Color Graphics Array

MCH

-

Memory Controller Hub

MCI

-

Media Control Interface

MCU

-

MCA Configuration Utility

MD

-

MiniDisc

MDA

-

Monochrome Display Adapter

MDAC

-

Microsoft Data Access Components

MDF

-

Mobile Data Framework

MDPA

-

Monochrome Display and Printer Adapter

- 40 -

MDRAM

-

Multibank Dynamic Random Access Memory

MEL

-

Maya Embedded Language

MEMS

-

Micro-Electro-Mechanical System

MER

-

Micro Electronic Relay

MERIT-INP -

MERIT INternodal Protocol

MEXE

-

Mobile station application EXecution Environment

MFCC

-

Magnetic Field Cancel Coil

MFE-NSP

-

MFE Network Services Protocol

MFLOPS

-

Million Floating Operations per Second

MFM

-

Modified Frequency Modulation

MGA

-

Matrox Graphics Adapter

MGD

-

MOSFET Gate Driver

MHP

-

Multimedia Home Platform

MHRP

-

Mobile Host Routing Protocol

MHS

-

Message Handling System

MIB

-

Management Information Base

MIC

-

Marathon Interface Card

MIC

-

Memory In Cartridge

MICP

-

Mobile Internetworking Control Protocol

MIDI

-

Musical Instrument Digital Interface

MIFD

-

Management Information Format Database

MILNET

-

MILitary NETwork

MIME

-

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension

- 41 -

MIMO

-

Multi Input Multi Output

MIPS

-

Meaningless Indication of Processor Speed

MIPS

-

Million Instructions per Second

MIS

-

Metal Insulated Semiconductor

MJPEG

-

Motion Joint Picture Expert Group

MLM

-

Master Library Module

MLM

-

Multi Level Marketing

MLID

Multiple Link Interface Driver

MMC

-

MultiMedia Command set

MMIO

-

Memory-Mapped Input/Output

MML

-

Man Machine Language

MMR

-

Modified Modified Read

MMU

-

Memory Management Unit

MMX

-

MultiMedia eXtension

MO

-

Magneto-Optical

MO-CVD

-

Metal Organic-Chemical Vapor Deposition

MODEM

-

MOdulator-DEModulator

MOM

-

Microsoft Operations Manager

MOPS

-

Minimized Open PC System

MOS

-

Metal Oxid Semiconductor

MOT

-

Microwave Oven Transformer

MPML

-

Main Profile at Main Level

MPO

-

Music Power Output

- 42 -

MPP

-

Message Posting Protocol

MPS

-

Million Pixels per Second

MR

-

Master Reset

MR

-

Modem Ready

MRA

-

Multi-Resolution Analysis

MRO

-

Maintenance, Repair and Operation

MRP

-

Material Requirements Planning

MRP II

-

Manufacturing Requirements Planning

MRS

-

Media Recognition System

MS

-

Microsoft

MSAA

-

Microsoft Active Accessibility

MSAU

-

MultiStation Access Unit

MSB

-

Most Significant Bit

MSC

-

Mobile Services switching Centre

MSCDEX

-

Microsoft Compact Disc Extension

MSCS

-

Microsoft Cluster Server

MSD

-

Microsoft Diagnostic

MSDN

-

Microsoft Developer Network

MSDS

-

Material Safety Data Sheet

MSI

-

Message Signaled Interrupts

MSI

-

Medium Scale Integration

MSI

-

Microsoft Installer

MSIE

-

Microsoft Internet Explorer

- 43 -

MSN

-

Microsoft Network

MSN

-

Multiple Subscriber Number

MSRT

-

Malicious Software Removal Tool

MTA

-

Mail Transfer Agent

MTBF

-

Medium Time Between Failures

MTH

-

Memory Translator Hub

MTP

-

Multicast Transport Protocol

MTS

-

Microsoft Transaction Server

MTTR

-

Mean Time To Repair

MTU

-

Maximum Transmission Unit

MULDEX

-

MULtiplexor-DEmultipleXor

MUX

-

MUltipleXing

MW

-

Medium Wave

NAG

-

Numerical Algorithms Group

NAS

-

Network Application Support

NASA

-

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NAT

-

Network Address Translation

NBL

-

Next Big Language

NBS

-

National Bureau of Standards

NCS

-

Network Computing System

NCSA

-

National Centre for Supercomputing Applications

NCSS

-

Non-Commented Source Statements

NDL

-

National Database Language

- 44 -

NDP

-

Neighbour Discovery Protocol

NetCDF

-

Network Common Data Form

NEWS

-

Network extensible Window

NFC

-

Near Field Communication

NFF

-

Neutral File Format

NFS

-

Network File System

NFT

-

Network File Transfer

NII

-

National Information Infrastructure

NISO

-

National Information Standards Organisation

NIST

-

National Institute of Standards and Technology

NITF

-

National Imagery Transmission Format

NLP

-

Natural Language Processing

NLS

-

Native Language System

NNTP

-

Network News Transfer Protocol

NQIC

-

National Quality Information Centre

NRAM

-

Non-volatile memory chip RAM

NREN

-

National Research and Education Network

NSE

-

Network Software Environment

NSRD

-

National Software Reuse Directory

NTP

-

News Transfer Protocol

NTTP

-

Network News Transfer Protocol

OAM

-

Object Attribute Memory

OAM

-

Operations Administration and Maintenance

- 45 -

OAW

-

Optically Assisted Winchester

OBEX

-

OBject EXchange

OCI

-

Optical Couple Insulator

OCR

-

Optical Character Recognition

OCTEK

-

OCean TECHnology

ODBC

-

Open DataBase Connectivity

ODI

-

Open Data-link Interface

OEM

-

Original Equipment Manufacturer

OFDM

-

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

OGM

-

OutGoing Message

OH

-

Off Hook (modem)

OLAP

-

OnLine Analytical Processing

OLE

-

Object Linking and Embedding

OLTP

-

On-Line Transaction Processing

OMG

-

Object Management Group

OMG

-

Open Management Group

OOP

-

Object Oriented Programming

OPC

-

Originating Point Code

OpenAL

-

Open Audio Library

OpenGL

-

Open Graphics Library

ORB

-

Object Request Broker

OS

-

Operating System

OSD

-

On Screen Display

- 46 -

OSI

-

Open Systems Interconnection

OSM

-

Output Switch Matrix

OSTA

-

Optical Storage Technology Association

OTP-ROM

-

One Time Programmable Read Only Memory

OVAL

-

Object Visual Application Language

OU

-

Organizational Unit

OUI

-

Offline Usenet Interface

PAC

-

Platform Adapter Component

PAD

-

Packet Assembler/Dissembler

PADS

-

Personal Automated Design System

PAE

-

Physical Address Extensions

PAL

-

Phase Alternation Line

PAP

-

Password Authentication Protocol

PAT

-

PArtition Table

PBCache

-

Pipeline Burst Cache

PC

-

Personal Computer

PC

-

Program Counter

PCA

-

Printed Circuit Assembly

PCA

-

Program Calibration Array

P-CAV

-

Partial Constant Angular Velocity

PCB

-

Printed-Circuit Board

PCI

-

Peripheral Component Interconnect

PCL

-

Postscript Communication Language

- 47 -

PCM

-

Pulse Code Modulation

PCR

-

PCI Configuration Registers

PCS

-

Personal Card System

PCS

-

Portable Computer System

PDA

-

Percent Defective Allowable

PDA

-

Personal Digital Assistant

PDF

-

Portable Document Format

PDL

-

Page Description Language

PDN

-

Public Data Network

PDP

-

Parallel Data Processing

PDU

-

Protocol Description Unit

PEEL

-

Programmable Electrically Erasable Logic

PEM

-

Privacy Enhanced Mail

PERL

-

Practical Extraction and Report Language

PGA

-

Pin Grid Array

PGA

-

Professional Graphics Adapter

PGM

-

Portable GrayMap

PGML

-

Precision Graphics Markup Language

PGP

-

Pretty Good Privacy

PIC

-

Power Integrated Circuit

PIC

-

Programmable Interrupt Controller

PID

-

Process Identification

PILOT

-

Programmed Instruction Learning Or Testing

- 48 -

PIM

-

Personal Information Manager

PIN

-

Personal Identification Number

PINE

-

Program for Internet News and Email

PING

-

Packet InterNet Groper

PIO

-

Parallel Input/Output

PIO

-

Programmed Input/Output

PIP

-

Picture In Picture

PIP

-

Power Interface Products

PIXEL

-

PIcture Element

PKI

-

Public Key Infrastructure

PLCC

-

Plastic Leaded Chip Carrier

PLEDM

-

Phase-state Low Electron Drive Memory

PLIP

-

Parallel Line Internet Protocol

PLL

-

Phase Locked Loop

PM

-

Phase Modulation

PMA

-

Photo Marketing Association

PMA

-

Program Memory Array

PME

-

Power Management Event

PMM

-

POST Memory Manager

PMM

-

Power Management Mode

PMMU

-

Paged Memory Management Unit

PMP

-

Portable Media Player

PMPO

-

Power Maximum Peak Output

- 49 -

PMT

-

PhotoMultiplier Tube

PNI

-

Prescott New Instructions

PnP

-

Plug and Play

POCSAG

-

Post Office Code Standardization Group

POF

-

Plastic Optic Fiber

POI

-

Point Of Interconnection

POP

-

Post Office Protocol

POS

-

Point Of Sale

POSIX

-

Portable Operating System Interface

POST

-

Power On Self Test

PPGA

-

Plastic Pin Grid Array

PPM

-

Page Per Minute

PPM

-

Portable PixMap

PPP

-

Point-to-Point Protocol

PPTP

-

Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol

PQ

-

PowerQuest

PRA

-

Primary Rate Access

PRAM

-

Parameter Random Access Memory

PRM

-

Packet Radio Measurement

PRML

-

Partial Response Maximum Likehood

PROLOG

-

PROgramming LOGic

PROM

-

Programmable Read Only Memory

PSDN

-

Packet Switched Data Network

- 50 -

PSK

-

Phase Shift Keying

PSP

-

Program Segment Prefix

PTE

-

Page Table Entries

PTP

-

Parcel Transfer Protocol

PTP

-

Peer To Peer

PTSA

-

Product Term Sharing Array

PTY

-

Program Type

PUK

-

Personal Unblocking Key

PVC

-

Permanent Virtual Channel

PVI

-

Photo Voltaic Isolator

PVP

-

Packet Video Protocol

PVR

-

Personal Video Recorder

PWM

-

Pulse Width Modulation

PXE

-

Preboot eXecution Environment

PXP

-

Program modeling eXternal Process

QA

-

Quality Assurance

QBE

-

Query By Example

QC

-

Quality Control

QD

-

Quad Channel

QDR

-

Quadruple Data Rate

QEMM

-

Quarterdeck Expanded Memory Manager

QFP

-

Quad Fine Pitch

QIC

-

Quarter Inch Cartridge

- 51 -

QOS

-

Quality Of Services

QPS

-

Quark Publishing System

QRSL

-

Quad RAMBUS Signaling Level

QT

-

QuickTime

QTML

-

QuickTime Media Layer

RADAR

-

RAdio Detection And Ranging

RAID

-

Redundant Array of Independent Disks

RAM

-

Random Access Memory

RAM

-

Rechargeable Alkaline Manganese

RAMAC

-

Random Access Method of Accounting and Control

RAMDAC

-

Random Access Memory Digital/Analog Converter

RAN

-

Regional Area Network

RAO

-

Revenue Accounting Office

RAP

-

Roving Analysis Port

RARP

-

Reverse Address Resolution Protocol

RAS

-

Remote Access Service

RAS

-

Row Address Strobe

RAW

-

Read After Write

RCA

-

Radio Corporation of America

RCS

-

Revision Control System

RD

-

Receiving Data

RGF

-

Resource Description Framework

RGSS

-

Rotated Grid Super-Sampling

- 52 -

RDP

-

Reliable Data Protocol

RDRAM

-

Rambus Dynamic Random Access Memory

RDS

-

Radio Data System

READ

-

Relative Element Address Differentiation

RELAX

-

REgular LAnguage for XML

RET

-

Resolution Enhancement Technology

RFC

-

Request for Comments

RFI

-

Radio Frequency Interference

RFID

-

Radio Frequency identification

RGB

-

Red/Green/Blue

RGBA

-

Red/Green/Blue/Alpha

RGN

-

Random Number Generator

RGP

-

Report Generator Program

RI

-

Ring Indicator

RID

-

Recorder unique Identifier

RIMM

-

Rambus In-line Memory Module

RIP

-

RIPscrip graphics protocol

RISC

-

Reduced Instruction Set Computer

RIVA

-

Real-time Interactive Video and animation Accelerator

RMS

-

Root Mean Square

RNS

-

Reflection Network Series

ROM

-

Read Only Memory

ROP

-

Raster Operation Code

- 53 -

RLE

-

Run Length Encoded (Encoding)

RLL

-

Run Length Limited

RLP

-

Radio Link Protocol

RPC

-

Remote Procedure Call

RS

-

Recommended Standard

RS

-

Request to Send

RSU

-

Remote Subscribe Unit

RSVP

-

ReSerVation Protocol

RSX 3D

-

Realistic 3D Sound Experience

RTC

-

Real Time Clock

RTC

-

Return To Control

RTJWG

-

Real-Time Java Working Group

RTL

-

Register Transfer Logic

RTL

-

Resistor Transistor Logic

RTL

-

Register Transfer Level

RTOS

-

Real-Time Operating System

RTP

-

Real-Time Protocol

RTP

-

Real-Time Platform

RTS

-

Request To Send

RVD

-

MIT Remote Virtual Disk protocol

RWM

-

Read-Write Memory

RxD

-

Receive Data

S/NR

-

Signal/Noise Ratio

- 54 -

S/PDIF

-

Sony/Philips Digital InterFace

S3TC

-

S3 Texture Compression

SAA

-

Systems Application Architecture

SACD

-

Super Audio Compact Disc

SAM

-

Security Account Manager

SAN

-

Storage Area Network

SANDRA

-

System ANalyser Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant

SAO

-

Session At Once

SAP

-

Service Advertising Protocol

SAR

-

Specific Absorption Rate

SAR

-

Synthetic Aperture Radar

SAT-MON

-

SATnet MONitoring

SB

-

SoundBlaster

SBS

-

Small Business Server

SCAM

-

SCSI Configured Automatically

SCAVEM

-

SCAn VElocity Modulation

SCI

-

System Control Interrupt

SCL

-

Superscape Control Language

SCM

-

Service Control Manager

SCMS

-

Serial Copy Management System

SCOPE

-

Supply Chain Optimization, Planning and Execution

SCPI

-

Standard Commands for Programmable Instruments

SCR

-

Silicon Controlled Rectifier

- 55 -

SCSI

-

Small Computer System Interface

SD

-

Sending Data

SD

-

Single Density

SD-DVD

-

Super Density Digital Video Disc

SDA

-

Source Data Automation

SDDI

-

Serial Digital Data Interface

SDDS

-

Sony Dynamic Digital Sound

SDK

-

Software Development Kit

SDLC

-

Synchronous Data Link Control

SDMI

-

Secure Digital Music Initiative

SDRAM

-

Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory

SDRP

-

Source Demand Routing Protocol

SDT

-

Software Developer Toolkit

SE

-

Single Ended

SEC

-

Single Edge Contact

SECAM

-

Sequential Color With Memory

SECC

-

Single Edge Contact Cartridge

SEGA

-

Super Enhanced Graphics Adapter

SEO

-

Search Engine Optimization

SEP

-

Sequential Exchange Protocol

SEPP

-

Single Edge Processor Package

SESR

-

Standard Event Status Register

SET

-

Secure Electronic Transaction

- 56 -

SETI

-

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

SFFO

-

Small Form Factor Optical storage

SFT

-

System Fault Tolerance

SFT

-

System File Table

SFX

-

SelF eXtractor

SGI

-

Servers and Graphics Integrated

SGML

-

Standard Generalized Markup Language

SGP

-

Soukup Graphics Preprocessor

SGRAM

-

Synchronous Graphics Random Access Memory

SID

-

Sound Interface Device

SID

-

Security IDentifier

SIGS

-

Special Interest GroupS

SIL

-

Solid Immersion Lens

SIM

-

Subscriber Information Module

SIMD

-

Single Instruction Multiple Data

SIMM

-

Single In-line Memory Module

SIO

-

Serial Input/Output

SIP

-

Simple Internet Protocol

SIP

-

Single In-line Package

SIP

-

Super Impacted Particles

SIPP-AH

-

SIPP Authentication Header

SIR

-

Serial InfraRed

SiS

-

Silicon integrated Systems

- 57 -

SLDRAM

-

SyncLink Dynamic Random Access Memory

SLI

-

Scalable Link Interface

SLI

-

Scan Line Interleaving

SLIC

-

System License Internal Code

SLIP

-

Serial Line Internet Protocol

SLP

-

Service Location Protocol

SMA

-

Shared Memory Architecture

SMART

-

Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology

SMB

-

Server Message Box

SMC

-

Standard Microsystem Corporation

SMCS

-

Serial Copy Management System

SMD

-

Surface Mounting Device

SMI

-

System Management Interrupt

SMM

-

System Management Mode

SMP

-

Symmetrical MultiProcessing

SMS

-

Short Message Service

SMSC

-

Short Message Service Centre

SMT

-

Simultaneous Multi-Threading

SMT

-

Single-pass Multi-Texturing

SMT

-

Surface Mounting Technology

SMTP

-

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

SNA

-

Systems Network Architecture

SNAP

-

Symbolic Network Analysis Program

- 58 -

SNES

-

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

SNG

-

Satellite News Gathering

SNMP

-

Simple Network-Management Protocol

SNOBOL

-

String-Oriented Symbolic Language

SOC

-

System On a Chip

SODIMM

-

Small Outline Dual In-Line Memory Module

SOH

-

Start Of Heading

SoHo

-

Small Office-Home Office

SOIC

-

Small Outline Integrated Circuit

SOJ

-

Small Outline J-lead

SOM

-

System Object Model

SOP

-

Small Outline Package

SOX

-

Scheme for Object-oriented XML

S/PDIF

-

Sony/Philips Digital InterFace

SP

-

Space

SP

-

Stack Pointer

SP

-

Standard Play

SPARC

-

Scalar Processor ARChitecture

SPI

-

SCSI-3 Parallel interface

SPOOL

-

Simultaneous Peripheral Operation OnLine

SPOT

-

Smart Personal Objects Technology

SPS

-

Shock Protection System

SPTI

-

SCSI Pass Through Interface

- 59 -

SQL

-

Structured Query Language

SQUID

-

Superconducting QUantum Interface Device

SR

-

Service Release

SR

-

Slide Rule

SRA

-

Symmetric Rendering Architecture

SRAM

-

Static Random Access Memory

SRS

-

Sound Retrieval System

SS

-

Single Side

SSB

-

Single Side Band

SSD

-

Solid State Disc

SSH

-

Secure Shell

SSI

-

Standard Scale Integration

SSL

-

Secure Socket Layer

SSR

-

Solid State Relay

SSR

-

SuperScalar Rendering

STP

-

Shielded Twisted Pair

STS

-

Stratospheric Telecommunications Service

SVC

-

Switched Virtual Circuits

SVG

-

Scalable Vector Graphics

SVGA

-

Super Video Graphics Array

SVPMI

-

Super VGA Protected Mode Interface

SW

-

SoftWare

SW

-

Short Wave

- 60 -

SWAT

-

Special Weapons And Tactics

SWIFT-RVP -

Swift Remote Virtual file Protocol

SXP

-

Surface procedural eXternal Process

S-VHS

-

Super Video Home System

SYN

-

SYNchronization

SYSGEN

-

SYStem GENeration

TAB

-

TABulator

TAM

-

Trivial Authenticated Mail protocol

TAO

-

Track At Once

TAP

-

Telocator Alphanumeric Protocol

TAP

-

Test Access Port

TAP

-

Technical Advanced Placement

TAPI

-

Telephony Application Program Interface

TAR

-

Tape ARchiver

TASM

-

Turbo ASseMbler

TCA

-

Twin-Cache Architecture

TCH

-

Traffic Channel

TCP/IP

-

Terminal Communication Protocol/Internet Protocol

TCP/IP

-

Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol

TDM

-

Time Division Multiplex

TDMA

-

Time-Division Multiple Access

TDRSS

-

Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System

TEX

-

Type Setting Extension

- 61 -

TFT

-

Thin Field transistor

TFTP

-

Trivial File Transfer Protocol

TI

-

Texas Instruments

TIFF

-

Tagged Image File Format

TIGA

-

Texas Instruments Graphical Architecture

TIMI

-

Technically Independent Machine Interface

TIPS

-

Truevision Image Paint System

TLB

-

Translation Lookaside Buffer

TLS

-

Transport Layer Security

TLU

-

Table Look-Up

TMDS

-

Transition Minimized Differential Signaling

TNT

-

TwiN Texel

TOC

-

Table Of Contents

TP/IP

-

The Next Internet Protocol

TPI

-

Track Per Inch

TPM

-

Trusted Platform Module

TPS

-

Transactions Per Second

TRIAC

-

TRIode Alternate Current switching

TSC

-

Time Stamp Counter

TSOP

-

Thin Small Outline Package

TSR

-

Terminate but Stay Resident

TSS

-

Task State Segment

TTF

-

True Type Font

- 62 -

TTL

-

Transistor-Transistor Logic

TTS

-

Text To Speech

TVS

-

Transient Voltage Suppressor

TxD

-

Transmitt Data

UAA

-

Unified Agent Architecture

UAC

-

User Account Control

UART

-

Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter

UCD

-

User Centred Design.

UCS

-

Universal Character Set

UDF

-

Universal Disc Format

UDMA

-

Ultra Direct Memory Access

UDP

-

User Datagram Protocol

UHA

-

United Hacking Association

UHCI

-

Universal Host Controller Interface

UHF

-

Ultra High Frequency

UI

-

UNIX International

UI

-

User Interface

UID

-

User Identification

UIL

-

User Interface Language

UMA

-

Unified Memory Architecture

UMA

-

Upper Memory Area

UMB

-

Upper Memory Blocks

UMC

-

United Microelectronic Components

- 63 -

UML

-

Unified Modeling Language

UNIVAC

-

UNIVersal Automatic Computer

UNO

-

Universal Network Objects

UPI

-

Universal Peripheral Interface

UPS

-

Uninterruptible Power Supply

UPX

-

Ultimate Packer for eXecutables

URC

-

Uniform Resource Characteristic

URI

-

Uniform Resource Identifier

URL

-

Uniform Resource Locator

URN

-

Uniform Resource Name

USB

-

Universal Serial Bus

UTF

-

Universal Text Format

USENET

-

USEr NETwork

USL

-

Unix System Laboratories

USN

-

Update Sequence Numbers

USSD

-

Unstructured Supplementary Services Data

UTC

-

Universal Coordinated Time

UTP

-

Unshielded Twisted Pair

UUCP

-

Unix to Unix CoPy

UV

-

UltraViolet

UVPROM

-

Ultra Violet Programmable Read Only Memory

UWB

-

Ultra Wide Band

V7

-

VideoSeven

- 64 -

VAD

-

Voice Activity Detector

VAFC

-

VESA Advanced Feature Connector

VAN

-

Value Added Network

VAP

-

Voice Applications Partner

VBA

-

Visual Basic for Application

VBE

-

VESA BIOS Extension

VBE/AF

-

VESA BIOS Extension/Accelerated Features

VBE/PM

-

VESA BIOS Extension/Power Management

VBE/SCI

-

VESA BIOS Extension/Serial Control Interface

VBRUN

-

Visual Basic RUNtime library

VCE

-

Variable Content Encoding

VCI

-

Video Cursor Interface

VCL

-

Virus Construction Laboratory

VCL

-

Visual Component Library

VCPI

-

Virtual Control Program Interface

VCQ

-

Vibrant Color Quality

VC SDRAM -

Virtual Channel Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory

VDA

-

Video Display Adapter

VDIF

-

VESA Display Information File

VDL

-

Vienna Definition Language

VDM

-

Virtual DOS Machine

VDS

-

Virtual DMA Specification

VDT

-

Video Display Terminal

- 65 -

VESA

-

Video Electronics Standard Association

VFAT

-

Virtual File Allocation Table

VFD

-

Video For DOS

VFM

-

Variable Frequency Monitor

VFP

-

Visual FoxPro

VFS

-

Virtual File System

VFW

-

Video For Windows

VGA

-

Video Graphics Array

VHDL

-

Very High Speed Integrated Circuit Description Language

VHE

-

Virtual Home Environment

VHF

-

Very High Frequency

VHS

-

Video Home System

VI

-

VIsual editor

VIAD

-

VESA Image Area Definition

VIFF

-

Visualization Image File Format

VIM

-

Vendor Independent Messaging

VIM

-

Visual editor Improved

VIP

-

Video Interface Port

VIP

-

Virtual Internet Protocol

VIS

-

Visual Instruction Set

VISS

-

VHS Index Search System

VIVO

-

Video In/Video Out

VLAN

-

Virtual Local Area Network

- 66 -

VLB

-

VESA Local Bus

VLF

-

Very Low-Frequency emission

VLIW

-

Very Long Instruction Word

VLM

-

Very Large Memory

VLM

-

Vibrant Loadable Module

VLR

-

Visitor Location Register

VLSI

-

Very Large Scale Integration

VMB

-

Virtual Machine Boot

VMC

-

VESA Media Channel

VML

-

Vector Markup Language

VMM

-

Virtual Machine Manager

VMS

-

Virtual Memory System

VMSS

-

Virtual Motion Sound System

VNC

-

Virtual Network Computing

VODER

-

Voice Operating DEmonstratoR

VOIP

-

Voice Over Internet Protocol

VOL

-

Video On Line

VoWLAN

-

Voice Wireless Local Area Network

VP&D

-

VESA Plug and Display

VPN

-

Virtual Private Networking

VPS

-

Video Programming System

VR

-

Virtual Reality

VRAM

-

Video Random Access Memory

- 67 -

VRM

-

Voltage Regulator Modules

VRML

-

Virtual Reality Modeling Language

VRTX

-

Virtual Real-Time Executive

VSAT

-

Very Small Aperture Terminal

VTR

-

Video Tape Recorder

VSF

-

Virtual Software Factory

VUE

-

Visual User Environment

VUIT

-

Visual User Interface Tool

VUMA

-

VESA Unified Memory Architecture

VVSS

-

VESA Video Signal Standard

WABI

-

Windows Application Binary Interface

WAIS

-

Wide Area Information Server

WAN

-

Wide Area Network

WAP

-

Wireless Application Protocol

WARM

-

Write And Read Mostly

WB-MON

-

WideBand MONitoring

WB-EXPAK -

WideBand EXPAK

WBEM

-

Web-Based Enterprise Management

WCF

-

Windows Communication Foundation

WDDM

-

Windows Display Driver Model

WDM

-

Wavelength Division Multiplexing

WDM

-

Win32 Driver Model

WECA

-

Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance

- 68 -

WFMS

-

Workflow Management System

WFW

-

Windows For Workgroups

WHO

-

World Health Organization

WIC

-

WAN Interface Card

WIF

-

Windows Imaging Format

Wi-Fi

-

Wireless Fireless

WINE

-

Wine Is Not Emulator

WinHEC

-

Windows Hardware Engineering Conference

WIS

-

Windows Installer Service

WIT

-

WWW Interactive Talk

WLAN

-

Wireless Local Area Network

WMI

-

Windows Management Instrumentation

WMS

-

Warehouse Management System

WOL

-

Wake On LAN

WORM

-

Write Once-Read Mostly

WOSC

-

World Organisation of Systemic and Cybernetics

WPF

-

Windows Presentation Foundation

WRAM

-

Window Random Access Memory

WSH

-

Windows Scripting Host

WSM

-

WorldSpace Modifier

WSL

-

Wide Spectrum Language

WSN

-

Wang Span Network

WSRD

-

Worldwide Software Resources Discovery

- 69 -

WUSB

-

Wireless Universal Serial Port

WWDM

-

Wide Wavelength Division Multiplex

WWW

-

World Wide Web

WWWC

-

World Wide Web Consortium

WYSIWYG -

What You See Is What You Get

XBDA

-

Extended BIOS Data Area

XDI

-

External Device Interface

XDR

-

XML-Data Reduced

XGA

-

eXtended Graphics Array

XIE

-

X Image Extension

XMI

-

XML Metadata Interchange

XML

-

eXtensible Markup Language

XMP

-

X/Open Management Protocols

XMS

-

eXtended Memory Specification

XNS

-

Xerox Network Services

XOSL

-

Extended Operating System Loader

XPG

-

X/open Portability Guide

XSI

-

X/Open System Interface specification

XQL

-

XML Query Language

XSL

-

eXtensible Stylesheet Language

XT

-

eXtended Technology

XTI

-

X/open Transport Interface

XUI

-

X User Interface

- 70 -

XUML

-

XML User interface Mark-up Language

XVGA

-

eXtended Video Graphics Array

YACC

-

Yet Another C Compiler

YACL

-

Yet Another Class Library

YAPS

-

Yet Another Port Scanner

YOU

-

YAST Online Update

YPS

-

Yellow Pages Service

ZAK

-

Zero Administration Kit

ZAW

-

Zero Administration for Windows

ZBR

-

Zone Bit Recording

ZEN

-

Zero Effort Networking

ZIF

-

Zero Insert Force

ZIP

-

Zig-zag In-line Package

ZLE

-

Zero Latency Enterprise

ZSERV

-

Zebra SERVer

- 71 -

A HTML abbreviation used to signify a link to another document or an anchor.

A/B switch A two-way switch used for parallel or serial port cables. An A/B switch may be used to connect two devices such as printers or modems to the same computer. Care must be taken to use only the devices that are actually connected at any one time.

Abort Abort is used to cancel a command.

Abort, Retry, Fail A DOS error message displayed when a disk is unreadable. Each of these words gives the user the option to continue as indicated.

Absolute address A fixed location or address in a computer’s memory.

Absolute URL A URL that contains the entire address identifying the machine, directory and file.

Abstract Class A class that provides common behavior across a set of subclasses, but is not itself designed to have instances that work. In programming languages, an abstract type is a type in a nominative type system which is declared by the programmer. It may or may not include abstract methods or properties that contain members which are also shared members of some declared subtype.

Accelerator A hardware device such as a card, that makes an operation, run faster. Without the device, the computer’s microprocessor would be the sole operator of the function.

Acceptable use policy The terms and conditions of use for Internet providers, interactive Websites, and networks which must be agreed upon before the user is granted access to the service.

Access provider ISP or Internet service provider, a private company that provides customers access to the Internet in exchange for a fee, though some companies are now offering this service for free.

- 72 -

Access time The time necessary for a memory device to deliver data to the CPU.

Acquire To transfer a file from an analog source such as a scanner.

Acrobat Adobe software for reading and creating PDF files. Acrobat Reader (free software from Adobe) allows the user to print and view PDF files created in many different formats.

Activate To choose a window in which you want to work.

Active Items currently shown on a display monitor or an application in use on a computer. The program currently running on a computer.

Active matrix A type of flat-panel liquid crystal display (LCD) that delivers better clarity and contrast than the passive-matrix display.

AD banner An advertisement, usually displayed in a rectangular box that contains a hyperlink pointing to the advertiser’s Web page or buffer page. Ad banners are the most common method of advertising on the World Wide Web.

AD server A type of server that manages and maintains ad banners for a Website or a group of Websites. These programs are capable of keeping track of and reporting Website usage statistics. Ad servers also provide the ability to rotate banners so a user won’t see the same ad every time she visits the page.

Adaptive equipment It is a device of many varieties, some computer controlled or activated, designed to assist people with physical limitations.

Address A number that identifies the location of data, usually on the main disk, but possibly on a server.

- 73 -

Adobe Acrobat A reader that decodes reads and converts documents to the Portable Document Format (PDF). This program allows scalable graphics and type to be displayed and printed from any computer and from any platform (Macintosh, Windows, DOS, or UNIX) regardless of the fonts or software programs used to create the original. Acrobat is freely available for downloading on many Websites.

Adobe Systems Inc Adobe Systems Inc. is a provider of graphic design, publishing, and imaging software for Web and print production. The company offers a line of application software products for creating, distributing, and managing information of all types. Many graphic designers feel Adobe programs have set the industry standard for design and publishing software.

Agent Software operating in the background that performs an automatic and silent task such as information gathering.

Airbrush A creative tool in many paint programs that simulates the action of a real paint gun on the computer screen.

ALGOL Algorithmic Language developed in the 1950s and early 1960s by an international committee, an early programming language that was the basis for Pascal.

Alias The use of an icon as a method of starting an application, opening a folder, file or disk. With Macintosh products the alias may be placed anywhere that is convenient such as the Apple menu, the desktop, or a special folder. The title of an alias icon is in italics.

In Windows, an alias is known as a shortcut.

Align To arrange characters, words or images so they line up either horizontally or vertically. Most word processing and drawing programs include commands to make images and text align as needed.

Allocation unit The units of space on a disk that can be identified or designated for a file. The allocation unit is also known as a cluster.

Alpha A 64-bit microprocessor manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation.

- 74 -

Alphanumeric characters The letters and digits on the standard keyboard.

Alpha testing The first round of the testing of new software.

Alt The prefix used for the “Alternative� key. It is used like the shift key. The result of using the Alt key will vary depending upon the software being used.

Alta Vista A popular search engine on the World Wide Web.

Amazon.com A commercial Website offering more than one million books and music CDs. The company is determined to maintain a dominant position as an online retailer through the expansion of services including auctions, electronic products, toys, and more.

AMD Advanced Micro Devices, a worldwide semiconductor manufacturer who’s products include a wide variety of industry-standard integrated circuits used in product applications such as telecommunications equipment, data and network communications equipment, consumer electronics, personal computers, and workstations.

America Online An online information service company that operates two worldwide Internet services, with more than 22 million members, and CompuServe, with more than 2.2 million members, several leading Internet brands including ICQ, AOL Instant Messenger, and Digital City, Inc.

AMI American Megatrends Inc, The leading supplier of BIOS software used in PC motherboards.

Amiga One of the first mass marketed PCs sold by Commodore Business Machines in the 1980s using Motorola microprocessors.

Analog Data represented in a mode other than binary bits such as the image relayed by a scanner. Analog data is represented by one or more of an infinite number of points on a scale or continuum.

Analog computer A computer that processes and delivers data. An abacus is an analog computer.

- 75 -

Analog monitor A video device similar to television that can display an unlimited range of brightness for each primary color. An analog monitor can display any color a computer can generate.

Analog-to-Digital Converter ADC a hardware device that changes analog data to digital form.

Anchor A designated point in a Web page represented as an HTML document. The user can easily move to the anchor from anywhere else.

Angle brackets The characters < >. Used in writing many programs.

Animation The use of moving images on a computer screen. At present, much of the moving video we see must be called up from data stored on a disk or CD-ROM.

Anon server It is otherwise called Anonymous server ,a service provider that forwards email while concealing the identity of the sender. Anonymous servers were initially designed for users with a legitimate need for privacy, but have occasionally been used for criminal or questionable activity such as spamming. .

Anonymous FTP A means for downloading public FTP (File Transfer Protocol) files. Referred to as anonymous because there is no need for the user to identify to access the files.

ANSI American National Standards Institute, The major organization responsible for creating standards for American industry, including the computer industry. ANSI standards address accepted standards for programming languages, electronic data transfer, character types, graphics, screen control and a wide range of computer related technical protocols.

Antialiasing A method of eliminating the stair step properties called jaggies created by the normal display of pixels on a computer monitor. Jaggies sometimes appear when enlarging bitmap images using photo manipulation software.

- 76 -

Antivirus program Software that protects a computer from the introduction of destructive programs (viruses) introduced either by corrupt floppy disks or by electronic data transfer over a network such as the Internet.

API Application Program Interface, a set of tools and/or procedures used for building software applications. For example, operating software such as Windows, allows that an API facilitates the smooth creation of new software by designers to run compatibly with Windows.

Apple A leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of personal computers noted for their-user friendly features. Apple was the first computer company to use graphical user interface technology in their operating systems. The company was started by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976.

Applet A small program within a program usually written in JAVA designed to perform a specific function. They are often small animated commercial messages. Applets cannot be initiated directly from a computerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operating system.

Application program It is also called end-user programs), a program designed for a specific function such as word processing or a game. Software is available in two categories, application and operating. For example, Windows 2000 is operations software while MS Word is application software.

Archie A type of search engine used to retrieve FTP files stored on anonymous sites. The user must have the exact file name.

Architecture It is refers to the layout or design of a hardware device or software program or the combination of the two. Open architecture refers to a system that works easily with devices and applications made by different manufacturers. A closed architecture is often one containing proprietary features and lacking compatibility with other programs and devices.

Archival storage A comprehensive back-up system where all files are copied to one of several possible data storage devices such as floppy disks, Zip drives, tape, or Jaz drives.

- 77 -

Archive A back-up system designed for the storage of files to be kept for long periods of time. Some Websites that offer fresh information daily will allow access to older files by making them available through a link to an archives page.

ARCnet Attached Resource Computer network, a simple and economical type of localarea network (LAN) using token-ring architecture. A token ring system is a group of computers connected in a circular fashion using a special message or password (the token). To communicate with a member of the network, the sender stores the token, attaches a message to it, and allows it to proceed around the ring.

ARPANET Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, the predecessor of the present day Internet. ARPNET was developed in the 1960s by the US Defense Department.

ARPANET was designed so that the network would continue to function through peripheral channels even if part of it were destroyed by nuclear attack or sabotage.

Arrange To systematically place symbols or icons in columns or rows on a computer desktop. In Windows 95, 98 and 2000 this can be achieved by right clicking on any unoccupied space on the desktop and selecting one of several Arrange commands.

Arrow keys Four command keys on the keyboard that move the cursor up down, left or right.

The arrow keys may be used as an alternative to the mouse.

Artificial Intelligence The attempt to use computers to think and reason as humans. Among the functions of contemporary IA are, playing games, and robotics.

ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange pronounced askey, a global standard computer code used to represent upper and lower case characters, punctuation, numerals, and all other keyboard symbols as numbers. There are 128 standard ASCII codes, each represented by a 7 digit binary number: 0000000 through 1111111.

ASCII file A text file in which each byte is represented by one character of the ASCII code.

ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit, a specially designated integrated circuit designed for a particular function such as a sound card or video adapter.

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ASP Active Server Page, a Microsoft system for developing Web pages. ASP is an HTML document that contains embedded server-side scripting. Web servers compatible with ASP can execute these server-side scripts. On the user side, an ASP is a standard HTML document viewable using any Web browser.

Assembler A program that translates assembly language into machine language.

Assembly language The programming language that is one step more complex than machine language which is the lowest level programming language.

Associate To designate that a particular file always be opened with a specific program.

Some files may only be opened with specific software while the user may be able to choose one of several applications when opening certain files.

Asterisk (*) The star shaped character on the computer or typewriter keyboard used to mark a footnote. In many computer operating systems and applications an asterisk is used as a wildcard symbol.

Attachment An added file attached to an email transmission. Most modern email programs allow users to attach files simply by left clicking on an â&#x20AC;&#x153;Attach Fileâ&#x20AC;? button and following directions. The file must be opened independently of the email message.

Attributes It refers to the properties of a particular operating system. In Windows the Attrib or Properties command, found under File, in the menu bar displays.

Audit trail Records maintained by certain programs showing the time and order data was entered, ensuring the reliability of accounting and financial information.

Auditor An impartial third party company that counts and verifies banner ad deliveries from a Website. An auditor may also verify the number of page impressions and other user related statistics of a Website.

Autoexec.Bat Automatically Executed Batch Files, DOS files that automatically execute when the computer boots up.

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Auto-Bot Free software that lets you automatically perform scheduled tasks such as check POP3 email, launch your email program, and download mail. You can also use AUTOBOT to set your PCs internal clock to an Internet time server.

Avatar A digital animated character used to represent your virtual position in chat rooms.

An avatar may be a cartoon character such as a cat, flower, etc. In cyberspace, the user is represented by such a character.

AVI Audio Visual Interleave, a Windows multimedia file which may be downloaded from the Internet, used for sound and video.

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B Bearer channel carries voice, video, image, or data traffic, depending upon the equipment and applications available.

Backbone The coding and scrambling of messages to prevent unauthorized access to or understanding of the data being stored or transmitted.

Backup Copy The review of a deliverable for functional accuracy by a subject matter expert who is familiar with the software product under design or development.

Bar Code A binary data file that can be run by the operating system to perform a specific set of functions. In windows, executables carry the extension .exe and can be launched by double-clicking on them.

Base 10 System The decimal system. A numeral system (or system of numeration) is a writing system for expressing numbers, that is a mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using graphemes or symbols in a consistent manner. It can be seen as the context that allows the numerals "11" to be interpreted as the binary symbol for three, the decimal symbol for eleven, or as other numbers in different bases.

Base 2 System Binary number system, only two discrete values (0 and 1) are possible and all numbers are a combination of these two characters; digital signals are numbers sent in the Base 2 system.

Base band Describes signals and systems whose range of frequency is measured from 0 to a maximum bandwidth or highest signal frequency; sometimes used as a noun for a band of frequencies starting at 0.

Baseline In database applications, an external interface is a defined process and data structure used to exchange data with other systems. For example, an order processing application may have an interface to exchange data with an external accounting system.

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Basic In computer programming, BASIC (an acronym for Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code[1]) is a family of high-level programming languages. The original BASIC was designed in 1964 by John George Kemeny and Thomas Eugene Kurtz at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, USA to provide computer access to nonscience students. At the time, nearly all use of computers required writing custom software, which was something only scientists and mathematicians tended to be able to do.

Batch Processing Batch processing is execution of a series of programs ("jobs") on a computer without manual intervention.Batch jobs are set up so they can be run to completion without manual intervention, so all input data is preselected through scripts or commandline parameters. This is in contrast to "online" or interactive programs which prompt the user for such input. A program takes a set of data files as input, process the data, and produces a set of output data files.

Baud Rate The baud rate of a data communications system is the number of symbols per second transferred. A symbol may have more than two states, so it may represent more than one binary bit (a binary bit always represents exactly two states). Therefore the baud rate may not equal the bit rate, especially in the case of recent modems, which can have (for example) up to nine bits per symbol.

Benchmark A field or set of fields in a table whose value must match a primary key in another table when joined with it.

Border Gateway Protocol An interautonomous system routing protocol; a network or group of networks under a common administration and with common routing policies

Binary Code Binary refers to base two arithmetic using the digits 0 and 1. This corresponds to the electric current in a wire- it’s either on (a value of 1) or off (a value of 0) and this is known as a bit, derived from Binary digit. A binary number can be converted to base ten (decimal) by starting at the rightmost bit and multiplying each successive bit to the left by two. The rightmost bit is multiplied by 1, the next to the left by 2 then 4 etc.

BIOS (basic input/output system) The firmware code run by an IBM-compatible PC when first powered on, known as “booting up”; primary function is to prepare the machine so other software programs can load, execute, and assume control of the PC.

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Bit Contraction of the expression â&#x20AC;&#x153;binary digitâ&#x20AC;?; smallest unit of data in a computer

Block A block is a group of characters that you have marked to perform some action on them. For example, to move a section of text, you must first block it. This is sometimes called a block move. To specify a block of text, you press special function keys (or click with a mouse) at the beginning and end of the block. The function keys differ from one word processor to another. Word processors usually display blocks by highlighting them on the screen.

Blog A blog (a contraction of the term "web log") is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reversechronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Bluetooth Bluetooth is an open wireless protocol for exchanging data over short distances (using short length radio waves) from fixed and mobile devices, creating personal area networks (PANs). It was originally conceived as a wireless alternative to RS-232 data cables. It can connect several devices, overcoming problems of synchronization.

Book Mark Save time with quick links to your favorite websites, Use Web History to find the sites you visit frequently and bookmark your favorites. Use the Google Toolbar for quick access to your bookmarks and to easily create more.

Boot In computing, booting (also known as "booting up") is a bootstrapping process that starts operating systems when the user turns on a computer system. A boot sequence is the initial set of operations that the computer performs when power is switched on. The bootloader typically loads the main operating system for the computer.

Break The break statement is control flow statement control flow (or alternatively, flow of control) refers to the order in which the individual statements, instructions, or function calls of an imperative or a declarative program are executed or evaluated.

Executing a set of distant statements, after which the flow of control usually returns.

Break Point A breakpoint, in software development, is an intentional stopping or pausing place in a program, put in place for debugging purposes. More generally, a breakpoint is

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a means of acquiring knowledge about a program during its execution. During the interruption, the programmer inspects the test environment (logs, memory, files, etc.) to find out whether the program is functioning as expected.

BRI (basic rate interface) An integrated services digital network configuration, usually intended for the home and small enterprise.

Bridge Interprets the LAN hardware adapter address contained in MAC and decide whether to filter or forward the frame; does not change the frame in any way.

Browsers Client applications that access WWW servers. Browser, a software application used to locate and display Web pages. The two most popular browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox. Both of these are graphical browsers, which means that they can display graphics as well as text. In addition, most modern browsers can present multimedia information, including sound and video, though they require plug-ins for some formats.

Buffer A temporary storage area, usually in RAM. The purpose of most buffers is to act as a holding area, enabling the CPU to manipulate data before transferring it to a device.

Because the processes of reading and writing data to a disk are relatively slow, many programs keep track of data changes in a buffer and then copy the buffer to a disk.

Bug A software bug is the common term used to describe an error, flaw, mistake, failure, or fault in a computer program or system that produces an incorrect or unexpected result, or causes it to behave in unintended ways. Most bugs arise from mistakes and errors made by people in either a program's source code or its design, and a few are caused by compilers producing incorrect code.

Bug Fix A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance. Though meant to fix problems, poorly designed patches can sometimes introduce new problems (see software regressions).Patch management is the process of using a strategy and plan of what patches should be applied to which systems at a specified time.

Bus In a computer, a bus is the data path on the computer's motherboard that interconnects the microprocessor with attachments to the motherboard in expansion slots

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(such as hard disk drives, CD-ROM drives, and graphics adapters). Electrical connection between any two components in a computer .

Bus topology System layout where electrical signals generated by a device connected anywhere on the bus are received by all other connected devices. There are different types of bus topology available. Eg.bus, star, mesh,etc.

Business Process Maturity The Business Motivation Model specification provides a scheme or structure for developing, communicating, and managing business plans in an organized manner. It identifies factors that motivate the establishing of business plans. It identifies and defines the elements of business plans. It indicates how all these factors and elements inter-relate.

Business Processes A business process or business method is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product (serve a particular goal) for a particular customer or customers. It often can be visualized with a flowchart as a sequence of activities.

Business Rule Business rule is a statement that defines or constrains some aspect of the business.

It is intended to assert business structure or to control or influence the behavior of the business. Individual business rules that describe the same facet of an enterprise are usually arranged into business rulesets. Business rules describe the operations, definitions and constraints that apply to an organization in achieving its goals.

Byte The standard size of data in a computer.

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C Cache Memory Cache memory is random access memory (RAM) that a computer microprocessor can access more quickly than it can access regular RAM. As the microprocessor processes data, it looks first in the cache memory and if it finds the data there (from a previous reading of data), it does not have to do the more time-consuming reading of data from larger memory.

CAD/CAM Computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing software used to design products such as electronic circuit boards in computers

Caddy The position of the cursor within a block of text

Case Based Reasoning Also termed desk checking. A quality assurance technique that relies on visual examination of developed products (usually source code or design documentation) to detect errors, violation of development standards, and other problems.

Cd-R Compact Disc-Recordable is a variation of the Compact Disc invented by Philips and Sony. CD-R is a Write Once Read Many (WORM) optical medium, though the whole disk does not have to be entirely written in the same session.CD-R retains a high level of compatibility with standard CD readers.

Cd-Rom Compact Disk Read Only Memory. CD-ROMs are popularly used to distribute computer software, including games and multimedia applications, though any data can be stored (up to the capacity limit of a disc). Some CDs hold both computer data and audio with the latter capable of being played on a CD player, while data (such as software or digital video) is only usable on a computer (such as ISO 9660 format PC CD-ROMs).

These are called enhanced CDs.

Cd-Rw CD-RW discs are usually produced in the most common CD-R disc capacities such as 650 and 700 MB, while smaller and larger capacities are rarer. CD-RW recorders typically handle the most common capacities best. In theory a CD-RW disc can be written and erased roughly 1000 times, although in practice this number is much lower.

CD-RW recorders can also read CD-R discs.

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Cell A cell is a box in which you can enter a single piece of data. The data is usually text, a numeric value, or a formula. The entire spreadsheet is composed of rows and columns of cells. A spreadsheet cell is analogous to a field in database management systems. Individual cells are usually identified by a column letter and a row number.

Common Gateway Interface It is a standard protocol that defines how webserver software can delegate the generation of webpages to a console application. Such applications are known as CGI scripts; they can be written in any programming language, although scripting languages are often used.

Channel Channel, in communications (sometimes called communications channel), refers to the medium used to convey information from a sender (or transmitter) to a receiver. A channel can take many forms, including ones suitable for storage which can communicate a message over time as well as space.

Chip A small piece of semi conducting material (usually silicon) on which an integrated circuit is embedded. A typical chip is less than Âź-square inches and can contain millions of electronic components (transistors). Computers consist of many chips placed on electronic boards called printed circuit boards.

CIF Common Intermediate Format, also known as FCIF (Full Common Intermediate Format), is a format used to standardize the horizontal and vertical resolutions in pixels of YCbCr sequences in video signals, commonly used in video teleconferencing systems.

It was first proposed in the H.261 standard.CIF was designed to be easy to convert to PAL or NTSC standards. CIF defines a video sequence with a resolution of 352 Ă&#x2014; 288 like PAL Source Input Format.

CIR Committed information rate, describes the user information transfer rate the network supports during normal network operations

Class In object-oriented programming, a class is a construct that is used as a blueprint (or template) to create objects of that class. This blueprint describes the state and behavior that the objects of the class all share. An object of a given class is called an instance of the class. The class that contains (and was used to create) that instance can be considered as the type of that object.

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CLEC Competitive local exchange carrier, In the US, a telecommunications provider company (also called a carrier) that competes with other, already established carriers (the local telephone company)

Client A client is an application or system that accesses a remote service on another computer system, known as a server, by way of a network.[1] The term was first applied to devices that were not capable of running their own stand-alone programs, but could interact with remote computers via a network. These dumb terminals were clients of the time-sharing mainframe computer.

Client/Server The client-server model is still used today on the Internet, where a user may connect to a service operating on a remote system through the Internet protocol suite.

Web browsers are clients that connect to web servers and retrieve web pages for display.

Most people use e-mail clients to retrieve their e-mail from their internet service provider's mail storage servers. Online chat uses a variety of clients, which vary depending on the chat protocol being used. Game Clients usually refer to the software that is the game in only multiplayer online games for the computer.

Client/server architecture Network where some computers are dedicated clients (workstations) and some are dedicated servers; information is centralized on the server, and an administrator sets policies and manages it

Clipart Clip art is a collection of pictures or images that can be imported into a document or another program. The images may be either raster graphics or vector graphics. Clip art galleries many contain anywhere from a few images to hundreds of thousands of images.

CMOS Complementary metalâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;oxideâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;semiconductor CMOS is a technology for constructing integrated circuits. CMOS technology is used in microprocessors, microcontrollers, static RAM, and other digital logic circuits. CMOS technology is also used for a wide variety of analog circuits such as image sensors, data converters, and highly integrated transceivers for many types of communication.

Coaxial Cable Coaxial cable is used as a transmission line for radio frequency signals, in applications such as connecting radio transmitters and receivers with their antennas, computer network (Internet) connections, and distributing cable television signals. One advantage of coax over other types of transmission line is that in an ideal coaxial cable

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the electromagnetic field carrying the signal exists only in the space between the inner and outer conductors.

Code Review Code review is systematic examination (often as peer review) of computer source code intended to find and fix mistakes overlooked in the initial development phase, improving both the overall quality of software and the developers' skills.

Coding A code is a rule for converting a piece of information (for example, a letter, word, phrase, or gesture) into another form or representation (one sign into another sign), not necessarily of the same type. In communications and information processing, encoding is the process by which information from a source is converted into symbols to be communicated. Decoding is the reverse process, converting these code symbols back into information understandable by a receiver.

Cohesion Cohesion is a measure of how strongly-related and focused the various responsibilities of a software module are. Cohesion is an ordinal type of measurement and is usually expressed as "high cohesion" or "low cohesion" when being discussed.

Modules with high cohesion tend to be preferable because high cohesion is associated with several desirable traits of software including robustness, reliability, reusability, and understandability whereas low cohesion is associated with undesirable traits such as being difficult to maintain, difficult to test, difficult to reuse, and even difficult to understand.

Collision domain Logical network segment where data packets can "collide" with one another for being sent on a shared medium, in particular in the Ethernet networking protocol.

COM Component Object Model (COM) is a binary-interface standard for software componentry introduced by Microsoft in 1993. It is used to enable interprocess communication and dynamic object creation in a large range of programming languages.

The term COM is often used in the Microsoft software development industry as an umbrella term that encompasses the OLE, OLE Automation, ActiveX, COM+ and DCOM technologies.

Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) The Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) is a standard defined by the Object Management Group (OMG) that enables software components written in multiple computer languages and running on multiple computers to work together, i.e. it supports multiple platforms.

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A family of computer models is said to be compatible if certain software that runs on one of the models can also be run on all other models of the family. The computer models may differ in performance, reliability or some other characteristic. These differences may affect the outcome of the running of the software.

Complier A compiler is a computer program (or set of programs) that transforms source code written in a computer language (the source language) into another computer language (the target language, often having a binary form known as object code). The most common reason for wanting to transform source code is to create an executable program.

Component Computers are made up of many different parts, such as a motherboard, CPU, RAM, and hard drive. Each of these parts are made up of smaller parts, called components. For example, a motherboard includes electrical connectors, a printed circuit board (PCB), capacitors, resistors, and transformers.

Compression Compression is the process of encoding information using fewer bits (or other information-bearing units) than an unencoded representation would use, through use of specific encoding schemes.As with any communication, compressed data communication only works when both the sender and receiver of the information understand the encoding scheme.

Computer networking

.

Computer network is a group of computers that are interconnected by electronic circuits or wireless transmissions of various designs and technologies for the purpose of exchanging data or communicating information between them or their users. Networks may be classified according to a wide variety of characteristics.

Computer operating system Special computer program that provides an environment in which other programs can use the computerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s central processor and the attached input/output devices

Computer Security Computer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to remain accessible and productive to its intended users.

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Computer software is a general term primarily used for digitally stored data such as computer programs and other kinds of information read and written by computers.

Today, this includes data that has not traditionally been associated with computers, such as film, tapes and records.

Conceptual Abstraction Abstraction is the process or result of generalization by reducing the information content of a concept or an observable phenomenon, typically to retain only information which is relevant for a particular purpose. For example, abstracting a leather soccer ball to the more general idea of a ball retains only the information on general ball attributes and behaviour, eliminating the characteristics of that particular ball.

Configuration A configuration is an arrangement of functional units according to their nature, number, and chief characteristics. Often, configuration pertains to the choice of hardware, software, firmware, and documentation. The configuration affects system function and performance.

Configuration Item The term configuration item or CI refers to the fundamental structural unit of a configuration management system. Examples of CIs include individual requirements documents, software, models, plans, and people. Configuration Management systems oversee the life of the CIs through a combination of process and tools. The objective of these systems is to avoid the introduction of errors related to lack of testing or incompatibilities with other CIs.

Configuration Management Configuration management (CM) is a field of management that focuses on establishing and maintaining consistency of a system's or product's performance and its functional and physical attributes with its requirements, design, and operational information throughout its life.[1] For information assurance, CM can be defined as the management of security features and assurances through control of changes made to hardware, software, firmware, documentation, test, test fixtures, and test documentation throughout the life cycle of an information system.

Connectivity devices Bring users of the network into contact with one another.Broadband Internet access, often shortened to just broadband, is a high data rate Internet accessâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;typically contrasted with dial-up access using a 56k modem.Dial-up modems are limited to a bitrate of less than 56 kbit/s (kilobits per second) and require the full use of a telephone lineâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;whereas broadband technologies supply more than double this rate and generally without disrupting telephone use.

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Transmission that uses a set amount of network capacity on a continual basis; used when the arrival of the information is time-sensitive.

Constraint Constraint satisfaction is the process of finding a solution to a set of constraints that impose conditions that the variables must satisfy. A solution is therefore a vector of variables that satisfies all constraints.The techniques used in constraint satisfaction depend on the kind of constraints being considered

Context Diagram A System Context Diagram (SCD) in software engineering and systems engineering are diagrams that represent the actors outside a system that could interact with that system. This diagram is the highest level view of a system, similar to Block diagram, showing a, possibly software-based, system as a whole and its inputs and outputs from/to external factors.

Constraint programming Constraint programming is a programming paradigm where relations between variables are stated in the form of constraints. Constraints differ from the common primitives of imperative programming languages in that they do not specify a step or sequence of steps to execute, but rather the properties of a solution to be found. This makes constraint programming a form of declarative programming.

Convergence Convergence is the approach toward a definite value, a definite point, a common view or opinion, or toward a fixed or equilibrium state. In mathematics, it describes limiting behavior, particularly of an infinite sequence or series.

Conversion The process of converting a convertible security, such as a bond or preferred stock, into common stock.

Coupling A Coupling is a very short length of pipe or tube, with a socket at one or both ends that allows two pipes or tubes to be welded (steel), brazed or soldered (copper, brass etc.) together.Alternatively it is a short length of pipe with two female NPT (National pipe thread)s (in North American terms, a coupler is a double female while a nipple is double male) or two male or female British standard pipe threads.

CPE (customer premises equipment) Common Platform Enumeration - is a structured naming scheme for information technology systems, platforms, and packages. Based upon the generic syntax for Uniform

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Resource Identifiers (URI), CPE includes a formal name format, a method for checking names against a system, and a description format for binding text and tests to a name.

CPS (Cycles Per Second) The cycle per second was a once-common unit of frequency.With the organisation of the International System of Units (abbreviated SI from the French) in 1960, the cycle per second was officially replaced by the hertz, or reciprocal secondâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;i.e. the cycle in 'cycle per second' was dropped. Perhaps because of the convenient brevity it brings to both speech and writing, this particular mandate has been so widely adopted as to render the old 'cycle per second' all but extinct.

CPU Speed Many computer users focus on the CPU speed as a measurement of the overall capabilities and performance of a system. The fact is that there are other factors besides the processor's speed that must be taken into consideration. The CPU (central processing unit) is the component that is often referred to as the intelligence behind the computer. It interprets instructions and performs computations and operations.

CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) A cyclic redundancy check (CRC) is a non-secure hash function designed to detect accidental changes to raw computer data, and is commonly used in digital networks and storage devices such as hard disk drives. A CRC-enabled device calculates a short, fixed-length binary sequence, known as the CRC code or just CRC, for each block of data and sends or stores them both together.

CS (Convergence Sublayer) Convergence Sublayer (CS) is one of the two sublayers of the AAL CPCS in an ATM architecture, which is responsible for padding and error checking. PDUs passed from the SSCS and appended with a 8-byte trailer (for error checking and other control information) and padded, if necessary, so that the length of the resulting PDU is divisible by 48. These PDUs are then passed to the SAR sublayer of the CPCS for further processing.

CSU (Channel Service Unit) CSU provides a loopback function for Telephone Company testing, and checks bipolar signal generation.

Cursor The cursor on your screen can indicate two things, where your mouse pointer is, where the next character typed will be entered in a line of text. The mouse cursor is most often an arrow that you can use to point to different objects on your screen. When the cursor is over an object, you can click or double-click the mouse button to perform an action on that object (such as opening a program).

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Customer Resources It is an information industry term for methodologies, software, and usually Internet capabilities that help an enterprise manage customer relationships in an organized way. For example, an enterprise might build a database about its customers that described relationships in sufficient detail so that management, salespeople, people providing service, and perhaps the customer directly could access information, match customer needs with product plans and offerings, remind customers of service requirements, and know what other products a customer had purchased.

D D (Data) channel This is used for common channel signalling by both the telephone company switch and the customer equipment; provides the call signals that set up B channel connections.

DACS (Digital Access and Cross-connect System) A piece of telecommunications equipment used for routing T1 lines; can crossconnect any T1 line in the system with any other T1 line in the system.

Data In computing, data is information that has been translated into a form that is more convenient to move or process. Relative to today's computers and transmission media, data is information converted into binary digital form.

Data Dictionary A data dictionary, metadata repository, as defined in the IBM Dictionary of Computing, is a "centralized repository of information about data such as meaning, relationships to other data, origin, usage, and format."[1] The term may have one of several closely related meanings pertaining to databases and database management systems (DBMS),a document describing a database or collection of databases ,an integral component of a DBMS that is required to determine its structure .

Data Entity Object, event, or phenomenon about which data is stored in a database. Data Entity represents a data subject from the common data model that is used in the logical data model. A Data Model has three theoretical components. The first is the structural component which is a collection of data structures which will used to represent entities or objects in the database. The second is the integrity component referring to collection of

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governing rules and constraints on data structures. The third is the manipulation component referring to a collection of operators that can be applied to data.

Data Flow Analysis Data-flow analysis is a technique for gathering information about the possible set of values calculated at various points in a computer program. A program's control flow graph (CFG) is used to determine those parts of a program to which a particular value assigned to a variable might propagate. The information gathered is often used by compilers when optimizing a program. A canonical example of a data-flow analysis is reaching definitions.

Data Flow Diagram A type of flow chart; a description of data and the manual and machine processing performed on the data as it moves and changes from one stage to the next. It also includes the locations where the data are placed in permanent storage (disk, tape, etc.)

Data Integrity Data integrity is data that has a complete or whole structure. All characteristics of the data including business rules, rules for how pieces of data relate, dates, definitions and lineage must be correct for data to be complete.Per the discipline of data architecture, when functions are performed on the data the functions must ensure integrity.

Data Manipulation Data manipulation is the way in which data can be manipulated and changed.

Data Transfer Rate Data transfer rate (DTR), is the speed at which data can be transmitted between devices. This is sometimes referred to as throughput. The data transfer rate of a device is often expressed in kilobits or megabits per second, abbreviated as kbps and mbps respectively. It might also be expressed in kilobytes or megabytes, or KB/sec and MB/sec.

Bits are abbreviated in lower case, while bytes use upper case.

Data Type A data type is a type of data. Of course, that is rather circular definition, and also not very helpful. Therefore, a better definition of a data type is a data storage format that can contain a specific type or range of values.

Database A database is an integrated collection of logically-related records or files consolidated into a common pool that provides data for one or more multiple uses. One way of classifying databases involves the type of content, for example: bibliographic, full-text, numeric, and image. Other classification methods start from examining database models or database architectures:

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Database Administrator A database administrator (DBA) is a person responsible for the design, implementation, maintenance and repair of an organization's database. They are also known by the titles Database Coordinator or Database Programmer, and is closely related to the Database Analyst, Database Modeler, Programmer Analyst, and Systems Manager.

The role includes the development and design of database strategies, monitoring and improving database performance and capacity, and planning for future expansion requirements.

Database Object An object database (also object-oriented database) is a database model in which information is represented in the form of objects as used in object-oriented programming.

Datagram A datagram is, to quote the Internet's Request for Comments 1594, "a selfcontained, independent entity of data carrying sufficient information to be routed from the source to the destination computer without reliance on earlier exchanges between this source and destination computer and the transporting network."

DCE Data communications equipment OR data circuit-terminating equipment), a device that communicates with a data terminal equipment (DTE) device in a particular standard. In a data station, the DCE performs functions such as signal conversion, coding, and line clocking and may be a part of the DTE or intermediate equipment. Interfacing equipment may be required to couple the data terminal equipment (DTE) into a transmission circuit or channel and from a transmission circuit or channel into the DTE.

DDP Datagram delivery protocol, a member of the AppleTalk networking protocol suite, mainly responsible for socket-to-socket delivery of datagrams over an AppleTalk network.

DE Discard eligibility; signal used to identify less important data traffic that can be dropped during periods of congestion on the system.

Deadlock A deadlock occurs when two or more tasks permanently block each other by each task having a lock on a resource which the other tasks are trying to lock.

Deblocking A deblocking filter is applied to blocks in decoded video to improve visual quality and prediction performance by smoothing the sharp edges which can form between

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blocks when block coding techniques are used. The filter aims to improve the appearance of decoded pictures.

Debug Computer programmers, like everybody else, are not perfect. This means the programs they write sometimes have small errors, called "bugs," in them. These bugs can be minor, such as not recognizing user input, or more serious, such as a memory leak that crashes the program. Before releasing their software to the public, programmers "debug" their programs, eliminating as many errors as possible.

Decision Statement Decision statements use the if keyword to execute a statement block based on the evaluation of an expression or to choose between executing one of two statement blocks based on the evaluation of an expression. They are used quite often. For example, a program might need to run one code section if a customer is female and another code section if the customer is male.

Decision Support System Decision support systems constitute a class of computer-based information systems including knowledge-based systems that support decision-making activities.

Decision Table Decision tables are a precise yet compact way to model complicated logic.

Decision tables, like if-then-else and switch-case statements, associate conditions with actions to perform. But, unlike the control structures found in traditional programming languages, decision tables can associate many independent conditions with several actions in an elegant way.

Default A default, refers to a setting or value automatically assigned to a software application, computer program or device, outside of user intervention. Such settings are also called presets, especially for electronic devices.

Deliverable Deliverable is a term used in project management to describe a tangible or intangible object produced as a result of the project that is intended to be delivered to a customer (either internal or external). A deliverable could be a report, a document, a server upgrade or any other building block of an overall project.

Design Design is the planning that lays the basis for the making of every object or system. It can be used both as a noun and as a verb and, in a broader way, it means applied arts and engineering As a verb, "to design" refers to the process of originating and developing a plan for a product, structure, system, or component with intention.

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Design Element Design elements and principles scribe fundamental ideas about the practice of good visual design that are assumed to be the basis of all intentional visual design strategies. The elements form the 'vocabulary' of the design, while the principles constitute the broader structural aspects of its composition.

Design Pattern A design pattern in architecture and computer science is a formal way of documenting a solution to a design problem in a particular field of expertise. The idea was introduced by the architect Christopher Alexander in the field of architecture and has been adapted for various other disciplines, including computer science. An organized collection of design patterns that relate to a particular field is called a pattern language.

Design Recovery Design recovery is a subset of reverse engineering in which domain knowledge, external information, and deduction with fuzzy reasoning are added to the observations of the subject system to identify meaningful higher level abstractions beyond those obtained directly by examining the system itself.

Dialogue Box In graphical user interfaces, a dialog (or dialogue) box is a special window, used in user interfaces to display information to the user, or to get a response if needed. They are so-called because they form a dialog between the computer and the userâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;either informing the user of something, or requesting input from the user, or both. It provides controls that allow you to specify how to carry out an action.

Direct Access Storage Device In mainframe computers and some minicomputers, a direct access storage device, or DASD is any secondary storage device which has relatively low access time for all its capacity. Historically, IBM introduced the term to cover three different device types:disk drives , magnetic drums ,data cells.

Directives In computer programming, the term directive is applied in a variety of ways that are similar to the term command; it is also used to describe some programming language constructs (e.g. those specifying how a compiler or assembler should process its input).

Distributed Computing Environment The Distributed Computing Environment (DCE) is a software system developed in the early 1990s by a consortium that included Apollo Computer (later part of HewlettPackard), IBM, Digital Equipment Corporation, and others. The DCE supplies a framework and toolkit for developing client/server applications. The framework includes a remote procedure call (RPC) mechanism known as DCE/RPC, a naming (directory) service, a time service, an authentication service and a distributed file system (DFS) known as DCE/DFS.

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DLCI A(Data Link Connection Identifier) data link connection identifier (DLCI) is a channel number which is attached to frame relay data frames to tell the network how to route the data. This 10-bit field defines the destination address of a packet. The address is local on a link-by-link basis.Frame relay is statistically multiplexed, which means that only one frame can be transmitted at a time but many logical connections can co-exist on a single physical line.

DMA (Direct Memory Access) A feature that allows certain hardware subsystems in a computer to access system memory for reading and/or writing independently of the CPU; can include disk drive controllers, graphics cards, network cards, and sound cards

DNA (Digital Network Architecture) It is defined by Digital Equipment Corporation now part of HP, is essentially a set of documents which define the network architecture in general, states the specifications for each layer of the architecture, and describes the protocols which operate within each layer.

Documentation Documentation (numeronym d11n) may refer to the process of providing evidence ("to document something") or to the communicable material used to provide such documentation (i.e. a document). Documentation may also (seldom) refer to tools aiming at identifying documents (see bibliography) or to the field of study devoted to the study of documents and bibliographies

Domain A domain is a field of study that defines a set of common requirements, terminology, and functionality for any software program constructed to solve a problem in the area of computer programming, known as domain engineering.

Domain Analysis Domain analysis is the process of analyzing related software systems in a domain to find their common and variable parts. It is a model of wider business context for the system. The term was coined in the early 1980s by James Neighbors [1][2]. Domain analysis is the first phase of domain engineering. It is a key method for realizing systematic software reuse.

Domain Architecture / Domain Architectural Model A set of software architectures generic to a domain that define organising frameworks for constructing new application designs and implementations within the domain, consistent with the domain requirements model.

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Domain engineering, also called product line engineering, is the entire process of reusing domain knowledge in the production of new software systems. It is a key concept in systematic software reuse. A key idea in systematic software reuse is the application domain, a software area that contains systems sharing commonalities.

Domain Model Domain model, or Domain Object Model (DOM) in problem solving and software engineering can be thought of as a conceptual model of a system which describes the various entities involved in that system and their relationships.

DOS (Disk Operating System) DOS refers to the PC operating system that existed before Windows (16 bit) or Win 32. This was known as Ms-Dos after Microsoft who wrote it. Command line mode in Windows (accessed by clicking the Start button, then Run, then typing CMD and pressing return) is often called Dos Mode or the Dos Console by older programmers..

Dots Per Inch (Dpi) A dot per inch (DPI) is a measure of spatial printing or video dot density, in particular the number of individual dots that can be placed in a line within the span of 1 inch (2.54 cm). The DPI value tends to correlate with image resolution, but is related only indirectly.

Download To retrieve information from a server, as seen from the point of view of the client retrieving or requesting the information.

DRAM Dynamic random access memory (DRAM) is a type of random access memory that stores each bit of data in a separate capacitor within an integrated circuit. Since real capacitors leak charge, the information eventually fades unless the capacitor charge is refreshed periodically. Because of this refresh requirement, it is a dynamic memory as opposed to SRAM and other static memory.

Driver Device driver or software driver is a computer program allowing higher-level computer programs to interact with a hardware device. A driver typically communicates with the device through the computer bus or communications subsystem to which the hardware connects. When a calling program invokes a routine in the driver, the driver issues commands to the device.

Dropdown Menu

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A menu of commands or options that appears when you select an item with a mouse. The item you select is generally at the top of the display screen, and the menu appears just below it, as if you had pulled it down.

DS0 (digital signal, level 0) Basic digital signalling rate of 64 kbit/s, corresponding to the capacity of one voice-frequency-equivalent channel.

DS1 (digital signal, level 1) It also known as T1; widely used to transmit voice and data between devices.

DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) DSL technology that delivers digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network.

Dumb Dump generally refers to a place for disposal of domestic waste.

Dumb Terminal A dumb terminal is simply an output device that accepts data from the CPU. In contrast, a smart terminal is a monitor that has its own processor for special features, such as bold and blinking characters. Dumb terminals are not as fast as smart terminals, and they do not support as many display features, but they are adequate for most applications.

DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) DVD, also known as Digital Versatile Disc or Digital Video Disc, is an optical disc storage media format, and was developed and invented by Sony, and Philips in 1995.

Its main uses are video and data storage. DVDs are of the same dimensions as compact discs (CDs), but store more than six times as much data.

DWDM (Dense Wavelength-Division Multiplexing) An optical technology used to increase bandwidth over existing fiber optic backbones.

Dynamic Binding Dynamic binding means determining the exact implementation of a request based on both the request (operation) name and the receiving object at the run-time. It often happens when invoking a derived class's member function using a pointer to its super class. The implementation of the derived class will be invoked instead of that of the super class. It allows substituting a particular implementation using the same interface and enables polymorphism.

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E E-assessment It is the use of information technology for any assessment-related activity. This definition embraces a wide range of student activity ranging from the use of a word processor to on-screen testing. Due to its obvious similarity to e-learning, the term eassessment is becoming widely used as a generic term to describe the use of computers within the assessment process. Specific types of e-assessment include computerized adaptive testing and computerized classification testing.

EBCDIC Extended binary coded decimal interchange code, 8-bit character encoding table used by ISM mainframes.

EGP (Exterior gateway protocol) A protocol commonly used between hosts on the Internet to exchange routing table information.

Electronic Mail Electronic mail, the transmission of messages over communications networks.

The messages can be notes entered from the keyboard or electronic files stored on disk.

Most mainframes, minicomputers, and computer networks have an e-mail system. Some electronic-mail systems are confined to a single computer system or network, but others have gateways to other computer systems, enabling users to send electronic mail anywhere in the world.

EMI (Electro Magnetic Interference) Radiation that causes unwanted signals (interference or noise) to be induced in other circuits; also called radio frequency interference or RFI.

Encapsulation Encapsulation is otherwise called as information hiding.information hiding is the principle of segregation of design decisions in a computer program that are most likely to change, thus protecting other parts of the program from extensive modification if the design decision is changed.

Encryption Encryption is the process of transforming information (referred to as plaintext) using an algorithm (called cipher) to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is

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encrypted information (in cryptography, referred to as ciphertext). In many contexts, the word encryption also implicitly refers to the reverse process, decryption (e.g. â&#x20AC;&#x153;software for encryptionâ&#x20AC;? can typically also perform decryption), to make the encrypted information readable again (i.e. to make it unencrypted).

Enterprise network It connects many types of networks. Enterprise Network Worldwide is an alliance of independent accounting firms working together to provide the best possible service to clients on a worldwide basis. Member firms offer innovative business solutions in a range of specialties including Assurance, Valuation, Financial Services, Tax and Family Owned Businesses.

Entity Person, partnership, organization, or business unit which has a legal existence, for which accounting records are kept, and about which financial statements are prepared.

Entity-Relationship Diagram An entity-relationship (ER) diagram is a specialized graphic that illustrates the interrelationships between entities in a database. ER diagrams often use symbols to represent three different types of information. Boxes are commonly used to represent entities. Diamonds are normally used to represent relationships and ovals are used to represent attributes.

Ergonomics Ergonomics is the science of designing the job, equipment, and workplace to fit the worker. Proper ergonomic design is necessary to prevent repetitive strain injuries, which can develop over time and can lead to long-term disability.

Ethernet It is most commonly used protocol designed to change the packets into electrical signals that can be sent out over the wire. Ethernet is a family of frame-based computer networking technologies for local area networks (LANs). The name comes from the physical concept of the ether. It defines a number of wiring and signaling standards for the Physical Layer of the OSI networking model, through means of network access at the Media Access Control protocol (a sub-layer of Data Link Layer), and a common addressing format.

Executable Exe is short for executable and is the extension for an application on Win 32 or .NETplatforms. An exe is produced by compiling source code into object code then linking it into machine code and writing that to the exe file. A dll is similar to an exe but is not directly executable. Functions in the dll are called from the ain exe. It provides a way to split what would be a very large exe into an exe plus one or more dlls.

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Executive File An exe file (pronounced as letters E-X-E) is a computer file that ends with the extension ".exe" otherwise known as an executable file. When one clicks on an exe file, a built-in routine automatically executes code that can set several functions into motion.

Exe files are used to install and run programs and routines.

Expert System An expert system is software that attempts to provide an answer to a problem, or clarify uncertainties where normally one or more human experts would need to be consulted. Expert systems are most common in a specific problem domain, and is a traditional application and/or subfield of artificial intelligence.

Exterior protocols A protocol concerned with routing between Autonomous Systems (ASs), which are groups of routers within the same administrative domain. Exterior protocols include the Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP) and the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP).

External Interface A connection to a device outside the computer's cabinet. Contrast with internal interface. A connection to the WAN side of a router. The WAN may be a public or private network.

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F Facsimile (Fax) Fax (short for facsimile, from Latin fac simile, "make similar", i.e. "make a copy") is a telecommunications technology used to transfer copies (facsimiles) of documents, especially using affordable devices operating over the telephone network.

The word telefax, short for telefacsimile, for "make a copy at a distance", is also used as a synonym.

FAT File Allocation Table or FAT is a computer file system architecture now widely used on many computer systems and most memory cards, such as those used with digital cameras. FAT file systems are commonly found on floppy disks, flash memory cards, digital cameras, and many other portable devices because of its relative simplicity.

Performance of FAT compares poorly to most other file systems as it uses overly simplistic data structures, making file operations time-consuming, and makes poor use of disk space in situations where many small files are present.

FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) provides a standard for data transmission in a local area network that can extend in range up to 200 kilometers (124 miles).

Although FDDI logical topology is a token ring network, it does not use the IEEE 802.5 token ring protocol as its basis; instead, its protocol is derived from the IEEE 802.4 token bus timed token protocol. In addition to covering large geographical areas, FDDI local area networks can support thousands of users.

FDM (Frequency-Division Multiplexing) FDM permits a range of input signals to be carried over a communication line that uses separate carrier frequencies for each signal channel; mostly used for analog information but can carry digital.

Feasibility Study A feasibility study is an evaluation of a proposal designed to determine the difficulty in carrying out a designated task. Generally, a feasibility study precedes technical development and project implementation.

File A computer file is a block of arbitrary information, or resource for storing information, which is available to a computer program and is usually based on some kind of durable storage. A file is durable in the sense that it remains available for programs to use after the current program has finished.

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File Management System The way to store and retrieve information from disk drives; controls how files can be created, accessed, retrieved, and deleted.

File Organization Organizing a file depends on what kind of file it happens to be, a file in the simplest form can be a text file, (in other words a file which is composed of ascii (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) text.) Files can also be created as binary or executable types (containing elements other than plain text.) Also, files are keyed with attributes which help determine their use by the host operating system. It can organized in Heap (unordered) ,Sorted ,sequential (SAM) ,Line Sequential (LSAM) ,Indexed Sequential (ISAM) ,Hashed or Direct .

Firewall A barrier between a network and the Internet through which only authorized users can pass; set of security policies to screen incoming and outgoing messages; also used to isolate one part of a network from another.

Floppy drive Early versions were actually floppy; today, they use hard 3.5 inch disk; also referred to as removable drive. A removable disk used for storing digital data, measuring between 2 and 8 inches diagonally and storing between 80 KB and 240 MB.

Flowchart A flowchart is a common type of diagram, that represents an algorithm or process, showing the steps as boxes of various kinds, and their order by connecting these with arrows. This diagrammatic representation can give a step-by-step solution to a given problem. Data is represented in these boxes, and arrows connecting them represent flow / direction of flow of data. Flowcharts are used in analyzing, designing, documenting or managing a process or program in various fields.

Focus The concentration of attention or energy on something; "the focus of activity shifted to molecular biology"; "he had no direction in his life" .maximum clarity or distinctness of an image rendered by an optical system; "in focus"; "out of focus" .ms

Foreign Key A field (or fields) on the many side of a one-to-many relationship between tables that relates to the primary key of the other table. Foreign keys do not need to be unique within the table.

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Form An arrangement of the elements in a composition or discourse, the essay was in the form of a dialogue, first sketches the plot in outline form.

Forward Engineering Forward engineering is the set of engineering activities that consume the products and artifacts derived from legacy software and new requirements to produce a new target system."

FRAD (Frame Relay Access Device) Software that frames the customerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s payload with the Frame Relay overhead information, including the first DLCI (data link connection identifier) address, to prepare it for delivery to the network.

Frame relay Service with standards and specifications designed to transmit data; some users have had success at transmitting voice.

Frame Data structure that collectively represents the transmission stream (headers, data, and the trailer) and provides the information necessary for the correct delivery of the data.

Frequency Number of times a wave repeats a cycle in a one-second period; measured in cycles per second, or hertz.

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Application used to transfer a copy of a file from one computer to another computer with one acting as client and the other as server; a login with a user name and password is typically required.

Full-Duplex Link It enables both sides to simultaneously send and receive data; could require two separate cables, one in each direction or a single multiplexed cable

Function It is a routine, subroutine, subprogram, procedure. Function a set sequence of steps, part of larger computer program.

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Function Point Analysis A function point is a unit of measurement to express the amount of business functionality an information system provides to a user. Function points are the units of measure used by the IFPUG Functional Size Measurement Method.

Functional Area Grouping of individuals on the basis of the function each performs in the organization, such as accounting, marketing, manufacturing. Grouping of activities or processes on the basis of their need in accomplishing one or more tasks. Alternative term for business unit.

Functional Element The elements, which take part in the metabolic activities of plants, whether essential or non-essential, are named as functional elements.

Function Pointers Function Pointers are pointers, i.e. variables, which point to the address of a function. You must keep in mind, that a running program gets a certain space in the mainmemory. Both, the executable compiled program code and the used variables, are put inside this memory. Thus a function in the program code is, like e.g. a character field, nothing else than an address. It is only important how you, or better your compiler/processor, interpret the memory a pointer points.

Function Point Estimating Function Point Estimating is an estimating technique that can be used early in the life cycle to get a general "sizing" estimate, and at the completion of logical design to generate a secondary estimate to compare with the results of detailed task-based estimating.

Function overloading Function overloading, the function is said to be overloaded when same name is given to different functions. The number of parameters, the data type of parameters, the order of appearance these three together are referred to as the function signature.

Functional Testing In functional testing, we treat the program, or any component of it, as a function and test the functions by giving it inputs and comparing its outputs to expected results.

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G Gateway A gateway may contain devices such as protocol translators, impedance matching devices, rate converters, fault isolators, or signal translators as necessary to provide system interoperability. It also requires the establishment of mutually acceptable administrative procedures between both networks.

GB The gigabyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage. The prefix giga means 109 in the International System of Units (SI), therefore 1 gigabyte is 1000000000bytes. The unit symbol for the gigabyte is GB or Gbyte, but not Gb (lower case b) which is typically used for the gigabit.

GBPS Gigabits per second; billions of bits per second a data transfer speed measurement for high-speed networks.

Gif The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is a bitmap image format that was introduced by CompuServe in 1987 and has since come into widespread usage on the World Wide Web due to its wide support and portability.The format supports up to 8 bits per pixel allowing a single image to reference a palette of up to 256 distinct colors chosen from the 24-bit RGB color space.

GPS GPS, which stands for Global Positioning System, is a radio navigation system that allows land, sea, and airborne users to determine their exact location, velocity, and time 24 hours a day, in all weather conditions, anywhere in the world.

Graphical User Interface A graphical user interface or GUI (sometimes pronounced gooey[1] instead) is a type of user interface item that allows people to interact with programs in more ways than typing such as computers; hand-held devices such as MP3 Players, Portable Media Players or Gaming devices; household appliances and office equipment with images rather than text commands. A GUI offers graphical icons, and visual indicators, as opposed to text-based interfaces, typed command labels or text navigation to fully represent the information and actions available to a user.

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Graphics Graphics are visual presentations on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, computer screen, paper, or stone to brand, inform, illustrate, or entertain. Examples are photographs, drawings, Line Art, graphs, diagrams, typography, numbers, symbols, geometric designs, maps, engineering drawings, or other images. Graphics often combine text, illustration, and color.

Graphics design Graphic design may consist of the deliberate selection, creation, or arrangement of typography alone, as in a brochure, flier, poster, web site, or book without any other element. Clarity or effective communication may be the objective, association with other cultural elements may be sought, or merely, the creation of a distinctive style.

Group A group is an algebraic structure consisting of a set together with an operation that combines any two of its elements to form a third element.

Group Schema A group scheme is a type of algebro-geometric object equipped with a composition law. Group schemes arise naturally as symmetries of schemes, and they generalize algebraic groups, in the sense that all algebraic groups have group scheme structure, but group schemes are not necessarily connected, smooth, or defined over a field. This extra generality allows one to study richer infinitesimal structures, and this can help one to understand and answer questions of arithmetic significance.

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H Half-duplex link It enables one side to transmit and receive, but not simultaneously; information only flows in one direction at a time using a control procedure to mediate.

Hard Disk The hard disk is housed inside the hard drive, which reads and writes data to the disk. The hard drive also transmits data back and forth between the CPU and the disk.

When you save data on your hard disk, the hard drive has to write thousands, if not millions, of ones and zeros to the hard disk. It is an amazing process to think about, but may also be a good incentive to keep a backup of your data.

Hardware Hardware is the physical aspect of computers, telecommunications, and other devices. The term arose as a way to distinguish the "box" and the electronic circuitry and components of a computer from the program you put in it to make it do things. The program came to be known as the software.

Header File Header files are a feature of some programming languages that allows programmers to separate certain elements of a program's source code into reusable files.

Header files commonly contain forward declarations of classes, subroutines, variables, and other identifiers. Programmers who wish to declare standardized identifiers in more than one source file can place such identifiers in a single header file, which other code can then include whenever the header contents are required.

Heap Dynamic memory allocation is the allocation of memory storage for use in a computer program during the runtime of that program. It can be seen also as a way of distributing ownership of limited memory resources among many pieces of data and code.

Hertz A Hertz is a unit of frequency defined as a reciprocal second, s -1 . For example, AC current cycles polarity 60 times per second, so we could call this 60 Hz = 60 s -1 .

Human hearing has a frequency range from a few hundred Hz up to approximately 20,000 Hz.

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Heterogeneous Network A heterogeneous network is a network connecting computers and other devices with different operating systems and/or protocols. For example, local area networks (LANs) that connect Microsoft Windows and Linux based personal computers with Apple Macintosh computers are heterogeneous. The word heterogeneous network is also used in wireless networks using different access technologies. For example, a wireless network which provides a service through a wireless LAN and is able to maintain the service when switching to a cellular network is called a wireless heterogeneous network.

Hierarchical Menu A secondary menu that appears while you are holding the cursor over an item on the primary menu.

Home Page The first page retrieved when accessing a Web site or the first screen displayed when a PDA or smart phone is started. It provides the main menu and starting point for the rest of the content on the site or device.

Homogeneous Network Computer network derived of computers using similar configuration and protocols. A good example of a homogeneous network is a network using Microsoft Windows over TCP/IP.

Host address Part of an IP address that is uniquely assigned by an administrator.

Host-to-host layer Part of the TCP/IP model that performs the same function as the transport layer in the OSI model.

HTML HTML, which stands for Hyper Text Markup Language, is the predominant markup language for web pages. It provides a means to create structured documents by denoting structural semantics for text such as headings, paragraphs, lists etc as well as for links, quotes, and other items. It allows images and objects to be embedded and can be used to create interactive forms.

HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a combination of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol with the SSL/TLS protocol to provide encryption and secure identification of the server. HTTPS connections are often used for payment transactions on the World Wide Web and for sensitive transactions in corporate information systems.

HTTPS should not be confused with Secure HTTP (S-HTTP) specified in RFC 2660.

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Hubs A network hub or repeater hub is a device for connecting multiple twisted pair or fiber optic Ethernet devices together and making them act as a single network segment.

Hubs work at the physical layer (layer 1) of the OSI model. The device is a form of multiport repeater. Repeater hubs also participate in collision detection, forwarding a jam signal to all ports if it detects a collision.

Hybrid Computer Hybrid computers are computers that exhibit features of analog computers and digital computers. The digital component normally serves as the controller and provides logical operations, while the analog component normally serves as a solver of differential equations.

Hypermedia Hypermedia is used as a logical extension of the term hypertext in which graphics, audio, video, plain text and hyperlinks intertwine to create a generally nonlinear medium of information.This contrasts with the broader term multimedia, which may be used to describe non-interactive linear presentations as well as hypermedia

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I ISP (Internet service providers) An Internet service provider is a businesses or organizations that provide consumers with access to the Internet and related services.

IT (Information Technology) An IT is the broad term that can refer to anything from mainframes to PDAs; any technology that moves information (voice, video, or data).

ITU-T The Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T) coordinates standards for telecommunications on behalf of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

IXC (Inter Exchange Carrier) A telephone company that provides connections between local exchanges in different geographic areas are called as inter exchange carrier.

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J Jitter Distortion in a digital signal caused by a shift in timing pulses and it can cause data interpretation errors. Jitter is a measure of the variability over time of the latency across a network. A very low amount of jitter is important for real-time applications using voice and video.

Join The study of how to navigate through each phase of the software process model (determining data, control, or uses hierarchies, partitioning functions, and allocating requirements) and how to represent phase products (structure charts, stimulus-response threads, and state transition diagrams).

Jpeg Joint Photographic Experts Group, a sophisticated lossy compression technique for reducing the amount of data needed to describe a full-color and pronounced jay-peg.

A file format used for good quality photographic reproduction on the Web and The degree of compression can be adjusted.

JSP (Java Server Pages) An extensible web technology that uses template data, custom elements, scripting languages, and server-side Java objects to return dynamic content to a client. Typically, the template data consists of HTML or XML elements, and, in many cases, the client is a web browser. JSP technology is an extension of servlet technology. It facilitates the addition of dynamic data to an otherwise static web page.

Jumper This is a small metal connector that acts as an on/off switch and is used to alter hardware configurations. A jumper is typically made of two wires and a small piece of metal. When the wires are connected by the metal piece, the jumper is turned on, completing the circuit. When the wires are disconnected, the jumper is turned off.

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k Kbps (Kilo bits per second) The speed of data transmission measured as the number of thousands of data bits per second. The unit used to measure how fast data is transferred between devices on a network.

Kernel The base layer, or the foundation of the operating system, is called the kernel. The kernel provides the most basic "low-level" services, such as the hardware-software interaction and memory management. The more efficient the kernel is, the more efficiently the operating system will run.

Kerning Kerning refers to improving the appearance of type by adjusting the spacing between selected pairs of letters. The process of changing the horizontal dimension of a type character, or the white space around the character to achieve a visual effect.

Key Field A key field is a field or set of fields of a database (typically a relational database) table which together form a unique identifier for a database record (a table entry). The aggregate of these fields is usually referred to simply as "the key".

KHz (kilohertz) A unit of measurement of frequency, also known as cycles per second; e.g., one kilohertz equals 1,000 Hz, or cycles per second.

Knowledge Management Knowledge Management (KM) comprises a range of practices used in an organisation to identify, create, represent, distribute and enable adoption of insights and experiences. The process of systematically and actively managing and leveraging the stores of knowledge in an organisation is called knowledge management.

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L LAN (Local Area Network) A network linking two or more computers and peripheral devices in a specific geographic like a home, office, or small group of buildings and it is a miniature internet.

LAPB (Link Access Protocol Balanced) Link Access Procedure, Balanced (LAPB) implements the data link layer as defined in the X.25 protocol suite. LAPB is a bit-oriented protocol derived from HDLC that ensures that frames are error free and in the right sequence. Link Access Procedure, Balanced (LAPB) is used to manage communication and packet framing between data terminal equipment (DTE) and the data circuit-terminating equipment (DCE) devices in the X.25 protocol stack.

LATAs (Local Access and Transport Areas) Local access and transport areas refer to a geographic region assigned to one or more telephone companies for providing communication services. A connection between two telephone companies within the same region is referred to as "intra-LATA.

Latency Latency is the time that elapses between the initiation of a request for data and the start of the actual data transfer. This delay may be in nanoseconds but it is still used to judge the efficiency of networks.

LCI (Logical Channel Identifier) LCN is used to define frequencies in use on M/A-COM EDACS (Enhanced Digital Access Communications System) systems and LTR (logic trunked radio) systems, more commonly known as logical channel number. It is also known as virtual channel.

LE (Local Exchange) Local Exchange is a regulatory term in telecommunications for local telephone company. It is also called as end office.

Leader Board Leader boards can contain text, images, or even animations. When a visitor clicks on a leader board, he or she is directed to the advertiser's website. While leader boards are larger than the original banner ads, most Web developers have found ways to incorporate the ads in ways that are not too distracting to the user.

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Leased lines A leased line connects two locations for private voice and/or data telecommunication service. A leased line is actually a reserved circuit between two points. Leased lines can span short or long distances.

Light Pen A handheld input device that looks like a pen. The pen is held to the computer screen and the area to be selected is highlighted. A hand-held optical character recognition device used for data entry into many types of terminals.

Listserv A listserv, or list server, is a small program that automatically sends messages to multiple e-mail addresses on a mailing list. When someone subscribes to a mailing list, the listserv will automatically add the address and distribute future e-mail messages to that address along with all the others on the list.

Linkage Linkage is the instant message programs used to request a URL or hyperlink to a web location. Linkage describes how names can or cannot refer to the same entity throughout the whole program or one single translation unit.

Localization The process of customizing software for a particular location. Localization usually involves translation and often requires changes to colors, fonts, keyboard usage, number formats, and date and time formats.

Logical segmentation devices Logical segmentation devices allow network designers to maintain separate networks (often for security reasons) that can still communicate with one another.

Logon A combination of a user's identification and password used to enter a computer.

This process is called logging on.

Lossy A data compression is most commonly used to compress multimedia data (audio, video, still images) especially in applications, such as streaming media and internet telephony. Lossy is a characteristic of a network that is prone to lose packets when it becomes highly loaded.

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LUN Logical unit number is an addressing scheme used to define SCSI devices on a single SCSI bus. LUNs can also be used for identifying virtual hard disk partitions, which are used in RAID configurations.

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M MAC address A MAC (Media Access Control) address is a hardware identification number that uniquely identifies each device on a network. The MAC address is manufactured into every network card, such as an Ethernet card or Wi-Fi card, and therefore cannot be changed.

Macro A macro in computer science is a rule or pattern that specifies how a certain input sequence (often a sequence of characters) should be mapped to an output sequence (also often a sequence of characters) according to a defined procedure. The mapping process that instantiates a macro into a specific output sequence is known as macro expansion.

Malware Malware is â&#x20AC;&#x153;malicious software," which refers to software programs designed to damage or does other unwanted actions on a computer system. Common examples of malware include viruses, worms, Trojan, and spy ware.

MAN (Metropolitan Area Network) A metropolitan area network (MAN) is a large computer network that usually spans a city or a large campus. A MAN usually interconnects a number of local area networks (LANs) using a high-capacity backbone technology, such as fiber-optical links, and provides up-link services to wide area networks and the Internet. A high speed network designed to link together sites in a metropolitan or campus area.

MANET (Mobile Ad Hoc Network) A MANET is a type of ad hoc network that can change locations and configure itself on the fly. Because MANETS are mobile, they use wireless connections to connect to various networks. This can be a standard Wi-Fi connection, or another medium, such as a cellular or satellite transmission. Some MANETs are restricted to a local area of wireless devices (such as a group of laptop computers), while others may be connected to the Internet.

Mashup Mashup is a Web application that combines multiple services into a single application. The primary purpose of most Web mashups is to consolidate information with an easy-to-use interface. Because the combinations of Web applications are limitless, so are the possibilities of mashups.

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MAU (Medium Attachment Unit) MAU is an acronym for Medium Attachment Unit, also known as "transceiver", which converts signals on an Ethernet cable to and from Attachment Unit Interface (AUI) signals. Transceiver (transmitter/receiver) comprising hardware circuitry that provides the correct electrical or optical connection between the computer.

MB (Megabyte) A unit of storage capacity - there are 1024 kilobytes in a MB. Megabyte is an amount of computer memory consisting of about one million bytes. The actual value is 1,048,576 bytes.

Mebibyte A mebibyte is a unit of data storage that equals 2 to the 20th power, or 1,048,576 bytes. While a megabyte can be estimated as 10^6 or 1,000,000 bytes, a mebibyte is exactly 1,048,576 bytes. This is to avoid the ambiguity associated with the size of megabytes. A mebibyte is 1,024 kibibytes and precedes the gibibyte unit of measurement.

Mega pixel A mega pixel is one million pixels. It is commonly used to describe the resolution of digital cameras. A camera's mega pixel number is calculated by multiplying the number of vertical pixels by the number of horizontal pixels captured by the camera's sensor, or CCD.

Memory management Memory management is the act of managing computer memory. In its simpler forms, this involves providing ways to allocate portions of memory to programs at their request, and freeing it for reuse when no longer needed. It allocates memory to separate tasks and protects data from corruption

Memory Memory is a desk space of the computer system, the microchips located on the motherboard that hold data and instructions for the CPU (central processing unit) and ability to store, retain and recall information.

Memory Leak A memory leak is like a virtual oil leak in your computer. It slowly drains the available memory, reducing the amount of free memory the system can use. Most memory leaks are caused by a program that unintentionally uses up increasing amounts of memory while it is running. This is typically a gradual process that gets worse as the program remains open. If the leak is bad enough, it can cause the program to crash or even make the whole computer freeze.

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Metadata Metadata describes other data. It provides information about a certain item's content. Definitional data that provides information about or documentation of other data managed within an application or environment. Meta data may include descriptive information about the context, quality and condition, or characteristics of the data. It is also referred to as an abstract.

Metafile A metafile can refer to two different types of computer files. The first is a file that describes the contents of other files. This type of metafile may contain metadata, which defines a group other files and gives a summary of what data they contain.

The second type of metafile is most often used in computer graphics. These files define objects and images using a list of coordinates. They are typically used for vector images, such as Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw, and EPS files, but can include raster images as well.

Meta Tag This is a special HTML tag that is used to store information about a Web page but is not displayed in a Web browser. For example, Meta tags provide information such as what program was used to create the page, a description of the page, and keywords that are relevant to the page. Many search engines use the information stored in meta tags when they index Web pages.

Methodology Methodology can be defined as: “the analysis of the principles of methods, rules, and postulates employed by a discipline”, “the systematic study of methods that are, can be, or have been applied within a discipline”, “a particular procedure or set of procedures”.

Metrics Metrics is a measurable element of a service, process or function. The real value of metrics is seen in their change over time. It is a standard of measurement, where Software metrics are the statistics describing the structure or content of a program.

Microcomputer Microcomputer is an electronic device capable of performing arithmetic and logic operations on data, according to a stored program of instructions. It is a small portable computer which is relatively inexpensive and which is designed for a single user.

Middleware Middleware is computer software that connects software components or applications. The software consists of a set of services that allows multiple processes running on one or more machines to interact across a network. Middleware is a layer of software that runs on top of set top box operating systems (OS) creating a consistent environment to run application.

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MIPS Million Instructions per Second is a method of measuring the raw speed of a computer's processor. Since the MIPS measurement doesn't take into account other factors such as the computer's I/O speed or processor architecture.

Mirrored volume A mirrored volume is a hard drive or other form of storage media that stores an exact copy of the data from another volume. It is used for fault tolerance, which means mirrored volume serves as a backup device in case the primary device fails.

Modem Modem stands for modulator demodulator. A modem is a communications device that can be either internal or external to your computer. It allows one computer to connect another computer and transfer data over telephone lines.

Moodle Moodle is "Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment." Moodle is an open source course management system. It is used by thousands of educational institutions around the world to provide an organized interface for e-learning, or learning over the Internet.

Mount In order for a hard disk or disk partition to be accessible by a computer, it must first be mounted. This is a software process that "activates" the disk, which makes the folders and files on the disk readable by the computer. If a hard drive is physically connected, but not mounted, the computer will not recognize it.

Multimedia Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. Multimedia includes a combination of text, audio, still images, animation, video, and interactivity content forms.

Multiplexer A multiplexer is a network that separates signals from a common port to other ports, sorted according to their frequency. A device that interleaves several activities, a switching device. A device that combines several input signals into a single output signal

Multiprocessing Multiprocessing is the coordinated processing of programs by more than one computer processor. Multiprocessing is a general term that can mean the dynamic assignment of a program to one of two or more computers working in tandem or can involve multiple computers working on the same program at the same time.

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Multiprogramming Multiprocessing enables more than one programme to reside in the central memory at the same time, and share the available processor time. It is the execution of two or more computer programs by a single computer.

Multitasking Multitasking is processing multiple tasks at one time. Multitasking can handle several tasks at once; it also improves the stability of the computer. Multitasking also refers to the way a computer works.

Multithreading Multithreading is similar to multitasking, but enables the processing of multiple threads at one time, rather than multiple processes. Since threads are smaller, more basic instructions than processes, multithreading may occur within processes.

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N Name Server A name server translates domain names into IP addresses. This makes it possible for a user to access a website by typing in the domain name instead of the website's actual IP address. For example, when you type in "www.microsoft.com," the request gets sent to Microsoft's name server which returns the IP address of the Microsoft website.

NAS NAS is â&#x20AC;&#x153;Network Attached Storageâ&#x20AC;?. A typical computer stores data using internal and external hard drives. If the computer is connected to a network, it can share data on its connected hard drives with other systems on the network. While this allows multiple computers to send data back and forth, it requires that each computer share its files individually. NAS servers typically contain multiple hard drives, providing a large amount of shared disk space for connected systems to save data.

NetBIOS NetBIOS means Network Basic Input/Output System. The BIOS provides an interface between the computer's operating system and the hardware. NetBIOS adds support for networking, including the ability to recognize other devices connected to the network. NetBIOS provides an API (Application Program Interface) for software developers to use. The NetBIOS API includes network-related functions and commands, which can be incorporated into software programs.

Netiquette Netiquette, or net etiquette, refers to etiquette on the Internet. Good netiquette involves respecting others' privacy and not doing anything online that will annoy or frustrate other people. Three areas where good netiquette is highly stressed are e-mail, online chat, and newsgroups.

Netmask The terms netmask and subnet mask are often used interchangeably. However, subnet masks are used primarily in network configurations, while net masks typically refer to classes of IP addresses. They are used to define a range of IP addresses that can be used by an ISP or other organization.

Network In information technology, a network is a series of points or nodes interconnected by communication paths. Networks can interconnect with other networks and contain sub networks. Group of interconnected computers and peripherals that is capable of sharing software and hardware resources between many users.

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Normalization Normalization is a systematic way of ensuring that a database structure is suitable for general-purpose querying and free of certain undesirable characteristicsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;insertion, update, and deletion anomaliesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that could lead to a loss of data integrity.

Num Lock Num Lock is a key that is typically located near the keypad on the right side of a keyboard. Like Caps Lock, Num Lock is a toggle key, which toggles the input of certain keys, depending whether Num Lock is on or off.

Nybble A Nybble, sometimes spelled "nibble," is a set of four bits. Since there are eight bits in a byte, a nybble is half of one byte. The four bits in a nibble allow it to have 16 possible values, which is the same as one hexadecimal digit. Therefore, a nybble is sometimes referred to as a "hex digit." In data communications, nybble are sometimes called "quad bits," because of the four bits that make up each nybble.

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O Object An object is any entity that can be manipulated by the commands of a programming language, such as a value (computer science), variable, function, or data structure.

Object Code Object code is the machine-executable instructions, usually generated by a compiler from source code written in a higher-level language.

Occam Occam is a concurrent programming language that builds on the Communicating Sequential Processes (CSP) process algebra, and shares many of its features.

OCR OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition. Software that translates images of letters entered into the computer with a scanner into characters that can be manipulated as text but not as images.

OEM OEM Stands for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Original Equipment Manufacturerâ&#x20AC;?. This refers to a company that produces hardware to be marketed under another company's brand name.

Offline When a computer or other device is not turned on or connected to other devices, it is said to be "offline." This is the opposite of being "online," when a device can readily communicate with other devices. Offline can also mean not being connected to the Internet.

OLAP OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) is a category of database software which provides an interface such that users can quickly and interactively examine the results in various dimensions of the data. OLAP primarily involves aggregating large amounts of diverse data. OLAP can involve millions of data items with complex relationships. Its objective is to analyze these relationships and look for patterns, trends, and exceptions.

OpenDoc OpenDoc was a multi-platform software for compound documents.

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component

framework

standard

Open firmware Open Firmware is a type of firmware that some computer systems use when they boot up. It controls the processor and performs system diagnostics before the operating system is loaded. Open Firmware also builds the "device tree," which locates internal and external devices connected to the computer. Each device is then assigned a unique address so it can be used once the computer starts up.

Open source When a software program is open source, it means the program's source code is freely available to the public. Open source programs can be modified and distributed by anyone, it makes sense that the software is also free to download and use.

Operating System Operating system (commonly abbreviated to OS, O/S or kernel) is an interface between hardware and software in a computer system. The OS is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the limited resources of the computer.

OSPF OSPF (Open Shortest Path First) is a method of finding the shortest path from one router to another in a local area network (LAN). As long as a network is IP-based, the OSPF algorithm will calculate the most efficient way for data to be transmitted.

Overflow Error An error that occurs when the computer attempts to handle a number that is too large for it. Every computer has a well-defined range of values that it can represent. If during execution of a program it arrives at a number outside this range, it will experience an overflow error. Overflow errors are sometimes referred to as overflow conditions.

Overloading Overloading is a feature that allows an object to have different meanings depending on its context. The term is used most often in reference to operators that can behave differently depending on the data type, or class, of the operands.

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P Pack To compress computer data.

Page In a word processing program, a specified amount of information such as text or images, regardless of the size of the characters or other variables.short for Web page, a frame of information stored on a Web server, available on the Internet. Unlike a page in a word processing application, a Web page has an unlimited amount of space available. However, Website developers consider it wise to keep page sizes within reasonable limits.

Page Down key A key on the numeric keypad that, when set in the cursor mode, moves the cursor down by a pre-specified number of spaces on the display monitor.

Page impressions It is also referred to as page views, the number of times a particular Web page is visited by a user. This is a more accurate method of tracking site activity than counting hits because page impressions account for a server delivering an entire page to a viewer.

A hit refers to individual components of a page such as a single image or block of text.

Consequently, a page containing five images would be counted as five hits. Determining the accurate number of page impressions is important for companies both buying and selling advertising.

Page Up key A key on the numeric keypad that, when set in cursor mode, moves the cursor up by a pre-specified number of spaces on the display monitor.

Parameter An identifying feature, value, or characteristic. In programming, a parameter represents a boundary or value, which might trigger a function or action .

Parent directory The senior directory to a particular file or directory in a computer’s Hierarchy. In the Windows operating system, the C drive is the computer’s main storage space or root directory. All of the other directories are kept here. For example, to trace the lineage of a file labeled “My Recipes”, we would first look in the C directory, then to Program files (stored in the C Directory), then to MS Word, (the application that created the My Recipe document) kept in the Program Files Directory, then the individual file, My Recipes.

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Parity The state of equality or being equal. In computer programming, as well as the transmission of data, evenly (or oddly) matched groupings of data allow for a simple method of checking errors.

Park To safely secure the read/write head of a hard disk so that it isn’t damaged when a computer is moved. Modern hard disks automatically do this when the computer’s power is shut off.

Parse To divide, analyze, and categorize individual components of language into small units so they can be utilized usefully in computer programming.

Partition To alienate sections of a hard drive for individual uses. Each section acts as a separate disk and improves the overall storage efficiency of the disk. Software applications are available allowing a user to partition a hard disk.

Pascal It is a high level programming language based on Algorithmic Language (ALGOL) developed in the early 1970’s by Niklaus Wirth. The language was named after the seventeenth century mathematician Blaise Pascal who built one of the first mechanical adding machines. Pascal is noted for its highly systematic and methodical structure, making it a popular teaching language.

Passive matrix A low resolution liquid crystal flat-panel display used for computer monitors.

Although the display quality is not quite up to par with the active matrix display screens, the significant difference in the cost of the passive matrix has caused it to remain popular.

Password A secret series of characters (that might incorporate numerals or other symbols) which allows a user access to a program.

Paste An efficient way to insert a single letter, word, an entire block of text, or an image from one location within a document or file, to the same or another document or file. To paste, means to place the material, into a document. It’s easy to do.

Path In DOS and Windows, the series of directories where an operating system searches for executable files called up by a user.

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PC Personal Computer originally the IBM personal computer, but today the term refers to any IBM clone or compatible computer, or any personal computer that isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a Macintosh. Additionally, PCs are considered to have Intel or Intel-compatible microprocessors.

PC Card Any of a number of printed circuit devices conforming to the PCMCIA standard that are easily attached to a computer enhancing its performance by adding or improving features such as memory, video or sound.

PCMCIA Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, an international standards body and trade association with over 500 member companies founded in 1989 to establish standards for Integrated Circuit cards and to promote interchangeability among mobile computers where durability, low power, and small size were critical.

Among the standards a card needs for PCMCIA compliance are uniform thickness and size.

PDA Personal Digital Assistant is a generic term for any number of electronic computing or communications devices that are able to act as cellular phones, fax senders or personal organizers. Although somewhat expensive, PDAs are becoming more sophisticated and easier to use.

PDF Portable Document File a standard for electronic document distribution developed

by Adobe Systems. PDF is a universal file format that preserves all of the fonts, formatting, colors, and graphics of any source document, regardless of the application and platform used to create it. PDF files are compact and can be shared, viewed, navigated, and printed exactly as intended by anyone with Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Pen computer A computer (usually hand held) that uses an electronic stylus for input.

Pentium Refers to a number of microprocessors manufactured by Intel corporation, including the first in the line introduced in 1993, the Pentium microprocessor, the Pentium Pro, the Pentium II, and most recently, the Pentium III. With the introduction of each successive Pentium product, processing efficiency, speed and power has dramatically increased.

Peripheral Short for peripheral device, a hardware device such as a keyboard, printer, scanner, or display monitor connected to a computer.

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Perl A popular programming language developed by Larry Wall primarily for processing CGI scripts.

PGP Pretty Good Privacy, a free security application developed by Phillip Zimmerman that allows users to email files anywhere in the world. The program includes a feature that lets the sender know the files were received and that they actually came from the sender.

Photo CD A proprietary format for the digital storage of photographs developed by Kodak.

A special Photo CD Player along with special software is needed to read the discs.

Photo scanner An optical scanner that specializes in scanning photos. Photo scanners usually offer better resolution than conventional scanners.

PhotoShop A popular image editing program produced by Adobe that allows a user to create original artwork, retouch or dramatically modify photographs, and create special effects for a wide variety of projects such as magazines, books, posters, or Web pages. Many artists feel PhotoShop is the standard by which other image editing software is judged.

PIF Program Information File, in DOS and Windows, a file that contains instructions on how to run a program other than DOS or Windows.

Pin A small wire shaft in a dot-matrix printer that strikes an inked ribbon producing the dots that makes up characters and images. The resolution of a dot-matrix printer depends on the number of pins present on the printer head â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the more pins, the better the resolution. An individual wire component found in a cable connector such as a 29 pin connector.

Ping Packed Internet Groper, a timed interval echo-like message sent by a computer over a network to another computer to determine if the receiver is available for communication.

Pipe A connection between two software programs that acts as a shortcut in accessing data.

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Pipelining An advanced function of a microprocessor that enables a computer to call up and read data before it has finished executing previous commands, thus allowing for faster operation.

Piracy The unauthorized duplication and/or use and distribution of a software program.

Buying a program usually allows the user a limited license for its use on a single computer. In the past, software manufacturers tried to discourage piracy by copyprotecting their products.

Pitch The number of characters of a particular font that will fit into a measured space.

The amount of space dividing pixels on a display monitor.

Pixel One of many tiny points that make up an image or character on a display screen or printed page. A pixel is the smallest component of an image on a screen or in printed material. For example, the quality of a display screen image depends on how many pixels the monitor can accommodate.

Plasma display A flat display monitor that uses ionized gas compressed between panels to produce images.

Platform The type of operating system or hardware that make up a computer or computer system. These factors provide a particular environment for operation. The platform determines the parameters under which a system runs associated hardware and software

Plotter A computer output device that draws images on paper using a pen. A plotter draws real lines rather than simulating them as a conventional printer would by producing a series of very close dots.

Plug and Play A computer hardware device such as a monitor or printer that is ready to use with other hardware without requiring special configuration. In simple terms, plug-and-play hardware introduces itself to the computer, and automatically sets itself up for functioning.

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Plug-in A software or hardware accessory required to enhance or provide a particular computer function. For example, to download and play audio files from the Internet, a user would require a special program such as Real Jukebox.

PNG Portable Network Graphics, a graphics file format similar to GIF that encodes images as bitmaps.

Point A designated spot on a display screen or a document. The positioning of cursor to select an item or option as in point and click. Hyperlinks (clickable links leading a user to another page) on a Web page are said to point to the destination page. The fractional designation used to describe the size of a character in relation to a particular font.

Pointer A symbol displayed on a computer screen whose movement corresponds to hat of the mouse. The pointer usually presents as an arrow, but may have other orms such as a hand or flashing I beam.

Point-of-sale system A computer system that acts as a cash register as well as one that keeps track of invoicing, inventory, and sales in a retail environment.

POP Post Office Protocol the standardized protocol an ISP uses that tells its server software how to accept email. Point of Presence a physical location where an ISP or Internet hosting service maintains a telephone or cable connection, modems, computers, and other equipment necessary for its business.

Pop-up-menu A group of options or selections offered to a user that appears as the result of pressing a special function key, clicking a button with the mouse, or any number of menu or toolbars either in an application or on a Web page.

Port A slot on a computer that allows it to be connected to another computer or hardware device for the purpose of the input or output of information. Ports may exist both internally and externally. For example, many modems are present internally and are connected via internal ports. Printers, optical scanners, monitors and mice are usually connected via external ports.

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Port replicator Similar to a docking station, a device that incorporates a number of ports allowing notebook computers to access stationary devices such as printers and monitors.

Portable When speaking of hardware, lightweight and easily transported such as a laptop or a hand-held computer. When speaking of software, the ability to operate on more than one type of computer.

Portal An entry point to the World Wide Web usually providing services such as email, search engines, news, weather, stock quotes, chat and message forums, and a number of additional benefits designed to attract users to the site.

Portrait A document with vertical orientation. In other words, the page is taller than it is wide. Portrait orientation is opposite of Landscape.

Post To write and upload (send) a message to any number of public or private online forums such as a chat room or bulletin board. The actual message that ends up on display in the forum.

Postscript A programming language developed by Adobe Systems for importing files in all environments and printing documents on high resolution laser printers. Utilizing the standard requires a printer to support specific fonts as well as have the ability to automatically change the font size and create circles and lines in particular positions.

PowerPC A computer containing a high-powered microprocessor. They were developed as part of a joint venture among IBM, Apple and Motorola in an effort to compete with Intel and Microsoft. The first of the PowerPCs was the Power Mac introduced in 1994.

PowerPoint A popular Microsoft software product allowing a user to create visual demonstrations incorporating photos, clipart, charts, graphs and text (displayed on a computer monitor or through a projector) to accompany speeches or in - structional presentations.

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Power supply An internal computer component that supplies and regulates the power a computer receives. The power supply is designed to keep a steady stream of power flowing to the computer as well as preventing unexpected power spikes or surges.

PPM Pages per minute, the number of pages per minute a printer can produce. The standard applies to text only as printing graphics slows a printer significantly.

PPP Point to Point Protocol, a communications protocol used in connecting computers over a network using a modem and telephone lines.

PRAM Parameter Random-Access Memory in the Macintosh, a small measure of RAM powered by battery and used to store data about the systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s configuration such as mouse and system volume settings.

Preview In word processing applications, a feature that allows a user the ability to look at a document on the screen and have it appear exactly as it would when printed. This is a useful tool because many programs permit the user to view only a portion of a document while actually working on it.

Printed circuit board PCB sometimes called a card, a sheet of nonconductive material containing electronic components such as transistors, resistors and chips used in virtually all modern electronic devices. Computers often contain several PCBs including a motherboard and expansion boards used for adding features to a machine or enhancing existing features.

Printer A hardware output device used to produce a hard copy of a text or image oriented document. Printers are available in color or black and white.

Printer driver The software program that tells a printer what to do. Modern operating systems include printer drivers that the user must select when installing a printer. However, printers come equipped with their own drivers that also must be installed when setting up the device.

Printer engine The fundamental component of the printer that does the actual printing. The engine determines the resolution quality of the printed product as well as the speed of the printer.

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Printout It also referred to as hard copy, printed computer output.

Print Screen key A command key on most computer keyboards that, depending on the application running, sends the image displayed on the monitor to the clipboard.

Procedure An individual component of a software program that performs a particular function.

Process The execution of a computer function or functions.

Prodigy A popular online Internet service provider offering users Internet access, news, travel, email, business, sports, online chat and many other services.

Program A software application designed to perform a specific task. A program is a compilation of commands and instructions written in programming language,

Programmer A person who creates programs.

Programming language The instructions used in creating computer programs. There are a great number of programming languages in existence and no one language is suitable for writing all types of programs. The language a programmer uses to create an application will depend on the desired properties of the program.

PROM Programmable Read-only Memory, A type of memory chip that differs from RAM in that once a program has been written to the chip, it cannot be changed.

Prompt A request by a computer asking the user to do something such as enter information. In most cases, the computer will cease functioning until the request is met.

Proprietary Features exclusive to a particular companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s product that add distinctive qualities to the product and often give it an edge in the marketplace. A proprietary component of a software program may be protected by a trademark or copyright and is not available to other manufacturers for use.

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Protected mode A computer standard that guarantees particular programs receive a portion of memory for individual operation.

Protocol A pre-set parameter used by a computer to communicate with another computer over a network. Protocols include how data is compressed, and the method for recognizing and acknowledging the sender of data over a modem.

Proxy server Existing between a client Web browser and a real server, a computer that caches common and often requested Web pages and holds them for easier access by users. Proxy servers allow for faster access to Web pages for groups of users in a particular area positioned regionally.

Public domain It is software, clipart, photographs, music and other intellectual property that is available for use by the general public for free. Public domain items may be uncopyrighted or intellectual property where the copyright has run out and now available for anyone to use.

Pull To call for information from a Web server. The majority of Internet activity is currently based on pull technology. That is, a user requests information from a server.

The opposing concept, called push, is oriented toward a user having information broadcast or transmitted to them as a subscriber.

Pull-down menu A list of options or selections a user calls for by selecting a choice offered from a menu bar or other on-screen prompt.

Purge To permanently remove or delete unneeded data from a computer.

Push Receiving information over a network without necessarily having asked for it.

Most Internet users actively call for Web pages from servers. In doing this they are utilizing pull technology. The opposite is push technology whereby a user receives information randomly. An example of push technology is email.

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Q QIC (Quarter-inch Cartridge) A popular type of backup data storage that uses magnetic tape.

Query A question, usually one presented to a database or search engine to find a file, Web page, product or service.

Queue Pronounced “Q” a waiting line where elements of many varieties are sorted and are waiting to be processed. For example, a number of printing jobs may be “queued up” waiting to be printed. The printer takes a single document at a time and prints it.

QuickDraw Macintosh graphic control language used to create, display and manipulate graphical images.

QuickTime Part of the Macintosh operating system used for the display of video and animation that requires a special QuickTime driver. QuickTime is available for PC users by downloading the Windows plug-in.

QuickTime VR QuickTime Virtual Reality, an upgraded version of QuickTime developed by Apple that allows users to experience 3D photographs and other graphical images using a mouse to zoom in and out, rotate and otherwise manipulate a wide variety of shapes and forms.

Quit To exit an application by properly saving work and shutting it down.

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R Radio buttons One of a group of items or options appearing in a dialog box or dropdown menu, that once selected, inactivates the others, unlike items available in a check box, of which more than one may be chosen.

Radius Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service, a system used by some Internet Services Providers (ISPs) that requires a user to enter a user name and password. This lets the ISP know the user is authorized to access the service and allows the service to track time spent connected.

Ragged margin The margins in this book are left justified with regard to the terms and definitions and ragged on the right.

RAM (Random Access Memory) Computer hardware that stores and accesses data as needed from any location within the memory on a short term basis. RAM holds needed information from the application currently running, allowing for quick access as it is called up. The data stored in RAM is cleared when the computer is shut down.

RAM Disk RAM disk a portion of RAM (random access memory) used to simulate a disk drive. Utilizing RAM in this way allows for quicker access to information than calling it from the hard disk, but has some limitations. First, files must be copied from the hard disk to the RAM disk for each session and the new material must be copied back to the hard disk before ending the session. This is necessary because, like normal RAM, a RAM disk clears all data when the computer is shut down. Additionally, a power failure will cause the loss of data on a RAM disk.

Rapid application development A programming procedure that allows programmers to create usable programs quickly. Software designers are able to use a wide variety of development tools to construct graphical user interface applications that might otherwise require large development teams.

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RAS (Remote Access Services) Remote access services is a component of Windows NT that allows a user to connect to a LAN using a modem, WAN link, or X.25 connection.

Raster Raster is the rectangular portion of a display monitor where the actual image appears. The raster is usually smaller than the true dimensions of the display panel. On most modern monitors the raster can be adjusted to allow for maximum image display.

Raster graphics Raster graphics is a bitmap image pattern usually in a GIF or JPEG format that fills an entire display monitor assigning color values to every available pixel.

RIP (Raster Image Processor) RIP is a components made up of hardware and software that combine to convert a vector image into a bitmapped image. Inkjet and laser printers are raster image processors.

Rasterize Rasterize is to transform a graphical image into a bitmap so that it fits the shape and size of a raster output device such as a printer.

Raw data Raw data is a computer input that has not been organized, categorized or formatted.

Ray tracing Ray tracing is a complex technical process whereby a graphical image is enhanced and made to appear more realistic by incorporating shading, shadow, and color.

This is accomplished by simulating the way light plays on individual components of the image. Ray tracing software requires a great deal of memory and processing resources and often takes several hours to produce the end effect.

RDRAM (Rambus Dynamic Random-Access Memory) RDRAM is a high speed memory chip developed by Rambus that can function up to six times faster than Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (SDRAM).

Read Read is to access stored data, usually by transferring it from one of many storage media such as magnetic tape or floppy disk, to a hard disk for display or processing.

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Readme file Readme file is a information contained in a software program that was not part of the users manual, usually an update, improvement, a recent development, or feature.

Read-only Read only is a recorded computer data that is recorded and cannot be changed.

Operating systems contain many read-only files.

ROM (Read-Only Memory) ROM is a permanently recorded computer memory.

Read/write Read/write is a data recording and storage media such as a floppy disk or CDRW, that allows a user to access information (read) and record/store information (write).

RealAudio A proprietary plug-in application developed by RealNetworks, included with both Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer (in addition to being freely available for downloading on numerous Websites) that allows users to play FM quality stereo music online in real time.

Real time clock A battery operated clock inside a computer that runs even when the computer is turned off.

Real Video A program developed by Real Networks allowing users to experience streaming real time video online.

Reboot To restart a computer for any number of reasons. Some computers have a reset switch, others will reboot using a series of key commands such as, Control, Alt, delete and choosing to restart the computer when prompted.

Rebuild Desktop A housecleaning operation for the Macintosh that clears the computerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s memory of obsolete data, thus improving performance. To rebuild the Desktop, a user holds down the Command and Option Keys while booting. The computer will ask the user if she wants to proceed, if so instructed, the computer will then clear the unnecessary data.

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Record A set of data components comprised of fields that make up a file. For example, a word processing document might contain text and graphs. The text would be included in one field, and the graphs in another.

Recycle Bin Comparable to the Trash Can in the Macintosh. In the Windows environment, a folder represented on the desktop by an icon of a small recycle bin.

Refresh To update a Web page. Websites offering dynamic content, that is, ever-changing information such as breaking news, stock market or weather reports etc., require a user to update pages containing the changes. Web browsers allow for this with a refresh option.

Register A high speed storage space within a CPU. The size and number of registers in the central processing unit are critical in determining the speed and power of a computer.

Registration To provide a software or hardware manufacturer with user information.

Manufacturers and commercial enterprises of all types such as Websites request information from users for a wide variety of purposes, many aimed at the marketing of additional products.

Remote terminal The term is synonymous with remote access and remote login. It means to have the ability to log onto a network, (thus utilizing all of its resources), from somewhere other than the actual terminal site. One small drawback to remote access is a slight compromise in network navigation speed.

Removable hard disk A hard disk that can be treated as a floppy disk in that it is easily removed and used as needed, yet with all of the speed and storage capabilities of many internal hard disks.

Render The use of special software to enhance a computer image by adding dimension, color, and shading.

Reset button A switch or button on a computer that stops all functions and restarts the computer. Using the reset button to restart a computer is often the method of last resort after the computer has crashed and all other reboot measures have been exhausted.

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Resize In graphics applications, to enlarge, shrink or distort an image using a horizontal or vertical orientation.

Resolution The degree of clarity and detail of a graphical image on a computer monitor, in print, or bitmap.

Resource Sometimes called system resources. In operating systems such as Windows and the Macintosh, any data or function that is available to the operation of software running with the system. Memory is a major resource.

Restore To bring a window back it its original size after having been minimized or maximized. EX: maximize, minimize.

RFC (Request for Comments) RFC maintained by the Internet Task Force, a collection of notes and observations made about the Internet, beginning in the late 1960swhen it was called the ARPANET. With the evolution of the medium, individuals have had the opportunity to make unofficial suggestions about various procedures and protocols as â&#x20AC;&#x153;Request for Comments.â&#x20AC;?

RGB Red, green and blue, the colors that make up all other colors on a computer display monitor.

Rich text format A standard for developing text documents created by Microsoft that uses the encoding of formatted text and graphics for easy transfer between applications. Other document encoding formats include HTML and SGML.

Ring Master The individual who manages and maintains hyperlinks in a Web ring.

Robot A computerized machine designed for a wide variety of manufacturing functions such as material handling and automobile assembly. Often referred to as bot, a computer program that automatically searches, and compiles data or responds to queries such as email. ListBot is a robot of this type.

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Robotics A subcategory in the artificial intelligence field, robotics is the blending of computer science and engineering that endeavors to create machines which are able to react to sensory input independently. Although the field of robotics has made great strides of late, robots are still unable to perform many practical functions for humans outside the industrial setting.

Robust Robust is a stable performance under most circumstances, even those which are less than optimal. Also occasionally refers to software allowing a user many sophisticated and unique features.

Roll up window Rollup window is a dialog box that offers the user program tools or options and can be moved to a position of convenience.

ROM (Read-only Memory) ROM is a permanent memory used by a computer for essential functions of the operating system. Data cannot be written to, or changed in ROM.

Root directory Root directory is sometimes simply called root, the main directory of a disk from which all other directories, folders and files are derived.

Rotate In graphics applications, to change the onscreen physical orientation of an image by manipulating it with the mouse.

Router Router is a hardware and/or software that connects networks and facilitates the smooth transfer of data by filtering messages and directing packets.

RPM (Revolutions Per Minute) RPM is the number of revolutions a disk turns per minute.

Ruler In graphics and some word processing programs, a line containing designated points running on the top and the side of the display screen used to measure, place objects and text, and accurately identify specific points on a document.

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S Safe mode A temporary method of running Windows using the absolute minimum in resources. In the event of a hardware failure or malfunction, it can become necessary to run the operating system in the Safe Mode. In safe mode, it is sometimes possible to back up files and otherwise rescue data that is subject to loss due to eminent hardware failure.

Saturation Saturation is the degree of intensity of a color. Deep vivid color is said to be saturated, while decreasing saturation causes the color to fade save to transfer data from memory to a more permanent storage medium such as a hard disk, floppy or tape. When a program prompts a user to save work, the transfer that occurs is usually to a file or folder on the hard disk.

Scalable The adaptability of something, especially with regard to size. Scalability refers to the ability of a hardware system or software application to accommodate ever-increasing use or demand. The term is freely used in the marketing of hardware and software to describe versatile products.

ScanDisk ScanDisk is a DOS and Windows diagnostic program that searches for hard disk errors.

Screen capture Screen capture is to copy the image currently displayed on the screen to the clipboard for use in another file or document, or to print. In Windows, pressing the PrintScreen key saves the screen’s contents to the clipboard.

Screen saver A program that displays an animated picture or pattern when the computer has not received input from the keyboard for a specified period. Screen savers were originally used to prevent “screen burn” or ghosting, a condition that caused the screen’s inner coating to wear from images or text that was constantly present.

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Script A font type that resembles handwriting and a simple programming language. It refers to programs written in Applescript and Hypercard by Apple.

Scroll Lock key A special key on PC and Macintosh keyboards whose function varies depending on the program running.

SCSI (Small Computer Systems Interface) A parallel interface which is the leading standard for connecting highperformance peripherals to PCs and Macintosh computers.

SDK (Software Development Kit) SDK is a programming tools that allow a programmer to create applications that will enhance the operation of other software.

SDRAM (Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory) An extremely fast type of DRAM running up to three times faster than conventional memory. SDRAM achieves this by synchronizing itself with the processor.

SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line) The new technology requiring a special modem that allows for the sending of data over copper telephone lines at high speeds. Data can be transferred at rates of up to 3 Mbps because SDSL transmits on frequencies not used for regular voice transmission.

Search and replace Search and replace is the ability for a word processing application to find a specific word or phrase and replace it with another. Most programs will either automatically replace every chosen character string, or give the user the option of approving each of the changes.

Search engine Search engine is a computer software that, through the use of bots and by seeking out keywords, searches an extremely large number of documents and locations on the World Wide Web and Internet for specific information.

Sector The smallest unit of data storage available on a disk. A disk is divided first into tracks then into smaller units called sectors. A track is similar to an individual recording on a vinyl record album. A sector would be represented as a diagonal portion, or crosssection of a track.

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Security A wide range of measures taken to guard computer systems, as well as the storage and transmission of data. Among the many security measures taken to ensure that data doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t fall into unauthorized hands, are the implementation of firewalls, the encryption of information, passwords and security keys for users of institutional and personal secure systems, and the isolation and guarding of mainframe computers so unauthorized personnel do not have access to them.

Seek time The time it takes a device to call up a particular file or other piece of information, usually measured in milliseconds.

Segment Segment is a representation of a portion of memory in a microprocessor.

Select Select is to designate an object in preparation to execute a program, file or other function. For example, placing the mouse cursor on a desktop icon and left clicking once will cause the item to become highlighted or selected. Pressing the Enter key after selecting the item will open the associated file or program.

Select box A window in a software application or on a Web page offering a user choices or options. Usually clicking one of the choices initiates a function such as opening a new Web page or entering information as part of a survey or questionnaire.

Serial The transfer of data over a single line, one bit at a time.

Serial port A computer or other hardware device interface that allows for serial transmission, that is, one bit of data at a time, over a single line. Modems, mice and printers (printers also use parallel port connections) all utilize serial port connections.

Server Server is a network computer (and/or software) that performs a wide variety of functions such as delivering data to client computers. Servers store and deliver, upon demand, files to other computers on the network.

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Server mirroring Maintaining a computer that has the exact same files contained by a primary server for the purpose of backup in the event of failure or malfunction by the primary machine.

Service provider The company that provides a wide variety of online services via a Website, sometimes used to refer to an Internet Service Provider (ISP), a company that provides customers with Internet access or Web hosting.

Servlet A Java applet that runs on a Web server. Servlets are slowly replacing CGI applications because of their versatility. Unlike a CGI program, an applet is opened by a Web browser and stored in memory so that each time it is needed it is available without the need to reload. CGI scripts must load each time utilized, taking more time than servlets.

Session Session refers to the time spent using a computer. For example, an online session would be the time a user spent connected to a network.

SET (Secure Electronic Transaction) A widely accepted standard that uses digital signatures allowing for secure credit card transactions over the Internet.

Setup To install computer hardware or software. Most hardware and software programs include a mini-program or setup file that configures an operating system so it will accept the new device or application.

SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) A method for creating interchangeable structured documents using a special grammar called Document Type Definition (DTD) in ASCII text.

SGI (Silicon Graphics Incorporated) A company engaged in high-performance computing, offering powerful servers, supercomputers and visual workstations. The companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s broad range of workstations and graphics servers deliver advanced 3D graphics and computing capabilities for engineering and creative professionals.

Shadowing A method of increasing computer speed by configuring a system to utilize general-purpose ROM during the boot process rather than the slower BIOS ROM. To do this, BIOS ROM is copied into RAM when the computer is booted.

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Shareware Computer software available for downloading without charge on the World Wide Web. Based on the honor system, the user is expected to pay a registration fee to the author if he decides to keep the software.

Shell Shell is also called user interface or command shell, the part of an operating system that processes user commands and allows them to be executed.

Shift click To hold the shift key down while left clicking the mouse. In some applications this allows a user to select more than one item.

Shift key A computer keyboard key that when pressed at the same time as another key (much like the typewriter Shift key), changes the function of the other key.

Shockwave Shockwave is a product of Macromedia Inc, Shockwave is a popular Web browser plug-in that provides online audio, video, and animation. It lets the user view interactive Web content such as games, business presentations, entertainment, and advertisements from both Windows and Macintosh platforms.

Shortcut key Some keys allow a user to execute certain functions easily. For example, pressing Control and the “P” character, brings up the “Print” dialog box while Control and “S” saves your work.

Shout Shout is to post a message in any online forum with the Caps lock key on. Using all caps is considered bad netiquette.

Shut down To properly turn off a computer. In the Windows operating system, select Start either by left clicking on the icon or pressing the “Windows” key, select Shut down, and press Enter or left click the mouse.

Sig file In short for signature file. A small file, attached to every email of a particular sender that consists of a special group of characters, words, symbols, etc. that acts as the users signature.

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Sig quote Sig quote is similar to a signature file except the attachment is a quote or saying attached to outgoing email.

Signal-to-noise ratio The quantity of useful information found in an online forum as opposed to senseless blathering, off-topic nonsense, and commercial posting. One might say that, â&#x20AC;&#x153;the signal-to-noise ratio on this board is high.â&#x20AC;?

Sleep mode A computer setting where, usually after a pre-set idle period, the computer shuts down unnecessary operations such as the display monitor and disk drive. The sleep mode is designed to preserve energy.

SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) A standard for using a modem and telephone to connect to the Internet.

Slot Slot is a synonymous with the term socket, an opening where a plug-in circuit board (often referred to as a card) may be attached.

Smart drive A disk caching system developed by Microsoft and used in earlier versions of Windows and DOS that provided faster access to data on a hard disk by caching.

Smart terminal A keyboard and display monitor system containing a small amount of processing power, allowing the terminal enhanced functions. A dumb terminal has no processing capabilities.

SMDS (Switched Multimegabit Data Services) A standard for high-speed data connections whereby local area networks (LANs) can be connected to form a wide area network (WAN).

Smiley An emoticon, smiley is a grouping of common keyboard characters put together to show how the sender or poster is feeling. The most common smiley is, : - ).

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) A method of transferring electronic mail between computers over the Internet.

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Snail mail A slang term used to describe tangible physical letters or packages delivered by the postal service. The term came into being when email became popular. Snail mail is so named because of its slow delivery time as opposed to email. A snail address is the place where snail mail is received.

Sniff To monitor information packets en route over a network using hardware and or software. A device or system designed for this purpose (called a sniffer) may be used both by unscrupulous people trying to gather data for the purpose of theft or unauthorized entry to a system, or by a network system manager for legitimate monitoring purposes.

SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) A set of protocols used for communications software and devices such as switches and routers connected to a TCP/IP.

Socket Socket is a receptacle for a wide variety of electrical connectors.

Software Software is an information used by a computer and stored in one of several storage media. Software is the data that enables a user to produce meaningful work.

Software Engineer A software developer or programmer who is focused primarily on design rather than the actual writing of code.

Software License Software license is the permission from the manufacturer, developer, distributor, or copyright holder of a software program for an individual to use the program. When a person purchases a program, the copyright holder usually grants the user a limited-use license in exchange for the price of the program. Such a license allows for the personal use of the product but not the right to reproduce or sell it.

Software piracy Software privacy is the unauthorized reproduction and/or selling of software.

Sort To arrange items such as records, individual words, or files in a specific way. For example, the names in a telephone directory would be sorted alphabetically.

Sound card A printed circuit board that allows a computer to record and play sound such as stereo music and MIDI files. Although generic sound cards come as standard equipment

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with most off-the-shelf computers, the term implies an added feature, as a card is an expansion (circuit) board.

Sound player A component of a Web browser that allows a user to play sound.

Source A common computer term meaning the point of origination for any number of data items such as files or folders. For example, if a file were to be copied from a computerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hard disk to a floppy disk, the source directory would be the hard disk while the destination or target would be the floppy. Source is the opposite of target.

Source code Source code is a program instructions written in a particular programming language. To view HTML source code, go to any Web page, click on View in the upper menu bar and select Source.

Spam Unsolicited commercial offers sent via email or posted to an online public forum such as a news group or message board. Spam is electronic junk mail sent usually to a large mailing list. It is widely considered a nuisance because spam consumes both time and considerable bandwidth.

Speech recognition The ability for a software application to understand spoken human commands and act on them. The challenge with voice recognition technology lies in the ability for the program to distinguish contrasting patterns in the way people speak. Many of the applications available using voice recognition are word processing programs that transform the spoken word into text.

Spell check A feature found in many text oriented software applications such as word processors that scans the text in a document and alerts the user to misspelled words, many with the ability to offer suggestions for the correct spelling. Such a program needs to maintain its own dictionary.

Spider A program that searches out information online. It works by systematically accessing one Web page after another, making use of the many hyperlinks connecting the pages on the World Wide Web. Search engines employ spiders to seek out information from millions of sources.

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Splash page Splash page is also called a doorway page, the first page a user often comes upon when arriving at a Website, though usually not the Homepage. Often the splash page displays a paragraph or two describing the siteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contents. The purpose of such a page is to incorporate keywords and phrases that will get the site listed on the major search engines.

Split screen The division of a display screen into two or more frames each displaying a different document or different portion of the same document.

Spoof Spoof also called spoofing, to fool or trick. In online data transmission (called IP spoofing), to make a message appear as though it originated from a user or computer other than the one that actually generated the message.

Spooling To order items or jobs in a queue before sending them to an output device such as a printer. Spooling furnishes a waiting area for documents to pause while waiting for the printer to accommodate each item in the queue.

Spot color The use of a specific color of ink in the production of an image rather than the combination of the four basic colors (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) used to simulate the desired color.

Spreadsheet A table, chart, or graph displaying information such as numbers or text arranged in vertical and/or horizontal columns and pie charts. Spreadsheet applications are capable of a wide range of calculations, which will automatically adjust values as new data is added. Spreadsheets can be created using three-dimensional features and color to accent specific items.

Sprite Sprite is used in video games and animation, an image within a larger graphical image that moves.

SRAM (Static Random-Access Memory) Pronounced S-ram, unlike dynamic RAM, which requires refreshing with electrical current thousands of time per second to function, Static RAM does not need to be refreshed. Consequently, it is faster and more expensive. It is used in caches and video memory, where speed is of the essence.

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SSL (Secure Socket Layer) A protocol used by Netscape utilizing encryption, and ensuring the secure transmission of data between client and server.

Stack In programming, a set order of prioritizing tasks (also called last in, first out) where each additional item is added to the top of the order and acted on first.

Stand-alone A hardware device that is able to operate independently. An electronic calculator or hand-held video game would be a stand-alone device, while a computer monitor is not because it requires input from a computer.

Standard A value by which other values are measured. A standard may either be official and endorsed by an organization of some type, or unofficial and simply accepted as an industry-wide rule. Standards are important when considering computer hardware and software

Star network A local area network (LAN) in which nodes are connected to a central.

Start menu In Windows, the menu that is displayed by pressing the Start key on the computer keyboard or clicking the Start button in the lower left section of the display screen.

Startup disk A disk used to start or boot a computer. Under normal conditions, a computer boots using operating system instructions on the hard drive. In the event a hard drive is damaged or otherwise compromised, it is necessary to boot from a floppy disk.

Storage The capacity of a hardware device to store and maintain data.

Streaming Online data transmission which displays constantly changing realtime information. For example, streaming stock quotes show stock prices actually change as buyers and sellers bid for the stocks.

StuffIt A Macintosh data compression application from Aladdin Systems that allows a user to combine more than one file into a single file.

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Style sheet In word processing, desktop publishing, and Web design applications, a set of parameters determined and set by the user that define the overall look of a document or Web page such as margins, fonts, and headings.

Stylus A writing or drawing tool shaped like a pen found in paint and graphics programs.

Subdirectory A directory (folder) kept within another directory. All directories other than the root directory are subdirectories.

Subscribe Subscribe is to take advantage of an offer online by submitting email information.

Suite A bundle of compatible software applications made by a single manufacturer for the purpose of user convenience. For example, Microsoft Office is a suite that offers several useful applications. Among these are a program for word processing, desktop publishing, presentations software, and a spreadsheet, all designed for compatible operation.

Supercomputer A computer with extremely fast processing capabilities used for specialized applications requiring many complex mathematical calculations. Among their many functions, supercomputers are used for the creation of complex animated graphics.

SuperDisk Super disk is the disk technology from Imation Corporation using high-density disks that are compatible with many other disk systems.

Superscript A character, smaller than those in the main body of text appearing above the baseline. For example, 103 = 10x10x10.

Supertwist A high contrast liquid crystal display (LCD) which uses technology that twists light rays, changing their polarization, producing a high resolution image.

Super VGA Video graphics with higher resolution than VGA. Display monitors receive instructions from a video card that, among other functions, allow for color display and screen resolution. VGA (Video Gate Array or Video Graphics Adapter) was a standard

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introduced by IBM in the 1980s that had a maximum resolution of 640x480 pixels with 16 colors.

Surf (surfing) Surfing refers to the casual browsing of Websites and online discussion forums with no particular purpose or destination. Because virtually all information on the World Wide Web is linked, surfing is as easy as pointing a mouse and clicking.

Surge protector A hardware device similar to an extension cord, containing several power outlets for connecting any number of appliances requiring electrical current. Surge protectors are designed to absorb excess current produced by lightning or other electrical system malfunctions. It is important for a user to make sure that all outlets providing power to computer equipment are grounded and plugged into a surge protector.

Switch A small lever or button used to activate or deactivate a hardware device and to direct or route information packets.

Synchronous A signal or message occurring at evenly timed periods. Usually, communications within a computer are evenly timed, while communication between computers and peripheral devices is not regularly timed, therefore referred to as asynchronous.

Syntax The instructions or guidelines by which computer language (as well as spoken and written language) is constructed so it has meaning. Computer language has its own set of spelling and grammar rules.

Synthesizer A device used to generate sounds resembling the human voice or music.

Sysop (System operator) A person who manages the day-to-day business of an online message forum such as a bulletin board.

System Any number of computer devices and software applications working together to accomplish a specific goal.

System software The operation software applications designed and written for computer systems that perform specialized functions.

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T Tab A designation in a program document or Web page similar to the ridge-like projection that divides and identifies sections in a notebook or planner. Like the physical tab in a notebook, the onscreen tab in a program application or Web page usually isolates a body of information. Clicking on such a tab with the mouse brings the material to the foreground.

Table A particular orientation of information, arranged in vertical columns and horizontal lines of items such as text or images. Spreadsheet applications produce any types of tables.

Tab stop A designated point set by a user that positions the cursor in a particular spot on a page. In word processing, tab stops can be useful for setting recurring margins, paragraph indentions, and other repeated parameters in a document.

Tag An instruction written into a program or document that signals a particular function or series of functions to occur. In HTML, commands are sometimes called tags.

Tape A magnetically coated material used for the storage of computer, video, or audio data. The advantages of storing computer information on tape are that tapes can store large amounts of data and are less expensive than disks. The drawback to using tape is slow running speed. Tape is the preferred method of storing information that is not needed frequently such as archived data.

Tape drive A device that reads and/or writes data onto a tape. Accessing data on tape can be time consuming depending upon the location of the information. For example, a tape drive would need to fast forward through a large quantity of tape to access data stored in the middle of a spool.

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Target Target is also referred to as destination, the program, file or final location for computer data that is being transferred or copied. Target is the opposite of source.

Task Task refers to the particular function being performed by a software application.

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) A standard protocol hat allows computers to process and display information such as Web pages and email that originate in the various networks that comprise the Internet.

Team ware Sometimes called groupware, software that lets individuals separated geographically work on the same project. The Internet is usually what links participants to each other.

Technical support Assistance provided by the manufacturer of both hardware and software. It is also a service provided by ISPs, online service providers, and web hosting companies.

Technical support may be offered by telephone, via an online chat program, by email, or by snail mail.

Telecommute A popular term originating in the 1970s used to describe working from home with the use of electronic devices such as a fax, computer, modem and telephone.

Teleconference A meeting of individuals separated geographically, using telephone as well as audio and/or video connections provided by a private network or the Internet.

Television board An expansion board that allows a computer and monitor to act as a television.

Some allow a user to place a small TV picture in a corner of the monitor screen while using the computer for other work. A television board might also be called a TV card.

Telnet A program that allows a user to log onto a remote server or host. For example, if you were away from home, and connecting to your ISP required a long distance call, you could use telnet to connect and avoid the charges.

Template A model or pattern, the word is used to describe several functions with regard to software applications and graphical layout.

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Terabyte Terabyte is approximately one trillion bytes.

Terminal Hardware consisting of a keyboard and display screen allowing a user to communicate with a computer either through normal cable connections or by a network. see dumb terminal, smart terminal. .

Text Text is the characters, numerals and symbols that make up sentences and paragraphs.

Text box A designated area within a software program or Web page where a user may enter text.

Text file A file containing primarily text. A word processing document however, is usually not simply a text file. Word processing files are different because they incorporate items such as boldface and italic characters, margins, underlined words, and many other variables that set them apart them from text files.

Text wrap Also called text flow, a feature supported by many word processing programs allowing a user to enter text around a picture, clipart or other image placed on the page.

Thermal printer A low cost printer that produces characters and images using heat applied to a special type of paper. Calculators and some fax machines employ this technology.

Thrash To move about wildly without accomplishing anything useful. With computers, thrashing occurs when too many programs are open and the system does not have the resources to accommodate them all. Closing one or all applications will get things under control. A more permanent solution is to install more memory.

Thread A series of posted messages of the same topic found on a bulletin board or newsgroup. It is often possible for a user to call up all of the messages associated with the original.

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Three-Dimensional Audio A method of enhancing stereo sound. A device listens to the sound while evaluating factors such as room acoustics. It then sends this information back to the computer and the sound card makes adjustments, producing optimal sound.

Three-Dimensional Graphics The process by which software makes two dimensional images appear to be three dimensional. 3-D graphics are essential for many games and other animation. The process requires a large amount of memory and a special microprocessor.

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) A popular file format for saving bitmap images on both PCs and Macintosh computers. The TIFF format can store large image.

TLD (Top Level Domain) The suffix attached to Internet domain names such as .com, .net, org, uk, .ws .cc, etc. As the Internet grows in popularity and domain names become increasingly scarce, new TLDs are being created.

Tillamook An Intel processor designed for use in portable computers. The Tillamook chip is a version of the Pentium that runs at more than 200 MHz.

Time out After waiting for an answer, a program or hardware device will often display a time out message and abandon the function.

Time sharing It refers to more than one user having access to the same computer. Time sharing utilizes the multitasking concept, that is, that a computer rapidly switches processing duties among two or more open applications.

Title bar The uppermost rectangular bar in the frame of a program or Web page containing the program title or file name, and possibly an icon that identifies it.

Toggle A term used to describe several actions. Primarily, to toggle means to switch functions from one to another. Occasionally people refer to clicking hyperlinks while surfing the Internet as toggling through the Net.

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Token A single component of a programming language such as a keyword or symbol and a code transmitted from one member of a token ring to another, allowing the holder the ability to transmit.

Token ring network A network arranged in a circular fashion where a message is transmitted from one member to another. It is the token that gives the holder the ability to transmit.

Toner Toner is a electrically charged ink-like power used in copiers and laser printers.

Toner is available in disposable cartridges for both printers and copy machines or may be added to a reservoir as needed.

Tool Tool is a number of utility function devices available in a software application allowing a user to accomplish useful work. Often a tool can be manipulated with the mouse cursor.

Toolbar An assembly of tools, represented by buttons, placed on the top, bottom, or either side of the display monitor. The toolbar allows a user easy access to a number of functions offered by the program. Usually, one needs only to left Click on a function to activate the desired tool.

Topology Refers to the manner in which individual items or points are connected. In networking, topology refers to the arrangement of computers connected in the network.

Touchpad A touch-sensitive area on a portable or hand-held computer allowing a user input by use of a special pen or her finger. The touchpad is used in place of a keyboard.

Touch screen A display monitor that, when running with certain software allows a user to make selections and input data into the computer by touching the screen with a finger. Touch screen technology is often used in kiosks.

Tower Computer components are assembled inside of a metal box. Tower refers to a box that is taller than wide. The advantage of a â&#x20AC;&#x153;tower modelâ&#x20AC;? computer versus a desktop model, is the tower saves space.

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Track A circular section on a data storage disk containing data, resembling a single musical selection on a vinyl record album. Data storage is further isolated into sectors.

Trackball A device similar to a mouse used for pointing to and clicking on items on a display monitor. The difference is the trackball has a free-moving ball that is housed in a socket in the device. The user rolls the ball to position the cursor while the device remains stationary.

Transfer rate The speed that data travels from one hardware device to another, either through conventional wire and cable connections, or over a network. Factors such as network traffic, the type of data being transmitted and individual computer speeds affect the transfer rate.

Transistor A small electronic device composed of semiconductor material such as germanium or silicon that amplifies or otherwise modifies a signal or current. Transistors replaced vacuum tubes and are rapidly being replaced by printed circuit boards, both of which perform the same or similar functions.

Transparent Transparent is unable to be seen or noticed. In software applications, functions that automatically happen without the user being aware of them are said to be transparent.

Trojan horse A program downloaded from the Internet that contains destructive elements to a computer. A Trojan horse can come disguised as a useful application such as a game or even a virus protection program.

Troll Sometimes referred to as flame bait, a message posted to any number of public chat or bulletin board forums that is designed to prompt a large number of responses.

Often the message is a complete exaggeration, lie, or insult.

True color A graphics application using at least 24 bits for each pixel of color. True color applications are able to display more than 16 million colors.

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TWAIN (Technology without an Interesting Name) An interface that allows optical scanners to communicate with application software. A TWAIN driver delivers the scanned image to the various software applications a user might be working with, allowing the scanned image to be used in many applications.

Tweak To adjust, align, manipulate, or otherwise fine tune a hardware device or software application for maximum efficiency.

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U UI (User Interface) The part of an application the user experiences as opposed to the internal functioning of the program.

Undo A command included in many word processing and graphics software applications that allows a user to eliminate or reverse the last action. For example, say youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve just applied a moustache to the Mona Lisa with your new paint program.

Undocumented Features included in a program that were not described in the users manual.

Sometimes undocumented items are left out unintentionally. Sometimes undocumented features were present to facilitate the writing of the program by the designers and programmers and thought to be unimportant to the end-user.

UNIX A multitasking, multi-user, operating system created by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie along with a small team at Bell Laboratories in the early 1970s. Although felt to be user un-friendly, UNIX evolved over the years and has become popular

Unpack To convert a compressed file to its original form.

Upgrade A newer version of a software program or hardware device. Software upgrades are usually less expensive than buying the entire program new, however, one must be able to prove he has bought the earlier version to qualify for the upgrade. When installing the upgrade the new features can be thought of as being â&#x20AC;&#x153;overlaidâ&#x20AC;? onto the previous version.

Upload It is opposite of download, to transfer files to another computer via a network. For example, a Web designer, would publish newly created pages (upload) to a server that would store them for users to call up and view.

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URL Universal Resource Locator or Uniform Resource Locator the addresses by which individuals are able to find information on the Internet. The first component of the address indicates what protocol is to be used .

Usenet A collection of newsgroups (discussion forums) that can be accessed through many online services as well as the Internet, that discuss more than 15,000 topics. The rules of netiquette are usually strictly observed in these groups.

User An individual, with an experience level that might vary from novice to expert, who operates a computer and/or other hardware devices.

User-friendly Any software or hardware that allows for easy operation by a user. Operating systems using graphical user interface features such as menus, buttons, onscreen clickable items, and a mouse all contribute to the degree of user friendliness of home computers.

User interface The means by which an individual communicates with a computer through a software application. The common methods for such communication are, commands, menus, and icons.

Username A name that allows a user access to a computer, network, or message forum.

When logging onto a computer or network it is often necessary to enter a username and password.

Utility A program that helps manages an operating system or other application. Virus scans and data recover programs are utility software.

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v Vaccine The utility software that protects a computer from viruses by running a system check periodically or each time the computer boots.

Variable pitch It refers to a typesetting style that places characters closer together or farther apart depending on the space available for them. Variable pitch is a method used to ensure that documents are centered and justified.

Vector Graphics Vector graphics is a contrast to a bitmap, which is figuratively a stored snapshot of a graphic that contains a fixed number of pixels, a type of image that is more versatile in that it can be sized without encountering distortion. Additionally, vector images display better on computer monitors.

Veronica A search engine that uses a spider to locate information compiled by Gopher.

Vertical Alignment In many word processing programs, a feature that automatically adjusts the space between each line allowing for even space at the top and bottom of the document.

VGA Video Gateway Array or Video Graphics Array, video monitor technology developed by IBM that provides for a maximum resolution of graphical images of 640 x 480 pixels with 16 colors. For text, VGA provides a resolution of 720 x 400 pixels.

Video The transmission of moving pictures or animation to a monitor or television. In a broader sense, any text or images transmitted from a computer and displayed on a display monitor or television. Video images may be broadcast live, filmed, or video-recorded and stored on tape or disk.

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Video Adapter It is sometimes called video card, a plug-in circuit board that gives a computer video display capabilities. The ability of a computer to produce video will depend not only on the adapter but the monitor as well. Most video cards contain some memory so the computerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s RAM is not called upon to store images.

Video Conferencing By using a computer, video camera, and network such as the Internet, to conduct a live conference between two or more people. Video conferencing is an extremely useful method of communication because it saves people the time and expense of travel

Video Memory The memory found in a video adapter that stores images as bitmaps before they are sent to the display monitor. Because displaying video images requires a great deal of computing speed and memory, the video adapter is equipped to handle this function rather than relying on the computerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s CPU. There are several types of video memory such as VRAM and WRAM.

Video Mode The setting of a video adapter. The mode will be set to either video, for displaying images or to text for displaying ASCII characters.

Virtual Desktop A computer desktop displayed on an external monitor allowing for better resolution and larger display size. Sometimes the desktop image sent to an outside monitor from a portable computer such as a laptop or notebook is referred to as a virtual desktop.

Virtual hosting A server that stores more than one Website on its hard disk and offers them to users on the Internet is said to be a virtual hosting service provider. Virtual hosting is the opposite of dedicated hosting. This is an arrangement where a single Website is stored on a single server and does not have to share space with other sites.

Virtual memory A way of expanding the memory capabilities of a computer by using disk space for memory functions. With virtual memory, a program stores memory addresses on the hard disk, called pages, and are only used when called upon. It is the job of the operating system to distinguish which addresses reside in memory and which must be called up from the disk.

Virtual reality A realistic environment often used for entertainment, created using computer hardware and software that stimulates the human senses of sight, sound, touch an

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occasionally taste and smell. The user wears special glasses or goggles, gloves, and headphones.

Virus A program or string of code that gets inside a computer and replicates itself often causing destruction along the way. Even if not designed for destruction, such as erasing or changing data, a virus can be dangerous because as it continues to duplicate, it uses up valuable disk space until it crashes the system.

Virus protection software It is also called virus scan software and vaccine, utility software installed on a computer designed to locate, identify, and eliminate viruses. Each time a computer is booted the virus scan searches the system for viruses and destroys them. No vaccine is 100 percent guaranteed effective because new viruses are being created all the time.

Visual Basic A type of object-oriented programming language and environment developed by Microsoft for the Windows operating system. Visual Basic allows programmers to create applications quickly by writing code to accompany onscreen objects such as buttons and windows.

Voice recognition The ability for computer software to understand and respond to the spoken human word. see speech recognition.

VRAM Video Random-Access Memory a special type of memory used by a video adapter that has the ability to serve more than one device at the same time, allowing for uninterrupted image display. VRAM is much faster than conventional RAM and thus, more expensive

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W WAIS (Wide Area Information Server) Wide Area Information Server is a program that can index enormous amounts of information and make it searchable across large networks (including the Internet). People can search the WAIS index and it will return results by relevance.

WAN (Wide Area Network) Wide Area Network is similar to a Local Area Network (LAN), but it's a lot bigger. Unlike LANs, WANs are not limited to a single location. Many wide area networks span long distances via telephone lines, fiber-optic cables, or satellite links.

They can also be composed of smaller LANs that are interconnected.

Waveform A waveform is an image that represents an audio signal or recording. It shows the changes in amplitude over a certain amount of time. The amplitude of the signal is measured on the y-axis (vertically), while time is measured on the x-axis (horizontally).

Web 2.0 Web 2.0 is term that was introduced in 2004 and refers to the second generation of the World Wide Web. The term "2.0" comes from the software industry, where new versions of software programs are labeled with an incremental version number.

Web Host The Web host stores all the pages of your website and makes them available to computers connected to the Internet. The domain name, such as "sony.com," is actually linked to an IP address that points to a specific computer. When somebody enters your domain name into their browser's address field, the IP address is located and Web site is loaded from your Web host. A Web host can have anywhere from one to several thousand computers that run Web hosting software, such as Apache, OS X Server, or Windows Server.

Web page Web pages are what make up the World Wide Web. These documents are written in HTML (hypertext markup language) and are translated by your Web browser. Web pages can either be static or dynamic. Static pages show the same content each time they are viewed. Dynamic pages have content that can change each time they are accessed.

These pages are typically written in scripting languages such as PHP, Perl, ASP, or JSP.

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The scripts in the pages run functions on the server that return things like the date and time, and database information. All the information is returned as HTML code, so when the page gets to your browser, all the browser has to do is translate the HTML.

Web Ring A Web ring is a way of interlinking related Web sites so that people can visit many similar Web sites by just following the "Web ring" link on each page. Most Web rings allow people to browse backwards or forwards through the sites in the ring, or choose to visit individual sites from a list. The rings are typically run from a main site which uses a Web scripting application to select random sites and keep the ring up to date. This includes getting rid of outdated pages and links, and adding new ones. There are tens of thousands of Web rings for topics like football, cars, celebrities, computers, TV shows, etc.

Webcam The term webcam is a combination of "Web" and "video camera." The purpose of a webcam is to broadcast video on the Web. Webcams are typically small cameras that either attach to a user's monitor or sit on a desk. Most webcams connect to the computer via USB, though some use a Firewire connection. Webcams typically come with software that allows the user to record video orstream the video on the Web. If the user has a website that supports streaming video, other users can watch the video stream from their Web browsers.

Web mail There are two primary ways of checking your e-mail â&#x20AC;&#x201C; using an e-mail program like Microsoft Outlook or with a Web-based interface called webmail. When you check or send e-mail via the Web, you are using webmail. Most free e-mail services, such as Gmail, Hotmail, and Yahoo! Mail offer webmail interfaces that allow you to send, receive, and organize your e-mail on the Web.

Webmaster The webmaster is the person in charge of maintaining a Web site. The jobs of a webmaster include writing HTML for Web pages, organizing the Web site's structure, responding to e-mails about the Web site, and keeping the site up-to-date. On some Web sites you might see a phrase that says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Send dead links and other Web site problems to webmaster@domainame.com."

WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) WEP is a security protocol for Wi-Fi networks. Since wireless networks transmit data over radio waves, it is easy to intercept data or "eavesdrop" on wireless data transmissions. The goal of WEP is to make wireless networks as secure as wired networks, such as those connected by Ethernet cables.

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White paper The term whitepaper has historically been used to describe a report that states the social or political position of an organization. In recent years, however, the IT industry has adopted the term to describe articles that explain a certain technology or product.

WHOIS WHOIS is an Internet service that finds information about a domain name or IP address. If you enter a domain name in a WHOIS search engine, it will scour a huge database of domains and return information about the one you entered

Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) Wi-Fi refers to wireless network components that are based on one of the Wi-Fi Alliance's 802.11 standards. The Wi-Fi Alliance created the 802.11 standard so that manufacturers can make wireless products that work with other manufacturers' equipment.

Widget A widget (or control) is an element of a graphical user interface (GUI) that displays an information arrangement changeable by the user, such as a window or a text box. The defining characteristic of a widget is to provide a single interaction point for the direct manipulation of a given kind of data.

Wiki A Wiki is a Web site that allows users to add and update content on the site using their own Web browser. This is made possible by Wiki software that runs on the Web server. Wiki end up being created mainly by a collaborative effort of the site visitors.

WiMAX WiMAX is a wireless communications standard designed for creating metropolitan area networks (MANs). It is similar to the Wi-Fi standard, but supports a far greater range of coverage. While a Wi-Fi signal can cover a radius of several hundred feet, a fixed WiMAX station can cover a range of up to 30 miles. Mobile WiMAX stations can broadcast up to 10 miles.

Window A window is an area on the screen that displays information for a specific program. This often includes the user interface GUI as well as the program content.

Windows are used by most applications as well as the operating system itself.

Winsock Winsock is actually short "Windows sockets," which are files that allow Windows programs to connect to the Internet and other computers. Technically, Winsock is an "Application Programming Interface (API)," that developers use to make their programs network-enabled. 16-bit applications use a file called WINSOCK.DLL and 32-bit applications use a file called WSOCK32.DLL. - 172 -

Wireless In the computing world, the term "wireless" can be rather ambiguous, since it may refer to several different wireless technologies. The two most common types of wireless capabilities computers have are Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The wireless card transmits to a wireless router, which is also based on the Wi-Fi standard.

Wizard A wizard is a part of a program that guides you through certain steps.

Word wrap Word wrapping is when a line of text automatically "wraps" to the next line when it gets to the end of a page or text field.

Word art WordArt is a text modifying feature in Microsoft Word, a popular word processing program. It includes effects such as shadows, outlines, colors, gradients, and 3D effects that can be added to a word or phrase.

Workstation A workstation is a place where work gets done. It refers to a computer (and often the surrounding area) that has been configured to perform a certain set of tasks, such as photo editing, audio recording, or video production. An office may have several workstations for different purposes, which may be assigned to certain employees.

Worm Worm has two widely different definitions. One refers to a computer virus and the other is an optical storage technology. A computer worm is a type of virus that replicates itself, but does not alter any files on your machine. Worms are hard to detect because they are typically invisible files.

WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) WPA is a security protocol designed to create secure wireless (Wi-Fi) networks. It is similar to the WEP protocol, but offers improvements in the way it handles security keys and the way users are authorized.

WWW (World Wide Web) The World Wide Web, or just "the Web," as ordinary people call it, is a subset of the Internet. The Web consists of pages that can be accessed using a Web browser.

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X X86 X86 is the generic name for Intel processors released after the original 8086 processor. These include the 286, 386, 486, and 586 processors. The "x" in x86 stands for a range of possible numbers.

XHTML (Extensible Hypertext Markup Language) XHTML is a spin off of the hypertext markup language (HTML) used for creating Web pages. It is based on the HTML 4.0 syntax, but has been modified to follow the guidelines of XML, the Extensible Markup Language.

XML (Extensible Markup Language) XML is used to define documents with a standard format that can be read by any XML-compatible application. The language can be used with HTML pages, but XML itself is not a markup language.

XSLT (Extensible Style Sheet Language Transformation) An XSLT style sheet provides a template with rules that XML documents must conform to. It receives an XML document as input and outputs a file that is recognizable by the intended program. XSLTs can be used to transform XML documents into a modified XML file or a completely separate format, such as the HTML and text.

Xterminal An X terminal is a thin client that only runs an X server. This architecture became popular for building inexpensive terminal parks for many users to simultaneously use the same large computer server to execute application programs as clients of each user's X terminal.

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Y Yobibyte A yobibyte is a unit of data storage that equals 2 to the 80th power, or 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 bytes.While a yottabyte can be estimated as 10^24 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes, a yobibyte is exactly 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 bytes. This is to avoid the ambiguity associated with the size of yottabytes. A yobibyte is 1,024 zebibytes and is the largest unit of measurement.

Yottabyte A yottabyte is 2 to the 80th power, or 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 bytes.

It can be estimated as 10 to the 24th power, or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes.

The yottabyte is the largest unit of measurement for computer data, consisting of 1,024 zettabytes.

You tube You Tube is a video sharing service that allows users to watch videos posted by other users and upload videos of their own. Videos that have been uploaded to YouTube may appear on theYouTube website and can also be posted on other websites, though the files are hosted on the YouTube server. The slogan of the YouTube website is "Broadcast Yourself."

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Z Zebibyte A zebibyte is a unit of data storage that equals 2 to the 70th power, or 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 bytes.While a zettabyte can be estimated as 10^21 or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes, a zebibyte is exactly 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 bytes. This is to avoid the ambiguity associated with the size of zettabytes. A zebibyte is 1,024 exbibytes and precedes the yobibyte unit of measurement.

Zero Day Exploit A zero day exploit is a malicious computer attack that takes advantage of a security hole before the vulnerability is known. This means the security issue is made known the same day as the computer attack is released.

Zettabyte A zettabyte is 2 to the 70th power, or 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 bytes. It can be estimated as 10 to the 21st power, or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes. A zettabyte is 1,024exabytes and precedes the yottabyte unit of measurement.

ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) ZIF is a type of CPU socket on a computer motherboard that allows for the simple replacement or upgrade of the processor. Processors that use a ZIF socket can easily be removed by pulling a small release lever next to the processor and lifting it out.

Zip Windows users will see this term a lot when looking for files on the Internet. A zip file (.zip) is a "zipped" or compressed file. For example, when you download a file, if the filename looks like this: "filename. zip," you are downloading a zipped file.

"Zipping" a file involves compressing one or more items into a smaller archive.

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Z39.50 Z39.50 is a client-server protocol for searching and retrieving information from remote computer databases. A standard that defines how computers search in library catalogues. A technical data format and transmission protocol specification.Z39.50 refers to the International Standard, ISO 23950: Information Retrieval (Z39.50): Application Service Definition and Protocol Specification, and to ANSI/NISO Z39.50.

ZOG ZOG was an early hypertext system.ZOG consisted of frames that contained a title, a description, a line containing ZOG system commands, and selections (menu items) that led to other frames. ZOG pioneered the "frame" or "card" model of hypertext later popularized by HyperCard.

Zone File A zone file is stored on a name server and provides information about one or more domain names. Each zone file contains a list of DNS records with mappings between domain names and IP addresses. These records define the IP address of a domain name, the reverse lookup of an IP to other domains, and contain DNS and mail serve information. .

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