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Microcontroller => This is like a scaled-down computer designed for a very specific task, unlike a desktop computer, which has many uses. An example of an application for a microcontroller would be a traffic light, or the chip that controls the suspe...
Micron Process => This refers to the size of lines capable of being etched onto a chip. A fabrication plant with a .25 micron process can create smaller chips that consume less power, and can run faster than a fab with a .35 micron process.
Microprocessor => (MPU) This is a chip containing a large amount of gates. It contains the CPU.
Mid Tower case => A metal box about 2 feet high that has special fittings to hold computer components like drives, motherboards and such.
MIDI => (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) This is the way to connect musical instruments (traditionally a piano keyboard) to your computer. To connect them to your computer, you need a MIDI cable and a MIDI port. The MIDI port usually doubles as...
Millisecond => (One thousandth of a second) Usually used to measure the access speed of hard drives .
MIME => see Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions.
MIP Mapping => (Multum in Parvam--"many in few") This stores a copy of the bitmap used as a texture in different sizes to minimize the distortion caused by shrinking or enlarging the textures during perspective correction.
MIPS => (Million Instructions Per Second) This is a rating of how quickly a processor can process instructions. A processor rated at 100 MIPS can process 100,000,000 instructions per second.
Mirror => This can refer to many things in the land of technology. Most often, it is used to describe a method of redundancy where data is mirrored across two devices, whether they are physically separate devices or not. Basically, the same data is w...
MIS => (Management Information Systems/Services) This is the department at most companies that everyone loves to hate. These are the people that work with Information Technology.
Mission-Critical Application => This is any application that is critical to the proper running of a business. If this application fails for any length of time, you may be out of business. For example, an order-entry system may be considered mission c...
MMX => (Matrix Math Extensions / Multi Media Extensions) 64 additional instructions for matrix math operations that are commonly used to process multimedia data. A slight improvement of the Pentium and Pentium Pro chip designs that is supposed to mak...
MODEM => (Modulator/Demodulator) A device to turn digital signals to analog ones and back again, so they can be transmitted and translated back to digital at another modem without loss. Used for communication through means of audio, telephone, CB, et...
Moiré => An interference pattern that gets created when small dots are placed in a tight pattern.
Monitor => A device for viewing the output from a computer, traditionally a much more precise TV set.
Moore's Law => Former Intel chairman Gordon Moore is credited with predicting the trend that transistor counts in processors double every 18 months. This law has held true since the 1970s. The law can also be applied to other technologies and works f...
Motherboard => The circuit board that your CPU, IO chips and all the peripheral cards plug into.
MotherGlass => The sheet of silicon that the wafers are stamped out of to make computer chips.
Mouse => A pointing device that uses a roller ball on the bottom to detect motion.
Mousepad => A pad that has a surface made for use with a mouse.
MP3 => (MPEG 3) This is a compression standard for music. It enables you to fit over 100 full length songs on a single CD with almost no loss of quality. You can find MP3 players and MP3 files on the Web--you just have to look. The music industry is ...
MPEG => (Moving Pictures Expert Group) This is a format for compressing video in a format similar to JPEG. It works.
MTBF => (Mean Time Between Failures) This is a time normally given in hours that predicts the failure of a device. The larger the number the better.
Multi-Threaded => Some operating systems allow multiple parts, or threads, of a single process to run simultaneously. These OSs are referred to as multi-threaded. UNIX is a multi-threaded OS, as is Windows NT.
Multi-tier client server => This is a form of client/server application that uses the multi-tiered architecture.
Multi-tiered architecture => This is the most scalable application architecture (over 2-tier and 3-tier). This architecture refers to 4-, 5-, or even higher-tiered architectures. It is the most complex type of architecture, splitting the application ...
Multicast IP => This is a form of TCP/IP being proposed that will allow for high-bandwidth transmissions (like television channels) to be broadcast over the Internet to all the routers in the world (possibly) that are connected to someone watching th...
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions => (MIME) This refers to functions used for the attachment of binary files to an e-mail message. MIME is the most common group of functions used to make this translation, and allows us to tack on graphics, sound,...
n-tuple => ((pronounced en-too-pull)) This is a mathematical term for a finite sequence of n terms. For example, the set {1, 2, 3, 4} is a 4-tuple. The set {Frank, Jane, Ed} is a 3-tuple. Any time there is a list of n things in a certain order, you c...
Nanosecond => (One billionth of a second) Used most often to measure the speed of memory.
NC => (Network Computer) This is a concept that came from the old days of dumb terminals. They are supposed to reduce the cost of standardized computers in the office environment.
NDIS => (Network Driver Interface Specification) This spec was designed by Microsoft to allow multiple protocols to easily communicate with Network Interface Cards (NICs) without knowing anything about those cards. In theory, you just have to install...
Network => This refers to a group of interconnected computers. The computers must be capable of transferring data to form a true network--you can't just weld a bunch of computers together.
Newsgroups => See Usenet newsgroups
Nibble => Four bits or half a byte.
NIC => (Network Interface Card) The NIC is an add-in board that enables a computer to connect to some form of computer network.
NLX => This is a form factor similar to ATX. The difference is that NLX machines contain a riser card that the other expansion cards are plugged into. This allows for a shorter desktop case.
Non-parity Memory => DRAM that has no error correction or tracking, called parity.
Normal SCSI => This term is commonly used to refer to non-wide versions of SCSI that interface with 50-pin connectors.
NOS => (Network Operating System) This is an operating system designed to run across a network. It refers to the operating system that runs on a server, not the client.
Notebook computer => A computer the size of a notebook. Usually smaller and lighter than a laptop.
Null modem => There really is no "null modem" per se, but usually a null modem cable. This is a cable that connects two computers together via serial port and allows them to communicate. Some hardware manufacturers of network hardware, such as hubs a...
NVRAM => (Non-Volatile RAM) A small amount of RAM that stores information even after you turn off your computer. Used in modems (for storing your settings) and in hardware keys for protecting software. 
Object => Objects can refer to the objects in object-oriented programming or the objects in OLE (Object Linking and Embedding). In OLE, an object is a piece of a document, a graphic, or some multimedia. In object-oriented programming, an object can b...
Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) => Object Linking and Embedding => aka OLE. This is a standard for sharing data between applications. It has been around since Windows 3.1 and continues to get better. For example, if you cut a picture out of Paint ...
Object-oriented Programming => This term usually refers to programming languages that allow you to work with objects. These objects can contain not only data type and data structure information, but also information about how the object can be used b...
Object-oriented technology => This refers to technology, usually programming languages, designed to work with objects.
OC12 => see Optical Carrier 12.
OC3 => See Optical Carrier 3.
OCR => (Optical Character Recognition) This is the technology that allows computers to "read" the text from physical objects. It requires a graphical representation of text to interpret. This usually comes from a scanned image.
OEM => (Original Equipment Manufacturer) This acronym is used to denote equipment that is sold to other companies or resellers for integration into systems. For example, a hard drive manufacturer may sell an OEM hard drive in bulk quantities and no m...
Office Suite => The set of software products that are required by an office. Most often comprised of a spreadsheet program, a word processor, a scheduler, and a presentation manager. Sometimes they will include a financial package and a database prog...
OLE => (see Object Linking and Embedding) see Object Linking and Embedding
Online => The term refers to anything that's on the Internet, as in "I've got this great online magazine for you to check out at www.ugeek.com."
OpenGL => (Open Graphics Language) This is a 3D graphics language developed by Silicon Graphics. OpenGL support is built into Windows NT. You can see some examples by checking out the NT screen savers. Some 3D graphics accelerators have OpenGL accele...
Optical Carrier 12 => (OC-12) This stands for the 622 Mbps ATM protocol. Some large Internet providers are using OC-12 for their backbones.
Optical Carrier 3 => (OC-3) Synonym for the 155 Mbps ATM protocol.
Optical Drive => A storage device that uses light to store data instead of magnetism. To write it (usually) uses a laser to change a tiny portion of an optical disk so that it can be read later by checking the state of that portion.
OS => (Operating System) The program that allows you to access the basic functions of your computer. It is the minimum software required to run a program. The best one by far is the MacOS.
Output => Anything that comes out of a computer or system. As in, "Watch out for that pile of OUTPUT on the sidewalk."
Over-clocking => This is the act of running a chip at a higher clock speed than it was specified for. Very often, chips are capable of running faster than they are specified for, and can be safely over-clocked. 
P54C => This is the official part number for the Pentium processor from Intel.
P55C => This is the official part number for the Pentium processor with MMX technology from Intel.
Packet => A collection of information. It's often used to refer to the chunks of information sent over computer networks.
Packet Filter => This is anything that filters out network traffic based on sender's address, receiver's address, and the type of protocol being sent. Some routers support packet filtering, all firewalls do, and some proxy servers will as well.
Packet InterNet Gopher => (PING) Part of the standard TCP/IP suite of protocols that allows you to check your connectivity with other devices, or to check whether your own TCP/IP stack is working properly. Normally, you type in something like "ping 2...
Page Fault => This is not an error. It means that the computer had to resort to using the swap file as memory.
Parallel => Meaning in unison, or many things at the same time. Most commonly refers to a computer with multiple processors that can execute multiple instructions at the same time.
Parallel Port => The parallel port is found on just about all PCs. It's a 25-pin interface cable (DB-25) that is designed for connection to a printer. Normally, it will take up IRQ 7. In addition to printers, you can connect many other devices such a...
Parity => Meaning that there is an equality. Usually for the purpose of safety, so that if one goes bad there is still the other.
Parity Memory => Not quite memory that has a twin, but instead, more like a summary. The parity does not exactly have a copy of the original, but rather enough information to verify the integrity of the original.
Partition => You can partition your hard drive by breaking it up into one or more pieces, or "partitions." Partition
Pascal => This is a programming language that was designed to teach computer science students the concepts of programming. It's almost like C for dummies. In fact, the two languages are very similar, but the stoic brackets of C are changed to happy a...
Passive Matrix => LCD panels that are passive matrix have a duller, dimmer image than those with active matrix screens. Visibility and clarity decrease at greater angles off of central viewing.
Patch cable => This is the common name for any 10BaseT network cable that is used to connect, or "patch," any two network ports.
Patch panel => This is a group of network ports stuck together for easy accessibility. Usually, this panel resides in a wiring closet or server room. Connections are made between this panel and ports on a hub to enable a network connection at a remot...
PC Card => This is a newer synonym for PCMCIA Card.
PCI => (Peripheral Connect Interface) This interface was designed to supplant the VL-Bus architecture and provide a standard slot with a reduced size for high-speed peripherals. It normally runs at 33 MHz on a PC, but can run faster. PCI slots are 32...
PCMCIA => (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) Aside from winning the award for being the longest and most-annoying-to-pronounce technology acronym, PCMCIA is a credit card-sized interface card standard. PCMCIA cards are most com...
PDA => (Personal Digital Assistant) PDAs are basically beefed-up organizers. They have small LCD screens, some form of pen or keyboard input, and software for organization, OCR, and contact management. Some have even more features, such as Web browsi...
Peripherals => Any device that is not part of the motherboard, aside from memory and the CPU. For example, video card, sound card, modem, hard drive.
Perspective Correction => This correctly alters the textures in a scene to give a sense that all the images on the screen converge on one central point way out in the distance. It's why things far away look smaller.
Petabyte => One thousand terabytes / one million gigabytes / one billion megabytes / one trillion kilobytes / one quadrillion bytes (approximately)
PGA => (Pin Grid Array) This is a form of chip with a group of pins in concentric rectangles, designed to fit into a PGA slot. Most x86 compatible chips are designed in this format.
PGA slot => This slot accepts a PGA chip. See PGA.
Pincushioning => This is one form of image distortion on a monitor. Good monitors have controls to deal with this problem. Basically, the top and bottom of the screen are wider than the middle (convex), or vice versa (concave). When corrected properl...
PING => see Packet InterNet Gopher.
PIO => See Programmed Input/Output.
Pipeburst Cache => See Pipeline Burst Cache. This is an abbreviation, or contraction, for it, just like "ain't" is an abbreviation for "am not."
Pipeline => This refers to the technique of processing multiple parts of an instruction at the same time. Many processers have two or more instruction pipelines. Think of it as an automobile assembly line. As one instruction is executed, the next ins...
Pipeline Burst Cache => This is a form of L2 cache that uses pipelining to speed data access by being able to feed data to the CPU at the same time it pulls data from memory. The burst mode also allows the cache to fetch additional data from main mem...
Pixel => The smallest dot that a computer can display at a particular resolution. Screen size is often referred to in pixels: 800 x 600, for example. This means that the screen is 800 pixels across and 600 pixels vertically.
Platform => This is a means of generically grouping like computers. Macintosh computers are a platform; so are PCs running DOS. It's not very specific, and multi-platform support can mean many things. If someone says to you "this application supports...
PNP => (Plug and Play) This is a standard that was supposed to make adding peripherals to your system as easy as plugging them in and using them. Its biggest contribution, aside from headaches, is the removal of jumpers from many devices.
Point to Point Tunneling Protocol => (PPTP) This is a remote access protocol that allows people to make a connection to easily connect to their local network through the Internet or some other large network. Conversations are kept private through enc...
POP => (Point Of Presence) This is a local telephone number through which you can access your ISP. The largest national ISPs have POPs all over the country.
Port => To port something, you translate the code for a program from one platform to another. You could port a program you wrote on a PC over to a Macintosh, for example. Port
Portable Computer => Technically, any computer that is self-contained to allow easy moving. Most often refers to a computer that can work away from an outlet.
Power Supply => A device attached to the case that converts 120 AC to DC at voltages that a computer needs to run. They come rated by wattage.
PPP => (Point to Point Protocol) The mode of transport used to connect a computer to the Internet via a dial-up adapter (a/k/a a modem).
PPTP => see Point to Point Tunneling Protocol
Precision => Precision is how well you define a value. For example, if the value you are representing is 4.321 and you say it's 4.3, you are precise to two places. Numerically, precision is the amount of decimal digits that you are capable of measuri...
Precision vs. Accuracy => See Accuracy vs. Precision
Primary partition => Primary partitions are partitions that are bootable. You cannot have more than four primary partitions per drive.
Processor => Short for Microprocessor. See Microprocessor.
Processor cycle => This is what occurs during one tick of the processor clock.
Programmed Input/Output (PIO) => This refers to IO standards on IDE hard disk drives. If you have a hard drive that supports one PIO mode, you need your interface to support it as well for maximum performance. The data transfer rates for the various ...
Protocol => This is the behavior that computers must follow in order to understand one another. Think of it as a language. If two computers don't use the same network protocol, then they cannot communicate.
Proxy => This is commonly a form of Internet security. You can use a proxy or proxy server to pass data between your internal network and the Internet. A machine on your network sends a request to the proxy. The proxy sends the request to a server on...
PS/2 => This is a PC made by IBM. It can run OS/2 and DB/2. Of course, it can run anything a normal PC can run, but it's just a nifty IBM naming convention that caught on.
PS/2 port => This is a standard serial port connector used to plug mice and keyboards into PCs. It's got 6 pins and is small and round 
Q-Bert => A mid '80s arcade game that involved a fuzzy red creature jumping from cube to cube, trying to avoid a purple snake named Coily.
Quake => Quake is a revolutionary 3D, first person perspective game full of blood and gore. Designed by ID software, it only runs well on fast P5 chips or better. 
RAID => (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives) A manipulation of SCSI technology that allows you to combine several hard drives for use as one. The benefits can be either speed increase or failsafe (so that if one drive dies or crashes you don't los...
RAID 0 => Also known as disk striping, this form of RAID combines two or more hard drives into a single logical drive. Any data is written in blocks first to one drive, then the next, and so on. A RAID 0 configuration sacrifices redundancy for raw sp...
RAID 1 => There are two forms of RAID 1: disk duplexing and disk mirroring. Disk mirroring involves two hard drives that are on the same drive controller. The same data is written to both drives, so write operations are slower because you must write ...
RAID 10 => This form of RAID was originally called RAID 1+0 and is now commonly referred to as RAID 10. This is basically a bunch of RAID 1 drives linked together with RAID 0. Hence, you get the speed benefits of RAID 0 with the redundancy benefits o...
RAID 5 => A RAID 5 configuration utilizes three or more hard drives and stripes the data across them, much like RAID 0. The difference is that parity information is striped across the drives as well, so if you lose any one drive, the information can ...
RAM => (Random Access Memory) The place in your computer that programs reside when running.
Raster Graphics => This form of graphics is probably what you are looking at now. Composed of pixels on a bitmap, it allows for solid colored objects and graphics as we know them. See also vector graphics.