view release on metacpan or  search on metacpan

factpacks/techdict.fact  view on Meta::CPAN

Digital => Digital implies a value represented by a group of discrete steps. Some claim that digital representations of images and sound are more accurate; others that the translation of analog sounds and pictures into digital representations causes ...
Digital Control => This is a control that doesn't directly cause a physical change in something, but rather sends a signal that a processor interprets. The processor then makes the change. An example of a digital control would be a television set wit...
DIMM => (Dual In-Line Memory Module) Very much like a SIMM except that they are larger and you need only one in place of two SIMMs. DIMMs are 64-bit memory devices, so you just need a single DIMM for a processer with a 64-bit memory path to work prop...
DirectDraw => A set of APIs for Windows 95 and NT that allow programmers to directly access the video controller, allowing for faster graphics response.
DirectPC => TCP/IP over satellite. This is a system for going on the Internet by satellite at about 800 Kbps. Unfortunately, you also need a modem to be able to send anything to the Internet because the satellite is one way only.
DirectX => A Microsoft technology that works under Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.x. Basically, it's a set of APIs that allow programmers to access more directly sound and graphics capabilities of the computer allowing for, among other things, great gam...
Disk Duplexing => See RAID 1
Disk Mirroring => See RAID 1
Disk Striping => See RAID 0
Disk Striping with Parity => See RAID 5
DLL => (Dynamic Link Library) This is a library of procedures that programs can call with input. The DLL produces output related to that input.
DLT => (Digital Linear Tape) A technology designed by DEC and sold to Quantum used for backing up huge amounts of data (up to 35 GB per tape without compression, 70 GB with compression). The drives are very expensive and so is the media, but they are...
DMA => (Direct Memory Access) PCs have DMA channels that allow certain devices to directly access memory in order to speed up the process.
DMI => (Desktop Management Interface) This interface standard is designed to allow PCs to intelligently broadcast information on their system configurations and support remote management so that they can be managed more easily.
DMTF => (Desktop Management Task Force) This motley crew was assembled to create the DMI standard.
DNS => (Domain Name Service) This service maps TCP/IP numbers such as 123.12.4.245 to a more easily remembered name, such as www.ugeek.com. Thus, when you type www.ugeek.com into your browser, it goes out to the DNS server you specified when you inst...
DNS Entry => The DNS routing tables are filled with DNS entries that map TCP/IP addresses to more easily recognized names. If your browser says it can't find a particular DNS entry, here are some possible reasons: => You may not be able to communicat...
Domain name => Domain names are used to represent more complex TCP/IP addresses. For example, we purchased the UGeek.com domain name so we could use it to represent our server's address. You purchase domain names through the InterNIC. They can be rea...
Domain Name Service => See DNS.
DOS => (Disk Operating System) This OS is what got it all started for PCs.
Dot Matrix Printer => This type of printer prints out little dots that can form graphics or characters. This type of printer was popular a while back because the only other choice was a daisy-wheel printer that didn't print any graphics. These printe...
Dot Pitch => The smaller the better, as it relates to monitors. The dot pitch is a measure of distance between phosphor dots of the same color on a CRT monitor. A high dot pitch generally produces a blurred and unclear picture. Smaller dot pitches pr...
Double Buffering => This shows you that the graphics engine uses two layers, or buffers, to produce an image: one for display and one for rendering. Since the viewer only sees the finished image, this allows for smooth-motion animation. (Again, play ...
DPMA => (Dynamic Power Management Architecture) This architecture allows computers to have a variety of advanced power management features.
DRAM => (Dynamic Random Access Memory) The standard and cheapest memory available. The fastest DRAM is about 60 nanoseconds. This is the most common form of computer memory. It needs to be continually refreshed in order to properly hold data, thus th...
Drive Bay => Usually a 5.25"-wide 1"-tall hole in a computer case, suitable for the installation of some sort of drive. Some are exposed so that a removable drive (e.g., floppy, CD-ROM) can fit. Some are not exposed and are meant for hard drives, tap...
Driver => A driver is software that works to communicate between an operating system and a peripheral. Think of it as a translator. If you use a crappy driver, your OS won't understand your video card and may become unstable and crash. Hardware manuf...
DS-0 => (Digital Signal level 0) This is the signal used to carry a standard analog or digital phone line connection. 24 DS-0 connections can be carried on a T1 line. The speed of the signal is either 64 Kbps, or 56 Kbps if the eighth bit is used for...
DS-1 => (Digital Signal level 1) Synonym for T1.
DS-3 => (Digital Signal level 3) Synonym for T3.
DS-4 => (Digital Signal level 4) Synonym for T4.
DSP => (Digital Signal Processor) A DSP is a microprocessor designed to work with analog signals such as video or audio that have been digitally encoded. The DSP then takes these digital representations and performs operations on them. DSPs are used ...
DSTN => (Double-layer Supertwist Nematic) This is a form of passive matrix LCD screen. It is an improved version of the standard supertwist nematic passive matrix LCD screen where the display is divided into two sections and addressed separately to d...
Dual boot => This describes a system that can boot to two different operating systems. Some OSs, such as Windows NT and OS/2, allow for dual booting when installed. Of course, you can also use other methods such as commercial programs that install a ...
Dualscan => Refers to a passive matrix LCD screen that uses a better method of displaying graphics, producing a sharper, more vivid image than normal passive matrix screens.
Dumb Terminal => These are hooked up to mainframes, and are little more than a monitor attatched to a keyboard. All they are good for is running programs using the mainframe's hard drive and memory.
DVD => (Digital Variable/Versatile/Video Disc) Much like a CD-ROM except that it stores up to 12 times as much and is re-writeable. Although the industry claims that DVD really stands for NOTHING, I think otherwise. DVD is the successor to CD-ROM tec...
EBCDIC => see Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code.
EBIOS => (Enhanced BIOS) The EBIOS translates between the partition table limitations of a standard computer BIOS and the IDE limitations to provide up to 8 GB of storage space using the IDE interface. Your computer's BIOS has maximums of 1024 cylind...
ECC => (Error Checking and Correcting) Generally refers to memory chips, or motherboards that support this type of behavior in full-parity memory chips. ECC memory uses some extra memory on the memory chips for parity information and checks to see wh...
EDO RAM => (Extended Data Out RAM) This refers to the successor of DRAM. Most systems today support EDO RAM. It's a conceptually faster RAM chip that has small bits of SRAM cache built into it. It still runs at slow DRAM speeds ( <= 50 MHz), however.
EIDE => (Enhanced IDE) Allows for two IDE channels that can each support two devices in peaceful coexistence. It also allows for hard drives up to 8 GB in size and CD-ROM devices.
EISA => (Extended Industry Standard Architecture) 16-bit ISA was extended to 32-bits and they called it EISA. Pretty creative. But, really, it's generally used only in server machines, and it never caught on because of VL-Bus and PCI. It beats out VL...
Enhanced Small Device Interface => (ESDI) This was a popular form of hard drive and controller before IDE took over the PC market.
Environment => Normally, this is your surroundings. In your computer, the environment is what a group of variables are set to. Think of it as your computer's surroundings.
EPIC => see Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing.
ESCD => (Extended System Configuration Data) This is setup data that is stored in a Plug-and-Play-compatible system BIOS. It consists of the system resource requirements of legacy (non PNP) devices, and the last working configuration of Plug-and-Play...
ESDI => see Enhanced Small Device Interface.
Expansion Slot => Refers to any type of slot in a computer that you can plug an expansion card into. Generally, it's limited to ISA, EISA, PCI, and PCMCIA, but there are other types and there will be more in the future.
Explicitly Parallel Instruction Computing => (EPIC) This is Intel and Hewlett-Packard's invention, designed to be used on Intel's forthcoming Merced processor. It is a method for arranging instructions so that they are ordered to be explicitly parall...
Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code => (EBCDIC) This is a way of encoding 256 characters in binary, much like ASCII, but used mainly on mainframes. Most of the time, EBCDIC is only mentioned in translations between EBCDIC and ASCII.
Extended partition => This is a type of partition that is an extension of a primary partition. It's possible to have many extended partitions on a hard drive.
Extranet => An Extranet is an intranet that extends onto the Internet. Confusing? Yes. Extranets are external extensions of a company's intranet that allow certain people to interact from the Internet. Not all intranets are Extranets. 
Fabless => This term refers to a company that produces chips but doesn't own a fabrication plant, or fab. These companies are starting to become more and more successful at creating chips and renting out other companies' excess fabs to produce their ...
Fabrication Plant => A fab is a factory that takes raw silicon wafers and creates chips with them. Often, fabs are categorized by what micron process they use. For example, the Intel Pentium chip with MMX is produced in a fab with a 0.35 micron proce...
FAQ => (Frequently Asked Questions) This is a document that lists the most common questions about something (with the answers, of course).
Fast SCSI 2 => This version of SCSI transfers data at 10 Mbps. The connections all contain 50 pins. See also Fast-Wide SCSI 2.
Fast-SCSI => Plain vanilla fast-SCSI never really existed. See Fast-SCSI 2
Fast-Wide SCSI 2 => This version of SCSI upped the pin count to 68, effectively doubling the signal speed of Fast-SCSI 2 to 20 Mbps.
Fat Client => Today's fast PCs are fat clients. They've got lots of memory and big hard drives. They store information and run programs locally off of their hard drives. Fat clients usually work in client/server environments, where they leave the ser...
FCC => (Federal Communications Commission) These are the people in the government who decide what's legal and illegal to broadcast, including what frequencies are allowed to be used by whom.
FDDI => (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) This is a fiber optic interface that allows data to travel extreme distances (many miles/kilometers) without signal loss. It is far superior to copper wire for data integrity as well. FDDI is often used to c...
Feature => A feature is something that a piece of hardware or software is designed to do. Many things that appear to be bugs are actually features. Often, a hardware or software developer will have to make a tradeoff in functionality that causes some...
Fiber Optic => A method of transmission alternative to copper. The way it works is by pulsing light down a strand of glass. These pulses represent binary code. So far, that's no better than copper. The advantage is that a single strand of fiber optic...
FIFO Buffer (First In First Out Buffer) => An area of memory that holds information in the order in which it was received until the computer has time to use it.
Firewall => This is a form of Internet security that stands between a private network and the Internet. It is like a wall in that it can prevent unwanted traffic from passing either way. Some firewalls have proxy functions built in. In fact, the dist...
Firewire => An up and coming serial technology that promises to speed data at 200 => 400 Mbps. This standard may eventually replace your serial ports, parallel ports, game ports, USB and maybe even SCSI.
FishNet => This is a type of stocking material that Joel likes to wear under his pants.
Flash BIOS => This BIOS contains a flash ROM chip that can be updated under certain conditions, but is otherwise static.
Flash ROM => A rewriteable ROM that doesn't lose its info when the power turns off.
Flat Screen => A CRT that is made more flat than a standard tube by using more than one electron gun. It is most useful to professionals who rely on the precision of their monitors. It is also better for the standard user because a straight light acr...
Flat Shading => This is the most basic shading technique. The entire triangle is only one color. This causes the image to appear blocky.
FM synthesis => This is a method of creating music using frequencies to represent instruments.
Fortran => This is a high-level programming language, a bit more advanced than BASIC, but not quite as complex as C. This language refuses to die because it is so huge in the scientific research community. It's not a tough language to learn and it's ...
Fractional T1 => This term refers to using a theoretical "piece" of a T1 line, such as 128 Kbps, 256 Kbps or 512 Kbps worth of the 1.5 Mbps T1 line. Many ISPs offer fractional T1 as a lower-cost alternative to a full T1, and a higher-cost alternative...
Frame Relay => A method of communication that can go from the speed of an ISDN to the speed of a T1 in increments. It has a flat rate billing instead of a per time usage. It connects by using the telephone company's network.
Free text search => This type of search allows you to give a fragment of a word and have it found in any part of that word. For example, doing a free text search for "the" could return "Thesis", "Blithe", and "Diphtheria."
FTP => (File Transfer Protocol) This is the method of moving files from system to system using TCP/IP.
Full parity => This refers to the ability to send and receive a signal at the same time. It can effectively double bandwidth, assuming that you can benefit from sending and receiving data at the same time. Most of the time, this doesn't happen, since...
Gate => A gate is a tiny electronic switch. These switches, when linked together, can perform logical functions.
Gateway => The computer or device onto which the first hop needs to go to get out of your network. As you know a TCP/IP route uses many hops to get from here to there.
GDI => (see Graphics Device Interface) see Graphics Device Interface
GIF => (Graphical Interface Format) Invented by CompuServe for efficient transmission of graphics. The format can only support 256 colors, or 8 bits. The newer revision, 89a, allows for multiple images in one file to simulate animation.
Gigabyte => (1 billion bytes) There are a few different ways of getting to this number. No one uses the same exact number, but they are all around 1 billion. One way of deriving the number is by multiplying 1 byte by 1024 for 1 KB then again by 1024 ...
GIS => (Geographic Information System) This is a system for capturing and manipulating data relating to the Earth.
GlidePad => A touch-sensitive pad about 2" x 2" that will track the touch of a finger. It is not a pressure sensor so there is no need to press down, only to touch. This device acts like a mouse for pointing.
Gouraud Shading => This method analyzes the color at each corner of the triangle and takes an average of the colors where the corners meet. This causes the triangles to "bleed" together, making for a smoother, clearer, more colorful image.
Graphics => The pictures that computers display. Not text, but just about everything else.
Graphics card => The graphics card is generally an add-in board that plugs into the motherboard. It sends signals out to the monitor to represent what should be shown on the screen. A graphics card can send only simple text, or it can be designed to ...
Graphics Device Interface => (GDI) This is a standard set of programming functions provided by Microsoft for the production of graphic output in Windows. Microsoft provides these functions in its Software Development Kits. The functions are device in...
GroupWare => This term is used to describe any form of software designed to allow a group of people to easily share ideas and data. Examples include Lotus Notes, Novell GroupWise, and Microsoft Exchange.
GUI => (Graphical User Interface) Any system that uses graphics to represent the functions of a program. All Windows operating systems are GUI.
HAL => (Hardware Abstraction Layer) This is the portion of the operating system that lets programs deal with hardware directly. This allows programs needing more speed from the computer to bypass the standard OS calls to hardware. So instead of calli...
Hard Drive => A device that physically stores data in your computer. Much like a floppy disk, but the system is closed and the disks are hard (usually metal, although some glass versions have been developed). The closed system gives the possibility o...
Hash table => A table that contains "hash values," generally used for speeding up searching algorithms on sorted data. For example, a hash table for a dictionary might contain all the letters of the alphabet and the page numbers where each letter sta...
HEL => (Hardware Emulation Layer) This provides software-based emulation of features that are not directly available in hardware.
Help Desk => If you've ever worked in an office environment, you've probably done some help desk work, or at least called them. The help desk is the support organization designed to take care of your computer and phone problems. They work long hours,...
Hertz => A rental company, formerly represented by O.J. Simpson. Also a measure of speed. One Hertz means one time per second, so one megahertz (MHz) means 1 million times per second. This is the common measure of speed for processors and electronic ...
Heterogeneous Data sources => This is a data-warehousing term that describes the idea of drawing data from several different (heterogeneous) data sources on different platforms and computers.
Hidden Surface Removal => See Z-buffering.
Hierarchical relationship => This relationship is one where elements at lower levels are submissive to elements at higher levels. Just think of a hierarchy, where the King is above the Duke, who is above a peasant.
High Color => The name given to 16-bit or 65,536 colors.
Hit => When a user requests an HTML document on the World Wide Web, the server records that request as a "hit." The problem with measuring "hits" is that some Web servers also count each graphic on that page as a hit. For example, if you look at a pa...
Hop => A small jump. In reference to the Internet, the route that a computer needs to take in order to get its information from here to there. Think of all the main computers in the world that are physically connected (by T1 and T3 and M1 and such) a...
Hot Spare => This refers to a drive in a RAID configuration that sits idle until one of the RAIDed drives fails. The hot spare then assumes the role of the dead drive. When the dead drive is replaced, you can make it the hot spare. (The old hot spare...
Hot-pluggable => Same as hot-swappable, but also connotes a simple plug-in mechanism for easy swapping.
Hot-swappable => This type of mechanism implies that you can remove or add things while the system is running. For example, hard drives and power supplies are often candidates for this term. Normally, they come in special proprietary form factors in ...
HTML => (Hyper Text Markup Language) A standard language made for typesetting, currently up to Version 3.2. It is mainly used for creating documents on the World Wide Web. Included in the language are provisions for including pictures and links to ot...
HTTP => (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) The way the data in an HTML document is transferred. What it really is is what tells the program looking at the data what to use it as. So, a document coming in HTTP is read as an HTML document.
Hub => A central connection point. Standard terminology for a device that connects multiple computers in a network. 
I/O => (Input/Output) This abbreviation refers to any operation in a computer where data is transferred in or out of the computer. I/O may seem like a vague concept, but it refers to the basic throughput power of a computer.
I2O => The I2O standard is designed to simplify and speed up I/O operations on servers. It will eliminate the need for different drivers for each OS, and for each SCSI card and network card. The speedup is achieved by using an Intel 960 chip on the s...
IA-32 => (Intel Architecture-32 bit) This is Intel's 32-bit instruction architecture that runs on their 386, 486, Pentium, Pentium Pro, and Pentium II chips.
IA-64 => (Intel Architecture-64 bit) Intel's 64-bit instruction architecture that will feature EPIC and run on the Merced processor when it is released.
IDE => (Integrated Device Electronics) IDE is the standard hard drive interface for PCs. You can connect a maximum of two hard drives to an IDE connection or channel. IDE hard drives are cheaper than SCSI drives, but IDE is generally slower than SCSI...
Impression => When a user looks at a page on the World Wide Web, that visit is counted as one impression regardless of how many images are on that page. Most access log analysis tools remove server requests that reference ".gif", or ".jpg" (image tag...
Inkjet Printer => The next generation of dot matrix printers. It uses a head that sprays tiny droplets of ink onto print material. There are three major benefits to this method: 1) it is quieter than standard dot matrix printers, 2) it is able to mak...
Input => Anything entered into a computer or system. This includes keystrokes, mouse movement, and talking into a microphone.
Instruction => The simplest direction that you can give to a processor. Programs are made up of these, but you usually don't go down to such nitty-gritty levels. An example of what a single instruction would do is incrementing a piece of data by one,...
Intermediate Code => This is code that is generated by the first step in a compiler. Rather than translating code directly from one language to another, it first translates it to this more generic and easier to manipulate language and then spits it a...
International Telecommunications Union (ITU) => This is a Swiss organization that decides on international telecommunications standards. Currently, they are working on the 56K standard.
Internet => The global network of computers constantly connected to each other using standardized communications protocols, specifically TCP/IP.
Intranet => Local network of computers using TCP/IP as the standard communications protocol. Usually an Intranet features some sort of HTML content that you can use a browser to look at. Think of it as a mini, private Internet.
IP Address => The specific network address of a computer on a network using TCP/IP as its network protocol.
IRDA => (InfraRed Data Association) These people developed the IRDA port standard that transfers data through the use of infrared light. Of course, you must have two IRDA devices to get any real use out of this technology. Most notebooks today come s...
IRQ => (Interrupt request) This is a gateway for devices to request time from the processor to do their jobs. For instance, every time you hit a key on your keyboard an interrupt is generated on the keyboard IRQ. This is mainly only a concern for PC ...
IS => (Information Services) This refers to the field of computer technology but has been replaced by the newer and sexier term, "IT."
ISA => (Industry Standard Adapter) The 8- and 16-bit original connectors used in PCs. They run at a bus speed of 8 MHz. You can plug ISA expansion cards into an ISA slot. Modems and sound cards are ISA cards due to their low bandwidth requirements.
ISAPI => (Internet Server API) This is an API proposed by Microsoft to replace CGI. Programs written to ISAPI are compiled as DLLs and stored in memory so they can be run faster than CGI scripts.
ISDN => (Integrated Services Digital Network) This is a digital line that is often used to connect to the Internet. It generally come in two flavors: one is a 56 Kbps version, which in actuality only uses half of the ISDN line's bandwidth; the other ...
ISP => (Internet Service Provider) An ISP provides Internet access to people or corporations. ISPs generally have pools of modems awaiting dial-up connections. Smaller ISPs buy bandwidth from larger ISPs. There are two basic ways of connecting: one i...
IT => (Information Technology) This term refers to the field of work dealing with computers and technology.
ITU => see International Telecommunications Union. 
Java => This is a platform-independent programming language designed by JavaSoft. Java is much like C++, but includes some restrictions. Java mainly runs on Web browsers at the moment, but it can also run natively on operating systems or in a Java vi...
Javascript => A simple scripting language designed by Netscape to be embedded into HTML documents. It is unrelated to Java.
JDAP => (Java Directory Access Protocol) This is the Java answer to LDAP. It really means Java implementation of the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol.
Joystick => This is an input device first found on arcade game machines, then home game systems, and finally on computers. It consists of any stick-like object that can be moved in four or more directions. Usually, there's a button in the vicinity of...
JPEG => (Joint Photographic Experts Group) This is a method of storing graphic images. It was specifically made for storing more than 256-color images. It compresses pictures much better than the GIF way (GIF is meant to store graphics of 256 colors ...
Jumper => A jumper fits on two metal connectors. It provides an electrical connection between the two wires to enable a semi-permanent hardware configuration. The Plug and Play initiative was designed to eliminate jumpers, but so far this hasn't work...
Karnaugh Mapping => A means to show the relationship between logic inputs and desired output. Generally, a truth table is mapped to a smaller, more workable grid of output values (1's and 0's). Karnaugh Mappings are often used when working with elect...
KB => see Kilobyte.
Kbps => (Kilo Bits Per Second) A measure of data transfer. A 14.4 Kbps modem transfers data at about 1.8 kilobytes per second or about 100 KB per minute.
Keyboard => The main input device on PCs, it consists of all the letters in the alphabet and the numbers 0 through 9. Usually, especially on computer keyboards, there are extra keys like cursor keys and function keys.
Kilobit => 1024 bits (2^10 bits)
Kilobyte => 1024 bytes (2^10 bytes) 
L1 cache => (Level 1 Cache) The cache that's on the CPU, usually meant for holding instructions as they get executed. Sort of a death row for instructions.
L2 cache => (Level 2 Cache) This is cache memory that sits between the L1 cache of the processor and main memory.
LAN => (Local Area Network) A small isolated network at one office location. Most office computers are connected to a LAN, but may also be connected to the Internet, or a WAN.
Laptop => A computer small enough to fit completely on your lap.
Laser Printer => A printer that uses a laser to etch out what is to be printed. Toner goes on this etching and then the toner is heated to bond with the print material.
Latency => This is a measure of how long, on the average, it takes to get a response from something. This term usually refers to network response speed, and also to storage devices (hard drives, CD-ROM drives).
LCD Panel => (Liquid Crystal Display Panel) This is just a slab of specially treated glass which is used to sandwich liquid crystal. You can then send electricity through the treated glass to change the phase of the liquid, which then changes color. ...
LCD Projector => The same thing as an LCD panel, except it does not have any back so that you can put it on an overhead projector and shine a light through it.
LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) => This is a client/server protocol for accessing a directory service. It is a lightweight version of the X.500 protocol.
Leased Line => A phone line that can be purchased from the telephone company that is yours only. With the assurance that you are the only one on the line you can work at faster speeds and stay connected 24 hours a day.
LED => (Light Emitting Diode) A piece of electronics that emits light when a current is passed through it. It does not work the same way as a light bulb so it does not have the problem of burning out. It also only emits a few frequencies of light so ...
Legacy device => This is a type of device or peripheral that is not plug-and-play-compatible.
Legacy System => This is any old computer system that was set up before your time, and now continues to work and need support. Often, legacy systems are problematic to upgrade because the people that put them together aren't around any more. One grea...
LFN => (Long file name) Since DOS only allows eight letters then a period then three more letters, there is a separate distinction for it. Almost all other file systems allow for longer names. With Windows 95 now so prevalent, long file names have be...
Linux => Linux is a free personal computer operating system based on the UNIX operating system. It has almost all of the functionality of UNIX but has no official support. The code and the support come from the users and developers of the operating s...
Log => This is a record of events.
Log File => This is a file that records events. Many programs produce log files. Often, tech support will ask you to look at a log file to determine what is happening when problems occur. Log files usually record much "grittier" events than are shown...
Logical Parity => Fake parity that always agrees. In other words, when something checks to see if the data is in error the logical parity always says that it is not. 
M2020 riser => This board holds a Pentium Pro processor and fits into a Slot 1 slot on a motherboard. This provides a sort of backwards compatibility of Pentium Pro chips with the newer Pentium II motherboards.
Mainframe => Basically, a large and powerful computer designed to be very fault tolerant. Historically, mainframes with lots of memory and disk space are hooked to a bunch of dumb terminals that can be used to access data on the mainframe, but can do...
MB => see Megabyte; also an abbreviation for Motherboard.
Mbps => (Mega-bits per second) This is a measure of throughput in millions of bits per second.
MDRAM => (Multibank DRAM) This is a form of graphics RAM created by MoSys that allows transfers of up to 1 GB/second. Tseng Labs' popular ET6000 2D graphics chipset uses this form of graphics RAM to help achieve its high performance.
Mechanical Control => A mechanical control is a dial or knob whose physical setting directly affects some measurement. For example, the power button on your PC is a mechanical control. By pushing the button you are physically making an electrical con...
Megabit => (One million bits) 1,048,576 bits (that's 2^20 bits).
Megabyte => (One million bytes) This is 1,048,576 bytes (that's 1024 x 1024, or 2^20).
Memory => Chips in a computer that remember data. Also commonly referred to as RAM.
MHz => (Megahertz) One million hertz.
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.

factpacks/techdict.fact  view on Meta::CPAN

Removable Storage => This type of storage allows you to remove the actual storage media from a drive and replace it with other media. CD-ROM, floppy drives, Jaz, Zip, Syquest, and Bernoulli are all removable storage.
Rendering=> Determines how colors are used on each triangle.
Repeater => A device used to repeat a signal to send it further away or to many more devices.
Reseller => Anyone that buys computer equipment or software and sells it. In most states in the US, you need a reseller license to purchase goods without paying taxes, and then you are responsible for collecting and paying taxes on the goods you rese...
Resolution => How fine the pixels are. The higher the resolution, the more pixels that can be squeezed onto a screen, thereby giving the appearance that the pictures on your screen are smaller without losing any detail. Because the pictures are small...
Rewriteable => Meaning that what was written can be erased so that it can be written to again.
Ring topology => A ring topology refers to a network that is connected on both ends to one source, with client machines hanging off of the ring. If you break the ring, all computers in the ring lose connectivity.
RISC => (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) RISC chips use a simpler instruction set than CISC chips to get their work done. This results in more instructions that need to be processed by the processor, but they are easier to process, so the chips ca...
ROB => (Radically Omnipotent Boy) A tall, bearded, long-haired person who is scarily intelligent and often dangerous (they have been known to be photographed with axes and chainsaws). A ROB normally likes to drive really fast cars and eat lots of piz...
ROM => (Read Only Memory) Memory containing a program, data, or information about the device that has been programmed onto the chip at the factory.
ROP => (Raster Operation) A raster operation refers to a set of low-level graphics operations in Windows, i.e., operations that deal with raster graphics.
Router => A device that bridges an internal network to another network. Take a ferry as an example: cars that need to go to the other side of a body of water (another network) need to use the ferry (the router). If they want to stay on their side, th...
RS-232 => (Recommended Standard 232) This is the de facto standard for communication through PC serial ports. It can refer to cables and ports that support the RS-232 standard. "Hey, Jimmy! Why don't you take your RS-232 cable and stick it right up y...
Runtime => This refers to the time when a program or process is running. When it's running it may need runtime libraries and have runtime variables with runtime values. It's also used to refer to runtime versions of software that include functionalit...
Safe Mode => This is a Windows 95 mode that is automatically loaded if Windows 95 crashes during boot up. You can access Safe Mode anytime if you press the "F8" key when the screen says "loading Windows 95." This will bring you to a menu that allows ...
Sample => A small portion representative of something. Usual meaning a small amount of sound from an instrument, enough to reproduce the sounds of that instrument.
SAP => (Service Advertising Protocol) Used on NetWare networks to advertise available network services. For example, a NetWare server uses SAP to let other computers know that it's offering up some shared files.
Scalable => This adjective describes applications or systems that are able to scale to large amounts of users. For example, a database that completely locks out every other user when someone is using it is NOT scalable. The computer system that runs ...
Scalar => A scalar value, in mathematical terms, is any single real number. The term superscalar is used by the semiconductor industry and refers to the ability to issue multiple instructions in a single clock cycle. Just think of scalar as a SINGLE ...
SCAM => (SCSI Configured Auto-Magically) This SCAM is actually a good thing. It allows SCSI devices to automatically (or automagically--don't make me barf) be configured with an ID number, even if they aren't assigned one. This makes adding SCSI devi...
Scanner => A device used to copy an image from a physical source (e.g., photograph) into a computer.
Script => This refers to a group of commands usually stored in a file and run one at a time so that you don't have to type them in one at a time. Script is the newer, sexier term for batch. Don't talk about batch files anymore! It's all scripts and s...
SCSI => (Small Computer Standard Interface) A standard data pathway used mostly for hard drives and CD-ROM drives, but also a common interface for scanners and sometimes printers. Currently the fastest (and the most flexible) method of interfacing wi...
SCSI-2 => This version of SCSI originally came in two varieties: Fast-SCSI 2 and Fast-Wide SCSI 2. Recent extensions to the SCSI 2 specification include Ultra SCSI, which comes in normal and wide flavors as well. It doubles the top data rates from 10...
SCSI-3 => This is not Wide SCSI. It is also not Ultra SCSI. In fact, the SCSI 3 specification does not exist yet. When it is created, it will probably use some sort of Fiber-channel interface. However, Ultra-SCSI is sometimes referred to as SCSI-3. B...
SDRAM => (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) Like DRAM but arranged with a more efficient data pathway which allows for faster throughput.
SDX => (Storage Data Acceleration) This technology is being pioneered by Western Digital. The idea behind it is that slower drives such as CD and DVD drives will attach directly to larger, faster hard drives. They'll use a 10-pin connector between th...
Search Engine => This is typically a Web site that compiles and indexes a large amount of stuff on the Web and lets you search through it in some orderly manner. Search engines have many different strategies for collecting data and presenting it. If ...
SECC => (Single Edge Cartridge Connector) The SECC is a processor cartridge designed to hold Intel's Pentium II and some external cache. It then plugs into a motherboard that supports Slot 1.
Secure Sockets Layer => (SSL) This is a protocol specified by Netscape that allows for "secure" passage of data. It uses public key encryption, including digital certificates and digital signatures, to pass data between a browser and a server. It is ...
Serial => A means of operation meaning in series, or one after the other.
Serial Port => A data pathway that is usually used to connect modems and mice. Comes in 9- and 25-pin varieties, which are the same.
Server => A machine whose sole purpose is to supply information in its many forms, so that other machines can use it. See also client/server.
SGRAM => (Synchronous Graphics) RAM This is actually a form of SDRAM with some additional features to speed up 3D graphics. It is used on some graphics cards.
Shading => See rendering.
Shadow Mask => A thin sheet of metal with small holes poked through it used to focus the light from the electron beam on most CRT monitors. See also Slot Mask.
Silicon => An element commonly associated with glass. Called silica when bonded with oxygen. Sand and quartz is a form of silica. Not to be confused with "silicone." The main component of computer chips.
SIMM => (Single In-Line Memory Module) Those little memory cards we're used to putting into a computer as memory. It used to be that you needed eight or nine single chips to put into a computer to make a whole memory unit. Now a single card or two is...
SLIP => (Serial Line Internet Protocol) A protocol used to connect your computer to the Internet using serial connection.
Slot 1 => This is a cartridge slot found on motherboards that accepts an SECC cartridge. It works with Intel's Pentium II chips.
Slot Mask => This form of mask is similar to a shadow mask, but instead of a sheet of metal with holes poked into it, it is a series of fine, vertically-aligned metal wires.
SMP => (Symmetric Multi Processing) This refers to a technology where a computer uses multiple processors to process different instructions at the same time, in separate processing units. It is a form of parallel computing.
Socket => Normally, it's where your limbs are attached to, as in "I'm going to rip your arm out of the socket." In network speak, a socket is composed of an IP address and a port number. For example, a socket could be "206.119.148.38 port 80." See al...
Socket 7 => This is a PGA socket designed to accept an Intel P54c or P55c (Pentium class) chip, an AMD K5 chip, or a Cyrix 6x86 chip.
Socket 8 => This PGA socket is designed to accept an Intel Pentium Pro chip.
SOCKS => A protocol for communication through a firewall or proxy server. The SOCKS protocol uses TCP/IP sockets for communication. SOCKS is supported by Navigator and IE and allows them to communicate through proxy servers and firewalls, assuming th...
Sonictron => Viewsonic's answer to Sony's Trinitron. Like Trinitron, it uses an aperture grill instead of a shadow mask.
Sound Card => A peripheral device in the form of a card used for producing sound and music. Although PCs come with a speaker, it does not do a good job of playing music. As for reproducing sound, it takes most of the processor's power to produce only...
Spatial Database => This is simply a database that contains geographical or "spatial" information. For example, you could have a database of population by county in the United States, or amount of sales by state, or amount of employees per site.
Speaker Shielding => The ferro-magnetic shielding around the magnets of speakers that prevents interference with the monitor and stops damage to magnetic media such as floppies, Zip disks, and Jaz disks. Speaker shielding CAN damage MOs or CDs, howev...
Specular Highlights => This allows for the appearance of light reflecting off an object. White or light-colored pixels are blended into darker areas to provide this function.
Spider => Also known as a Web crawler, a robot, Web spider, or sometimes a worm. A program that runs on the Internet, goes out to an URL (Web page), and requests all links that are referred to on that page. Robots learn as they go, building a databas...
SQL => (Structured Query Language) This is a type of relational database that features data in rows and columns. Each row represents a record. Each column is a field. Most serious database solutions today use some form of SQL to store and access larg...
SRAM => (Static Random Access Memory) Much more expensive and physically larger than DRAM, but much faster. The fastest SRAM has a latency of about 5 nanoseconds.
SSD => (Solid State Disk) The D in SSD is really a misnomer. SSD storage is basically a huge block of RAM chips that functions like a hard drive. SSD drives (obviously) are extremely expensive, but offer very high data speeds that are necessary in so...
SSL => see Secure Socket Layer
SSMP => (Simple Screen Management Protocol) This is a communications protocol for text-based terminals.
Star topology => This is a network topology that has network hubs at the center, with all connected computers linked back to the hub by a single cable. Thus, if one cable goes down, the rest of the computers can still communicate.
Stepping => This refers to the version of a chip. Microprocessors typically have many different steppings where performance is increased or minor bugs are fixed. The steppings are generally not touted as a new release of the chip, because chips are n...
Streaming => This term is often used to describe technology that is capable of playing audio or video while it is still downloading. This saves you some waiting.
Superscalar Processor => This term describes a processor that is capable of executing more than one instruction during a processor cycle. Processors can do this by fetching multiple instructions in one cycle, deciding which instructions are independe...
Surge Protector => A specialized outlet that uses capacitors to keep spikes in the power supply from damaging electronic devices.
Swap file => An area of your hard drive that the computer uses for RAM. Although slower, it is usually much more abundant.
Switch => This refers to a hub that directs network packets to the port they are intended for, without broadcasting them to all connections. Switching is an alternative to moving to faster architectures. Switched 10Base-T can move data faster in some...
Sybase => This company makes a SQL database product that competes with Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server. It's also the type of SQL that Microsoft based Microsoft SQL Server on.
Synchronous => Meaning that things happen at the same time. More commonly, used in electronics to signify something occurring at the set pace of a clock, much like a metronome.
System Software => This term can refer to all of the software that comes with a computer system, or more specifically, the operating system. 
T1 => Two pairs of copper wire that carry data at a rate of 1.544 Mbps. T1 lines are used to carry 24 DS-0 signals. They can be used to carry 24 phone lines or an Internet connection capable of 1.544 Mbps data transfer. See also fractional T1.
T3 => 28 T1 lines together make up a T3, which can carry 672 separate voice channels or up to 44.736 Mbps data throughput. Many large Internet providers brag of about having T3 backbones.
T4 => Six T3 lines make up a T4 which carries data at 274 Mbps.
Tag RAM => This is a bank of SRAM that only holds addresses. Tag RAM is used to store addresses so that when the processor makes a call for memory, it first checks to see if the data is in the cache by looking for the memory address in the tag RAM. I...
Tape Drive => A device that can store data on a tape. The advantage of storing data on a tape is that a tape can hold enormous amounts of data in a small and inexpensive package. On the down side, a tape cannot store the data indefinitely, and it is ...
TAPI => (see Telephony API) see Telephony API
TCO => (Total Cost of Ownership) This phrase was coined by the creaters of the Network Computer (NC) to describe the benefits of using a system that is more Mainframe and less Client/Server. Their logic states that NCs, although they may cost the sam...
TCP/IP => (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) The TCP/IP suite first saw usage on the original Department of Defense Internet in 1983. Its first implementation was amazingly successful, and it is still THE protocol of the Internet. In...
Technographer => This person types into a computer exactly what a person speaking at a meeting requests of them. The output is displayed on a screen for all to see. The important thing here is that anyone can speak and ask the technographer to type i...
Telephony => This is the science of audio communication through electric devices. It commonly refers to the many pieces of software that will make your $2,000 computer act like a $20 telephone. Of course, you can make this work for you with CTI. With...
Telephony API => (TAPI) This is an API for using telephony functions in Windows. For example, you can include TAPI instructions in your program that can dial numbers, receive calls, and interpret touch-tones.
Telnet => An old protocol for remotely logging in to another computer. It is one of the basic utilities for TCP/IP.
Terabyte => One trillion bytes, or one thousand gigabytes.
Texture Mapping => Pastes saved images, to be used as textures, onto triangle surfaces to improve realism. (Take a picture of a grassy field and code the program to use this picture to fill in your triangles on the floor--you get what looks like gras...
TFT => (Thin Film Transistor) This is a synonym for the Active Matrix display. You'll often see screens referred to as "TFT-Active Matrix," or just "TFT" if they're low on space.
ThickNet => See AUI.
Thin Client => A thin client is similar to a dumb terminal in that it gets all of its information from the network. Some thin clients have their own memory, but lack a hard drive. They're basically stripped down computers that are supposed to lower t...
ThinNet => See 10Base2
Thrash => - To move wildly or violently, without accomplishing anything useful. Also: => Paging or swapping systems that are overloaded waste most of their time moving data into and out of core (rather than performing useful computation) and are ther...
Throughput => Any measure of speed for data transmission.
Toner => Basically, it's ink in dust form. It is specially formulated to be sticky and to melt at a couple hundred degrees.
Toner Cartridge => When referring to laser printers, this is a cartridge that contains toner and the electrostatic drum.
Topology => This refers to the general structure of a network.
Tower Case => An improvement to the standard desktop case, it is flipped 90 degrees to accommodate more inside and to make it more convenient by allowing the case to be placed on the floor instead of the desk.
Trackball => Basically a mouse turned upside down. Instead of moving the whole pointing device, you simply move the ball on top. First seen in arcade games such as Centipede, but now used to replace mice where space is limited.
Transceiver => A device that translates between different network cables but maintains the same network topology. Thus, a transceiver could allow an AUI (Thick => Ethernet) NIC to work with a 10Base-T Ethernet network cable.
Transfer rate => This is the rate at which data is transferred in some amount of bits per second.
Transistor => An electronic device that acts like an electrically activated switch but has no moving parts so it can switch millions of times per second.
Trapezoidal Control => Control on better monitors that allows you to adjust the angles of the borders of the screen.
Trinitron => A technology developed by Sony to enhance the clarity of graphics on their monitors. The way this is done is by making the pixels more square.
True Color => The name given to 16.7 million color representation.
True Parity => This term has come about with the advent of logical parity. It simply means the original parity memory.
Truth table => This is a Boolean table that describes the way that a circuit reacts to input values by showing a complete set of possible input values with corresponding outputs.
Tuple => See n-tuple.
Turbo-Pascal => This is Borland's version of the Pascal programming language.
TWAIN => (Toolkit Without An Interesting Name) This is a standard set for scanners to allow them to have a standard interface to software. This allows the use of your favorite graphics package with your favorite scanner without worrying if one will s...
UART => (Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter) This is a chip that standardized serial communications. Its function is to change a byte into a standard sequence of electrical impulses.
Ultra SCSI => SCSI that communicates twice as fast as standard SCSI-2. Normal Ultra-SCSI transfers data at 20 Mbps, and Wide Ultra-SCSI transfers data at 40 Mbps. Similar to Ultra-IDE, Ultra-SCSI works its magic by transferring data on the up AND the...
UNC => (Universal Naming Convention) This is the name given for the naming used when one specifies: \\the sever\the volume\the path\then the file name of a file. So, a UNC will look like this: \\Myserver\Docdrive\Magazine\glossary.doc
UNIX => A lot like DOS, but a MUCH more powerful operating system. It was developed at Bell Labs and is now being developed by many other corporations. It is mainly used as a multi-user server for mainframes, although companies like Novell offer it f...
UPS => (Uninterruptible Power Supply) This is a device that contains a battery and some circuitry to supply your computer with power for a limited time (depending on the battery) if there is any sort of interruption in the outlet power.
URL => (Universal Resource Locator) This is what is used to give Web addresses for HTML, VRML, WAV and other files. It simply contains the Internet name of the machine containing the data and the path to the file. Much like the UNC, except specifical...
USB => (Universal Serial Bus) A technology in the works that will replace the current way that some peripheral devices connect to your computer. It is much faster than serial and parallel communications. It is also much more flexible: it will be able...
Usenet Newsgroups => Also referred to just as "newsgroups," Usenet newsgroups are a huge bunch of Internet discussion groups that replicate across the Internet every so often. If you get a bunch of people together and request a group for yourself, yo...
V.32 => A standard naming convention used in determining modem communications, all starting with "V." This one is for specifying the Hayes standard of bi-directional 9600 baud transmission.
V.32bis => This is the standard that came after V.32 which increased the speed from 9600 baud to 14.4 KB baud.
V.34 => This is the most recent dramatic improvement of modem communications. It has doubled the speed of the V.32bis standard to 28.8 KB.
V.34+ => This standard was made by US Robotics to indicate that their modems are superior to a standard V.34 modem in that they run at 33.6 KB baud instead of the slower 28.8 KB baud.
V.42 => This is the name given to the standard for transmitting at 2400 baud.
V.42Bis => This is not a speed standard like V.32 and V.34. It is an error correction and compression method that is hardware-based. Its major improvement comes from knowing when compression will be beneficial and when it will not be.
V.Everything => This is US Robotics' designation for their Courier Dual standard modems, which support all types of analog modem communications.
V.Fast => This standard was made between the time of V.32bis and V.34. It is also a 28.8 KB baud speed, but is not as reliable as the approved V.34 standard.
VB => (Visual Basic) This is a software product developed by Microsoft. Its purpose is to bring programming down to a drag-and-drop level to speed up development cycles. In many ways, that goal has been achieved. VB's main competitor is Borland's Del...
Vector => A vector is a set of scalar numbers that refers to a point in space. Say, for example, you are in a two-dimensional space. A vector may be (5,6), which is 5 units across the X axis, and 6 units up the Y axis. See also scalar.