Amethyst

 view release on metacpan or  search on metacpan

factpacks/techdict.fact  view on Meta::CPAN

Black box => Anything that you put input into and get output from, butdon't know what's inside or how it works.BLOB (Binary Large OBject) => A BLOB is a data type used in a relationaldatabase that can contain any type of binary data, including sound,...
Boolean logic => This is the form of logic where every answer is eithertrue or false. Alternately, you can think of it as either 0 or 1, where 0= false and 1 = true.
Boot => This is a verb meaning to load. You can say thatyou are booting your machine, or that your operating system is bootingup.
BPS => (bits per second) This is generally a measure of how fast somedevice communicates, usually in thousands of bits per second (Kbps) ormillions of bits per second (Mbps).
Bridge => Bridges link two or more network segments that use the samenetwork technology. The network topologies do not have to be the same,i.e. you can bridge Ethernet and Token Ring. If the protocols are not thesame on segments, then you've got a ro...
Browser => Most commonly used to refer to a software program used to lookat World Wide Web pages.
Bug => This is commonly an error in design or programming in a hardwaredevice or piece of software. The effects of a bug may be as harmless asan extra graphic on the screen, or as harmful as a system crash or lossof data. See also Feature.
Bus => A bus is simply a data path between devices. The computer's systembus is what peripherals use to send and receive data from the processorand main memory.
Bus mouse => A mouse that uses the smaller 6-pin connector instead of yourcomputer's serial port. Also referred to as a PS/2 mouse because of itsearly adoption by the IBM PS/2 series of computers.
Bus speed => This is a measurement, usually in MHz, of how many times datacan be transferred over the bus per second.
Bus Topology => This network topology has computers connected to a strandof network cabling that is connected to network repeaters at one end andterminated at the other. If you break part of the cable or remove theterminator, all machines on that seg...
Byte => Simply put, it's 8 bits. Think of it as a string of 1s and 0s thatrepresents a number from 0 to 255. For example '01100101' is one byte ofinformation.
C => This is a programming language developed in the late '70s. It became hugely popular due to the development of UNIX, which was written almost entirely in C. C was written by programmers for programmers and it lets you write code in sloppy ways th...
C++ => This is an extension of the C programming language that adds object-oriented concepts.
Cable Modem => Cable companies are working to provide Internet access over coaxial cable. That's right, the cable that you plug into your VCR or TV. A cable modem accepts this coaxial cable and can get data from the Internet at up to and above 1.5 Mb...
Cache memory => Generally a small chunk of fast memory that sits between either 1) a smaller, faster chunk of memory and a bigger, slower chunk of memory, or 2) a processor and a bigger, slower chunk of memory. This is to provide a bridge from someth...
Cat 3, 4, 5 => See Category 3, 4, or 5 cable standards.
Category 3 cable standard => Cat 3 cable is certified to run at up to 16 MHz. You can achieve speeds of up to 10 Mbps on Cat 3 cable. This cable maxes out with standard 10 Mbps Ethernet.
Category 4 cable standard => Cat 4 cable is certified to run at up to 20 MHz. You can achieve speeds of up to 16 Mbps, such as with the 16 Mbps token-ring standard.
Category 5 cable standard => This is the latest and greatest copper wire standard. It uses an RJ-45 plug like Cat 3, and 4, and 4-pair wire, but it is certified to run up to 100 MHz and is suitable for 100 Mbps wiring standards. The guys that wired u...
CAV => (Constant Angular Velocity) This refers to a spinning disk. As data is read from the disk, the drive motor spins at the same speed. For example, CD-drives that work at CAV will read data at 12x towards the center and 20x towards the edge, wher...
CD-R => (Compact Disk Recordable) CD-R drives will record up to 650 MB of data onto specialized CD-R media. The media is expensive compared to the mass-produced CDs that software is generally distributed on, but cheap for the amount of data you can s...
CD-ROM => (Compact Disk Read Only Media) CD-ROM media is read-only media that holds 650 MB of data. It's generally accepted as the easiest way to distribute software. CD-ROM drives can also read music CDs even though they are in a different format th...
CGI => (Common Gateway Interface) This interface allows scripts or programs to run on a Web server. All Web servers support CGI scripting. You can make a CGI script do pretty much anything a computer program can. Most commonly, they are implemented t...
Channel => This refers to the group of resellers that supply most companies with software, hardware, and support. The channel is a force to be reckoned with, and it competes directly against companies like Gateway 2000 and Dell. A channel can also be...
CIR => (Committed Information Rate) This term is used by ISPs to represent an amount of data that you should, on the average, be able to draw through your connection to them. This is measured in kilobits or megabits per second.
CISC => (Complex Instruction Set Computer) Intel x86 chips are CISC chips because of the complexity of the instruction set. On the other side of the coin, you have RISC chips that use a reduced instruction set. RISC chips split big operations into lo...
Client/Server => Client server technology came about when computers began to cost less. Mainframes are very expensive, and didn't give users much personal freedom. The client/server model promised to change that scenario and it's much more popular to...
Clock chipping => Synonym for over-clocking.
Clock Cycle => Think of a clock cycle as one tick of the second hand (but generally at a much higher speed). Computer clocks run voltage through a tiny crystal that oscillates at a predictable speed to give a meaningful timing method to the computer....
Clustering => Clustering is an up-and-coming technology using two or more computers that function together as a single entity for fault tolerance and load balancing. This increases reliability and up-time in a client/server environment. One computer ...
CLV => (Constant Linear Velocity) In terms of disk drives, it means that the rate of data being read off of the disk stays the same from center to outer edge. To accomplish this, the drive motor speeds up and slows down as data is read from different...
CMOS => (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) This is the common reference for the BIOS preferences in your computer. Actually, it is a low power version of a chip. The low power comes into play because it is what commonly holds your BIOS prefere...
Coaxial cable => This is the original Ethernet cable. It consists of a single, insulated copper wire, surrounded by a copper braid or foil. The wire is then coated with plastic. Coaxial cable is used in bus topology.
COBOL => (COmmon Business-Oriented Language) This is a programming language developed in the '60s by several computer companies and the US Department of Defense. COBOL is still used today for programming business applications and COBOL programmers ar...
Code => A series of instructions that make up a program.
Code generator => A code generator is part of a compiler. It takes intermediate code and translates it into the final workable code in the target language.
Coily => Enemy of Q-Bert.
COM => (Component Object Model) This is a Microsoft specification that describes methods of communication between components. For example, if you were to drag an item over a window, the item and window would have some rules of communication that they...
Compiler => A compiler translates a computer program from one language into another, catching any errors in syntax along the way. Most commonly, you translate some high level language, such as C++ or COBOL, into optimized machine language. This form ...
Compression => Takes something large and makes it smaller. Compression generally comes in two forms, lossy and lossless. Lossy compression is best used on graphics files and sound files. It crunches down the data at a much higher ratio, at the expens...
Computer => Technically, this is anything that inputs data, processes it in some way, and outputs it.
Control Program for Microprocessors (CP/M) => CP/M was THE operating system before IBM created the PC. IBM was shopping for an OS for the PC, ended up going with Microsoft, and Bill Gates created DOS. CP/M is not really used on anything but fossils a...
Convergence => The ability of the three electron beams (red, green and blue) in a CRT monitor to meet at a single point and produce one dot. If a monitor is mis-converging, you will notice shadows of blue or red around any white images. Often, this w...
Cookie => Web sites send these to your browser so that the site is customized based on your previous actions on that site. For example, someday UGeek may send a cookie to your browser to let us know whether you are a new visitor or if you've been her...
Core => In UNIX systems this term is commonly used in reference to core dumps.
Core Dump => In UNIX systems, when a program crashes, it "dumps" out an image of the memory and registers so that you may go through and see what caused the problem. This is almost as useful as the Netware and Windows NT memory dumps (which is not ve...
CP/M => see Control Program for Microprocessors.
CPU => (Central Processing Unit) Think of this as the brains of the computer. When most people think of processors, they think of Intel. The Pentium and Pentium Pro are CPUs.
CRC => (Cyclic Redundancy Check) A mathematical calculation that produces a number that can be used to check the integrity of a file by regenerating the number and comparing the results.
CRT => (Cathode Ray Tube) This is one of the main components of monitors and TVs. A beam of electrons is shot towards the CRT and as they collide with phosphors on the inside surface, they produce light. Today, other technologies are performing bette...
CTI => (Computer Telephony Integration) Simply put, this represents the integration of your computer and telephone. Its serious uses include dial-up registration, fax-back systems, and other systems that record your information by telephone access. A...
Cyberspace => This term was coined to refer to the vast expanses of the Internet. Just as space is infinite, the Internet is, well, pretty darn big. It just sounded cooler than "Internet" to the news media. 
Daisy Wheel printer => A printer that uses a wheel with all the characters on it to produce output. These printers generally aren't used much any more due to the decreased cost of other printers that can produce graphics as well as text. The one good...
DAT => (Digital Audio Tape) This type of magnetic tape at one point threatened to supplant the normal audio cassette with a better quality alternative. Unfortunately, it never really took off due to idiotic licensing issues that kept its price high. ...
Data => Information. Any series of bits, characters or objects that has meaning. Data is stored and transmitted by computers.
Data type => This refers to the type of data that is being used in a computer program. Different types of data take up different amounts of space. Some common data types are integer, float (for floating point numbers), or string (for a text string). ...
Database => An ordered set of data.
DB-25 => This is the name for the connector used for parallel ports on PCs.
DCOM => (Distributed COM (Component Object Model)) This is yet another Microsoft technology. It is a version of the COM that is designed to work across networks and, specifically, the Internet.
Desktop Case => A computer case designed to sit on your desktop. It's wider than it is tall.
Device Bay Interface Specification => This is a new specification designed to provide a simple and generic way of interfacing computers and their components. Device Bay devices will be about the size of a VCR tape and will interface via the USB or Fi...
Diamondtron => This is Mitsubishi's answer to Sony's Trinitron. Instead of rectangular pixels, Diamondtron used diamond-shaped ones which supposedly offer crisper text.
DIB => (Dual Independent Bus) This is the bus architecture between Intel's Pentium II processor, memory, and L2 cache. One bus connects the processor to L2 cache and a second connects the processor to main memory. Having two buses instead of one incr...
Die size => Simply put, this is the two dimensional (length by width) measurement of a microprocessor. The thickness of the processor is not considered. For example, a die size may be 384 square millimeters.
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).

factpacks/techdict.fact  view on Meta::CPAN

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.
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.
RDRAM => (Rambus DRAM) The future successor to SDRAM, RDRAM was originally developed by Rambus, Inc. This RAM architecture is capable of speeds up to 600 MHz, where standard SDRAM tops out at about 200 MHz. Intel picked RDRAM to be the future of RAM ...
Read Only => Usually applied to a file or other kind of document. Means that the object cannot be written to, which means that you can't save any modifications you make to it.
Redundancy => In a redundant system, if you lose part of the system, you can continue to operate. For example, if you have two power supplies and one takes over if the other one dies, then that is a form of redundancy. You can take redundancy to ridi...
Refresh Rate => How often something is rewritten or updated. The refresh rate of your monitor and graphics card can cause your monitor to appear to flicker if set improperly.
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 ...

factpacks/techdict.fact  view on Meta::CPAN

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.
Vector Graphics => As opposed to raster graphics, vector graphics are composed of groups of colored lines. If you've ever seen those old Atari arcade games like Tempest, Battlezone, or Asteroids, that's vector graphics. At one point a company even ma...
Vertical market => This refers to an industry or group of companies that can be marketed to in a similar manner because they have similar needs. Common examples of vertical markets include the government, health care, and insurance.
Vertical Market Application => This is an application written specifically for a particular vertical market, as opposed to more generic multi-purpose applications such as office suites. One example is a program written for the insurance industry that...
Video Card => A device in computers that deals specifically with displaying to a monitor. Without one, you cannot see what's going on in your computer and may have to resort to the ancient method of using a printer as a monitor.
Virtual Memory => A part of your hard drive used to temporarily store what is in RAM. Usually used for little-used items, or when the required RAM is insufficient (since most every computer has more hard drive space than RAM).
Virtual Private Network => (VPN) This is a "virtual" network constructed by connecting computers together over the Internet and encrypting their communications so that other people cannot understand the communications. The benefit is that people can ...
Virus => A program that makes unbidden copies of itself in order to proliferate. Usually plays a role either as graffiti or for malicious intent.
Visitor => When a user arrives on a website, he or she is considered one visitor regardless of how many pages he or she looks at.
Visual C++ => This is a Microsoft product that is basically VB on steroids. It features a similar visual interface with drag-and-drop functionality, but the code is C++, which is more robust than BASIC. It's also much faster when compiled.
VL-bus => (VESA Local bus) This is a 32-bit extension of a 16-bit ISA slot. This architecture predated PCI and allowed users to break the bottleneck that occurred when the ISA bus slowed down graphics speed. It allowed speeds of up to 40 MHz, compare...
VLAN => (virtual LAN) A VLAN is created when a bunch of physically connected ports are grouped together by network hardware that supports VLANs. These VLANs are each treated as completely separate entities and can only be joined together by a router....
VPN => see Virtual Private Network.
VRAM => (Video Random Access Memory) Memory made specifically for video applications (such as a video card). Much faster and more expensive than DRAM.
VRML => (Virtual Reality Markup Language) Virtual Reality Markup Language An enhancement to the HTML format used to make virtual worlds out of Web pages. 
WAN => (Wide Area Network) Any network that spans more than one office, although some say it must span more than one building.
WaveTable => A bit of ROM on newer sound cards that stores standard sounds (as wave files) for instruments instead of generating them from FM sounds. This gives a much more realistic sound to music in games and MIDI files.
WFM => (Wired For Management Baseline) This is an Intel hardware specification that is designed to allow for compliance with easier management of desktop PCs in a networked environment. The specification calls for computers to be compatible with a pr...
White Paper => This is a complete description of a particular technology, from overview to the nitty-gritty details. It is produced by the company that created that technology, as opposed to a FAQ, which can be created by anyone.
Wide SCSI => An improvement to normal SCSI that allows for faster throughput by increasing the number of pins used to connect the drive to the controller from 50 to 68. Wide SCSI doubles the throughput of normal versions of SCSI, but is generally mor...
Windows Sockets => This is an API designed to help inconsistent TCP/IP stacks talk together and be accessed properly by Windows programs.
Wireless-Infrared/Radio Control => Meaning that the device you are using is not connected by cables to the main computer. If you have a radio mouse you don't have a wire connecting the mouse to the computer. Usually , you have a device that connects ...
Wizard => An enhancement to programs that makes them easier to operate by guiding you through, step by step, what is required to achieve your purpose.
WMI => (Windows Management Instrumentation) This is Microsoft's answer to DMI. Apparently, they felt that DMI didn't fully exploit Windows and was therefore incomplete.
WORM => (Write Once Read Many) This is a type of drive/media that allows you to write to it permanently. However, you cannot erase what you've written. CD-R is a form of WORM drive. 
X2 => This is US Robotics 56 Kbps modem standard. It uses the fact that most ISPs are digitally terminated, and this eliminates one analog loop. Due to this fact, digital transmissions can remain more intact than previously, theoretically allowing fo...
X86 => This is the last two digits of the PC CPU type. It originated with the Intel spec of the 8088, which then went to the 8086. Since then, increments have come by changing the first number to 80286 and 80386. The reason that the newer chips are a...
XGA => This started out as IBM's term for a computer monitor resolution standard of 1024 x 768 pixels and 16-bit color. IBM released XGA monitors and graphics cards for their PS/2 computers, but unfortunately, the standard was interlaced and ran on 1...
Xmodem => This is a protocol for transferring files during direct dial-up communications. Developed by Ward Christensen in 1977, Xmodem has basic error checking to ensure that information isn't lost or corrupted during transfer. It sends data in 128-...
Ymodem => This is also a protocol for transferring files during direct dial-up communications. So named because it builds on the earlier Xmodem protocol, Ymodem sends data in 1,024-byte blocks and is consequently faster than Xmodem. However, it doesn...
Z-Buffering => (or Hidden Surface Removal) Tracks the depth of each triangle from the perspective of the viewer to ensure that objects behind others in a scene don't appear until the viewer has them in his/her line of sight. This is why you can't see...
ZAK => (Zero Administration Kit) This is a software kit from Microsoft for Windows NT that can prevent various user actions such as installing software or changing desktop configurations.
ZAW => (Zero Administration Windows) This version of the Windows operating system from Microsoft allows for various easy administration and management options such as storing user software and settings on the network so that people can log into any m...
ZIF socket => (Zero Insertion Force socket) This is a socket designed to accept a PGA chip, such as most common CPUs produced today (e.g., Intel's Pentium, AMD's K6, etc.). The ZIF socket allows you to plug in a PGA chip with no pressure required. Th...
Zmodem => This protocol has many error-correcting properties. It can detect if a bad block (of 1,024 bytes) has come through and ask to have it re-sent. If the transfer gets interrupted for any reason, it can resume from where it left off. It is slig...