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100BaseT => This is an extension of 10BaseT that runs at 10 times the speed. It's theoretically capable of 100 Mbpstransmission speed. The drawback for some installations is that it requires more expensive Category 5 cable to run at highspeeds, where...
10Base2 => Refers to a type of Ethernet cable that has been largely phased out. It's also known as "thin net." Cable speedsare typically up to 10 Mbps. 
10BaseT  => This is a type of Ethernet cable topology that uses RJ-45 connectors and a star topology. It's also known as"twisted pair." Transmission speed is 10 Mbps. 
128-bit Operating Systems => Operating systems may eventually be 128-bit. The ability to address 128 bits of memory spaceis something that may be necessary for huge databases, and will speed up operations. Of course, this will not happen untilafter t...
128-bit Video Cards => At one time they claimed to be the fastest out there. 128-bit cards natively address 4 MB of memory,but most have been kludged so that they can run with 2 MB of memory. The makers of these cards are going on theprinciple that a...
1394 IEEE standard => See Firewire. 
16-bit Operating Systems => DOS and Windows 3.x are 16-bit operating systems. They are limited in complexity and sufferinstability and slow speed (compared to 32-bit OSs) when run on 32- and 64-bit processors like the 386DX compatible chipsand above....
2-tier architecture => This term refers to applications that have a code base (1-tier) separate from the database managementsystem (1-tier), such as using Delphi to interact with Microsoft SQL Server (1+1 = 2 tier), for example. The application coder...
3-tier architecture => This architecture splits the user interface from the application logic. The server handles the databasemanagement and application logic. This works out to less complexity at the client and a more scalable application.Additional...
32-bit Chips => (32-bit processor) see 32-bit processor 
32-bit color depth => Anything that supports 32-bit color supports over 4 billion different colors. Generally, graphics cardssupport up to only 24-bit color because the human eye cannot discern between colors at that level, and you need a lot ofmemor...
32-bit Memory Chips => 72-pin SIMMs are 32-bit memory chips. 
32-bit Operating Systems => Windows NT, OS/2, and some flavors of UNIX are 32-bit operating systems. Windows 95 is a32-bit operating system running on top of a 16-bit operating system (DOS). 
32-bit processor => This type of processor can run a 32-bit OS, such as Windows NT or some versions of UNIX. You can alsorun a 16-bit or lesser OS, but performance is not optimal. Intel's 386DX, 486, Pentium, and Pentium II are all 32-bitprocessors. ...
32-bit Video Cards => These are generally older cards that were only capable of addressing 1 MB of RAM. 
56Kflex => This is one of the two competing 56 Kbps modem standards. It was developed by Rockwell and Lucent and hasmore market share than USR's X2 technology due to the fact that it is licensed to over 700 modem manufacturers. 
64-bit Chips => (see 64-bit processor) see 64-bit processor 
64-bit Memory Chips => DIMMs are 64-bit memory chips. 
64-bit Operating Systems => Some flavors of UNIX are 64-bit operating systems designed to run on 64-bit chips. There areplans to port Windows NT to 64 bits so that it can run on the P7. 
64-bit processor => This describes a processor that can run a 64-bit OS. The DEC Alpha is 64-bit, and Intel's Merced will be a64-bit processor. The 386, 486 and Pentium and Pentium II are all 32-bit processors, even though the Pentium has a 64-bitmem...
64-bit Video Cards => Most current video cards have a 64-bit bus with their memory on them. 64-bit cards must have at least 2MB (or multiples of 2) of memory. 
8 bits => Make up 1 byte. 
8-bit Memory Chips => 30-pin SIMMs are 8-bit memory chips. If you want to use them with a 32-bit chip such as a 386 or a486 you need to put four of them in at a time.
Access Speed => This refers to the average amount of time it takes for a floppy  drive, hard drive, CD drive or other drive to find any particular piece of data on a disk.
Accuracy => Accuracy is how close to the actual value you are. For example, if the number you are representing is 4 and you say it's 3, you are inaccurate by 1.
Accuracy/Precision => If the actual value is 4.321 and you say that it is 4.30, then you are precise to 3 places but inaccurate by .021. If a value is represented as a bullseye on a target, a group of guesses or measurements represented by closely gr...
ACPI => (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) This power management interface takes the power management out of the BIOS and gives control to the OS. Typically, a system's BIOS is only able to turn a device off after a certain period of inacti...
Active Matrix => LCD panels that are active matrix have a sharper, brighter image than those with passive matrix screens. They can also continue to be seen at much greater angles off of central viewing.
Active Movie => This is a Microsoft technology used for streaming video and audio over the Internet. It is an ActiveX control.
Active Server Pages => (ASP) Microsoft created this technology and bundled it with their IIS Web server. It is designed to allow easy combination of HTML, scripts (such as Javascript and Microsoft's VBScript), and ActiveX. Active Server Pages promise...
ActiveX => Microsoft technology designed to enable easier multimedia on the Web. ActiveX controls can be used in Java to create multimedia effects. For now, that means that when you go to Web sites, buttons can light up and sound effects can play whe...
ADSL => (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line) This is a new technology just starting to come out that is the phone company's answer to cable modems. It supports data speeds over 2 Mbps downstream (to the user) and slower speeds upstream (to the Inte...
AGP => (Accelerated Graphics Port) This is a special port that will begin to show up on motherboards in the second half of 1997. The port will bypass the PCI bus and allow much higher throughput from the graphics card to the processor for speedier 3D...
Alpha Blending => This allows two objects to be blended together. This is primarily used for atmospheric and environmental effects. It allows such things as "fogging," where an image is rendered behind a "translucent" image, which creates the effect ...
Analog => Analog refers to a representation of a quantity that varies over any continuous range of values. Analog signals can be thought of as pure in nature and not processed. Thus, the debate over whether record albums (analog representation of sou...
Analog Control => An analog control changes value in non-discrete steps. You can tune an analog control to non-distinct values. In some cases, like for volume, analog controls are better. Have you ever used a digital volume control on a new TV, and o...
ANSI => (American National Standards Institution) This organization represents the United States in the ISO (International Organization for Standardization). They work to develop coding and signaling standards.
Anti-Aliasing => This is a method used to better define higher resolution objects in lower resolution. For example, you would use anti-aliasing if you have two lines that are so close together that at 320 x 200 they look as if they are one double-wid...
Aperture Grill => See Slot Mask.
API => (Application Programming Interface) APIs allow you to program to a pre-constructed interface (the API) instead of programming a device or piece of software directly. This allows for faster development, since programming to a device's API is de...
Argument => This is what you have with your girlfriend when she wants you to stop using your computer so much. Actually, argument refers to the value you call a procedure with. For example, if you wrote a line of code that said "goto 140," telling yo...
ASIC => (Application-specific Integrated Circuit) An ASIC is a circuit designed for a very specific purpose, such as the processors in PDAs or the chips on a motherboard chipset. ASICs contrast with more general-purpose devices such as memory chips o...
Aspect Ratio => This is the ratio of the width by the height on a monitor or television screen. Most TVs and monitors have a 4 x 3 aspect ratio. The screens are 4 units wide and 3 units high. A movie screen has an aspect ratio of 16 x 9 (about 5 x 3)...
Asynchronous Communication => This method of transferring data does so without a specific timing mechanism between the two communicating parties. The party receiving data isn't expecting more data at any set interval.
ATA => (AT Attachment) More commonly known as IDE, the "AT" refers to the IBM-AT computer where this interface was first used.
ATA-33 => An extension to the ATA interface (IDE) that will effectively double the top data transfer speed up to 33 Mbps. Also known as Ultra-IDE.
ATM => (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) A networking protocol designed to move multimedia data around with high reliability and speed. Some ISPs use ATM as the protocol for their backbones.
ATX Form Factor => The ATX form factor specification takes the original baby AT-sized motherboard, rotates it 90 degrees, and calls for a power supply with a side-mounted fan that cools not only the power supply, but also the processor and add-in boa...
AUI => This is a synonym for the 10Base-5 Thicknet Ethernet standard.
Availability => This is a measure of how much time a network or a connection is running. Generally, the equation is: Time Running / Time Measured (time running divided by time measured). Thus, if you measured something for 20 minutes, and it was only...
Backbone => A segment of a network that's often a higher speed than therest of the network and connects all the other segments. If you don'thave a fast backbone, your network will lag. That's why a lot of ISPs areconstantly restructuring their backbo...
Bandwidth => This is a measure, in some amount of bits per second, of theamount of data that can be sent over a particular cable, interface, orbus.
BASIC => (Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) Thisprogramming language was developed in the mid '60s. The language wasconstructed of simple English-like commands that were run through aninterpreter, line by line, each time the program w...
Batch => A group of commands that are executed one at a time. Same asscript.
Baud => The measure of how frequently sound changes on a phone line. Thisused to be the measure of speed of modems because they worked by bruteforce and actually made a sound for each bit of information. Now, modemswork on a more sophisticated level....
Bilinear and Trilinear Filtering => This is used to smooth flat surfacesby averaging the colors of adjacent pixels, which blurs them and removesblockiness when viewed up close.
Binary code => Binary consists of a string of bits, i.e. 01010111000000001
BIOS => (Basic Input Output System) This makes your computer speak thesame language as every other computer, making accessing video and thekeyboard standard.
Bit => This is the smallest unit of measure in a computer. It isrepresented by a 0 (off) or 1 (on). You can think of a bit as a switch.If it's in the on position, it's a 1, and if the switch is off, it's a 0.All parts of your computer communicate in ...
Bit depth => How many bits it takes to represent the color in one pixel.The larger the bit depth, the more colors you can display and the morepower it takes to display.
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.

factpacks/techdict.fact  view on Meta::CPAN

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).
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 ...