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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.
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.

factpacks/techdict.fact  view on Meta::CPAN

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