6/11/2016

ComputerGlossary

ComputerGlossary
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Applet
AsmallJavaapplicationthatisdownloadedbyanActiveXorJavaenabledwebbrowser.Onceithasbeendownloaded,the
appletwillrunontheuser'scomputer.Commonappletsincludefinancialcalculatorsandwebdrawingprograms.

Application
Computersoftwarethatperformsataskorsetoftasks,suchaswordprocessingordrawing.Applicationsarealsoreferred
toasprograms.

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ComputerGlossary

ASCII
American Standard Code for Information Interchange, an encoding system for converting keyboard characters and
instructionsintothebinarynumbercodethatthecomputerunderstands.

Bandwidth
The capacity of a networked connection. Bandwidth determines how much data can be sent along the networked wires.
BandwidthisparticularlyimportantforInternetconnections,sincegreaterbandwidthalsomeansfasterdownloads.

Binarycode
Themostbasiclanguageacomputerunderstands,itiscomposedofaseriesof0sand1s.Thecomputerinterpretsthecode
toformnumbers,letters,punctuationmarks,andsymbols.

Bit
Thesmallestpieceofcomputerinformation,eitherthenumber0or1.Inshorttheyarecalledbinarydigits.

Boot
To start up a computer. Cold boot means restarting computer after the power is turned off. Warm boot means restarting
computerwithoutturningoffthepower.

Browser
Software used to navigate the Internet. Google Chrome, Firefox, Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer are
today'smostpopularbrowsersforaccessingtheWorldWideWeb.

Bug
Amalfunctionduetoanerrorintheprogramoradefectintheequipment.

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ComputerGlossary

Byte
Mostcomputersusecombinationsofeightbits,calledbytes,torepresentonecharacterofdataorinstructions.Forexample,
thewordcathasthreecharacters,anditwouldberepresentedbythreebytes.

Cache
Asmalldatamemorystorageareathatacomputercanusetoinstantlyreaccessdatainsteadofrereadingthedatafrom
theoriginalsource,suchasaharddrive.Browsersuseacachetostorewebpagessothattheusermayviewthemagain
withoutreconnectingtotheWeb.

CADCAM
Computer Aided Drawing Computer Aided Manufacturing. The instructions stored in a computer that will be
translatedtoverypreciseoperatinginstructionstoarobot,suchasforassemblingcarsorlasercuttingsignage.

CDROM
Compact Disc ReadOnly Memory, an optically read disc designed to hold information such as music, reference
materials, or computer software. A single CDROM can hold around 640 megabytes of data, enough for several
encyclopaedias.MostsoftwareprogramsarenowdeliveredonCDROMs.

CGI
CommonGatewayInterface,aprogrammingstandardthatallowsvisitorstofilloutformfieldsonaWebpageandhave
that information interact with a database, possibly coming back to the user as another Web page. CGI may also refer to
ComputerGenerated Imaging, the process in which sophisticated computer programs create still and animated graphics,
suchasspecialeffectsformovies.

Chat
TypingtextintoamessageboxonascreentoengageindialoguewithoneormorepeopleviatheInternetorothernetwork.
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ComputerGlossary

Chip
Atinywaferofsiliconcontainingminiatureelectriccircuitsthatcanstoremillionsofbitsofinformation.

Client
Asingleuserofanetworkapplicationthatisoperatedfromaserver.Aclient/serverarchitectureallowsmanypeopletouse
the same data simultaneously. The program's main component (the data) resides on a centralized server, with smaller
components(userinterface)oneachclient.

Cookie
AtextfilesentbyaWebserverthatisstoredontheharddriveofacomputerandrelaysbacktotheWebserverthings
abouttheuser,hisorhercomputer,and/orhisorhercomputeractivities.

CPU
CentralProcessingUnit.Thebrainofthecomputer.

Cracker
Apersonwhobreaksintoacomputerthroughanetwork,withoutauthorizationandwithmischievousordestructiveintent.

Crash
Ahardwareorsoftwareproblemthatcausesinformationtobelostorthecomputertomalfunction.Sometimesacrashcan
causepermanentdamagetoacomputer.

Cursor
A moving positionindicator displayed on a computer monitor that shows a computer operator where the next action or
operationwilltakeplace.

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ComputerGlossary

Cyberspace
Slangforinternetie.Aninternationalconglomerationofinterconnectedcomputernetworks.Beguninthelate1960s,itwas
developedinthe1970stoallowgovernmentanduniversityresearcherstoshareinformation.TheInternetisnotcontrolled
byanysinglegroupororganization.Itsoriginalfocuswasresearchandcommunications,butitcontinuestoexpand,offering
awidearrayofresourcesforbusinessandhomeusers.

Database
Acollectionofsimilarinformationstoredinafile,suchasadatabaseofaddresses.Thisinformationmaybecreatedand
storedinadatabasemanagementsystem(DBMS).

Debug
Slang.Tofindandcorrectequipmentdefectsorprogrammalfunctions.

Default
The predefined configuration of a system or an application. In most programs, the defaults can be changed to reflect
personalpreferences.

Desktop
Themaindirectoryoftheuserinterface.Desktopsusuallycontainiconsthatrepresentlinkstotheharddrive,anetwork(if
thereisone),andatrashorrecyclingcanforfilestobedeleted.Itcanalsodisplayiconsoffrequentlyusedapplications,as
requestedbytheuser.

Desktoppublishing
The production of publicationquality documents using a personal computer in combination with text, graphics, and page
layoutprograms.

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ComputerGlossary

Directory
Arepositorywhereallfilesarekeptoncomputer.

Disk
Twodistincttypes.Thenamesrefertothemediainsidethecontainer:
Aharddiscstoresvastamountsofdata.Itisusuallyinsidethecomputerbutcanbeaseparateperipheralontheoutside.
Harddiscsaremadeupofseveralrigidcoatedmetaldiscs.Currently,harddiscscanstore15to30Gb(gigabytes).
Afloppydisc,3.5"square,usuallyinsertedintothecomputerandcanstoreabout1.4megabytesofdata.The3.5"square
floppieshaveaverythin,flexiblediscinside.Thereisalsoanintermediatesizedfloppydisc,trademarkedZipdiscs,which
canstore250megabytesofdata.

Diskdrive
Theequipmentthatoperatesahardorfloppydisc.

Domain
RepresentsanIP(InternetProtocol)addressorsetofIPaddressesthatcompriseadomain.Thedomainnameappearsin
URLs to identify web pages or in email addresses. For example, the email address for the First Lady is
[email protected], whitehouse.gov, being the domain name. Each domain name ends with a suffix that indicates
whattopleveldomainitbelongsto.Theseare:.comforcommercial,.govforgovernment,.orgfororganization,.edufor
educationalinstitution,.bizforbusiness,.infoforinformation,.tvfortelevision,.wsforwebsite.Domainsuffixesmayalso
indicatethecountryinwhichthedomainisregistered.Notwopartiescaneverholdthesamedomainname.

Domainname
ThenameofanetworkorcomputerlinkedtotheInternet.DomainsaredefinedbyacommonIPaddressorsetofsimilarIP
(InternetProtocol)addresses.

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ComputerGlossary

Download
The process of transferring information from a web site (or other remote location on a network) to the computer. It is
possibletodownloadafilewhichincludetext,image,audio,videoandmanyothers.

DOS
DiskOperatingSystem.AnoperatingsystemdesignedforearlyIBMcompatiblePCs.

Dropdownmenu
A menu window that opens vertically onscreen to display contextrelated options. Also called popup menu or pulldown
menu.

DSL
DigitalSubscriberLine,amethodofconnectingtotheInternetviaaphoneline.ADSLconnectionusescoppertelephone
linesbutisabletorelaydataatmuchhigherspeedsthanmodemsanddoesnotinterferewithtelephoneuse.

DVD
DigitalVideoDisc.SimilartoaCDROM,itstoresandplaysbothaudioandvideo.

Ebook
Anelectronic(usuallyhandheld)readingdevicethatallowsapersontoviewdigitallystoredreadingmaterials.

Email
Electronic mail messages, including memos or letters, sent electronically between networked computers that may be
acrosstheofficeoraroundtheworld.

Emoticon
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ComputerGlossary

AtextbasedexpressionofemotioncreatedfromASCIIcharactersthatmimicsafacialexpressionwhenviewedwithyour
headtiltedtotheleft.Herearesomeexamples:
Smiling
Frowning
Winking
Crying

Encryption
Theprocessoftransmittingscrambleddatasothatonlyauthorizedrecipientscanunscrambleit.Forinstance,encryptionis
usedtoscramblecreditcardinformationwhenpurchasesaremadeovertheInternet.

Ethernet
Atypeofnetwork.

Ethernetcard
Aboardinsideacomputertowhichanetworkcablecanbeattached.

File
Asetofdatathatisstoredinthecomputer.

Firewall
AsetofsecurityprogramsthatprotectacomputerfromoutsideinterferenceoraccessviatheInternet.

Folder
Astructureforcontainingelectronicfiles.Insomeoperatingsystems,itiscalledadirectory.
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ComputerGlossary

Fonts
Setsoftypefaces(orcharacters)thatcomeindifferentstylesandsizes.

Freeware
Softwarecreatedbypeoplewhoarewillingtogiveitawayforthesatisfactionofsharingorknowingtheyhelpedtosimplify
otherpeople'slives.Itmaybefreestandingsoftware,oritmayaddfunctionalitytoexistingsoftware.

FTP
FileTransferProtocol,aformatandsetofrulesfortransferringfilesfromahosttoaremotecomputer.

Gigabyte(GB)
1024megabytes.Alsocalledgig.

Glitch
Thecauseofanunexpectedmalfunction.

Gopher
AnInternetsearchtoolthatallowsuserstoaccesstextualinformationthroughaseriesofmenus,orifusingFTP,through
downloads.

GUI
Graphical User Interface, a system that simplifies selecting computer commands by enabling the user to point to
symbolsorillustrations(calledicons)onthecomputerscreenwithamouse.

Groupware
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ComputerGlossary

Softwarethatallowsnetworkedindividualstoformgroupsandcollaborateondocuments,programs,ordatabases.

Hacker
Apersonwithtechnicalexpertisewhoexperimentswithcomputersystemstodeterminehowtodevelopadditionalfeatures.
Hackersareoccasionallyrequestedbysystemadministratorstotryandbreakintosystemsviaanetworktotestsecurity.
Thetermhackerissometimesincorrectlyusedinterchangeablywithcracker.Ahackeriscalledawhitehatandacrackera
blackhat.

Hardcopy
Apaperprintoutofwhatyouhavepreparedonthecomputer.

Harddrive
Anothernamefortheharddiscthatstoresinformationinacomputer.

Hardware
Thephysicalandmechanicalcomponentsofacomputersystem,suchastheelectroniccircuitry,chips,monitor,disks,disk
drives,keyboard,modem,andprinter.

Homepage
ThemainpageofaWebsiteusedtogreetvisitors,provideinformationaboutthesite,ortodirecttheviewertootherpages
onthesite.

HTML
Hypertext Markup Language, a standard of text markup conventions used for documents on the World Wide Web.
Browsersinterpretthecodestogivethetextstructureandformatting(suchasbold,blue,oritalic).

HTTP
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ComputerGlossary

HypertextTransferProtocol,acommonsystemusedtorequestandsendHTMLdocumentsontheWorldWideWeb.Itis
thefirstportionofallURLaddressesontheWorldWideWeb.

HTTPS
HypertextTransferProtocolSecure,oftenusedinintracompanyinternetsites.Passwordsarerequiredtogainaccess.

Hyperlink
Textoranimagethatisconnectedbyhypertextcodingtoadifferentlocation.Byselectingthetextorimagewithamouse,
thecomputerjumpsto(ordisplays)thelinkedtext.

Hypermedia
Integratesaudio,graphics,and/orvideothroughlinksembeddedinthemainprogram.

Hypertext
Asystemfororganizingtextthroughlinks,asopposedtoamenudrivenhierarchysuchasGopher.MostWebpagesinclude
hypertextlinkstootherpagesatthatsite,ortoothersitesontheWorldWideWeb.

Icons
Symbolsorillustrationsappearingonthecomputerscreenthatindicateprogramfilesorothercomputerfunctions.

Input
Datathatgoesintoacomputerdevice.

Inputdevice
A device, such as a keyboard, stylus and tablet, mouse, puck, or microphone, that allows input of information (letters,
numbers,sound,video)toacomputer.
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ComputerGlossary

Instantmessaging(IM)
AchatapplicationthatallowstwoormorepeopletocommunicateovertheInternetviarealtimekeyedinmessages.

Interface
Theinterconnectionsthatallowadevice,aprogram,orapersontointeract.Hardwareinterfacesarethecablesthatconnect
the device to its power source and to other devices. Software interfaces allow the program to communicate with other
programs(suchastheoperatingsystem),anduserinterfacesallowtheusertocommunicatewiththeprogram(e.g.,via
mouse,menucommands,icons,voicecommands,etc.).

Internet
An international conglomeration of interconnected computer networks. Begun in the late 1960s, it was developed in the
1970s to allow government and university researchers to share information. The Internet is not controlled by any single
groupororganization.Itsoriginalfocuswasresearchandcommunications,butitcontinuestoexpand,offeringawidearray
ofresourcesforbusinessandhomeusers.

IP(InternetProtocol)address
AnInternetProtocoladdressisauniquesetofnumbersusedtolocateanothercomputeronanetwork.TheformatofanIP
addressisa32bitstringoffournumbersseparatedbyperiods.Eachnumbercanbefrom0to255(i.e.,1.154.10.266).
WithinaclosednetworkIPaddressesmaybeassignedatrandom,however,IPaddressesofwebserversmustberegistered
toavoidduplicates.

Java
Anobjectorientedprogramminglanguagedesignedspecificallyforprograms(particularlymultimedia)tobeusedoverthe
Internet.Javaallowsprogrammerstocreatesmallprogramsorapplications(applets)toenhanceWebsites.

JavaScript/ECMAscript
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ComputerGlossary

A programming language used almost exclusively to manipulate content on a web page. Common JavaScript functions
includevalidatingformsonawebpage,creatingdynamicpagenavigationmenus,andimagerollovers.

Kilobyte(KorKB)
Equalto1,024bytes.

Linux
A UNIX like, opensource operating system developed primarily by Linus Torvalds. Linux is free and runs on many
platforms,includingbothPCsandMacintoshes.Linuxisanopensourceoperatingsystem,meaningthatthesourcecodeof
theoperatingsystemisfreelyavailabletothepublic.Programmersmayredistributeandmodifythecode,aslongasthey
don'tcollectroyaltiesontheirworkordenyaccesstotheircode.Sincedevelopmentisnotrestrictedtoasinglecorporation
moreprogrammerscandebugandimprovethesourcecodefaster.

Laptopandnotebook
Small,lightweight,portablebatterypoweredcomputersthatcanfitontoyourlap.Theyeachhaveathin,flat,liquidcrystal
displayscreen.

Macro
Ascriptthatoperatesaseriesofcommandstoperformafunction.Itissetuptoautomaterepetitivetasks.

MacOS
Anoperatingsystemwithagraphicaluserinterface,developedbyAppleforMacintoshcomputers.CurrentSystemX.1.(10)
combines the traditional Mac interface with a strong underlying UNIX. Operating system for increased performance and
stability.

Megabyte(MB)
Equalto1,048,576bytes,usuallyroundedofftoonemillionbytes(alsocalledameg).
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ComputerGlossary

Memory
Temporarystorageforinformation,includingapplicationsanddocuments.Theinformationmustbestoredtoapermanent
device,suchasaharddiscorCDROMbeforethepoweristurnedoff,ortheinformationwillbelost.Computermemoryis
measuredintermsoftheamountofinformationitcanstore,commonlyinmegabytesorgigabytes.

Menu
Acontextrelatedlistofoptionsthatuserscanchoosefrom.

Menubar
The horizontal strip across the top of an application's window. Each word on the strip has a context sensitive dropdown
menucontainingfeaturesandactionsthatareavailablefortheapplicationinuse.

Merge
Tocombinetwoormorefilesintoasinglefile.

MHz
AnabbreviationforMegahertz,oronemillionhertz.OneMHzrepresentsonemillionclockcyclespersecondandisthe
measureofacomputermicroprocessor'sspeed.Forexample,amicroprocessorthatrunsat300MHzexecutes300million
cycles per second. Each instruction a computer receives takes a fixed number of clock cycles to carry out, therefore the
more cycles a computer can execute per second, the faster its programs run. Megahertz is also a unit of measure for
bandwidth.

Microprocessor
Acompletecentralprocessingunit(CPU)containedonasinglesiliconchip.

Minimize
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ComputerGlossary

AtermusedinaGUIoperatingsystemthatuseswindows.Itreferstoreducingawindowtoanicon,oralabelatthebottom
ofthescreen,allowinganotherwindowtobeviewed.

Modem
A device that connects two computers together over a telephone or cable line by converting the computer's data into an
audiosignal.Modemisacontractionfortheprocessitperforms:modulatedemodulate.

Monitor
Avideodisplayterminal.

Mouse
Asmallhandhelddevice,similartoatrackball,usedtocontrolthepositionofthecursoronthevideodisplaymovements
ofthemouseonadesktopcorrespondtomovementsofthecursoronthescreen.

MP3
Compactaudioandvideofileformat.Thesmallsizeofthefilesmakesthemeasytodownloadandemail.Formatusedin
portableplaybackdevices.

Multimedia
Software programs that combine text and graphics with sound, video, and animation. A multimedia PC contains the
hardwaretosupportthesecapabilities.

MSDOS
AnearlyoperatingsystemdevelopedbyMicrosoftCorporation(MicrosoftDiscOperatingSystem).

Network
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ComputerGlossary

Asystemofinterconnectedcomputers.

Opensource
Computer programs whose original source code was revealed to the general public so that it could be developed openly.
Software licensed as open source can be freely changed or adapted to new uses, meaning that the source code of the
operatingsystemisfreelyavailabletothepublic.Programmersmayredistributeandmodifythecode,aslongastheydon't
collectroyaltiesontheirworkordenyaccesstotheircode.Sincedevelopmentisnotrestrictedtoasinglecorporationmore
programmerscandebugandimprovethesourcecodefaster.

Operatingsystem
Asetofinstructionsthattellacomputeronhowtooperatewhenitisturnedon.Itsetsupafilingsystemtostorefilesand
tells the computer how to display information on a video display. Most PC operating systems are DOS (disc operated
system) systems, meaning the instructions are stored on a disc (as opposed to being originally stored in the
microprocessorsofthecomputer).OtherwellknownoperatingsystemsincludeUNIX,Linux,Macintosh,andWindows.

Output
Datathatcomeoutofacomputerdevice.Forexample,informationdisplayedonthemonitor,soundfromthespeakers,and
informationprintedtopaper.

Palm
Ahandheldcomputer.

PC
Personalcomputer.GenerallyreferstocomputersrunningWindowswithaPentiumprocessor.

PCboard
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ComputerGlossary

PrintedCircuitboard,aboardprintedoretchedwithacircuitandprocessors.Powersupplies,informationstoragedevices,
orchangersareattached.

PDA
Personal Digital Assistant, a handheld computer that can store daily appointments, phone numbers, addresses, and
otherimportantinformation.MostPDAslinktoadesktoporlaptopcomputertodownloadoruploadinformation.

PDF
PortableDocumentFormat,aformatpresentedbyAdobeAcrobatthatallowsdocumentstobesharedoveravarietyof
operatingsystems.Documentscancontainwordsandpicturesandbeformattedtohaveelectroniclinkstootherpartsof
thedocumentortoplacesontheweb.

Pentiumchip
Intel'sfifthgenerationofsophisticatedhighspeedmicroprocessors.Pentiummeansthefifthelement.

Peripheral
Anyexternaldeviceattachedtoacomputertoenhanceoperation.Examplesincludeexternalharddrive,scanner,printer,
speakers,keyboard,mouse,trackball,stylusandtablet,andjoystick.

Personalcomputer(PC)
Asingleusercomputercontainingacentralprocessingunit(CPU)andoneormorememorycircuits.

Petabyte
Ameasureofmemoryorstoragecapacityandisapproximatelyathousandterabytes.

Petaflop
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ComputerGlossary

A theoretical measure of a computer's speed and can be expressed as a thousandtrillion floatingpoint operations per
second.

Platform
Theoperatingsystem,suchasUNIX,Macintosh,Windows,onwhichacomputerisbased.

Plugandplay
Computerhardwareorperipheralsthatcomesetupwithnecessarysoftwaresothatwhenattachedtoacomputer,theyare
recognizedbythecomputerandarereadytouse.

Popupmenu
A menu window that opens vertically or horizontally onscreen to display contextrelated options. Also called dropdown
menuorpulldownmenu.

PowerPC
AcompetitorofthePentiumchip.ItisanewgenerationofpowerfulsophisticatedmicroprocessorsproducedfromanApple
IBMMotorolaalliance.

Printer
Amechanicaldeviceforprintingacomputer'soutputonpaper.Therearethreemajortypesofprinter:
Dotmatrixcreatesindividualletters,madeupofaseriesoftinyinkdots,bypunchingaribbonwiththeendsof
tinywires.(Thistypeofprinterismostoftenusedinindustrialsettings,suchasdirectmailforlabelling.)
Inkjetspraystinydropletsofinkparticlesontopaper.
Laserusesabeamoflighttoreproducetheimageofeachpageusingamagneticchargethatattractsdrytoner
thatistransferredtopaperandsealedwithheat.
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ComputerGlossary

Program
Apreciseseriesofinstructionswritteninacomputerlanguagethattellsthecomputerwhattodoandhowtodoit.Programs
arealsocalledsoftwareorapplications.

Programminglanguage
A series of instructions written by a programmer according to a given set of rules or conventions (syntax). Highlevel
programminglanguagesareindependentofthedeviceonwhichtheapplication(orprogram)willeventuallyrunlowlevel
languages are specific to each program or platform. Programming language instructions are converted into programs in
languagespecifictoaparticularmachineoroperatingsystem(machinelanguage).Sothatthecomputercaninterpretand
carryouttheinstructions.SomecommonprogramminglanguagesareBASIC,C,C++,dBASE,FORTRAN,andPerl.

Puck
Aninputdevice,likeamouse.Ithasamagnifyingglasswithcrosshairsonthefrontofitthatallowstheoperatortoposition
itpreciselywhentracingadrawingforusewithCADCAMsoftware.

Pulldownmenu
Amenuwindowthatopensverticallyonscreentodisplaycontextrelatedoptions.Alsocalleddropdownmenuorpopup
menu.

Pushtechnology
Internet tool that delivers specific information directly to a user's desktop, eliminating the need to surf for it. PointCast,
whichdeliversnewsinuserdefinedcategories,isapopularexampleofthistechnology.

QuickTime
AudiovisualsoftwarethatallowsmoviedeliveryviatheInternetandemail.QuickTimeimagesareviewedonamonitor.

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ComputerGlossary

RAID
RedundantArrayofInexpensiveDisks,amethodofspreadinginformationacrossseveraldiskssetuptoactasaunit,
usingtwodifferenttechniques:
Diskstripingstoringabitofinformationacrossseveraldiscs(insteadofstoringitallononediscandhopingthat
thediscdoesn'tcrash).
Disk mirroring simultaneously storing a copy of information on another disc so that the information can be
recoveredifthemaindisccrashes.

RAM
RandomAccessMemory,oneoftwobasictypesofmemory.PortionsofprogramsarestoredinRAMwhentheprogramis
launchedsothattheprogramwillrunfaster.ThoughaPChasafixedamountofRAM,onlyportionsofitwillbeaccessedby
thecomputeratanygiventime.Alsocalledmemory.

Rightclick
Usingtherightmousebuttontoopencontextsensitivedropdownmenus.

ROM
ReadOnly Memory, one of two basic types of memory. ROM contains only permanent information put there by the
manufacturer.InformationinROMcannotbealtered,norcanthememorybedynamicallyallocatedbythecomputerorits
operator.

Scanner
An electronic device that uses lightsensing equipment to scan paper images such as text, photos, and illustrations and
translatetheimagesintosignalsthatthecomputercanthenstore,modify,ordistribute.

Searchengine
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ComputerGlossary

SoftwarethatmakesitpossibletolookforandretrievematerialontheInternet,particularlytheWeb.Somepopularsearch
enginesareAltaVista,Google,HotBot,Yahoo!,WebCrawler,andLycos.

Server
Acomputerthatsharesitsresourcesandinformationwithothercomputers,calledclients,onanetwork.

Shareware
Software created by people who are willing to sell it at low cost or no cost for the gratification of sharing. It may be
freestandingsoftware,oritmayaddfunctionalitytoexistingsoftware.

Software
Computerprogramsalsocalledapplications.

Spider
Aprocesssearchenginesusetoinvestigatenewpagesonawebsiteandcollecttheinformationthatneedstobeputintheir
indices.

Spreadsheet
Softwarethatallowsonetocalculatenumbersinaformatthatissimilartopagesinaconventionalledger.

Storage
Devicesusedtostoremassiveamountsofinformationsothatitcanbereadilyretrieved.DevicesincludeRAIDs,CDROMs,
DVDs.

Streaming

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ComputerGlossary

Taking packets of information (sound or visual) from the Internet and storing it in temporary files to allow it to play in
continuousflow.

Stylusandtablet
Aninputdevicesimilartoamouse.Thestylusispenshaped.Itisusedtodrawonatablet(likedrawingonpaper)andthe
tablettransferstheinformationtothecomputer.Thetabletrespondstopressure.Thefirmerthepressureusedtodraw,the
thickerthelineappears.

Surfing
ExploringtheInternet.

Surgeprotector
Acontrollertoprotectthecomputerandmakeupforvariancesinvoltage.

Telnet
Awaytocommunicatewitharemotecomputeroveranetwork.

Trackball
Inputdevicethatcontrolsthepositionofthecursoronthescreentheunitismountednearthekeyboard,andmovementis
controlledbymovingaball.

Terabytes(TB)
Athousandgigabytes.

Teraflop
Ameasureofacomputer'sspeed.Itcanbeexpressedasatrillionfloatingpointoperationspersecond.
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ComputerGlossary

TrojanHorse
Seevirus.

UNIX
Averypowerfuloperatingsystemusedasthebasisofmanyhighendcomputerapplications.

Upload
Theprocessoftransferringinformationfromacomputertoawebsite(orotherremotelocationonanetwork).Totransfer
informationfromacomputertoawebsite(orotherremotelocationonanetwork).

URL
UniformResourceLocator.
TheprotocolforidentifyingadocumentontheWeb.
AWebaddress(e.g.,www.tutorialspoint.com).AURLisuniquetoeachuser.Seealsodomain.

UPS
UniversalPowerSupplyorUninterruptiblePowerSupply.Anelectricalpowersupplythatincludesabatterytoprovideenough
powertoacomputerduringanoutagetobackupdataandproperlyshutdown.

USB
AmultiplesocketUSBconnectorthatallowsseveralUSBcompatibledevicestobeconnectedtoacomputer.

USENET
AlargeunmoderatedanduneditedbulletinboardontheInternetthatoffersthousandsofforums,callednewsgroups.These
rangefromnewsgroupsexchanginginformationonscientificadvancestocelebrityfanclubs.
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Userfriendly
Aprogramordevicewhoseuseisintuitivetopeoplewithanontechnicalbackground.

Videoteleconferencing
Aremote"facetofacechat,"whentwoormorepeopleusingawebcamandanInternettelephoneconnectionchatonline.
Thewebcamenablesbothlivevoiceandvideo.

Virtualreality(VR)
A technology that allows one to experience and interact with images in a simulated threedimensional environment. For
example, you could design a room in a house on your computer and actually feel that you are walking around in it even
thoughitwasneverbuilt.(TheHolodeckinthesciencefictionTVseriesStarTrek:Voyagerwouldbetheultimatevirtual
reality.)Currenttechnologyrequirestheusertowearaspecialhelmet,viewinggoggles,gloves,andotherequipmentthat
transmitsandreceivesinformationfromthecomputer.

Virus
Anunauthorizedpieceofcomputercodeattachedtoacomputerprogramorportionsofacomputersystemthatsecretly
copiesitselffromonecomputertoanotherbyshareddiscsandovertelephoneandcablelines.Itcandestroyinformation
stored on the computer, and in extreme cases, can destroy operability. Computers can be protected from viruses if the
operatorutilizesgoodviruspreventionsoftwareandkeepsthevirusdefinitionsuptodate.Mostvirusesarenotprogrammed
to spread themselves. They have to be sent to another computer by email, sharing, or applications.The worm is an
exception, because it is programmed to replicate itself by sending copies to other computers listed in the email address
bookinthecomputer.Therearemanykindsofviruses,forexample:
Bootvirusesplacesomeoftheircodeinthestartupdisksectortoautomaticallyexecutewhenbooting.Therefore,
whenaninfectedmachineboots,thevirusloadsandruns.
Filevirusesattachedtoprogramfiles(fileswiththeextension.exe).Whenyouruntheinfectedprogram,thevirus
codeexecutes.
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Macrovirusescopytheirmacrostotemplatesand/orotherapplicationdocumentfiles.
TrojanHorseisamalicious,securitybreakingprogramthatisdisguisedassomethingbeingsuchasascreensaver
orgame.
Worm launches an application that destroys information on your hard drive. It also sends a copy of the virus to
everyoneinthecomputer'semailaddressbook.

WAV
Asoundformat(pronouncedwave)usedtoreproducesoundsonacomputer.

Webcam
Avideocamera/computersetupthattakesliveimagesandsendsthemtoaWebbrowser.

Window
A portion of a computer display used in a graphical interface that enables users to select commands by pointing to
illustrationsorsymbolswithamouse."Windows"isalsothenameMicrosoftadoptedforitspopularoperatingsystem.

WorldWideWeb("WWW"or"theWeb")
A network of servers on the Internet that use hypertextlinked databases and files. It was developed in 1989 by Tim
BernersLee,aBritishcomputerscientist,andisnowtheprimaryplatformoftheInternet.Thefeaturethatdistinguishesthe
WebfromotherInternetapplicationsisitsabilitytodisplaygraphicsinadditiontotext.

Wordprocessor
Acomputersystemorprogramforsetting,editing,revising,correcting,storing,andprintingtext.

Worm
Seevirus.
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WYSIWYG
WhatYouSeeIsWhatYouGet.Whenusingmostwordprocessors,pagelayoutprograms(Seedesktoppublishing),andweb
pagedesignprograms,wordsandimageswillbedisplayedonthemonitorastheywilllookontheprintedpageorwebpage.

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