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ComputerGlossary

COMPUTERGLOSSARY
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Applet
AsmallJavaapplicationthatisdownloadedbyanActiveXorJavaenabledwebbrowser.Onceithasbeen
downloaded,theappletwillrunontheuser'scomputer.Commonappletsincludefinancialcalculatorsand
webdrawingprograms.

Application
Computersoftwarethatperformsataskorsetoftasks,suchaswordprocessingordrawing.Applications
arealsoreferredtoasprograms.

ASCII
AmericanStandardCodeforInformationInterchange,anencodingsystemforconvertingkeyboard
charactersandinstructionsintothebinarynumbercodethatthecomputerunderstands.

Bandwidth
Thecapacityofanetworkedconnection.Bandwidthdetermineshowmuchdatacanbesentalongthe
networkedwires.BandwidthisparticularlyimportantforInternetconnections,sincegreaterbandwidth
alsomeansfasterdownloads.

Binarycode
Themostbasiclanguageacomputerunderstands,itiscomposedofaseriesof0sand1s.Thecomputer
interpretsthecodetoformnumbers,letters,punctuationmarks,andsymbols.

Bit
Thesmallestpieceofcomputerinformation,eitherthenumber0or1.Inshorttheyarecalledbinarydigits.

Boot
Tostartupacomputer.Coldbootmeansrestartingcomputerafterthepoweristurnedoff.Warmboot
meansrestartingcomputerwithoutturningoffthepower.

Browser
SoftwareusedtonavigatetheInternet.GoogleChrome,Firefox,NetscapeNavigatorandMicrosoft
InternetExploreraretoday'smostpopularbrowsersforaccessingtheWorldWideWeb.

Bug
Amalfunctionduetoanerrorintheprogramoradefectintheequipment.

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ComputerGlossary

Byte
Mostcomputersusecombinationsofeightbits,calledbytes,torepresentonecharacterofdataor
instructions.Forexample,thewordcathasthreecharacters,anditwouldberepresentedbythreebytes.

Cache
Asmalldatamemorystorageareathatacomputercanusetoinstantlyreaccessdatainsteadofrereading
thedatafromtheoriginalsource,suchasaharddrive.Browsersuseacachetostorewebpagessothatthe
usermayviewthemagainwithoutreconnectingtotheWeb.

CADCAM
ComputerAidedDrawingComputerAidedManufacturing.Theinstructionsstoredina
computerthatwillbetranslatedtoverypreciseoperatinginstructionstoarobot,suchasforassembling
carsorlasercuttingsignage.

CDROM
CompactDiscReadOnlyMemory,anopticallyreaddiscdesignedtoholdinformationsuchasmusic,
referencematerials,orcomputersoftware.AsingleCDROMcanholdaround640megabytesofdata,
enoughforseveralencyclopaedias.MostsoftwareprogramsarenowdeliveredonCDROMs.

CGI
CommonGatewayInterface,aprogrammingstandardthatallowsvisitorstofilloutformfieldsona
Webpageandhavethatinformationinteractwithadatabase,possiblycomingbacktotheuserasanother
Webpage.CGImayalsorefertoComputerGeneratedImaging,theprocessinwhichsophisticated
computerprogramscreatestillandanimatedgraphics,suchasspecialeffectsformovies.

Chat
TypingtextintoamessageboxonascreentoengageindialoguewithoneormorepeopleviatheInternet
orothernetwork.

Chip
Atinywaferofsiliconcontainingminiatureelectriccircuitsthatcanstoremillionsofbitsofinformation.

Client
Asingleuserofanetworkapplicationthatisoperatedfromaserver.Aclient/serverarchitectureallows
manypeopletousethesamedatasimultaneously.Theprogram'smaincomponentthedataresidesona
centralizedserver,withsmallercomponentsuserinterfaceoneachclient.

Cookie
AtextfilesentbyaWebserverthatisstoredontheharddriveofacomputerandrelaysbacktotheWeb
serverthingsabouttheuser,hisorhercomputer,and/orhisorhercomputeractivities.

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CPU
CentralProcessingUnit.Thebrainofthecomputer.

Cracker
Apersonwhobreaksintoacomputerthroughanetwork,withoutauthorizationandwithmischievousor
destructiveintent.

Crash
Ahardwareorsoftwareproblemthatcausesinformationtobelostorthecomputertomalfunction.
Sometimesacrashcancausepermanentdamagetoacomputer.

Cursor
Amovingpositionindicatordisplayedonacomputermonitorthatshowsacomputeroperatorwherethe
nextactionoroperationwilltakeplace.

Cyberspace
Slangforinternetie.Aninternationalconglomerationofinterconnectedcomputernetworks.Beguninthe
late1960s,itwasdevelopedinthe1970stoallowgovernmentanduniversityresearcherstoshare
information.TheInternetisnotcontrolledbyanysinglegroupororganization.Itsoriginalfocuswas
researchandcommunications,butitcontinuestoexpand,offeringawidearrayofresourcesforbusiness
andhomeusers.

Database
Acollectionofsimilarinformationstoredinafile,suchasadatabaseofaddresses.Thisinformationmay
becreatedandstoredinadatabasemanagementsystemDBMS.

Debug
Slang.Tofindandcorrectequipmentdefectsorprogrammalfunctions.

Default
Thepredefinedconfigurationofasystemoranapplication.Inmostprograms,thedefaultscanbechanged
toreflectpersonalpreferences.

Desktop
Themaindirectoryoftheuserinterface.Desktopsusuallycontainiconsthatrepresentlinkstothehard
drive,anetworkifthereisone,andatrashorrecyclingcanforfilestobedeleted.Itcanalsodisplayiconsof
frequentlyusedapplications,asrequestedbytheuser.

Desktoppublishing
Theproductionofpublicationqualitydocumentsusingapersonalcomputerincombinationwithtext,
graphics,andpagelayoutprograms.

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ComputerGlossary

Directory
Arepositorywhereallfilesarekeptoncomputer.

Disk
Twodistincttypes.Thenamesrefertothemediainsidethecontainer:
Aharddiscstoresvastamountsofdata.Itisusuallyinsidethecomputerbutcanbeaseparateperipheral
ontheoutside.Harddiscsaremadeupofseveralrigidcoatedmetaldiscs.Currently,harddiscscanstore
15to30Gbgigabytes.
Afloppydisc,3.5"square,usuallyinsertedintothecomputerandcanstoreabout1.4megabytesofdata.
The3.5"squarefloppieshaveaverythin,flexiblediscinside.Thereisalsoanintermediatesizedfloppy
disc,trademarkedZipdiscs,whichcanstore250megabytesofdata.

Diskdrive
Theequipmentthatoperatesahardorfloppydisc.

Domain
RepresentsanIPInternetProtocoladdressorsetofIPaddressesthatcompriseadomain.Thedomainname
appearsinURLstoidentifywebpagesorinemailaddresses.Forexample,theemailaddressfortheFirst
Ladyisfirst.lady@whitehouse.gov,whitehouse.gov,beingthedomainname.Eachdomainnameendswith
asuffixthatindicateswhattopleveldomainitbelongsto.Theseare:.comforcommercial,.govfor
government,.orgfororganization,.eduforeducationalinstitution,.bizforbusiness,.infoforinformation,
.tvfortelevision,.wsforwebsite.Domainsuffixesmayalsoindicatethecountryinwhichthedomainis
registered.Notwopartiescaneverholdthesamedomainname.

Domainname
ThenameofanetworkorcomputerlinkedtotheInternet.DomainsaredefinedbyacommonIPaddress
orsetofsimilarIPInternetProtocoladdresses.

Download
Theprocessoftransferringinformationfromawebsiteorotherremotelocationonanetworktothecomputer.It
ispossibletodownloadafilewhichincludetext,image,audio,videoandmanyothers.

DOS
DiskOperatingSystem.AnoperatingsystemdesignedforearlyIBMcompatiblePCs.

Dropdownmenu
Amenuwindowthatopensverticallyonscreentodisplaycontextrelatedoptions.Alsocalledpopup
menuorpulldownmenu.

DSL

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ComputerGlossary

DigitalSubscriberLine,amethodofconnectingtotheInternetviaaphoneline.ADSLconnectionuses
coppertelephonelinesbutisabletorelaydataatmuchhigherspeedsthanmodemsanddoesnotinterfere
withtelephoneuse.

DVD
DigitalVideoDisc.SimilartoaCDROM,itstoresandplaysbothaudioandvideo.

Ebook
Anelectronicusuallyhand heldreadingdevicethatallowsapersontoviewdigitallystoredreading
materials.

Email
Electronicmailmessages,includingmemosorletters,sentelectronicallybetweennetworkedcomputers
thatmaybeacrosstheofficeoraroundtheworld.

Emoticon
AtextbasedexpressionofemotioncreatedfromASCIIcharactersthatmimicsafacialexpressionwhen
viewedwithyourheadtiltedtotheleft.Herearesomeexamples:
Smiling
Frowning
Winking
Crying

Encryption
Theprocessoftransmittingscrambleddatasothatonlyauthorizedrecipientscanunscrambleit.For
instance,encryptionisusedtoscramblecreditcardinformationwhenpurchasesaremadeoverthe
Internet.

Ethernet
Atypeofnetwork.

Ethernetcard
Aboardinsideacomputertowhichanetworkcablecanbeattached.

File
Asetofdatathatisstoredinthecomputer.

Firewall
AsetofsecurityprogramsthatprotectacomputerfromoutsideinterferenceoraccessviatheInternet.

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ComputerGlossary

Folder
Astructureforcontainingelectronicfiles.Insomeoperatingsystems,itiscalledadirectory.

Fonts
Setsoftypefacesorcharactersthatcomeindifferentstylesandsizes.

Freeware
Softwarecreatedbypeoplewhoarewillingtogiveitawayforthesatisfactionofsharingorknowingthey
helpedtosimplifyotherpeople'slives.Itmaybefreestandingsoftware,oritmayaddfunctionalityto
existingsoftware.

FTP
FileTransferProtocol,aformatandsetofrulesfortransferringfilesfromahosttoaremote
computer.

GigabyteGB
1024megabytes.Alsocalledgig.

Glitch
Thecauseofanunexpectedmalfunction.

Gopher
AnInternetsearchtoolthatallowsuserstoaccesstextualinformationthroughaseriesofmenus,orif
usingFTP,throughdownloads.

GUI
GraphicalUserInterface,asystemthatsimplifiesselectingcomputercommandsbyenablingtheuser
topointtosymbolsorillustrationscallediconsonthecomputerscreenwithamouse.

Groupware
Softwarethatallowsnetworkedindividualstoformgroupsandcollaborateondocuments,programs,or
databases.

Hacker
Apersonwithtechnicalexpertisewhoexperimentswithcomputersystemstodeterminehowtodevelop
additionalfeatures.Hackersareoccasionallyrequestedbysystemadministratorstotryandbreakinto
systemsviaanetworktotestsecurity.Thetermhackerissometimesincorrectlyusedinterchangeablywith
cracker.Ahackeriscalledawhitehatandacrackerablackhat.

Hardcopy

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ComputerGlossary

Apaperprintoutofwhatyouhavepreparedonthecomputer.

Harddrive
Anothernamefortheharddiscthatstoresinformationinacomputer.

Hardware
Thephysicalandmechanicalcomponentsofacomputersystem,suchastheelectroniccircuitry,chips,
monitor,disks,diskdrives,keyboard,modem,andprinter.

Homepage
ThemainpageofaWebsiteusedtogreetvisitors,provideinformationaboutthesite,ortodirectthe
viewertootherpagesonthesite.

HTML
HypertextMarkupLanguage,astandardoftextmarkupconventionsusedfordocumentsonthe
WorldWideWeb.Browsersinterpretthecodestogivethetextstructureandformatting
suchasbold, blue, oritalic.

HTTP
HypertextTransferProtocol,acommonsystemusedtorequestandsendHTMLdocumentsonthe
WorldWideWeb.ItisthefirstportionofallURLaddressesontheWorldWideWeb.

HTTPS
HypertextTransferProtocolSecure,oftenusedinintracompanyinternetsites.Passwordsare
requiredtogainaccess.

Hyperlink
Textoranimagethatisconnectedbyhypertextcodingtoadifferentlocation.Byselectingthetextorimage
withamouse,thecomputerjumpstoordisplaysthelinkedtext.

Hypermedia
Integratesaudio,graphics,and/orvideothroughlinksembeddedinthemainprogram.

Hypertext
Asystemfororganizingtextthroughlinks,asopposedtoamenudrivenhierarchysuchasGopher.Most
Webpagesincludehypertextlinkstootherpagesatthatsite,ortoothersitesontheWorldWideWeb.

Icons
Symbolsorillustrationsappearingonthecomputerscreenthatindicateprogramfilesorothercomputer
functions.

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ComputerGlossary

Input
Datathatgoesintoacomputerdevice.

Inputdevice
Adevice,suchasakeyboard,stylusandtablet,mouse,puck,ormicrophone,thatallowsinputof
informationletters, numbers, sound, videotoacomputer.

InstantmessagingIM
AchatapplicationthatallowstwoormorepeopletocommunicateovertheInternetviarealtimekeyedin
messages.

Interface
Theinterconnectionsthatallowadevice,aprogram,orapersontointeract.Hardwareinterfacesarethe
cablesthatconnectthedevicetoitspowersourceandtootherdevices.Softwareinterfacesallowthe
programtocommunicatewithotherprogramssuchastheoperatingsystem,anduserinterfacesallowtheuser
tocommunicatewiththeprograme. g. , viamouse, menucommands, icons, voicecommands, etc. .

Internet
Aninternationalconglomerationofinterconnectedcomputernetworks.Beguninthelate1960s,itwas
developedinthe1970stoallowgovernmentanduniversityresearcherstoshareinformation.TheInternet
isnotcontrolledbyanysinglegroupororganization.Itsoriginalfocuswasresearchandcommunications,
butitcontinuestoexpand,offeringawidearrayofresourcesforbusinessandhomeusers.

IPInternetProtocoladdress
AnInternetProtocoladdressisauniquesetofnumbersusedtolocateanothercomputeronanetwork.
TheformatofanIPaddressisa32bitstringoffournumbersseparatedbyperiods.Eachnumbercanbe
from0to255i. e. , 1.154.10.266.WithinaclosednetworkIPaddressesmaybeassignedatrandom,
however,IPaddressesofwebserversmustberegisteredtoavoidduplicates.

Java
Anobjectorientedprogramminglanguagedesignedspecificallyforprogramsparticularlymultimediatobe
usedovertheInternet.Javaallowsprogrammerstocreatesmallprogramsorapplicationsappletsto
enhanceWebsites.

JavaScript/ECMAscript
Aprogramminglanguageusedalmostexclusivelytomanipulatecontentonawebpage.Common
JavaScriptfunctionsincludevalidatingformsonawebpage,creatingdynamicpagenavigationmenus,and
imagerollovers.

KilobyteKorKB
Equalto1,024bytes.

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Linux
AUNIXlike,opensourceoperatingsystemdevelopedprimarilybyLinusTorvalds.Linuxisfreeandruns
onmanyplatforms,includingbothPCsandMacintoshes.Linuxisanopensourceoperatingsystem,
meaningthatthesourcecodeoftheoperatingsystemisfreelyavailabletothepublic.Programmersmay
redistributeandmodifythecode,aslongastheydon'tcollectroyaltiesontheirworkordenyaccesstotheir
code.Sincedevelopmentisnotrestrictedtoasinglecorporationmoreprogrammerscandebugand
improvethesourcecodefaster.

Laptopandnotebook
Small,lightweight,portablebatterypoweredcomputersthatcanfitontoyourlap.Theyeachhaveathin,
flat,liquidcrystaldisplayscreen.

Macro
Ascriptthatoperatesaseriesofcommandstoperformafunction.Itissetuptoautomaterepetitivetasks.

MacOS
Anoperatingsystemwithagraphicaluserinterface,developedbyAppleforMacintoshcomputers.Current
SystemX.1.10combinesthetraditionalMacinterfacewithastrongunderlyingUNIX.Operatingsystemfor
increasedperformanceandstability.

MegabyteMB
Equalto1,048,576bytes,usuallyroundedofftoonemillionbytesalsocalledameg.

Memory
Temporarystorageforinformation,includingapplicationsanddocuments.Theinformationmustbe
storedtoapermanentdevice,suchasaharddiscorCDROMbeforethepoweristurnedoff,orthe
informationwillbelost.Computermemoryismeasuredintermsoftheamountofinformationitcanstore,
commonlyinmegabytesorgigabytes.

Menu
Acontextrelatedlistofoptionsthatuserscanchoosefrom.

Menubar
Thehorizontalstripacrossthetopofanapplication'swindow.Eachwordonthestriphasacontext
sensitivedropdownmenucontainingfeaturesandactionsthatareavailablefortheapplicationinuse.

Merge
Tocombinetwoormorefilesintoasinglefile.

MHz

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ComputerGlossary

AnabbreviationforMegahertz,oronemillionhertz.OneMHzrepresentsonemillionclockcyclesper
secondandisthemeasureofacomputermicroprocessor'sspeed.Forexample,amicroprocessorthatruns
at300MHzexecutes300millioncyclespersecond.Eachinstructionacomputerreceivestakesafixed
numberofclockcyclestocarryout,thereforethemorecyclesacomputercanexecutepersecond,the
fasteritsprogramsrun.Megahertzisalsoaunitofmeasureforbandwidth.

Microprocessor
AcompletecentralprocessingunitCPUcontainedonasinglesiliconchip.

Minimize
AtermusedinaGUIoperatingsystemthatuseswindows.Itreferstoreducingawindowtoanicon,ora
labelatthebottomofthescreen,allowinganotherwindowtobeviewed.

Modem
Adevicethatconnectstwocomputerstogetheroveratelephoneorcablelinebyconvertingthecomputer's
dataintoanaudiosignal.Modemisacontractionfortheprocessitperforms:modulatedemodulate.

Monitor
Avideodisplayterminal.

Mouse
Asmallhandhelddevice,similartoatrackball,usedtocontrolthepositionofthecursoronthevideo
displaymovementsofthemouseonadesktopcorrespondtomovementsofthecursoronthescreen.

MP3
Compactaudioandvideofileformat.Thesmallsizeofthefilesmakesthemeasytodownloadandemail.
Formatusedinportableplaybackdevices.

Multimedia
Softwareprogramsthatcombinetextandgraphicswithsound,video,andanimation.AmultimediaPC
containsthehardwaretosupportthesecapabilities.

MSDOS
AnearlyoperatingsystemdevelopedbyMicrosoftCorporationMicrosoftDiscOperatingSystem.

Network
Asystemofinterconnectedcomputers.

Opensource
Computerprogramswhoseoriginalsourcecodewasrevealedtothegeneralpublicsothatitcouldbe
developedopenly.Softwarelicensedasopensourcecanbefreelychangedoradaptedtonewuses,meaning

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ComputerGlossary

thatthesourcecodeoftheoperatingsystemisfreelyavailabletothepublic.Programmersmay
redistributeandmodifythecode,aslongastheydon'tcollectroyaltiesontheirworkordenyaccesstotheir
code.Sincedevelopmentisnotrestrictedtoasinglecorporationmoreprogrammerscandebugand
improvethesourcecodefaster.

Operatingsystem
Asetofinstructionsthattellacomputeronhowtooperatewhenitisturnedon.Itsetsupafilingsystemto
storefilesandtellsthecomputerhowtodisplayinformationonavideodisplay.MostPCoperating
systemsareDOSdiscoperatedsystemsystems,meaningtheinstructionsarestoredonadisc
asopposedtobeingoriginallystoredinthemicroprocessorsofthecomputer.Otherwellknownoperatingsystems
includeUNIX,Linux,Macintosh,andWindows.

Output
Datathatcomeoutofacomputerdevice.Forexample,informationdisplayedonthemonitor,soundfrom
thespeakers,andinformationprintedtopaper.

Palm
Ahandheldcomputer.

PC
Personalcomputer.GenerallyreferstocomputersrunningWindowswithaPentiumprocessor.

PCboard
PrintedCircuitboard,aboardprintedoretchedwithacircuitandprocessors.Powersupplies,
informationstoragedevices,orchangersareattached.

PDA
PersonalDigitalAssistant,ahandheldcomputerthatcanstoredailyappointments,phonenumbers,
addresses,andotherimportantinformation.MostPDAslinktoadesktoporlaptopcomputertodownload
oruploadinformation.

PDF
PortableDocumentFormat,aformatpresentedbyAdobeAcrobatthatallowsdocumentstobeshared
overavarietyofoperatingsystems.Documentscancontainwordsandpicturesandbeformattedtohave
electroniclinkstootherpartsofthedocumentortoplacesontheweb.

Pentiumchip
Intel'sfifthgenerationofsophisticatedhighspeedmicroprocessors.Pentiummeansthefifthelement.

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

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PersonalcomputerPC
AsingleusercomputercontainingacentralprocessingunitCPUandoneormorememorycircuits.

Petabyte
Ameasureofmemoryorstoragecapacityandisapproximatelyathousandterabytes.

Petaflop
Atheoreticalmeasureofacomputer'sspeedandcanbeexpressedasathousandtrillionfloatingpoint
operationspersecond.

Platform
Theoperatingsystem,suchasUNIX,Macintosh,Windows,onwhichacomputerisbased.

Plugandplay
Computerhardwareorperipheralsthatcomesetupwithnecessarysoftwaresothatwhenattachedtoa
computer,theyarerecognizedbythecomputerandarereadytouse.

Popupmenu
Amenuwindowthatopensverticallyorhorizontallyonscreentodisplaycontextrelatedoptions.Also
calleddropdownmenuorpulldownmenu.

PowerPC
AcompetitorofthePentiumchip.Itisanewgenerationofpowerfulsophisticatedmicroprocessors
producedfromanAppleIBMMotorolaalliance.

Printer
Amechanicaldeviceforprintingacomputer'soutputonpaper.Therearethreemajortypesofprinter:
Dotmatrixcreatesindividualletters,madeupofaseriesoftinyinkdots,bypunchingaribbon
withtheendsoftinywires.
Thistypeofprinterismostoftenusedinindustrialsettings, suchasdirectmailforlabelling.
Inkjetspraystinydropletsofinkparticlesontopaper.
Laserusesabeamoflighttoreproducetheimageofeachpageusingamagneticchargethat
attractsdrytonerthatistransferredtopaperandsealedwithheat.

Program
Apreciseseriesofinstructionswritteninacomputerlanguagethattellsthecomputerwhattodoandhow
todoit.Programsarealsocalledsoftwareorapplications.

Programminglanguage

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ComputerGlossary

Aseriesofinstructionswrittenbyaprogrammeraccordingtoagivensetofrulesorconventionssyntax.
Highlevelprogramminglanguagesareindependentofthedeviceonwhichtheapplicationorprogramwill
eventuallyrunlowlevellanguagesarespecifictoeachprogramorplatform.Programminglanguage
instructionsareconvertedintoprogramsinlanguagespecifictoaparticularmachineoroperatingsystem
machinelanguage.Sothatthecomputercaninterpretandcarryouttheinstructions.Somecommon
programminglanguagesareBASIC,C,C++,dBASE,FORTRAN,andPerl.

Puck
Aninputdevice,likeamouse.Ithasamagnifyingglasswithcrosshairsonthefrontofitthatallowsthe
operatortopositionitpreciselywhentracingadrawingforusewithCADCAMsoftware.

Pulldownmenu
Amenuwindowthatopensverticallyonscreentodisplaycontextrelatedoptions.Alsocalleddropdown
menuorpopupmenu.

Pushtechnology
Internettoolthatdeliversspecificinformationdirectlytoauser'sdesktop,eliminatingtheneedtosurffor
it.PointCast,whichdeliversnewsinuserdefinedcategories,isapopularexampleofthistechnology.

QuickTime
AudiovisualsoftwarethatallowsmoviedeliveryviatheInternetandemail.QuickTimeimagesareviewed
onamonitor.

RAID
RedundantArrayofInexpensiveDisks,amethodofspreadinginformationacrossseveraldisksset
uptoactasaunit,usingtwodifferenttechniques:
Diskstripingstoringabitofinformationacrossseveraldiscs
insteadofstoringitallononediscandhopingthatthediscdoesn tcrash.
Diskmirroringsimultaneouslystoringacopyofinformationonanotherdiscsothatthe
informationcanberecoveredifthemaindisccrashes.

RAM
RandomAccessMemory,oneoftwobasictypesofmemory.PortionsofprogramsarestoredinRAM
whentheprogramislaunchedsothattheprogramwillrunfaster.ThoughaPChasafixedamountofRAM,
onlyportionsofitwillbeaccessedbythecomputeratanygiventime.Alsocalledmemory.

Rightclick
Usingtherightmousebuttontoopencontextsensitivedropdownmenus.

ROM

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ReadOnlyMemory,oneoftwobasictypesofmemory.ROMcontainsonlypermanentinformationput
therebythemanufacturer.InformationinROMcannotbealtered,norcanthememorybedynamically
allocatedbythecomputeroritsoperator.

Scanner
Anelectronicdevicethatuseslightsensingequipmenttoscanpaperimagessuchastext,photos,and
illustrationsandtranslatetheimagesintosignalsthatthecomputercanthenstore,modify,ordistribute.

Searchengine
SoftwarethatmakesitpossibletolookforandretrievematerialontheInternet,particularlytheWeb.
SomepopularsearchenginesareAltaVista,Google,HotBot,Yahoo!,WebCrawler,andLycos.

Server
Acomputerthatsharesitsresourcesandinformationwithothercomputers,calledclients,onanetwork.

Shareware
Softwarecreatedbypeoplewhoarewillingtosellitatlowcostornocostforthegratificationofsharing.It
maybefreestandingsoftware,oritmayaddfunctionalitytoexistingsoftware.

Software
Computerprogramsalsocalledapplications.

Spider
Aprocesssearchenginesusetoinvestigatenewpagesonawebsiteandcollecttheinformationthatneeds
tobeputintheirindices.

Spreadsheet
Softwarethatallowsonetocalculatenumbersinaformatthatissimilartopagesinaconventionalledger.

Storage
Devicesusedtostoremassiveamountsofinformationsothatitcanbereadilyretrieved.Devicesinclude
RAIDs,CDROMs,DVDs.

Streaming
TakingpacketsofinformationsoundorvisualfromtheInternetandstoringitintemporaryfilestoallowitto
playincontinuousflow.

Stylusandtablet
Aninputdevicesimilartoamouse.Thestylusispenshaped.Itisusedtodrawonatablet
likedrawingonpaperandthetablettransferstheinformationtothecomputer.Thetabletrespondsto
pressure.Thefirmerthepressureusedtodraw,thethickerthelineappears.

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ComputerGlossary

Surfing
ExploringtheInternet.

Surgeprotector
Acontrollertoprotectthecomputerandmakeupforvariancesinvoltage.

Telnet
Awaytocommunicatewitharemotecomputeroveranetwork.

Trackball
Inputdevicethatcontrolsthepositionofthecursoronthescreentheunitismountednearthekeyboard,
andmovementiscontrolledbymovingaball.

TerabytesTB
Athousandgigabytes.

Teraflop
Ameasureofacomputer'sspeed.Itcanbeexpressedasatrillionfloatingpointoperationspersecond.

TrojanHorse
Seevirus.

UNIX
Averypowerfuloperatingsystemusedasthebasisofmanyhighendcomputerapplications.

Upload
Theprocessoftransferringinformationfromacomputertoawebsiteorotherremotelocationonanetwork.To
transferinformationfromacomputertoawebsiteorotherremotelocationonanetwork.

URL
UniformResourceLocator.
TheprotocolforidentifyingadocumentontheWeb.
AWebaddresse. g. , www. tutorialspoint. com.AURLisuniquetoeachuser.Seealsodomain.

UPS
UniversalPowerSupplyorUninterruptiblePowerSupply.Anelectricalpowersupplythatincludesa
batterytoprovideenoughpowertoacomputerduringanoutagetobackupdataandproperlyshutdown.

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ComputerGlossary

USB
AmultiplesocketUSBconnectorthatallowsseveralUSBcompatibledevicestobeconnectedtoa
computer.

USENET
AlargeunmoderatedanduneditedbulletinboardontheInternetthatoffersthousandsofforums,called
newsgroups.Theserangefromnewsgroupsexchanginginformationonscientificadvancestocelebrityfan
clubs.

Userfriendly
Aprogramordevicewhoseuseisintuitivetopeoplewithanontechnicalbackground.

Videoteleconferencing
Aremote"facetofacechat,"whentwoormorepeopleusingawebcamandanInternettelephone
connectionchatonline.Thewebcamenablesbothlivevoiceandvideo.

VirtualrealityVR
Atechnologythatallowsonetoexperienceandinteractwithimagesinasimulatedthreedimensional
environment.Forexample,youcoulddesignaroominahouseonyourcomputerandactuallyfeelthatyou
arewalkingaroundiniteventhoughitwasneverbuilt.
TheHolodeckinthescience fictionTVseriesStarTrek: Voyagerwouldbetheultimatevirtualreality. Currenttechnology
requirestheusertowearaspecialhelmet,viewinggoggles,gloves,andotherequipmentthattransmitsand
receivesinformationfromthecomputer.

Virus
Anunauthorizedpieceofcomputercodeattachedtoacomputerprogramorportionsofacomputersystem
thatsecretlycopiesitselffromonecomputertoanotherbyshareddiscsandovertelephoneandcablelines.
Itcandestroyinformationstoredonthecomputer,andinextremecases,candestroyoperability.
Computerscanbeprotectedfromvirusesiftheoperatorutilizesgoodviruspreventionsoftwareandkeeps
thevirusdefinitionsuptodate.Mostvirusesarenotprogrammedtospreadthemselves.Theyhavetobe
senttoanothercomputerbyemail,sharing,orapplications.Thewormisanexception,becauseitis
programmedtoreplicateitselfbysendingcopiestoothercomputerslistedintheemailaddressbookin
thecomputer.Therearemanykindsofviruses,forexample:
Bootvirusesplacesomeoftheircodeinthestartupdisksectortoautomaticallyexecutewhen
booting.Therefore,whenaninfectedmachineboots,thevirusloadsandruns.
Filevirusesattachedtoprogramfilesfileswiththeextension. exe.Whenyouruntheinfectedprogram,
theviruscodeexecutes.
Macrovirusescopytheirmacrostotemplatesand/orotherapplicationdocumentfiles.
TrojanHorseisamalicious,securitybreakingprogramthatisdisguisedassomethingbeingsuchas
ascreensaverorgame.

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ComputerGlossary

Wormlaunchesanapplicationthatdestroysinformationonyourharddrive.Italsosendsacopyof
thevirustoeveryoneinthecomputer'semailaddressbook.

WAV
Asoundformatpronouncedwaveusedtoreproducesoundsonacomputer.

Webcam
Avideocamera/computersetupthattakesliveimagesandsendsthemtoaWebbrowser.

Window
Aportionofacomputerdisplayusedinagraphicalinterfacethatenablesuserstoselectcommandsby
pointingtoillustrationsorsymbolswithamouse."Windows"isalsothenameMicrosoftadoptedforits
popularoperatingsystem.

WorldWideWeb " WWW " or " theWeb "

AnetworkofserversontheInternetthatusehypertextlinkeddatabasesandfiles.Itwasdevelopedin1989
byTimBernersLee,aBritishcomputerscientist,andisnowtheprimaryplatformoftheInternet.The
featurethatdistinguishestheWebfromotherInternetapplicationsisitsabilitytodisplaygraphicsin
additiontotext.

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

Worm
Seevirus.

WYSIWYG
WhatYouSeeIsWhatYouGet.Whenusingmostwordprocessors,pagelayoutprograms
Seedesktoppublishing,andwebpagedesignprograms,wordsandimageswillbedisplayedonthemonitoras
theywilllookontheprintedpageorwebpage.
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