Dictionary of Computing

A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Some are humorous (italicized) and others are real definitions

A

ANONYMOUS FTP

APPLE

One of the first computer companies to fall prey to former car company advertising executives. How else would you explain them trying to flog us a computer called the "Performa"?

B

BACK-UP

The process of making copies of all of your files, just in case. This is the activity you would have been doing if all your files hadn't just been erased accidentally, twenty minutes before the back-up was due to happen.

BACKSPACE

BANDWIDTH

How much stuff you can send through a connection. Usually measured in bits-per- second. A full page of English text is about 16,000 bits. A fast modem can move about 15,000 bits in one second.

BOOT

BUG

C

COOKIE

The most common meaning of "Cookie" on the Internet refers to a piece of information sent by a Web Server to a Web Browser that the Browser software is expected to save and to send back to the Server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the Server.

Depending on the type of Cookie used, and the Browser's settings, the Browser may accept or not accept the Cookie, and may save the Cookie for either a short time or a long time.

Cookies might contain information such as login or registration information, online "shopping cart" information, user preferences, etc.

When a Server receives a request from a Browser that includes a Cookie, the Server is able to use the information stored in the Cookie. For example, the Server might customize what is sent back to the user, or keep a log of particular user1s requests.

Cookies are usually set to expire after a predetermined amount of time and are usually saved in memory until the Browser software is closed down, at which time they may be saved to disk if their "expire time" has not been reached.

Cookies do not read your hard drive and send your life story to the CIA, but they can be used to gather more information about a user than would be possible without them.

D

DESKTOP PUBLISHING

The art of creating publications on your computer that still generally look pretty pathetic when compared to the real thing.

DISK (FLOPPY)

A small, surprisingly fragile round strip of magnetic material generally enclosed in a flimsy plastic case.

DISK (HARD)

DOMAIN NAME

The unique name that identifies an Internet site. Domain Names always have 2 or more parts, separated by dots. The part on the left is the most specific, and the part on the right is the most general. A given machine may have more than one Domain Name but a given Domain Name points to only one machine. For example, the domain names:

matisse.net

mail.matisse.net

workshop.matisse.net

can all refer to the same machine, but each domain name can refer to no more than one machine.

The Chehalis School District domain name is "chehalis.k12.wa.us".

E

E-MAIL

Short for Electronic Mail, a method of sending your message almost instantly from one computer to another, where it will sit for two weeks until the recipient can be bothered to reply to it. E-mail can also be sent automatically to a large number of addresses (Mailing List).

ETHERNET

A very common method of networking computers in a LAN. Ethernet will handle about 10,000,000 bits-per-second and can be used with almost any kind of computer.

ERROR

F

FAQ

(Frequently Asked Questions) -- FAQs are documents that list and answer the most common questions on a particular subject. FAQs are usually written by people who have tired of answering the same question over and over.

FIREWALL

A combination of hardware and software that separates a LAN into two or more parts for security purposes.

G

H

Home Page (or Homepage)

Several meanings. Originally, the web page that your browser is set to use when it starts up. The more common meaning refers to the main web page for a business, organization, person or simply the main page out of a collection of web pages, e.g. "Check out so-and-soï¿½s new Home Page".

HTML

(HyperText Markup Language) -- The coding language used to create Hypertext documents for use on the World Wide Web. HTML looks a lot like old-fashioned typesetting code, where you surround a block of text with codes that indicate how it should appear, additionally, in HTML you can specify that a block of text, or a word, is linked to another file on the Internet. HTML files are meant to be viewed using a World Wide Web Client Program, such as Netscape or Mosaic.

HTTP

(HyperText Transport Protocol) -- The protocol for moving hypertext files across the Internet. Requires a HTTP client program on one end, and an HTTP server program on the other end. HTTP is the most important protocol used in the World Wide Web (WWW).

I

ICON

A small picture displayed on a computer, which is designed to stop you worrying about trying to remember how a command is written or what it does, and instead worry about what the icon represents.

INFOBAHN

Phrase used by people who think they are too cool to use the phrase "Information Superhighway".

INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY

INTERNET

(Upper case I) The vast collection of inter-connected networks that all use the TCP/IP protocols and that evolved from the ARPANET of the late 60's and early 70's.

(Lower case i) Any time you connect 2 or more networks together, you have an internet - as in inter-national or inter-state. (See Network)

IP ADDRESS

Sometimes called a dotted quad. A unique number consisting of 4 parts separated by dots, e.g.

165.113.245.2.

Every machine that is on the Internet has a unique IP number - if a machine does not have an IP number, it is not really on the Internet. Most machines also have one or more Domain Names that are easier for people to remember easier for people to remember.

Similar to the telephone in your home.

J

JAVA

K

KEYWORD

KILOBYTE

L

LAN

(Local Area Network) -- A computer network limited to the immediate area, usually the same building or floor of a building.

LAPTOP

What we used to call Notebooks (see Notebooks).

M

MOORE'S LAW

Gordon Moore's theory, and it seems to be quite true so far, is that technology can push computing power to double every eighteen months. You can contrast this with Bowen's Law, which is that your computer is obsolete by the time you get it home and open the box.

N

NETWORK

Any time you connect 2 or more computers together so that they can share resources, you have a computer network. Connect 2 or more networks together and you have an internet (see Internet).

NOTEBOOK

A portable computer that the batteries run.

NUMERIC KEYPAD

O

OBSOLETE

A feature built into all technology. It activates itself shortly after you open the box.

P

PORT

A jack in the wall (simular to the telephone jack) where the computer plugs in to connect to a network.

Q

R

RAM

S

SERVER

A computer, or a software package, that provides a specific kind of service to client software running on other computers. The term can refer to a particular piece of software, such as a WWW server, or to the machine on which the software is running, e.g.Our mail server is down today, that's why e-mail isn't getting out.

SHAREWARE

T

T-1

A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 1,544,000 bits-per-second. At maximum theoretical capacity, a T-1 line could move a megabyte in less than 10 seconds. That is still not fast enough for full-screen, full-motion video, for which you need at least 10,000,000 bits-per-second. T-1 is the fastest speed commonly used to connect networks to the Internet.

T-3

A leased-line connection capable of carrying data at 44,736,000 bits-per-second. This is more than enough to do full-screen, full-motion video.

TCP/IP

(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) -- This is the suite of protocols that defines the Internet. TCP/IP software is now available for every major kind of computer operating system. To be truly on the Internet, your computer must have TCP/IP software.

TERABYTE

1000 gigabytes.

U

URL

(Uniform Resource Locator) -- The standard way to give the address of any resource on the Internet that is part of the World Wide Web (WWW). A URL looks like this: http://chehalis.schooldistrictsolutions.com/

V

VIRUS

W

WAN

(Wide Area Network) -- Any internet or network that covers an area larger than a single building or campus.

WORLD WIDE WEB

An incredibly useful resource, where you can find all the advertising, propaganda and other useless information in the world, within seconds.

It is also an excuse for the computer section of the newspaper to print a bunch of URLs and call it journalism.