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ComputerGlossary
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Applet
AsmallJavaapplicationthatisdownloadedbyanActiveXorJavaenabledwebbrowser.Onceithasbeen
downloaded,theappletwillrunontheuser'scomputer.Commonappletsincludefinancialcalculatorsandweb
drawingprograms.

Application
Computersoftwarethatperformsataskorsetoftasks,suchaswordprocessingordrawing.Applicationsare
alsoreferredtoasprograms.

ASCII
AmericanStandardCodeforInformationInterchange,anencodingsystemforconvertingkeyboardcharacters
andinstructionsintothebinarynumbercodethatthecomputerunderstands.

Bandwidth
Thecapacityofanetworkedconnection.Bandwidthdetermineshowmuchdatacanbesentalongthenetworked
wires.BandwidthisparticularlyimportantforInternetconnections,sincegreaterbandwidthalsomeansfaster
downloads.

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

Bit
Thesmallestpieceofcomputerinformation,eitherthenumber0or1.Inshorttheyarecalledbinarydigits.

Boot
Tostartupacomputer.Coldbootmeansrestartingcomputerafterthepoweristurnedoff.Warmbootmeans
restartingcomputerwithoutturningoffthepower.

Browser
SoftwareusedtonavigatetheInternet.GoogleChrome,Firefox,NetscapeNavigatorandMicrosoftInternet
Exploreraretoday'smostpopularbrowsersforaccessingtheWorldWideWeb.
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Bug
Amalfunctionduetoanerrorintheprogramoradefectintheequipment.

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

Cache
Asmalldatamemorystorageareathatacomputercanusetoinstantlyreaccessdatainsteadofrereadingthe
datafromtheoriginalsource,suchasaharddrive.Browsersuseacachetostorewebpagessothattheusermay
viewthemagainwithoutreconnectingtotheWeb.

CADCAM
ComputerAidedDrawingComputerAidedManufacturing.Theinstructionsstoredinacomputerthatwill
betranslatedtoverypreciseoperatinginstructionstoarobot,suchasforassemblingcarsorlasercutting
signage.

CDROM
CompactDiscReadOnlyMemory,anopticallyreaddiscdesignedtoholdinformationsuchasmusic,
referencematerials,orcomputersoftware.AsingleCDROMcanholdaround640megabytesofdata,enough
forseveralencyclopaedias.MostsoftwareprogramsarenowdeliveredonCDROMs.

CGI
CommonGatewayInterface,aprogrammingstandardthatallowsvisitorstofilloutformfieldsonaWebpage
andhavethatinformationinteractwithadatabase,possiblycomingbacktotheuserasanotherWebpage.CGI
mayalsorefertoComputerGeneratedImaging,theprocessinwhichsophisticatedcomputerprogramscreate
stillandanimatedgraphics,suchasspecialeffectsformovies.

Chat
TypingtextintoamessageboxonascreentoengageindialoguewithoneormorepeopleviatheInternetor
othernetwork.

Chip
Atinywaferofsiliconcontainingminiatureelectriccircuitsthatcanstoremillionsofbitsofinformation.

Client
Asingleuserofanetworkapplicationthatisoperatedfromaserver.Aclient/serverarchitectureallowsmany
peopletousethesamedatasimultaneously.Theprogram'smaincomponentthedataresidesonacentralized
server,withsmallercomponentsuserinterf aceoneachclient.
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Cookie
AtextfilesentbyaWebserverthatisstoredontheharddriveofacomputerandrelaysbacktotheWebserver
thingsabouttheuser,hisorhercomputer,and/orhisorhercomputeractivities.

CPU
CentralProcessingUnit.Thebrainofthecomputer.

Cracker
Apersonwhobreaksintoacomputerthroughanetwork,withoutauthorizationandwithmischievousor
destructiveintent.

Crash
Ahardwareorsoftwareproblemthatcausesinformationtobelostorthecomputertomalfunction.Sometimesa
crashcancausepermanentdamagetoacomputer.

Cursor
Amovingpositionindicatordisplayedonacomputermonitorthatshowsacomputeroperatorwherethenext
actionoroperationwilltakeplace.

Cyberspace
Slangforinternetie.Aninternationalconglomerationofinterconnectedcomputernetworks.Beguninthelate
1960s,itwasdevelopedinthe1970stoallowgovernmentanduniversityresearcherstoshareinformation.The
Internetisnotcontrolledbyanysinglegroupororganization.Itsoriginalfocuswasresearchand
communications,butitcontinuestoexpand,offeringawidearrayofresourcesforbusinessandhomeusers.

Database
Acollectionofsimilarinformationstoredinafile,suchasadatabaseofaddresses.Thisinformationmaybe
createdandstoredinadatabasemanagementsystemDBM S .

Debug
Slang.Tofindandcorrectequipmentdefectsorprogrammalfunctions.

Default
Thepredefinedconfigurationofasystemoranapplication.Inmostprograms,thedefaultscanbechangedto
reflectpersonalpreferences.

Desktop
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Themaindirectoryoftheuserinterface.Desktopsusuallycontainiconsthatrepresentlinkstotheharddrive,a
networkif thereisone,andatrashorrecyclingcanforfilestobedeleted.Itcanalsodisplayiconsoffrequently
usedapplications,asrequestedbytheuser.

Desktoppublishing
Theproductionofpublicationqualitydocumentsusingapersonalcomputerincombinationwithtext,graphics,
andpagelayoutprograms.

Directory
Arepositorywhereallfilesarekeptoncomputer.

Disk
Twodistincttypes.Thenamesrefertothemediainsidethecontainer:

Aharddiscstoresvastamountsofdata.Itisusuallyinsidethecomputerbutcanbeaseparateperipheralonthe
outside.Harddiscsaremadeupofseveralrigidcoatedmetaldiscs.Currently,harddiscscanstore15to30Gb
gigabytes .

Afloppydisc,3.5"square,usuallyinsertedintothecomputerandcanstoreabout1.4megabytesofdata.The
3.5"squarefloppieshaveaverythin,flexiblediscinside.Thereisalsoanintermediatesizedfloppydisc,
trademarkedZipdiscs,whichcanstore250megabytesofdata.

Diskdrive
Theequipmentthatoperatesahardorfloppydisc.

Domain
RepresentsanIPI nternetP rotocol addressorsetofIPaddressesthatcompriseadomain.Thedomainname
appearsinURLstoidentifywebpagesorinemailaddresses.Forexample,theemailaddressfortheFirstLady
isfirst.lady@whitehouse.gov,whitehouse.gov,beingthedomainname.Eachdomainnameendswithasuffix
thatindicateswhattopleveldomainitbelongsto.Theseare:.comforcommercial,.govforgovernment,.org
fororganization,.eduforeducationalinstitution,.bizforbusiness,.infoforinformation,.tvfortelevision,.ws
forwebsite.Domainsuffixesmayalsoindicatethecountryinwhichthedomainisregistered.Notwoparties
caneverholdthesamedomainname.

Domainname
ThenameofanetworkorcomputerlinkedtotheInternet.DomainsaredefinedbyacommonIPaddressorset
ofsimilarIPI nternetP rotocol addresses.

Download
Theprocessoftransferringinformationfromawebsiteorotherremotelocationonanetworktothecomputer.
Itispossibletodownloadafilewhichincludetext,image,audio,videoandmanyothers.

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DOS
DiskOperatingSystem.AnoperatingsystemdesignedforearlyIBMcompatiblePCs.

Dropdownmenu
Amenuwindowthatopensverticallyonscreentodisplaycontextrelatedoptions.Alsocalledpopupmenuor
pulldownmenu.

DSL
DigitalSubscriberLine,amethodofconnectingtotheInternetviaaphoneline.ADSLconnectionuses
coppertelephonelinesbutisabletorelaydataatmuchhigherspeedsthanmodemsanddoesnotinterferewith
telephoneuse.

DVD
DigitalVideoDisc.SimilartoaCDROM,itstoresandplaysbothaudioandvideo.

Ebook
Anelectronicusuallyhand heldreadingdevicethatallowsapersontoviewdigitallystoredreading
materials.

Email
Electronicmailmessages,includingmemosorletters,sentelectronicallybetweennetworkedcomputersthat
maybeacrosstheofficeoraroundtheworld.

Emoticon
AtextbasedexpressionofemotioncreatedfromASCIIcharactersthatmimicsafacialexpressionwhenviewed
withyourheadtiltedtotheleft.Herearesomeexamples:

Smiling
Frowning
Winking
Crying

Encryption
Theprocessoftransmittingscrambleddatasothatonlyauthorizedrecipientscanunscrambleit.Forinstance,
encryptionisusedtoscramblecreditcardinformationwhenpurchasesaremadeovertheInternet.

Ethernet
Atypeofnetwork.

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Ethernetcard
Aboardinsideacomputertowhichanetworkcablecanbeattached.

File
Asetofdatathatisstoredinthecomputer.

Firewall
AsetofsecurityprogramsthatprotectacomputerfromoutsideinterferenceoraccessviatheInternet.

Folder
Astructureforcontainingelectronicfiles.Insomeoperatingsystems,itiscalledadirectory.

Fonts
Setsoftypefacesorcharacters thatcomeindifferentstylesandsizes.

Freeware
Softwarecreatedbypeoplewhoarewillingtogiveitawayforthesatisfactionofsharingorknowingthey
helpedtosimplifyotherpeople'slives.Itmaybefreestandingsoftware,oritmayaddfunctionalitytoexisting
software.

FTP
FileTransferProtocol,aformatandsetofrulesfortransferringfilesfromahosttoaremotecomputer.

GigabyteGB
1024megabytes.Alsocalledgig.

Glitch
Thecauseofanunexpectedmalfunction.

Gopher
AnInternetsearchtoolthatallowsuserstoaccesstextualinformationthroughaseriesofmenus,orifusingFTP,
throughdownloads.

GUI

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GraphicalUserInterface,asystemthatsimplifiesselectingcomputercommandsbyenablingtheusertopoint
tosymbolsorillustrationscallediconsonthecomputerscreenwithamouse.

Groupware
Softwarethatallowsnetworkedindividualstoformgroupsandcollaborateondocuments,programs,or
databases.

Hacker
Apersonwithtechnicalexpertisewhoexperimentswithcomputersystemstodeterminehowtodevelop
additionalfeatures.Hackersareoccasionallyrequestedbysystemadministratorstotryandbreakintosystems
viaanetworktotestsecurity.Thetermhackerissometimesincorrectlyusedinterchangeablywithcracker.A
hackeriscalledawhitehatandacrackerablackhat.

Hardcopy
Apaperprintoutofwhatyouhavepreparedonthecomputer.

Harddrive
Anothernamefortheharddiscthatstoresinformationinacomputer.

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

Homepage
ThemainpageofaWebsiteusedtogreetvisitors,provideinformationaboutthesite,ortodirecttheviewerto
otherpagesonthesite.

HTML
HypertextMarkupLanguage,astandardoftextmarkupconventionsusedfordocumentsontheWorldWide
Web.Browsersinterpretthecodestogivethetextstructureandformattingsuchasbold, blue, oritalic.

HTTP
HypertextTransferProtocol,acommonsystemusedtorequestandsendHTMLdocumentsontheWorld
WideWeb.ItisthefirstportionofallURLaddressesontheWorldWideWeb.

HTTPS
HypertextTransferProtocolSecure,oftenusedinintracompanyinternetsites.Passwordsarerequiredtogain
access.

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Hyperlink
Textoranimagethatisconnectedbyhypertextcodingtoadifferentlocation.Byselectingthetextorimage
withamouse,thecomputerjumpstoordisplays thelinkedtext.

Hypermedia
Integratesaudio,graphics,and/orvideothroughlinksembeddedinthemainprogram.

Hypertext
Asystemfororganizingtextthroughlinks,asopposedtoamenudrivenhierarchysuchasGopher.MostWeb
pagesincludehypertextlinkstootherpagesatthatsite,ortoothersitesontheWorldWideWeb.

Icons
Symbolsorillustrationsappearingonthecomputerscreenthatindicateprogramfilesorothercomputer
functions.

Input
Datathatgoesintoacomputerdevice.

Inputdevice
Adevice,suchasakeyboard,stylusandtablet,mouse,puck,ormicrophone,thatallowsinputofinformation
letters, numbers, sound, video toacomputer.

InstantmessagingI M
AchatapplicationthatallowstwoormorepeopletocommunicateovertheInternetviarealtimekeyedin
messages.

Interface
Theinterconnectionsthatallowadevice,aprogram,orapersontointeract.Hardwareinterfacesarethecables
thatconnectthedevicetoitspowersourceandtootherdevices.Softwareinterfacesallowtheprogramto
communicatewithotherprogramssuchastheoperatingsystem,anduserinterfacesallowtheuserto
communicatewiththeprograme. g. , viamouse, menucommands, icons, voicecommands, etc..

Internet
Aninternationalconglomerationofinterconnectedcomputernetworks.Beguninthelate1960s,itwas
developedinthe1970stoallowgovernmentanduniversityresearcherstoshareinformation.TheInternetisnot
controlledbyanysinglegroupororganization.Itsoriginalfocuswasresearchandcommunications,butit
continuestoexpand,offeringawidearrayofresourcesforbusinessandhomeusers.

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IPI nternetP rotocoladdress

AnInternetProtocoladdressisauniquesetofnumbersusedtolocateanothercomputeronanetwork.The
formatofanIPaddressisa32bitstringoffournumbersseparatedbyperiods.Eachnumbercanbefrom0to
255i. e. , 1.154.10.255.WithinaclosednetworkIPaddressesmaybeassignedatrandom,however,IP
addressesofwebserversmustberegisteredtoavoidduplicates.

Java
Anobjectorientedprogramminglanguagedesignedspecificallyforprogramsparticularlymultimediatobe
usedovertheInternet.Javaallowsprogrammerstocreatesmallprogramsorapplicationsapplets toenhance
Websites.

JavaScript/ECMAscript
Aprogramminglanguageusedalmostexclusivelytomanipulatecontentonawebpage.CommonJavaScript
functionsincludevalidatingformsonawebpage,creatingdynamicpagenavigationmenus,andimage
rollovers.

KilobyteKorKB
Equalto1,024bytes.

Linux
AUNIXlike,opensourceoperatingsystemdevelopedprimarilybyLinusTorvalds.Linuxisfreeandrunson
manyplatforms,includingbothPCsandMacintoshes.Linuxisanopensourceoperatingsystem,meaningthat
thesourcecodeoftheoperatingsystemisfreelyavailabletothepublic.Programmersmayredistributeand
modifythecode,aslongastheydon'tcollectroyaltiesontheirworkordenyaccesstotheircode.Since
developmentisnotrestrictedtoasinglecorporationmoreprogrammerscandebugandimprovethesourcecode
faster.

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

Macro
Ascriptthatoperatesaseriesofcommandstoperformafunction.Itissetuptoautomaterepetitivetasks.

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

MegabyteM B
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Equalto1,048,576bytes,usuallyroundedofftoonemillionbytesalsocalledameg .

Memory
Temporarystorageforinformation,includingapplicationsanddocuments.Theinformationmustbestoredtoa
permanentdevice,suchasaharddiscorCDROMbeforethepoweristurnedoff,ortheinformationwillbe
lost.Computermemoryismeasuredintermsoftheamountofinformationitcanstore,commonlyinmegabytes
orgigabytes.

Menu
Acontextrelatedlistofoptionsthatuserscanchoosefrom.

Menubar
Thehorizontalstripacrossthetopofanapplication'swindow.Eachwordonthestriphasacontextsensitive
dropdownmenucontainingfeaturesandactionsthatareavailablefortheapplicationinuse.

Merge
Tocombinetwoormorefilesintoasinglefile.

MHz
AnabbreviationforMegahertz,oronemillionhertz.OneMHzrepresentsonemillionclockcyclespersecond
andisthemeasureofacomputermicroprocessor'sspeed.Forexample,amicroprocessorthatrunsat300MHz
executes300millioncyclespersecond.Eachinstructionacomputerreceivestakesafixednumberofclock
cyclestocarryout,thereforethemorecyclesacomputercanexecutepersecond,thefasteritsprogramsrun.
Megahertzisalsoaunitofmeasureforbandwidth.

Microprocessor
AcompletecentralprocessingunitC P U containedonasinglesiliconchip.

Minimize
AtermusedinaGUIoperatingsystemthatuseswindows.Itreferstoreducingawindowtoanicon,oralabel
atthebottomofthescreen,allowinganotherwindowtobeviewed.

Modem
Adevicethatconnectstwocomputerstogetheroveratelephoneorcablelinebyconvertingthecomputer'sdata
intoanaudiosignal.Modemisacontractionfortheprocessitperforms:modulatedemodulate.

Monitor
Avideodisplayterminal.

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Mouse
Asmallhandhelddevice,similartoatrackball,usedtocontrolthepositionofthecursoronthevideodisplay
movementsofthemouseonadesktopcorrespondtomovementsofthecursoronthescreen.

MP3
Compactaudioandvideofileformat.Thesmallsizeofthefilesmakesthemeasytodownloadandemail.
Formatusedinportableplaybackdevices.

Multimedia
Softwareprogramsthatcombinetextandgraphicswithsound,video,andanimation.AmultimediaPCcontains
thehardwaretosupportthesecapabilities.

MSDOS
AnearlyoperatingsystemdevelopedbyMicrosoftCorporationM icrosof tDiscOperatingS ystem.

Network
Asystemofinterconnectedcomputers.

Opensource
Computerprogramswhoseoriginalsourcecodewasrevealedtothegeneralpublicsothatitcouldbedeveloped
openly.Softwarelicensedasopensourcecanbefreelychangedoradaptedtonewuses,meaningthatthesource
codeoftheoperatingsystemisfreelyavailabletothepublic.Programmersmayredistributeandmodifythe
code,aslongastheydon'tcollectroyaltiesontheirworkordenyaccesstotheircode.Sincedevelopmentisnot
restrictedtoasinglecorporationmoreprogrammerscandebugandimprovethesourcecodefaster.

Operatingsystem
Asetofinstructionsthattellacomputeronhowtooperatewhenitisturnedon.Itsetsupafilingsystemtostore
filesandtellsthecomputerhowtodisplayinformationonavideodisplay.MostPCoperatingsystemsareDOS
discoperatedsystem systems,meaningtheinstructionsarestoredonadisc

asopposedtobeingoriginallystoredinthemicroprocessorsof thecomputer.Otherwellknownoperating

systemsincludeUNIX,Linux,Macintosh,andWindows.

Output
Datathatcomeoutofacomputerdevice.Forexample,informationdisplayedonthemonitor,soundfromthe
speakers,andinformationprintedtopaper.

Palm
Ahandheldcomputer.

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PC
Personalcomputer.GenerallyreferstocomputersrunningWindowswithaPentiumprocessor.

PCboard
PrintedCircuitboard,aboardprintedoretchedwithacircuitandprocessors.Powersupplies,information
storagedevices,orchangersareattached.

PDA
PersonalDigitalAssistant,ahandheldcomputerthatcanstoredailyappointments,phonenumbers,addresses,
andotherimportantinformation.MostPDAslinktoadesktoporlaptopcomputertodownloadorupload
information.

PDF
PortableDocumentFormat,aformatpresentedbyAdobeAcrobatthatallowsdocumentstobesharedovera
varietyofoperatingsystems.Documentscancontainwordsandpicturesandbeformattedtohaveelectronic
linkstootherpartsofthedocumentortoplacesontheweb.

Pentiumchip
Intel'sfifthgenerationofsophisticatedhighspeedmicroprocessors.Pentiummeansthefifthelement.

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

PersonalcomputerP C
AsingleusercomputercontainingacentralprocessingunitC P U andoneormorememorycircuits.

Petabyte
Ameasureofmemoryorstoragecapacityandisapproximatelyathousandterabytes.

Petaflop
Atheoreticalmeasureofacomputer'sspeedandcanbeexpressedasathousandtrillionfloatingpoint
operationspersecond.

Platform
Theoperatingsystem,suchasUNIX,Macintosh,Windows,onwhichacomputerisbased.

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Plugandplay
Computerhardwareorperipheralsthatcomesetupwithnecessarysoftwaresothatwhenattachedtoa
computer,theyarerecognizedbythecomputerandarereadytouse.

Popupmenu
Amenuwindowthatopensverticallyorhorizontallyonscreentodisplaycontextrelatedoptions.Alsocalled
dropdownmenuorpulldownmenu.

PowerPC
AcompetitorofthePentiumchip.Itisanewgenerationofpowerfulsophisticatedmicroprocessorsproduced
fromanAppleIBMMotorolaalliance.

Printer
Amechanicaldeviceforprintingacomputer'soutputonpaper.Therearethreemajortypesofprinter:

Dotmatrixcreatesindividualletters,madeupofaseriesoftinyinkdots,bypunchingaribbonwiththe
endsoftinywires.
T histypeof printerismostof tenusedinindustrialsettings, suchasdirectmailf orlabelling.

Inkjetspraystinydropletsofinkparticlesontopaper.

Laserusesabeamoflighttoreproducetheimageofeachpageusingamagneticchargethatattractsdry
tonerthatistransferredtopaperandsealedwithheat.

Program
Apreciseseriesofinstructionswritteninacomputerlanguagethattellsthecomputerwhattodoandhowtodo
it.Programsarealsocalledsoftwareorapplications.

Programminglanguage
Aseriesofinstructionswrittenbyaprogrammeraccordingtoagivensetofrulesorconventionssyntax .High
levelprogramminglanguagesareindependentofthedeviceonwhichtheapplicationorprogram will
eventuallyrunlowlevellanguagesarespecifictoeachprogramorplatform.Programminglanguage
instructionsareconvertedintoprogramsinlanguagespecifictoaparticularmachineoroperatingsystem
machinelanguage.Sothatthecomputercaninterpretandcarryouttheinstructions.Somecommon

programminglanguagesareBASIC,C,C++,dBASE,FORTRAN,andPerl.

Puck
Aninputdevice,likeamouse.Ithasamagnifyingglasswithcrosshairsonthefrontofitthatallowstheoperator
topositionitpreciselywhentracingadrawingforusewithCADCAMsoftware.

Pulldownmenu
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Amenuwindowthatopensverticallyonscreentodisplaycontextrelatedoptions.Alsocalleddropdownmenu
orpopupmenu.

Pushtechnology
Internettoolthatdeliversspecificinformationdirectlytoauser'sdesktop,eliminatingtheneedtosurfforit.
PointCast,whichdeliversnewsinuserdefinedcategories,isapopularexampleofthistechnology.

QuickTime
AudiovisualsoftwarethatallowsmoviedeliveryviatheInternetandemail.QuickTimeimagesareviewedon
amonitor.

RAID
RedundantArrayofInexpensiveDisks,amethodofspreadinginformationacrossseveraldiskssetuptoact
asaunit,usingtwodifferenttechniques:

Diskstripingstoringabitofinformationacrossseveraldiscs
insteadof storingitallononediscandhopingthatthediscdoesn tcrash

.

Diskmirroringsimultaneouslystoringacopyofinformationonanotherdiscsothattheinformationcan
berecoveredifthemaindisccrashes.

RAM
RandomAccessMemory,oneoftwobasictypesofmemory.PortionsofprogramsarestoredinRAMwhen
theprogramislaunchedsothattheprogramwillrunfaster.ThoughaPChasafixedamountofRAM,only
portionsofitwillbeaccessedbythecomputeratanygiventime.Alsocalledmemory.

Rightclick
Usingtherightmousebuttontoopencontextsensitivedropdownmenus.

ROM
ReadOnlyMemory,oneoftwobasictypesofmemory.ROMcontainsonlypermanentinformationputthere
bythemanufacturer.InformationinROMcannotbealtered,norcanthememorybedynamicallyallocatedby
thecomputeroritsoperator.

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

Searchengine

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SoftwarethatmakesitpossibletolookforandretrievematerialontheInternet,particularlytheWeb.Some
popularsearchenginesareAltaVista,Google,HotBot,Yahoo!,WebCrawler,andLycos.

Server
Acomputerthatsharesitsresourcesandinformationwithothercomputers,calledclients,onanetwork.

Shareware
Softwarecreatedbypeoplewhoarewillingtosellitatlowcostornocostforthegratificationofsharing.Itmay
befreestandingsoftware,oritmayaddfunctionalitytoexistingsoftware.

Software
Computerprogramsalsocalledapplications.

Spider
Aprocesssearchenginesusetoinvestigatenewpagesonawebsiteandcollecttheinformationthatneedstobe
putintheirindices.

Spreadsheet
Softwarethatallowsonetocalculatenumbersinaformatthatissimilartopagesinaconventionalledger.

Storage
Devicesusedtostoremassiveamountsofinformationsothatitcanbereadilyretrieved.Devicesinclude
RAIDs,CDROMs,DVDs.

Streaming
TakingpacketsofinformationsoundorvisualfromtheInternetandstoringitintemporaryfilestoallowitto
playincontinuousflow.

Stylusandtablet
Aninputdevicesimilartoamouse.Thestylusispenshaped.Itisusedtodrawonatabletlikedrawingonpaper
andthetablettransferstheinformationtothecomputer.Thetabletrespondstopressure.Thefirmerthepressure
usedtodraw,thethickerthelineappears.

Surfing
ExploringtheInternet.

Surgeprotector
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Acontrollertoprotectthecomputerandmakeupforvariancesinvoltage.

Telnet
Awaytocommunicatewitharemotecomputeroveranetwork.

Trackball
Inputdevicethatcontrolsthepositionofthecursoronthescreentheunitismountednearthekeyboard,and
movementiscontrolledbymovingaball.

TerabytesT B
Athousandgigabytes.

Teraflop
Ameasureofacomputer'sspeed.Itcanbeexpressedasatrillionfloatingpointoperationspersecond.

TrojanHorse
Seevirus.

UNIX
Averypowerfuloperatingsystemusedasthebasisofmanyhighendcomputerapplications.

Upload
Theprocessoftransferringinformationfromacomputertoawebsiteorotherremotelocationonanetwork.
Totransferinformationfromacomputertoawebsiteorotherremotelocationonanetwork.

URL
UniformResourceLocator.

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

UPS
UniversalPowerSupplyorUninterruptiblePowerSupply.Anelectricalpowersupplythatincludesabatteryto
provideenoughpowertoacomputerduringanoutagetobackupdataandproperlyshutdown.

USB
AmultiplesocketUSBconnectorthatallowsseveralUSBcompatibledevicestobeconnectedtoacomputer.
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USENET
AlargeunmoderatedanduneditedbulletinboardontheInternetthatoffersthousandsofforums,called
newsgroups.Theserangefromnewsgroupsexchanginginformationonscientificadvancestocelebrityfanclubs.

Userfriendly
Aprogramordevicewhoseuseisintuitivetopeoplewithanontechnicalbackground.

Videoteleconferencing
Aremote"facetofacechat,"whentwoormorepeopleusingawebcamandanInternettelephoneconnection
chatonline.Thewebcamenablesbothlivevoiceandvideo.

VirtualrealityV R
Atechnologythatallowsonetoexperienceandinteractwithimagesinasimulatedthreedimensional
environment.Forexample,youcoulddesignaroominahouseonyourcomputerandactuallyfeelthatyouare
walkingaroundiniteventhoughitwasneverbuilt.
T heH olodeckinthescience f ictionT V seriesS tarT rek : V oyagerwouldbetheultimatevirtualreality.

Currenttechnologyrequirestheusertowearaspecialhelmet,viewinggoggles,gloves,andotherequipmentthat
transmitsandreceivesinformationfromthecomputer.

Virus
Anunauthorizedpieceofcomputercodeattachedtoacomputerprogramorportionsofacomputersystemthat
secretlycopiesitselffromonecomputertoanotherbyshareddiscsandovertelephoneandcablelines.Itcan
destroyinformationstoredonthecomputer,andinextremecases,candestroyoperability.Computerscanbe
protectedfromvirusesiftheoperatorutilizesgoodviruspreventionsoftwareandkeepsthevirusdefinitionsup
todate.Mostvirusesarenotprogrammedtospreadthemselves.Theyhavetobesenttoanothercomputerbye
mail,sharing,orapplications.Thewormisanexception,becauseitisprogrammedtoreplicateitselfbysending
copiestoothercomputerslistedintheemailaddressbookinthecomputer.Therearemanykindsofviruses,for
example:

Bootvirusesplacesomeoftheircodeinthestartupdisksectortoautomaticallyexecutewhenbooting.
Therefore,whenaninfectedmachineboots,thevirusloadsandruns.

Filevirusesattachedtoprogramfilesf ileswiththeextension. exe.Whenyouruntheinfectedprogram,

theviruscodeexecutes.

Macrovirusescopytheirmacrostotemplatesand/orotherapplicationdocumentfiles.

TrojanHorseisamalicious,securitybreakingprogramthatisdisguisedassomethingbeingsuchasa
screensaverorgame.

Wormlaunchesanapplicationthatdestroysinformationonyourharddrive.Italsosendsacopyofthe
virustoeveryoneinthecomputer'semailaddressbook.

WAV

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3/31/2017 ComputerGlossary

Asoundformatpronouncedwaveusedtoreproducesoundsonacomputer.

Webcam
Avideocamera/computersetupthattakesliveimagesandsendsthemtoaWebbrowser.

Window
Aportionofacomputerdisplayusedinagraphicalinterfacethatenablesuserstoselectcommandsbypointing
toillustrationsorsymbolswithamouse."Windows"isalsothenameMicrosoftadoptedforitspopular
operatingsystem.

WorldWideWeb" W W W " or " theW eb "

AnetworkofserversontheInternetthatusehypertextlinkeddatabasesandfiles.Itwasdevelopedin1989by
TimBernersLee,aBritishcomputerscientist,andisnowtheprimaryplatformoftheInternet.Thefeaturethat
distinguishestheWebfromotherInternetapplicationsisitsabilitytodisplaygraphicsinadditiontotext.

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

Worm
Seevirus.

WYSIWYG
WhatYouSeeIsWhatYouGet.Whenusingmostwordprocessors,pagelayoutprograms
S eedesktoppublishing,andwebpagedesignprograms,wordsandimageswillbedisplayedonthemonitoras

theywilllookontheprintedpageorwebpage.

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