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Technology Buzzwords Specialized Technology Glossaries The Free Online Dictionary of Computing WhatIs?Com, Jargon File (The Hacker's Dictionary).
active
matrix display
A
type of flat-panel display found on most of today's laptop computers. Active
matrix technology differs from "passive matrix" only in that the
screen is refreshed more frequently, creating much better picture quality with
better viewing angles. The most common type of active matrix screen is called
TFT (or "thin film transfer"). The two terms are often used
synonymously. AGP
(abbreviation
for "Accelerated Graphics Port") A new type of dedicated PC graphics
bus designed by Intel Corp to more efficiently render 3D graphics. The AGP can
transfer data at a rate up to 528MB/sec. By comparison, the more common PCI
(Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus, used in Pentium and Mac machines, has a
maximum transfer rate of 132MB/sec. AGP's big bandwidth allows games and 3D apps
to use more realistically-rendered textures and faster frame rates and to store
this data in system, instead of video, memory. This reduces the performance hit
to the system as graphics are presented. See also bus and PCI. all-in-one
Increasingly
popular office machines that combine a printer, scanner, photocopier and fax
machine in one unit. Alpha
Channel
In
computer graphics, a portion of each pixel's data that is reserved for
transparency information. 32-bit graphics systems contain four channels -- three
8-bit channels for red, green, and blue (RGB) and one 8-bit alpha channel. The
alpha channel is really a mask -- it specifies how the pixel's colors should be
merged with another pixel when the two are overlaid, one on top of the other. AMR
[Abbreviation
for "Audio Modem Riser"] An Intel specification for analog I/O
(Input/Output) functions on motherboards. An AMR card removes analog I/O
functions from the motherboard, relegating them to a plug-in "riser
card" (a.k.a. a "daughter board"). By doing this, motherboard
manufacturing is not restrained by the FCC and International Telecom
certification processes which can often get bogged down in red tape. AMPS
[Abbreviated
as "Advanced Mobile Phone Service"] The analog celluar phone standard
first introduced by AT&T in 1983. AMPS phones operate in the 800 to 900
Megahertz (MHz) radio spectrum. The term is "cell" phone because the
signals are sent from radio transmitters that cover a broadcast area known as a
cell. API
[abbreviation
for "Application Program Interface"] A series of software routines and
development tools that comprise an interface between a computer application and
lower-level services and functions (e.g. the operating system, device drivers,
and other low-level software). APIs serve as building blocks for programmers
putting together software applications. Sometimes "Application Programming
Interface." ASP
[Abbreviation
for "Application Service Provider"] A growing number of
"apps-on-tap" websites where applications are available for rent. ASPs
allow small businesses to have access to programs and services that they might
not otherwise be able to afford on their local area network. ATA
[Abbreviation
for "for "Advanced Technology Attachment"] ATA is the common disk
drive technology that puts the drive controller right on the drive itself. The
are a number of ATA versions, from the original a.k.a. IDE) to the 33MBps ATA-33
(a.k.a. Ultra-ATA) to the newest standard, ATA-66 which operates at 66MBps. Athlon
The
name of AMD's new chip intended to compete with Intel's Pentium III. The Athlon
was formerly referred to as the K7. The September '99 issue of PC World claims
that the 600MHz Athlon is on average 9% faster than a 600MHz PIII. In graphics
tests, the Athlon was 21% faster running 3D modeling software. For comparisons
and benchmarks, see AMD's Athlon
page. ATVEF
[Abbreviation
for "Advanced Television Enhancement Forum"] A consortium of computer,
cable and television companies that are developing an HTML-like standard for the
delivery of computer data via TV signals. Right now, services like IBM's
Intercast use the "Vertical Blanking Interval" on an analog TV signal.
This is the part of the signal that's used to transmit closed captioning and
emergency data. VBI has proven too limited for all but the most basic Internet
content delivery. ATVEF hopes to develop a more high-bandwidth solution. audio
homesteading Using
a free audio website (such as www.live365.com) and webcasting tools to set up
your own Net radio station. backhoe-induced
Deep Fade [Slang]
One of many terms used in the wired world to refer to a day when the network is
down (think: digital age snow day). Other terms are "backhoe day" and
the verb "backhoed" (as in "the network has been backhoed.")
Probably based on one or more real situtauions where a backhoe sliced through a
network trunk. backplane A
backplane is a printed circuit board in an electronics device with sockets into
which other circuit boards can be plugged. In your PC, the backplane is the
large board that contains the ISA, PCI and other sockets for modem, video, sound
and other expansion cards. Sometimes used synonymously with motherboard. bid shielding [slang]
On an online auction, when two bidders pull the following scam: one bids low,
the other very high, which discourages other bidders. Seconds before the auction
ends, the high bid is retracted and the low bidder wins by default. BIOS [Abbreviation
for "Basic Input/Output System"] The BIOS is the root software in a PC
that contains all of the basic code for controlling drives, keyboard, monitor,
mouse, comm ports, etc. The BIOS acts as a bridge between the hardware and the
operating system. The BIOS resides on a ROM chip so that your computer can
continue to function even after a disk failure. To learn more, see PC Guide's
BIOS reference page.
blog [slang]
Short for "WeBLOG." A Weblog is a type of website that uses a dated
log format for the building its content. Weblogs (or blogs) are usually
moderated by a single person who creates the material themselves, edits
submissions from contributors, gleans material from elsewhere on the Net, or a
combination of all three. One of the most common blog sites is the news for
nerds mecca Slash Dot. Bluetooth Bluetooth
is an open standard for short-range wireless communications being developed by a
cooperative of mobile phone, computer and PDA manufacturers. The standard would
allow all of your (Bluetooth-compliant) personal tech devices to talk to each
other. The first Bluetooth-compliant products are supposed to make their
appearance by the end of 1999. For more info, see the Bluetooth
website. brain fart [Slang]
1. The result of mental indigestion (a "braino" in hacker slang) when
switching from one activity to another that causes one to make an embarrassing
mistake. Trying to fast-forward a real-time TV program after watching a
videotape would be an example of a brain fart. 2. A burst of useful information
that's the byproduct of a bloated mind. "Can you give me a brain fart on
the theory of the Big Crunch?" browser safe
colors There
are only 216 colors in the common 256-color display palette that are rendered
the exact same way on both Mac and PC operating systems. These are called
"browser safe colors" (or the "browser safe palatte"). You
need to use these colors if you want your Web graphics and colored elements to
look consistent on both platforms. bus Think
of a computer bus as sort of a highway (to mix a metaphor) through your computer
on which data travels. Buses carry data between the microrocessor, disk drive
controllers, memory and peripheral ports. Buses have several sets of
"lanes" (if you will), one for carrying data, another for carrying
memory addresses on where to find the data, and another for carrying control
signals for regulating the the devices and processes connected to the bus. B2B [Abbreviation
for "Business to Business"] The term "B2B" is showing up a
lot these says, as business to business ecommerce is touted as the next great
Net revolution. "B2C" stands for "business to consumers." cache [pronounced
"cash"] A form of high-speed storage that can be either a section of
main memory (as in "memory caching") or an independent storage device
("disk caching"). Memory caching is effective because most programs
access the same data or instructions over and over again. By storing this
information in cache memory, overall data processing speed is improved. Level 2
(L2) cache, which is common in many of today's computers, is usually located on
a second chip between the main computer processor and the DRAM.
CDPD [abbreviation
for "Cellular Digital Packet Data"] A wireless radio frequency (RF)
communication service that can deliver data packets over existing cellular phone
networks that have been upgrading for CDPD. CDPD is capable of transfer speeds
of up to 19.2 kbps. The CDPD packets are actually sent between pauses in the
cellular phone conversations. CDPD cellular modem service is currently available
in about 65 US cities. chatterbot A
chatterbot is a software program that runs in a chat room or on a Web page and
is designed to simulate a human conversant. Chatterbots are common in the online
text-based gaming environments known as Tinymuds. A nice chatterbot fan page can
be found here. Circuit-Switched
Cellular A
system for transfering modem data over a conventional analog cellular network
that has not been updated for CDPD communication. See CDPD ClearType ClearType
is a new font technology that Microsoft is developing. Mr. Bill and Bill Hill
(the creator of ClearType) claim that it will make future screens as easy to
read as print books and will spark a revolution in e-books. ClearType works by
using complicated algorithms to render characters more sharpely by adding red,
green and blue subelements. For more info see MS's ClearType
page CLEC [Abbreviation
for "Competitive Local Exchange Carrier"] A telecom company that is in
competition with the local Bell (or other) telephone company. The term was
coined after the 1996 Telecommunications Act which deregulated the telecom
industry. CLECS include cable companies, ISPs, cellular providers and others. coaxial cable Type
of cable used for cable TV, UHF/VHF TV antennas, ham and scanner radio hook-ups.
Coax was also the standard for data networks such as Ethernet and IBM's 3270
terminals (now being replaced by fiber optics). Coax is a round two-conductor
cable with a single solid center wire (or stranded conductor) surrounded by a
braided or foil conductor (which is usually grounded). Both conductors share the
same axis, thus the name coaxial. Coax has a characteristic impedance (expressed
in Ohms). Coax cable is rate with an RG prefix (old military jargon for
"Radio Guide" and followed by the cable type (expressed in a number)
and the suffix "/U" if it's a general ultility cable (as opposed to
special application coax made of different material, designed for shorter runs,
etc.). RG-6/U coax is a 75 Ohms cable designed for internal wiring of cable and
antenna television. RG-59/U coax is a 75 Ohms cable commonly used in video
transmission, and CB, Ham radio and TV antennas. CompactFlash
Card Compact
Flash cards are smaller, more durable and can hold more data than other types of
flash memory cards. CompactFlash cards are also about one-third the size of a PC
card and can be used ub Type I & II PC card slots with an adapter. One thing
that distinguishes CompactFlash cards is that they have their own controller
onboard so that cameras, PDAs and other devices that use the cards are not
burdened with the controller software. CompactFlash cards comes is sizes from
2MB to 64MB. content-aware
switches A
new generation of network switching technology that can actually make decisions
about prioritizing net traffic. This technology, also called "smart
switches," are especially useful on intranets and extranets where real-time
decisions can be made about getting mission-critical apps and data through the
pipeline faster. convergence
networks Internet-based
networks that deliver voice, data and video over the same network. Cisco's
Voice, Video and Integrated Data system (AVVID) is already on the market, but so
far, adoption is slow (given some industry reluctance and the money alreay
invested in separate voice and data nets). copyleft One
of the backbone concepts of the open source software movement is the idea of
copyleft. Coined by the Free Software
Foundation, copyleft stipulates that a piece of software can be freely
distributed and modified as long as a copyleft statement travels with it that
tells others they can freely distribute and modify the software code as long as
they keep it open to distribution and modification (and keep the copyleft
statement on it). culprit zero The
person responsible for initiating an online media prank, phony virus warning or
email chain letter. As you might imagine, tracking down culprit zero can be next
to impossible. data coolie [Slang]
A third world programmer who will work for much less money than an equivalent US
programmer. daughter window
A
smaller browser window that pops up when you hit a Web page. Daughter windows
are used to present ads, news, special promotions and site indexes. They first
became popular with adult websites, but can now be found everywhere. dead media Cyberpunk
hero Bruce Sterling began the Dead Media Project in 1995 to catalog all of
media's dodo birds, those technologies that have fallen by the wayside. He and
fellow sci-fi author Richard Kadrey moderate a mailing list of "dead media
necronauts" who collective research and catalog lost but not forgotten
media tech. Sterling is writing a book on his findings. Check one of the Dead
Media archives. deep linking The
practice of hyperlinking to pages on a site other than the front page of a site.
Deep linking has become a controversial practice, thanks to the hyper-greedy
Ticketmaster, who says deep linking bypasses the front page advertising on their
site, cutting into their ad revenue. They are pushing for the practice of
"consensual linking" only. Dell [Slang]
To beat a competitor by eliminating the middleman and selling directly to
customers. "Some analysts have warned that "Delling" could spread
to the car, chemicals and banking sectors." digital video
recorders A
new breed of digital recording technology that compresses and records TV
programming onto a hard disk. The first two manufacturers of DVRs are TiVo and
ReplayTV. One unique feature of DVRs allows you to save a show you're watching
from the beginning even if you decide to record it mid-way. DVR recordings are
meant to be watched and then erased or transfered to a VCR for later playback. DIP Switches [abbreviation
for "Dual Inline Package"] Small switches found on motherboards and
other computer devices. By turning the switches on or off, the user can select
different operating options. DirectX An
MS Windows program that allows applications to "talk" directly to
graphics and audio hardware. dot-com [Slang]
Previously used as a way of indicating the period (.) and top level (COMmercial)
domain of a Web address, "dot-com" has suddenly become a way of
describing Internet-based businesses. "Did you see how the dot-com stocks
are going crazy?" Please, make it stop! DRDRAM [abbreviation
for "Direct RAMbus Dynamic Random Access Memory"] The next generation
of RAM technology debuting later this year ('99). DRDRAM draws less power
(almost a third less than SDRAM), has clock speeds of up to a dizzying 800MHz,
allows for multiple channels of memory for up to four parallel banks of RAM, and
a data path that's twice as wide as existing SDRAM (two bytes instead of one).
All this translates to RAM performance that should be at least three times
faster than existing memory technology. DSP [Abbreviation
for "Digital Signal Processor"] A microprocessor that specializes in
calculations related to translating analog signals into digital ones. DSPs are
used in audio and video compression, voice processing, modems, hearing aids,
seismic sensors, anyplace where rapid analog to digital conversion and signal
clarification is required. DVD [abbreviation
for "Digital Video (or Verastile) Disc"] An improved CD-ROM-like
technology that can fit between 4.7GB to 17GB of multimedia data on a single
disc. DVD is "backwards compatible" with CD-ROMs so you can play your
old audio CDs and CD-ROMs on DVD drives. The latest version of DVD, called DVD-2
(or DVDII), can also read CD-R (Recordable) and CD-RW (Re-Writable) discs. e-cinema The
next generation of cinema will be digital, not analog. E-cinema films will be
delivered over high-speed data networks or via removable media to movie
theaters. While e-cinema is exciting from a technical standpoint (no data loss
through printing, no scratches and pops, no print costs), it raises big
questions: who will pay for the new digital theaters? what does it mean for
independents? etc. Geo. Lucas says that Star Wars Episode II will likely be an
all-digital film. E-Factor What
cyberpundit Michael Wolf calls the new strategy, increasingly found in all forms
of business, where regardless of the product or service, you have to use
entertainment and show-biz antics to get your customer's attention. EIDE [abbreviation
for "Enhanced Integrated Device Electronics"] Refers to a type of disk
drive standard where the controller for the device is part of the device itself,
eliminating the need for a separate adapter card. EIDE adds features onto the
older IDE standard, such as larger capacity (up to 8.4GB), faster access times,
and burst transfer (large chunks of data at once). 8-second Rule Rule-of-thumb
for the maximum amount of time it should take for a site's front page to load. EPOC If
it's not the PalmOS and not WinCE, it's probably EPOC, an operating system
developed in Europe for handheld computers. First used on the popular Psion
H/PC's, EPOC is being adopted by a number of developers of other handheld
devices, Net phones, Net appliances. e-speak Hewlett-Packard's
answer to Java. E-speak actually sits on top of Java and is cross-platform
compatable. Unlike Java, e-speak is designed to be easy to use so that
non-programming Web developers can create applications and Web services via a
graphical interface. For more info, check out HP's e-speak
home page. e-Stamp An
online postage service and stamp printing device recently approved for use by
the US Postal Service. Users will have a small "electric vault" that
attaches to their printer. Postage is purchased online, either as needed or in
an amount to be stored in the vault for later use. So far, e-Stamps only work
with a few envelope printing-capable programs, most of them Microsoft products
(who, surprise, is one of e-Stamp's partners!). For more details, see the e-Stamp
site. e-support The
delivery of tech support services directly to a computer over the Internet. Dell
recently rolled out its OpenManage Resolution Assistant, a technology that can
monitor customer's PowerEdge servers and correct problems as they arise. If the
program is successful, they will begin offering it to the desktop as well. One
obvious hurdle for e-support is the significant security issues. Ethernet A
popular type of local area network (LAN) developed by Xerox in 1976 and common
in many of today's office networks. Two popular Ethernet configurations are
10Base-T (carrying 10 megabits per second) and 100Base-T (at 100Mbps). Ethernet
networks can be connected by coaxial, fiber optic and twisted-pair cabling. FastWireless The
sexier name for IEEE 802.11 (see, we told you), a wireless local area network
(LAN) standard being promoted by WECA. WECA, or the Wireless Ethernet
Compatability Alliance, is a consortium of networking companies who are trying
to promote FastWireless. Where wireless LANS in the past were slow (at 2
megabits/second), IEEE 802.11 is rated at speeds up to 11 megabits per second.
WECA players include Lucent, 3COM and Nokia. File Allocation
Table [abbreviated
as "FAT"] You probably already know that the data in your computer
--the files and programs-- are not all stored in one continuous block on a disk
drive. Files are stored as space allows in fixed groups of bytes. Think of the
file allocation table as the phone book that keeps track of where everything is.
The two most common FATs are FAT16 and FAT32 for MS-DOS/Windows. FAT16 (as in
16-bits) was created back in the bad ol' days before hard drives and is
therefore not very efficient (and limits drives to 2.6GB in size). FAT32
(32-bits), introduced with Win98, does a much more efficient job of file
allocation and does not have the 2.6GB size restriction. Your computer always
keeps two copies of the FAT in case one gets corrupted. If both become
corrupted, you're in deep do-do. firmware Software
that's stored in Read-Only Memory (ROM) and stays intact even if the device has
no power. Boot routines and other low-level instructions are stored in firmware.
Some firmware can be upgraded, some can't. flash ROM [also
called "flash memory"] A type of nonvolatile (i.e. it stays intact
when power is off) memory commonly used as a replacement for or supplement to a
hard disk drive in a portable computer (laptop, handheld, PDA, etc.) FPU [abbreviation
for "Floating-point Unit"] A computer circuit that performs arithmetic
functions called "floating point operations." Floating point math is
used whenever an operation involves fractional numbers or irrational parts used
in spreadsheets and graphics rendering. Frankenpants Slang
used in Britain for a line of pants being sold that are made out of GM
(genetically-modified) cotton. Friday night
pizza maker [Slang]
Japanese term for a salaryman who gets drunk on payday and ends up leaving a
puddle of vomit somewhere along his way home. GNOME [abbreviation
for "GNU Network Object Model Environment"] The GNOME project
(pronounced with a hard "G") is a collaborative software project
building a complete user-friendly graphic user interface (GUI) entirely with
free software components. GNOME is a GUI for GNU/Linux/Unix systems. Find out
more at the GNOME project page.
GNU is the open source OS project that Linux is partially built from. GNU stands
for the recursive "GNU is not Unix." The "G" is hard so that
the term is not confused with "new." gopod [Slang]
The Supreme Being of cyberspace. Legend has it that gopod started out as a typo
(for god) on the Well BBS and the term stuck. "I swear to gopod I'll open a
topic to make fun of you!" GPS [abbreviation
for "Global Positioning System"] GPS is a U.S. Department of Defense
network of 24 low-power radio satellites that constantly broadcast their
position and the time. Ground-based GPS receivers use these satellite signals to
determine their location. Location accuracy for civilian use is between 100 and
10 meters depending on equipment. Accuracy of within one meter is possible with
special military-approved equipment and clearance. GUIX [Pronounced
"Gwicks"] Derogatory tech support slang for Unix/Linux newbies who are
used to GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces) and don't know their way around a
command line interface. Hardcore Linux user are sometimes called Penguinheads. headless
clients Term
for the virtual clients used in "test load" software on ecommerce
sites to make sure the site can handle high traffic numbers. Analysts say that
many "e-tailers" have not done adequate load testings for the
projected holiday onslaught. HomePNA [abbreviation
for "Home Phoneline Networking Alliance"] The standard being developed
by a consortium of computer companies for
home networking hardware and software that uses your home's phone wiring to send
data between multiple PCs. hoteling Hoteling
ia a form of Internet service hosting where the customer houses their own server
box at their ISP's physical location. HotSync [and
HotSyncing] The process of automatically synchronizing data between a personal
digital assistant (such as the PalmPilot) and its corresponding program on a
desktop computer. Changes you make on the PDA or corresponding desktop program
will be reflected on both platforms after a HotSync. 3COM/US Robotics holds the
trademark to the term HotSync, but the process of synchronizing between a PDA
and a desktop computer is common. ICANN [Acronym
for "Internet Corporation for Names and Numbers"] ICANN
is the non-governmental, non-profit organization set up earlier this year ('99)
to administrate the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS). So far, things have not
been going so well. ICANN is currently dangerously low on cash, and so far, its
efforts have been widely criticized. I-commerce [Abbreviation
for "Individual Commerce"] A term coined by Interactive Week to refer
to the growing meta-affiliate programs cropping up online. I-commerce sites
aggregate affiliate programs offered by such sites as Amazon, CDNOW, Reel.Com
and Magazine Mall. Some I-commerce sites are moving into email affiliate
programs where your email messages will contain ads for products that you can
get a commission on (turning us all into junior spammers). IEEE 1394 [a.k.a.
FireWire, i.LINK] A new standard for a high performance data transfer bus
developed by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). IEEE
1394 connects devices to your computer via a single port on which up to 63
devices can be attached with data transfer speeds of up to 400 Mbps (megabits
per second). The first products taking advantage of this technology are digital
camcorders and external hard drives. Apple uses the trademarked name FireWire,
Sony uses i.Link. Everyone else uses oh-so-sexy IEEE 1394. Can't we all just get
along? IPv6 [Abbreviation
for "Internet Protocol version 6"] The long-awaited new version of the
Internet Protocol (the Net's addressing system). IPv6 lengthens IP addresses
from 32 to 128 bits. This change will allow for tremendous expansion of IP
addresses -- for handheld, embedded and other next generation Internet devices
-- without fear of running out of IP numbers. Also known as IPng (or
"Internet Protocol next generation"]. For more info, see Yahoo's IPv6
Page. IRQ [abbreviation
for "Interupt ReQuests"] IRQs are a means by which the computer's data
bus alerts the CPU to the fact that it needs attention. The IRQ signals tell the
CPU to temporarily suspend normal operation and handle the interrupt request.
Devices that use hardware interrupts include modems, printers, interface cards
and other add-ons and peripherals. The currently-common PCI
bus allows devices to share IRQs and USB does away with them altogether. ISA [abbreviation
for "Industry Standard Architecture"] An older bus standard that is
being replaced on newer machines by PCI, although at least one ISA slot is still
found on even the newest motherboards to handle legacy cards and peripherals.
This will likely changed by the end of 1999. ISDN (abbreviation
for "Integrated Services Digital Network") A digital telephone
standard that provides both voice and data services over the same connection.
ISDN can offer high-speed access up to 64Kbps (1 channel) and 128Kbps (2
channel). Joule A
unit of measurement of the amount of energy delivered by one watt of power in
one second. A "Joule rating" is the sum of a device's internal
components' ability to absorb and dissipate a surge of energy. In surge
protectors, the more important rating is the "let-through voltage," or
the amount of voltage that a surge protector will actually pass to the equipment
after being blasted by a 6000v spike of electricity. jumpers On
a motherboard, jumpers are a set of pins that, by adding and subtracting little
plastic connectors over them, allow the user to turn on or off certain
operations. Ku-Band The
11.7 to 12.7 GHz (Gigahertz) frequency band used by Fixed Satellite Services (FSS)
and Broadcasting Satellite Services (BSS). logging off [Slang]
Rathering disgusting techie slang for going to the bathroom. Other terms for
toiletry include the equally descriptive "downloading" and the less
offensive "bio-break." Linux Linux
(pronounced "Lee-nooks") is a freely-distributed, open operating
system (OS) based on Unix, the multi-user, multi-tasking OS created by Ken
Thompson and Dennis Ritchie at Bell Labs in the late '60s. Linux was written by
Linus Torvalds of Finland and has been built upon by many computer scientists
and hackers from around the world. Debian (pronounced "Deb'-ian")
Linux is one branch of Linux's evolutionary tree. LCD (abbreviation
for "Liquid Crystal Display") [Warning: Gross Oversimplification
Ahead:] A display technology that uses a liquid substance and an electrical
field to polarize the liquid into crystalline structures that form images on the
display. LCD displays are common on consumer electronic, cell phone and laptop
displays. MCD [Abbreviation
for "Multi-Communications Device"] Wireless products that combine such
things as a digital cell phone, two-way radio, pager and Web access capabilities
in a single device. Memory Effect The
shortening of a battery's life by recharging it before it is fully discharged.
This is a big problem with *some* Nickel Cadmium (NiCad) batteries, less so with
Nickle Metal Hydrides (NiMH) and not a problem (allegedly) with Lithium Ion
(Li-ion] batteries. Everything you want to know about batteries but where afraid
to ask can be found here.
microbrowser The
small, bare-bones Web browsers that can be found in many digital cellphones,
PDAs and Internet appliances. microcinema A
term used to describe low-budget desktop-produced "films," shot on
digital video cameras, edited on a desktop and distributed over the Net and via
mailorder videotape. MIDI [abbreviation
for "Musical Instrument Digital Interface"] A standard developed to
allow computers, synthesizers and other electronic instruments to talk to each
other via a common interface. MIDI files contain information on what instruments
are to be played, for how long, the sustain, etc. Moore's Law In
1965, Intel co-founder Gordon Moore observed that transistors per square inch on
integrated circuits were doubling every 12 months. This became known as Moore's
Law. That pace has shifted to 18 months, which is now used as the measure of the
Law. This pace is expected to stay relatively constant for another decade or
two. Motion-JPEG [abbreviated
"MJPEG"] MJPEG is a video standard created by the Joint Photographic
Experts Group, the organization that created the common JPEG format for image
compression. In fact, MJPEG uses JPEG compression for each of the frames in an
MJPEG video. Hardware-based MJPEG allows you to capture full resolution video at
30fps (frames per second) for high quality video that is as close to the
original source as possible. ML [Abbreviation
for "Markup Language"] A generic way of referring to all of the
different types of markup languages: HTML, XML, DHTML, VoxML, HDML, etc. MP3 [abbreviation
for "MPEG Layer-3"] The audio extension for the MPEG digital video
standard. It has a surprisingly efficient compression rate which makes it able
to deliver near CD quality audio over modem connections. MP3 is very
controversial because it has led to rampant piracy of commercial audio over the
Internet. The record companies say that it is this piracy which has caused them
to lobby so hard against it. Supporters of the technology say that the record
industry is just trying to stall MP3 development while they develop their own
standard. The truth is probably somewhere in-between. MPEG-2 [abbreviation
for "Moving Pictures Experts Group"] The second generation of the
popular video compression standard, MPEG-2 presents images at resolutions of 720
x 480 and 1280 x 720 (pixels) at frame rates of 60 frames per second and offers
CD-quality audio. The quality of MPEG-2 is good enough for NTSC television
signals and even HDTV (high-definition television). MPEG compression works by
storing only the parts of the images that change from one frame to the next,
instead of compressing the entire frame. Using MPEG-2, an entire feature length
film only takes up a few gigabytes of storage space. W32.MyPics.worm
Virus
sent as a picture email attachment. When downloaded, it changes your default IE
start page to a porn site and emails the picture to 50 people in your Outlook
address book. A variant on the Melissa virus. NAT [Abbreviation
for "Network Address Translator"] Corporate networks who want to have
their own internal network addresses (that may conflict with external Internet
address) use a NAT. The NAT intercepts outgoing communications and converts
conflicting IP addresses to something that the Internet will be happy with. OCR [abbreviation
for "Optical Character Recognition"] OCR is the means by which
paper-based text is feed into a computer (via a scanner), "read" by
OCR software, and translated into machine-readable text. OEM [Abbreviation
for "Original Equipment Manufacturer"] The manufacturer of equipment
that's sold by other vendors. OEM products are usually sold under the brand name
of the re-seller. OS Persistence OS
Persistence is basically an operating system that can boot up in seconds to
exactly where you left it, even if you unplugged your computer in the meantime.
OS Persistence work by taking a snapshot of your RAM and writing it to a file on
your hard drive. When you turn your computer on again, rather than loading
everything thing up, it simply reads the file off of your hard drive and writes
the contents to your RAM, and theoretically, within seconds, your computer is up
and running again exactly where it left off. P3P [abbreviation
for "Platform for Privacy Preferences Project"] A privacy and personal
information standard being developed by the World
Wide Web Consortium (WC3). The basic idea is to create standards and
practices that will allow users to control how much personal information they
share with a website. P3P technology would, for instance, alert a visitor to a
site on the information gathering practices of that site. For more information,
see the P3P FAQ. portable portal
(noun) The
latest portal flavor of the month, "portable portal" is the name given
to Internet services like AvantGo and Portal-to-Go that offer Web content and
services customized for non-PC users. [10/28/99] personal proxy
server A
technology that allows users to enter their credit card and other sensitive
information only once, on a remote personal profile form (on a secure server),
and then use a browser plug-in to automatically send relevant info from the
personal proxy server to websites as required. PC-100 main
memory bus Introduced
in the middle of 1998, most motherboard manufacturers began using a 100MHz main
memory system bus in their designs, replacing the older 66MHz bus. PC-100 buses
are approx. 20% faster than the older bus. To match the faster bus speed,100MHz
SDRAM ("Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory") modules are
required on all PCs with the PC-100 bus. Both Apple and PC makers (circa early
'99) are using the PC-100 bus/100MHz SDRAM combo. PCMCIA card (Also
called a "PC Card") A removable card that fits into a PCMCIA slot on
many digital devices (laptops, Personal Digital Assistants, wireless
communications devices). PC cards house such things as additional memory, modems
and network interfaces. PCMCIA stands for "Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association," the group who developed and trademarked the
technology. PCI (abbreviation
for "Peripheral Component Interface or Interconnect") A 64-bit local
bus that was introduced to meet the more demanding needs of Pentium processors.
The maximum transfer rate on a PCI bus is 132 MB/sec. See also bus.
PCS [abbreviation
for "Personal Communication Services"] The FCC's term for digital
cellular technologies. PCS standards include GSM ("Global System for Mobile
Communications"), CDMA ("Code-Division Multiple Access") and TDMA
("Time Division Multiple Access"). PCS phones are completely digital
and operate in the 1900 MHz frequency range. PDF PDF
stands for "Portable Document Format," developed by Adobe to allow
documents to be read "cross-platform," without the viewer needing the
program the document was created in. To read a document saved in PDF format, you
need the Adobe Acrobat Reader (available at Adobe's
website). PIP [Abbreviation
for "Personal Internet Portal"] First there were "portals,"
one-stop shops for news and information, then there were "vortals," or
vertical portals that assembled everything related to a particular market or
subject. Now comes the "PIP," or personal portal. Developers see PIPs
as the virtual desktops of the future where your customized content, unified
messaging (phone, pager, email, fax, etc.), and datafiles will be stored online.
POSIX [Acronym
for "Portable Operating System Interface for UNIX"] A set of standards
that define the interface between computer applications and POSIX-compliant
operating systems. POSIX-compliance UNIX systems allow developers to more easily
port programs to run on the many flavors of UNIX, LINUX and even Windows NT. POTS (Abbreviation
for "Plain Old Telephone Service") The combination of analog and
digital, fiber optic and copper lined public phone system we have today. Slowly
being converted to all-fiber/all-digital. The big stumbling block is the
so-called "last mile" to your house which, in most locations, is still
copper. preparedness
movement Another
term for "survivalists," likely coined to move beyond the kooky stigma
of the previous term. Fears over Y2K have allowed the "preparedness
movement" to enjoy mainstream attention. prosumer Consumer
electronics gear that is too high-priced (and feature-rich) for average
consumers, but not high-quality enough for most professional applications.
Sony's new line of Digital 8 cameras (in the thousand dollar range) would be
considered consumer fare, while the Canon near-broadcast-quality MiniDV machines
(in the two thousand dollar range) could be called "prosumer." RCA connector Look
on the back of your VCR, stereo and other audio/video equipment. Those
connectors, often colored red (audio-Right), black or white (audio-Left) and
yellow (video) are RCA connectors. ripping Ripping
(or "CD Ripping") is the process of digitally extracting audio tracks
from Compact Discs and converting them to MP3 (or another audio format) for
storage on a hard disk or transfer over the Internet. Ripping is very
controversial because people convert commercial CDs to MP3 and then trade them
over the Net. RISC [Abbreviation
for "Reduced Instruction Set Computer"] A microprocessor chip that
evolved from the earlier CISC ("Complex Instruction Set Computer")
chip. The RISC chip, developed at IBM in the early '70s, needed fewer operating
instructions (hence the name), was faster than CISC processors (at least when
executing simple instructions), and was even cheaper to manufacture. The
Motorola PowerPC chip, used in PowerPC Macs (duh), is a RISC chip. Other RISC
chips include DEC's Alpha and Sun's SPARC. RJ-11 The
most common type of telephone jack in the world is the RJ-11. It is a 6-pin male
modular jack (or plug) that connects to a female jack on a wall (or an RJ-11
adapter). RJ-11 jacks are usually only wired for four pins and only two of them
(usually the red and the green wires) are used for the phone signal. The second
pair can be used to carry a second phone line or to run low-wattage electronics,
such as lights on phones. The second twisted pair of wires are increasingly
being used for phone-based home networks (to connect your home PCs through your
phone wiring). "RJ" stands for Registered Jack. The numbers that
follow RJ (RJ-45, RJ-61X, etc.) are designations assigned by the FCC. RS-232 RSS RSS (most commonly expanded as "Really Simple Syndication") is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.] An RSS document (which is called a "feed", "web feed",or "channel") includes full or summarized text, plus metadata such as publishing dates and authorship. Web feeds benefit publishers by letting them syndicate content automatically. They benefit readers who want to subscribe to timely updates from favored websites or to aggregate feeds from many sites into one place. RSS feeds can be read using software called an "RSS reader", "feed reader", or "aggregator", which can be web-based, desktop-based, or mobile-device-based. A standardized XML file format allows the information to be published once and viewed by many different programs. The user subscribes to a feed by entering into the reader the feed's URI or by clicking an RSS icon in a web browser that initiates the subscription process. The RSS reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new work, downloads any updates that it finds, and provides a user interface to monitor and read the feeds. RTFM RTFM
is hacker shorthand for "Read The Freaking Manual!" or...ah...words to
that effect. SCSI (Abbreviation
for "Small Computer System Interface") A high-speed parallel interface
standard used to connect a computer's CPU to a peripheral device such as a
printer, hard drive, or another computer. SDMI [Abbreviation
for "Secure Digital Music Initiative] The record industry's attempt to stop
MP3 piracy. When the scheme is implemented (allegedly by Q4 '99), all new
commercial CDs will include a digital watermark. Playback on SDMI-compliant MP3
players (and other Internet music devices) will only be possible if the
commercial releases contain the digital watermark. Copies of songs that have
been pirated will not have the watermark and will therefore not work. For more
info see www.sdmi.org. SDRAM [Abbreviation
for "Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory"] A superior form of
DRAM that operates at higher clock speed thanks to a "bursting"
technology in the DRAM that predicts the location of the memory address likely
to be accessed next. shape memory
alloy [Abbreviated
as "SMA"] A type of metal alloy that retains its shape when heated or
cooled above an ambient temperature. This process of heating/cooling,
expanding/contracting allows the wire to act like a biological muscle and to be
used in robotics and other machine applications where a controllable force is
required. A.k.a. "muscle wire" or "shape memory metal." sideloading The
transfering of datafiles from one Internet site to another. New virtual storage
sites like i-drive let you
"sideload" MP3 files from MP3.com to your personal remote directory
(a.k.a. an "Internet drive"). SIMM [Abbreviation
for "Single Inline Memory Module"] A plug-in circuit board that holds
surface-mounted RAM memory chips. The "single inline" part refers to
the fact that the pins on the module that plug into the SIMM socket on the
motherboard form a single row on the bottom of the circuit board. A newer,
higher bandwidth type of memory module called a DIMM ("Dual Inline Memory
Module") is finding its way on to many systems. skins The
user-created graphical interfaces for MP3 players, games like Quake and other
types of software that allow the creation of such custom interfaces. smart dust Airborne
nano-devices (individually called "motes") containing sensors and
communications capabilities. Currently being developed at the University of
Califoria, Berkeley. For a fascinating near-future peak at how smart dust might
work, see Neal Stephenson's amazing book The Diamond Age. smart matter Another
term for "micro-electromechanical systems" (MEMS), a technology that
imbeds micro-mechanical devices such as sensors, gears and actuators into
semiconductor chips. For information on MEMS, see the MEMS
Clearinghouse page. SmartMedia Card
(less
commonly known as an SSFDC or "Solid State Floppy Disk Card") A form
of removable Flash RAM Memory card used in digital cameras and other handheld
computer devices. SmartMedia cards come in both 3.3 and 5 volt versions with
storage copacity from 2MB to 16MB. SmartMedia is a registered trademark. sociomedia Term
coined by MIT writing professor and hypermedia guru Ed Barrett in the early '90s
to refer to the type of socially constructed media and knowledge that can grow
from computer-based interactions. Through online conferencing and collaborative
websites, useful news, information and resources (along with chit-chat, fake
news and flame wars) are constructed over time. Socket 7 Name
for the socket on a PC motherboard that the original Intel Pentium class
processors plug into. For Pentium II and III, Intel packaged its processor in a
plastic cartridge that fits into a slot (Slot 1 or Slot 2) on the motherboard.
Many thought Socket 7 was dead, but chip makers like AMD and Cyrix, who continue
to use the socket, have proven to be worthy competitors. SOHO [Abbreviation
for "Small Office/Home Office"] As more people telecommute and start
home businesses, the SOHO has become a desirable target market for office supply
and computer companies. S/PDIF [Abbreviation
for "Sony/Philips Digital InterFace"] A consumer-grade digital stereo
transmission format. Soundcards equipped with S/PDIF co-axial jacks allow you to
turn your PC into a digital recording studio. spread spectrum
Spread
spectrum radio is theoretically simple. Two radios communicate by hopping from
frequency to frequency, transmitting and receiving packetized data. By spreading
the radio signal over a bunch of different frequencies in sequence, it's almost
impossible to intercept or jam. spy key A
backdoor into a computer operating system left their intentionally by a
manufacturer to give someone, such as a government law enforcement agency,
access. Accusations against Microsoft imbedding such a key flew like fur in a
cat fight last week when a crypto website published
allegations to this effect. SRAM [Abbreviation
for "Static Random Access Memory"] A form of RAM that retains its
memory only as long as there is power to run the device. stealth tower [slang]
A telecommunications antenna that's disguised as a natural object (e.g. a tree)
or hidden inside a tall structure such as a church steeple or roof. Not to be
confused with a stink pipe antenna which is a pirate radio antenna hidden inside
a phony plumbing vent. store-and-forward
A
communications system in which messages are received at an intermediate routing
point in a network, recorded (i.e. stored), and then transmitted (i.e.
forwarded) to another routing point, or their final destination, at a later
time. This allows messages to be sent to machines that may be offline or
transferred over a net at off-peak hours when rates and/or traffic are lower. S-Video [Abbreviation
for "Super Video"] A type of video technology that delivers a much
sharper image to TV monitors than composite video (where the Red Green Blue, and
often even the audio, are mixed together. S-video handles color (chrominance)
and brightness (luminance) separately. Video cameras with S-Video usually have
both an S-Video output jack and the more common RCA-type audio/video connections
(used in composite video). You can only take advantage of S-Video playback if
your TV has S-Video input. T-1 (abbreviation
for "Digital Transmission Rate 1") A leased line phone connection
capable of carrying 1.544 megabits of data per second. T-1 lines are commonly
used to connect networks, ISPs, Web providers and others to the Internet. TDMA [Abbreviation
for "Time Division Multiple Access"] TDMA is a digital wireless
service that uses something called "time-division multiplexing" (TDM).
TDM divides a radio frequency into time slots and then allocates slots to
multiple mobile callers. With TDMA, a single radio frequency can support
multiple, simultaneous data transmissions. TDMA is used by the GSM digital
cellular standard, which is popular in Europe and almost non-existant in the US.
Token Ring
Network A
local area network configuration that forms a closed ring of machines where
network traffic is managed through the passing of digital tokens. A machine on
the network cannot send data unless it "has the floor" via the token.
A token ring can operate at up to 4 megabits (4 million bits) per second. truck roll [Slang]
Phone and cable company slang for a technician's visit to a customer's location.
"We're looking at new ADSL technologies that can limit our truck
rolls." trust providers
Financial
institutions, credit card companies and other already-established bricks and
mortar businesses that do better with online financial transactions due to
public perception of their reliability and trustworthiness. TWAIN (abbreviation
for "Technology (or Toolkit) Without An Interesting Name") TWAIN is an
interface standard for scanner, fax, graphics and text-reading (OCR) software.
It allows images to be scanned directly into the image editing software. All
good scanners come with software packages that include a TWAIN driver. UART [Abbreviation
for "Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter"] The UART is a
computer chip that handles the traffic in and out of your serial communication (comm)
ports. The UART is a common source of bottlenecks in a computer/modem
relationship. Newer computers use the 16550 UART chip which has a 16-bit buffer.
This has helped keep pace with today's faster modems. Ultra ATA (a.k.a.
ATA-4, Ultra DMA, ATA-33, DMA-33) Ultra ATA is the latest specification for the
ATA/EIDE disk controller standard. What do all these acronyms mean? EIDE, or
"Enhance Integrated Electronics Interface" is a technology that puts
all of the controller electronics for disk drives onto the drives themselves.
(The controllery goodness is backed right in!) Ultra ATA allows for much faster
data transfers that are twice as fast as the previous ATA-2 (up to 33.3 megabits
per second). More acronym fun: "ATA" stands for "Advanced
Technology Attachment" and is synonymous with IDE. "DMA" stands
for "Direct Memory Access" and refers to the controller's ability to
talk directly between memory and the disk drive without bothering the computer's
CPU. See also EIDE. UltraSCSI [abbreviation
for "Ultra Small Computer System Interface"] A SCSI interface is used
to connect a computer to SCSII peripherals (hard drives, removable drives,
printers, etc.). UltraSCSI is an updated version of SCSII-2 which can transfer
data at 20MBs on an 8-bit connection and 40MBs on a 16-bit connection. USB (abbreviation
for "Universal Serial Bus") The latest generation of serial bus
technology that can transfer data at up to 12 Megabits/second, can be daisy
chained (with up to 127 devices on a single port) and can provide power from the
computer's power supply to peripherals (so that peripherals do not need their
own AC power). USB "hubs," boxes that provide multiple USB ports and a
power boost to the USB chain are usually needed if you have more than a few USB
devices on your machine. USB also allows hot-plugging so that you can plug and
unplug peripheral devices without having to shut down your computer. UUCP [Abbreviation
for "Unix-to-Unix Copy"] A suite of software programs that allow
information to be passed between Unix machines using serial connections. UUCP
was invented at Bell Labs in the late '70s to allow for the transfer of
programs, datafiles and email between Unix machines over standard telephone
lines. The Usenet newsgroups grew out of UUCP. V.90 The
finally agreed-upon standard for 56Kbps analog modems. Earlier competing
standards, Rockwell's K56Flex and 3COM's X2, are still widespread as consumers
and service providers upgrade to the new standard. Most 56K modems sold before
the standard approval can be software upgraded to V.90. The V.90 is likely to be
the last analog modem standard, with cable modems, DSL and other high-bandwidth
connectivity schemes from here on out. vi Editor A
powerful line-mode text editor commonly used in Unix (and Linux) systems. vi is
noted for its powerful and numerous keyboard commands. vi is used in programming
and for writing and editing files and documents. There is some debate over what
"vi" stands for. Some claim it means "visual interface,"
while others say it simply comes from the first two letters in
"visual." VoADSL [abbreviation for "Voice over Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line"] What network equipment vendors such as Cisco, Lucent and Nortel are touting as the next tech wave after DSL delivers high-speed data access over existing copper lines. VoDSL is simply the delivery of voice communications via the same DSL pipe that carries Internet traffic. VoiceXML [Abbreviation
for "Voice Extensible Markup Language"] A new type of Web
specification being developed by a consortium of media and technology companies,
VoiceXML would allow for voice access of Web content over a telephone. WAP [Abbreviation
for "Wireless Access Protocol"] WAP is a specification for wireless
communication protocols. The idea is to standardize the technology by which
cellphones, radio devices, wireless modems, and other similar devices access the
Internet so that these devices can interoperate. Gee, what a concept! For more
info, ckeck out the WAP Forum. wavetable
synthesis Wavetable
synthesis is a sound technology that uses samples of real instruments to create
more realistic music playback. If a MIDI
file calls for say a trombone to play a C note, the computer (or MIDI
instrument) accesses the wavetable and chooses the appropriate note, pitch, etc.
It's hard to imagine that this works and can sound good, but it does (with
varying results depending on the quality of the wavetable, the hardware, etc.)
Wavetable synthesis is, in most cases, much better than FM synthesis, its
predecessor. Web clipping
service A
limited Web service provided for wireless devices where service partners provide
content tailored to wireless market and microbrowsers. 3COM's new Palm VII
employs such a clipping service. Although 3COM already has an impressive list of
partners, a Web clipping service is only as good as its content, and so far,
that content is limited. Week 1K Problem
A
bug in the GPS (Global Position System) that could cause problems starting on
Aug. 22, 1999 and could hint at what's to come with Y2K. GPS sats communicate
time via a 29-bit binary number. Ten of those bits communicate the week number.
On the August date (the thousandth week), the number will get too large for the
10-bit sequence. Afflicted GPS sats will reset to zero. The military says it's
ready, but civilian GPS receivers (esp. older ones), may not be. whack a mole [slang]
In the wild and wooly world of e-porn, the process of trying to close all of the
pop-up windows that abnoxiously appear every time you attempt to close previous
browser windows. Name comes from the popular carnival game. Word turd [Slang]
1. The words in a word-processed document that are left over from a previous
construction of a sentence (.e.g. [from the Creatures manual] ...the balance of
which changes affects Norn behavior.). 2. All the bits and pieces of software
that Microsoft Office, and other similarly bloated programs, spray all over your
PC during a typical install. XGA [Abbreviation
for "Extended Graphics Array"] A high-res computer display standard
developed by IBM in 1990. XGA supports 65,536 colors at a screen resolution of
640 x 480 pixels and 256 colors at 1,024 x 768 pixels. The latest XGA-2 offers
1,024 by 768 resolution in high color and a higher-refresh rate than XGA. XJACK A
type of phone jack built into laptop PC-card modems. PC-cards are too thin to
accept a conventional RJ-11 phone plug. An XJACK is a horizontal jack that pops
out from the modem card, letting you vertically insert the RJ-11 plug. XML [Abbreviation
for "Extensible Markup Lamguage"] A new form of Web markup language
(like HTML) that not only tells the browser how to display the content on a
page, but what type of content. For example, a tag could be used to say that a
paragraph contains information on widgets for sale. A shopping bot could then
scour the XML pages on the Web and find who has the cheapest widgets available.
XML can be used to aggregate any type of information on the Web. For more info,
see the WC3's page on XML. yagi antenna A
highly directional antenna containing parallel antenna elements that reflect and
direct the incoming signals to the driven element (the part that is electrically
connected to the transmission line). ZIF Socket [abbreviated
"Zero Insertion Force Socket"] A type of socket that allows a computer
chip to be installed without the use of physical force (which can damage the
pins on a chip). A lever is used to press the chip into place. ZIF sockets are
found on most pre-Pentium II motherboards, allowing average users to do
processor upgrades. |
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