| A |
| ALU |
| The part of the CPU that performs mathematical
functions and logical decisions, such as deciding
whether one number is greater than another is known
as the arithmetic and logic unit (ALU). |
| |
| Application
software |
| Software
programs to perform specific tasks such as word
processing or data-base management, as distinct from
system software (operating system), which maintains and
organises the computer system. |
| |
| ASCII
|
| (American
Standard Code for Information Interchange) -- This is the
de facto world-wide standard for the code numbers
used by computers to represent all the upper and
lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation,
etc. There are 128 standard ASCII codes each of which
can be represented by a 7 digit binary number,
0000000 through 1111111. |
| |
| Auxiliary
storage |
| A backing
storage device used to store information for later
retrieval. Examples of hardware which is used as
auxiliary storage (also know as secondary memory) are
disks and tapes. |
| |
| B |
| 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. Full-motion full-screen video
would require roughly 10,000,000 bits-per-second.
|
| |
| Baud
|
| In common
usage the baud rate of a modem is how many bits it can
send or receive per second. |
| |
| Binhex
|
| (BINary
HEXadecimal) -- A method for converting
non-text files (non-ASCII) into ASCII. This is
needed because Internet e-mail can only handle ASCII.
|
| |
| Bit |
| (Binary
DigIT) -- A single digit number in
base-2, in other words, either a 1 or a zero. The
smallest unit of computerised data. |
| |
| Bps
|
| (Bits-Per-Second)
-- A measurement of how fast data is moved from one place
to another. A 28.8 modem can move 28,800 bits per
second. |
| |
| Browser
|
| A Client
program (software) that is used to look at various kinds
of Internet resources. |
| |
| Byte
|
| A set of
Bits that represent a single character. Usually there are
8 Bits in a Byte, sometimes more, depending on how the
measurement is being made. A byte represents a
single character. |
| |
| C |
| COLD |
| Computer
Output to Laser Disk means the output of data for storage
to optical disk, such as CD-ROMs. |
| |
| COM |
| An output
device which outputs computer data on microfilm or
microfiche. |
| |
| CPU |
| The
central processing unit is the part of the computer that
decodes instructions and controls the hardware used to
execute them; it consists of the control unit, arithmetic
and logic unit, and main memory |
| |
| D |
| Default |
| An
automatic option in a program that is used unless an
alternative is specified. The default margins in a
document are the pre-set margins which remain unless you
change them. Default should not be confused
with fault |
| |
| Direct
access |
| A type of
access used when reading information from a disk; the
read-write head of the disk drive goes directly to the
place on the disk where the data is stored. |
| |
| Directory |
| A folder
which is used to organise files and programs on your
disk. It could be compared to a catalogue. |
| |
| Dot-matrix
printer |
| A printer
that produces characters made up of patterns of dots.
It is noisy but cheap. |
| |
| Domain
Name |
| The unique
name that identifies an Internet site. |
| |
| E |
| E-mail
|
| (Electronic
Mail) -- Messages, usually text, sent from one person to
another via computer. E-mail can also be sent
automatically to a large number of addresses (Mailing
List). |
| |
| EPOS |
| Electronic-point-of-sale
terminal |
| |
| Extranet |
| When part
of an intranet is made accessible to customers, partners,
suppliers, or others outside the company, that part
becomes part of an extranet |
 |
| F |
| Field |
| A
space for a specified piece of information in a record. |
| |
| File |
| A
collection of similar records in a database. |
| |
| Fire
Wall
|
| A
combination of hardware and software that separates a LAN
into two or more parts for security purposes. |
| |
| File
server |
| A computer
which controls the sharing of resources in a network. |
| |
| G |
| Gigabyte
|
| 1000
or 1024 Megabytes, depending on who is measuring. |
| |
| Graphics
digitizer |
| A device
which can be used to draw pictures on the screen. The
user draws on paper with a pencil and the position of the
pencil on the paper is sensed by the computer so that a
copy of the diagram is put on to the screen by the
computer. |
| |
| Graphical
user interface |
| The
interface is the way the processor interacts with the
user. A graphical user interface allows the user to
select icons which represent commands rather that the
user having to key in the command. Usually called GUI. |
| |
| H |
| Hardware |
| The
physical components of a computer system. |
| |
| 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,
organisation, person or simply the main page out of a
collection of web pages. |
| |
| HTML
|
| (hypertext
Mark-up Language) -- The coding language used to create
Hypertext documents for use on the World Wide Web. |
| |
| 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). |
| |
| Hypertext
|
| Generally,
any text that contains links to other documents - words
or phrases in the document that can be chosen by a reader
and which cause another document to be retrieved and displayed. |
| |
| I |
| Intranet
|
| An intranet is
a private network that is contained within an enterprise.
Typically, an intranet includes connections through one
or more gateway computers to the outside Internet. The
main purpose of an intranet is to share company
information and computing resources among employees.
Typically, larger enterprises allow users within their
intranet to access the public Internet through firewall
servers that have the ability to screen messages in both
directions so that company security is maintained. . |
| |
| J |
| Javascript |
| JavaScript is an
interpreted programming or script language from Netscape.
JavaScript is used in Web site development to do such
things as automatically change a formatted date on a Web
page, cause a linked-to page to appear in a popup window
or cause text or graphic images to change during a mouse
rollover. |
| |
| K |
|
| Kilobyte
(kb) |
| A thousand bytes.
Actually, usually 1024 (210 ) bytes. |
| |
| L |
| LAN |
| (Local Area Network)
-- A computer network limited to the immediate area,
usually the same building or floor of a building. |
| |
| Light pen |
| An input device used
in conjunction with a screen to choose commands or data. |
|
| M |
| Mainframe
computer |
| The largest type of
computer, capable of being used by many people at the
same time. |
| |
| Megabyte
(Mb) |
| A million bytes
approximately (1024 kilobytes). |
| |
| MICR
(magnetic-ink character recognition) |
| An input system that
allows magnetic characters (from cheques) to be read into
a computer. |
| |
| Microcomputer |
| The type of computer
known as a PC. Apple computers are also microcomputers or
microprocessors. |
| |
| Minicomputer |
| A medium-sized
computer system. It can be usud by a number of users at
the same time, usually used by one department. |
| |
| Modem |
| (MOdulator,
DEModulator) -- A device that you
connect to your computer and to a phone line, that allows
the computer to talk to other computers through the phone
system. Modems do for computers what a telephone does for
humans. |
| |
| Mouse |
| An input device used
for selecting commands and highlighting screen objects
for selection. It can also be used as a pointer and to
manipulate drawing tools. |
| |
| N |
| Network
|
Any
time you connect two or more computers together so that
they can share resources, you have a computer network.
Connect two or more networks together and you have
an internet.
|
| |
| Node |
| Any single computer
connected to a network. |
| |
| O |
| OLTP |
| OLTP (online transaction processing)
is a class of program that facilitates and manages
transaction-oriented applications, typically for data
entry and retrieval transactions in a number of
industries, including banking, airlines, mailorder,
supermarkets, and manufacturers. |
| |
| P |
| Packet
Switching |
| The method used to
move data around on the Internet. In packet switching,
all the data coming out of a machine is broken up into
chunks, each chunk has the address of where it came from
and where it is going. This enables chunks of data from
many different sources to co-mingle on the same lines,
and be sorted and directed to different routes by special
machines along the way. This way many people can use the
same lines at the same time. |
| |
| Parallel port |
| A communications port
that allows information to be transmitted in groups of
bits. |
| |
| Port |
| A place where
information goes into or out of a computer, or both. e.g.
the serial port on a personal computer is where a modem
would be connected. |
| |
| Q |
| QWERTY |
| The QWERTY keyboard is the standard
typewriter and computer keyboard in countries that use a
Latin-based alphabet. QWERTY refers to the first six
letters on the upper row of the keyboard. |
| |
| R |
| RAM |
| Random Access Memory
is that which is available to the user and is temporary.
Anything created in RAM must be saved if it is to be
retrieved later. |
| |
| ROM |
| Read Only Memory is
the permanent memory of the computer. It usually holds
the instructions for booting up the machine. |
| |
| Random access |
| A method that allows
the system to retrieve information by going directly to a
specific part of a disk rather than having to go
through all the preceding tracks and sectors. |
|
| 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. |
| |
| Serial port |
| A communications port
that allows bits of data to be transmitted one after
another. |
| |
| Software |
| Another name for a
computer program which holds the instructions to tell the
computer what to do. Its like a knitting pattern which is
installed on the hard disk. |
| |
| T |
| Terabyte |
| 1000 gigabytes. |
| |
| Terminal |
| A device that
allows you to send commands to a computer somewhere else.
At a minimum, this usually means a keyboard and a
display screen and some simple circuitry. |
| |
| Touchscreen |
| An input device
that allows you to send commands to a computer by
pointing your finger at a touch sensitive screen.
Commands are selected when your finger breaks invisible
beams of light. Often used in public information booths
as no computer skills are required. |
| |
| 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://www.whiteears.org.uk |
| |
| V |
| VDE |
| Voice data entry uses
human speech to input commands to a computer. Special
voice recognition software is required. |
| |
| Virus |
| A
piece of programming code that causes some unexpected and
undesirable event to occur within a computer file.
Viruses can be transmitted by sending them as attachments
to an e-mail note, by downloading infected programming
from other sites, or be present on a diskette or CD. |
| |
| W |
| WAN |
| (Wide Area
Network) -- Any internet or network that covers a large
area. Computers are linked over large distances via
telecommunications media. |
| |
| WIMP |
| An interface
provided by some operating systems where the user employs
icons, a mouse and menus to give commands. Stands for
Windows, Icons, Mouse and Pull-down menus or Windows
Icons Menus and Pointers |
| |
| WWW |
| (World Wide Web)
-- Two meanings - First, loosely used: the whole
constellation of resources that can be accessed
using Gopher, FTP, HTTP, telnet, USENET and some other
tools. Second, the universe of hypertext servers (HTTP
servers) which are the servers that allow text,
graphics, sound files, etc. to be mixed together. |
| |
| X |
| x,y
co-ordinates |
| x, y coordinates are
respectively the horizontal and vertical addresses of any
pixel or addressable point on a computer display screen.
The x coordinate is a given number of pixels along the
horizontal axis of a display starting from the pixel
(pixel 0) on the extreme left of the screen. The y
coordinate is a given number of pixels along the vertical
axis of a display starting from the pixel (pixel 0) at
the top of the screen. Together, the x and y coordinates
locate any specific pixel location on the screen. |
| |
| Y |
| Yahoo |
| Yahoo! is a directory of
World Wide Web sites organized in a hierarchy of topic
categories. |
| |
| Z |
| Zip |
| A Zip drive is a small,
portable disk drive used primarily for backing up and
archiving personal computer files. Drives and disks come
in two sizes. The 100 megabyte size actually holds
100,431,872 bytes of data or the equivalent of 70 floppy
diskettes. There is also a 250 megabyte drive and disk.
It is possible to copy the entire contents of your hard
drive to one or more Zip disks. |
