Glossary of Computer terms-Part 3

palm
A hand-held computer.

PC
Personal Computer.Generally refers to computers running Windows with a Microsoft processor.

PC board
Printed Circuit board.A board printed or etched with a circuit and processors.Power supplies,information storage devices or changes are attached.

PDA
Personal Digital Assistant.A hand-held computer that can store daily appoinments,phone numbers,address and other important information.Most PDAs link to a desktop or laptop computer to download or upload information

PDF 
Portable Document Format.A format presented by Adobe Acrobat that allows documents to be shared over a variety of operating systems.Documents can contain words and pictures and be formatted to have electronic links to other parts of the document or to places on the web.

Pentium chip
Intel ifth generation of sophisticated high-speed microprocessors.Pentium means"the fifth element".

peripheral
Any external device attached t oa computer to enhance operation.example include external hard drive,scanner,speakers,keyboard,mouse,trackball,stylus and tablet and joystick.

personal computer(PC)
A single computer containing a central processing unit(CPU)and one or more memory circuits.

petabyte
A measure of memory or storage capacity and is approximately a thousand terabytes.

petaflop
A theoritical measure of a computer's speed and can be expressed a s a thousand trillion floating-point operations per second.

platform
The operating system,such as  UNIX,machintosh,Windows on which a computer is based.

plug and play
Computer hardware or peripherals hat come set up with  necessary software so that when attached to a computer,they are "recognized" by the computer and are ready to use.

pop-up menu
A menu window that opens vertically or horizontally on-screen to display context related options.Also called drop down menu or pull down menu

power PC
A competitor of the Pentium chip.It is a new generation of powerful sophisticated microprocessors produced from an Apple-IBM-Motorola alliance.

printer
A mechanical device for printing a computer's output on a paper.There are three major types of prnters.
Dot matrix:creates individual letters,made up of a series of tiny ink dots,by punching a ribbon with the ends of tiny wires.(This type of printer is most often used in industrial settings,such as direct mail for labeling.)

Ink jet:sprays tiny droplets of ink particles the image of each page using a magnetic charge that attracts sry toner that is transferred to paper and sealed with heat.

program
A precise series of instructions written in  a computer language that tells the computer what to do and how to do it.Programs are also called "software" or "applications."

programming language
A series of instructions written by a programmer according to a givenset of rules or conventions("syntax").High-level programming languages are independent of the device in which the application(or program)will eventually run;low-level leanguages are specific to each program or platform.Programming language instructions are converted into programms in language specific to a particular machine or operating system("machine language")so that the computer can interpret and carry out the instructions.Some common programming languages are C,C++,BASIC,JAVA,FORTRAN etc...

puck
 AN input device, like a mouse.It has a magnifying glass with crosshairs on the front of it that allows the operator to position it precisely when tracting a drawing for use with CAD-CAM software.

pull-down menu
A menu window that opens vertically on-screen to display context-related options.Also called drop-down menu or pop-up menu.

push technology
Internet tool that delivers specific information directly to a suser's desktop, eliminating the need to surf for it.PintCast,which delivers news in user-defined categories,is a popular example of this technology.

QuickTime
Audio -visual software that allows movie-delivery via the Internet and e-mail. QuickTime images are viewed on a monitor.

RAID
Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks.A method of spreading information across several disk set up to act as a unit,using two different techniques:
Disk striping:storing a bit of information across several discs(instead of storing it all on one disc and hoping that the disc doesn't crash).Disk mirroring:simultaneously storing a copy of information on another disc so that the information can be recovered if the main disc crashes.

RAM
Random Access Memory.One of two basic ypes of memory.Portions of programs are stored in RAM when the program is launched so that the program will run faster.Though a PC has a fixed amount of RAM,only portions of it will be accessed by the computer at any given time.Also called memory.

right-click
Using the right mouse buton to open context-sensitive drop-down menus.

ROM
Read-Only Memory.One of two basic types of memory.ROM contains only permanent information put there by the manufacturer.Information in ROM cannot be altered,not can the memory be dynamically allocated by the computer or its operator.

scanner
An electronic device that uses light-sensing equipment to scan paper images such as text,photos and illustrations and translate the images into signals that the computer cna store,modify or distribute

search  engine
Software that makes it possible to look for and retrieve material on the Internet,paricularly the Web.Some popular search engines are Google,Yahoo etc..

server
A computer that shares its resources and information with other computers,called clients on a network.

shareware
software created by people who are willing to sell it at low cost or no cost for the gratification of sharing.It may be freestanding software or it may add functionality to existing software.

software
Computer programs;also called "applications"

spider
A process search engines use to investigate new pages on a web site and collect the information that needs to be put in their indices.

spreadsheet
Software that allows one to calculate numbers in a format that is similar to pages in a convnetional ledger/

storage
Devices used to massive amounts of informaion so that it can be readily retrieved.Devices include RAIDs,CD-ROMs,DVDs

streaming
Taking packets of information(sound or visual)from the Internet and storing it in temporary files to allow it to play in continuous flow.

styles and tabletA input device similar to a mouse.The  stylus is pen shaped.It is used to "fdraw" on a tablet(like drawing on paper)and the tablet transfers the information to the computer.The tablet responds to pressure-the firmer the pressure used to draw,the thicker the line appears.

surfing
Exploring the Internet.

surge protector
A controller to protect the computer and make up for variances in voltage.

telnet
A way to communicate with a remote computer over a network


trackball
Input device that controls the position of the cursor o nthe screen;the unit is mounted near the keyboard and movement is ocntrolled by moving a ball.

terabyte(TB)
1024 gigabytes

Trojan Horse
see virus

UNIX
A very powerful operatiing system used as the basis of many high-end computer applications.

uploadThe process of transferring information from a computer t oa web site(otr other remoter location on a network).

URL
Uniform Resource Locator
1.The protocol for identifying a document on the Web
2.A web address(eg;www.census.gov)A URL is unique to each user.See also domain.

UPS
Universal Power Supply or Uninterrupted Power Supply.An electrical power supply that includes a battery to provide enough power t oa computer during an outage to back up data properly shut down.

USB
Universal Serial Bus.An industry standard for connecting different compatible peripheral devices across multiple platforms.Devices include printers,digital cameras,scanners,game pads,joysticks,keyboard,mice and storage devices.USB peripherals offer the use of plug-and-play convenience by eliminating the need to turn off or restart the computer when attaching a new peripheral.Users can connect USB peripherals whenever thay need them.For example,a user producing a newsletter could easily swap a digital camera for a scanner-without any downtme.Smallsimple,inexpensice and easy to attach USB supports simultaneous connection of up to 127 ddevices bt attaching peripherals through interconnected external hubs.


USB hub
Amultiple -socket USB connecter that allows USB compatible devices to be connected to a computer.

USENET
A large unmoderated and unedited bulletien board on the Internet that offers thousands of forums,caled newsgroups.These range from newsgroups exchanging  information on scientific advancsc to celebrity fan clubs.

user friendly
A program or device whose use it inyutive to people with a nontechnical background.

video teleconferencing
A remote "face-to-face chat,"when two or more people using a webcam and an Internet telephone connection chat online.The webcam enables both live voice and video.

Virtual Reality(VR)
A technology that allows one t o experience and intract with images in a simulated three-dimensional environment.For example,you could design a room in a house on your compuer and actually feel that you are walking around in it even though it was never built.(The Holodeck in the science-fiction TV series Star Trek:Voyager would be the ultimate irtual reality.)Current technology requires the user to wear a special helmet,viewing goggles,gloves and other equipment that transmits and receives information from the computer.

virus
An unathorized piece of computer code attached to a computer program or portions of a computer system that secretly copies itself from one computer to another by shared discs and over telephone and calbe lines.It can destroy information stored on the computer,and in extreme cases,can destroy operability.Computers can be protected from viruses if the operator utilizes good virus prevention software and  keeps the virus definitions up to date.Most viruses are not programmed tp spread themselves.Thet have to be sent to another computer by e-mail,sharing or appplications.The worm is an exception,becase it is programmed to replicate itself by sending copies to other listed in the e-mail address book in the computer.There are many kinds of viruses,for example:
Boot viruses place some of their code in the start-up disk sector to automatically execute when booting.Therefore,when an infected machine boots,the virus loads and runs.
File viruses attached to program files(files with the extension ".exe").When you run the infected program,the virus code executes.
Macro viruses copy their macros to templates and/or other application document files.
Trojan horse is a malicious,security-breaking program that is disguised as something benign such as a screen saver or game.
Worm launches an application that destroys information on your hard drive.It also sends copy of the virus to everyone in the computer's e-mail address book.

WAV
A sound format(pronounced "wave")used t orepresent sounds on a computer

webcam
A video camera/computer setup that takes live images and sends them to a Web browser.

Window
A portion of a computer display used in a graphical interface that enables users to select commands by pointing to illustrations or symbols with a mouse. "Windows" is also the name Microsoft adopted for its popular operating system.

WWW("World Wide Web" or "the Web")
A network of servers on the Internet that use hypertext-linked databases and files.It was developed in 1989 by Tim Berners-Lee,a british computer scientist,and is now the primary platform of the Internet.The feature that distinguishes the Web from other Internet applications is its ability to display graphics in addition to text.

word processor
A computer system or program for setting,editing,revising,correcting,storing and printing text.

Worm
see virus

WYSIWYG
What You See Is What You Get.When using most word processord,page layout programs(See desktop publishing),and web page design programs,words and images will be displayed on the monitor as they will look printed page or web page.

The End