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Glossary |
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Adware: This is free software that is supported by advertisements. Common adware programs are toolbars that sit on your desktop or work in conjunction with your Web browser. They include features like advanced searching of the Web or your hard drive and better organization of your bookmarks and shortcuts. Adware can also be more advanced programs such as games or utilities. They are free to use, but require you to watch advertisements as long as the programs are open. Since the ads often allow you to click to a Web site, adware typically requires an active Internet connection to run. Most adware is safe to use, but some can serve as spyware, gathering information about you from your hard drive, the Web sites you visit, or your keystrokes. Spyware programs can then send the information over the Internet to another computer. So be careful what adware you install on your computer. Make sure it is from a reputable company and read the privacy agreement that comes with it. Bandwidth: data you can send through a network or modem connection. It is usually measured in bits per second, or "bps." A good analogy for bandwidth is a highway with cars traveling on it. The highway is the network connection and the cars are the data. The wider the highway, the more cars can travel on it at one time. Therefore, more cars can get to their destinations faster. It's the same principle with computer data -- the more bandwidth, the more information that can be transferred at one time. Broadband: This refers to high-speed data transmission in which a single cable can carry a large amount of data at once. The most common types of Internet broadband connections are cable modems (which use the same connection as cable TV) and DSL modems (which use your existing phone line). Because of its multiple channel capacity, broadband has started to replace baseband, the single-channel technology originally used in most computer networks. Browser: It's what you're probably using to read this right now. A Web browser, often just called a "browser," is the program people use to access the World Wide Web. It interprets HTML code including text, images, hypertext links, Javascript, and Java applets. After rendering the HTML code, the browser displays a nicely formatted page. Some common browsers are Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Communicator, and Apple Safari. Base Station: The term "base station" was first used to refer to the towers you see on the side of the road that relay cell phone calls. These stations handle all cellular calls made within their area, receiving information from one end of the call and transmitting it to the other. In the computer world, however, a base station refers to the wireless access point for computers with wireless cards. It is basically a router that communicates with devices based on the Wi-Fi standard. Some common Wi-Fi configurations include 802.11b and 802.11g. Wireless base stations are made by companies such as Netgear, Linksys, D-Link, Apple Computer, and other manufacturers. Fortunately, as long as the hardware is based on the Wi-Fi standard, all wireless cards can communicate with base stations from any manufacturer. Beta Software: Before a commercial software program is released to the public, it usually goes through a "beta" phase. During this stage, the software is tested for bugs, crashes, errors, inconsistencies, and any other problems. Though beta versions of software used to be made available only to developers, they are now sometimes made available for the general public to test, usually through the software company's Web site. However, because beta software is free, the programs usually expire after a period of time. If you choose to test a beta software program, don't be surprised if it has multiple problems and causes your computer to repeatedly crash. After all, it is the beta version. You can tell if a program is still in beta by checking the program's properties. If there is a "b" in the version number (i.e. Version: 1.2 b3) that means it's a beta version. Bit: The computer term "bit" comes from the phrase "Binary DigIT." A bit is a single digit number in base-2 (a zero or a one) and is the smallest unit of computer data. A full page of text is composed of about 16,000 bits. It is important not to confuse bits with bytes. Both are used to measure amounts of data, but it takes eight bits to make one byte. The most common area where bits are used intstead of bytes is in measuring bandwidth (in bits per second). Why? Probably because it makes your Internet connection sound faster than it really is. Abbreviation: "b". Bookmark: Similar to a real-life bookmark, an Internet bookmark acts as a marker for a Web site. (In Internet Explorer, they're called "Favorites".) When using a Web browser, you can simply select a bookmark from the browser's Bookmarks menu to go to a certain site. This way, you don't have to go through the redundant process of typing in the Internet address each time you visit one of your favorite sites. In most browsers, to create a bookmark, you simply choose "Add Bookmark" from the Bookmarks menu when you're at a page that you'd like to bookmark. bps: Stands for "Bits Per Second." (The "b" is lowercase because it stands for bits, not bytes.) Bits per second is the standard way of measuring how fast data moves across a network or phone system. For example, a 56K modem can hypothetically transfer data at 56,700 bits per second. Buffer: This is a small amount of data that is stored for a short amount of time, typically in the computer's memory (RAM). The purpose of a buffer is to hold data right before it is used. For example, when you download an audio or video file from the Internet, it may load the first 20% of it into a buffer and then begin to play. While the clip plays back, the computer continually downloads the rest of the clip and stores it in the buffer. Because the clip is being played from the buffer, not directly from the Internet, there is less of a chance that the audio or video will stall or skip when there is network congestion. Buffering is used to improve many other areas of computer performance as well. Most hard disks use a buffer to enable more efficient access to the data on the disk. Video cards send images to a buffer before they are displayed on the screen (known as a screen buffer). Computer programs use buffers to store data while they are running. If it were not for buffers, computers would run a lot less efficiently and we would be waiting around a lot more. Byte: This is a set of 8 bits that represent
a single character in the computer's memory. Do not confuse this
term with "bite", as in taking a bite of a cookie, because
that is totally different. Bytes are typically used to measure hard
disk storage and computer memory (megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes,
etc.) Abbreviation: "B". Cable Modem: A cable modem is
used for connecting to the Internet and is much faster than a typical
dial-up modem. While a 56K modem can receive data at about 53 Kbps,
a cable modem maxes out around 5 Mbps (Megabits per second). That's
over 100 times faster. The actual Internet bandwidth over a cable
line can be as high as 27 Mbps downstream and 2.5 Mbps upstream.
However, most ISP's Internet connections max out between 1.5 and
3.0 Mbps, which limits the maximum transfer rates for subscribers. Cookie: In computer terminology, a cookie is data sent to your computer by a Web server that records your actions on a certain Web site. It's a lot like a preference file for a typical computer program. When you visit the site after being sent the cookie, the site will load certain pages according to the information stored in the cookie. For example, some sites can remember information like your user name and password, so you don't have to re-enter it each time you visit the site. Cookies are what allow you to have personalized web sites like "My Excite" or "My Yahoo," where you can customize what is displayed on the page. While cookies have many benefits, some people don't like to have their information recorded by Web sites that they visit. For this reason, most Web browsers have an option to accept or deny cookies. Configuration: In the computing world, when people talk about their computer configuration, they are referring to the technical specifications, or the "tech specs" of their computer. These specs typically include processor speed, the amount of RAM, hard drive space, and the type of video card in the machine. While there are many other advanced specifications that you could list, if you know the four mentioned above, most computer geeks will grant you acceptance into their conversation. Controller Card: also called the "controller," is a piece of hardware that acts as the interface between the motherboard and the other components of the computer. For example, hard drives, optical drives, printers, keyboards, and mice all require controllers to work. Most computers have all the necessary controllers built in the motherboard as chips, not full-sized cards. However, if you add additional components such as a SCSI hard drive, you may need to add a controller card as well. Controller cards are typically installed in one of the computer's PCI slots. CPU: Stands for "Central Processing Unit." This is the pretty much the brain of your computer. It processes everything from basic instructions to complex functions. Any time something needs to be computed, it gets sent to the CPU. Every day, it computes this, computes that -- you'd think the CPU would need a break after awhile. But no -- it just keeps on processing. The CPU can also be referred to simply as the "processor." Default: This term is used to describe a preset value for some option in a computer program. It is the value used when a setting has not been specified by the user. For example, the default font setting in Netscape Communicator is "Times." If you don't go to the Netscape preferences and change it to something else, the "Times" font will be used -- by default. Typically, default settings are set to what most people would choose anyway, so there's often no reason to change them. However, if you're one of those people who has to customize everything that you possibly can, then you can go ahead and change all the default settings you want. "Default" can also be used as a verb. If a custom setting won't work for some reason, the program will "default" to the default setting. For example, say you're working on computer that is on a network and you print something when there is no printer specified. If you're lucky and don't get some nasty error message, the print job will default to the default printer and your work will be printed. Defragment: Defragmenting your hard drive is a great way to boost the performance of your computer. Though the term "defragment" sounds a little abrasive, it is actually a simple and helpful process. After all, a defragmented hard drive is a happy hard drive. Adding and deleting files from your hard drive is a common task. Unfortunately, this process is not always done very efficiently. For example, when you delete a bunch of little files and add a new large file, the file may get broken up into multiple sections on the hard drive. The computer will still read the newly added file as a single valid file, but it will have to scan multiple parts of the drive to read it. Because hard disk seek time is one of the biggest bottlenecks in a computer's performance, this can drag down your computer's speed quite a bit. If you have a ton of "fragmented" files on your hard disk, you might hear extra grinding, sputtering, and other weird noises coming from your computer. You computer doesn't like having fragmented files any more than you do. This is why defragmenting your hard drive is such a good idea. When you start to hear extra grinding sounds, or your computer doesn't open files as quickly as it did before, it's time to defragment. With Windows, you can use the pre-installed Intel defragment program to defragment your hard drive. You can also use a commercial software program like Norton Utilities to defragment your hard drive more efficiently and with more options. For Mac users, Norton Utilities or another hard drive utility is the only way to do it. If you use your computer daily, defragmenting your hard drive once a month should keep the fragment-fiends away. DNS: Stands for "Domain Name System." The primary purpose of DNS is to keep Web surfers sane. Without DNS, we would have to remember the IP address of every site we wanted to visit, instead of just the domain name. Can you imagine having to remember "17.254.3.183" instead of just "apple.com"? The reason the Domain Name System is used is because Web sites are actually located by their IP addresses. For example, when you type in "http://www.adobe.com," the computer doesn't immediately know that it should look for Adobe's Web site. Instead, it sends a request to the nearest DNS server, which finds the correct IP address for "adobe.com." Your computer then attempts to connect to the server with that IP number. Domain Name: This is the name that identifies a Web site. For example, "microsoft.com" is the domain name of Microsoft's Web site. A single Web server can serve Web sites for multiple domain names, but a single domain name can point to only one machine. For example, Apple Computer has Web sites at www.apple.com, www.info.apple.com, and store.apple.com. Each of these sites could be served on different machines. Encryption: This is the coding or scrambling of information so that it can only be decoded and read by someone who has the correct decoding key. Encryption is used in secure Web sites as well as other mediums of data transfer. If a third party were to intercept the information you sent via an encrypted connection, they would not be able to read it. So if you are sending a message over the office network to your co-worker about how much you hate your job, your boss, and the whole dang company, it would be a good idea to make sure that you send it over an encrypted line. Ethernet: The first syllable is pronounced like "Heath" as in Heath Bar Crunch. Ethernet is the most common type of connection computers use in a local area network (LAN). An Ethernet port looks much like a regular phone jack, but it is slightly wider. This port can be used to connect your computer to another computer, a local network, or an external DSL or cable modem. Two widely-used forms of Ethernet are 10BaseT and 100BaseT. In a 10BaseT Ethernet connection, data transfer speeds can reach 10 mbps (megabits per second) through a copper cable. In a 100BaseT Ethernet connection, transfer speeds can get up to 100 mbps. There is also a new technology called "Gigabit" Ethernet, where data transfer rates peak at 1000 mbps. Now that's fast! Firewall: A computer firewall is used to protect a networked server or client machine from damage by unauthorized users. A firewall can be either hardware or software-based. It acts as a barrier to anything or anyone who attempts to access your computer but does not have authorization to do so (for example, spam and viruses). A router is a good example of a hardware device that often has a built-in firewall. Software programs that monitor and restrict external access to a computer can also serve as firewalls. A network firewall allows only certain messages from the Internet to flow in and out of the network. Flash: When you see the term "Flash" on the Web, it most likely refers to Macromedia's Web animation technology. Flash allows Web developers to incorporate colorful animations with text, shapes, and images into their Web pages. Because the technology is mainly vector-based, Flash animations typically don't take up a lot of disk space. This means large animations can be downloaded relatively quickly. To view Flash content in your Web browser, you need to have the Flash plug-in. Fortunately, it comes standard with most browsers today. If you don't have the Flash plug-in, you can get it directly from Macromedia. Flash memory: is a type of electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM). The name comes from how the memory is designed -- a section of memory cells can be erased in a single action or in a "flash." A common use of flash memory is to store the BIOS settings in a computer's ROM. When the BIOS needs to be changed, the flash memory can be written in blocks, rather than bytes, making it easy to update. Most modems use flash memory for the same reason. Though flash memory was originally used inside computers, it has invaded many other areas outside the box. Flash memory cards used for digital cameras, cellular phones, networking hardware, and PC cards. Though the memory's read/write speed is not lightning fast, it is nice to be able to tote around a little card rather than a cumbersome hard drive. Hard Drive: this is where all the data in your computer is stored. It is where all your files and folders are physically located. A typical hard drive is only slightly larger than your hand, yet it can hold over 100 GB of data. The data is stored on a stack of disks that are mounted inside a solid encasement. These disks spin extremely fast (typically at either 5400 or 7200 RPM) so that data can be accessed immediately from anywhere on the drive. The data is stored on the hard drive magnetically, so it stays on the drive even after the power supply is turned off. The term "hard drive" is actually short for "hard disk drive." The term "hard disk" technically refers to the actual disks inside the drive. However, all three of these terms are usually seen as referring to the same thing -- the place where your data is stored. Host: This is a computer that acts as a server for other computers on a network. It can be a Web server, an e-mail server, an FTP server, etc. For example, a Web host is what provides the content of Web pages to the computers that access it. HTTP: Stands for "HyperText Transfer Protocol." This is the protocol used to transfer data over the World Wide Web. That's why all Web site addresses begin with "http://". Whenever you type a URL into your browser and hit Enter, your computer sends an HTTP request to the appropriate Web server. The Web server, which is designed to handle HTTP requests, then sends to you the requested HTML page. I/O: Stands for "Input/Output." Computers are based on the fundamental idea that every input results in an output. For example, if you type a sentence on your keyboard while a word processor program is running, the text will appear on the screen. This is why the keyboard is referred to as an input device and the screen is called an output device. You might also print the text using a printer, which is another output device. The computer's CPU handles all the I/O operations, sending the data it receives to the correct path. The path may be to the video card, to the hard drive, or to the RAM, just to name a few. The ports on the outside of a computer are commonly referred to as "I/O ports" because they are what connect input and output devices to the computer. Software developers use I/O to describe how a program will function, depending on what a user enters. For example, if the user presses the space bar key in a game, say "Super Jumper Man," the character on the screen will jump. Multiply that by several thousand other scenarios of user input and you have yourself a computer game. Illegal Operation: When a program on your computer has an error, you may see a message pop up on the screen saying, "Illegal Operation." This is a rather tactless way of saying something went wrong with the program that was running. It could also be a fault with the operating system itself. The problem with the phrase "Illegal Operation" is that it seems to put the blame on you, the user. The fact is, the error was most likely caused by a bug in the program, and is certainly not your fault. Common errors that produce illegal operation messages are divide by zero errors (no number is divisible by zero), and memory leaks where the program tries to address memory in another program's memory space. If these errors happen while a program is running, the execution comes to an abrupt halt and the program usually quits. Illegal operations can happen on both Windows and Macintosh computers, though the Macintosh operating system is better at avoiding system-level errors. Intranet: Contrary to popular belief, this is not simply a misspelling of "Internet." "Intra" means "internal" or "within," so an Intranet is an internal or private Internet used strictly within the confines of a company, university, or organization. "Inter" means "between or among," hence the difference between the Internet and an Intranet. Up until the last few years, most corporations used local networks composed of expensive proprietary hardware and software for their internal communications. Now, using simple Internet technology, intranets have made internal communication much easier and less expensive. Intranets use a TCP/IP connection and support Web browsing, just like a typical Internet connection does. The difference is that Web sites served within the intranet can only be accessed by computers connected through the local network. LAN: Stands for "Local Area Network," and is pronounced like "land" without the "d". A LAN is a computer network limited to a small area such as an office building, university, or even a residential home. Most mid to large-sized businesses today use LANs, which makes it easy for employees to share information. Currently, the most common types of LANs are Ethernet-based and use software from Novell or Oracle. However, with the emergence of wireless networking, wireless LANs have become the popular alternative. Linux: Pronounced "leenuks," this is a Unix-based operating system created by Linus Torvalds. His reason for developing it was that he wasn't happy with the currently available options in Unix. So he did what anybody else would do, and created his own operating system (OS). He freely distributed his OS, which helped it gain popularity. Today, Linux is used by hundreds of thousands of people around the world. Computer geeks love it because it is very customizable and you can actually add your own code to the operating system. Linux is also the OS of choice for many Web hosting companies because it is far cheaper to set up and maintain than a Windows-based server. The current supported hardware platforms for Linux software are Intel, PowerPC, DEC Alpha, Sun Sparc, and Motorola. Mac OS: This is the operating system that runs on Macintosh computers. The Mac OS has been around since the first Macintosh was introduced in 1984. Since then, it has been continually updated and many new features have been added to it. Each major OS release is signified by a new number (i.e. Mac OS 8, Mac OS 9). Since the core of the Mac OS was nearly a decade old, Apple decided to completely revamp the operating system. In March of 2001, Apple introduced a completely new version of the Mac OS that was written from the ground up. The company dubbed it "Mac OS X," correctly pronounced "Mac OS 10." Unlike earlier versions of the Mac OS, Mac OS X is based on the same kernel as Unix and has many advanced administrative features and utilities. Though the operating system is much more advanced than earlier versions of the Mac OS, it still has the same ease-of-use that people have come to expect from Apple software. Mainframe: This is an ultra-high-performance computer made for high-volume, processor-intensive computing. They are typically used by large businesses and for scientific purposes. You probably won't find a mainframe in any household. In the hierarchy of computers, mainframes are right below supercomputers, the most powerful computers in the world. Yet a mainframe can usually execute many programs simultaneously at a high speed, whereas supercomputers are designed for a single process. Currently, the largest manufacturers of mainframes are IBM and Unisys. Modem: The word modem is actually short for Modulator/Demodulator. (There's something you can really impress your friends with). A modem is a communications device that can be either internal or external to your computer. It allows one computer to connect another computer and transfer data over telephone lines. The original dial-up modems are becoming obsolete because of their slow speeds and are being replaced by the much faster cable and DSL modems. Motherboard: Also known as the main board or logic board, this is the main circuit board of your computer. If you ever open your computer up, the biggest piece of silicon you see is the motherboard. This is where you'll find the CPU, the ROM, memory expansion slots, PCI slots, serial ports, USB ports, and all the controllers for things like the hard drive, DVD drive, keyboard, and mouse. Basically, the motherboard is what makes everything in your computer work together. Each motherboard has a collection of chips and controllers that is known as the "chipset". When new motherboards are developed, they often use new chipsets. The good news is that these boards are typically more efficient and faster than their predecessors. The bad news is that you may not be able to add certain memory and CPU upgrades to older motherboards. Of course, that's typical of the computer industry. Multiple Platform: If a software program is developed for multiple operating systems, it is considered to be "multiplatform." Since Microsoft Word runs on both the Windows and Macintosh platform, it is a multiplatform application. In the consumer gaming market, multiplatform games run on more
than one gaming machine. For example, a sports game developed for
Xbox, Playstation, GameCube, and PC would be a multiplatform game.
If a game is developed exclusively for one system, i.e. "The
Legend of Zelda," for Nintendo, it is not multiplatform. Gaming
hardware manufacturers use exclusive software as a reason for consumers
to buy their system. Network: When you have two or more computers connected to each other, you have a network. The purpose of a network is to enable the sharing of files and information between multiple systems. The Internet could be described as a global network of networks. Computer networks can be connected through cables, such as Ethernet cables or phone lines, or wirelessly, using wireless networking cards that send and receive data through the air. Network Protocol: A system of common rules that helps define the complex process of transferring data. NIC: Stands for "Network Interface Card." Pronounced "nick," this is the card that physically makes the connection between the computer and the network cable. These cards typically use an Ethernet connection and are available in 10, 100, and 1000 Base-T configurations. A 100-Base-T card can transfer data at 100 Mbps. The cards come in ISA and PCI versions and are made by companies like 3Com and LinkSys. So if you want to connect your computer to a network, you better get yourself a NIC. Operating System: Also known as an "OS," this is the software that communicates with computer hardware on the most basic level. Without an operating system, no software programs can run. The OS is what allocates memory, processes tasks, accesses disks and peripherals and serves as the user interface. With an operating system, like Windows, the Mac OS, or Linux, developers can write code using a standard programming interface (known as an API). Without an operating system, programmers would have to write about ten times as much code to get the same results. Of course, some computer geniuses have to program the operating system itself. PDF: Stands for "Portable Document Format." It is a multi-platform file format developed by Adobe Systems. A PDF file captures document text, images, and most impressively, the formatting of documents from a variety of applications. You can send a PDF document over the Internet to your friend and it will look the same way on his screen as it looks on yours. PDF documents also print out the same way they look on your monitor. To view a PDF file, you need Adobe Acrobat Reader, a free application distributed by Adobe Systems. There is also an Acrobat Plug-in for Web browsers that enable PDF files to be viewed from within your browser. For more information on PDF's check out Abobe's PDF Page. RAM: Stands for "Random Access Memory," and is pronounced like the male sheep. RAM is made up of small memory chips that are connected to the motherboard of your computer. Every time you open a program, it gets loaded from the hard drive into the RAM. This is because reading data from the RAM is much faster than reading data from the hard drive. Running programs from the RAM of the computer allows them to function without any lag time. The more RAM your computer has, the more data can be loaded from the hard drive into the RAM, which can help speed up your computer. In fact, adding RAM can be more beneficial to your computer's performance rather than upgrading the CPU. Remote Access: Remote access is just what it sounds like -- the ability to access your computer from a remote location. Programs like PC Anywhere (Windows), Remote Access (Mac), and Timbuktu (Windows and Mac) allow users to control remote computers from their local machine (like a PDA). In order for a remote access connection to take place, the local machine must have the remote client software installed and the remote machine must have the remote server software installed. Also, a username and password is almost always required to authenticate the connecting user. Remote access is more than just being able to connect to a remote machine -- it is the ability to control the machine once the connection has been made. A remote access program can basically transform your local computer into the remote computer you connect to. This is great for people who sometimes work from home and for server administrators who frequently need to update and make changes on their server machines. Most remote access programs also allow users to transfer files between the local and remote machines, which can save a lot of commuting time. Remote User: a remote user is someone who works on a computer from a remote location. For example, if Bob leaves work and forgets to bring a file with him from his office computer, he might be able to connect to his work machine from his home computer and grab the file. When Bob accesses his office computer from home, he is considered a remote user. Of course, Bob does not want anyone to be able to access his computer remotely. So, he would most likely need to enter a username and password in order to connect to his office machine. Programs like Timbuktu and PC Anywhere allow users to not only connect to their computers remotely, but actually display the interface of the remote machine on their local computer. Unix-based systems such as Mac OS X and Linux allow users to control the computers remotely using the text-based "Terminal" interface. Remote connections can be made over a local network, a direct phone connection, or over the Internet. Of course, the slower the connection, the slower the response time will be from the remote computer. Router: This is a hardware device that routes data (hence the name) from a local area network (LAN) to another network connection. A router acts like a coin sorting machine, allowing only authorized machines to connect to other computer systems. A router reads addressing information and direct data across the network to its destination. Data addressed to another computer or device on the local subnet does not cross the router and therefore doesn't clutter up the transmission lines of the greater network. If data is addressed to a computer outside the subnet, the router forwards the data accordingly. Very large networks such as the Internet include many routers and provide multiple paths from the source to the destination. Most routers also keep log files about the local network activity. At the simplest level, a router divides a local subnet from the larger network. Safe Mode: is a way for the Windows operating system to run with the minimum system files necessary. It uses a generic VGA display driver instead of the vendor-specific driver, which means you will likely be working with only 16 colors in a resolution of 640x480. Safe Mode also turns off all third-party drivers for other peripherals such as mice, keyboards, printers, and scanners. In basic Safe Mode, networking files and settings are not loaded, meaning you won't be able to connect to the Internet or other computers on a network. So why would I ever want to boot in Safe Mode? Well, that's a good question. Sometimes, Windows may not fully load after an unexpected crash and the only way to get the computer to boot is to use Safe Mode. Once you have successfully booted the computer in Safe Mode, you can run a disk utility program to repair corrupted files or directories on the hard drive. You can also reboot into Safe Mode to see your display when you get a "Sync Out of Range" message on your screen. There may also be times when your computer is performing sluggishly and becomes annoyingly slow. Booting into Safe Mode will allow you to diagnose the problem and determine which files are slowing down the computer. When calling technical support, the support person may ask you to boot into Safe Mode to begin the troubleshooting. To boot your Windows computer into Safe Mode, hold down the F8 key while the computer is starting up. Then select Safe Mode from the list of boot options. Server: As the name implies, a server serves information to computers that connect to it. When users connect to a server, they can access programs, files, and other information from the server. Common servers are Web servers, mail servers, and LAN servers. A single computer can have several different server programs running on it. Spyware: As the name implies, this is software that "spies" on your computer. Nobody likes to be spied on, and your computer doesn't like it either. Spyware can capture information like Web browsing habits, e-mail messages, usernames and passwords, and credit card information. If left unchecked, the software can transmit this data to another person's computer over the Internet. So how does spyware get on your computer? Just like viruses, spyware can be installed when you open an e-mail attachment containing the malicious software. It can also be installed when you install another program that has a spyware installer attached to it. Because of the insidious nature of spyware, most people don't even know when spyware is on their computer. Fortunately, you can purchase anti-spyware utilities that will search for spyware on your computer and stomp the unwanted software out of your system. A good way to prevent spyware from infecting your computer is to install a security program that lets you know when any program is being installed, so that you can choose to authorize or stop the installation. Streaming: Data streaming, commonly seen in the forms of audio and video streaming, is when a multimedia file can be played back without being completely downloaded first. Most files, like shareware and software updates that you download off the Internet, are not streaming data. However, certain audio and video files like Real Audio and QuickTime documents can be streaming files, meaning you can watch a video or listen to a sound file while it's being downloaded to your computer. With a fast Internet connection, you can actually stream live audio or video to your computer. T1: This is a data transfer system that transfers digital signals at 1.544 megabits per second (quite a bit faster than a 56K modem, which maxes out at around 0.056 Mbps). Most small to mid-sized colleges and business have T1 lines for their Internet connections. Because of the T1's large bandwidth, hundreds of people can be accessing the Internet from one T1 line. However, like all good things, too many people on one T1 line can cause dramatic decreases in data transfer speeds. For this reason, multiple T1s are often used. TCP/IP: Stands for "Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol." These two protocols were developed in the early days of the Internet by the U.S. military. The purpose was to allow computers to communicate over long distance networks. The TCP part has to do with the verifying delivery of the packets. The IP part refers to the moving of data packets between nodes. The protocols of TCP/IP define the network communication process and, define how a unit of data should look and what information it should contain so that a receiving computer can interpret the message correctly. TCP/IP has since then become the foundation of the Internet. Therefore, TCP/IP software is built into all major operating systems, such as Unix, Windows, and the Mac OS. Unix: Also known as UNIX, though the letters don't stand for anything. The Unix operating system was first created in Bell Labs way back in the 1960s. It became popular in the 1970s for high-level computing, but not on the consumer level. Since a lot of Internet services were originally hosted on Unix machines, the platform gained tremendous popularity in the 1990s. It still leads the industry as the most common operating system for Web servers. Yet Unix remains somewhat of an ambiguous operating system, as there are many different versions of it. Some examples include Ultrix, Xenix, Linux, and GNU, which, making things even more confusing, all run on a number of different hardware platforms. Most people don't ever need to use Unix, but computer geeks seem to have the need to use it as much as possible. Upload: While downloading is receiving a file from another computer, uploading is the exact opposite. It is sending a file from your computer to another system. Pretty straight forward. It is possible to upload and download at the same time, but it may cause slower transfer speeds, especially if you have a low bandwidth connection. Because most files are located on Internet servers, people generally do a lot more downloading than uploading. USB: Stands for "Universal Serial Bus." It is today's most commonly used type of computer port. USB can be used to connect a mouse, keyboard, game controllers, printers, scanners, digital cameras, and removable media drives, just to name a few. With the help of a few USB hubs, you can connect up to 127 peripherals to a single USB port and use them all at once (though that would require a lot of dexterity). USB is also faster than older ports, such as serial and parallel ports. The USB 1.1 specification supports data transfer rates of up to 12Mb/sec and USB 2.0 has a maximum transfer rate of 480 Mbps. Though USB was introduced in 1997, the technology didn't really take off until the introduction of the Apple iMac (in late 1998) which used USB ports exclusively. It is somewhat funny, considering USB was created and designed by Intel, Compaq, Digital, and IBM. Now USB has become a widely-used cross-platform interface for both Macs and PCs. Utility: Utility programs, commonly referred to as just "utilities," are software programs that add functionality to your computer or help your computer perform better. These include antivirus, backup, disk repair, file management, security, and networking programs. Utilities can also be applications such as screensavers, font and icon tools, and desktop enhancements. Some utility programs help keep your computer free from unwanted software such as viruses or spyware, while others add functionality that allows you to customize your desktop and user interface. In general, programs that help make your computer better are considered utilities. Webmaster: The webmaster is the person in charge of maintaining a Web site. The jobs of a webmaster include writing HTML for Web pages, organizing the Web site's structure, responding to e-mails about the Web site, and keeping the site up-to-date. On some Web sites you might see a phrase that says, "send dead links and other Web site problems to webmaster@domainame.com." Wi-Fi: Short for "Wireless Fidelity." (Yes, it is pretty much a rip-off of the term "Hi-Fi," or High Fidelity, which refers to high-quality audio or surround sound.) Wi-Fi refers to wireless network components that are based on one of the Wi-Fi Alliance's 802.11 standards. The Wi-Fi Alliance created the 802.11 standard so that manufacturers can make wireless products that work with other manufacturers' equipment. So, if you have a "Wi-Fi Certified" wireless network card, it should be recognized by any "Wi-Fi Certified" access point, and vice-versa. Zip: Windows users will see this term a lot when looking for files on the Internet. A zip file (.zip) is a "zipped" or compressed file. For example, when you download a file, if the filename looks like this: "filename.zip," you are downloading a zipped file. "Zipping" a file involves compressing one or more items into a smaller archive. A zipped file takes up less hard drive space and takes less time to transfer to another computer. This is why most Windows files that you find on the Internet are compressed. To use a zipped file, you'll need to unzip it first. PKZIP for DOS, or WinZip for Windows, are some popular programs that can unzip files for you. Fortunately, these programs can be downloaded for free from Web sites like Download.com. Macintosh files are most often "stuffed" into Stuffit files (.sit), which can be "unstuffed" using Aladdin's Stuffit Expander. The term "Zip" also refers to a product by Iomega. The company makes a removable storage device called a Zip Drive. Depending on the model, these drives can hold 100, 250 or 750 MB Zip disks. They are usually used for backup and for transferring large files to different locations. However, Zip drives are not as fast as hard drives, so it is usually not a good idea to run programs off them. |
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