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Glossary

AUP / ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY   

The conduct expected from a person using a computer or service. ISPs, online services and BBSs provide their customers with an acceptable use policy (AUP), which may prohibit spamming or commercial usage. Schools and universities provide AUPs for students using the computer lab, which defines unacceptable behavior.

ATTACH A FILE       [ Top of Page ]

To link a file to an e-mail message so that they travel to their destination together. Any type of file can be attached; for example, a database, spreadsheet, graphics or program file. Even a text file that might elaborate more on the message being sent can be attached.

BOOLEAN LOGIC     [ Top of Page ]

The "mathematics of logic," developed by English mathematician George Boole in the mid-19th century. Its rules govern logical functions (true/false). As add, subtract, multiply and divide are the primary operations of arithmetic, AND, OR and NOT are the primary operations of Boolean logic. Boolean logic is turned into logic gates on circuit boards, and various permutations are used, including NAND, NOR, XOR and XNOR. The rules, or truth tables, for Boolean AND, OR and NOT follow.
 

AND

AND requires both inputs to be present in order to provide output. Because the AND gate is wired in series, both inputs must pulse both switches closed, and current flows from the source to the output.

OR

OR requires one input to be present in order to provide output. Because the OR gate is wired in parallel, either one or both inputs will generate output.

NOT

NOT reverses the input. If there is no pulse on the input line, the source goes directly to output, as in the diagram above. If there is a pulse on the input line, switch #1 is closed. The switch #1 current goes to switch #2 and pulses it open (it's a reverse switch), and the source current is impeded.     

BROWSER        [ Top of Page ] 

A program that lets you look through a set of data.  (See Web Browser)

CC and BCC     [ Top of Page ] 

(Carbon Copy and Blind Carbon Copy)

Carbon Copy (CC) - This is a method of sending a copy of an e-mail to someone, but implying that they are not the direct recipient. For example, you send an e-mail with instructions to a group you manage, and CC it to your boss so that they know what's going on, but understand that the instructions in the mail were not meant for them to carry out. When you carbon copy someone in an e-mail, the recipients in the To field of the e-mail are aware of the names in the CC field. If you want to keep names secret from the To and CC recipients, you would use blind carbon copy.

Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) - When sending an e-mail, if you BCC someone, you are sending them a copy of your e-mail, but not allowing the recipients in the To or CC fields of your e-mail client to know that the BCC recipient(s) was sent the message as well.

CD-ROM     [ Top of Page ]

(Compact Disc Read Only Memory) A compact disc format used to hold text, graphics and hi-fi stereo sound. It's like an audio CD with spiral, grooved tracks, but uses a different format for recording data.
CD-ROMs hold 650MB of data, which is equivalent to about 250,000 pages of text or 20,000 medium-resolution images.

CELL       [ Top of Page ]

(1) An elementary unit of storage for data (bit) or power (battery).
(2) In a spreadsheet, the intersection of a row and column.

DATABASE    [ Top of Page ]

A set of related files that is created and managed by a database management system (DBMS). Today, DBMSs can manage any form of data including text, images, sound and video. Database and file structures are always determined by the software. As far as the hardware is concerned, it's all bits and bytes.

DESKTOP      [ Top of Page ]

(1) An on-screen representation of a desktop such as used in the Macintosh and wizards.
(2) A buzzword attached to applications traditionally performed on more expensive machines that are converted to a personal computer (desktop publishing, desktop mapping, etc.).

 DIGITAL     [ Top of Page ]

Digital is synonymous with computer.

Digital Means Original:  The 0s and 1s of digital data mean more than just on and off. They mean perfect copying. When information, music, voice and video are turned into binary digital form, they can be electronically manipulated, preserved and regenerated perfectly at high speed. The millionth copy of a computer file is exactly the same as the original.

DISKETTE      [ Top of Page ]

(Same as Floppy Disk) A reusable magnetic storage medium introduced by IBM in 1971. The floppy was the primary method for distributing personal computer software until the mid-1990s when CD-ROMs became the preferred medium. The floppy disk used today is the rigid 3.5" microfloppy that holds 1.44MB. The reason it's called a floppy is that the first varieties were housed in bendable jackets.

DOWNLOAD      [ Top of Page ]

To receive a file transmitted over a network. In a communications session, download means receive, upload means transmit. Downloads depend on file size and network speed. Downloading files from the Internet has become a snap with "click here to download this file" messages on Web pages. The Web browser prompts you where to save the file. Downloading from an online service requires following the menu prompts to find the topics and files of interest. On a network server, downloadable files are placed in public directories (folders) that can be copied using the normal file management procedures of the operating system. On a Windows LAN for example, files are selected by drive letter, directory (folder) and file name.

 EMAIL      [ Top of Page ]

The transmission of memos and messages over a network. Within an enterprise, users can send mail to a single recipient or broadcast it to multiple users.  An e-mail system requires a messaging system, which provides the store and forward capability, and a mail program that provides the user interface with send and receive functions.
The Internet revolutionized e-mail by turning countless incompatible islands into one global system. The Internet initially served its own members, of course, but then began to act as a mail gateway between the major online services. It then became "the" messaging system for the planet. By 1998, Internet mail exceeded three trillion messages in the U.S.

EXPORT       [ Top of Page ]

To save a copy of the current document or database into the file format required by a different application. Mainstream applications typically export (and import) a variety of popular formats. The Save As command in a program gives you access to the export functions in a program (the export filters).

FIELD       [ Top of Page ]

A physical unit of data that is one or more bytes in size. A collection of fields make up a record. A field also defines a unit of data on a source document, screen or report. Examples of fields are NAME, ADDRESS, QUANTITY and AMOUNT DUE.  The field is the common denominator between the user and the computer. When you interactively query and update your database, you reference your data by field name.

FILE       [ Top of Page ]

A collection of bytes stored  as an individual entity. All data on disk is stored as a file with an assigned file name that is unique within the directory it resides in.  To the computer, a file is nothing more than a string of bytes. The structure of a file is known to the software that manipulates it. For example, database files are made up of a series of records. Word processing files contain a continuous flow of text.

FOLDER      [ Top of Page ]

In a graphical user interface (GUI), a simulated file folder that holds data, applications and other folders. Folders were introduced on the Xerox Star, then popularized on the Macintosh and later adapted to Windows and UNIX. In DOS and Windows 3.1, a folder is known as a directory, and a subfolder (folder within a folder) is a subdirectory.

FORMAT      [ Top of Page ]

The structure, or layout, of an item.  Screen formats are the layout of fields on the screen.  Report formats are the columns, headers and footers on a page.  Record formats are the fields within a record.  File formats are the structure of data and program files, word processing documents and graphics files (vectors and bitmaps) with all their proprietary headers and codes.

GIF       [ Top of Page ]

(Graphics Interchange Format) A popular bitmapped graphics file format developed by CompuServe. It supports 8-bit color (256 colors) and is widely used on the Web, because the files compress well. GIFs include a color table that includes the most representative 256 colors used. For example, a picture of the forest would include mostly greens. This method provides excellent realism in an 8-bit image.
 
Macintosh users call GIF files "giff" files, while PC users call them "jiff" files.

HARD DRIVE       [ Top of Page ]

The mechanism that reads and writes a hard disk. The terms hard drive and hard disk are used interchangeably.

HARDWARE      [ Top of Page ]

Machinery and equipment (CPU, disks, tapes, modem, cables, etc.). In operation, a computer is both hardware and software. The hardware design specifies the commands it can follow, and the instructions tell it what to do.

HYPERLINK      [ Top of Page ]

A predefined linkage between one object and another. The link is displayed either as text or as an icon. On World Wide Web pages, a text hyperlink displays as underlined text typically in blue, while a graphical hyperlink is a small graphics image.

ICON        [ Top of Page ]

In a graphical user interface (GUI), a small, pictorial, on-screen representation of an object, such as a document, program, folder or disk drive.

IMPORT       [ Top of Page ]

To read a file in a format that is not native to the application in use. Mainstream applications typically import (and export) a variety of popular formats.

INDEX      [ Top of Page ]

(1) In data management, the most common method for keeping track of data on a disk. Indexes are directory listings maintained by the OS, DBMS or the application.  An index of files contains an entry for each file name and the location of the file. An index of records has an entry for each key field (account no., name, etc.) and the location of the record.

(2) In programming, a method for keeping track of data in a table.

INTERNET       [ Top of Page ]

(1) A large network made up of a number of smaller networks.

(2) "The" Internet is made up of more than 65 million computers in more than 100 countries covering commercial, academic and government endeavors. Originally developed for the U.S. military, the Internet became widely used for academic and commercial research. Users had access to unpublished data and journals on a huge variety of subjects. Today, the Internet has become commercialized into a worldwide information highway, providing information on every subject known to humankind.

LINK       [ Top of Page ]

(1) In communications, a line, channel or circuit over which data is transmitted.
(2) On the World Wide Web, an address (URL) to another document on the same server or on any remote server.
(3) In data management, a pointer embedded within a record that refers to data or the location of data in another record.
(4) In programming, a call to another program or subroutine.

JPEG        [ Top of Page ]

(Joint Photographic Experts Group) Pronounced "jay-peg." An ISO/ITU standard for compressing still images that is becoming very popular due to its high compression capability. Using discrete cosine transform, it provides lossy compression (you lose some data from the original image) with ratios up to 100:1 and higher. It depends on the image, but ratios of 10:1 to 20:1 may provide little noticeable loss. The more the loss can be tolerated, the more the image can be compressed. Compression is achieved by dividing the picture into tiny pixel blocks, which are halved over and over until the ratio is achieved.

MENU       [ Top of Page ]

An on-screen list of available functions, or operations, that can be performed currently.

MODEM      [ Top of Page ]

(MOdulator-DEModulator) A device that adapts a terminal or computer to an analog telephone line by converting digital pulses to audio frequencies and vice versa. The term usually refers to 56 Kbps modems (V.90), the current top speed, or to older 28.8 Kbps modems (V.34). A modem is an analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converter. It also dials the line, answers the call and controls transmission speed.

NAVIGATION BAR        [ Top of Page ]

A set of buttons or graphic images typically in a row or column used as a central point that links you to major topic sections on a Web site. If the navigation bar is a single graphic image with multiple selections, it is known as an image map.

NETIQUETTE       [ Top of Page ]

(NETwork etIQUETTE) Proper manners when conferencing between two or more users on an online service or the Internet. Emily Post may not have told you to curtail your cussing via modem, but netiquette has been established to remind you that profanity is not in good form over the network. Using UPPER CASE TO MAKE A POINT all the time and interjecting emotions throughout a message is also not good netiquette.

NETWORK       [ Top of Page ]

(1) An arrangement of objects that are interconnected.
(2) In communications, the transmission channels interconnecting all client and server stations as well as all supporting hardware and software.

NEWSGROUP         [ Top of Page ]

A message board on the Internet. Also known as Internet discussion groups.  It all starts by someone posting an initial query or comment, and other members reply. Still others reply to the replies, and so the "discussion" forms a chain of related postings called a message thread.  Some are moderated; some are not, and no single server or online service hosts them. They originate from many sources and are hosted on many systems, known collectively as the Usenet network, the original name given to this service.  Unlike a Web site, which is owned by someone or some organization, nobody controls or filters what appears in a newsgroup.

PCX      [ Top of Page ]

A popular bitmapped graphics file format that handles monochrome, 2-bit, 4-bit, 8-bit and 24-bit color and uses RLE to achieve compression ratios of approximately 1.1:1 to 1.5:1. Images with large blocks of solid colors compress best under the RLE method.

PERIPHERAL      [ Top of Page ]

Any hardware device connected to a computer, such as a monitor, keyboard, printer, disk, tape, graphics tablet, scanner, joy stick, paddle and mouse.

PLAGIARISM     [ Top of Page ]

(1) To steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (another's production) without crediting the source
(2) To commit literary theft : present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source

QUERY       [ Top of Page ]

To interrogate a database (count, sum and list selected records). Contrast with report, which is usually a more elaborate printout with headings and page numbers. The report may also be a selective list of items; hence, the two terms may refer to programs that produce the same results. Defining a query for a relational database can be extremely simple or very complex.

Most queries require at least the following conditions to be stated. First, which table or tables is the data coming from. If from two or more tables, what is the link between (typically account number or name). Next, define the selection criteria, which is the matching condition or filter. Lastly, define which fields in the tables are to be displayed or printed in the result.

SCROLL BAR      [ Top of Page ]

A horizontal or vertical bar that contains a box that looks like an elevator in a shaft. The bar is clicked to scroll the screen in the corresponding direction, or the box (elevator, thumb) is clicked and then dragged to the desired direction.

SEARCH ENGINE   [ Top of Page ]

Software that searches for data based on some criteria. Although search engines have been around for decades, they have been brought to the forefront since the World Wide Web exploded onto the scene.

SOFTWARE        [ Top of Page ]

Instructions for the computer. The two major categories of software are system software and application software. System software is made up of control programs such as the operating system and database management system (DBMS). Application software is any program that processes data for the user (inventory, payroll, spreadsheet, word processor, etc.).

TABLE     [ Top of Page ]

(1) In programming, a collection of adjacent fields. Also called array, a table contains data that is either constant within the program or is called in when the program is run.
(2) In a relational database, the same as a file; a collection of records.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS      [ Top of Page ]

Communicating information, including data, text, pictures, voice and video over long distance.

TIFF       [ Top of Page ]

(Tagged Image File Format) A widely used bitmapped graphics file format developed by Aldus and Microsoft that handles monochrome, gray scale, 8-and 24-bit color. TIFF allows for customization, and several versions have been created, which does not guarantee compatibility between all programs.  TIFF files are compressed using several compression methods. LZW provides ratios of about 1.5:1 to 2:1. Ratios of 10:1 to 20:1 are possible for documents with lots of white space using ITU Group III & IV compression methods (fax).

TOOL      [ Top of Page ]

(1) A program used for software development or system maintenance. Virtually any program or utility that helps programmers or users develop applications or maintain their computers can be called a tool. Examples of programming tools are compilers, interpreters, assemblers, 4GLs, editors, debuggers and application generators.
(2) A program that helps the user analyze or search for data. For example, query and report programs are often called query tools and report tools.
(3) An on-screen function in a graphics program; for example, a line draw, circle draw or brush tool.

TOOLBAR    [ Top of Page ]

A row or column of on-screen buttons used to activate functions in the application. Some toolbars are customizable, letting you add and delete buttons as required

URL     [ Top of Page ]

(Uniform Resource Locator) The address that defines the route to a file on the Web or any other Internet facility. URLs are typed into the browser to access Web pages, and URLs are embedded within the pages themselves to provide the hypertext links to other pages. The URL contains the protocol prefix, port number, domain name, subdirectory names and file name. Port addresses are generally defaults and are rarely specified. To access a home page on a Web site, only the protocol and domain name is required. For example,

                                                      http://www.ctap.k12.ca.us

retrieves the home page at The California Technology Assistance Project’s Web site. The http:// is the Web protocol, and www.ctap.k12.ca.us is the domain name.

                                          http://www.ctap.k12.ca.us/resources/index.html

http://                                        protocol

www.ctap.k12.ca.us/                   domain name

resources/                      subdirectory name

index.html                    document name (Web page)

VIRUS       [ Top of Page ]

Software code used to infect a computer that is buried within an existing program. Once that program is executed, the virus code is activated and attaches copies of itself to other programs in the system. Infected programs copy the virus to other programs.

WEB BROWSER      [ Top of Page ]

The program that serves as your front end to the World Wide Web on the Internet. In order to view a site, you type its address (URL) into the browser's Location field and the home page of that site is downloaded to you. Links on that page may take you to other related sites.  The two major browsers today are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.

WINDOW        [ Top of Page ]

(1) A scrollable viewing area on screen. A window may refer to a part of the application, such as the scrollable index window or it may refer to the entire application in a window.

(2) A reserved area of memory.

WIZARD   [ Top of Page ]

Instructional help that guides the user through a series of steps to accomplish a task.

WWW    [ Top of Page ]

(World Wide Web) The www. prefix used on most Web addresses is actually the mnemonic name of the Web server used at the Web site. Most Webmasters name their servers WWW in order to provide a recognizable address for everyone. Web addresses (URLs) are read from right to left, so that the WWW is the last component of the address, which is the name of the Web server itself.