COMPUTER TERMINOLOGY:-
Terms
Beginning with "N"
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A name server translates domain
names into IP addresses. This makes it possible for a user to access a
website by...
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NAS is short for "Network
Attached Storage." It refers to a network storage system in which shared
data is stored in a...
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Stands for "Network
Address Translation." NAT translates the IP addresses of computers in a
local network to a single...
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When you save a file using a
certain program, the file is often saved in a proprietary format only that
program can...
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Stands for "Network Basic
Input/Output System." NetBIOS was introduced in 1983 by IBM as an
improvement to the...
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Netiquette, or net etiquette,
refers to etiquette on the Internet. Good netiquette involves respecting
others' privacy...
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A netmask is used to define a
range of IP addresses. It is similar to a subnet mask, but is used to define
classes of...
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When you have two or more
computers connected to each other, you have a network. The purpose of a
network is to enable...
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A network topology describes
the arrangement of systems on a computer network. It defines how the
computers, or nodes...
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A new user of a technology,
such as a computer, a certain computer program, or the Internet, is often
referred to as a...
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A newsgroup is an Internet-based
discussion about a particular topic. These topics range from sports, cars,
investing...
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Stands for "Network
Interface Card." Pronounced "nick," this is the card that
physically makes the connection between...
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Stands for "Network News
Transfer Protocol." For a message to be posted to a newsgroup, it must
be sent through this...
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Stands for "Network
Operations Center." It is the central location where a company's servers
and networking equipment...
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Any system or device connected
to a network is also called a node. For example, if a network connects a file
server...
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Most modern printers are called
non-impact printers since they do not operating by striking a print head
against an ink...
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The northbridge is a chip
inside a computer that connects the central processing unit (CPU) to other
primary components...
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Stands for "New Technology
File System." NTFS is a file system introduced by Microsoft with Windows
NT and is...
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When a variable has no value,
it considered to be null. Having a null value is different than having a
value of...
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A null character is a character
with all its bits set to zero. Therefore, it has a numeric value of zero and
can be...
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Num Lock is a toggle key that
toggles the input of the numeric keypad. When Num Lock is on, the keypad can
be used to...
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A nybble, sometimes spelled
"nibble," is a set of four bits. Since there are eight bits in a
byte, a nybble is half of...
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Terms
Beginning with "O"
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Stands for "Organization
for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards." To someone
backpacking through the...
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Stands for "Optical
Character Recognition." This technology is what allows you to scan that
paper you lost on your...
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Stands for "Open Database
Connectivity." With all the different types of databases available, such
as Microsoft...
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Stands for "Original
Equipment Manufacturer." This refers to a company that produces hardware
to be marketed under...
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When a computer or other device
is not turned on or connected to other devices, it is said to be
"offline." This is...
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Stands for "Online
Analytical Processing." OLAP allows users to analyze database
information from multiple database...
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Stands for "Object Linking
and Embedding." It can be pronounced as "O-L-E," or
"Oh-lay!" if you are feeling Spanish...
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In general, when a machine is
"online," it is turned on and connected to other devices. For
example, when a network...
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Stands for
"Object-Oriented Programming." OOP (not Oops!) refers to a
programming methodology based on objects...
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Open Firmware is a type of
firmware that some computer systems use when they boot up. It controls the
processor and...
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When a software program is open
source, it means the program's source code is freely available to the public.
Unlike...
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OpenGL, or the Open Graphics
Library, is a 3D graphics language developed by Silicon Graphics. Before OpenGL
was...
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Also known as an
"OS," this is the software that communicates with computer hardware
on the most basic level. Without...
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In the real world,
"optical" refers to vision, or the ability to see. In the computer
world, however, "optical" refers...
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Media, in the computer world,
refers to various types of data storage. For example, hard drives, CDs, DVDs,
and USB...
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OSD is short for "On
Screen Display." An OSD is an onscreen menu included with most monitors
that allows users to make...
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Stands for "Open Shortest
Path First." OSPF is a method of finding the shortest path from one
router to another in a...
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An outbox is where outgoing
e-mail messages are temporarily stored. While you are composing a message,
most mail...
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Data generated by a computer is
referred to as output. This includes data produced at a software level, such
as the...
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Any device that outputs information
from a computer is called, not surprisingly, an output device. Since most...
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For some people, fast is never
fast enough. In the world of computers, a fast processor can be made even
faster by...
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In computing, overwriting
refers to replacing old data with new data. There are two primary types of
overwriting...
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Terms
Beginning with "P"
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Stands for "Peer to
Peer." In a P2P network, the "peers" are computer systems
which are connected to each other via...
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This is a small amount of
computer data sent over a network. Any time you receive data from the
Internet, it comes to...
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Page orientation describes the
way a document is printed or displayed on a screen. The two main types are
"Portrait...
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Each time a user visits a Web
page, it is called a page view. Page views, also written
"pageviews," are tracked by...
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This interface is found on the
back of older PCs and is used for connecting external devices such as
printers or a...
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No, this is not a typo of the
word "sparse." The word "parse" means to analyze an
object specifically. It is commonly...
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A partition is a section of a
hard disk. When you format a hard disk, you can usually choose the number of
partitions...
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A password is a string of
characters used for authenticating a user on a computer system. For example,
you may have an...
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Just like you can paste a note
on a sheet of paper, you can paste data into a document on a computer. The
paste...
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A path, also known as a
"file path" or "directory path," defines the location of
a file or folder. Paths can either be...
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When data is sent over the
Internet, each unit transmitted includes both header information and the
actual data being...
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Stands for "Personal
computer." PCs are are what most of us use on a daily basis for work or
personal use. A typical...
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Stands for "Printed
Circuit Board." A PCB is a thin board made of fiberglass or a similar
material. Electrical wires...
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Stands for "Peripheral
Component Interconnect." It is a hardware bus designed by Intel and used
in both PCs and Macs...
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First came PCI, then PCI-X,
then PCI Express. PCI Express can be abbreviated as PCIe or, less commonly
and more...
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Stands for "Peripheral
Component Interconnect Extended." Once again, "Ex" is
abbreviated with an "X" instead of an...
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Stands for "Personal
Computer Memory Card International Association." It can also mean,
perhaps more appropriately...
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Stands for "Personal
Digital Assistant." These are the little electronic devices you see
people jotting stuff down on...
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Stands for "Portable
Document Format." PDF is a multi-platform file format developed by Adobe
Systems. A PDF file...
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A pebibyte is a unit of data
storage that equals 2 to the 50th power, or 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes.
While a...
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Peopleware refers to the role
of people in the computing process. While hardware and software make up a
computer...
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A computer peripheral is any
external device that provides input and output for the computer. For example,
a keyboard...
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Perl actually stands for
"Practical Extraction and Report Language," but you don't really
need to know that unless you...
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Short for "permanent
link." A permalink is a URL that links to a specific news story or Web
posting. Permalinks are...
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A personal URL, or
"purl," is a custom Web address that you can select for your
profile page within a website...
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A petabyte is 2 to the 50th
power, or 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes. However, petabytes are often estimated
as 10 to the...
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Petaflops (also PFLOPS) is used
to measure the performance of a computer's floating point unit (FPU). One
petaflops...
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Pharming is yet another way
hackers attempt to manipulate users on the Internet. While phishing attempts
to capture...
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Phishing is similar to fishing
in a lake, but instead of trying to capture fish, phishers attempt to steal
your...
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Stands for "Hypertext
Preprocessor." (It is a recursive acronym, if you can understand what
that means.) PHP is an...
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Phreaking refers to
experimenting with or exploiting a telephone system and is often considered
to be the predecessor...
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A piconet is a network that is
created using a wireless Bluetooth connection. Some examples of piconets
include 1) a...
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Stands for "Personal
Information Manager." A PIM is a software application that serves as a
planner, notebook, and...
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This term refers to a golf
equipment brand, as well as the sound made by striking your glass with a
spoon at the dinner...
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Computer processors can handle
millions of instructions each second. Once one instruction is processed, the
next one...
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When someone installs and uses
commercial software without paying for the program, it is called
"pirating" the...
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The term "pixel" is actually
short for "Picture Element." These small little dots are what make
up the images on...
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Plain text is another name for
unformatted text. Unlike rich text, plain text does not support italics,
underlining...
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In the computer world, a
"platform" typically refers to a computer's operating system. For
example, a Dell computer...
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Plug and Play, sometimes,
abbreviated PnP, is a catchy phrase used to describe devices that work with a
computer system...
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A plug-in (also
"plugin") is software add-on that adds extra features and
capabilities to an application. Typically...
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Stands for "Power
Management Unit." The PMU is a microcontroller, or integrated circuit,
that controls the power...
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Stands for "Portable
Network Graphic." This format was designed as an alternative to the GIF
format (which has been...
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The name "podcast"
combines the terms iPod and broadcast into a single catchy word. As the name
suggests, podcasts are...
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The term "pop-up" has
two computer-related meanings. One refers to a window and the other is a type
of menu. ...
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Stands for "Post Office
Protocol." POP3, sometimes referred to as just "POP," is a
simple, standardized method of...
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As if computer terms weren't
hard enough to understand, there are three different meanings of the word
"port." 1. An...
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While this term can also refer
to a matterless vortex used to travel between different dimensions, an
Internet portal...
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PostScript is a page
description language (PDL) that describes a page's text and graphical
content. It can be used to...
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While the phrase "power cycle"
appears to be a noun, it is actually more commonly used as a verb. In simple
terms, to...
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A power supply is a component
that regulates and provides power to an electrical device. It receives power
from a wall...
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When it comes to computers,
there are regular users and there are power users. Most people fall into the
regular...
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PowerPoint is a presentation
program developed by Microsoft. It is included in the standard Office suite
along with...
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Stands for "Pay Per
Click," and is used in online advertising. PPC advertisements generate
revenue for Web publishers...
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Stands for "Plastic Pin
Grid Array" (not the Pretty People Golfer's Association). PPGA is a type
of processor design...
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Stands for "Pixels Per
Inch." The resolution of a printed photo is often measured in DPI, or
"dots per inch." The DPI...
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Stands for "Pay Per
Lead." PPL is similar to CPL, but measures the cost per lead from the
advertiser's perspective...
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Stands for "Pages Per
Minute." PPM is used to measure the printing speed of both inkjet and
laser printers. Most...
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Stands for "Point to Point
Protocol." It is the Internet standard for dial-up modem connections.
PPP is a set of...
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PPPoE is short for
"Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet" and is pronounced
"P-P-P-oh-E." It is a protocol commonly...
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Stands for "Point-to-Point
Tunneling Protocol." PPTP is a networking standard for connecting to
virtual private...
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Stands for "Parameter
Random Access Memory," and is pronounced "P-ram." PRAM is a
type of memory found in Macintosh...
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Prebinding is an optimization
process that allows faster launching of applications in Mac OS X. Often, when
a program...
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A primary key is a unique
identifier for a database record. When a table is created, one of the fields
is typically...
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A printer is an output device
that prints documents from a computer. Common printers include inkjet and
laser...
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A process is a program that is
running on your computer. This can be anything from a small background task,
such as a...
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This little chip is the heart
of a computer. Also referred to as the "microprocessor," the
processor does all the...
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Program is a common computer
term that can be used as both a noun and a verb. A program (noun) is
executable software...
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Video signals are generated
using horizontal lines. An interlaced picture draws every other line and
alternates...
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PROM stands for
"Programmable Read-Only Memory" and is pronounced
"P-ROM." It is a type of ROM used in small...
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When computers communicate with
each other, there needs to be a common set of rules and instructions that
each computer...
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Most large businesses,
organizations, and universities these days use a proxy server. This is a
server that all...
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PS/2 is a type of port used by
older computers for connecting input devices such as keyboards and mice. The
port was...
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Most software programs are
developed using a programming language, like (C++|cplusplus) or Java. These
languages have...
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Push refers to a system in
which data is "pushed" to a user's device rather than
"pulled" by the user. In other words...
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Python is a programming
language commonly used for creating Web applications and software plug-ins.
It is designed to...
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Terms
Beginning with "Q"
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Stands for "Query By
Example." QBE is a feature included with various database applications
that provides a...
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Quad-core CPUs have four
processing cores. These cores act as separate processors, but reside in a
single chip. A...
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To avoid any confusion, this
term is pronounced exactly like the letter "Q". It is not
pronounced "kay" or "kyoo-ee...
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This is a multimedia technology
developed by our friends at Apple Computer. It is a popular format for
creating and...
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This term is used to describe a
standard (Latin alphabet-based) keyboard. Why? Because the first six keys in
the...
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Terms
Beginning with "R"
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RADCAB is a mnemonic acronym
that helps people evaluate information found online. It was created by
Karen...
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Stands for "Redundant
Array of Independent Disks." RAID is a method of storing data on
multiple hard disks. When...
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Stands for "Random Access
Memory," and is pronounced like the male sheep. RAM is made up of small
memory chips that...
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Most images you see on your
computer screen are raster graphics. Pictures found on the Web and photos you
import from...
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Raw data is unprocessed
computer data. This information may be stored in a file, or may just be a
collection of...
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A raw file is a collection of
unprocessed data. This means the file has not been altered, compressed, or
manipulated...
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Stands for "Resource
Description Framework." RDF is a specification that defines how
metadata, or descriptive...
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Stands for "Rambus Dynamic
Random Access Memory." It is a type of RAM made by Rambus (big surprise)
and is the fastest...
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A readme file, often named
"READ ME" to get the user's attention, is a text file containing
useful information about a...
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Real numbers include all
positive and negative numbers. They may be integers (e.g. -12), rational
numbers (e.g...
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When an event or function is
processed instantaneously, it is said to occur in real-time. To say something
takes place...
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Recursion is a process in which
a function calls itself as a subroutine. This allows the function to be
repeated...
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A recursive function is a
function that calls itself during its execution. This enables the function to
repeat itself...
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The Recycle Bin in used by
Windows computers to store deleted items. It temporarily stores files and folders
before...
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Refresh is a command that
reloads the contents of a window or Web page with the most current data. For
example, a...
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Computer monitors often have a
"maximum refresh rate" listed in their technical specifications.
This number, measured...
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This is a database used by
Microsoft Windows to store configuration information about the software
installed on a...
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Reimaging is the process of
restoring data to a hard disk from a disk image. When a hard disk is
reimaged, the data on...
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Remote access is just what it
sounds like -- the ability to access your computer from a remote location.
Programs like...
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Remote desktop technology makes
it possible to view another computer's desktop on your computer. This means
you can...
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A "remote user" is
how a woman might refer to her husband while he is watching TV. In the
computer world, however, a...
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A repeater is an electronic
device that relays a transmitted signal. It receives a signal on a specific
frequency...
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This term can describe either
how many pixels a monitor can display or how fine a printer can print. 1.
Monitors. A...
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The word "restore"
means to return something to its former condition. Therefore, when you
restore a computer or other...
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RFID is short for
"Radio-Frequency Identification." RFID tags are small integrated
circuits that can be scanned with a...
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Stands for "Red Green
Blue." It refers to the three hues of light (red, green, and blue, for
those of you that are a...
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Rich text is more exciting than
plain text. It supports text formatting, such as bold, italics, and
underlining, as...
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Most computer mice have at
least two mouse buttons. When you press the left one, it is called a left
click. When you...
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Recording audio with a computer
involves capturing an audio signal and saving it digitally on a hard drive.
Ripping an...
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Stands for "Reduced
Instruction Set Computing,"and is pronounced "risk." It is
arguably the fastest and most...
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Stands for "Read-Only
Memory." Please do not confuse this term with RAM or a hard drive, as
many people already do...
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Root, or the "root
node," refers to the top level of a file system. Since file systems are
organized by directories...
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A rootkit is not a collection
of tree roots, as you might be picturing in your head. Instead, a rootkit is
a group of...
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Rosetta is technology included
in Mac OS X that allows software written for PowerPC processors to run on
Intel...
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This is a hardware device that
routes data (hence the name) from a local area network (LAN) to another
network...
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Stands for "Remote
Procedure Call." Most computer programs run procedures, or sets of
instructions, using the...
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Stands for "Revenue Per
1,000 Impressions." RPM is similar to CPM, but measures the revenue from
1,000 ads impressions...
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Stands for "RDF Site
Summary," but is commonly referred to as "Really Simple
Syndication." RSS is method of providing...
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Stands for "Runtime
Environment." As soon as a software program is executed, it is in a
runtime state. In this state...
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Stands for "Rich Text
Format." RTF is a file format standardized by Microsoft for creating
formatted text files...
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While in the physical world,
"ruby" refers to a red gemstone, in the computer world, ruby is an
object-oriented...
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When a program is running, or
executing, it is said to be in runtime. The term is mostly used by software
developers...
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Stands for "Rational
Unified Process." RUP is a software development process from Rational, a
division of IBM. It...
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Thanks for sharing your terms. I did shared the terms I was studying on my real estate blog and it helped me remember everything. I passed the exam on the first try. Good netiquette, your awesome!
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