Revised Computer Glossary

1 404 error: An error that occurs when a web page is not available at that moment for a browser to display.
2 algorithm: A set of precise, unambiguous instructions for performing a certain task.
3 applet: a small crossplatform application that runs in a web browser.
4 bandwidth: the maximum data transfer rate of a network connection.
5 BIOS: (Basic Input/Output System) low level instructions located in ROM (on Windows computers) that performs startup diagnostics and starts Windows.
6 bit: The basic unit of digital information. Can only have a value of 0 or 1.
7 bit rate: (also known as data rate): the rate at which bits are transferred from one location to another (measured in kilobits and megabits).
8 blog: an online journal of sorts, normally maintained by a single individual that consists of a listing of text, images, links, etc in chronological order by date.
9 Blu-Ray (commonly misspelled as "Blue-Ray"): a form of optical disc that was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data; up to five times that of a normal DVD.
10 Bluetooth: technology that allows different advanced electronic devices, such as computers and cell phones, to communicate wirelessly with each other within a limited distance
11 bmp: a graphic image file format; stands for "bit-mapped"
12 bookmark: a method of saving a website's address on an web browser
13 boot: the process that begins when a computer is powered on during which the computer generally does a self diagnosis and then loads the operating system. 
14 'bot: An automated tool (program) that carries out mundane tasks, often on the web.
15 botnet: A group of computers (a network) hijacked by hackers and under their control. This network is used to perform tasks that would be difficult for one computer, such as distribution of SPAM e-mails or attempting to infiltrate other networks.
16 broadband: high-speed data transmission in which a single cable can carry a large amount of data at once, especially for access to the internet.  (Broadband is pretty much standard for most U.S. households in 2012).
17 browser: a software program that allows the user to view data on the world wide web. 
18 buffer: a section of memory that stores data waiting to be processed. For example: when watching a Youtube video, the video is stored in a buffer while the rest is downloading.
19 byte: A unit of storage capable of holding a single character. 1 byte=8 bits.
20 C: A programming language developed in the early 1970's but still in use today because it is fast and because translators exist for almost every operating system.
21 cache: A place to store recently used information where it can be accessed extremely fast.
22 CD-RW: A "read-write" CD in which files can be added or deleted.
23 chip: Slang for "integrated circuit", a computer component that is made up of many electric circuits. Digital circuits help run processors and controllers in computers.
24 client: A client is a computer that gets information from a server computer. For example, corporate offices have many computers (client computers) that all connect to a single server.
25 clipboard: a location in RAM where the operating system can be temporarily store copied data.
26 cloud: a network of servers that are accessed by users through a network or internet to access programs or services.
27 CMOS: stands for Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor, which is an on-board semiconductor chip that stores data such as the time, date and computer settings for the computer.
28 codec: short for COmpression/DECompression, it is an alogrithm or special computer program that reduces the bytes consumed by large files. Compressed files can be transmitted faster and use less space when storing. Often used with videos and music.
29 .com, .edu, .net: these are all domain suffixes ("top-level domains") used on websites. ".com" is short for commerical and used for commerical related websites. ".edu" is short for education and used on educational and school websites. ".net" is short for network and used for network providers.
30 compiler: a software program that converts a set of high-level languege statements into lower-level respresentation.
31 compressed file: A compressed file consolidates the redundant information packaged into a file instead of listing all of the information multiple times.
32 cookie: a small amount of data generated by a website and saved by your web browser to remember information about your visit to the site.  Cookies are necessary for common website features like shopping carts.
33 CPU: "Central Processing Unit", a processor or microprocessor that performs the logic, calculation, and decision making functions of a computer.
34 CSS: "Cascading Style Sheet", a style sheet format used to create a uniform look across several pages of a web site. They can be used to define text styles, table sizes, and other aspects of web pages that previously could only be defined in a page's HTML.
35 data compression: "Data Compression," is used to reduce the size of one or more files. When a file is compressed, it takes up less storage space and less bandwidth for transmission.
36 DDR: "Double Data Rate." It is an advanced version of SDRAM, a type of memory chip that increases performance by allowing the transfer of data twice as fast as that of regular SDRAM chips.
37 DNS: Domain Name System, an Internet or Network Sever that converts domain names for the user into the numerical IP addresses which are used to locate computer services and devices worldwide.
38 Dongle: The most common use of the term is for a security key that plugs into a USB port (like a flash drive).
39 DoS: Denial of Service. An attack on one or more computer systems in effort to make them unavailable by overloading them with traffic.
40 download:  The transfering of information from a central repository, usually on the Internet, to a remote computer.
41 drive: a secondary storage device for saving data when the computer is turned off.
42 exceptions- an exception is an unexpected error in a program usually caused by a condition not anticipated by the programmer.
43 firewall: software or hardware based network traffic protector usually to prevent unauthorized access to a computer.
44 FireWire: interface for fast data transfer, developed originally for Apple computers.
45 flash drive:  solid state, removable, secondary memory device, usually plugged into a USB port. 
46 flash memory: a non-volatile, non-moving computer memory storage device that is rewrittable; often takes the form of a flash drive
47 flash player: also known as Adobe Flash Player; free downloadable software used for online viewing of streaming video and audio as well as viewing Rich Internet Applications (RIA)
48 floppy disk: a computer memory storage disk that is square in shape and composed of a floppy magnetic storage medium sealed in a plastic carrier. Floppy disks have generally been superceded by storage technology such as USB flash drives and external hard drives
49 forced shutdown: A synonym for "hard reset", it means manually forcing the system to shutdown when it is unresponsive or hung.
50 FTP: File Transfer Protocol,  a standard way of sending and receiving files between two computers.
51 Gateway: an address used as an entry point into another network.
52 GIF: Stands for "Graphics Interchange Format". This format allows one image to have as many as 256 distinct colors. It also supports animations, allowing the same format of 256 distinct colors per frame.
53 GPU: Stands for "Graphics Processing Unit". This is a circuit that can manipulate and change memory very fast allowing immages to be outputted for display. GPUs are very good at manipulating computer graphics and are used in game consoles, cell phones, desktop computers, etc.
54 Hacker: Someone who can get into a computer system that doesn't belong to them by bypassing its security system.
55 hard reset: Physically pressing the "reset" button on a computer to restart it.
56 HTML: Stands for "HyperText Markup Language". It is a language in which web pages are written.  The language provides a notation for specifying how the page will show text and images and, importantly, hyperlinks to other pages.
57 http: Stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol. This acts as the main way of communication for web browsers and the desired webpage. It helps web users to exchange information through the web.
58 https: Stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure. It works the same way as regular http, but the information is encrypted before it is sent.
59 hyperlink: Also referred to as a link, a hyperlink is a link that connects a text, icon, or graphic with file or object on the web. Once you click on a hyperlink, your computer will direct you to another file or object.
60 interfaces: An interface allows a person to connect and interact with another person over the computer through a network. An interface allows for interaction through a physical device, connection or port, and the computer or another hardware device.
61 Internet (capital 'I'): The global system of publicly accessible computers and connections that together form a giant network of computing resources.
62 iOS: An operating system developed by Apple computer for their consumer computer products.
63 IP Address: "Internet Protocol" address, the address assigned to a computer or other network device that identifies its location on the internet.
64 Java: A programming language used to create internet applications and other software programs.
65 Javascript: Scripting language that allows a web designer the ability to insert code into webpage that will be executed in the browser on the user's computer, not on the web server.
66 Java updates: Keeps computer automatically updated with most recent JRE releases.
67 JPG (jpeg): Stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group. A compression technique for color images that sacrifices quality for small size ("lossy").
68 KB/MB/GB: Units of measure for memory capacity. KB refers to kilobyte which equals 1,000 bytes of data storage. MB, or megabyte, equals 1,000,000 bytes. And GB, or gigabyte, is equivalent to 1,000 megabytes.
69 latency: the time a computer spends waiting for confirmation that a packet of data it sent has been received.
70 Linux: a free, open-source version of the UNIX operating system written for the Intel processor found in most PC's.
71 Mac OS: Macintosh Operating System, designed by Apple for their computers.
72 malware: Malware stands for Malicious Software, and is a general classification for any program designed to harm a computer system.
73 modem: a hardware device that enables a computer to send and recieve information over telephone lines.
74 MP3: files that are commonly used to store a song or complete CD and requires very little hard drive space, compared to other audio file formats like WAV.
75 MS-DOS: Microsoft Disk Operating System is a non-graphical command line operating system derived from 86-DOS that was created for IBM compatible computers. No longer used today.
76. PDF: Portable Document Format. File format developed by Adobe that enables users to capture the overall appearance of a document so a user can view or print it exactly the same on any computer.
77. PERL: Practical Extraction and Reporting Language. PERL is a programming language especially designed for processing text. It is an interpretive language, which makes it easy to build and test simple programs.
78 permalink: A URL that links to a specific news story or Web posting that is dynamically created.
79 PHP: a language used to create dynamic web pages that can easily access databases.
80 ping: a utility made to locate and verify proper IP addresses.
81 plugin: a third-party extension to a software application that is loaded when the application starts.
82 port: There are several meanings, the most common refers to an electronic location in RAM through which information is sent/received from a network. These electronic ports each have a number which identifies their purpose.
83 programming: Programming can refer to either the process of creating computer software, using a specific "programming language" such as Java, or the sequence of instructions that a computer follows autonomously.
84 PPPoE: "Point to Point Protocol"A protocol that allows two remote computers to share data without the need for a centralized server.
85 Python: A programming language developed by Guido Van Rossum released in 1991. It is an interactive and object-oriented programming language.
86 RAM: Random Access Memory, also known as Main or System Memory. RAM is volatile, meaning if power is lost, so is the data currently being accessed by RAM.
87 rar: Roshal ARchive, developed by Eugene Roshal, RAR is a file format usually used to compress or condense data. It must be extracted with a special program called a RAR extractor. RAR files are similar to ZIP files, and are useful for the transfer of large file sizes.
88 registry (Windows): a database that stores the personal configuration settings and options on the Windows Operating Systems
89 ROM: Stands for "Read Only Memory". This is data that is stored on a chip or disc permanently and cannot be altered, but can be read. An example is a CD-ROM
90 router: A device that forwards data packets to parts of a computer network.
91 RSS feed: abbreviation for Really Simple Syndication. A website's RSS feed includes summaries and links to the latest new content added to the site, such as news articles or forums.
92 SATA: stands for SerialATA. A SATA cable is a small thin cable that is used in place of ribbon cables for cable routing. It is used to connect hard drives and CD/DVD drives to a computer.   It is thinner than its predecessors
(Parallel ATA) allowing smaller computer cases and better airflow.
93 script: A series of commands within a file that can be executed without needing to be translated into machine language.
94 secure shell (SSH): UNIX-based command interface and protocol for securely getting access to a remote computer; program to log into another computer over a network
95 server: a computer program that provides services to other computer programs on the same or another computer
96 soft reset: Restarting a computer through an operating system command, it closes applications programs and restarts the computer in an organized fashion, as opposed to simply turning off the power.
97 spyware: Software installed surreptiously on a computer to gather information about the user without their knowledge.
98 ssid: "Service Set Identifier." A unique ID used for naming wireless networks and avoiding conflicts when their ranges overlap.
99 SSL: "Secure Sockets Layer." SSL is a secure protocol developed for sending information securely over the Internet.
100 traffic: The overall network usage at any given time. All of the data communications on a computer or computer network.
101 trojan horse: A program that seems to be legitimate but is actually also doing something harmful. Unlike a virus, it does not replicate.
102 Unix: A popular operating system that is multiuser and multitasking.  About half of all internet servers are running Unix.
103 URL: Uniform Resource Locator, the address of a specific Web site or file on the Internet.
104 USB: Universal Serial Bus, technology that attaches exterior devices to a computer for data exchanges.
105 virus: Software buried into an existing program. When the program is opened, the software spreads to other programs on the computer and to computers on the same network.
106 VPN: "virtual private network" is private network, often used within corporations, to keep their internal communications private.
107 WAP: a wireless access point, a wireless receiver that enables a user with wireless access to connect to a network.
108 WEP: a security protocol that protects a wireless network using encryption.
109 wget: a free program that retrieves content from a web server without the need for a web browser.
110 Windows: either a rectangular area on the display screen that can be manipulated and shows the application in use, or an operating system developed by Microsoft that includes a GUI that displays computer applications.
111 zip: a file compression format. This allows for multiple files to be "compressed" together into a smaller file size than each individual file.