Tech+Words

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 * Baud -** This term is from the days of touchtone phones. It has largely gone out of use and has been replaced with BPS or Bits Per Second, also Megabits Per Second. It means the number of tones per second that travel over a telephone line. When modems were originally developed to work over telephone lines they used tones to transmit information and thus had their speed measured in Bauds. Now, most modems send electronic signals over high speed cables.

__**Hertz**__ - This is a word that describes how fast your computer's processor runs. It is one of several methods of describing the overall speed of a computer. The term Hertz generically is used to describe anything that operates in cycles. It is the number of cycles per second.

__**T1**__ - This is used to describe an internet connection. It has less bandwidth than other T connections (T2 and, more commonly, T3). This is most often used in situations where you do not have many users on one line. It taps out around 15 simultaneous users.Many residential high speed connections are T1. Most businesses and schools uses the more robust T3 however.

__**Gigabyte**__ - This is 1,000 megabytes, or 1,000,000,000 bytes. Most data storage is listed in gigabytes today. Some now use Terabytes (TB) which is 1,000 gigabytes. There is some debate about the actual size of a gigabyte hard drive. Most programs see 1 gigabyte not as 1,000,000,000 bytes (A base 10 GB) but as 2^30 (a binary GB) or 1,073,741,824. This is why when you but a 2GB storage device and plug it in your computer may tell you that you have less than 2GB of space.

__**Phishing**__ - This is a type of internet scam that tries to **lure** the user into providing their username and password to any number of sites. Most often their bank account sites. They may also try to steal personal information such as social security numbers. Many of these are very sophisticated and appear, even to experienced users, as the actual website. They are however cleverly constructed fronts. Be careful if you ever see an email from your bank asking for personal information. Most every bank, as a policy, will NEVER do this.

__**RJ45**__ **-** This is not a cable. It is the connector at the end of the cable. RJ45 is a standard connector for networks.

__**Resolution**__ - Resolution describes the number of pixels your screen can display. It is most often used to describe the quality of the screen, but this is not always true. Typically the more pixels per inch your screen has they sharper the image on your screen becomes. This can also apply to photographs displayed on your screen. Higher resolutions create bigger files but they also can be enlarged much more, without distortion.

__**Byte**__ - The most basic grouping of data. A byte is 8 bits. A bit, is simply, one on/off switch. Think of a bit like a letter and a byte like a word.

__**ROM**__ - Read Only Memory. This is where your computer stores much of the information it needs to start up. This is not meant to be changed in any way. It is fixed. CDs when they first came out were ROMs because you could not write any information to them. Modern CDs have dropped the ROM tag as we can often write (R) or even delete and re-write (RW) to them.

__**Encryption**__ - Encryption is a way to encode data so that it is secure whole moving over an open internet. It works the same way codes have for generations. PGP is one of the most common and widely available forms of encryption available. If sending student information, encryption should always be used. __**GIF**__**-** A file format used for images. Image files are large and need to be compressed. The GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) format was designed for use by CompuServe and is one of the most common image formats on the web. It has been made famous by animated GIFs which show a series of pictures that appear to move.

__**Queue**__ - This is a type of line or list. It works just like the line at the supermarket. The first one in line is the first one out of line. In fact in the U.K. when you wait in a line it is called a queue. The other type of commonly used list in computing is known as a stack. This is like a stack of plates. The last one in the list is the first one you take out of the list.

__**Modem**__ - A portmanteau of Modulator/Demodulator

__**Wiki**__ **-** This website. It is an online informational portal that can be edited by its users. It comes from a Hawaiian word meaning fast.

__**Analog**__ - A type of signal that most often uses waves. There is no on/off. Instead, differences in amplitude and frequency convey information. Think of TVs, When there is interference or decay in an analog signal you get static.

__**Digital**__ - Information is transmitted in discrete packages of 1s and 0s. Most electronics are digital. Think of TVs, when you get interference or decay in a digital signal, there is dead air.

__**Buffer**__ - A protection against loss. This involves building a mass of information in advance so that you are protected from momentary loss of connection or a decrease in speed. If you buffer a video it plays smoothly. If you do not buffer a video it stops and starts again frequently.

__**Default**__ - Most often refers to the basic factory settings. As in, "restore your default settings". If you do this your device will be the same way it was when you purchased it, any customization is lost.

__**Blog**__ - Another portmanteau, this time of Web Log. It is an online journal of sorts.

__**Twisted Pair**__ - When you twist 2 wires together you place the electromagnetic fields they create at right angles to one another. By doing this you create a natural shielding against outside interference. If the wires did not twist, nearby electronics could damage the signals traveling through the wires.

__**POTS**__ - Plain Old Telephone Service

__**RAM**__ - Random Access Memory. This is a very fast form of memory but it is unstable. Once you turn off the power, anything saved in RAM is lost. It is where all programs reside after you open them.

__**Processor**__ - The processor or CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the brain of the computer. It moves information and performs calculations.

__**Domain**__ - This website where you can find a website online. Think Domain Name. A king lives in his KINGdom(ain) and a website lives in its domain.

__**Compression**__ - Zip, Tar, Sit, GZ, ISO, and others are the file extensions that are used to compress files. This is a way of packaging a large file into a small container so it is easier to transport. Think of it like stuffing a suitcase full of clothes. You need software to both pack and unpack these files.

__**Share Point**__ - This is microsoft's online collaboration tool.

__**Megabyte**__ - See Gigabyte above. This is 1,000,000 bytes

__**DOS**__ - (Short for DISK OPERATING SYSTEM) Windows is a DOS, Linux is a DOS. Do not confuse these with a GUI. A GUI lets you use a DOS without having to know code. The best known example of this is MS-DOS. The term DOS has largely been replaced by OS (Operating system) because modern operating systems integrate the GUI with the DOS.


 * Binary -** The language of computers.
 * Distance Learning** - any system designeed to provide learning opportunities away from a school setting.
 * Java -** a high-level, object oriented programming language which can run on almost anyplatform (operating system).
 * Video Capture** - A video capture device is
 * Megahertz -** A measurement of millions of cycles per second.

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 * NOT ON MIDTERM!**