Anti-Virus Software - a Program That Finds and Removes Viruses from a Computer

Computer Vocabulary

Anti-virus software - A program that finds and removes viruses from a computer.

Backup - A copy on floppy disk or tape of files on a PC's hard disk. A backup is used in case the hard disk file(s) are erased or damaged.

Bit, bytes - A bit is the smallest piece of information that computers use. For simplicity, a PC uses bits in groups of 8 called bytes (8 bits = 1 byte).

Boot, boot up, boot disk - You boot (or boot up) your computer when you switch it on and wait while it prepares itself. Instructions for startup are given to the computer from the boot disk, which is usually the hard disk.

Browser, to browse - A browser is a program like Netscape or Internet Explorer. You use it to view or browse the Internet.

Bug - A (small) defect or fault in a program.

Cache - A kind of memory used to make a computer work faster.

CD-ROM - A disk for storing computer information. It looks like an audio CD.

CPU - Central Processing Unit. This is a PC's heart or 'brains'.

DOS - Disk Operating System. The original system used for PCs. You type in commands instead of pointing and clicking.

Driver - A small program that tells a PC how a peripheral works.

Electronic mail (email, e-mail) - Messages sent from one computer to another. You can see email on the screen or print it out.

Floppy disk - A cheap, removable disk used for storing or transferring information. It is floppy (soft) because it is plastic. See hard disk.

Floppy drive - The device used to run a floppy disk (usually drive 'A'.)

Folder (directory) - A sub-division of a computer's hard disk into which you put files.

Font - A particular sort of lettering (on the screen or on paper). Arial is a font. Times New Roman is another.

Format - All hard disks and floppy disks have to be electronically prepared for use by a process called formatting. Hard disks are pre-formatted by the computer manufacturer. If you buy a floppy disk that is not pre-formatted, you format it yourself, using a program that comes with your PC.

Graphics card - The equipment inside a computer that creates the image on the screen.

Hard disk - The main disk inside a computer used for storing programs and information. It is hard because it is metal. See floppy disk.

Icon - A small image or picture on a computer screen that is a symbol for folders, disks, peripherals, programs etc.

Internet - International network of computers that you connect to by telephone line. Two popular services of the Internet are the World Wide Web and electronic mail.

Kb, Mb, Gb - Kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes. Used to measure computer memory and storage.

Memory - Memory is for the temporary storing of information while a computer is being used. SeeRAM, ROM and Cache.

MHz - Megahertz. This describes the speed of computer equipment. The higher the MHz the better the performance.

Modem - Equipment connected to a computer for sending/receiving digital information by telephone line. You need a modem to connect to the Internet, to send electronic mail and to fax.

Operating System - The basic software that manages a computer.

OCR - Optical Character Recognition. OCR lets a PC read a fax or scanned image and convert it to actual lettering.

Parallel port - A socket at the back of a computer for connecting external equipment or peripherals, especially printers.

PC card - A device that is the same size as a thick credit card, for plugging into a slot on notebook computers. You can buy memory, modems and hard disks as PC cards.

Peripheral - Any equipment that is connected externally to a computer. For example, printers, scanners and modems are peripherals.

Pixel - The image that you see on the screen is made of thousands of tiny dots, points or pixels.

Program Software that operates a PC and does various things, such as writing text (word-processing program), keeping accounts (accounts program) and drawing pictures (graphics program).

QWERTY - The first 6 letters on English-language keyboards are Q-W-E-R-T-Y. The first 6 letters on French-language keyboards are A-Z-E-R-T-Y.

RAM, ROM - Two types of memory. RAM (Random Access Memory) is the main memory used while the PC is working. RAM is temporary. ROM (Read Only Memory) is for information needed by the PC and cannot be changed.

Resolution - The number of dots or pixels per inch (sometimes per centimetre) used to create the screen image.

Scanner - Equipment for converting paper documents to electronic documents that can be used by a computer.

Serial port - Socket at the back of a PC for connecting peripherals.

Taskbar, Start button - Two areas of the screen in Windows 95. The taskbar, at the bottom of the screen, shows the programs in use. The start button, in the bottom left corner, is for opening new programs.

TFT - Thin Film Transistor, a type of high quality screen for notebook computers.

Virus - A small, unauthorized program that can damage a PC.

Windows - An operating system used by the majority of PCs.

World Wide Web, WWW, the Web - WWW are initials that stand for World Wide Web. The Web is one of the services available on the Internet. It lets you access millions of pages through a system of links. Because it is 'world-wide', it was originally called the World Wide Web or WWW.

WYSIWIG - 'What You See Is What You Get.' With a WYSIWIG program, if you print a document it looks the same on paper as it looks on the screen.

Taken from: http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/computing.htm

World Wide Web Vocabulary

Compiled by Deborah Healey

Here's a handy list of useful vocabulary for the World Wide Web.

Bookmarks/Favorites: These are links to websites that you want to find more easily. When you find a website you like that you want to keep, in Netscape, you choose Add Bookmarks from the Bookmarks menu; in Internet Explorer, you'll Add a Favorite.

Browser: A program that you use to look at information on the World Wide Web. Because the information is in a special format, you need a special program -- a 'web browser' -- to see the information.

Download: To move files from a location on another server (somewhere on a local network or the Internet) to your own computer. You can only download files from a computer that has been set up to let you do so.

Editor: Sometimes called an HTML editor or a Web editor, this is a program that makes writing web pages almost as simple as using a word-processor. Netscape Composer (part of Netscape Navigator 4) and Internet Assistant (part of Internet Explorer) are free editors. Claris Home Page and Adobe PageMill are commercial versions.

FTP: File Transfer Protocol - this is a way to send programs, not just text, between computers. There are many computers around the world that are set up as "anonymous FTP servers," which means that they make the files they have available to anyone who wants them. They're called 'anonymous' because you type "Anonymous" as your login name, with your regular email name as your password. You can use an ftp server over the web, which can make getting files pretty easy. FTP server URLs start with ftp:// rather than http://

Gopher: This is an earlier version of the web, and it has only text files. There is a network of gopher servers around the world, still, with lots of files. You can get to gopher through the web, too. A gopher URL starts with gopher://

HTML: HyperText Markup Language - the way text files are coded on the web so that they aren't completely ugly. All text on the web starts out as very plain text, then has HTML codes like <B> for boldface, <I> for italics, <P> for new paragraph, etc. added to make it look nicer.

HTTP: HyperText Transport Protocol - the underlying instructions used by the web browser to send and receive information. HTTP is like the rules rather than the content.

Internet Explorer: This is the Microsoft web browser. It works a lot like Netscape Navigator, but there are some small differences between the two programs.

Netscape: A company that makes one of the most popular web browsers, Netscape Navigator. Navigator is free to people in education (teachers, students, administrators, etc.). Many people refer to the browser simply as "Netscape."

Open File: You don't need to be on the web to look at web pages. You can choose Save As... from the File menu when you're in Netscape and save a page to your disk in "Source" format. Once it's on your disk, you can choose Open File from the File menu in Netscape to see the web page without being connected to the Internet. See my tech tip about this at http://osu.orst.edu/Dept/eli/may.htm

Open Location: This lets you type a URL to go to a web page.

Proxy Server: This computer serves as a gateway between a school and the Web. It stores previously-viewed sites so that subsequent access is far faster -- they load off the proxy server, not off the Internet. The proxy server can be set to allow various levels of access to the Internet. At its most liberal setting, the proxy server will not screen the sites at all. An intermediate level of access will prohibit specified sites but allow all others. At its most conservative setting, the proxy server will allow access only to sites specified in advance, often storing the sites ahead of time so that students don't need direct contact with the Internet. K-12 schools often use proxy servers at intermediate or conservative settings.

Search Tools: The power of the web is in its information, but there's too much there for anyone to read through it all. You need to use a "search engine" to find what you're looking for. There are many search engines, but among the most popular ones are Alta Vista (http://www.altavista.com), Infoseek (http://www.infoseek.com), and Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.com). They all index a lot of the same places, but they also each have sites that the others don't. You'll need to try several to see which is best for you.

One way to get a good comparison of the search engines is with a "meta-search engine." This is one like Metacrawler (http://www.metacrawler.com) and Dogpile (http://www.dogpile.com) that searches a whole series of search engines for you and presents the results. It's an easy way to see if one of the search engines works better for what you need than others.

A special note is needed for http://www.shareware.com &emdash; this is a search engine that looks for programs that you can download from the Internet. These programs are not commercial ones like Microsoft Word, but rather smaller programs that often do useful and interesting things. You can find and download MOO and Chat clients by using www.shareware.com and searching for "MOO" or "Chat."

Telnet: Telnet is a program that lets you log into another computer, perhaps one thousands of miles away, and run programs there like SchMOOze. Telnet is not easy to use, because most telnet servers run Unix -- not a very 'friendly' operating system.

URL: Uniform/Universal Resource Locator -- this is the web address that you use, and looks something like http://ucs.orst.edu/~healeyd or telnet://schmooze.hunter.cuny.edu:8888

Taken from: http://oregonstate.edu/~healeyd/gtesol/www_vocab.html

Are you puzzled by strange blogging terms and unusual blog abbreviations and blogging acronyms? Then this post will get the Blargon Demystified. This article attempts to simplify some common blogging terms organized into a simple blogging glossary. Only common and popular blog tools and services have been included.

Note : The language used here is mostly non technical to make the newbie blogger understand the blogging basics. These have not been created by me, but collected over time. This is NOT a substitute for dictionary meaning or a strict definition of these terms, but a simple layman approach to understanding what they mean. Please feel free to propose a better meaning in the comments.

BLOGGING

·  Weblog- An online dated diary listing your periodic thoughts on a specific topic, often in reverse chronological order.

·  Blog - short form for weblog

·  Blogging - the act of posting on blogs

·  Blogger - a person who blogs

·  Blogosphere - The internet blogging community

BLOGGING FORMS

·  Photoblogging - a blog predominantly using and focusing on photographs and images. Photoblogs are created by photobloggers

·  Podcasting - a method of distributing multimedia files (audio / videos) online using feeds for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. Podcasts are created by podcasters.

·  Autocasting - is an automated form of podcasting

·  Blogcasting - the blog and the podcast merged into a single website.

·  Vlogging - Also called video blogging. Shortened to vlog. Posted by vlogger. A variant on the blogging using video instead of text.

·  Audioblogging - Also called audioblog, MP3 blog or musicblogs. a variant on the blogging using audio instead of text. Created by audioblogger.

·  Moblogging - Also called moblogs. A blog posted and maintained via mobile phone. Moblogs are created by mobloggers.

BLOG COMPONENTS AND FUNCTIONS

·  Index page - the front page fo the blog

·  Header - the topmost part of the blog usually listing the blog title.

·  Footer - the most bottom part of the blog usually listing navigation and copyright statements

·  Sidebar - One or more columns along one or both sides of most blogs main page