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A refresher crash course in computer jargon(Jordan Times, The Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) By Jean-Claude Elias The meaning of HTML, USB and IP may have become as obvious for you as FM or TV, but the world of IT keeps challenging you with new acronyms, odd expressions and strange terms added at frantic rate. This hardly gives you time to catch your breath. Taking a break from the race is taking the risk of being outrun by technology and worse, by your peers, the young ones in particular. Start with HDMI, the High Definition Multimedia Interface. It is the trendiest way to connect computers to televisions and audio amplifiers to send sound and image in digital format, without losing a bit of the pristine quality that high definition digital multimedia can bring. DVI is an easy one. Digital Video Interface is the way to connect your computer to a monitor through a fully digital interface, instead of the more common VGA. The latter sends an “old” analogue, somewhat imperfect signal from the computer to the screen. With the increasing usage of high definition image and the widespread availability of inexpensive high quality LCD and LED screen for computers, sending a digital image signal to preserve the quality of the display is becoming a must. DVI addresses this issue; it does it well and it does it simply. Both DVI and HDMI send digital image from computers to screens, but HDMI also send sound along the same cable and can “talk” to a wider variety of equipment. Dirty Data is not what you think it is. It is just data with errors in the typing or data entry and that can adversely affect the normal operation of a data base. A typo in a text may not have consequences as to the meaning of the sentence, but in a data base the wrong spelling or punctuation in a field can affect the processing and the functioning of the data base. If you think that Ubuntu sounds like the name of an African tribe or geographic site, you would be, well, partially right. The name does derive from a South African ideology but in the world of IT it is more pragmatically the name of a variation of the famous Linux operating system that fuels desktops and server computers. Ubuntu is distributed by Canonical Ltd. For Internet and networking professionals a domain name has not much to do with the earthly real estate you just bought. It refers to that virtual “place” on the Internet or on the network and that is defined as an accessible entity. For instance, in the web address www.jordantimes.com “jordantimes.com” is the domain name. MouseTrapping is this annoying technique that keeps you locked, stuck on a given website page, though you badly want to leave it! Nothing, no keyboard or mouse action will let you move back or forward to another page or site. The only way out is to close the Internet browser and start all over again. Metadata is not really a new term in IT, but it has recently proved its importance. What you mainly see of a photo or an audiovisual file stored on your hard disk is the obvious file name. There is however a whole set of additional, complementary information that is stored within the file and that is not always displayed in an apparent manner. This would be, for instance, the date where the photo was taken, the aperture of the camera, the make, the speed, the artist’s name, the album name, the genre of music, and so forth. This set of precious information is called Metadata. They too have been around for a while but FireWire and FireWall keep fooling the typical non-technically minded user. They sound almost the same hence the confusion between them but the two terms have nothing in common; they represent different devices. FireWire is a type of fast connection between equipment and various hardware (disks, cameras…), somewhat similar to USB but more performing, whereas a FireWall is a machine or a software application that protects networks from various intrusions, threats and unauthorised access. It sounds like the code name of a super spy but i7 is nothing such. It is simply the latest, most powerful processor for personal computers and that is made by Intel, the leading manufacturer of microprocessors for desktops and laptop. In the same vein, Atom does not refer to nuclear technology but is the name of Intel’s processor found in netbooks (small size laptops) and other similar mobile Internet devices. HID stands for Human Interface Device and can represent anything from a mouse to a digitising tablet, digital pen or a plain keyboard. And finally, for parents who wonder what lingo their kids are using to communicate in the digital world, whether via instant messaging, MSN, SMS or e-mail, here are some clues to the not-so-well-kept secret code: AEAP - As early as possible, P911 - Parents alert, WYCM - Will you call me, KPC - Keep parents clueless, WYRN – What is your real name, 143 - I love you and 182 - I hate you. (c) 2010 The Jordan Times. All rights reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |