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Account
-- That which allows you to access a certain set of University resources with your computing ID, plus a password. Some resources for which you need
an account include e-mail services and the Toolkit.
Application -- Also program or software. A set of instructions that tells a computer what to do. Has a specific purpose and a specific brand name. For instance, Microsoft Word (all
rights reserved, make no mistake about that) is a word-processing program (application, piece of software) whose purpose is, well, to process words. Note that applications
usually have the file extension .exe, just as WordPerfect documents have the file extension .wpd.
Bit
-- The smallest piece of information that a computer can recognize: an informational atom.
Byte -- A group of 8 bits. Most numbers having anything
to do with a computer are divisible by 8 because of this. For instance, all computers at UVa now have a default screen resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels; also, our laptops have 256 megabytes (Mb) of RAM. You do the math. See kilobytes, megabytes, and gigabytes, which are increasingly large measurement units for information.
Boot
-- Also "boot up." To start your computer and wait while it puts on its makeup.
Boot disk
-- Instructions for starting are given to the computer from the boot disk, which is usually the hard disk. In emergency situations, most computers can
be booted from other disks, which either come with the computer or must be created by the user beforehand with godlike foresight.
Browse -- A verb meaning to view the web through a browser.
Being myself more fond of the leisurely pace one takes through a bookstore than of the grip-toed tension of standing upright on a moving board at sea, I prefer to browse
rather than to surf the web.
Browser -- A browser is a program such as Netscape or Internet Explorer. You use it to view, or browse, the Internet.
Bug -- A glitch, a gremlin, a small defect or fault in a program.
Software developers often fix these after the software has been released into stores, and you can download these patches from the company's web site to your computer.
Cache -- A special kind of memory used to make a computer work faster.
CD drive -- The device used to write to CDs. Designated as drive D.
CD-R
-- Compact Disk, Recordable. A compact disk to which you can record data; once the information is on the CD, it cannot be changed or deleted. This kind of CD is good for archiving important stuff, especially images, audio, and video. Holds about 600-800 megabytes (Mb) of information.
CD-ROM
-- Compact Disk, Read Only. Music CDs are this kind, as are application installation disks. You can't change or erase any of the information on them, nor can you add new information.
CD-RW
-- Compact Disk, Read/Write or Rewritable. Data written to this kind of disk can be changed and deleted. Holds about 600-800 megabytes (Mb) of information.
Client -- A somewhat nonintuitive synonym for application, software, or program. A client program makes a request from a remote program on a server, which fulfills the request. For instance, your web browser is a client program that asks web servers to send web pages or files to your computer.
Code
-- In verb form ("to code"), this means to write a set of instructions for a computer: also "to program"--to create an application. In noun form,
it means the written instructions themselves, which are written in a programming language such as HTML or Perl.
Computer -- An elaborate abacus.
Computing ID -- Also user ID. At the
University of Virginia, this means your unique "handle" or identifier. It consists of your initials plus (perhaps) a random digit and a random letter or letters. My computing
ID is alf7e, for instance. The term "e-mail ID" is a misnomer and should be eschewed as a solecism. Used in conjunction with a password to set up any kind of account at the University.
Configure -- A verb meaning to mold an application to your will: to make it work the way you need it to work rather than the way it's automatically set up to work. To personalize a piece of software (or, sometimes, to personalize the computer system itself).
Data -- Information. An all-encompassing term.
Data port or Ethernet jack
-- A socket in the wall that looks a lot like a phone jack, but it's subtly wider. Used to access the Local Area Network and/or the Internet.
Database
-- A collection of data that has been arranged into a logical, searchable structure. Programs such as Microsoft Access help turn raw data into a nice tidy searchable database.
Desktop
-- On your laptop (and on the computer that sits upon your desk, for that matter), the desktop is the screen that eventually appears when you start your computer. Icons for programs sit on your desktop waiting for you to open them. By right-clicking on a file or folder or application and choosing Send To / Desktop as Shortcut, you can place an icon for that file
(not the file itself) on the desktop. You can also store the files themselves in the directory named "Desktop," in which case they will also appear as icons on the desktop.
Device
-- A device. Any, well, device that is connected externally to a PC, such as a printer or scanner. See peripheral device, see PC card.
Device driver -- See driver.
Digital
-- Of numbers, by numbers, for numbers. Of computers, by computers, for computers.
Digitize
-- A verb meaning to convert something to a form usable by a computer. Meaning literally, of course, to change it into numbers.
Directory -- Also folder, although "folder" implies a pictorial representation (a little folder icon) while "directory" implies a textual representation (as in C:\My Documents\ENLT255\syllabus.wpd). Good file management entails creating a logical directory structure. For instance, on your hard drive, C:\ is the root directory, the highest level. On your laptops, a directory (a folder) called My Documents exists already; if you create new
folders (directories) within that directory, you can easily back them all up just by dragging or copying the My Documents folder to a storage space (Home Directory, Zip disk,
what have you). Speaking of My Documents, there was a great article in Harper's a couple of years ago sneering at Microsoft's rather infantile proprietary nomenclature: why is everything "my, my, my" all the time? That article also explains the virtues of Linux, an alternative operating system.
DOS -- Disk Operating System. The original operating system used for PCs. In DOS, you typed in commands instead of pointing and clicking, which how we now work with the Windows operating system.
Double-click
-- To click the mouse button twice, rapidly. Used to open programs, files, and folders.
Download -- A verb meaning to get a file from a server: to transfer it from the server to a disk (hard or otherwise). The opposite of upload.
Drag and drop
-- A verb meaning to hold down the mouse button on an item while moving the mouse. This will grab the item and move it around on your screen. Can be used to move information, as for instance when you drag and drop the file "My Boyfriend" from the folder "People I Love" to the folder "People I No Longer Speak To."
Drive -- The piece of hardware that holds and runs disks.
Driver -- Also "device driver." A program that enables a PC to run a peripheral device.
E-mail
-- Also electronic mail, email. As a noun, defined as a personal message or set of messages sent from one server to another, or from one user to another user of the same server. Can also be used as a verb, of course. The e-mail itself, the data, is managed by and stored on a server, and you need an account to access the server. To read and manage your e-mail from your PC, you use an e-mail program such as Eudora, Simeon, or Mulberry. Just think how many more people actually use writing to communicate with one another than was the case twenty years ago. The telephone is no longer the emperor of personal communication. That can only be good for us.
Ethernet -- A local area network (LAN). Intranet as opposed to Internet. The University network, as opposed to the network that is world-wide (like the eponymous web).
You use the Ethernet to access the Internet. When open a web browser on your office computer, you can browse the web immediately; by contrast, when you are at home, you must first dial in to the University (or to an Internet service provider). This is because all the stationary computers at the University are plugged directly into an Ethernet port with a bright blue wire: they are, in a word, Ethernetted. (Obviously this noun, too, can be used as a verb.) There's a bright blue wire that came with your laptop that enables you to connect your laptop to the Ethernet (and thus the Internet) when you are on grounds.
Ethernet port -- Also port, data port.
File
-- One document, one image, one something. In the world of computing, the terms folder and file are entirely separate, distinct, and noninterchangeable. Folders contain files; files cannot contain folders. Files are represented by various icons indicating which program is used to open them. (Note that applications are also files, but they are a specialized kind of file designated with the file extension .exe.)
File extension
-- The two or three or four letters after the dot in a file name. The file extension indicates what kind of file it is: for instance, the file extension .exe refers to an "executable" file--in other words, an application. The file extension .html indicates a Hypertext Markup Language file--in other words, a web page.
Floppy disk
-- Also 3 1/2-inch disk. A cheap, removable disk used for storing or transferring information. It really isn't very floppy, but a floppy disk is made mostly out of plastic, which is (one must admit) floppier than the metal used to make your hard disk. Of course, it doesn't seem to be a disk, either, because it's square. Would you believe that there is actually a round part inside the square
part? A floppy disk holds 1.44 Mb of information, which these days is chicken feed.
Floppy drive -- The device used to run a floppy disk, designated as drive A.
Folder -- Also directory. A division of a drive into which you put files or further folders (which are then called sub-directories). In both Windows and Mac, a folder or subfolder is always represented by an icon that looks like a manila folder.
Font -- A particular sort of lettering (on the screen or on paper). Arial is a font. Georgia is another. See Professor David Vander Meulen for more information on fonts than will fit on your 20 Gb hard drive.
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. Zip disks and CDs might also need to be formatted.
FTP
-- File Transfer Protocol. Usually used now as a verb meaning to transfer a file from one computer to another, as in "Luckily, I FTP'd my dissertation to the server just before my PC was hit by lightning." WS-FTP, on Windows, and Transmit, on Mac, are applications used to send files from one computer to another. Home Directory is another way to do this.
Gb -- Gigabyte. About a thousand megabytes (1,073,741,824 bytes). A very large amount of information space. See also bit, byte, Kb, and Mb.
Hard disk
-- Also hard drive, though not technically the same thing. The main disk inside a computer used for storing programs and information.
Hard drive
-- Also hard disk, though not technically the same thing. The nonremovable device inside a computer used to run the hard disk, designated as drive C.
Hardware
-- Actual machinery. Metal stuff having to do with your computer. Not to be messed with.
HTML -- Hypertext Markup Language. The programming language used to make information readble on the web. See code.
Home page -- The main page of a web site, the
entryway. Can also mean a personal web site, used by an individual as opposed to a conglomerate.
Hyperlink -- Also link. On the web, a
word, phrase, or image that when clicked on takes you somewhere else in the same site or to another site. "Link" evokes the metaphor of the chain, which has negative
connotations. "Hyperlink" doubtless derives from the concept of "hyperspace," which I believe was invented by William Gibson (author of Neuromancer). Hyperspace is a
way of subverting the speed limit of the universe--that is, the speed of light--thus making travel to other galaxies practical as well as possible. Hyperlinks do the same:
presto-changeo, you're somewhere else, and you're not even eight hundred years older (unless you have a 14.4 modem).
Icon
-- A small image or picture on a computer screen that is a symbol for a file, folder, or program. It hardly
need be said that the symbol representing the item is not in fact the item itself, despite the universal itch to believe that it is.
Information superhighway
-- An outdated but actually rather intriguing metaphor for the Internet. Douglas Coupland, he who wrote Generation X, wrote a pretty good book called Microserfs in which there's a technologically savvy character who, because of this term, becomes interested in the era of highway construction under FDR.
Install -- Verb meaning to put a new application on your hard disk, a task usually done with CDs or by downloading the program from the Internet.
Internet
-- Also "the net" or "the Net." A beast of myth and fable. In the beginning, only places like the Pentagon and NORAD had computers. They taught these computers to talk to each other over phone lines so that they wouldn't have to send sensitive defense data through the post office. (Those government agencies are all extremely suspicious of each other.) Eventually, lots of big agencies and companies had computers, and all the biggest ones--the servers--were wired together. That's all the Internet is, basically: a bunch of servers wired together so that data on one server can be transferred to
another server for the asking. Thus, when you connect a personal computer to a server (such as Blue), you can get data from any other server that Blue is directly or indirectly wired to. If, that is, you're allowed access to that data. The whole thing is better represented with pictures, being essentially a spatial phenomenon that is also ruled by ubiquitous spatial metaphors. One point to make is that the web is only the graphic (picture-friendly) part of the Internet; there's lots more on the Internet than what's available through the web. Another point is that George Bush Jr. derided Al Gore during the 2001 election debates for having "invented" the Internet. Al Gore did not invent the Internet.
Here's a stick-figure portrait I drew of the Internet. The little boxes are personal computers.
Internet service provider
-- Also ISP. A company that provides you the service of getting you access to the Internet for a fee. America Online (AOL) is one such company; Cornerstone is another
such company that is based in Charlottesville. America Online = Starbucks; Cornerstone = The
Mudhouse. The University, being educational, provides Internet service for free to the members of its
own community, although it concentrates its efforts, naturally enough, on the computers in its own
buildings, which can make dialing in from home frustrating. I strongly encourage everyone who desires
additional Internet service to use a local Internet service provider--it's good for our local economy. Gandhi would say the same. Visit www.tradelocal.org for a directory of all kinds of local businesses
here in Charlottesville.
Kb -- Kilobytes. About a thousand bytes (1,024 bytes). See also bit, byte, Mb, and Gb.
LAN -- Local Area Network. See Ethernet, see network, see server.
Link -- Also hyperlink.
Mb -- Megabytes. About a thousand kilobytes (1,048,576 bytes). See also bit, byte, Kb, and Gb.
Memory
-- Memory is for the temporary storing of information while a computer is being used. See RAM, ROM and Cache.
Modem
-- Equipment connected to a computer (or internal to it, as with your laptops) for sending and receiving digital information (e.g., checking e-mail, browsing the web, or sending a fax) using a telephone line.
Monitor
-- Also "screen." On a desktop computer, the monitor is usually a separate thing that looks
like a television. The computer itself is a more rectangular-looking thing that is undoubtedly situated
nearby. The keyboard is also separate. On a laptop, the screen or monitor is hinged to the computer itself, which has a keyboard on top of it.
Network
-- Any set of computers attached by wires so that they can send information back and forth. Networks can be local (as in the Ethernet) or world-wide (as in the web). There was a great article--more of a nonfiction novella, really--by a guy named Neal Stephenson in the hipster techno-journal Wired several years ago that describes the process of stringing wires along the ocean
floor to make the net international; I can't recommend it strongly enough as an example of truly literary
writing about technology. Neal Stephenson is also a novelist: his novel Snow Crash is a new classic in the genre of techno-adventure. He also wrote a book called Diamond Age that imagines a
technologically advanced future in which everybody goes back to the morals and style of the Victorian era, but I didn't like it.
OCR -- Optical Character Recognition. OCR lets a PC read a scanned picture of a page of text and convert it to actual lettering that can be read and changed in a word-processing program such as
WordPerfect.
Operating system
-- Also "platform." An operating system is essentially an application, but it's the
application that runs everything else on your computer. A computer without an operating system is just a very large paperweight. Your laptop's operating system is Windows 98.
Parallel port
-- A socket at the back of a computer for connecting external equipment or peripherals, especially printers.
Patch -- A short piece of code that can be as it were stitched onto an application in order to fix a bug. Usually to be downloaded from the web site of the company that makes the application.
PC
-- Short for personal computer, as opposed to the impersonal behemoths known as servers. Also
sometimes used to mean a computer of the kind made by IBM (or Dell) rather than a computer of the
kind made by Apple (or Macintosh)--though technically, Macs are PCs too. (I think.) It also occurs
to me that PC usually connotes a computer that sits stationary on your desk rather than a portable laptop, although in this document I've used it interchangeably with "laptop."
PC card or PCMCIA card -- A device that is the same size as a thick credit card, for plugging into a
slot on laptops. Our laptops have a wireless networking PC card.
Peripheral device -- Also "peripheral" alone used as a noun, also device. Any device that is connected externally to a computer, as for instance a printer or a scanner. The PC must have a driver installed on it to run the peripheral device.
Pixel
-- The image that you see on the screen is made of thousands of tiny dots, points, or pixels. More pixels means a higher screen resolution.
Platform -- Also operating system.
Program -- In noun form, also application or software. A program can do one or more things, such as writing text (WordPerfect), viewing the web (Netscape), creating a web site (DreamWeaver), or working with scanned images (PhotoShop). The verb form ("to program") means to create such a
program using a programming language.
Programming language -- See code. The language that a computer speaks. We will learn (or have learned) Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), which is in fact a simple programming language in
which you can say only one thing: "Computer, my slave, I order you to see this file as a web page."
This is as though the French language could only be used to order food in restaurants and could never
be used to ask for directions. (Still, ordering food in France is pretty important, I'd say.) Other
programming languages with more flexibility include Perl, C++, and Basic. I strongly suggest allowing
Perl as a qualifying language for the Ph.D. in English, since the term "language" isn't even
metaphorical. If you want a computer to do something, you need to tell it so that it understands. (One
nice thing about computers is that they will always do what you tell them to do, always provided that
you tell them the right way. And I mean EXACTLY the right way. Which is where most computing
difficulties begin and end.) So far all programming languages exist only in written forms--but in Star Wars, C3PO speaks programming languages.
RAM -- A type of memory. RAM (Random Access Memory) is the main memory used while the PC
is working. RAM has only a temporary existence. It differs from the space on your hard disk in this
regard, although both RAM and hard disk space are measured in terms of bytes, Kb, Mb, and Gb.
Removable media -- Floppy disks, Zip disks, and CDs, basically. File storage devices that you can remove from one computer and put into another computer.
Resolution -- The number of dots or pixels per inch (sometimes per centimetre) used to create the
screen image. A higher resolution means a smaller but finer image. The default screen resolution for computers at the University is 1024 x 768.
Scanner -- Equipment for converting paper documents to electronic (digital) documents that can be used by a computer.
Scanning -- Digitizing text or images so that they are turned into a file that is readable by a computer with the proper software.
Serial port -- Socket at the back of a PC for connecting peripherals.
Server
-- A big clicking and humming and blinking machine somewhere in the bowels of the
University or the Pentagon--at least, that's how I imagine it. The purpose of a server is to fulfill requests from client programs. A server is in a way the opposite of a personal computer (PC), since it is a computer that serves a community rather than an individual. It is usually connected to several (or
thousands) of personal computers. Servers have names: Faraday used to be a server here at the
University, but it lives no more. Blue (as in blue.unix.virginia.edu) is still with us. The Central Mail
Service (config.mail.virginia.edu) is a server whose only function is to store and manage the University community's e-mail. One or more servers in a particular location connected to lots of PCs forms a
Local Area Network (LAN).
Shortcut -- An icon on the Desktop that, when double-clicked, will open that file, folder, or program.
Not the file, folder, or program itself, but a shortcut to it.
Single-click
-- To tap the mouse button once. Used to select items and to activate hyperlinks.
Software -- Also application, program, utility. See hardware.
Start button
-- The start button, in the bottom left-hand corner of your screen, is for opening new programs and for shutting down the laptop. The logic behind stopping one's computer by clicking
"Start" escapes me.
System tray -- The set of tiny icons at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen.
Taskbar
-- The thin gray bar at the very very bottom of your screen. You can see which programs
are open by glancing at the taskbar, and you can switch between two or more open programs by single-clicking on the desired program's little rectangular representation on the taskbar.
Upgrade -- To switch to the newest version of a program (e.g., from Netscape 4.75 to Netscape
6.0), or to trade in your scratched and feeble old hardware for arrogant and effulgent new hardware.
Upload -- A verb meaning to put a file from your PC onto a server. The opposite of download. A
good process to become familiar with, because important files are safer on the server than on your hard disk or on Zip disks. You can upload files using WS-FTP or the Home Directory Service.
User -- Anyone who uses the computer or application under discussion. In opposition (frequently
violent) to those who create technology, those who program. Technophobic interpreters might suspect
that there's an underlying drug metaphor; if we are users, perhaps those who strongly encourage the use of technology are pushers. I firmly resist such an interpretation.
User ID -- Also computing ID.
Utility -- Also application, program, software. To me the word suggests a particularly useful program,
something you really need instead of something with a merely trivial purpose. Often, I think, utilities are
something that makes another, separate program work in a more friendly manner.
Virus -- An small, unauthorized program that can damage a PC. These can come in attachments or when you download things from the Internet. Be sure to update your Norton AntiVirus often; once a
day is optimal, once a month is minimal. See ITC's handbook on Responsible Computing.
Windows -- An operating system used by the majority of PCs. Also describes what you see when you look at the screen; different windows pop up when you double-click on different icons. Again, the house metaphor seems pervasive.
Wireless networking -- Also "wireless." A way to access the Internet without wires. For this, you use your wireless PC card. At home, with a modem, you ordinarily plug one end of a wire into your
computer and another into a phone jack; at the University, you ordinarily plug one end of a blue Ethernet cable into your computer and another into a data port (aka Ethernet jack). Wireless networking is only available in places where the Net is being broadcast from a transmitter located not
too far away. Currently, this includes Alderman and Clemons, not to mention the very benches
between Clemons and Alderman by the statue of Victory or whatever that winged thing is. Bryan Hall is also now wireless-ready. You will need to create a wireless account in order to use wireless networking.
Web page -- What appears on a single screen when you visit a web site. (Often used interchangeably with the term "web site," however.) A web page is analogous to a single room in the building that is a web site.
Web site -- A discrete group of related web pages, usually fronted by a home page. Web sites can be compared to the houses, offices, museums, universities, art galleries, bookstores, symphony halls,
and coffee shops that you can get to by traveling the information superhighway. Those who have no
web site of their own are homeless in the virtual universe.
World Wide Web
-- Also "the web" or "the Web." The capitalization issue has not yet been satisfactorily resolved, to my mind. The web is a graphical interface to the Internet. In other words, it's
a series of pretty pictures covering up the hard, cold, ugly surface of the Internet.
WYSIWIG -- "What You See Is What You Get." With a WYSIWIG web site creation program such as DreamWeaver, what you see on the screen will look the same as it will on the web or when you print it on a piece of paper.
Zip disk -- A data storage disk, 100 Mb or 250 Mb. Much larger than a floppy disk, which holds less than 2 Mb of data. Best used for temporary storage of files whose loss would be bearable rather
than archiving of important stuff. Please note that a zip disk has absolutely nothing to do with a zipped file! I know, I know . . . it's not my fault.
Zip drive -- The device that runs and operates a Zip disk. Designated as drive D.
Zipped file -- A zipped file usually has the file extension .zip; it is a compressed file. In other words, it has been run through a proprietary program such as WinZip so that it now takes up less space than it
otherwise would. This is convenient if you're short on disk space. To work with the file, you'll need to
unzip (expand) it. Zipped files, believe me, don't have anything to do with zip disks or zip drives. They
simply happen to have the same name. You can save a zipped file to a zip disk, of course, but you can also save a zipped file to your hard drive or a floppy disk or whatever.
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