ABCD of Computer - Part III

With ABCD Computer - Part III we are coming to an end of the series of blog posts covering popular terms from different zones. This particular blog post will focus on some of common terms from internet that we encounter everyday.
Following 13 terms include some of the hot-cakes from internet arena. So lets get started...


1. 404 Error
A 404 error is a common website error message that indicates a webpage cannot be found. It may be produced when a user clicks an outdated (or "broken") link or when a URL is typed incorrectly in a Web browser's address field. 


2. Active X

This Microsoft-based technology was built to link desktop applications to the World Wide Web. Using ActiveX development tools, software developers can create interactive Web content for their applications. 
For example, Word and Excel documents can be viewed directly in Web browsers that supports ActiveX. While ActiveX is a useful technology, the downside is that you need to have a up-to-date version ActiveX installed on your machine in order to use ActiveX-enabled content.


3. BitTorrent
BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing protocol designed to reduce the bandwidth required to transfer files. It does this by distributing file transfers across multiple systems, thereby lessening the average bandwidth used by each computer. 
For example, if a user begins downloading a movie file, the BitTorrent system will locate multiple computers with the same file and begin downloading the file from several computers at once. 


4. Bookmark
Similar to a real-life bookmark, an Internet bookmark acts as a marker for a Web site. (In Internet Explorer, they're called "Favorites").
When using a Web browser, you can simply select a bookmark from the browser's Bookmarks menu to go to a certain site. This way, you don't have to go through the redundant process of typing in the Internet address each time you visit one of your favorite sites.


5. Captcha
A captcha is program used to verify that a human, rather than a computer, is entering data. Captchas are commonly seen at the end of online forms and ask the user to enter text from a distorted image (shown below). 

The text in the image may be wavy, have lines through it, or may be highly irregular, making it nearly impossible for an automated program to recognize it. Most captchas allow the user to regenerate the image if the text is too difficult to read. Some even include an auditory pronunciation feature.


6. Cloud Computing
Cloud computing refers to applications and services offered over the Internet. These services are offered from data centers all over the world, which collectively are referred to as the "cloud." This metaphor represents the intangible, yet universal nature of the Internet.

The idea of the "cloud" simplifies the many network connections and computer systems involved in online services. In fact, many network diagrams use the image of a cloud to represent the Internet. This symbolizes the Internet's broad reach, while simplifying its complexity. Any user with an Internet connection can access the cloud and the services it provides. Since these services are often connected, users can share information between multiple systems and with other users.


7. FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
Stands for "File Transfer Protocol." It is a common method of transferring files via the Internet from one computer to another. However, you can also use a Web browser like Netscape or Internet Explorer to access FTP servers. To do this, you need to type the URL of the server into the location field of the browser.
For example: "ftp://ftp.servername.com/" will give you a listing of all the directories of the FTP server, "ftp://ftp.servername.com/directory/" will give you a listing of all the files available in that directory, and "ftp://ftp.servername.com/directory/filename" will download the actual file to your computer. Many FTP servers are "anonymous FTP" servers which means you can log in with the user name "anonymous" and your e-mail address as the password. Other FTP servers require a specific login in order to access the files.


8. IP Address
Also known as an "IP number" or simply an "IP," this is a code made up of numbers separated by three dots that identifies a particular computer on the Internet. Every computer, whether it be a Web server or the computer you're using right now, requires an IP address to connect to the Internet. IP addresses consist of four sets of numbers from 0 to 255, separated by three dots.
For example "66.72.98.236" or "216.239.115.148". Your Internet Service Provider (ISP), will assign you either a static IP address (which is always the same) or a dynamic IP address, (which changes everytime you log on).


9. POP3 (Post Office Protocol)
Stands for "Post Office Protocol." POP3, sometimes referred to as just "POP," is a simple, standardized method of delivering e-mail messages. A POP3 mail server receives e-mails and filters them into the appropriate user folders. When a user connects to the mail server to retrieve his mail, the messages are downloaded from mail server to the user's hard disk.
When you configure your e-mail client, such as Outlook (Windows) or Mail (Mac OS X), you will need to enter the type of mail server your e-mail account uses. This will typically be either a POP3 or IMAP server. IMAP mail servers are a bit more complex than POP3 servers and allow e-mail messages to be read and stored on the server. Many "webmail" interfaces use IMAP mail servers so that users can manage all their mail online.


10. Proxy Server
Most large businesses, organizations, and universities these days use a proxy server. This is a server that all computers on the local network have to go through before accessing information on the Internet. 
By using a proxy server, an organization can improve the network performance and filter what users connected to the network can access.


11. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Stands for "Search Engine Optimization." Just about everyone wants his or her site to appear in the top listings of all the major search engines.
For example, ABC runs an online soccer store. He wants his site to show up in the top few listings when someone searches for "soccer shoes." Then he gets more leads from search engines, which means more traffic, more sales, and more revenue. The problem is that there are thousands of other soccer sites, whose owners are hoping for the same thing. That's where search engine optimization, or SEO, comes in.


12. URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
Stands for "Uniform Resource Locator." A URL is the address of a specific Web site or file on the Internet. It cannot have spaces or certain other characters and uses forward slashes to denote different directories. 
Some examples of URLs are http://www.thinkdigit.com/, http://dauniv.ac.in/, and ftp://info.apple.com/. As you can see, not all URLs begin with "http". The first part of a URL indicates what kind of resource it is addressing. 


13. Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is term that was introduced in 2004 and refers to the second generation of the World Wide Web. The term "2.0" comes from the software industry, where new versions of software programs are labeled with an incremental version number. Like software, the new generation of the Web includes new features and functionality that was not available in the past. However, Web 2.0 does not refer to a specific version of the Web, but rather a series of technological improvements.

Some examples of features considered to be part of Web 2.0 are: blogs, wikis, social networking, web applications, etc.


I hope ABCD of Computer blog post series helps you in understanding various concepts related to computer. Give your suggestions for upcoming blog posts.


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ABCD of Computer - Part II

So here we are, with the second installment/part of ABCD of Computer. As you know, we are covering everyday computer terms trough this particular series of blog posts, and we have already seen software terms in previous post, now its time to go through some of the popular terms from hardware zone of computer.

I have listed following 12 popular terms, some of them are known to us, and some create confusion with a closely related term. Let us take these terms one by one in a very simple language. Here we go...

1. Access Point

An access point is a device, such as a wireless router, that allows wireless devices to connect to a network. Most access points have built-in routers, while others must be connected to a router in order to provide network access. In either case, access points are typically hardwired to other devices, such as network switches or broadband modems.

Access points can be found in many places, including houses, businesses, and public locations. In most houses, the access point is a wireless router, which is connected to a DSL or cable modem.

2. DSL (Digital Subscriber Line)

Stands for "Digital Subscriber Line". It is medium for transferring data over regular phone lines and can be used to connect to the Internet. However, like a cable modem, a DSL circuit is much faster than a regular phone connection, even though the wires it uses are copper like a typical phone line.

3. Flash Drive

Flash drives have many names — jump drives, thumb drives, pen drives, and USB keychain drives. Regardless of what you call them, they all refer to the same thing, which is a small data storage devices that uses flash memory and has a built-in USB connection.

4. Flash Memory

Flash memory is a type of electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM). The name comes from how the memory is designed -- a section of memory cells can be erased in a single action or in a "flash."

A common use of flash memory is to store the BIOS settings in a computer's ROM. When the BIOS needs to be changed, the flash memory can be written in blocks, rather than bytes, making it easy to update. Most modems use flash memory for the same reason. 

Flash memory cards used for digital cameras, cellular phones, networking hardware, and PC cards. Though the memory's read/write speed is not lightning fast, it is nice to be able to tote around a little card rather than a cumbersome hard drive.

5. HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface)

HDMI is a digital interface for transmitting audio and video data in a single cable. It is supported by most HDTVs and related components, such as DVD and  Blue-Ray players, cable boxes, and video game systems.

HDMI carries the audio and video streams together, greatly eliminating cable clutter. For example, a component cable connection requires three cables for video and two for audio, totaling five cables in all. The same information can be transmitted using one HDMI cable.

6. LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)

LCDs are super-thin displays that are used in laptop computer screens and flat panel monitors. Smaller LCDs are used in handheld TVs, PDAs, and portable video game devices. Since LCD screens are based on the principle of blocking light (rather than emitting it), they use up much less power than standard CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube) monitors.

7. LED (Light-Emitting Diode)

An LED is an electronic device that emits light when an electrical current is passed through it. Early LEDs produced only red light, but modern LEDs can produce several different colors, including red, green, and blue (RGB) light. Recent advances in LED technology have made it possible for LEDs to produce white light as well.

Some examples include street lights, the red lights on cars, and various types of decorative lighting. You can typically identify LEDs by a series of small lights that make up a larger display. For example, if you look closely at a street light, you can tell it is an LED light if each circle is comprised of a series of dots.

The energy efficient nature of LEDs allows them to produce brighter light than other types of bulbs while using less energy. For this reason, traditional flat screen LCD displays have started to be replaced by LED displays, which use LEDs for the backlight. LED TVs and computer monitors are typically brighter and thinner than their LCD counterparts.

8. Modem

The word modem is actually short for Modulator/Demodulator. A modem is a communications device that can be either internal or external to your computer. It allows one computer to connect another computer and transfer data over telephone lines. The original dial-up modems are becoming obsolete because of their slow speeds and are being replaced by the much faster cable and DSL modems.

9. Motherboard

The motherboard is the main circuit board of your computer and is also known as the mainboard or logic board. If you ever open your computer, the biggest piece of silicon you see is the motherboard.

Attached to the motherboard, you'll find the CPU, ROM, memory RAM expansion slots, PCI slots, and USB ports. It also includes controllers for devices like the hard drive, DVD drive, keyboard, and mouse. Basically, the motherboard is what makes everything in your computer work together. Each motherboard has a collection of chips and controllers known as the chipset. 

10. Plug and Play

Plug and Play, sometimes, abbreviated PnP, is used to describe devices that work with a computer system as soon as they are connected. 

The user does not have to manually install drivers for the device or even tell the computer that a new device has been added. Instead the computer automatically recognizes the device, loads new drivers for the hardware if needed, and begins to work with the newly connected device.

For example, if you connect a Plug-and-Play mouse to the USB port on your computer, it will begin to work within a few seconds of being plugged in. A non plug-and-play device would require you to go through several steps of installing drivers and setting up the device before it would work.

11. Router

This is a hardware device that routes data (hence the name) from a local area network (LAN) to another network connection. A router allow only authorized machines to connect to other computer systems. Most routers also keep log files about the local network activity.

12. USB

Stands for "Universal Serial Bus." USB is the most common type of computer port used in today's computers (a sort of industry standard). It can be used to connect keyboards, mice, game controllers, printers, scanners, digital cameras, and removable media drives, just to name a few.

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ABCD of Computer - Part I

Through ABCD of Computer - Part I blog post, I am sharing some of the popular terms of computer arena we encounter everyday, but we are not aware of! Part I specifically focuses on terms from software zone, Part II and Part III will be covering popular terms from Hardware and Internet respectively.

At first they may appear scary, but believe me, you will enjoy getting familiar with them! As per my understanding I have included following 15 terms, which should be known to a computer user.

1. Add-on

An add-on is a software extension that adds extra features to a program. It may extend certain functions within the program, add new items to the program's interface, or give the program additional capabilities. 

For example, Mozilla Firefox, a popular Web browser, supports add-ons such as the Google toolbar, ad blockers, and Web developer tools. Some computer games support add-ons that provide extra maps, new characters, or give the player game-editing capabilities.   

2. BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)

Stands for "Basic Input/Output System." Most people don't need to ever mess with the BIOS on a computer, but it can be helpful to know what it is. 

The BIOS is a program pre-installed on Windows-based computers (not on Macs) that the computer uses to start up. The CPU accesses the BIOS even before the operating system is loaded. The BIOS then checks all your hardware connections and locates all your devices. If everything is OK, the BIOS loads the operating system into the computer's memory and finishes the boot-up process. 

3. Bug

In the computer world, a bug is an error in a software program. It may cause a program to unexpectedly quit or behave in an unintended manner. 

For example, A small bug may cause a button within a program's interface not to respond when you click it. A more serious bug may cause the program to hang or crash due to an infinite calculation or memory leak. 

4. Digital Signatures

Signatures are commonly used to authenticate documents. When you sign a physical document, you are authenticating its contents. Similarly, digital signatures are used to authenticate the contents of electronic documents. They can be used with PDF, e-mail messages, and word processing documents. 

To digitally sign a document, you must have a digital ID. This unique identifier can obtained from various certification authorities on the Web, such as VeriSign and EchoSign. Once you have a digital ID, you can add register it with programs that support digital signatures, such as Adobe Acrobat and Microsoft Outlook. Then you can use the program's "Sign" feature to add your digital signature to documents. 

5. DirectX

DirectX is a set of standard commands and functions that software developers can use when creating their programs. While any Windows-based software program can include DirectX commands, they are usually used in video games. 

For example, Developers may use DirectX for controlling video playback, sound effects, and peripheral input (such as a keyboard, mouse, or joystick). By incorporating DirectX functions into a computer game, programmers can use predefined commands to manage the video and sound of their game, as well as user input. This makes it easier for programmers to develop video games and also helps the games look more uniform, since DirectX games use many of the same commands. 

6. Driver

A driver is a small file that helps the computer communicates with a certain hardware device. It contains information the computer needs to recognize and control the device. In Windows-based PCs, a driver is often packaged as a dynamic link library, or .dll file.

7. FAT32

This strange term refers to the way Windows stores data on your hard drive. "FAT" stands for "File Allocation Table," which keeps track of all your files and helps the computer locate them on the disk. Even if a file gets fragmented (split up into various areas on the disk), the file allocation table still can keep track of it. 

FAT32 is an improvement to the original FAT system, since it uses more bits to identify each cluster on the the disk. This helps the computer locate files easier and allows for smaller clusters, which improves the efficiency of your hard disk. 

FAT32 supports up to 2 terabytes of hard disk storage. Unless you are a serious power user, that should be more than enough space for you!

8. Firmware

Firmware is a software program or set of instructions programmed on a hardware device. It provides the necessary instructions for how the device communicates with the other computer hardware. 

9. Java

While most of the world uses "Java" as another term for coffee, the computer science world uses it to refer to a programming language developed by Sun Microsystems. The syntax of Java is much like that of C/C++, but it is object-oriented and structured around "classes" instead of functions. 

Java can also be used for programming applets -- small programs that can be embedded in Web sites. The language is becoming increasingly popular among both Web and software developers since it is efficient and easy-to-use. 

10. Malware

Short for "malicious software," malware refers to software programs designed to damage or do other unwanted actions on a computer system.

Common examples of malware include viruses, worms, trojan horses, and spyware. Viruses, for example, can cause havoc on a computer's hard drive by deleting files or directory information. Spyware can gather data from a user's system without the user knowing it. This can include anything from the Web pages a user visits to personal information, such as credit card numbers.

 

11. Open Source

When a software program is open source, it means the program's source code is freely available to the public. 

Unlike commercial software, open source programs can be modified and distributed by anyone and are often developed as a community rather than by a single organization. For this reason, the phrase "open source community" is commonly used to describe the developer of open source software development projects. 

12. Plug-in

A software plug-in is an add-on for a program that adds functionality to it. 

For example, a Photoshop plug-in (such as Eye Candy) may add extra filters that you can use to manipulate images. A browser plug-in (such as Macromedia Flash or Apple QuickTime) allows you to play certain multimedia files within your Web browser. 

13. Remote Desktop 

Remote desktop technology makes it possible to view another computer's desktop on your computer. This means you can open folders, move files, and even run programs on the remote computer, right from your own desktop. Both Windows and Macintosh computer support remote desktop connections, though they use different implementations.

   

14. Widget

A widget is a small program run by the Mac OS X Dashboard or the Yahoo! Widget Engine. Dashboard is only available on Macintosh computers, while the Yahoo! Widget Engine is available for both Windows and Macintosh platforms. Dashboard and Yahoo! widgets are not compatible with each other, so similar widgets must be created separately for each widget engine.

  

15. Worm 

A computer worm is a type of virus that replicates itself, but does not alter any files on your machine. However, worms can still cause havoc by multiplying so many times that they take up all your computer's available memory or hard disk space. 

If a worm consumes your memory, your computer will run very slowly and possibly even crash. If the worm affects your hard disk space, your computer will take a long time to access files and you will not be able to save or create new files until the worm has been eradicated.

Hope you find it worth reading. Share your comments and suggestions for the upcoming blog post.

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