A HIGH DENSITY COMPUTING 16-bit --------- Awk A | B | C | D | E |F | G | H |I | J| K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z

Author's note This is the first section of 26. To keep things simple, I kept one section per letter. Although this page seems rather large, it is only text and I kept the graphics to a minimum. An area in black is a section and in the white are the individual pages. Every section you will find a navigation bar, which will advance you or back you 5 pages, or 1 section. There is also a button that gives you the option to return home. Enjoy!	Document A Stastistics
	Number of terms for this section	138
	Total number of pages Pages for for this section.	20
	Suggest a term

16-bit --- Ad-hockery Pages 1 - 5 Page 1 16-bit --- @HOME Network   16-bit ---In Windows, this refers to the way memory is accessed. 16-bit applications access memory in 16-bit "chunks" (2-bytes). Most pre-Windows 95 applications are 16-bit (see 32-bit). 16550A UART --- The name of the most modern chip controlling the serial port. Older chips could not support the data throughput that today's high-speed communications protocols and modems support. 32-bit --- In Windows, this refers to the way memory is accessed. 32-bit application access memory in 32-bit "chunks" (4-bytes). Large portions of Window 95 and many of its new applications are 32-bit applications, and may run faster because it has become more efficient to access chunks of memory. @ --- The "at" sign has grown tremendously in popularity. It is primarily used to separate the domain name and the user name in an Internet address and is pronounced "at." For example, egone@interport.net is read and pronounced as "egone at interport dot net." @HOME Network --- pronounced "at" HOME - A broadband system designed and developed for delivering high-speed information and Internet services using cable television lines. It brings the Internet to homes and businesses at higher speeds and with greater levels of service than previously possible. @Home uses advanced network technology to enable connections that are hundreds of times faster than possible with traditional telephone modems. Page2 Abbrev --- Access time   Abbrev--- abbrev: /*-breev'/, /*-brev'/ n. Common abbreviation for `abbreviation'. ABEND---ABEND: [ABnormal END] /ah'bend/, /*-bend'/ n. Abnormal termination (of software); crash; lossage. Derives from an error message on the IBM 360; used jokingly by hackers but seriously mainly by code grinders. Usually capitalized, but may appear as `abend'. Hackers will try to persuade you that ABEND is called `abend' because it is what system operators do to the machine late on Friday when they want to call it a day, and hence is from the German `Abend' = `Evening'. Accelerator key---A keyboard shortcut for a command. For example, Shift-Delete is an accelerator command for the Edit Cut command. activate To bring a window to the front and make it active. Acceptable use policy---acceptable use policy - this is the official policy statement regarding the use of a network or computer system. Access ---To get into a computer system, dial-up service, or network, by dialing a phone number, logging on a network such as the Internet and retrieving data. Access control ---Ways to protect confidential data in a computer or on a computer network from unauthorized access. Access Number ---The telephone number you use to dial into your local Internet Service Provider (ISP). To connect to the Internet you must first establish an account with an ISP your area. Usually you will receive a list of telephone numbers you can use to "dial-in" to the service. Sometimes access numbers can be frustrating because you get continous busy signals and/or no answer. You should try and have a few alternate access numbers available just in case this happens. Access time ---The time it takes a device to retrieve stored data. Technically speaking, access time is the time interval between the instant a computer calls for data from a storage medium (like a hard disk or CD-ROM) and the instant the data is delivered. This can be a matter of minutes or just microseconds from a computer's DRAM. Page 3   AccessWatch --- AcM   AccessWatch --- A World Wide Web utility that provides a comprehensive view of daily activity for a particular Web site. It is equally capable of gathering statistics for an entire server. It provides a regularly updated summary of WWW server hits and accesses, and gives a graphical representation of available statistics. It generates statistics for hourly server load, page demand, accesses by domain, and accesses by host. #accessWatch parses the WWW server log and searches for a common set of documents, usually specified by a user's root directory, such as /~username/ or /users/username. AccessWatch displays results in a graphical, compact format. This program runs an a UNIX platorm. Account --- When you sign up with an Internet Service Provider (ISP), you're given an account name or account ID and password this will allow you access to the Internet when you dial the access number provided by the ISP. Accumulator --- accumulator: n. 1. Archaic term for a register. On-line use of it as a synonym for `register' is a fairly reliable indication that the user has been around for quite a while and/or that the architecture under discussion is quite old. The term in full is almost never used of microprocessor registers, for example, though symbolic names for arithmetic registers beginning in `A' derive from historical use of the term `accumulator' (and not, actually, from `arithmetic'). Confusingly, though, an `A' register name prefix may also stand for `address', as for example on the Motorola 680x0 family. 2. A register being used for arithmetic or logic (as opposed to addressing or a loop index), especially one being used to accumulate a sum or count of many items. This use is in context of a particular routine or stretch of code. "The FOOBAZ routine uses A3 as an accumulator." 3. One's in-basket (esp. among old-timers who might use sense 1). "You want this reviewed? Sure, just put it in the accumulator." (See stack.) AcDSee --- A graphic image viewer and editor for Windows 95 which supports among others the image file formats GIF andJPEG (JPG). Downlad it! AcK --- acknowledgement - When a modem receives a data packet, it sends a signal back to the. If all the data is present and correct, it sends an ACK signal, which acts as a request for the next data packet. If the modem didn't get all the data, it sends back a negative ACK, or NAK (negative acknowledgement). AcM ---Association for Computing Machinery - ACM (founded 1947) is an international scientific and educational organization dedicated to advancing the art, science, engineering, and application of information technology, serving both professional and public interests by fostering the open interchange of information and by promoting the highest professional and ethical standards. An applet based on Microsoft technologies that enables interactive content on Web pages. See also ActiveX. Page 4 Active printer --- Ad Server   Active printer --- The printer that will be used by programs. Active window --- The window that is currently being used. Active windows show the "active window color" in their title bar (settable through the control panel).Other windows are inactive. To activate an inactive window, you must click somewhere in the inactive window or use the task bar to select the window (See Task Bar). On the task bar, the active window looks like a pressed button; inactive windows are represented by unpressed buttons. ActiveX --- ActiveX is a model for writing programs. ActiveX technology is used to make interactive web pages that look and behave like computer programs, rather than static pages. With ActiveX, users can ask or answer questions, use push buttons, and interact in other ways with the web page. Ad banner --- An advertisement on a Web page that links to an advertiser's site or buffer page. Ad banners are the most common unit of advertising on the Web and cost anywhere from free to upwards of $15,000 per month depending on the amount of visitors the Web site gets. The standard size for an ad banner set by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) is 468 pixels wide by 60 pixels high. Ad Server --- A program or a type server which manages and maintains advertisement banners for a Web site or collection of Web sites. These programs are extremely sophisticated and are capable of keeping track and reporting Web site usage statistics on users. Ads can then be targeted towards certain types of individuals. It also provides the ability to rotate banners so a user won't see the same ad everytime they come back to the same page. Page 5 Ada --- Ad-hockery   Ada --- Ada: n. A Pascal-descended language that has been made mandatory for Department of Defense software projects by the Pentagon. Hackers are nearly unanimous in observing that, technically, it is precisely what one might expect given that kind of endorsement by fiat; designed by committee, crockish, difficult to use, and overall a disastrous, multi-billion-dollar boondoggle (one common description is "The PL/I of the 1980s"). Hackers find Ada's exception-handling and inter-process communication features particularly hilarious. Ada Lovelace (the daughter of Lord Byron who became the world's first programmer while cooperating with Charles Babbage on the design of his mechanical computing engines in the mid-1800s) would almost certainly blanch at the use to which her name has latterly been put; the kindest thing that has been said about it is that there is probably a good small language screaming to get out from inside its vast, elephantine bulk. ADC --- analog-to-digtal converter - the conversion of data or signal storage from analog format, like the continous electrical vibrations triggered by a voice on a phone, to the on-off digital format of computer code. SEE ALSO: binary Address --- e-mail address, Internet address, and Web address - A code or series of letters, numbers and/or symbols by which the Internet identifies you or a location where information is stored. Through the use of addresses people can send you e-mail, look at your Web site, and send or receive information. As an e-mail identifier it looks something like username@hostname.com, in which username is the userID, account, or nickname of a particular person or machine designated to receive e-mail, and hostname could be the name of the Internet Service Provider (ISP) the account is set up with or the name of the computer itself which will store the e-mail messages sent to it. The symbol in the middle of an e-mail address is an "at" symbol (@), and the symbol which follows the hostname is called a period but is spoken in computer terms as a "dot", therefore an e-mail address would be verbalized as username at hostname dot com. A Web address is the same as a URL or Uniform Resource Locator this address usually starts with http://www followed by a "dot" and then a domain name and a path. Internet address can refer to both of the above as well as IP addresses which are numeric designations given to computers or domain names and users that log on to the Internet. Address book --- A list of persons, phone numbers, and other information used by various Windows 95 programs, including Microsoft Fax and HyperTerminal. A feature of e-mail programs that lets you store a list of important e-mail addresses. Adger --- adger: /aj'r/ [UCLA] vt. To make a bonehead move with consequences that could have been foreseen with a slight amount of mental effort. E.g., "He started removing files and promptly adgered the whole project". Compare dumbass attack. Ad-hockery --- ad-hockery: /ad-hok'*r-ee/ [Purdue] n. 1. Gratuitous assumptions made inside certain programs, esp. expert systems, which lead to the appearance of semi-intelligent behavior but are in fact entirely arbitrary. For example, fuzzy-matching input tokens that might be typing errors against a symbol table can make it look as though a program knows how to spell. 2. Special-case code to cope with some awkward input that would otherwise cause a program to choke, presuming normal inputs are dealt with in some cleaner and more regular way. Also called `ad-hackery', `ad-hocity' (/ad-hos'*-tee/). See also ELIZA effect.

Admin --- Alta Vista Pages 6 - 10 Page 6 Admin --- ADVENT   Admin --- admin: /ad-min'/ n. Short for `administrator'; very commonly used in speech or on-line to refer to the systems person in charge on a computer. Common constructions on this include `sysadmin' and `site admin' (emphasizing the administrator's role as a site contact for email and news) or `newsadmin' (focusing specifically on news). Compare postmaster, sysop, system mangler. ADN --- (Advanced Digital Network) -- Usually refers to a 56Kbps leased-line. Adobe Type Manager --- (ATM) An Adobe program that enables you to work with Postscript fonts in Windows 95. ADPCM --- Adaptive Digital Pulse Code Modulation - A family of speech compression and decompression algorithms. A common implementation takes 16-bit linear PCM samples samples and converts them to 4-bit samples, yeilding a compression rate of 4:1. ADSL --- (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) -- A method for moving data over regular phone lines. An ADSL circuit is much faster than a regular phone connection, and the wires coming into the subscriber’s premises are the same (copper) wires used for regular phone service. An ADSL circuit must be configured to connect two specific locations, similar to a leased line. A commonly discussed configuration of ADSL would allow a subscriber to receive data (download) at speeds of up to 1.544 megabits (not megabytes) per second, and to send (upload) data at speeds of 128 kilobits per second. Thus the “Asymmetric” part of the acronym. Advanced Program-to-Program Communications --- A communications standard defined by IBM. The APPC standard is intended to allow multiple users to share the processing of programs. ADVENT --- ADVENT: /ad'vent/ n. The prototypical computer adventure game, first implemented on the PDP-10 by Will Crowther as an attempt at computer-refereed fantasy gaming, and expanded into a puzzle-oriented game by Don Woods. Now better known as Adventure, but the TOPS-10 operating system permitted only 6-letter filenames. See also vadding. This game defined the terse, dryly humorous style now expected in text adventure games, and popularized several tag lines that have become fixtures of hacker-speak: "A huge green fierce snake bars the way!" "I see no X here" (for some noun X). "You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike." "You are in a little maze of twisty passages, all different." The `magic words' xyzzy and plugh also derive from this game. Crowther, by the way, participated in the exploration of the Mammoth & Flint Ridge cave system; it actually *has* a `Colossal Cave' and a `Bedquilt' as in the game, and the `Y2' that also turns up is cavers' jargon for a map reference to a secondary entrance. Page 7 .Aiff --- AIDS   .Aiff --- One of many Macintosh sound file formats. On the Net you may come across the option to hear a sound clip. The file which is downloaded to your computer when "clicked on" might be in the aiff format (if the sound file was originally captured on a Macintosh). Your helper applications or browser plugins need to be configured to know what to do with this type of file. AFK --- Away From Keyboard - A shorthand appended to a comment written in an online forum. Agent --- sometimes called a Web agent or autonomous agent is a program which does things for you like, filtering your e-mail and finding Web sites to suit your interests. Usually the program does this independently once you set your preferences. Click on the More button below to get a detailed description of what agents are from MIT. AI --- artificial intelligence - Computer hardware and software packages that try to emulate human intelligence in order to solve problems using reasoning and learning. First conceived as computer intelligence in 1950 by Alan Turing, it was renamed artificial intelligence in 1955 by John McCarthy. One of the earliest and most successful applications were computer programs that could play chess. In 1990, a computer named Mephisto suprised the public by checkmating Grand Master Anatoly Karpov. AI koans --- AI koans: /A-I koh'anz/ pl.n. A series of pastiches of Zen teaching riddles created by Danny Hillis at the MIT AI Lab around various major figures of the Lab's culture (several are included in appendix A). See also ha ha only serious, mu, and Humor, Hacker. AI-complete --- AI-complete: /A-I k*m-pleet'/ [MIT, Stanford: by analogy with `NP-complete' (see NP-)] adj. Used to describe problems or subproblems in AI, to indicate that the solution presupposes a solution to the `strong AI problem' (that is, the synthesis of a human-level intelligence). A problem that is AI-complete is, in other words, just too hard. Examples of AI-complete problems are `The Vision Problem' (building a system that can see as well as a human) and `The Natural Language Problem' (building a system that can understand and speak a natural language as well as a human). These may appear to be modular, but all attempts so far (1991) to solve them have foundered on the amount of context information and `intelligence' they seem to require. See also gedanken. AIDS --- AIDS: /aydz/ n. Short for A* Infected Disk Syndrome (`A*' is a glob pattern that matches, but is not limited to, Apple), this condition is quite often the result of practicing unsafe SEX. See virus, worm, Trojan horse, virgin. Page 8 Airplane rule --- Aliasing & anti-aliasing   Airplane rule --- airplane rule: n. "Complexity increases the possibility of failure; a twin-engine airplane has twice as many engine problems as a single-engine airplane." By analogy, in both software and electronics, the rule that simplicity increases robustness (see also KISS Principle). It is correspondingly argued that the right way to build reliable systems is to put all your eggs in one basket, after making sure that you've built a really *good* basket. AIX --- A multiple-user OS, basically IBM's attempt to copy UNIX. AKA --- The term you are looking up is an IRC or E-mail shorthand. These are acronyms for commonly used phrases people use on the Internet that they would otherwise have to type out. To find the meaning of one of these terms scroll down and find your term on the table below. RI&W - Read It And Weep Another commonly discussed configuration would be symmetrical: 384 Kilobits per second in both directions. In theory ADSL allows download speeds of up to 9 megabits per second and upload speeds of up to 640 kilobits per second. ADSL is often discussed as an alternative to ISDN, allowing higher speeds in cases where the connection is always to the same place. See Also: bit , bps , ISDN Alert message --- A critical warning, confirmational, or informational message appearing in a dialog box. airbrush In "paint" and graphics programs, a tool that "sprays" dots in a randomized pattern around the point indicated by the user. In most programs, the output of the airbrush can be configured to modify the color, pattern, and density of the dot pattern. annotate To add notes. For example, you can add your own notes to Windows Help. Alias --- On servers aliases are a way of mapping an incoming request for a Web page. When an alias is found in a URL, the alias's value is substituted in place of the alias. For example, if you have Web pages on a server which you wish to be viewed on the Internet, the actual location of those files may be: www/high-density.com/userpages/joesWebsite/index.html but with the use of an alias, the URL you use to access the site could be http://www.high-density.com/~joesWebsite. In this case the tilda (~) represents an alias for the path www.high-density.com/userpages/. Aliasing & anti-aliasing --- Unrealistic visual effects on a computer screen are known as aliasing. These peculiarities take many forms; one of the most common would be images with jagged edges or stair-stepped appearances along what is supposed to be a smooth curved surfaces (like O or S) and/or diagonal lines on the screen. Sometimes called the jaggies. Anti-aliasing is a software techinque used in imaging systems (such as Adobe Photoshop) to make these curved edges or diagonal lines look smooth and continous. Page 9 Aliasing bug --- Alt text   Aliasing bug --- aliasing bug: n. A class of subtle programming errors that can arise in code that does dynamic allocation, esp. via `malloc(3)' or equivalent. If more than one pointer addresses (`aliases for') a given hunk of storage, it may happen that the storage is freed through one alias and then referenced through another, which may lead to subtle (and possibly intermittent) lossage depending on the state and the allocation history of the malloc arena. Avoidable by use of allocation strategies that never alias allocated core. Also avoidable by use of higher-level languages, such as LISP, which employ a garbage collector (see GC). Also called a stale pointer bug. See also precedence lossage, smash the stack, fandango on core, memory leak, overrun screw, spam. Historical note: Though this term is nowadays associated with C programming, it was already in use in a very similar sense in the Algol-60 and FORTRAN communities in the 1960s. AliWeb --- A search engine for locating WWW documents that is provided by NEXOR, a UK based service provider. AliWeb does not use a spider, instead, it relies on forms that Web authors themselves submit to the AliWeb database. All-elbows --- all-elbows: adj. Of a TSR (terminate-and-stay-resident) IBM PC program, such as the N pop-up calendar and calculator utilities that circulate on BBS systems: unsociable. Used to describe a program that rudely steals the resources that it needs without considering that other TSRs may also be resident. One particularly common form of rudeness is lock-up due to programs fighting over the keyboard interrupt. See also mess-dos. Alpha --- Refers to a pre-release of a software or hardware product. The release prior to the beta release. Alpha particles --- alpha particles: n. See bit rot. Alphanumeric --- Characters which consist of letters, numbers, punctuation, and symbols found on a standard keyboard. Alt --- Type of newsgroup that discusses alternative topics. Some Internet providers ask that their users sign an agreement stating they are over 18 before providing access to the alt.newsgroups. Alt bit --- alt bit: /awlt bit/ [from alternate] adj. See meta bit. Alt text --- The text you see before an image is loaded on a Web page. A Web site author can code an alt tag when building a Web page to say anything they want. Usually it is a description of the picture or image. The HTML syntax or code would look like this: <img src="logo.gif" alt="High-density: The glossary-n.htm#Network Language Dictionary"> Page 10 Alta Vista --- Amazon.com   Alta Vista --- Developed by Digital Equipment Corporation the AltaVista Search Service has changed how we use the Internet. It is no longer necessary to know the address of a particular home page, only to begin following the trail of hyperlinks to your eventual goal. AltaVista Search Service takes you to precisely where you want to be from the start by pointing you to relevant Web pages regardless of where they reside on a particular site. You can then follow the links from there as desired. The painstaking task of classifying Web pages into logical groups is a thing of the past. Today, AltaVista Search Service puts the contents of the Internet at your fingertips, transforming this information into a bona fide business, education, and entertainment resource.Great search engine for the Web! Search The Web or Newsgroups with Alta Vista Alta Vista Software Aluminum Book --- Aluminum Book: [MIT] n. `Common LISP: The Language', by Guy L. Steele Jr. (Digital Press, first edition 1984, second edition 1990). Note that due to a technical screwup some printings of the second edition are actually of a color the author describes succinctly as "yucky green". See also book titles. Amazon.com --- "If it's in print, it's in stock", that's the motto of Amazon.com which offers over one million book titles over the Internet for you to purchase. It's worth a visit just to search the titles.

Aluminum Book ---Archive Pages 11 - 15 Page 11 Amoeba --- Analog   Amoeba --- amoeba: n. Humorous term for the Commodore Amiga personal computer. Amp off --- amp off: [Purdue] vt. To run in background. From the UNIX shell `&' operator. Amper --- amper: n. Common abbreviation for the name of the ampersand (`&', ASCII 0100110) character. See ASCII for other synonyms. Anchor --- In HTML, anchors mark the start and end of hypertext links. For example: the HTML tag <a href="glossary-h.htm#html"> marks the start of an anchor, while the tag </a> marks the closing of an anchor. Angels --- People who invest in computer related start-up companies. Angle brackets --- angle brackets: n. Either of the characters `<' (ASCII 0111100) and `>' (ASCII 0111110) (ASCII less-than or greater-than signs). The Real World angle brackets used by typographers are actually taller than a less-than or greater-than sign. See broket, ASCII. Angry fruit salad --- angry fruit salad: n. A bad visual-interface design that uses too many colors. This derives, of course, from the bizarre day-glo colors found in canned fruit salad. Too often one sees similar affects from interface designers using color window systems such as X; there is a tendency to create displays that are flashy and attention-getting but uncomfortable for long-term use. Animated gif --- or animated GIF or multi block GIF - a type of GIF format which allows a series of images to be displayed one after another or on top of each other. Since its implementation in Netscape Navigator 2.0, GIF animation has been one of the best and easiest ways to put animation. Animated GIFs have been around since the introduction of the GIF89a format in 1989. The reason animated GIFs didn't appear on the Web at that time is that Netscape Navigator or any other Web browsers around at that time didn't support GIF89a's animation features. Analog --- This word is often used to denote the opposite of digital. It loosely means the measuring of data on more physical grounds as opposed to digital which is a more electronic "wired state." Thanks to Wired Style Guide Page 12 Anime --- AOHell   Anime --- pronounced "ah-knee-may" - An artistic, and sensual type of Japanese animation. On the Internet one can find hundreds of superb anime Web sites. Annie --- A homepage which seems to have been abandoned for some time -- most of the links are out of date, etc. -- ie, it's been orphaned. Annotations --- Notes that you can add to Web documents. These notes are stored on your local disk and are available each time that you access a document. This feature is found in NCSA Mosaic, but not Netscape. Anonymous FTP --- An Internet File Transfer Protocol (FTP> option which allows you to connect to a site, search through available files, and download any file, document, or program available without first establishing an account there. Some FTP servers are setup to allow a limited amount of anonymous FTP users to login at the same time, and only provide access to designated files. Anonymous posting --- A message posted to a newsgroup or e-mail discussion group that does not identify the person who sent it. ANSI --- American National Standards Institute - An organization of American industry groups who work with other nations to develop standards in facilitating telecommunications and international trade. Developments include the ASCII, SCSI, and the ANSI.SYS device driver. Anti Virus --- A program included with Windows 95 that helps eradicate viruses (see virus) from your hard drive or floppy disks. Anti-aliasing --- A graphics technique used to hide the diagonal edges and sharp color changes ("jaggies") in a graphic or font. Because a computer screen possesses limited resolution, such changes highlight the pixels on the screen and don't look smooth. Using anti-aliasing smoothes out the changes and makes them appear more attractive. AOHell --- America OnLine Hell - Hacker programs that allow one to manipulate AOL's software. Bundles of keyboard macros that exploit software bugs in the AOL system allowing hackers to access, among other things, personal e-mail accounts. Page 13 AOL --- APpC   AOL --- America-On-Line, the largest on-line service. AOS --- AOS: 1. /aws/ (East Coast), /ay-os/ (West Coast) [based on a PDP-10 increment instruction] vt.,obs. To increase the amount of something. "AOS the campfire." Usage: considered silly, and now obsolete. Now largely supplanted by bump. See SOS. 2. A Multics-derived OS supported at one time by Data General. This was pronounced /A-O-S/ or /A-os/. A spoof of the standard AOS system administrator's manual (`How to load and generate your AOS system') was created, issued a part number, and circulated as photocopy folklore. It was called `How to goad and levitate your chaos system'. 3. Algebraic Operating System, in reference to those calculators which use infix instead of postfix (reverse Polish) notation. Historical note: AOS in sense 1 was the name of a PDP-10 instruction that took any memory location in the computer and added 1 to it; AOS meant `Add One and do not Skip'. Why, you may ask, does the `S' stand for `do not Skip' rather than for `Skip'? Ah, here was a beloved piece of PDP-10 folklore. There were eight such instructions: AOSE added 1 and then skipped the next instruction if the result was Equal to zero; AOSG added 1 and then skipped if the result was Greater than 0; AOSN added 1 and then skipped if the result was Not 0; AOSA added 1 and then skipped Always; and so on. Just plain AOS didn't say when to skip, so it never skipped. For similar reasons, AOJ meant `Add One and do not Jump'. Even more bizarre, SKIP meant `do not SKIP'! If you wanted to skip the next instruction, you had to say `SKIPA'. Likewise, JUMP meant `do not JUMP'; the unconditional form was JUMPA. However, hackers never did this. By some quirk of the 10's design, the JRST (Jump and ReSTore flag with no flag specified) was actually faster and so was invariably used. Such were the perverse mysteries of assembler programming. API --- Application Programming Interface - An API is a series of functions that programs can use to make the operating system do their dirty work. Using Windows APIs, for example, a program can open windows, files, and message boxes as well as perform more complicated tasks by passing a single instruction. Windows has several classes of APIs that deal with telephony, messaging, and other issues. APp --- A computer software program or application. Usually you see this word in conjuction with the word "killer". A killer app is supposedly an intensely "killer" or extremely good program. APpC --- See Advanced Program-to-Program Communications Page 14 APplet --- Archie   APplet --- A small Java program that can be embedded in an HTML page. Applets differ from full-fledged Java applications in that they are not allowed to access certain resources on the local computer, such as files and serial devices (modems, printers, etc.), and are prohibited from communicating with most other computers across a network. The current rule is that an applet can only make an Internet connection to the computer from which the applet was sent. See Also: HTML ,Java APplication --- program or software - all three of which refer to a computer program or set of programs that performs a specific job. World Wide Web browsers, HTML editors, and Netscape plugins are all examples of applications. This contrasts with an Operating System, such as MacOS or Windows, which manage how your computer performs tasks, and "runs" these applications. APplication Programming Interface (API) --- A set of interface functions available for applications. ARC --- Augmentation Research Center - set up in the 1960's by Doug Engelbart, this lab at the Stanford Research Center in Palo Alto, is credited with developing GUI tools (mouse, graphical icons, and the hypertext system) that were expanded at Xerox PARC and 20 years later, became the basics of the Macintosh computer and operating system. ARC also developed ideas about teleconferencing, e-mail, and workgroup processing tools. Arc wars --- arc wars: [primarily MSDOS] n. holy wars over which archiving program one should use. The first arc war was sparked when System Enhancement Associates (SEA) sued PKWare for copyright and trademark infringement on its ARC program. PKWare's PKARC outperformed ARC on both compression and speed while largely retaining compatibility (it introduced a new compression type that could be disabled for backward-compatibility). PKWare settled out of court to avoid enormous legal costs (both SEA and PKWare are small companies); as part of the settlement, the name of PKARC was changed to PKPAK. The public backlash against SEA for bringing suit helped to hasten the demise of ARC as a standard when PKWare and others introduced new, incompatible archivers with better compression algorithms. Archie --- As a noun, archive is the place on an Internet host where files are stored. It is also a file that contains a number of compressed files. As a verb, archive means to compress a number of files into one file for storage and transmittal. SEE ALSO: FTP and file compression. Page 15 Architecture --- Arena   Architecture --- Deals with the structuring paradigms, style and patterns that describe or make up, either software systems or Internet/intranet systems. In particular, architectures can be overall structures for systems. Archive --- archive: n. 1. A collection of several files bundled into one file by a program such as `ar(1)', `tar(1)', `cpio(1)', or arc for shipment or archiving (sense 2). See also tar and feather. 2. A collection of files or archives (sense 1) made available from an `archive site' via FTP or an email server .Archive bit --- A single bit stored in a disk directory to indicate if a file has been changed since it was last backed up. Backup programs clear a file's archive bit when they back up the program. Modifying the program resets the bit and a backup program knows to make a backup the next time you do a backup. Archive site --- A tool (software) for finding files stored on anonymous FTP sites. You need to know the exact file name or a substring of it Arena --- arena: [UNIX] n. The area of memory attached to a process by `brk(2)' and `sbrk(2)' and used by `malloc(3)' as dynamic storage. So named from a semi-mythical `malloc: corrupt arena' message supposedly emitted when some early versions became terminally confused. See overrun screw, aliasing bug, memory leak, smash the stack.

Archive bit ---Auto answer Pages 16 - 20 Page 16 Arg --- Asbestos   Arg --- arg: /arg/ n. Abbreviation for `argument' (to a function), used so often as to have become a new word (like `piano' from `pianoforte'). "The sine function takes 1 arg, but the arc-tangent function can take either 1 or 2 args." Compare param, parm, var. Arj --- Showing that a file or program has been "compressed," and must be "exploded" with the arj program before being either read or used. Groups of files may be compressed together, but this is more commonly done with the zip program. See .zip. Armor-plated --- armor-plated: n. Syn. for bulletproof ARPA --- Advanced Research Projects Agency Network - The precursor to the Internet. Developed in the late 60's and early 70's by the US Department of Defense as an experiment in wide-area-networking that would survive a nuclear war. Also: An experimental network designed to see how well distributed, non-centralized networks work; the basis for the later evolution of the Internet. ARPANet --- (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) -- The precursor to the Internet. Developed in the late 60’s and early 70’s by the US Department of Defense as an experiment in wide-area-networking that would survive a nuclear war. See Also:Internet Article --- A message or posting to a newsgroup. Some newsreader programs can filter out old articles that you may have read earlier. Artificial intelligendce --- artificial intelligence - Computer hardware and software packages that try to emulate human intelligence in order to solve problems using reasoning and learning. First conceived as computer intelligence in 1950 by Alan Turing, it was renamed artificial intelligence in 1955 by John McCarthy. One of the earliest and most successful applications were computer programs that could play chess. In 1990, a computer named Mephisto suprised the public by checkmating Grand Master Anatoly Karpov. Asbestos --- asbestos: adj. Used as a modifier to anything intended to protect one from flames. Important cases of this include asbestos longjohns and asbestos cork award, but it is used more generally. Page 17 Asbestos cork award --- At sign or @   Asbestos cork award --- asbestos cork award: n. Once, long ago at MIT, there was a flamer so consistently obnoxious that another hacker designed, had made, and distributed posters announcing that said flamer had been nominated for the `asbestos cork award'. Persons in any doubt as to the intended application of the cork should consult the etymology under flame. Since then, it is agreed that only a select few have risen to the heights of bombast required to earn this dubious dignity --- but there is no agreement on *which* few. Asbestos longjohns --- asbestos longjohns: n. Notional garments often donned by USENET posters just before emitting a remark they expect will elicit flamage. This is the most common of the asbestos coinages. Also `asbestos underwear', `asbestos overcoat', etc. ASCII --- (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) -- This is the de facto world-wide standard for the code numbers used by computers to represent all the upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. There are 128 standard ASCII codes each of which can be represented by a 7 digit binary number: 0000000 through 1111111. ASCII art --- An artform which has developed through the use of low-ASCII characters. It runs the gamut from simple little doo-dads in someone's sigfile to complicated random-dot 3D stereogram images which really work. For an example of ASCII art click on the more button below. SEE ALSO: smileys and emoticons. ASCII characters --- A subset of the ANSI character standard. ASCII file --- A file consisting of alphanumeric characters only. Although virtually every file can be converted to an ASCII file, all formatting (for example, bold, italics, underline, font size, and so on) will be lost in the ASCII file. ASsociate Linking --- a document with the program that created it so that both can be opened with a single command. For example, double-clicking a DOC file opens Word for Windows and loads the selected document. At sign or @ --- The "at" sign has grown tremendously in popularity. It is primarily used to separate the domain name and the user name in an Internet address and is pronounced "at." For example, egone@interport.net is read and pronounced as "egone at interport dot net." Page 18 ATAPI --- Attoparsec   ATAPI --- A specification for devices to attach to EIDE buses. This specification is almost identical to the EIDE specification. AT command --- AT is a contraction of attention, a command used to program SmartModems from Hayes Microcomputer Products. AT commands program a variety of modem hardware settings and were adopted by other modem manufacturers who wanted to market their wares with the term Hayes-compatible. It was considered a must to know that ATL0 turned your modem speaker down and ATM0 turned it off. Now, however, the commands are usually hidden under a menu option in your communication software. AT command set --- A set of commands, originally developed by Hayes, for modems. Its name originates from the fact that each command starts with "AT" (attention). Today, most modems support the AT command set, enabling Microsoft to supply the Unimodem driver with Windows 95. ATM --- Asynchronous Transfer Mode - A high speed networking scheme and communication protocol designed with the transfer of multimedia data in mind. NOTE: You can't get $20 bills from here. AtomTime95 --- AtomTime95 is a 32-bit Win95 winsock (Internet) application which will connect to the atomic clock time server in Boulder, CO and fetch the current atomic time value. It then compares this to your PC's time setting and displays the difference. You then have the option of updating your PC clock to match the atomic clock value. There are also advanced settings that allow you to have the application run in a much more automated fashion. Note: This application will not work unless you are running some kind of Internet access (examples would be PPP, SLIP or even direct connection via a network). Attached File --- also called an enclosure (Microsoft Mail) - A file(s) that is added to an e-mail. You can attach files through almost any popular e-mail program such as Eudora and Netscape Mail. Usually this is accomplished simply clicking the attach file button and then browsing through your system to find and select the desired file. Attoparsec --- attoparsec: n. `atto-' is the standard SI prefix for multiplication by 10^{-18}. A parsec (parallax-second) is 3.26 light-years; an attoparsec is thus 3.26 * 10^{-18} light years, or about 3.1 cm (thus, 1 attoparsec microfortnight equals about 1 inch/sec). This unit is reported to be in use (though probably not very seriously) among hackers in the U.K. See micro-. Page 19 Auditor --- Authentication   Auditor --- To create or publish a script, program, or document. Usually this is done with an authoring or scripting language such as C, C++, HTML, or Java. Whatever language you choose there are usually a wide variety of authoring tools which you can download or buy to help you. Attachment --- also called an enclosure (Microsoft Mail) - A file(s) that is added to an e-mail. You can attach files through almost any popular e-mail program such as Eudora and Netscape Mail. Usually this is accomplished simply clicking the attach file button and then browsing through your system to find and select the desired file. Attribute --- A property or characteristic. Attributes (FAT) --- Settings for each file indicate if the file is used by an operating system, has read-only status, has its archive bit set, or is a hidden file. .Au --- A type of audio file. Autobogotiphobia --- autobogotiphobia: /aw'to-boh-got`*-foh'bee-*/ n. See bogotify. Auto-Bot --- A free automation tool that checks your POP3 mail server for new mail, downloads the waiting e-mail, sets your system clock to Internet time, and executes timed telnet sessions. AuP --- acceptable use policy - this is the official policy statement regarding the use of a network or computer system. Authentication --- Technique by which access to Internet or Intranet resources requires the user to identify himself or herself using a name and password. Page 20 Author --- Automagically   Author --- A third party company that tracks, counts and verifies ad banner deliveries (ad banners that are sent to a Web page from another location) or verifies a Web site's proprietary ad reporting system. This differs from a "counter" which is a company that strictly counts ad and page deliveries. Auto answer --- A feature of e-mail, fax, or any type of communication program which allows a call to be "picked up". Usually there is a light on the modem itself if it's an external one or on the graphical interface of the software that indicates that the auto answer feature is turned on. Most programs must be configured for this to be possible .Auto arrange --- (Explorer) In Explorer, auto arrange organizes the visible icons into a regular grid pattern. Autobot --- A free automation tool that checks your POP3 mail server for new mail, downloads the waiting e-mail, sets your system clock to Internet time, and executes timed telnet sessions. Autoexec.bat --- A text file mostly used through DOS where information was stored about the system's programs or hardware. Here memory resources - ram drives were allocated. Automagically --- automagically: /aw-toh-maj'i-klee/ or /aw-toh-maj'i-k*l-ee/ adv. Automatically, but in a way that, for some reason (typically because it is too complicated, or too ugly, or perhaps even too trivial), the speaker doesn't feel like explaining to you. See magic. "The C-INTERCAL compiler generates C, then automagically invokes `cc(1)' to produce an executable." Avatar --- avatar: [CMU, Tektronix] n. Syn. root, superuser. There are quite a few UNIX machines on which the name of the superuser account is `avatar' rather than `root'. This quirk was originated by a CMU hacker who disliked the term `superuser', and was propagated through an ex-CMU hacker at Tektronix. .Avi --- A type of video file. Awk --- awk: 1. n. [UNIX techspeak] An interpreted language for massaging text data developed by Alfred Aho, Peter Weinberger, and Brian Kernighan (the name is from their initials). It is characterized by C-like syntax, a declaration-free approach to variable typing and declarations, associative arrays, and field-oriented text processing. See also Perl. 2. n. Editing term for an expression awkward to manipulate through normal regexp facilities (for example, one containing a newline). 3. vt. To process data using `awk(1)'.

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