P HIGH DENSITY COMPUTING Packet --------- Push 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

Packet --- .Planfile Pages 167 --- 171 Page 167 Packet --- Paint Shop Pro   Packet --- A limited-length unit of data formed by the network, transport, presentation, or application layer (layers 3-7 of the OSI Model) in a networked computer system. Data is transported over the network, and larger amounts of data are broken into shorter units and placed into packets. Higher-layer packets are encapsulated into lower-layer packets for encapsulation into LAN frames for delivery to the ultimate host destination. Packet Switching --- The method used to move data around on the Internet. In packet switching, all the data coming out of a machine is broken up into chunks, each chunk has the address of where it came from and where it is going. This enables chunks of data from many different sources to co-mingle on the same lines, and be sorted and directed to different routes by special machines along the way. This way many people can use the same lines at the same time. Page Impressions --- Hit to HTML pages only (access to non-HTML documents are not counted). Page requests --- The number of times a Web page is requested from a server. This is the preferred counting term for traffic estimates and measurement instead of hits. Page views --- The number of times a Web page is requested from a server. This is the preferred counting term for traffic estimates and measurement instead of hits. Paint --- A program that comes with Windows 95 that enables you to view and edit various formats of bit maps. Paint Shop Pro --- One of the easiest, fastest and most powerful image viewing, editing and converting programs you may ever use on the Windows platform. It supports over 30 image formats, and contains several drawing and painting tools, plus effects and the ability to use Adobe Photoshop plugins. This is an excellent choice for converting and preparing GIF's and JPEG's for use on the World Wide Web. Page 168 Palette --- Partial backup   Palette --- A collection of tools. For example, in Paint, there is a color palette that displays the 48 colors available for use in creating a graphic. Pane --- Some windows, such as the window for Explorer, show two or more distinct "areas" (Explorer's window shows two such areas). These areas are referred to as "panes". Panose --- Panose refers to a Windows internal description that represents a font by assigning each font a PANOSE ID number. Windows uses several internal descriptions to categorize fonts. The PANOSE information registers a font class and determines similarity between fonts Paragraph formatting --- In a word processing program, this refers to formatting that can be applied to an entire paragraph, including alignment (left, center, right), indentation, and spacing before and after the paragraph. Parallel port --- A port (usually used for printing) that transmits data 8 bits at a time. This parallel transmission of 8 bits at a time gives the port its name. Parity --- An additional portion of data added to each byte of stored or transmitted data. Used to ensure that the data isn't lost or corrupted. In Hyperterminal, parity is used to ensure that the data is transmitted and received properly. Parity is also used in RAM chips to determine if RAM errors have occurred. Partial backup --- See incremental backup Page 169 Partition --- PC Cards   Partition --- A portion of a physical hard drive that behaves as a separate disk (logical drive), even though it isn't. Password --- A code used to gain access to a locked system. Good passwords contain letters and non-letters and are not simple combinations such as virtue7. A good password might be: Hot$1-6 See Also: Login Path --- The location of a file in the directory tree. Patience --- What you need while surfing the web. Some web pages seem to take forever to fully appear on your screen. PC Card --- A computer device packaged in a small card about the size of a credit card and conforming to the PCMCIA standard. PC Cards provide additional memory (ROM or RAM), modem and fax modem capabilties, and can even acts as portable disk drives on portable (laptop) computers. PC Cards --- Formerly called PCMCIA cards, these are small (usually only slightly larger than a credit card) cards that plug into special slots provided in notebook computers. PC Cards can provide functionality for additional memory, modems, sound, networking, hard drives, and so on. PC Cards normally identify themselves to the computer, making configuring them quite simple. Page 170 PCMCIA --- PGP   PCMCIA --- Personal Computer Memory Card International Association --- was formed by several modem card manufacturers in the late 1980s to define the card's physical design, computer socket design, electrical interface, and associated software. PCMCIA used some of the Japanese Electronic Industry Development Association's (JEIDA) principles in developing their standard. Both organizations continue to support international standards for PC Cards as they are now called. In fact, the newest release of the standard incorporates both PCMCIA and JEIDA developments which further enhances compatibility between products. PC Cards are now used in many varied applications including several types of RAM memory, pre-programmed ROM cards, modems, sound cards, floppy disk controllers, hard drives, CD ROM and SCSI controllers, Global Positioning System (GPS) cards, data acquisition, LAN cards, pagers, etc. PCMCIA also provides the abilty for hot plugging. Peer-to-peer --- A type of networking in which no workstation has more control over the network than any other. Each station may share its resources, but no station is the sole resource sharer or file server. Typically less expensive than client/server networks, peer-to-peer networks are also more difficult to administer and less secure because there is no central repository of data. Persistence --- What you often need to learn anything, including becoming proficient on the Internet. Personal Information Store --- The Personal Information Store is Exchange's term for the file that contains the structure of folders that make up your In box, Out box, sent files, deleted files, and any other personal folders you may choose to create. Pentium --- The name for by Intel's 586 which could not be used because of copyright problems. PGP --- Pretty Good Privacy --- A freeware program developed by Philip Zimmermann that allows a user to send e-mail messages to anyone in the world, in complete privacy. In addition you can send authentication with your messages so that the recipient can verify that the message really came from you. You can encrypt sensitive files on your computer so that the files remain private even if your computer and disks are stolen. For a more in depth look at how PGP works click on the more button below. "Pretty Good Privacy" -- a program which encodes e-mail, and which really bugs many governments. Page 171 Ph --- .Planfile   Ph --- The Ph system allows you to look up directory information, usually including e-mail addresses at universities, research institutions, and some governmental agencies throughout the world. You need a program that lets you use Ph. Tell that program which Ph server to use, and then enter a name you would like to search for. Phone Dialer --- Phone Dialer is a program that is included with Windows 95 that enables you to place telephone calls from your computer by using a modem or another Windows telephony device. You can store a list of phone numbers you use frequently, and dial the number quickly from your computer. Picon --- Picons are small bitmapped images of the first frame of your video clip. They can be used to represent the in and out source of your video segments. PiF --- A file that provides Windows 95 with the information it needs to know in order to run a non-Windows program. Unlike earlier versions of Windows, there is no PIF editor in Windows 95. Instead, you set up a PIF file from the properties for the file. Access the file properties by right-clicking the file from My Computer. Ping --- Packet INnternet Groper --- An Internet program used to determine whether a specific IP address is accessible. It works by sending a packet to the specified address and waiting for a reply. PING is used primarily to troubleshoot Internet connections. In addition, PING reports how many hops are required to connect two Internet hosts. There are many freeware and shareware PING utilities available for personal computers. PkZIP - PkUNZIP --- A shareware utility for compressing and decompressing files developed by PKWARE in 1986. Their are versions for both Microsoft Windows as well as MS-DOS based systems. SEE ALSO WinZIP. .Planfile --- A file that lists anything you want others on the Net to know about you. You place it in your home directory on your public-access site.

Platform --- PoTS Pages 172 --- 176 Page 172 Platform --- Plug and Play   Platform --- The operating system (i.e. Windows 95, Windows NT, etc.) used by a visitor to your Web site. Play List --- In CD Player, a list of tracks from an audio CD that you want to play. Plug and Play --- An industry-wide specification supported by Windows 95 that makes it easy to install new hardware. Plug and Play enables the computer to correctly identify hardware components (including plug-in cards) and ensures that different cards don't conflict in their requirements for IRQs, I/O addresses, DMA channels, and memory addresses. In order to fully implement Plug and Play, you need an operating system that supports it (as stated, Windows 95 does), a BIOS that supports it (most computers manufactured since early 1995 do) and cards that identify themselves to the system (information from these cards stored in the Windows Registry). If you have hardware, such as modems that aren't Plug and Play ( so called "legacy hardware"), then Windows 95 will prompt you for the information necessary for setup, and store such information in the Registry. (And, if you believe that, would you like to buy a bridge?) Page 173 Plugging Away --- Pointer   Plugging Away --- Repeatedly trying to get a plug-in to work, no matter how many times it crashes your system. Plug-in --- A (usually small) piece of software that adds features to a larger piece of software. Common examples are plug-ins for the Netscape® browser and web server. Adobe Photoshop® also uses plug-ins. The idea behind plug-in’s is that a small piece of software is loaded into memory by the larger program, adding a new feature, and that users need only install the few plug-ins that they need, out of a much larger pool of possibilities. Plug-ins are usually created by people other than the publishers of the software the plug-in works with. Point Listing --- A database of popular Web sites that will direct you to areas of interest. Some Web sites display the "top 5%" seal indicating the site was selected for it's excellence in content, presentation, and experience . PointCast --- An Internet news network that appears on your computer screen. PointCast can provide you with news and information which you can customize to your own specific needs. PointCast broadcasts national and international news, stock information, industry updates, weather from around the globe, sports scores and more from sources like CNN, CNNfn, Time, People and Money Magazines, Reuters, PR Newswire, BusinessWire, Sportsticker and Accuweather. Local newspapers such as LA Times, New York Times, Boston Globe, and San Jose Mercury News can be found there also. The PointCast Network is completely free, you just have to setup the software on your computer. The software is available for both MAC and Windows platforms. Pointer --- The on-screen symbol controlled by the mouse. As you move the mouse on the desk, the pointer moves on-screen. The pointer changes shape to indicate the current status and the type of functions and selections available. Page 174 Polygon --- Port   Polygon --- A multisided shape, in which each side is a straight line. PoP --- (Point of Presence, also Post Office Protocol) -- Two commonly used meanings: Point of Presence and Post Office Protocol. A Point of Presence usually means a city or location where a network can be connected to, often with dial up phone lines. So if an Internet company says they will soon have a POP in Belgrade, it means that they will soon have a local phone number in Belgrade and/or a place where leased lines can connect to their network. A second meaning, Post Office Protocol refers to the way e-mail software such as Eudora gets mail from a mail server. When you obtain a SLIP, PPP, or shell account you almost always get a POP account with it, and it is this POP account that you tell your e-mail software to use to get your mail. See Also: SLIP , PPP PoP1 --- Post Office Protocol - The protocol used by mail clients to retrieve messages from a mail server. Comes in three flavors POP1, POP2, and POP3 the number denoting the different version number of the protocol. SEE ALSO: IMAP. Port --- 3 meanings. First and most generally, a place where information goes into or out of a computer, or both. E.g. the serial port on a personal computer is where a modem would be connected. On the Internet port often refers to a number that is part of a URL, appearing after a colon (:) right after the domain name. Every service on an Internet server listens on a particular port number on that server. Most services have standard port numbers, e.g. Web servers normally listen on port 80. Services can also listen on non-standard ports, in which case the port number must be specified in a URL when accessing the server, so you might see a URL of the form: gopher://peg.cwis.uci.edu:7000/ shows a gopher server running on a non-standard port (the standard gopher port is 70). Finally, port also refers to translating a piece of software to bring it from one type of computer system to another, e.g. to translate a Windows program so that is will run on a Macintosh. See Also: Domain Name , Server , URL Page 175 Port replicator --- Posting   Port replicator --- On portable computers, a bus connection that makes all bus lines available externally. The port replicator can be used to plug in devices which, in a desktop computer, would be handled as cards. Port replicators are also the connection used to connect a portable computer to its docking station. Post --- Subscribers to newsgroups and mailing lists take part in discussions by sending, or posting their articles or comments online. Means the same as "to put up". The first and most generally used meaning is a place where information goes into or out of a computer, or both. E.g. the "serial port" on a person computer is where a modem would be connected. Secondly, on the Internet, port often refers to a number that is part of a URL, appearing after a colon (:) right after the domain name. Every service on an Internet server "listens" on a particular port number on that server. Most services have standard port numbers, e.g. Web servers normally listen on port 80. Services can also listen on non-standard ports, in which case the port number must be specified in a URL when accessing the server, so you might see a URL of the form: gopher://peg.cwis.uci.edu:7000/ which shows a gopher server running on a non-standard port (the standard gopher port is 70). Finally, "port" also refers to translating a piece of software to bring it from one type of computer system to another, e.g. to translate a Windows program so that is will run on a Macintosh. Posting --- A single message entered into a network communications system. E.g. A single message posted to a newsgroup or message board. See Also: Newsgroup Page 176 Postmaster --- PoTS   Postmaster --- The person to contact at a particular site to ask for information about the site or complain about one of his/her user's behavior. Postoffice --- This machine that will be the place in which all mail messages are stored for the workgroup. Postproduction editing --- The steps of adding special effects, animated overlays,and more to a "production" video.PostScript --- PostScript is a programming language designed to be used to describe printing on pages. Apple helped make PostScript popular by selling printers with built in PostScript interpreters. Many programs have evolved to produce PostScript programs as their output, making PostScript the lingua franca of printing. Until recently, in order to print a PostScript file, you had to have a relatively expensive laser printer. The development that changed this was the software PostScript interpreter. These programs allow your computer to interpret PostScript programs, and produce the matrix of dots to send to your normal graphics printer. One of the benefits of PostScript is that it is resolution independent. What this means is that it can support the highest resolution of your device -- and that you can reasonably preview PostScript on a low resolution screen. PoTS --- plain old telephone system --- or public switched telephone network --- the collection of interconnected systems operated by the various telephone companies and administrations(PTTs) around the world. The PSTN or POTS started as human-operated analogue circuit switching systems (plugboards), progressed through electromechanical switches and are now (1994) almost completely digital except for the final connection to the subscriber. Other things that make the PSTN less than bit-transparent include A-law to mu-law conversion or vice versa on international calls; robbed-bit signalling in North America (56kbps <--> 64 kbps); data compression to save bandwidth on long-haul trunks; signal processing such as echo suppression and voice signal enhancement such as AT&T TrueVoice. All this is in contrast to an integrated services digital network or ISDN.

Powerstripping --- Push Pages 177 --- 180 Page 177 Powerstripping --- Pre-emptive processing   Powerstripping --- Downloading all the netscape plug-ins just to brag that you have them -- because the odds are many of them, beta test versions at best, either won't work or will crash you system. PPP --- (Point to Point Protocol) -- Most well known as a protocol that allows a computer to use a regular telephone line and a modem to make TCP/IP connections and thus be really and truly on the Internet. See Also: IP Number , Internet , SLIP , TCP/IP Pre-emptive processing --- In a multitasking operating system, multiple tasks (threads) are generally controlled by a scheduler that preempts or interrupts each process, granting processor time in the form of a time slice. This enables multiple tasks to apparently run at the same time. However, each task runs for a time slice and is then preempted by the next process, which in turn is preempted--rotating processor time among active threads. In preemptive multitasking, the operating system is empowered to override (or pre-empt) an application that is using too much CPU time, as opposed to cooperative multitasking, where the application is responsible for relinquishing the CPU on a regular basis. Page 178 Primary partition --- Prompt   Primary partition --- A portion of the hard disk that can be used by the operating system and that can't be subpartitioned like an extended partition can. Only primary partitions are bootable. Printer driver --- A Windows 95 program that tells programs how to format data for a particular type of printer. Printer fonts --- Fonts stored in the printer's ROM. Printer settings --- A window that displays all the printers for which there are drivers present. You can select the default printer from the installed printers, as well as configure each printer using the shortcut menu and the options dialog box. Printer window --- For each installed printer, you can view the printer window. The printer window displays the status of each print job in the queue, and enables you to pause, restart, and delete the print job. Processor --- The controlling device in a computer that interprets and executes instructions and performs computations, and otherwise controls the major functions of the computer. Intel 80x86-series processors are miniaturized single-chip "microprocessors" containing thousands to millions of transistors in a silicon-based, multilayered integrated circuit design. Prodigy --- An on-line service, especially good for children and teens. Both AOL & Prodigy (*P) maintain fairly strict censorship in most public areas, to maintain their "family" image. Program file --- A program that runs an application directly (not via an association) when you click it. Program window --- A window that contains a program and its documents. Prompt --- The flashing symbol where you type or place your mouse on the screen. This is when the host system asks you to do something and waits for you to respond. For example, if you see "login:" it means type your user name. Page 179 Property sheet --- Protocols   Property sheet --- A dialog box that displays (and sometimes enables you to change) the properties of an object in Windows 95. To access a property sheet, right click the object to view the shortcut menu, and select Properties from the shortcut menu. Property sheets vary considerably between different objects. Proportional-spaced fonts --- Proportional-spaced fonts adjust the inter-character space based on the shape of the individual characters. An example of a proportional-spaced font is Arial. The width of a character is varied based on its shape. Adjusting inter-character spacing is really a function of kerning, which is a similar but not exactly the same. For instance, the letter 'A' and the letter 'V' are typically stored in each font as a kerning pair where they will be spaced differently when appearing next to each other. Where in a mono-space font vs. a proportional-font you will see a difference in the width of the letter 'i'. Protected mode --- A memory addressing mode of Intel processors that allows direct "flat memory" addressing (linear addressing) rather than using the awkward "segmented" scheme required by real mode, which was pioneered on the Intel 8088 and 8086 processors. Protected mode derives its name from the fact that sections of memory owned by a particular process can be protected from rogue programs trying to access those addresses. Protocol --- Rules of communication. In networks, several layers of protocols exist. Each layer of protocol only needs to physically hand-off or receive data from the immediate layer above and beneath it, whereas virtual communications occur with the corresponding layer on another host computer. Protocols --- Computer rules that provide uniform specifications so that computer hardware and operating systems can communicate. It's similar to the way that mail, in countries around the world, is addressed in the same basic format so that postal workers know where to find the recipient's address, the sender's return address and the postage stamp. Regardless of the underlying language, the basic "protocols" remain the same. Page 180 Provider --- Push   Provider --- The entity you have your internet connection with. More commonly "ISP" for "Internet Service Provider." Proxy --- or proxy server --- A technique used to cache information on a Web server and acts as an intermediary between a Web client and that Web server. It basically holds the most commonly and recently used content from the World Wide Web for users in order to provide quicker access and to increase server security. This is common for an ISP especially if they have a slow link to the Internet. Proxy servers are also constructs that allow direct Internet access from behind a firewall. They open a socket on the server, and allow communication via that socket to the Internet. For example, if your computer is inside a protected network, and you want to browse the Web using Netscape, you would set up a proxy server on a firewall. The proxy server would be configured to allow requests from your computer, trying for port 80, to connect to its port 1080, and it would then redirect all requests to the proper places. PSTN --- (Public Switched Telephone Network) -- The regular old-fashioned telephone system. Push --- Internet services that automatically update info on your computer when you log onto the internet.

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