T

tagged image file format - TIFF
A standard graphics format used with high resolution bitmapped graphics.

TB - terabytes.
Approximately 1,000,000,000,000 bytes (about 1 trillion bytes), 1,000,000,000 kilobytes, 1,000,000 megabytes, or 1000 gigabytes. Exactly 1,099,511,627,776 bytes, 1,073,741,824 kilobytes, 1,048,576 megabytes, or 1,024 gigabytes calculated from 2 to the 40th power.

TCP/IP - transmission control protocol/Internet protocol
A protocol developed by the US Department of Defense as a means of transferring data between computers. It is used widely throughout the Internet and still used by the US DoD.

telephony
Using telephone technology.

Telnet
A protocol that enables a user to login from one server to another. Telnet protocol is usually used for text transmissions (as opposed to graphics, video, and audio).

terabyte - TB.
Approximately 1,000,000,000,000 bytes (about 1 trillion bytes), 1,000,000,000 kilobytes, 1,000,000 megabytes, or 1000 gigabytes. Exactly 1,099,511,627,776 bytes, 1,073,741,824 kilobytes, 1,048,576 megabytes, or 1,024 gigabytes calculated from 2 to the 40th power.

text area
A multi-line area used to contain text. In the web, a text area box contains text in one font that can be part of the page or used as a means to submit information from the client to the host.

text field
Same as a text are except is only one line in height.

text file
A file that uses the ASCII format. This is one of the simplest formats and can usually be read by any computer or word processor, and is useful in file transfers. It is also commonly called an "ASCII text file" or "ASCII file" and contains very little or no formatting.

TIFF - tagged image file format
A standard graphics format used with high resolution bitmapped graphics.

tiled window
Windows that do not overlap on the desktop. Typically, the desktop is filled with the windows; if there are 2 open windows, each fills 50% of the desktop; if there are 3 windows open, each fills 33%; etc. In this way, each window is visible at all times though a smaller portion is visible as more windows are open. See also cascade windows.

timecode
With videos, a time stamp placed on each frame.

title bar
The top of a window that usually contains the title of the file, and some window controls to close, re-size, or hide the window.

toggle
A button or switch that is either "on" or "off." An "off" button that is clicked is turned "on" while an "on" button that is clicked is turned "off."

toolbar
A set of often used commands. The toolbar can consist of icons, text, or icons and text. The tool bar can vary in size (small icons versus large icons) and location (horizontal at the top of the window, horizontal below the window, or vertical on the left-hand side are common locations).

toolbar button
A specific button in the toolbar. The button can be a toggle or a simple command (like open a file).

transmission control protocol/Internet protocol - TCP/IP
A protocol developed by the US Department of Defense as a means of transferring data between computers. It is used widely throughout the Internet and still used by the US DoD.

transparent
There are several definitions for transparent. 1) An action run by a program that is done without user intervention. 2) In web graphics, an image whose background takes on the background of the window it is placed in.

Trash Can
A window with an icon usually on the desktop. Items to be deleted are placed in this window; once the item has been deleted, it is removed from the Trash Can.

Trojan horse
Taken from mythology, the Trojan horse was used by the Greeks to defeat the Trojans at Troy. In computers, it is a program that purports to do one thing yet does something else; usually, Trojan horses are intended to damage or harass other users and their computers. See also worms and viruses.

true color
A monitor system that has at least 24-bit graphics divided among the 3 primary colors, red, green, and blue (RGB). Each color is allocated 8 bits which translates into 256 different possible hues of red, 256 hues of green, and 256 hues of blue. Since each color is independent of the other, this leads to 16.7 million possible colors (256 x 256 x 256) which has a greater resolution than a human eye and hence is considered to lead to accurate (i.e., true) colors.

TrueType® fonts
Fonts that are scaleable to any size and appear the same on the monitor as they do after output to a device.

twisted-pair wire
A pair of wires that are twisted together and typically used in telephone and other communication lines. The two wires are used for transmitting and receiving signals, and the twisting of the two wires reduces induction between them.

U

UltraSCSI
A disk format used by most common platforms, in which the controller electronics reside within the drive housing removing the need for a separate adapter. Other formats include SCSI, IDE, and EIDE.

uniform resource locator - URL
A standard for locating data (i.e., files) on the world wide web. Typically, the URL has the form, protocol://host/localinfo where the protocol is ftp, http, gopher, etc., the host would be for example, aol.com, and the localinfo would be the directories, subdirectories, and file name to reach that specific file.

uninterrupted power supply - UPS
A power supply that can be used as a backup supply when the regular power source is interrupted. Most computer system don't require this except for systems that are operational 24 hours a day like servers.

UNIX
An operating system designed in 1972 by AT&T Bell Laboratories that features multiuser, multitasking and extensive networking capabilities. It is a common operating system on many servers.

upload
The process of transferring data from one computer to another. Usually, upload refers to the transfer of data from a client computer to a host server. The opposite of download UPS - uninterrupted power supply
A power supply that can be used as a backup supply when the regular power source is interrupted. Most computer system don't require this except for systems that are operational 24 hours a day like servers.

URL - uniform resource locator
A standard for locating data (i.e., files) on the world wide web. Typically, the URL has the form, protocol://host/localinfo where the protocol is ftp, http, gopher, etc., the host would be for example, aol.com, and the localinfo would be the directories, subdirectories, and file name to reach that specific file.

USB - universal serial bus
A serial port that is much faster than many parallel ports but not as fast as a Firewire port. It has many characteristics of a SCSI port and can connect a series of devices in a chain.

user
Any person/device that connects to a networked computer.

user account
A set of data about the user stored on the computer that the user accesses. Each user will have their own user account on the server accessed.

universal serial bus - USB
A serial port that is much faster than many parallel ports but not as fast as a Firewire port. It has many characteristics of a SCSI port and can connect a series of devices in a chain.

V

VAX
A minicomputer built by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), that had terminal computers attached to them.

variable width
As applying to fonts, variable width fonts are fonts whose characters take up more or less space depending on the individual character. For example, an "i" will take less space than an "o" will. Variable width fonts are also called proportional fonts. Common examples include Times and Helvetica. Fixed width fonts are fonts whose characters all take up the same amount of space.

vector graphics
Images that are composed of vectors: lines that have a direction, a start, and an end point. Vector graphics have the advantage that they can be scaled without loss of resolution.

VGA - video graphics array
The specifications for video output for PCs. VGA supports a 640x480 pixel resolution with 8-bit graphics color (256 colors).

video graphics array - VGA
The specifications for video output for PCs. Video graphics array supports a 640x480 pixel resolution with 8-bit graphics color (256 colors).

video RAM - VRAM
Video RAM is a type of dynamic RAM (DRAM) dedicated for higher speed video graphics. For video, both the processor and frame buffer must share the same signal line and buses. In video RAM, a separate line and bus is provide for the processor and the frame buffer.

virtual reality - VR
A technology designed to create an interactive, entirely new environment for the user, usually in 3 dimensions, that provides input to all the senses.

virtual memory
A process of creating "extra" RAM by using the hard drive as a temporary RAM. A segment of the hard drive is allocated to virtual memory; if an application requires more memory than is available, the active components of the application are loaded into the RAM while the other inactive parts are load into the virtual memory. The downside to this is that virtual memory is much slower than RAM so the application runs slower if components in virtual memory are used.

virus
A segment of programming code that copies itself and can often have a destructive intent. It has similar behavioral characteristics of real viruses in that there can be a trigger to get it started (like a date code or re-booting), it can "reproduce" itself by using the computer's own hardware and software, it can cause significant damage, and it can be transferred to another computer when files are exchanged either with floppies or via a network. Usually, the viruses are platform specific, and different computers have different susceptibilities with Unix machines being the most impervious and Microsoft® Windows® 95/98 being much more susceptible.

VR - virtual reality
A technology designed to create an interactive, entirely new environment for the user, usually in 3 dimensions, that provides input to all the senses.

VRAM - video RAM
VRAM is a type of dynamic RAM (DRAM) dedicated for higher speed video graphics. For video, both the processor and frame buffer must share the same signal line and buses. In VRAM, a separate line and bus is provide for the processor and the frame buffer.

W

W3C - World Wide Web Consortium
A non-profit, advisory board that makes recommendation about the future directions of the Internet.

WAIS - wide area information server
An information retrieval system that searches text strings on the Internet.

web
The collection of all the interconnected networks that contain texts, graphics, images, audio, and video data. Though commonly viewed as all http protocol networks, the web also includes the ftp, gopher, and WAIS networks as well.

web browser
An application used to view and interact with the world wide web and interpret HTML code. Also called a browser. The two most common web browsers are Netscape Communicator®, Microsoft® Internet Explorer®.

WebTV
A box that converts an ordinary television into a receiver of web pages.

what you see is what you get - WYSIWYG
Pronounced "wizzywig." WYSIWYG means that what is shown on the monitor is what will be seen in an output device like a printer.

wide area information server - WAIS
An information retrieval system that searches text strings on the Internet.

wildcard
Wildcards are characters that can represent several or any characters. Often used during searches, wildcards are often "*" or "?." For example, a search for individuals living in Missouri that was searched by "Miss*" where the * represents any other characters after the "Miss" would yield a search result of those individuals in Missouri and Mississippi.

Windows®
A GUI interface operating system written by Microsoft® that can refer to a some or all of the Windows® operating systems developed (Windows® 3.1, Windows® 95, Windows® 98, Windows® 2000, Windows® NT, and Windows® CE).

Windows® 3.1
An interface system that operates in tandem with MS-DOS. As such, Microsoft® Windows 3.1 is not an operating system but rather MS-DOS and Microsoft® Windows® 3.1 together create a GUI operating system.

Windows® 95, Windows® 98, Windows® 2000
The MS-Windows® operating systems developed after Microsoft® Windows® 3.1 for PCs.

Windows® NT
An operating system designed to provide networking capabilities. Microsoft® Windows® NT is designed to be platform independent, is fully multitasking word wrap
A word processing feature that moves the words to the next line as the line being typed fills up. In this way, an "enter" or "return" does not need to be hit at the end of each line to keep it in view.

world wide web - www
The collection of all the interconnected networks that contain texts, graphics, images, audio, and video data. Though commonly viewed as all http protocol networks, the web also includes the ftp, gopher, and WAIS networks as well.

World Wide Web Consortium - W3C
A non-profit, advisory board that makes recommendation about the future directions of the Internet.

workstation
Generally used to mean a high-end desktop computer with strong calculation capabilities and/or graphical prowess. The most common example is the Silicon Graphics Workstation which has tremendous graphical strengths.

worm
An unwanted application that duplicates itself (like a virus) but does not have usually do the same amount of damage as a virus. Where a virus might erase a hard drive, a worm copies itself until the hard drive or RAM is completely filled.

write-protect
To prevent an unintended or unauthorized writing to a file or disk.

www - world wide web
The collection of all the interconnected networks that contain texts, graphics, images, audio, and video data. Though commonly viewed as all http protocol networks, the web also includes the ftp, gopher, and WAIS networks as well.

WYSIWYG - what you see is what you get
Pronounced "wizzywig." WYSIWYG means that what is shown on the monitor is what will be seen in an output device like a printer.

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