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How to talk like a geek!

Below is a list of computer terms and acronyms I have complied for your reading pleasure

For sample pictures and more info click on the words in blue

AGP slot- Accelerated Graphics Port- This is the slot your video card is installed in. It differs from a PCI slot in that it does not take up any system memory. Video card have built in memory to run themselves. FYI more memory equal better graphics.

BIOS- Basic Input Output System- If the motherboard is the back bone then the BIOS is the nerves system. It tells your computer the speed of your CPU how much RAM you have and what drives are installed. I.E. CD-ROM, Hard Drive, Floppy Drive, etc.

CD-ROM- Compact Disk- Read Only Memory

CMOS- Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor- this is what your CPU chip is

CPU- central processing unit. This is the brains of your computer. Most of you will have a Pentium of ADM cpu. This is what controls the speed of your computer.

DLL- Dynamic Link Library

DVD-ROM- Digital Video Disk- Read Only Memory

EIDE- Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics, Updated fast version of IDE

FAT- File Allocation Table, the map a computer stores on a hard disk to tell it where data is stored

HDD- Hard Disk Drive

HTML- Hyper Text Markup Language, the language used to make websites

HTTP- Hypertext Transfer Protocol

IDE- Integrated Drive Electronics, cable type used to hook up CD-ROMs and Hard Drives

IP address- Internet Protocol Address- Every computer that is connected to the internet has an IP address. This allow computer to communicate with each other.

ISP- Internet Service Provider

JPEG- Joint Photographic Experts Group

Kernel- Responsible for resource allocation. Basically it tells your operating system what to do

LAN- Local Area Network

MODEM- MODulate / DEModulate basically makes analog info from the phone line into digital for the computer to read and visa versa

Motherboard- This is the back bone of your computer. Every piece of hardware you have is connected to the motherboard.

MPEG- Motion Picture Experts Group, movie file

NTFS- New Technology File System, updated and more secure version on the old FAT system

OS- Operating System i.e. Windows XP

PCI slot- Peripheral Component Interconnect- This is part of the mother board that you sound card and modem are connected to. Most hardware ad-ons are installed in a PCI slot.

PCMCIA- Personal Computer Memory Card International Association also called People Can't Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms

PDA- Personal Desktop Assistant

POST- Power On Self Test, a program your BIOS runs every time the computer is turned on

RAM- Random Access Memory- RAM controls the speed of running applications. The amount of RAM you have can effect how fast your programs can open and how many you can have open at one time. The more RAM you have the faster you can execute programs.

SCSI- Small Computer System Interface, similar to IDE but allow the user to hook up to 15 drive to each cable, IDE only allows for two

TCP/IP- Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol- what you use to surf the internet

UPS- Un-interruptible Power Supply, also know as a battery back up

WAN- Wide Area Network- made up of two or more LANs connected to each other

WWW- World Wide Web

Ever wonder why a 1.44MB floppy shows up as a 1.38MB and a 40gig Hard Drive shows up as 37.97gigs.  This is due to the fact that computer storage sizes are based on mathmactical equations rather than just saying a kilobyte is 1,000 bytes it is really 2 to the 10th power of 1 byte.  This is equal to 1,024 bytes.  This allows compaines to get away with rounding up and making the drive sound just a little bigger.

Bit- Binary Digit, the smallest unit of information on a computer, represented by 1 and 0 ex. 00101011

Byte- unit of measurement for storage space equal to 8 bits

Kilobyte- unit of measurement for storage space equal to 2 to the 10th power of 1 byte or 1,024 bytes

Megabytes- unit of measurement for storage space equal to 2 to the 20th power of 1 byte or 1,048,576 bytes

Gigabyte- unit of measurement for storage space equal to 2 to the 30th power of 1 byte or 1,073,741,824 bytes

Terabyte- largest unit of measurement for storage space available to the general public public equal to 2 to the 40th power of 1 byte or 1,099,511,627,776 bytes

Petabyte- unit of measurement for storage space equal to 2 to the 50th power of 1 byte or 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes.

Exabyte- largest named unit of measurement for storage space, it is very unlikely there has been a device made large enough to hold this much data, equal to 2 to the 60th power of 1 byte or 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 bytes