AFAIR  Chat Room Acronym;  As Far As I Recall.

AWGTHTGTWTA  Chat Room Acronym;  Are We Going To Have To Go Through With This Again? It often shows up when someone asks a question that has already been answered time and time again, or when someone attempts to start an argument that's already been hashed and re-hashed.

BBS  Internet Terminology  Back in the old days, before the Internet, one of the primary forms of online communications was the BBS, or bulletin board system. A user can dial into a BBS and post messages, participate in discussions, upload or download files, and more. If all this stuff sounds like the Web, it isn't: BBSs are text based, not graphical, and often require you to navigate your way through a rather complex menu structure before you can do anything at all. On the plus side, you can connect to most BBSs with the slowest of modems and rudimentary software, such as the Terminal program included with Windows 3.x.

BLOB  Computer Terminology  Internet Service Provider:  BLOB stands for "binary large object". A BLOB is usually a large chunk of graphic, audio, video, or multimedia data that a database can store in a single field.

BRB  Chatroom Acronym  Be Right Back.

Bug  Computer Terminology;  A bug is an error in a software program that causes the program to perform inconsistently, not do what it's supposed to do, or crash entirely--sometimes taking your operating system down with it. It's called a bug because a long time ago a problem with the very first computer, the ENIAC, was traced to a real insect that got caught in the circuitry. Which means that had circumstances been different, we might be running around complaining about rats or hairpins.

bus  Computer Terminology  A bus is a group of wires that carries data from one part of your computer to another. If you have a relatively new computer, you probably have three buses:
- An internal bus, which connects your CPU (the chip) and your memory to your hard disk, floppy drive, and all the other "standard" parts of your computer;
- An expansion bus, which connects your CPU and memory to any new components (add-in boards or devices) you add to your computer;
- A local bus, which is reserved for data that has to travel really fast, such as video data.

CAD  Computer Terminology  Computer-Aided Design, and it's used widely to describe the vast array of applications used to design all types of products. CAD systems range from desktop computers to high-speed work stations, and CAD software is available for everything from generic design to specialized uses (most notably for architectural, electrical, and mechanical design).

Cobweb  Internet Slang   A cobweb is a Web page that has not been updated in a long, long time. While many corporate sites are guilty of leaving outdated information posted at their site, most cobwebs are the results of individuals creating personal home pages and then never bothering to update them.

Cracker  Computer Terminology  Because the term "hacker" is so constantly misused, hackers coined the term "cracker" to refer to a person bent on breaking into computers and causing general mayhem. Nice try, but the universe of crackers is necessarily a subset of the universe of hackers, because there's no way a person can break into someone else's secure computer without having hacker-level knowledge.

crash, frozen up  Computer Slang   Your computer or program has refused to work any longer.

CULA  Chat Room Acronym  See You Later Alligator.

Cyberchild, Cybergal, Cyberdude  Internet Slang  Someone who spends an inordinate amount of time on-line.

cyberspace  Internet Slang  The invisible space where computer generated signals are sent before being received by another computer.

CYMK  Computer Terminology;  the four-color system your printer uses to create colors on paper. CMYK stands for cyan (a light blue), magenta (a reddish pink), yellow ( plain yellow), and black (k, probably so it won't be confused with the "B" in RGB).

Dingbat  Computer;   A dingbat is a font's character that displays a picture or symbol instead of a word.

Domain Name  Internet Terminology  A domain name is the main address, or URL, of a Web site--the word that typically comes after the "www." and before the first slash (/).

dongle  Computer Terminology  A dongle is a hardware device that attaches to a port on your computer and controls access to a particular software application; even if the software is installed on your computer, you can't run it without the dongle. The dongle is physical an is one of the most effective copy-protection measure a software manufacturer can implement. It's costly and impractical for mass-market applications, and so only vendors of custom, high-priced applications tend to use dongles today.

dpi  Computer Terminology  The standard measurement for screen or printer resolution is in dpi, which stands for dots per inch. The more dots per inch, the sharper the screen image or printed output. Most of today's computer screens have anywhere from 72- to 96-dpi resolution; most of today's laser and ink jet printers offer anywhere from 600- to 1440-dpi resolution. The manufacturers of these printers often claim to have "photographic-quality resolution", but photos--such as those you might see in a professionally printed brochure--are usually printed at 2270 dpi or higher.

FAT  Computer Terminology;  File Allocation Table, the table your operating system uses to keep track of where each file is located on your hard disk or floppy. Without it, you wouldn't be able to start a program or open a single file on your system.

firewall  Computer Terminology;  a system (usually a combination of hardware and software) that prevents unauthorized Internet users from getting into any private servers you have that are connected to the Internet--most notably, your intranet servers. It's your company's last line of defense against hackers, competitors, and others that would do you harm.

FTP  Internet Terminology  File Transfer Protocol, the most common protocol for downloading files from or uploading files to the Internet.