Geek Speak

RAM—Random Access Memory. This is the computers short term memory, the computer uses ram to store information from programs that is needed while the program is running. This type of memory is very volatile and is wiped out when the computer is shut off.

ROM—Read Only Memory. As the name suggest this memory can only be read from and not written to and is usually non-volatile.

Cache—this is memory set-a-side by a program like Internet Explorer to store information that is referenced for later use. It aids in speeding up the loading of web pages.

Swap File—similar to cache, except that it is used by windows when there isn’t enough RAM to run a program.

Bit—the smallest portion of data measurement.

Byte—8 bits.

KB—short for kilobyte, 1 thousand bytes. The actual number of bytes is 1024 this is because bytes are measured in the octal number system and then translated by the computer back into the decimal number system.

MB—short for megabyte, 1 million bytes.

GB—short for gigabyte, 1 billion bytes.

TB—short for terabyte, 1 trillion bytes.

Decimal number system—this is the number system that we humans use to count. Also known as base 10 because there are 10 digits as the base of the system 0 thru 9, 0 is the first number and 9 is the tenth number.

Octal number system—one of three number systems used in computing. Also known as base 8, because there are 8 digits as the base of the system, 0 thru 7 with zero as the first digit and 7 as the last.

Binary number system—one of three number systems used in computing. Also known as base 2, because there are 2 digits in the system 0 and 1, this is also the language of all computers.

Hexadecimal number system—one of three number systems used in computing. Also know as base 16, because there are 16 digits as the base of the system, the first 10 are 0 thru 9, while the last 6 are the letters A thru F.

Machine language—the binary number system is the language of all computers. All calculations are done by the computer using binary numbers.

Boolean logic—sometimes called Boolean algebra, uses the binary number system to perform operations.

Dip switches—an obsolete method of configuring hardware using small binary switches, they are either turned off (set to 0) or turned on (set to 1). Old style printers usually have them.

Dot matrix printer—a now obsolete style of printer that uses tiny dots to print text or graphics.

DPI—Dots Per Inch. The number of dots per inch a dot matrix printer will print, the higher the number the better.

Daisy wheel printer—a text only printer which gets its name from the wheel that contains all the letters, numbers and punctuation characters needed to print text.

Ink jet printer—a method of printing by spraying ink with little jets. This is a common style of printer it is cheep and fairly efficient, with high quality.

Bubble jet printer—this is similar to ink jet printer made by the Canon Corporation. It has the same quality as ink jet and affordability.

Laser printer—a fast high quality printer that uses a laser to burn the images on to the paper, it is however, very expensive.

ASCII—American Standard Code for Information Interchange; this has been the standard for a long time but is slowly dying if not dead already. The code consists of 256 characters each represented by a number 0 thru 255. The code contains all the punctuation marks, letters of the alphabet both upper- and lower-case, and numbers of the American writing system, plus a bunch of other characters most of which are not printable.

Font—this is the name given to the style in which text is appears on the screen, not to be confused with Italics or underlined as these are formats for text. An example of a font is the text you see on this page it is known as Arial. This is Bookman Old Style, and this is Courier New.

Boot—to start your computers operating system.

BIOS—Basic Input Output System, this is ROM memory which helps the computer process all input and output. It controls all of the computers hardware including, CPU, RAM, IRQ’s, Hard drives, etc. It also tells the computer where to look for the operating system boot files. The BIOS is kept alive via a battery that is located on the motherboard.

CMOS--Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor sometimes referred to as the BIOS. They are used interchangeably; however, CMOS, pronounce sea moss, is actually the chip in which the BIOS is stored.

Motherboard—also call the main board, this is the main circuit board that all the computers hardware plugs into, including the BIOS.

CPU—Central Processing Unit this is the number cruncher, it does all the calculations in binary.

Drivers—software used to tell the operating system how to control the specific hardware.

Hardware—these are the physical components of a computer, examples include the CPU, Modem, CD-ROM, etc.

Software—these are programs that perform a useful function like the operating system, word process, or drivers.

Programming language—software used to develop programs.

RAD—Rapid Application Development, a style of program development using a programming language.

GUI—Graphical User Interface, interfacing with a computer using graphics rather than text, makes for easier usage without the need for typing complex text commands.

OS—Operating System, software that manages all the computers resources, translates instructions to machine language, etc.

IRQ—Interrupt Request a system resource which allows for the interruption of a task being performed so that another task can be performed.

Blue screen of death—this is the blue screen that appears whenever windows is having problems, throws a fit, crashes, etc. a very annoying screen if you ask me.

Java—a programming language created by Sun Microsystems.

HTML—Hyper Text Markup Language a programming language used in creating web pages.

WYSIWYG—What You See Is What You Get as style of web page design that uses GUI interfacing rather than HTML coding.

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