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A
Active-Matrix
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ActiveX
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Affilate
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AGP
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AIFF
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ANSI
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Apple
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Applet
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Archie
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ASCII
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ASP
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ATA
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ATM
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Autoresponder
Active-Matrix
This
technology is used in high-quality flat-panel displays, such
as laptop screens and thin computer monitors. The images on
active matrix screens are created by laying diodes, or small
semiconductors, over a grid of ultra-small wires. When a
current passes through the diodes, they light up in different
colors, depending on the strength of the current. Thousands of
these diodes next to each other form an image on the screen.
To keep the diodes in an on or off state, active-matrix
displays use transistors, which are not found in the
lower-quality passive-matrix displays. The transistors help
make the active-matrix displays brighter and give them more
contrast than passive-matrix displays.
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ActiveX
This
Microsoft-based technology was built to link desktop
applications to the World Wide Web. Using ActiveX development
tools, software developers can create interactive Web content
for their applications. For example, Word and Excel documents
can be viewed directly in Web browsers that supports ActiveX.
While ActiveX is a useful technology, the downside is that you
need to have a up-to-date version ActiveX installed on your
machine in order to use ActiveX-enabled content.
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Affilate
Web site
affiliates are what drive Internet marketing. Companies run
affiliate programs to generate leads and sales from other Web
sites. They pay the sites who host their ads a commission for
products sold through the links on their sites. For example,
if a site owner signs up for Amazon.com's affiliate program,
he will receive ad banners or links from Amazon. COM that he
can place anywhere on his site. Then, if a visitor clicks on
the Amazon. COM banner or a link on his site and buys
something, he will receive a commission. Unfortunately for Web
site owners, affiliate commissions are seldom above 5%, since
most Web sales are made with small profit margins.
The introduction of Web site affiliate programs in the late
1990s brought Internet marketing to a new level. The first
companies that offered these programs saw sales increase
dramatically. After all, these companies basically get free
advertising and only pay their affiliates a percentage of the
sales they generate. It's a win-win situation for the company
that runs the affiliate program. The only drawback is that the
programs take a lot of work (and sometimes a lot of money) to
set up and maintain. Thus, smaller companies may not find it
very beneficial to offer an affiliate program.
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AGP
Stands
for "Accelerated Graphics Port." This is a graphics card
expansion port designed by Intel that resides on the
motherboard of a computer. PCI graphics ports typically run at
33 MHz and have a maximum transfer rate of 132 MB/sec. AGP
ports, on the other hand, run at 66 MHz and can transfer data
up to 528 MB/sec. This allows games and applications to store
and retrieve larger, more realistic 3D shapes and textures
without slowing down the animation on the screen.
Additionally, AGP cards can store graphics in system memory
rather than video memory, which also helps improve
performance. Because of these advantages, AGP cards will
typically have better performance per MB of VRAM than PCI
graphics cards.
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AIFF
Stands
for "Audio Interchange File Format." This audio format
developed by Apple Computer is used to store high-quality
sampled audio and musical instrument information. AIFF files
are similar to Windows WAVE files in both size and quality.
Both AIFF and WAVE files can hold CD quality audio and
therefore can be burned onto an audio CD. Though the AIFF
format was created by Apple, audio programs on both the Mac
and PC can typically read the files.
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ANSI
Stands
for "American National Standards Institute." ANSI's primary
goal is to enhance the global competitiveness of U.S.
businesses and to improve the American quality of life by
promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and
conformity assessment systems. "Voluntary" standards are
driven by marketplace needs rather than regulated by the
government. "Conformity assessment systems" test the
compliance of a product or service to a standard. ANSI does
not itself develop standards or conduct tests, rather it
facilitates this work by "accrediting" (i.e., recognizing)
qualified groups with appropriate expertise. The Institute is
the official U.S. representative to the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International
Electro technical Commission (IEC). ANSI is a private,
nonprofit membership organization with offices in Washington,
DC and New York City.
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Apple
The
reason this term is in the glossary is because way too many
people confuse "Apple" with "Macintosh." Apple is the company
that makes Macintosh computers -- not the other way around.
Apple's product line includes Power Macs, PowerBooks, iMacs,
iBooks, and the popular hard drive-based MP3 player, the iPod.
Apple also develops a large number of software programs, such
as iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD. Notice a pattern here?
Though most of Apple's product names now start with the letter
"i", the company has a history of creative innovation. Though
Apple has less than ten percent of the market share in the
computer business, the company still manages to lead the
industry in new directions.
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Applet
This a
Java program that can be embedded in a Web page. The
difference between a standard Java application and a Java
applet is that an applet can't access system resources on the
local computer. System files and serial devices (modems,
printers, scanners, etc.) cannot be called or used by the
applet. This is for security reasons -- nobody wants their
system wiped out by a malicious applet on some wacko's Web
site. Applets have helped make the Web more dynamic and
entertaining and have given a helpful boost to the Java
programming language.
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Archie
This is a program used for finding files stored on FTP (File
Transfer Protocol) servers. Archie is not used very much
anymore because to use it effectively, you need to know the
exact file name you're looking for. Most file searching is now
done via the Web with a Web browser like Internet Explorer or
Netscape.
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ASCII
Stands for "American Standard Code for Information
Interchange." ASCII is the universal standard for the
numerical codes computers use to represent all upper and
lower-case letters, numbers, and puctuation. Without ASCII,
each type of computer would use a different way of
representing letters and numbers, causing major chaos for
computer programmers (allowing them even less sleep than they
already get).
ASCII makes is possible for text to be represented the same
way on a Dell Dimension in Minneapolis, Minnesota as it is on
an Apple Power Mac in Paris, France. There are 128 standard
ASCII codes, each of which can be represented by a 7 digit
binary number (because 2^7 = 128).
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ASP
Just to confuse ordinary people like you and me, there are two
equally important definitions of ASP. The term can refer to 1)
an Active Server Page, or 2) an Application Service Provider.
1. Active Server Page. This is a Web page that has one
or more ASP scripts embedded in it. ASP scripts are like small
computer programs that run when an ASP-based Web page is
accessed. You can tell if you're accessing an active server
page if the suffix of the URL is ".asp" (as opposed to
".html"). ASP pages are processed on a Web server before they
are transferred to a user's Web browser.
ASP pages are typically used for pages that have dynamic, or
frequently changing information. For example, an ASP script
might get a visitor's zip code through a form on a Web page,
then customize the content on the resulting page based on that
information. Since ASP technology was designed by Microsoft,
ASP scripts are typically written in Microsoft's Visual Basic
programming language.
2. Application Service Provider. Sometimes referred to
as an "app-on-tap," this is a third-party company that
distributes software-based services from a central location to
customers in other locations. ASPs offer companies services
that would otherwise have to be done in-house, or onsite.
Using an ASP is often an inexpensive way for companies and
organizations to manage their information services. There are
five main categories of Application Service Providers:
1. Local or Regional ASP - supplies many different
application services for smaller businesses or individuals in
a local area.
2. Specialist ASP - provides applications for specific
needs, such as Human Resources or Web services.
3. Vertical Market ASP - provides support to a specific
industry such as Education.
4. Enterprise ASP - delivers information and services
for high-end business.
5. Volume Business ASP - supplies small or medium-sized
businesses with services in high volume.
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ATA
Stands for "Advanced Technology Attachment." It is a type of
disk drive that integrates the drive controller directly on
the drive itself. Computers can use ATA hard drives without a
specific controller to support the drive. The motherboard must
still support an ATA connection, but a separate card (such as
a SCSI card for a SCSI hard drive) is not needed. Some
different types of ATA standards include ATA-1, ATA-2 (a.k.a.
Fast ATA), ATA-3, Ultra ATA (33 MBps maximum transfer rate),
ATA/66 (66 MBps), and ATA/100 (100 MBps).
The term IDE, or "Integrated Drive Electronics," is also used
to refer to ATA drives. Sometimes (to add extra confusion to
people buying hard drives), ATA drives are labeled as
"IDE/ATA." Technically, ATA uses IDE technology, but the
important thing to know is that they refer to the same thing.
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ATM
Most people know of ATMs as automated teller machines -- those
friendly boxes that allow you to withdraw cash from your bank
or credit account while charging you a ridiculous surcharge
for the service. In the computer world, however, ATM has a
different meaning. It stands for "Asynchronous Transfer Mode,
" which is a networking technology that transfers data in
packets or cells of a fixed size.
ATM uses 53-byte cells (5 bytes for the address header and 48
bytes for the data). These extremely small cells can be
processed through an ATM switch (not an automated teller
machine) fast enough to maintain data transfer speeds of over
600 mbps. The technology was designed for the high-speed
transmission of all forms of media from basic graphics to
full-motion video. Because the cells are so small, ATM
equipment can transmit large amounts of data over a single
connection while ensuring that no single transmission takes up
all the bandwidth. It also allows Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) to assign limited bandwidth to each customer. While
this may seem like a downside for the customer, it actually
improves the efficiency of the ISP's Internet connection,
causing the overall speed of the connection to be faster for
everybody.
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Autoresponder
This is a program or script on a mail server that
automatically replies to e-mails received for a certain
account. Though it is run from the mail server, an
autoresponder can usually be set up by the user through a
Web-based interface. For example, a company might set up an
autoresponder for their support e-mail address. The reply
might read something like, "We have received your support
request. One of our technicians will make a half-hearted
attempt to answer your question after he finishes his dart
game in the lobby." Individuals can also use autoresponders to
let people know when they are away from their computer and
won't be able to respond to any e-mails for awhile. For
example, you might set up an autoresponder for your personal
e-mail address to say, "Sorry, I am on vacation in the Bahamas
indefinitely. I'll respond to your message if I ever decide to
come back." It is important to remember to reply to the
message after the autroresponder has replied. After all, most
people like to communicate with other people, rather than
computers.
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