ANTI-VIRUS PROGRAM - A utility that searches a hard disk for viruses and removes any that are found. Most antivirus programs include an auto-update feature that enables the program to download profiles of new viruses so that it can check for the new viruses as soon as they are discovered.
Related Terms
A SCII - Acronym for the American Standard Code for InformationInterchange. Pronounced ask-ee, ASCII is a code for representing English characters as numbers, with each letter assigned a number from 0 to 127. For example, the ASCII code for uppercase M is 77. Most computers use ASCII codes to represent text, which makes it possible to transfer datafrom one computer to another.
BAND WIDTH - Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time. Bandwidth is also defined as the amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time. For digital devices, the bandwidth is usually expressed in bits per second(bps) or bytesper second. For analog devices, the bandwidth is expressed in cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz).
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BAND RATE -
BBS - (Bulletin Board System) An electronic message center. Most bulletin boards serve specific interest groups. They allow you to dial in with a modem, review messages left by others, and leave your own message if you want. Bulletin boards are a particularly good place to find free or inexpensive software products. In the United States alone, there are tens of thousands of BBSs.
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BINARY - Pertaining to a number system that has just two unique digits. For most purposes, we use the decimal number system, which has ten unique digits, 0 through 9. All other numbers are then formed by combining these ten digits. Computers are based on the binary numbering system, which consists of just two unique numbers, 0 and 1. All operations that are possible in the decimal system (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) are equally possible in the binary system.
We use the decimal system in everyday life because it seems more natural (we have ten fingers and ten toes). For the computer, the binary system is more natural because of its electrical nature (charged versus uncharged).
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BITMAP - A bitmap (or raster graphic) is a digital image composed of a matrix of dots. When viewed at 100%, each dot corresponds to an individual pixel on a display. In a standard bitmap image, each dot can be assigned a different color. Together, these dots can be used to represent any type of rectangular picture.
BLOG OR BLOGGING - blog is a Web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal for an individual. Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.
BOOKMARK - To mark a document or a specific place in a document for later retrieval. Nearly all Web browsers support a bookmarking feature that lets you save the address (URL) of a Web page so that you can easily re-visit the page at a later time.
BOUNCE -
BUG - An error or defect in software or hardware that causes a program to malfunction. Often a bug is caused by conflicts in software whenapplications try to run in tandem. According to folklore, the first computer bug was an actual bug. Discovered in 1945 at Harvard, a moth trapped between two electrical relays of the Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator caused the whole machine to shut down.
BYTE - Abbreviation for binary term, a unit of storage capable of holding a single character. On almost all modern computers, a byte is equal to 8 bits. Large amounts of memory are indicated in terms ofkilobytes (1,024 bytes), megabytes (1,048,576 bytes), andgigabytes (1,073,741,824 bytes).
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CGI - (Common Gateway Interface) CGI is a specification for transferring information between a World Wide Web server and a CGI program. A CGI program is any program designed to accept and return data that conforms to the CGI specification. The program could be written in any programming language, including C, Perl,Java, or Visual Basic.
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CHAIN LETTER -
CHAT -
CHAT ROOM -
CLIENT -
COUNTER -
CYBER SPACE -
DATABASE -
DEDICATED LINE -
DIAL-UP -
DOMAIN NAME -
DOWNLOAD -
ELECTRONIC MAIL -
ETHERNET -
FAQ -
FIRE WALL -
FRAME -
FREE WARE -
FTP -
GIF -
GIGABYTE -
HACKER -
HEADER -
HITS -
HOME PAGE -
HOST -
HTML -
HTTP -
HYPERLINKS -
HYPERTEXT -
