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Welcome to our Glossary.
Here you can find the meaning of words and
expressions commonly used by computer-users.
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Words in our glossary starting with "B" ... |
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B-Channel (ISDN)
A communication-channel, used with ISDN with a capacity of 64 kbit/s, used for voice and data communication. The so called D-Channel is controlling the B-Channel.
B-ISDN
Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network. A (to be implemented) future netowrk technology allowing highspeed transfers, based on ATM .
B-Subscriber
In telecommunication this indicates the person or machine that is being called or contacted. For example: The A-subscriber calls the B-subscriber.
B2B
Business to Businnes.
B2C
Business to Consumer.
Baby-AT
This is a motherboard form factor that has the same traits as the standard AT form factor, such as AT power connectors and keyboard input port. However, it is smaller in size, and can be utilized in smaller computer cases.
Backbone
A segment of a network that's often a higher speed than the rest of the network and connects all the other segments. If you don't have a fast backbone, your network will lag.
Backup
Copying the current status/situation, so you can restore the data incase something goes wrong. See also Restore.
BAK file
A .bak file is a BAcKup file - a copy of the current file, or an old version of a current file.
Bandwidth
The bandwidth is a way of measuring the capacity of a communication channel. The wider (larger) the bandwidth, the more data simultaniously can be transported over this particular channel. The expression bandwidth originates from the analog communication world expressed in Hertz (Hz). In the current digital world the expression Bandwordth is wrongfully used and expressed in bits per second.
Banner-Ad
This refers to the most common form of advertising found on the Web. The typical size of a banner ad is 468 by 60 pixels, but there are many other sizes in general use. Banner ads are typically animated gif graphics that are simply clicked on to go to the website of the advertiser, but can also contain rich media which allows for some degree of interaction with the ad besides a simple click. Most people hate them - that's why WeetHet does not use them.
Barebone system
This refers to a bare system. For example used with PC's. This means that you will have to buy some additional parts to get the system complete, i.e. Harddrive, memory and CPU. Often a barebone PC is basically a casing, mainboard and a powersupply.
BaseStation
1. A part of a mobile telephony network (either mobile phone or a cordless phone in your home) that handles the radio functionallity. So basically; it handles the wireless part.
2. Alias for DockingStation of a laptop or PDA.
BASIC
Beginner's All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code - This programming language was developed in the mid '60s. The language was constructed of simple English-like commands that were run through an interpreter, line by line, each time the program was "run." This caused BASIC programs to be slow. Now, compilers have been developed to speed up BASIC programs, and recent versions of BASIC can do anything that other languages can. For example:
10 PRINT "HALLO"
20 GOTO 10
Basic-Stamp
See microcontroller.
Batch
A batch or batchfile is (usually in DOS) a sequence of command to be execute. Usually to automate a repetitive task. Usually these files have the extension ".bat" (most famous one being AUTOEXEC.BAT). Now a days we rather talk about Scripts.
Baud
The measure of how frequently sound changes on a phone line. This used to be the measure of speed of modems because they worked by brute force and actually made a sound for each bit of information. Now, modems work on a more sophisticated level. A 14.4 Kbps modem actually uses 2400 baud. This is because sound is multiplexed in a fashion so more data can be send at once.
BAUD is named for French inventor Jean-Maurice Emille Baudot (1845-1903). Baudot patented in 1874 the telegraph code. Baudot's new code was a 5-unit combination of on/off signals of equal duration. The code consisted of 32 five-unit characters covering each letter of the alphabet, punctuation and additional machine controls. The modern version uses 7 or 8 on/off signals or "bits" that have 128 characters and is otherwise known as ASCII code now.
BBIAB
Be Back In A Bit.
BBL
Be Back Later.
BBS (Bulletin Board System)
A bulletin board system used to describe message boards that people would dial into directly before the Internet was easily accessible. Instead of dialing into a network where everything is connected, you had your choice of a group of BBSs to dial into and each one tried to offer the most members, files, and graphics to it's members. More recently, the term describes Internet based message boards or forums.
BCC
Blind Carbon Copy. When sending an e-mail, addresses mentioned in the BCC are not visible to the receiving parties. So none of the receivers will know who received a copy.
Benchmark(ing)
This is the process of measuring the performance of hardware or software in a specifically defined and strictly controlled environment. The benchmarking result is usually represented by a time or a number rating that corresponds to how quickly certain tasks can be completed. The benchmark must be reproducible, of course, to have any meaning.
BeOS
This is an operating system designed by Be, Inc. The original goal of the OS was to create an OS able to process multiple digital media streams efficiently, with no loss of performance. This contrasts the Windows OS which has trouble with such operations. The BeOS was originally designed to work on the PowerPC, and was ported to the x86 architecture. (BeOS cancelled further developments)
BER
Bit Error Rate. In digital data transmission, this indicates the percentage of bits that does not reach it's receiver correctly. BER indicated the quality of a connection.
Beta
A term given to a product that isn't ready for public consumption, but is good enough for a wider testing scope. Many companies publicly release their beta software to a fraction of their users to let them get experience with the new software, while they get feedback on bugs and features. See Alpha testing.
Beta Software
A test version of software which is still in development stage most of the time still containing bugs.
Bilinear Filtering
This is used to smooth flat surfaces by averaging the colors of adjacent pixels, which blurs them and removes blockiness when viewed up close.
Binair numericsystem
Nummericsystem based on two values: 0 and 1.
Binary code
Binary consists of a string of bits, i.e. 01010111000000001
Binary Tree
This is an ordered tree where each node has no more than two child nodes. Child nodes are typically distinguished as left and right child nodes.
BIOS (Basic Input Output System)
This is a program stored on your motherboard that controls all of the interaction between your components and your chipset. Standard access to video and the keyboard are included in the BIOS.
Bit
Binary Digit. The smallest piece of information to be recognized by a computer. A bit can be either zero (0) or one (1).
Bit depth
How many bits it takes to represent the color in one pixel. The larger the bit depth, the more colors you can display and the more power it takes to display.
BIT file
a file being used for BitTorrent.
See also http://bitconjurer.org/BitTorrent/
Bit Rate / Bitrate
This refers to the amount of bits per second used to encode audio (MP3 for example) and/or video (MPEG1, etc) data into sound and video which we can see. The larger the bitrate the better the quality can be, but also the more storage is needed and the more computing power is required.
Bitmap
This is a type of graphics format that specifies a number of pixels, and then specifies what color those pixels are. A simplified example: 5 red, 4 green, 3 red, etc. GIF and JPEG files are bitmaps. If an image contains large blocks of solid color, it will take less storage space than an image with a lot of small regions with different colors.
Bitmap font
This is a font where each character is stored as a bitmap graphic. These fonts are not easy to scale to different sizes.
Bittorrent
BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer protocol that allows people to share files among themselves. BitTorrent can provide speed beyond that of some P2P protocols because every user who is downloading a file simultaneously uploads portions of the file he or she has already downloaded to other users, which means the more people in the downloading "swarm," the greater the overall speed. Many people use BitTorrent to share copyright-protected files such as music and movies, which is often illegal, but the BitTorrent protocol and software are legal and are used the world over for legitimate information, media, and software distribution.
BLOB (Binary Large Object)
A BLOB is a data type used in a relational database that can contain any type of binary data, including sound, video, graphics, etc.
Blog
A blog is a web page made up of usually short, frequently updated posts that are arranged chronologically?like a what's new page or a journal. The content and purposes of blogs varies greatly?from links and commentary about other web sites, to news about a company/person/idea, to diaries, photos, poetry, mini-essays, project updates, even fiction. See also WebLog.
Blogger
Tool or person that preforms the activity of maintaining a weblog (see also WebLog and Blog).
Bluetooth
A radio-technology invented by Ericsson, as a replacement for all the cables we currently use. Bluetooth is intended for distance between 0 and 100 meters. For example between headset and mobile phone, or PC and PDA or printer, etc. The data traffic is being protected by use of encryption and and so called frequency hopping.
BNC Connector
This is a connector type for 10Base2 or Thin-Net networks. Shaped like the letter T, it connects coaxial cables. terminator. The BNC part stands for either British Naval Connector, British Nut Connector, or Bayonett Neill-Concelman. Or perhaps it stands for some combination of those terms. Neil and Concelman are the names of the inventors of the BNC Connector.
BOE (Board Of Education)
A BOE is basically a PCB specifically created for experimenting with electronics, for example when playing with a microcontroller like the Basic-Stamp.
Bookmark
This refers to method of storing and organizing selected URLs (link) in Netscape Navigator. See also Favorites.
Boolean Logic
This is the form of logic where every answer is either true or false. Alternately, you can think of it as either 0 or 1, where 0 = false and 1 = true.
Boot
(to boot (verb)) - This is a verb meaning to load. You can say that you are booting your machine, or that your operating system is booting up.
Boot Sector
See Master Boot Record (MBR).
Bootdisk
Disk used to startup your PC, often needed when the Operating System on the harddisk refuses to boot.
Bootleg
A bootleg can be an illegal copy of a movie or music, usually available before the original appears on the market. Somtimes this can be a private compilation of concert-recording, etc.
BOOTP
Bootstrpa Protocol refers to those computers in a network that accept their IP address from a DHCP server.
Bootstrap
This either refers a small piece of intermediate code that will boot up an operating system or the act of building something without help.
BootVIS
A performance trace visualization tool for use with Windows XP systems. This tool is used to optimize the boot process of your Windows XP. Results are great, your PC will boot a lot faster!
Bottleneck
This is part of a system that limits the performance of the system. This term was derived from the neck of a bottle that limits the flow of liquid due to the smaller circumference of the neck as compared to the body of the bottle.
Boxed Processor
This is a microprocessor that is sold singly in a retail box, like something you would buy at a store. This compares to just buying a processor that some OEM takes out of a bulk box of 1000 processors and throws in a static bag for you to take home. There are no advantages compared tot non-Boxed-processors (except if you get a kick out it in having that nice box?).
bps (Bit/s)
Bits per second. The amount of bits transferred per second indicating the communication speed (ie. Bandwidth). Note; BITS not bytes!!!
BRB
Be Right Back.
BRI
Basic Rate Interface. An ISDN connection with a bandwidth of 128 kbit/s. It uses 2 bundeled B-chanlles and a D-kanaal.
Broadband
Indication that a particular communication channel has a large capaciteit, or: it allows fast connections. The "broad" is kind-a moving along the current state of technology. Currently 2 Mbit/sec or higher is considered broadband.
Broadcast
This refers to a method of sending information over a network. With broadcasting, data comes from one source and goes to all other connected sources. This has the side effect of congesting a medium or large network quickly. Sometimes, broadcasting is necessary to locate network resources, but once found, more advanced networking protocols change to point to point connections to transmit data. Nowadays, switches and routers often do not pass along broadcast packets, but in the days of shared Ethernet, broadcasting could really congest a network with packets quickly. Broadcasting is often used in satellite data traffic.
Browser
Most commonly used to refer to a software program used to look at World Wide Web pages. More technically, it defaults to reading HTTP pages over TCP/IP port 80. Examples; Internet Explorer, Netscape and Opera.
BSMTP (Batched Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
Protocol used to tranfer e-mail to and from a server in one batch.
BSOD (Blue Screen of Death)
This refers to a Windows error message that is shown on a screen with a blue background. In Windows NT, this type of message causes the computer to stop completely and is usually caused by improperly written hardware drivers or faulty hardware.
Bubble Sort
A sorting algorithm.
1) Progress down your list from the top; 2) When you encounter something that is less than the last item swap the two; 3) Repeat 1-2 until you reach the end of your list. This is commonly known as Bubble Sort, as it seems to bubble items to the top of the list.
Bug
This is commonly an error in design or programming in a hardware device or piece of software. The effects of a bug may be as harmless as an extra graphic on the screen, or as harmful as a system crash or loss of data.
Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), is an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, administers 262 million acres of America's public lands, located primarily in 12 Western States. The BLM sustains the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Their web site is www.blm.gov.
Burn
This term is widely used slang that describes the creation of a CD-R disc. During the creation of a CD-R, a laser is used to burn tiny holes inside the disk media.
Burn in / Burn in test
This term is used to describe the running of repetitive tasks on a computer to ensure that the computer is functioning properly. It also describes what can happen to older CRT screens when the same image is shown on them for long periods of time. An impression of the image is burnt into the screen, permanently damaging it. Thus, screensavers were created. Now a days it is also used to indicate tests where the equipment is being tested to see when it fails.
Bus mouse
A mouse that uses the smaller 6-pin connector instead of your computer's serial port. Also referred to as a PS/2 mouse because of its early adoption by the IBM PS/2 series of computers.
Byte
Group (octet) of 8 bits. Such a group as a whole can have a total value between 0 and 255 (so 256 different values).
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