Computer Terms A B C

ASCII -- (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)
This is the world-wide standard for the code numbers used by computers to represent all the upper and lower-case Latin letters, numbers, punctuation, etc. There are 128 standard ASCII codes each of which can be represented by a 7 digit binary number: 0000000 through 1111111.

Bandwidth
How much information you can send through a connection. Usually measured in bits-per-second (bps.) A full page of English text is about 16,000 bits. A fast modem can transfer about 57,000 bits in one second. Full Screen Video would require roughly 10,000,000 bits-per-second, give or take and depending on how it is compressed and delivered.

Binary
Information consisting entirely of ones and zeros. Also, commonly used to refer to files that are not simply text files, e.g. images.

Bit -- (Binary Digit)
A single digit number in base-2, in other words, either a 1 or a zero. The smallest unit of computerized data. Bandwidth is usually measured in bits-per-second.

Blog -- (WeB LOG)
A blog is a journal that is available on the web. Keeping a blog updated is called "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger."

Blogosphere or Blogsphere
The current state of all information available on blogs and/or the sub-culture of those who create and use blogs.

Broadband
Generally refers to connections to the Internet with much greater bandwidth than you can get with a modem. There is no specific definition of the speed of a "broadband" connection but in general any Internet connection using DSL or a via Cable-TV may be considered a broadband connection.

BTW -- (By The Way)
Shorthand for "By-the-way" used in chatrooms, private chats, Web forums, cell phone text-messaging and email..

Byte
A set of Bits that represent a single character. Usually there are 8 Bits in a Byte, sometimes more, depending on how the measurement is being made.

Cache - Simply means a place on a hard drive where files or web sites are stored for future reference. When you view a web site you're actually seeing it from your own cache. If you clean your cache after every browsing session, you will increase your chances of always seeing the most recent version of a Web page. Programs like Zappit make this very easy to do.

Cached Page - A web page that is "cached" is one that is stored on your hard drive or on you Internet Service Provider's server. It's a good idea to keep your temporary Internet files cleared so you always see the latest version of the page you're viewing. If you're ISP uses a caching service (as many dial-up ISPs do) you may not always see the most recent version of a page. Many dial-up ISPs use caching as a way to enhance the apparent speed of your connection. This is how the "accelerators" work. They cache web sites on the ISP's servers so they appear to load faster. Unfortunately this also means you are probably looking at a page that is hours or even days old.

Client
A software program that is used to contact and obtain data from a Server software program on another computer, often across a great distance. Each Client program is designed to work with one or more specific kinds of Server programs, and each Server requires a specific kind of Client. A Web Browser is a specific kind of Client.

Cookie
The most common meaning of "Cookie" on the Internet refers to a piece of information sent by a Web Server to a Web Browser that the Browser software is expected to save and to send back to the Server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the Server. It is a plain text file.

Cookies may contain information such as login or registration information, online "shopping cart" information, user preferences, etc.

Cookies are usually set to expire after a predetermined amount of time.

Cookies do not read information on your hard drive or send your life history to the FBI.

Computer Terms D-E-F  Computer Terms G - K

Computer Terms L through P - Computer Terms Q through Z

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