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Technology Glossary A - L

2-bit video adapter= (See Video adapter)

2-D= Two dimensional graphics images and animated images. Software options for 2-D scanning and authoring are reviewed in the NewMedia 1995 Tool Guide, pp. 33-43. (See also Paintbrush software)

3-D= Three dimensional graphics images and animated images. Images in 3-D, especially 3-D photographs, are sometimes called "holograms." Biedney (1994) provides a technical discussion and a comparison of alternative software options for rendering 3-D images on desktop computers. Software options for 3-D rendering on the web are reviewed in the NewMedia, May 5 1998, pp. 52-64. The NewMedia web site is at http://www.newmedia.com Those authoring packages rated as "Awesome" include Live Picture Reality Studio at http://www.livepicture.com (800-724-7900) and Platinum Technology VRCreator at http://www.platinum.com (800-442-6861). There are many other options rated as "Thumbs Up" or "Does the Job." (See also Rendering)

3DO= (See CD-3DO)

4-bit computer= (See Bus)

4-bit video adapter= (See Video adapter)

4GL Database Languages = Fourth Generation Languages for databases. The first three generations were developed fairly quickly, but these were painfully slow and complex for certain kinds of tasks such as report generation and database queries. Many of the 4GLs are: database query languages (e.g. SQL; Focus, Metafont, PostScript, RPG-II, S, IDL-PV/WAVE, Gauss, Mathematica and data-stream languages such as AVS, APE, Iris Explorer.) See GainMomentum and Relational database management.

16:9 TV= (See Wide-screen TV)

24-bit video adapter= (See Video adapter)

32-bit computer= (See Bus)


A-Terms

AB roll editing= The transfer of portions of two video sources into one master videotape. For example, one source may be a VCR and the other source a video camera. (See also Video)

AB style switches = analog switchers that are designed to be used in applications whenever multiple computer sources must be connected to a single display device such as a monitor, projector, or LCD panel. For example, multiple VGA or SVGA PCs may be connected to a single data projector or PCs and Macs may be connected to a single data projector. Extron carries an extensive line of AB style switches at http://www.extron.com/prodline.htm. See also Projection.

ABKY= The Atkinson, Banker, Kaplan, and Young (1994) textbook entitled Management Accounting which is noteworthy in this glossary as being the first accounting text accompanied by an Internet bulletin board. Prentice-Hall was the first publishing company, to our knowledge, to offer an interactive two-way network dialog between adopters of selected textbooks and the authors of those books, including a bulletin board of latest readings related to the text, abstracts of related literature, and classroom aids. The ABKY network was the first of the Prentice-Hall offerings to adopters and is available on listserver@watarts.uwaterloo.ca. (See also Internet and Networks)

Accelerated/Advanced Graphics Port = A bus specification by that gives 3D graphics cards faster access to main memory than the usual PCI bus. AGP allows scattered data in system memory to be read in bursts. AGP reduces the overall cost by using existing system memory.

Accelerator board= A hardware electronic board (containing a microprocessor) that can be added to some computers in order to speed up the processing in slow computers. The speed gains are confined to internal calculating and sorting such that no apparent gains are obtained for file management and other busing activities. (See also CPU, Board, and Bus)

Account boot disk= A disk used to load DOS into the computer when it is turned on.

Acrobat= (See PDF)

Active video= A video AV standard and open-video architecture that Microsoft Corporation hopes will become the popular standard to replace the Video for Windows (.avi file extension) and Quicktime (.mov file extension) video architecture. Active video attempts to overcome common complaints with its Video for Windows (e.g., limited throughput, poor A/V synchronization, and hardware/software incompatibilities. Also, Active Video will have software MPEG decoding and will cross platforms with Windows, Windows 2000, and Power Macintosh. It will also have an Active Movie filter to play on the Internet via Microsoft's Explorer browser. Whereas Video for Windows was losing out to Apple's Quicktime in popularity, Microsoft's Active Video makes it a closer race between Apple and Microsoft for dominance in the setting of video standards. (See also Video and MPEG)

ActiveX = utilities from Microsoft Corporation that combine older Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) and Component Object Model (COM) utilities. AcitiveX is usually coded in Visual Basic and is quite confusing since it is an outgrowth of a complex set of OLE and COM technologies. Various ActiveX applications can be downloaded from http://www.download.com/PC/Activex/0,271,0-0,00.html. One of the most widespread applications is to give interactive controls (e.g., ask questions, provide answers, perform computations, push buttons, etc.) to users of Internet Explorer on the web. Therein lies a huge risk as well when computers also have Windows Scripting Host (WSH) utilities using ActiveX. WSH files have a file extension whs and are similar to PIF files in older 16-bit applications. Prior to WSH applications, users could browse the web and use email without any worries about virus infections as long as security warnings were heeded about file downloads that run in Microsoft Word, Excel, etc. That is no longer the case if WSH utilities are installed. To avoid such risks, users can either rely upon Netscape products for email and web browsing since Netscape products use Java rather than ActiveX software. If users prefer Microsoft Internet Explorer for web browsing and Microsoft Outlook for email, then they may want to consider adding security barriers to WSH risks. In Internet Explorer you can click on menu choices (View, Internet Options, Security, Custom, Settings) and choose the option to disable "ActiveX Controls Not Marked as Safe." Repeat the same procedure for Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express. You may also want to consider disabling WSH, although you thereby lose the applications relying on WSH utilities. For virus updates and news, two good web sites are Network Associates at http://www.nai.com/vinfo/ and Mcafee at http://www.mcafee.com/ . (Also see Visual Basic and CORBA ) For more information on the use of ActiveX in distributed network computing, see Database, ADO, and RDS.

ADAM= Animated Dissection of Anatomy for Medicine project that resulted in high quality computer-aided learning modules for schools of medicine. The "inside story" of A.D.A.M. is briefly reviewed in PC World, November 1994, p. 96. See A.D.A.M. Software, Inc. at http://www.adam.com/ for more details.

ADC= Analog to Digital Converter that converts analog sound to binary code form (digital information). (See also DAC, Modem and Video)

ADO = (See Database.)

ADPCM= Adaptive Pulse Code Modulation of audio waveform sampling that records the difference between samples is recorded rather than the actual values. This increases fidelity with lower resolution than conventional PCM. (See also Audio and PCM)

Agent= Agents are search tools that automatically seek out relevant online information based on your specifications. Agents are also called intelligent agents, personal agents, knowbots or droids.

AIF= One format of Macintosh audio (sound) files. (See also Audio)

AIX= An IBM version of the Unix operating system. It will run on PCs with 386 or higher chips and on workstations and mainframes. (See also Unix)

ALN = (See Asynchronous Learning Networks)

Alpha processor= The ultimate top-of-the line processor for PCs that uses DEC's 21064 chip. The "Alpha-based" systems such as the DECpc from Digital Equipment Corporation claims it is the fastest system available for Windows 2000.

ALT= Software ALTernatives to authoring systems that have full CMS utilities. In other words, professors who do not need full CMS features may opt for alternative authoring packages such as hypertext or hypermedia packages that do not have full CMS features. Various ALT options are compared in Chapter 3. (See also CMS)

America Online= The commercial AOL network (800-827-6364) that "remains the hottest, easiest-to-use and most interesting of the services" according to Mossberg (1994a). AOL offers Time Magazine, the Chigago Tribune, and other news and television network options. New services to educators online include an American Federation of Teachers online doctoral program from the Electronic University Network and the Forum on Technology in Education and Training (FORUM-TET). With the May 11, 1994 announcement of a merger of AOL and Redgate Communications, AOL will take an early lead over competitors in multimedia and GUI graphics networking. (See also GUI, Networks, CompuServe, Internet, eWorld, Interchange, and Prodigy)

Amiga= A video computing hardware/software desktop workstation formerly manufactured and marketed by Commodore International based on Motorola microprocessors. Amiga workstations became a widely popular option in conjunction with NewTek's Video Toaster software for home and office videotape productions. Amiga developed its own operating system called Amiga DOS. A major drawback is that as a computer it does not communicate (i.e., its files are not readable) on more popular Apple, PC, and Unix operating systems. For example, it can neither read MS-DOS files into its operating system nor write out MS-DOS files. It is far less of a competitor for digital computers and networking than for analog video computers such as Mac Video (see Birkmaier (1993) and Torres 1993). The new Amiga workstations became aggressive low-priced competitors to Silicon Graphics and Sun workstations for 3D animation rendering for broadcast quality video. The future of the Amiga is clouded by the 1994 declaration of bankruptcy and subsequent liquidation of the former Commodore International Corporation. At this juncture it is uncertain whether another manufacturer will take over all Amiga technologies and patents. NewTek Inc. (800-847-6111) now sells workstations for its Video Toaster software formerly used in Amiga computers. The Amiga and NewTek workstations compete with Apple AV and SGI competitors, but these options should not be confused with the more extensive concepts of network video servers. (See also Video server, CD32, Apple AV, SGI, and Mac)


Amiga DOS= (See Amiga)

AMPS = (See Wireless Glossary of Terms)

Analog= (See Video)

Anchor= Synonymous with hyperlinks, anchor refers to non-linear links among documents. Or more simply put, it's the word or phrase that can be selected to connect to another page resource.

Anchor color= The color on a browser screen that represents the anchor tag (navigation item) colors. The reason so many are blue is that blue is often the default color in browser software. This color can be changed to any combination of red, green and blue. The ability to change these colors at the reader level complicates choice of color at the authoring level.

ANet= The International Accounting Network, Southern Cross University, New South Wales, Australia and Bond University, Queensland, Australia. The email address is ANet@scu.edu.au. A description of services is contained in the CETA Newsletter, June, 1994. Mailing lists are also available on ANet, including CDI-ACC-AUDIT in the United Kingdom and AC-CHANGE from Maricopa College in Arizona. (See also International Internet Association, PIC-AECM, and RAW)

Animation= Time-phased moving graphic images that give the impression of motion such as in motion picture cartoons or videographic movements of objects about the screen. Several frames show a progression of movement, and thereby simulate movement. The best-buy in animation software is Autodesk 3D Studio according to PC Computing, December 1994, p. 204. (See also 3-D, flc/fli, Morphing, and Video)

Annotations= Personal notes you can attach to the documents you have saved in your Web browser. The notes are available to you whenever the document is viewed.

ANSI= The American National Standards Institute sets basic standards like ASCII characters and acts as the United States' delegate to the ISO. Standards can be ordered from ANSI by writing to the ANSI Sales Department, 1430 Broadway, New York, NY 10018. (See also ASCII, ISO 9000, and Rich-text format)

API= Application Program Interface by which an application program accesses operating system.An API can also provide an interface between a high level language and lower level utilities and services which were written without consideration for the calling conventions supported by compiled languages. Netscape Corporation and Microsoft both provide APIs called NSAPI and ISAPI that essentially extend their web servers, and it provides developers a way to put application code actually within the web server. This means that you don’t have to start up a separate process each time one of these applications is called. And, since that application is always running, it can maintain connections to the database.

Apple AV= A line of computers that was popular for low-cost analog video computing due to built video capture hardware on the motherboard, a DAV connector, and a scan converter for analog video output to television sets and videotape recorders. The Power Macs have replaced the Apple AVs. (See also Video server, Dry camera, SGI, Mac, PowerPC, Mozart, Copeland, Gershwin, and Amiga)

Apple Corporation = (See Mac.)

Apple QuickTime= (See QuickTime)

Archie= Derived from the word archive, Archie is a Net-based service that allows you to locate files that can be downloaded via FTP.

ARPANet= The Advanced Research Projects AgencyNetwork formed in 1969 to connect the Department of Defense (DOD) with institutions conducting major defense contract research. The network linked super computers in major research universities with the DOD. This is credited with being the first academic computer network and is considered the "mother" of the Internet. In the 1980s, ARPANet split into two networks called ARPANet and MILNet (for unclassified military research). An interconnection with the DOD Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) led to a set of networks called DARPA Internet that later became referred to as just the Internet. (See also Internet)

Arrays= (See Jukeboxes)

Artificial Intelligence (AI)= Is a branch (usually called AI/Expert Systems) of computer science, mathematics, psychology, and systems engineering that attempts to make computer "decision making" more like human decision making and to aid or replace human decision makers with machines. Expert systems attempt to utilize the skills, knowledge, and decision evaluation processes of human experts. For example, computers now aid physicians in diagnosing diseases and computer-guided laser rockets virtually replace human guidance decisions. AI failed to live up to its early expectations when it was believed that AI computers would never fail to win at chess and language translators would soon be put out of work by computers. However, applications of AI have been taking place and computers can now play very good chess to a point where they occasionally beat even the grand masters.

ASCII= American Standard Code for Information Interchange computer character set (text and symbols) that enables transfer of text and data between different computing systems. This international standard provides only very plain text without options for font modifications. For example, files from word processors such as Microsoft Word, Word Perfect, and Word Star often cannot be imported to hypertext or hypermedia software without conversion to ASCII code (most word processors will change files to ASCII "text" files). The downside is that nearly all formatting and font variations are lost in ASCII conversions such that imported ASCII text may have to be re-formatted line by line and altered for font preferences. Very few software alternatives have "filters" that import word processor files directly without having to convert to ASCII codes, although many are now adding rich-text format (RTF) utilities. In hypertext authoring, choice of a hypertext software option should include a question concerning whether "filters" are available for avoidance of ASCII text conversions. (See alsoANSI, Internet Messaging, and Rich-text format)

Ask Jeeves = (See Search engine.)

ASP = has at least two meanings.

Application Service Provider that provides individuals or enterprises access over the Internet to applications and related services. This service is s sometimes referred to as "apps-on-tap." Early applications include:

Remote access serving for the users of an enterprise
An off-premises local area network to which mobile users can be connected, with a common file server
Specialized applications that would be expensive to install and maintain within your own company or on your own computer
Hewlett-Packard, SAP, and Qwest have formed one of the first major alliances for providing ASP services.

Active Server Pages. ASP script extensions contain either Visual Basic or Jscript code. When a browser requests an ASP page, the Web server generates a page with HTML code and sends it back to the browser. So ASP pages are similar to CGI scripts, but they enable Visual Basic programmers to work with familiar tools. This is a page that performs customized "applications" services. A great example is NetLedger.com where individuals or complete business firms can access accounting software that allows all accounting to be maintained in NetLedger's online files. Business transactions (such as billings and collections) can even be managed by the applications server. See www.netledger.com

Other examples are given at http://www.zdnet.com/eweek/stories/general/0,11011,2615695,00.html

For now, however, the latest twist on the ASP trend—what Outtask and some analysts are calling the BSP, or business service provider, model—remains immature. The range of business process services being offered in conjunction with hosted applications is narrow, mostly limited to functions such as travel, PC support and payroll. And, while some hosting providers such as Alexandria-based Outtask have begun building mixed portfolios of managed application and business process services from scratch and selling them directly to their customers, many established ASPs are adding the BSP tag to their rיsumיs by forming alliances with the BPO divisions of major consulting and systems integration companies or with leaders in specific areas of outsourcing, such as Automatic Data Processing Inc. for payroll services. Many of those relationships, however, are new. Often, the hosted applications from one vendor and the business services from another are not truly integrated. So the user is often left negotiating and dealing with more than one provider.


Aspect ratio= The ratio of the horizontal to vertical size of the screen. Some monitors display rectangular pixels which can make the picture or image appear stretched. Software that allows images to be resized and changed with respect to aspect ratios greatly facilitates authoring. Otherwise, images have to be transported to other software for such changes and then transported back in a cumbersome process that makes authors grateful when aspect ratios and image sizes can be modified without such difficulties. Macromedia Director is one of the very few hypermedia authoring systems that has a utility for changing the scale and aspect ratios of imported bitmap pictures as well as rotating and inverting such pictures.

Assessment= The evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of technology on attitudes and performance. Tidd (1995) discusses various assessment scales such as the Computer Attitude Scale, the Computer Anxiety Rating Scale, and the Computer Self-Efficacy Scale. Assessment is very difficult because no matter how good the findings are in an empirical study, the relevance of those findings quickly falls away due to constantly emerging technologies that are significantly better than older technologies used in the study.

Asynchronous= A method of communication that places data in discrete blocks that are surrounded by framing bits. These bits show the beginning and ending of a block of data.

Asynchronous connection= The type of connection a modem makes over a phone line, this connection is not synchronized by a mutual timing signal or clock.

Asynchronous Learning Networks= ALN networks of education and training modules or courses where students learn in self-paced online pedagogy in contrast to synchronized presentations in traditional classrooms or electronic classrooms. Synchronous education in a scheduled sequence of classes will face serious new competition of asynchronous education distributed on networks where students learn and communicate most any day and most any time of day and study at their own paces. An example is the new online Western Governors University at http://www.westgov.org/smart/vu/vu.html. Ideally, faculty or other expert help is available online to both help students and evaluate student work and ideas. In addition, asynchronous courses may schedule synchronous virtual online meetings of subsets of students or entire classes of students. Networked courses may thus be synchronous and asynchronous, although the technical learning components are largely asynchronous. Bob Jensen has a paper on ALN at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/255wp.htm that reviews, among other things, the experiments conducted on millions of dollars in Sloan Foundation grants for ALN development. See also Hypermedia and Hypertext.

AT= (See PC)

ATG= (See Video server)

ATM= Automatic Teller Machines for banks and Asynchronous Transfer Mode switching in networks. The high speed ATM networks allow transmission of video, audio, and data over local and world-wide networks. (See also Broadband, Networks, and Sonet)

AU= The file extension for UNIX audio (sound) files. (See also Audio)

AU sounds= This is an audio format developed for Sun workstations and often used to distribute sound clips via the Web.

Audio= Voice, music, and other sounds recorded and stored in analog or digital form. The term RealAudio refers to a helper-app (plug-in) that allows WWW users to hear audio files in real time. Options for creating and playing digital audio Java applets are reviewed in deCarmo (1996). Options for converting written text into audio are given in Text reading. (See also Sound board, AU, AIF, Board, Hertz, Java, MIDI, Speech recognition, Text reading, Video/audio networking, and Wave file)

Alternatives for creating MP3 audio files are given at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book99q4.htm#MP3

The Web is Alive With the Sound of MP3," Newsweek, February 22, 1999, Page 16.

http://www.MP3.com (hours of free downloads, including the New York Times MP3s.)

http://www.audiogalaxy.com (lots of samples and free downloads.)

Go to the Frequently Asked Questions at http://www.MP3.com . MP3 is a file format which stores audio files on a computer in such a way that the file size is relatively small, but the song sounds near perfect. You can identify MP3 files because they will end in MP3. Typically 1 MB is equal to one minute of music or several minutes for spoken work/audiobooks. This is about a 90% reduction in hard drive space and bandwidth vis-a-vis uncompressed high quality wav files, but the actual savings depends upon the recording quality of your wav files. If you think about a CD-ROM holding 650 Mb, this translates to over 11 hours of high quality audio in MP3 format. More importantly, MP3 audio does not require as much Internet bandwidth as previous audio alternatives.

Also see Web streaming

Audio board= (See Sound board)

Audio card= (See Sound board)

Audio Conversion to Text = (See Text reading)

Audio on the Internet= (See Internet audio and video)

Audio streaming= (See Web streaming)

Authenticated Payment Program=

From http://international.visa.com/fb/paytech/secure/main.jsp
Visa has begun the global rollout of the Authenticated Payment Program. The Program, based on commercial incentives, will vastly improve the payment service for e-merchants, consumers and Visa Members by enhancing convenience, acceptance and security. Consumers will know that they can shop safely and conveniently while preventing fraud on their card, and merchants will know they are dealing with a legitimate cardholder anywhere in the world. The newest authentication technology, 3-D Secure™, forms the basis for global interoperability of Authenticated Payments.


Authoring= Developing (writing of text, recording of audio, importing of video, inserting graphics, etc.) hypertext and hypermedia learning, entertainment, and reference materials. The history and trends in authoring are summarized at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/290wp/290wp.htm

Also see Cross-platform, Delta Project, Hypertext, CORE, Non-core, Hypermedia, Morphing, Presentation, Titles, and Rendering)

Authoring software= This term refers to software that enables the creation of multimedia or hypertext documents and presentations.

Authorware= Macromedia's hypermedia authoring system designed primarily for training and education asynchronous learning courses. Authorware was originally developed for Mac computers and is still the most sophisticated option for Mac users. There is a PC version that faces stiffer competition from high-end authoring systems listed at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245soft1.htm. The main competitor is probably Asymetrix ToolBook in terms of full course development, course management, CD-ROM delivery, and web delivery. For links to Macromecia and applications on the web, see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/links/prelim.htm. The following is quoted from Jeff Glasse in MacWeek, August 25, 1997, pp.


Autodesk= (See Animation and flc/fli)

A/V= Audio/Video marriage of big screen television with movie-theater-like audio in homes and classrooms.

AV= (See Apple AV)

Avatar= This term refers to an interactive representation of a human in a virtual reality environment; the term was popularized by Neal Stephenson's novel "Snow Crash."

AVI= Audio Video Interleaved digitized video files (with audio tracks) that satisfy MPC standards for Video for Windows playback. The Media Player (mplayer.exe) file that is included in Windows operating systems runs AVI files. Most PC video capture boards will convert analog video into AVI files. The AVI standard from Microsoft's Video for Windows is giving way to Microsoft's newer Active Video architecture. (See also Active video, MCI, MPC, and QuickTime)


B-Terms

B2B and B2C = (See E-Business).

Baan = Baan Company is a leading provider of enterprise business software that enhances the processes common to
businesses of all sizes and industries. Baan Company's commitment to continuously reducing complexity creates flexible, easy-to-integrate products and services that allow customers to adapt quickly to a dynamic competitive environment. The web Baan site is at http://www5.baan.com/cgi-bin/bvisapi.dll . See database.

Back-end = the final stage in a process or a task not apparent to the user. A common usage is in a compiler. A compiler's back-end generates machine language and performs optimizations specific to the machine's architecture. The term can also be used in the context of Open System Interconnect (OSI) network applications. A standard for layering of protocols (protocol stack) to implement it were was developed in 1978 as a framework for international standards in heterogeneous computer network architecture. The architecture is split between seven layers (lowest to highest):

1. physical layer
2. data link layer
3. network layer
4. transport layer
5. session layer
6. presentation layer
7. application layer

Generally each layer uses the layer immediately below it and provides a service to the layer above in a "back ended" way.

In the third generation of network computing, web servers perform back-end database computing where it’s controlled and managed. But third generation computing takes advantage of the new interactive server/client interactive technology like Sun's Java andMicrosoft's Microsoft's ActiveX/CORBA. Users on the client side want to interact in various ways such as perform sensitivity (what-if) type of analyses.

Bandwidth= Capacity (range) of transmission frequencies on a network as expressed in cycles per second (hertz) or bits per second that determines the amount of data, audio, and video that can flow over the network. The higher the frequency, the higher the bandwidth. (See also Baseband, Broadband, Hertz, bps, and Information highway)

Bar codes= Alternate standards for marking products or other items for reading by laser beams. They are used extensively for locating items on videodiscs and CDs. The LaserBarCode was the original standard for CAV discs. This was extended to LaserBarCode2 for CLV discs. The Bar Code CD is an audio standard for CD discs. (See also Videodisc and CD)

Baseband= A network cable that has only one channel for carrying data signals.

Baud= A unit of speed in data transmission, or the maximum speed at which data can be sent down a channel. Baud is often equivalent to bits per second. Named after J. M. E. Baudot (died 1903). (See also bps)

BBS= Bulletin Board Systems on the Internet that provide electronic bulletin board and conferencing services. (See also CWIS and Freenets)

BeVocal = (See Speech Recognition).

BinHex= A file conversion format that converts binary files to ASCII text files.

BIOS= (See VESA)

Bit= A contraction of binary digit, a bit is the smallest unit of information that a computer can hold. Eight bits is equivalent to a byte. The speed at which bits are transmitted or bit rate is usually expressed as bits per second or bps.

BITNET= Because It's Time NETwork is an early network of academic and research professionals. Most users have shifted to e-mail gateways. (See also Internet and Networks)

Blind = (See Disabilities.)

Blog = (See Weblog)

BMP= Bitmap graphics files that are accessible through Windows Paintbrush and most other PC graphics software. (See also Compression, CGM, and JPEG)

Board= A hardware component that fits into the expansion slot of a computer unit and expands the capabilities of the computer. A board can enable the computer to communicate with an external hardware device, such as a CD-ROM. Alternate terms are card, expansion card, interface card, interface board. (See also SCSI, Sound board, Video board, and PCMCIA)

Bookmark= A user-defined place mark that enables the user to return to a particular screen or starting point after accessing related information. Bookmarks may also be used to locate sections on related topics.

bps= bits per second. This is a measure of transfer speed that is commonly used in modems. (See also Bandwidth and Baud)

Branch= Any one of the paths an application can take after it evaluates a specific condition.

Bot = a roBot that usually is a software program that can be good (administering or policing on the network) or bad (causing evil) on the network. Bots commonly are used in real audio chat lines. A WebBot are "smart objects" that can be inserted into web pages to perform tasks that otherwise would require CGI scripting or some other dynamic action programming. WebBots can help set up dynamic chat lines, time image appearances, register and confirm actions, reference annotations, perform calculations, etc. Some HTML editors can be used to create WebBots. Microsoft FrontPage, for example, can be used for:

WebBot Confirmation Field component
WebBot Include component
WebBot Scheduled Image component
WebBot Scheduled Include component
WebBot Search component
WebBot Substitution component
WebBot Table of Contents component
WebBot Timestamp component
One example of a WebBot is the people search engine at http://www.nerdworld.com/.

Bridge= A device that connects different LANs so a node on one LAN can communicate with a node on another LAN.

Broadband= Network transmission capacity that greatly exceeds capacity required for voice transmission over traditional telephone cables. Broadband networks may have dedicated portions for audio, video, and data or they may allow for capacity switching. (See also Bandwidth, Information highway, Switched network, Networks, and ATM)

Broadcasting = (See webcasting.)

Browser= A type of software that allows you to navigate information databases; examples are Netscape Navigator and NCSA Mosaic.

Browsers= (See Web browsers)

BSP = (See ASP)

Buffer underrun= A common error where the data stream being fed from the CD-R's cache buffer falls behind the laser doing the writing. (See also CD-R)

Bulletin Boards = (See e-mail )

Bus= The internal pathways (data bus, address bus, and control bus) of wires connecting various parts of a computer. Common standards for buses were Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) 16-bit bus common in AT-compatible PCs, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) 32-bit buses in IBM PS/2 computers, and Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) 32-bit buses that are backward compatible with ISA adapters. An "expansion bus" is an extension of the data bus and address bus that includes slots for adapter boards. It is better than ISA and EISA for hypermedia authoring to also purchase a "local bus" system in 32-bit or higher capacity with eight or more expansion slots for multimedia options. A local bus connects the CPU with peripherals directly so as to improve performance speed. However, in recent years, the VL local buses are not as good as the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) brainchild of Intel. The term "bus" can also apply to standards for connecting electronic components other than computer components. The term CDBus or consumer electronics bus refers to a home or office automation standard such that components connected through power lines, coaxial cable, infrared connections, and telephone lines will be mutually compatible. (See also VL-Bus and Cache)

The Universal Serial Bus (USB) is the common bus used on PCs. It is a relatively slow hardware bus an is a small fraction of the speed of FireWire. The term "FireWire" is the early name given to High Performance Serial Bus.A serial bus developed by Apple Computer and Texas Instruments (IEEE 1394).The High Performance Serial Bus can connect up to 63 devices in a tree-like daisy chain configuration, and transmit data at up to 400 megabits per second.It supports plug and play and peer-to-peer communication between peripheral devices.Wintel (Intel and Microsoft) were spooked by the speed of FireWire and developed new PCs called Easy PCs that use only USB and FireWire in machines that will no longer have the familiar parallel and serial ports.

Bus topology= A physical layout of a LAN where all nodes are connected to a single cable.

Byte= The number of bits used to represent a character.

Bytes= Grouping of eight bits. While a bit can assume only two states, 0 and 1, a byte can store from 0 up to 255 different states. Most of the time a character is stored in a byte. Therefore, a byte can store up to 255 different characters. The standard ASCII character set consists of 128 characters; the additional characters generally used in PC software brings the total number of characters up to 255.

C-Terms

Cache= A storage area in both RAM (cache memory) and disc drives (cache controllers) that keeps frequently accessed instructions more readily accessible. (See also Bus)

CAL= The most generic of Computer Aided Learning or Computer Assisted Learning terms. CAL encompasses in-class lecture aids, learning materials for computer labs, electronic books, learning materials available on networks such as the Internet, and any other learning aids that are used with computers or related devices such as compact disc (CD) players connected to television sets. Especially see the concept of a shell. (See also Authoring, Computer Based Training, Course Management Systems, Hypertext, Hypermedia, and Networks)

Caller ID= Caller identification of the phone number of person placing a call to another number. Some states now allow telephone owners to have visual displays of the caller ID.

Camcorder= (See Video camera and Video from digital (DV) camcorders. Also see Video.)

Camera= (See Dry camera)

CAPTURE= a NetWare utility program used to redirect output from a printer port on the workstation to a network printer.

Capture= (See Screen capturing. Also see Video.)

Card= (See Board)

Careers= (See Authoring)

CASE = Computer Assisted Software Engineering tools for automating information systems design and programming. The CASE tools are listed and extensively explained at http://www.qucis.queensu.ca/Software-Engineering/toolcat.html#label60 . See also Database and MDA..

Castanet = (See Webcasting.)

Casting = (See Webcasting.)

CAT= That subset of CAL that entails Computer Aided Teaching. This subset is restricted to software designed for authoring and/or delivery of learning materials in a classroom or on line in a computer network or teleconference in which the instructor is present and using the CAT materials as an aid to his or her teaching.

CAV= Constant Angular Velocity playback in magnetic and laser discs where the disc rotates at a constant speed. Relative to CLV variable speeds, the CAV approach results in varying data retrieval times that depend upon where the read/write head is located relative to the disc spindle. Authors of CAV disc products try to locate commonly accessed files closer to spindle. In videodiscs, CAV discs hold only 30 minutes of video on each side of a 12-inch disc. However, CAV facilitates searching for individual frames. (See also CLV)

CBT= Computer-Based Training in which the computer becomes a tutor for asynchronous learning that adjusts to each student's learning pace. CBT that contains artificial intelligence for adapting training requirements and options to different aptitudes and skills of individual students is referred to in military training as Intelligent CBT (ICBT) to distinguish ICBT from traditional CBT that does not automatically adapt to skills and needs of different learners. (Also see Authoring, Computer Based Training, Computer Aided Learning, Course Management Systems, Hypertext, Hypermedia, and Networks).

CD= A "small" injection-molded optical disc containing digitized information that has been recorded with a laser device and must be read on a laser device. The term "small" generally refers to a disc that is 8 cm or 12 cm (4.72 inches) in diameter as opposed to videodiscs that typically are much larger in diameter. Also, videodiscs usually are restricted to analog inputs from videotape whereas CDs rely on inputs from computer tape or other digitized platforms. Although there are several types of CDs for audio, television, and computer playback, the CD-Audio and CD-ROM discs have overwhelming shares of the market. For example, Kim (1994) discusses why CD-ROM discs are replacing floppy discs in a "ground swell." CD-ROM discs now hold approximately 680 Mb (i.e., 680 million characters) although compression techniques make it possible to record CDs from even larger computer files. Usually CDs have slower access speeds than magnetic hard drives, but speeds are improving and playback of video is now possible on both CD-ROM and CD-I players. Although the best known CDs once were those that contain only audio recordings, there is a rapidly growing market for various types of CDs that contain computer files and/or files that can be read on special devices connected to television sets. (See also Bar codes, CAV, CLV, Photo CD, Videodisc, Minidisc, CD-Stand Alone, Nintendo/SGI Cartridges, and Laserdisc)

CD Burning= (See CD-R)

CD Phase Change Dual (PD)= (See Phase Change Dual)

CD Recording= (See CD-R and CD-DVD)

CD32= The 32-bit multimedia CD system that plays on Amiga Computers from Commodore Corporation. These CDs are used for CD movies, games, and educational material on Amiga Computers. The future of the CD32 is clouded by the 1994 declaration of bankruptcy by Commodore Corporation. (See also Amiga)

CD-3DO= A type of compact disc designed originally to compete against CD-I and CD-MM for interactive television set entertainment and, possibly, education. A promoter named Trip Hawkins put together an impressive grouping of Hollywood movie studios and other developers of interactive videos using MPEG compression. Large companies such as Panasonic, Sanyo, and others are producing playback machines for TV sets. For an older review see NewMedia, August 1993, p. 21. For a more recent review see USA Today, May 28, 1998 where it is announced that Trip Hawkins launched a comeback after the early financial disaster of his 3DO venture. The 3DO video games lost out completely to competitors like Matsushita, Philips, Sony, and Victor who agreed upon a competing CD-Karaoke standard. Prospects once seemed high that this would emerge a winner. In 1993, 3DO stock soared in price. Time Magazine, January 3, 1994, p. 76, ranked the Panasonic CD-3DO Multiplayer as Number 1 in a listing and discussion of the top ten "best" new products of 1993. (In that same listing, the Motorola PowerPC Chip ranked Number 6 and PDA products came in at Rank 7 ahead of Mattus Ice Cream at Rank 9.) However, in 1994, sales of 3DO players have fallen far short of expectations (except in Japan) and the 3DO stock price fell from a high of over $45 per share to less than $15. Hawkins invested millions more of his own money in the company. "This maker of multimedia game players is fighting for survival" according to Newsweek on June 13, 1994, p. 40. Hawkins and his 3DO machines all but disappeared from the public. However, in May of 1998 they resurfaced 3DO unveiled 11 video games and targets to become a small and more focused video game maker. (See also Games, CD-VIS, CD-I, CD-MM, CD-R, and CD-Karaoke)

CD-AUDIO= A CD that contains only audio playback. These were invented by Philips and Sony and have become extremely popular in the music recording industry. In order for these discs to be compatible with consumer playback machines, most discs are recorded according to the CD-Digital Audio "Reebok" standard.

CDBus= (See Bus)

CD-DVD= Digital Video (or Versatile) Disc combines the best features of CD-ROM size and data storage with capacity for video storage beyond that of videodiscs. DVD is so revolutionary that in the next decade it will probably replace VHS videotapes and CD-ROMs and videodiscs.

A concise review of the current and forthcoming state of the art for home/office recording of DVD discs appears in the NewMedia, December 1998 (pp. 49-52). See http://www.newmedia.com/ Unfortunately, the major vendors are divided between the DVD-RAM Type 1 and 2 standards (Panasonic, Toshiba, Hitachi) versus the DVD+RW standard (Sony, Philips, HP). At present the competition is somewhat hostile, including lawsuits over the use of the DVD logo. DVD-RAM is first on the market, but it is too soon for most of us to abandon our CD-R recorders for DVD-RAM. Although DVD-RAM and DVD+RW discs will read on most DVD players on computers, neither type will play on set-top DVD-Video players for television sets. In any case, you can read about the top three hardware recording machines to date beginning on Page 49. Another article on this confusing battle of standard setting can be found at

http://newmedia.com/Today/96/01/09/DVD_Update.html

CD-Erasable = an alternate term for CD-RW compact discs that can be erased and written over with new and/or updated computer files. For a more complete discussion see CD-DVD. The key feature of CD-RW is that these CDs will play on newer CD-ROM drives. This was not the case with older CD-Erasable discs. An older type of CD rewriting technology unveiled by Sony Corporation in 1993 that will allow for erasing and recording over CD discs that could not be played back on CD-ROM drives. Although some companies have sold rewritable CDs for some time, the playback hardware has not become a standard like CD-ROM playback drives. In 1997, however, virtually all vendors of CD recording hardware offer a CD-RW drive that will play and record discs that will play on CD-ROM drives. This technology brings the world of CDs closer to the world of videotapes and floppy discs. However, unlike floppy discs holding 1.44 Mb of data, the CDs will hold 650 Mb of data. This makes the recording and revision of multimedia files in a cheap storage medium (possibly less than one dollar) a feasible option. See CD-DVD.

CDF = (See RDF)

CD+G= Audio CD plus still-image graphics such as with Photo CD. Although these are commonly displayed on television screens, they are less interactive than CD-I, CD-VIS, CD-R, CD-Karaoke, CD-3DO, CD-MM, and CD-TV. For a more technical definition see http://www.soatusa.com/Cambda/NFProduc.htm .(See also Photo CD and CD-Karaoke)

CD-I= Compact Disc-Interactive compact disc (developed by the Philips electronics conglomerate headquartered in The Netherlands) that will play back visual as well as audio CD entertainment and learning materials in a hypermedia format on a television set. These discs require special players for CD-Karaoke that connect to a television much like a VCR machine. Players cost from $400 to $1,800, with portable players available that will fit in a briefcase. Video stores are now selling and renting CD-I movie, game, encyclopedia, travel, art, and other types of discs. Realistically, authoring workstations cost around $50,000 and higher. Typically they have a remote control device or joy stick for hypermedia controls. Philips got the market jump on CD-MM from Sony and CD-3DO from Hawkins. Various CD-I games, encyclopedias, hypermedia art books, and other consumer products are available on CD-I discs in department stores and video stores. Movies on CD-I may now be purchased or rented from video stores. Unlike many of the computer game competitors such as Data Discman and Sega, it is possible to link Mac or PC desktop computers to other hardware that allows professors to author their own learning materials on CD-I discs. To be compatible with CD-I playback machines, these discs should be recorded on the CD-ROM XA (extended Architecture) "Yellowbook" standard. OptImage (515-225-7000) has new high-end MPEG Digital Video Authoring software for CD-I and CD-XA. The Education Labels Group of Philips Media (800-945-4061 or 310-444-6613) under the direction of Bernard Luskin, a pioneer in TV education materials, works with educators to develop CD-I discs for education. With the initial market shock of CD-3DO, the future of CD-I and CD-MM is seriously in doubt, although much will hinge on the future cost of desktop authoring of CD-3DO titles. See CD for market share data. Miller and Miller (1992), and Phillips IMS (1992a,b,c). New software called CD-IT!ALL from OptImage(515-225-7000) allows Mac users to record CD-ROM discs directly from the Mac to certain types of CD-R recorders such as the Philips or Kodak recorder with an IS0 9660 option. However, to record CD-I discs the CD-IT!ALL software will not replace the Media Mogul software and the emulator hardware required between the Mac computer and the CD-R recorder. (See also CD-DVD, CD-VIS, CD-R, CD-Karaoke, CD-3DO, CD-MM, CD-TV, Games, and Photo CD)

CD-Karaoke= The video CD format that JVC and Philips initially agreed upon that eventually became the standard Video CD format agreed upon by major vendors such as Matushita, Philips, Sony, and Victor of Japan. Initially, vendors were trying to develop CDs for television sets that each had a different standard analogous to having different track gauges for different railroads. The agreed upon video standard in 1993 at last makes it possible to cross platforms in CDs for television. The announcement is reported in Videography, September 1993, p. 10. (See CD for market share data. See also CD-R, CD-I, CD-3DO, CD-MM, Games, and Photo CD)

CDMA/TDMA= Code Division Multiple Access and Time Division Multiple Access dual-mode cellular telephones that aid in the receiving of fax and computer network data on computers and PDAs. (See also Wireless Glossary of Terms, CDPD, Networks and PDA)

CD-MM= Older Sony CDs that compete with CD-VIS, CD-I, and CD-3DO discs that also play back visual as well has audio entertainment and learning materials in a hypermedia format on a television set. These will be replaced with newer players for CD-DVD. CD-MM discs required special players that connected to a television much like a VCR machine. They compete with CD-I discs but are not the same size and will not play on CD-I players. Only discs developed by Sony Corporation will run on CD-MM players. Various CD-MM games, encyclopedias, hypermedia art books, and other consumer products are available on CD-I discs in department stores and video stores. Whereas CD-I and CD-ROM discs may be recorded on CD-R blanks in home recording devices, it is less likely that CD-MM discs will ever be produced outside professional studios. Users will thus be limited by what Sony develops and promotes. In 1993, Sony agreed to a new CD-format that is more in line with other players in the market. With the initial market shock of CD-3DO, the future of CD-I and CD-MM is seriously in doubt. (See also CD-DVD, CD-3DO, CD-Karaoke, CD-VIS, and CD-I)

CD-PD= (SeeWireless Glossary of Terms and Phase Change Dual (PD))

CDPD= Cellular Digital Packet Data technology that facilitates more traffic on existing cellular networks. CDPD hardware is required for sending e-mail to PDAs. (See also Wireless Glossary of Terms and PDA)

CD-Photo= (See Photo CD)

CD-R or CD-RW= a term used for machines (drives) that will record CD laser discs that will read on standard CD-ROM drives. CD "encoding" depicts the recording (burning or transfer of files) to a CD, whereas CD "decoding" depicts the reading of those files. The term CD-Erasable in the early 1990s depicted recording of erasable CDs that could not be read only in special drives rather than CD-ROM drives. The first CD-RW drive on the market (in March 1997) is from RICOH for $595. Now CD-RW is the latest thing in erasable CDs. In times past, CD-R depicted a recordable CD blank disc also known as a CD-WORM disc. CD-R is now an obsolete term since, in 1997, CD-RW discs also known as CD-RW or CD-Rewritable discs made "read only memory" a thing of the past. Of course it is always possible to file protect and computer files in any type of storage so that they cannot be overwritten. In 1997, virtually all the manufacturers of CD-RW recording machines for CD-ROMs will offer CD-Erasable drives that will likely replace most CD-R technology up to 1997. Laser recording machines typically connect to a computer's SCSI or IDE controller. High-end desktop computers now come with CD-R or CD-RW recorders and players all in the same drive. Costs of a CD-R recorder have fallen by over 90% to less than $800. Recording CDs of any type is often referred to as "burning" or "baking." A CD recorder will not record every type of CD. Virtually all of them record CD-ROM discs and some will record CD-I discs. Rewritable versions are also available, but these will not play back on standard CD-ROM drives. CD-DVD recording requires more expensive hardware. Some record CD-Karaoke with appropriate software. Some CDs such as CD-MM and CD-3DO cannot usually be recorded on home recorders. CD-ROM and other types of CDs can be reproduced for less than $1 per disc. If you are purchasing a CD-R recorder, the high-end software and hardware for recording is reviewed in NewMedia, February 10, 1997, pp. 53-69. (See also CD-DVD, CD-Erasable, WORM, CD-I, CD-3DO, CD-MM, Phase Change Dual (PD), Games, and Photo CD)

CD-R2= (See CD-DVD)

CD-RW or CD-Rewritable= (See CD-DVD )

CD-ROM= Compact Disc-Read Only Memory compact discs. This is now an obsolete term since, in 1997, CD-RW discs also known as CD-Rewritable discs made "read only memory" a thing of the past. These 5.25 inch discs can be recorded, written over at will (unless file protected), and played back from computers connected to proper recording and/or playback drives. The CD-RW drives become like hard drives or floppy disc drives in that CD-RW discs may store files that can be executed in software packages such as word processors, spreadsheet software, ToolBook books, and HyperCard stacks. Some users want them to serve as auxiliary storage devices for computer text, audio, and video files. CD-RW drives will eventually be replaced by CD-DVD drives for DVD and DVD-RAM discs that are the same size but hold more than 20 times as much data. The problem for DVD is that CD-ROM drives exist in millions of computers and it will take time for the newer DVD hardware to take over as a standard. Presently, it is also much cheaper to record (encode) CD-RW discs using CD-R recorders costing less than $800. (See also CD-DVD and CD-ROM titles)

CD-ROM Titles= Books and games available on CD-ROM discs. Comparisons are difficult, because there are thousands in hundreds of markets. For example, see ADAM for one of the top medical and science titles that has done very well in a narrow market. The top titles in the general market according to PC Computing, December 1994, p. 206 are Microsoft Bookshelf (206-882-8080), Myst (415-382-4400), and Normandy (302-986-0444). PC World, December 1994, in a cover feature rates a larger number of titles by topic areas: One especially noteworthy CD-ROM title that has been popular in the consumer market is David Macaulay's The Way Things Work from Dorling Kindersley Publishing (800-225-3362). The number of CD-ROM titles has been nearly doubling each year for the past several years. It appears this will be the most popular electronic publishing medium for the rest of this decade. (See also ADAM)

CD-ROM XA= (See CD-ROM)

CD-RW= (See CD-ROM)

CD-Stand Alone= Reference to audio/video players that stand alone in the sense of not needing a computer. The term generally refers to set-top video boxes for network television or to CD players such as CD-3DO, CD-I, CD-MM, CD-TV, CD-VIS, etc. (See also Set-top box and CD)

CD-Standards = See http://www.soatusa.com/Cambda/NFProduc.htm

CD-TV= Commodore Dynamic-Total Vision player manufactured by Commodore Corporation to compete with CD-I, CD-MM, CD-VIS, and CD-3DO CD players for television sets. CD-TV discs are viewed in television sets from a CD-TV player or on Amiga video computers. They may not, however, be played on CD-ROM players. See CD for market share data. The market share of CD-TV is so small that its future is quite uncertain and is clouded by the 1994 declaration of bankruptcy by Commodore Corporation. (See also CD-I, CD-3DO, CD-MM, CD-VIS, Games, and Photo CD)

CD-VIS= The Memorex MD-2500 Visual Information System CD player marketed by Radio Shack that competes with CD-MM, CD-I, and CD-3DO discs that also play back visual as well has audio interactive entertainment on television sets. The Memorex MD-2500 requires no host computer to perform interactive operations from a remote control. Compton's Multimedia Encyclopedia disc and some other discs are available, but the market share of CD-VIS never became great enough to attract widespread authorship of VIS discs. At present there are very few titles and interest in CD-VIS relative to CD-I and CD-3DO is waning.

CD-WORM= (See CD-R)

CETA= Center for Educational Technology in Accounting (817-565-3090) at The University of North Texas, P.O. Box 13677, College of Business Administration, The University of North Texas, Denton, TX 76203-3677. CETA is no longer operational. CETA once served as a clearinghouse of information on use of technology in accounting education and research.

CFML = Cold Fusion Markup Language for creation of dynamic and interactive Web pages. Along with the usual Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) tags that determine page layout and appearance, the page creator uses CFML tags to bring in content based on the results of a database query or user input. CMFL is a proprietary language developed for use with ColdFusion, a product from Allaire. See also Database and HTML.

CGA= (See Graphics adapter)

CGI= Common Gateway Interface is one of the most popular UNIX-based programs/devices that supply interfaces between browsers and servers on the Internet. A standard for running external programs from a World-Wide Web HTTP server. CGI specifies how to pass dynamic components to the executing program as part of the HTTP request. For example, it will allow answers typed into an HTML form on the client computer to be tabulated and stored in a database on the server-side computer. Commonly, the server-side CGI program will generate some HTML which will be passed back to the client's browser. For example, it might report to the client user that the form is not filled out properly or report the invoice total of an order. CGI allows the returned HTML (or other document type) to depend in any arbitrary way on the request. The CGI program can, for example, access information in a database and format the results as HTML. CGI is not a programming language. There are various "CGI" scripting programs. Perl is a common choice for writing CGI scripts. in UNIX code. Some HTTP servers require CGI programs to reside in a special directory, often "/cgi-bin" but better servers provide ways to distinguish CGI programs so they can be kept in the same directories as the HTML files to which they are related. In order to improve performance, Netscape devised NSAPI and Microsoft developed the ISAPI standard which allow CGI-like tasks to run as part of the host server process, thus avoiding the overhead of creating a new process to handle each CGI invocation.

CGM= Computer Graphics Metafile international standard for 16-bit color graphics. CGM files cross platforms between PCs and Macs and can be generated in most graphics, paintbrush, and draw software. (See also Graphics and Cross-platform)

Channel= Transmission line that can carry the sound of a separate MIDI instrument. Each MIDI port allows up to 16 separate channels for sending or receiving data. Each channel can function as a separate instrument in an ensemble, each using its own patch and responding independently to continuous controllers. (See also MIDI).

Channel has another meaning on the World Wide Web. (See Webcasting.)

Channel Definition Format (CDF) = (see Resource Description Format (RDF))

Channel Casting/Surfing = (See Webcasting.)

Chat Lines or Chat Rooms = real time internet conversations (written or oral) that transpire in real (synchronous) time as opposed to conferencing (e.g., message board posting and topic classification." There are many sources for free chat software downloads. One such source is at http://www.chat.yahoo.com/. Comparisons with bulletin boards, email groups, chat rooms, etc. are made in the e-mail definition of this glossary. See e-mail definition, IRC, Listserv, USENet, teleconferencing, videoconferencing, webcasting, andtelephony.

Chipping (See Security)

CHRP = Common Hardware Reference Platform architecture in processors for Power PCs. This term has been replaced by "PowerPC Reference Platform" and is IBM's open system standard intended to ensure compatibility among PowerPC-based systems built by different companies.

CISC= Complex Instruction Set Computing chipsets such as the Intel family of popular 386, 486, and Pentium competitors and the Motorola 680x0 family in Mac computers. These were the most popular processors until the RISC alternatives entered the market. The future of CISC versus RISC is now up in the air. (See also Pentium, USENet, and RISC)

Client= A computer that has access to services over a computer network. The computer providing the services is a server. Note: in an X-11 environment, the meanings of client and server are reversed. See Database.

Client-server= A corporate computing trend that is gradually replacing the old way of conducting business--large mainframe computers connected to terminals. In the new arrangement, company software applications run on a midrange computer (the server) that is connected over networks to PCs (clients). (See also Server)

Client-server architecture= An information-passing scheme that works as follows: a client program, such as Mosaic, sends a request to a server. The server takes the request, disconnects from the client and processes the request. When the request is processed, the server reconnects to the client program and the information is transferred to the client. This architecture differs from traditional Internet databases where the client connects to the server and runs the program from the remote site. Note: in an X-11 environment, the meanings of client and server are reversed.

Clipboard= A holding device that contains the most recently copied or cut text or image such that contents of the clipboard can be pasted one or more times into other parts of the document at hand or other documents. It is usually possible to cross between different software options such as between Windows programs.

Clipper Chip =

See http://www.cpsr.org/program/clipper/clipper.html

The Clipper Chip is a cryptographic device being promoted by the U.S. government. Its purported advantage is that it provides a standard for securing private voice communication. With Clipper, however, the government has the opportunity to obtain decryption keys that are held in escrow by two government agencies. Although the Clipper proposal requires legal authorization to obtain these keys, the history of illegal domestic surveillance by Federal agencies makes the existence of this "back-door" decryption channel a cause for concern.

Also see security.

Clock speed= The speed of the processor is measured with the clock frequency. The processor consistently works internally at the same clock frequency. The IBM PC has a clock frequency of 4.77 MHz (Megahertz). Compatibles sometimes use higher frequencies, but higher speeds may create compatibility problems.

CLV= Constant Linear Velocity playback in magnetic and laser discs where the disc rotates at varying speeds. Relative to CAV constant speeds, the CAV approach results in constant data retrieval times that do not depend upon where the read/write head is located relative to the disc spindle. CLV videodiscs hold up to 60 minutes of video per side of a 12-inch disc. However, CLV discs cannot be searched for individual frames as effectively as CAV discs. (See also CAV)

CMC = Cmputer Mediated Communication, a very broad term that encompasses chat lines, virtual communities, and other forms of communication. See IRC, Collaboration, and Virtual. See also Groupware.

CMS= That subset of CAL that entails Course Management Systems. This software is defined by the "core" attributes listed in Chapter 3. Chief among these attributes are utilities that allow instructors to keep student records, call up examination templates and questions, administer examinations, track student learning in course modules, and randomly access lecture and case materials. CMS software options compared in Chapter 3 are Quest, TourGuide, LessonBuilder, Tencore, Course Builder, HyperGraphics, Authorware, and Peak. Present CMS leaders are Quest for Windows and DOS and Macromedia Authorware for Mac operating systems. It is common to build custom CMS features into hypertext/hypermedia developments. For example, the Arizona State University accounting lab simulation package marketed by McGraw-Hill has core CMS attributes that were scripted into that package by the author even though ToolBook is not a full-featured CMS package. McGraw-Hill can sell the package without paying a royalty fee since ToolBook has no runtime usage fee. There are some CMS packages such as Quest, LessonBuilder, CourseBuilder, and Peak that have no runtime/royalty fees. But CMS options have drawbacks in spite of their utilities for educators. Except for Quest and Tencore, the other CMS packages do not have full-featured scripting options of such major hypermedia competitors as Multimedia ToolBook, Apple Media Kit, HyperWriter, Icon Author, etc. CMS options do not cross platforms to run on multiple platforms as well as hypermedia GainMomentum, ScriptX and Icon Author. Especially see the concept of a shell. (See also Runtime, Hypertext and Hypermedia)

Coaxial cable= A cable consisting of a single metal wire surrounded by insulation, which is itself surrounded by a braided or foil outer conductor.

CODEC = hardware and software for compressing and decompressing larve volumes of data. The term generally applies to large multimedia files.

CollabraShare = collaboration groupware from Netscape Corporation. Netscape Collabra provides enterprise group discussions based on Internet standards, letting the groups share and track information efficiently. Collabra makes it easy to share information and create a knowledge base that people can access at any time. You can eliminate unnecessary meetings and save valuable time by discussing important issues in a public or private discussion forum. Netscape Collabra extends open Internet standards to create a powerful collaboration tool for the corporation, and it seamlessly integrates with Netscape Collabra Server. See http://home.netscape.com/comprod/products/communicator
/faq.html#collabra. See also Groupware, Lotus Notes, and Collaboration.

Collaboration = a joint effort that network technology has facilitated with email, FTP, and more advanced means of sharing ideas, documents, and data. Writing has become more of a collaborative effort since the dawn of the WWW. The WWW takes authors beyond the telephone by enabling them to speak to one another (audio), see one another (videoconferencing), and visualize documents and data. Software alternatives for collaborative authoring are reviewed at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245soft1.htm . See also CMC, CollabraShare, IRC, Videoconferencing, Groupware, and Virtual.

Collar = a derivative instruments investing term where an investor puts a "collar" around investment risk, usually by selling a put option (an option to purchase) and purchasing a call option (an option to sell) around an investment. Amgen and Oracle sold put warrants on their own common stock and then used the proceeds to purchase calls on the same stock. This process is called a "costless collar" and is used to express a bullish view of the stock by management.

Compact disc= (See CD)

Companding= (See dbx)

Compression= Has several meanings. In one context, it refers to algorithms for shrinking the storage space required for files stored on discs. In those instances, nothing is usually sacrificed in the compression, although files may have to be decompressed before they can be utilized later on. In another context, compression refers to the storage of graphics or video files in such a way that they can be stored and/or processed more efficiently on computers. In the latter case, something (e.g., color depth, resolution, image sharpness, etc.) is usually lost in the process. (See also GIF, JPEG, Indeo, and MPEG)

Computer= An electronic system that can store and process information under program control.

Computer Based Training = (See CBT )

CompuServe= A commercial network that has some of the "richest offerings available, but it has been the slowest to change and can be much costlier than the other two services, especially if you make heavy use of some of its best features" according to Mossberg (1994a). It has a wide choice of bulletin boards, U.S. News and World Reports magazine, and Navigator to the Internet. News services are relatively cheap, but modem line costs are somewhat expensive. (See also Networks, Internet, SLIP, America Online, eWorld, Interchange, and Prodigy)

Computer Virus = (See Virus)

Concurrency Control= Concurrency control deals with the issues involved with allowing multiple people simultaneous access to shared entities, be they objects, data records, or some other representation. It is very important to have a recovery system such that if bad data is entered in a shared environment the databases can be recovered. It is important understand transactions, which are collections of actions that potentially modify records. More than one record may be involved, especially in double entry bookkeeping. An example of a transaction is a transfer of funds between two bank accounts. Concurrency controls are related to transactions controls, but they are not the same since transactions controls apply to single-person as well as multiple-person access. Transactions controls are intended to assure that updated transactions are allowable and orderly. Transactions in relational databases are often commands in a two phase commit system. A "two phase commit" transactions control is the process by which a relational database ensures that distributed transactions are performed in an orderly manner. In this system, transactions may be terminated by either committing them or rolling them back. Also see Database.

Configuration= This is a general-purpose computer term that can refer to the way you have your computer set up. It is also used to describe the total combination of hardware components that make up a computer system and the software settings that allow various hardware components of a computer system to communicate with one another.

Configure= The act of changing software or hardware actions by changing the settings.

Console= The file server.

Control code= Special nonprinting codes that cause electronic equipment to perform specific actions.

Conventional memory= (See RAM)

Cookies= Applets that enable a web site to collect information about each user for later reference (as in finding cookies in the cookie jar). Web Browsers like Netscape Navigator set aside a small amount of space on the user's hard drive to record detected preferences. Cookies perform storage on the client side that might otherwise have to be stored in a generic-state or database server on the server side. Cookies can be used to collect information for consumer profile databases. Browsers can be set to refuse cookies.

Many times when you browse a website, your browser checks to see if you have any pre-defined preferences (cookie) for that server if you do it sends the cookie to the server along with the request for a web page. Sometimes cookies are used to collect items of an order as the user places things in a shopping cart and has not yet submitted the full order. A cookie allows WWW customers to fill their orders (shopping carts) and then be billed based upon the cookie payment information. Cookies retain information about a users browsing patterns at a web site. This creates all sorts of privacy risks since information obtained from cookies by vendors or any persons who put cookies on your computer might be disclosed in ways that are harmful to you. Browsers will let you refuse cookies with a set up that warns you when someone is about to deliver a cookie, but this really disrupts Web surfing and may block you from gaining access to may sites. It is probably better to accept cookies for a current session and then dispose of unwanted cookies as soon as possible so that cookie senders do not obtain repeated access to your private information. Microsoft Corporation has added the following utilities to the Internet Explorer (IE) browser according to http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/07/21/ms.cookies.idg/

The Internet Explorer 5.5 changes include the following:

• Notifications that Microsoft said will help users differentiate between first- and third-party cookies, plus automatic prompts that inform users anytime a third-party cookie is being offered by a Web site.

• A "delete all cookies" control button that has been added to the browser's main "Internet options" page to make it easier for users to get rid of cookies.

• New topics that have been added to Internet Explorer's help menu to better answer questions about cookies and their management.

Instruction for cookies control using Internet Explorer --- http://www.scholastic.com/cookies.htm

To accept cookies if you are using a PC running Windows...

Internet Explorer 5 1. Click Tools, and then click Internet Options.

2. Click the Security tab.

3. Click the Internet zone.

4. Select a security level other than High.

-or-

Click Custom Level, scroll to the Cookies section, and then click Enable for both cookie options.

5. Click on Apply.

6. Click on OK.

Other nations, notably in Europe, have placed more severe restrictions on the use of cookies. See http://www.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/07/21/eu.spam.idg/index.html

An Innovative Cookie Jar

The big question is whether Microsoft will adapt to StealthSurfer or introduce a competitive product for Internet Explorer. My guess is no! We may have to install Netscape once again just to keep pesky cookies off the main hard drive.

"Furtive Surfers Find a Way to Keep Their Travels Secret," by Howard Millman, The New York Times, March 4, 2004 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/04/technology/circuits/04quie.html

A new thumb-size U.S.B. drive from a company called StealthSurfer aims to guard your privacy by keeping the records of your Web activity close to the vest. When you plug in the StealthSurfer and use its customized version of the Netscape browser, the device stores the cookies, U.R.L. history, cache files and other traces of your Web browsing that would ordinarily accumulate on your computer's hard drive. When you're done surfing, you unplug the drive and take the records of your travels with you.

StealthSurfer's name is a bit of an overstatement. It does keep your Web-hopping and file-sharing activities away from prying eyes after the fact. But since it uses your computer's Internet connection, the Web sites you visit can still track your Internet protocol address as you move around online.

The StealthSurfer comes in four capacities, ranging from 64 megabytes ($70) to 512 megabytes ($299). You may experience a slight reduction in performance when you use the device because its flash memory writes data at slower speeds than a full-size hard drive does.

On the other hand, installation is a breeze - computers running Windows Me, 2000 and XP recognize the StealthSurfer as a drive when it is plugged in. (If you're running Windows 98, you must download a driver

The StealthSurfer home page is at http://www.stealthsurfer.biz/
Don't you hate it now that some businesses now use biz instead of com in their URLs?




CORE= The Chapter 3 "core" attributes that distinguish CMS software/systems from other CAL options. (See also CMS)

CPU= Central Processing Unit that encompasses a computer's RAM, processing, and control circuitry, including the arithmetic-logic (ALU) unit. Both the ALU and the control units are wholly contained on the microprocessing chip whereas the primary storage is on the mother board or the expansion bus. For test comparisons of Intel Pentium, PowerPC, and Mips R4X00, and DEC Alpha, see Montgomery (1994). Montgomery ranks Pentium and Mips highest in terms of file servers. He ranks Pentium higher on most graphics and business applications criteria except for price since PowerPC is a cheaper alternative. There are, of course, other considerations. The PowerPC currently performs better than Pentium in terms of temperature, speed, and price, but all these advantages are expected to disappear when Intel introduces its upgrade versions of the Pentium. The PowerPC, however, will not perform as well using DOS and Windows operating systems. (See also Alpha processor, Pentium, MIPS, PowerPC, CISC, RISC, Operating system, and Motherboard)

Cracker = (See Phreaker.)

CRM = Customer Relationship Management system based upon information technology. Central to CRM are databases customer relationships in sufficient detail so that management, salespeople, people providing service, and perhaps the customer directly could access information, match customer needs with product plans and offerings, remind customers of service requirements, know what other products a customer had purchased, and so forth. See Database and SAP.

New Offering from PwC Division touts consistent CRM PwC ConsultingTM, a division of financial services organization PricewaterhouseCoopers, has released CRM ACCEL — a complete multi-channel CRM program designed to help companies reduce the cost of serving customers while increasing revenue. http://www.newmedia.com/nm-ie.asp?articleID=3144

A CRM portals page is at http://www.downesmarketing.co.uk/crmlinks.html

Cross-platform= The ability of a software package or an electronic "book" to run in more than one operating system such as Icon Author and TIE crossings between Windows, Unix, and DOS operating systems. Rosenthal (1995) compares hypermedia authoring software having cross-platform capabilities. Some will only play back on cross-platforms but cannot be used to author in the platform of choice. Apple Media Kit and ScriptX authoring will run in DOS, Mac, Unix, and other operating systems, but neither option can be used for authoring in DOS or Windows. Insight into Multimedia and TIE can be used to playback in UNIX but authoring can only be undertaken in Windows. Hardware that crosses platforms in emulation (such as playing back Windows software in emulation on a Mac computer) frequently does not work well with complex authoring systems such as CBT ToolBook or Quest options that only perform well in Windows. Often very expensive options are priced for cross-platform capabilities that are limited in terms of authoring features present in software that will not cross platforms. GainMomentum authoring package from Sybase crosses platforms between UNIX, Windows, and Windows 2000. However, in spite of its very high price this package does not contain many of the wonderful authoring features found in Windows-only CBT ToolBook that is less than 10% of the cost of GainMomentum. Only a small proportion (less than 20%) of the hypermedia authoring options have cross-platform capabilities, but it is becoming a priority of many vendors to upgrade their products with cross-platform capabilities. Beware that some products like Apple Media Kit, Icon Author, TIE, Macromedia Authorware, Macromedia Director, Cast, Course Builder, Insight Into Multimedia, Oracle Media Objects, PowerMedia, Test, GainMomentum, and ScriptX may claim cross-platform capabilities, but it is not possible, for example, to translate complex hypermedia animations and high resolution graphics from a Mac to a Windows operating system and vice versa. See CGM for computer graphics metafiles that cross platforms between PC and Mac computers. Adobe Acrobat software is designed for cross-platform applications of many types of files, but it has limited or no ability to cross multimedia platforms. The term "cross-platform" can also apply to hardware options such a computers that will run under more than one operating system. However, this is not technically crossing a platform since it is merely equivalent to having two independent computers in one housing. Some, but not all, lessons authored in DOS and Windows may run on a Mac or PowerPC computer, but those that do may run painfully slow due to being run in emulation rather than direct form. Conversion software is available for converting Mac HyperCard Stacks into Multimedia ToolBook Windows books. Although this software works well for simple books (e.g., books having no complex animations and high-resolution graphics) that aren't in color, it doesn't work well for complex books with greater color depth, high resolution graphics, or complex animations. The same problem arises in most conversion software (e.g., that of Macromedia's Authorware and Director). Even ToolBooks created in 24 bit color PCs may not be suited for PC displays having lower color depths. Mac computers attempt to dither 24 bit color images into acceptable images for lower color-depth Mac computers, but PCs do not dither these images automatically. As books become more complex, a point is reached where authors must rewrite books for Mac and Windows operating systems. The Internet changed much of the worries about cross-platform capability. Increasingly, authoring software and other types of software are gearing up for playback on the World Wide Web (WWW) such as the Shockwave reader for Macromedia's Director and Authorware and the Neuron reader for the Asymetrix ToolBook products. (See also ActiveX Authoring, CORBA, Native, Operating system, PDA, and CGM)

Cryptolope= The combination of "cryptographic" security encription with "envelopes" of domain. Cryptolopes enable publishers on the WWW to securely distribute content with copyright protections and security over payments for copyrighted material usage.

CWIS= Campus Wide Information System bulletin board services that can be accessed on the Internet. These are available on most college campuses and provide bulletin board information on campus calendars, e-mail directories on the campus, employment opportunities, campus events, course catalogs, etc.

CyberMall= A term commonly used to describe an electronic site shared by a number of commercial interests.

Cyberspace= A term coined by William Gibson in his fantasy novel "Neuromancer" to refer to a near-future computer network where users mentally travel through matrices of data. The term is now used to describe the Internet and the other computer networks.


D-Terms

DAB/DAR= Digital Audio Broadcast and Digital Audio Radio broadcasting in digital formats via satellites and fiber optic cable. (See also Networks and DCC)

DAC= Digital Analog Conversion hardware that converts digital signals into analog form. (See also ADC, Scan converter, Modem, and Video)

Daemon = Disk And Execution MONitor programs that are not initially executed but lie in wait for certain contingencies to occur. Daemons are extremely common in UNIX operating systems.The slightly revised form Demon refers to the program itself whereas Daemon refers to an operating system process. See also HTTPd.

Darwin = (See Operating System.)

DAT= Digital Audio Tape used for recording computer disc files onto a cheap backup and storage medium. DAT tapes are contained in small cartridges that are the cheapest means of storing vast amounts of data. For example, a cartridge smaller than the palm of an adult hand can hold two or more gigabyes of data. Popular manufacturers of DAT backup tape drives include Sony and Hewlett-Packard.

Data Discman= (See Games)

Database= A computer file or system of data organized in records and fields for fast retrieval and ease of updating. For an overview of network database trends see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/260wp/260wp.htm. Also see CFML, Concurrency Control, DTP, GainMomentum, Grid Computing, JDBC, MDA, Middleware, Relational database management, SAP, Resource Description Framework, and 4GL Database Languages.

Key database system and enterprise resource planning (ERP) system web sites for large-scale systems are listed below:

Baan at http://www5.baan.com/cgi-bin/bvisapi.dll
Cars at http://www.carsinfo.com /
DATATEL at http://www.datatel.com/
IBM DB 2 at http://www.software.ibm.com/data/db2/
Informix at http://www.informix.com/informix/products/
JD Edwards Enterprise Software http://www.jdedwards.com/
Microsoft SQL Server at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/default.htm
Netscape Enterprise Server at http://merchant.netscape.com/netstore/servers/enterprise.html
Oracle at http://www.oracle.com/index_4.html
PeopleSoft at http://www.peoplesoft.c
SCT at http://www.sctcorp.com/education.htm
SAP at http://www.sap.com/
Some of the above systems are stronger on personnel management utilities and weaker on database technologies. Others are stronger on database technologies and weaker on personnel management. In all cases, installation of a system is no piece of cake. In some cases it can take years and millions of dollars to get a system in place. But in those instances these larger systems are the only feasible alternatives.

Smaller-scale database systems are reviewed by D.C. Hayes and J.E. Hunton in the Journal of Accountancy, January 1999, pp. 61-69. These are useful for small business and small departments within large businesses. Sometimes it is easier to build a small database system than to fool with a large system to handle smaller jobs. Smaller-scale database software packages include the following:

Microsoft Access at http://www.microsoft.com/products/prodref/332_ov.htm
For MS Access helper links see http://WWW.Trinity.edu/rjensen/acct5342/helpers1.htm#Access
Inprise Paradox at http://www.inprise.com/paradox/

Lotus Approach at http://www.lotus.com/

Microsoft Visual FoxPro http://www.microsoft.com/vfoxpro/
Microsoft is promising a greatly improved MS Access that will probably take over the smaller-scale database market like Excel took over the spreadsheet market. One advantage of MS Access is the way it integrates with other MS Office programs such as Excel.

Networked databases are exploding in popularity across the Internet. For a review, see http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/03/circuits/articles/18bots.html . Microsoft is promoting ActiveX Data Objects (ADO). The following is a quotation from http://www.microsoft.com/data/ado/prodinfo.htm :

The ActiveX® Data Objects (ADO) programming model represents the best of the existing Microsoft data access programming models. If you are familiar with Data Access Objects (DAO) or Remote Data Objects (RDO), you will recognize the interfaces and will be able to work with them very quickly. You will also notice considerable improvements in the model, and tasks that were awkward in previous models have either been fixed or eliminated from the ADO model.

The ADO objects provide you with the fastest, easiest and most productive means for accessing all kinds of data sources. The ADO model strives to expose everything that the underlying data provider can do, while still adding value by giving you shortcuts for common operations.

ADO is Microsoft's strategic, high-level interface to all kinds of data. ADO provides consistent, high-performance access to data, whether you're creating a front-end database client or middle-tier business object using an application, tool, language, or even an Internet browser. ADO is the single data interface you need to know for 1- to n-tier client/server and Web-based data-driven solution development.

ADO is designed as an easy-to-use application level interface to Microsoft's newest and most powerful data access paradigm, OLE DB. OLE DB provides high-performance access to any data source, including relational and non-relational databases, email and file systems, text and graphics, custom business objects, and more. ADO is implemented with a small footprint, minimal network traffic in key Internet scenarios, and a minimal number of layers between the front-end and data source-all to provide a lightweight, high-performance interface. ADO is easy to use because it is called using a familiar metaphor - the OLE Automation interface, available from just about any tool and language on the market today. And since ADO was designed to combine the best features of, and eventually replace RDO and DAO, it uses similar conventions with simplified semantics to make it easy to learn for today's developers.

Related to ADO the Microsoft® Remote Data Service (RDS) for distributing data on the Internet. You can read the following at http://www.microsoft.com/data/ado/prodinfo.htm#Face :

RDS Overview

Multiple sources...One control...Rich user experience...RDS is just that simple! The Microsoft® Remote Data Service (RDS) is your source for distributed data access through the Web. RDS makes full-featured, data-centric Web applications a reality by combining data manipulation of retrieved data, efficient client-side caching, and support for data-aware ActiveX® controls with an elegant and powerful programming model.

RDS is Bringing Data Access to the Web!

RDS goes beyond the current generation of Web data access tools by allowing clients to update the data they see. Using drop-in ActiveX data controls, such as grids, lists, and combo boxes, developers can deploy sophisticated user interfaces that allow end users to view and change data with a minimum of programming. End users are no longer restricted to staring at a static HTML results table. With RDS, they may now alter, add, and delete data they have queried and retrieved. In addition, all changes are buffered locally, and can be submitted to the server for inspection, processing and storage in the database.

The benefits of traditional client/server technology have migrated to the Web, and the read-only, static client is a thing of the past. By providing a local data cache, the end user is now able to navigate through large data sets without costly server round trips.

RDS provides the ability to invoke remote objects over HTTP and DCOM, enabling programmers to develop distributed Web applications that effectively partition application logic between Visual Basic® Scripting Edition code on the client and server objects. Automation objects written in Visual Basic can expose services to client-side applications, while protecting business logic and data from distribution. Developers are no longer restricted to choosing between "thin" or "fat" clients and servers. They can make an informed choice and partition their data and business logic accordingly.

Object-oriented database systems are quite different from the extremely relational database systems (e.g., MS Access, FoxPro, DBase, etc) that are extremely popular today. I will begin this module with a quote from my favorite online textbook in accounting information systems (that I adopt each year for my ACCT 5342 course):

Emerging database systems concepts
We conclude this chapter with a brief discussion of an emerging concepts relating to database systems. Object-oriented (OO) approaches to modeling and implementing database systems are becoming increasingly popular. This approach employs object-oriented modeling (OOM) techniques to model the domain of interest and then implements the resulting model using an object-oriented database management system (OODBMS). The object-oriented approach focuses on the objects of interest in the domain. Customers, vendors, employees, sales orders, and receipts are all viewed as objects that have certain attributes. OOM involves identifying the objects of interest, their attributes, and relationships between objects.

A critical feature unique to the OO approach is that an "object" package includes both the attributes of the object and the methods or procedures that pertain to that object. The methods might dictate how the object's attributes are modified in response to different events, or how the object causes changes in the attributes of other objects. Thus, a key difference between the database models described earlier and the OO approach is that OO models combine data (attributes) and procedures (methods) in one package, i.e., the "object." This feature of OO models is referred to as encapsulation - attributes and methods are represented together in one capsule. Another powerful feature of OO models is inheritance. OO models depict the real world as a hierarchy of object classes, with lower level classes inheriting attributes and methods from higher level classes. Thus, lower level object classes do not need to redefine attributes and methods that are common to the higher level object classes in the class hierarchy.

An OO model contains all details needed for implementation and object-oriented DBMS are powerful enough to represent all the information contained in the model. However, most organizations that have made heavy investments in RDBMS see little need to migrate to OO environments. While OO modeling methods are available, there is no consensus regarding the "best" method to use. Finally, although OODBMS are beginning to become commercially available, they have not gained much acceptance in the marketplace probably due to their relatively high cost and poor performance in comparison to RDBMS. Gemstone, ObjectStore, VBase, and O2 are some examples of OODBMS.

Accounting Information Systems: A Database Approach
by Uday S. Murthy and S. Michael Groomer
For more information go to http://www.cybertext.com/

Next I will repeat a great illustration pointed out in the message below from Alexander Lashenko:

Hello Bob,

Take a look at http://www.sanbase.com/cx.html

It's an original object-oriented DBMS with web interface. Looks very nice.

Regards,

Alex.
Alexander Lashenko [alashenko@cryptologic.com]

See also Knowledge Managment and Search Engine.

For non-hierarchical online database design see OLAP.

See also Data Mining

See CASE

See Windows File System (WFS)

Database building from the WWW = (See Web surfing backwards and OLAP)

Data Mining and Data Warehouse =

Data Warehouse
A database, frequently very large, that can access all of a company's information. While the warehouse can be distributed over several computers and may contain several databases and information from numerous sources in a variety of formats, it should be accessible through a server. Thus, access to the warehouse is transparent to the user, who can use simple commands to retrieve and analyze all the information. The data warehouse also contains data about how the warehouse is organized, where the information can be found, and any connections between data. Frequently used for decision support within an organization, the data warehouse also allows the organization to organize its data, coordinate updates, and see relationships between information gathered from different parts of the organization. www.sellmorenow.com/gosfa/glossary.htm

Data mining is the discovery and modeling of hidden patterns in large amounts of data. It is usually case-based, in that the parameters can be statistically modeled. Technically, data mining is statistical analysis, but on a complex scale. IBM invented data mining and holds some of the patents. One of the goals of data mining is to allow the user to discover patterns and build models automatically, without knowing exactly what she's looking for.

The models are both descriptive and prospective. They address why things happened and what is likely to happen next. A user can pose "what-if" questions to a data-mining model that can not be queried directly from the database or warehouse. Examples include: "What is the expected lifetime value of every customer account," "Which customers are likely to open a second account," or "Will this customer cancel our service if we introduce higher fees?" (Questions like this assume a Natural Language front end.)

Text mining is a subset of data mining which applies the same rules and logic, but is directed at gleaning information from large bodies of text rather than numerical data. The information technologies associated with making data mining a functional process are neural networks, genetic algorithms, fuzzy logic, and rule induction. Data mining is becoming more prevalent as businesses, governments and organizations look for ways to leverage the existing mountains of information they already have.
"Machines in the Myths: The State of Artificial Intelligence," by DeAnne DeWitt, ChipCenter --- http://www.chipcenter.com/columns/ddewitt/col002.html

DATATEL = see database.

DAV= Digital Audio Video connectors such as those found on the Apple AV that allow the flow of digitized video to bypass the computer's main bus. (See also Bus)

DB 2 = see database.

dbx= The "companding" compression and expansion of audio signals to reduce noise distortions of stereo television broadcasts. (See also MTS/SAP)

DCC= Digital Compact Cassette format that improves sound quality relative to traditional analog formats of audio cassettes. Analog cassettes can be played on DCC tape decks such that the purchase of a DCC tape deck does not preclude listening to analog tapes.

DCOM = (See CORBA )

Debugging= Executing a program, one statement at a time, to identify and fix errors.

DEC Alpha= (See Alpha processor)

Delta Project= A European Economic Community (EEC) funded project of the Commission of European Communities. With a budget of over $100 million, this is probably the world's largest attempt to apply modern technologies to distance training and education. Partners in the project include major universities, telecommunications companies, and business firms of all sizes across the EEC. Collis and de Vries (1994) report on 27 major projects with over 300 sub-projects in network education and multimedia development.

Data Encryption Standard (DAS)=
The Data Encryption Standard, or DES, was the first official U.S. government cipher intended for commercial use. DES is the most widely used cryptosystem in the world.
RSA's FAQ about Today's Cryptography (DES section)
RSA's FAQ about Today's Cryptography (NIST/NSA section)
sci.crypt FAQ on Product Ciphers
Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 46-2 (December 30, 1993)
The Data Encryption Standard: An Update (CSL Bulletin)
J. Bamford, The Puzzle Palace, Houghton-Mifflin, Boston, 1982.
Also see security.

Device driver= Software that controls the communications between a computer program and various hardware devices such as the sound card, the video card, the CD-ROM player, the MIDI, disk drives, etc.

DHTML - (See HTML.)

Dial-up connection= The most popular form of Net connection for the home user, this is a connection from your computer to a host computer over standard telephone lines.

Digital Video (DV) Camcorder= (See Video camera and Video from digital (DV) camcorders)

DIP Switch= Dual In-line Package case on a computer board that contains small switches for configuring hardware components. A given board can be configured in a way that is compatible with the entire system of other peripheral hardware. (See also Board)

Direct connection= A permanent connection between your computer system and the Internet. This is sometimes referred to as a leased-line connection because the line is leased from the telephone company.

DirectTV= (See DSS)

Disabilities products= A variety of hardware and software options for users having certain types of disabilities. The Trace R&D Center (608-263-2309) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison produces both a Trace Resource Book and a CD-ROM that describes computer products for persons with disabilities. An evaluation service is available from the National Information System (800-922-9234, Ext. 301), Center for Developmental Disabilities, Benson Building, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208. Mike Paciello has a good paper with links at http://www.w3j.com/5/s3.paciello.html . I also recommend that you use the search term "disabilities" at http://www.cmptv.com/. (See also Speech recognition and Text reading)

Disk-at-once recording= Single-session recording mode, where all the data to be included on a disk is written in one pass. You must write in this mode to have your CD mass-produced by a stamping house. (See also CD-R)

Distributed Network Computing= Distributed Network Computing where a network computer can perform computing functions in another computer on the same network. In the early days of the Internet, Telnet could be used for remote computing. In modern times, the trend is toward database access and computing among networked computers.

Development tools for data enabled frameworks are starting to emerge. New standards are also starting to emerge like CORBA's IIOP, Sun's RMI, amd Microsoft's DCOM. RMI is part of the Java programming language library which enables a Java program running on one computer to access the objects and methods of another Java program running on a different computer. Some vendors are also having their own proprietary extensions as well. IIOP is built upon CORBA technology. DCOM is Microsoft Corporation's standard for distrubuted network computing. See Database, ADO, and RDS .

A good reference for more extensive distributed network computing terminology is World Wide Web and Object Technology by Ashish B. Shahhttp at

http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~wwwbtb/fall.96/book/chap19/index.html

Bob Jensen's summary document entitled "Networked Databases: Past, Present, and Future," can be found at

http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/260wp/260wp.htm .

DLL = Dynamic Link Library bundle of coded subroutines that can be shared with different programs on the system.

DNS= An acronym for Domain Name Server, DNS refers to a database of Internet names and addresses which translates the names to the official Internet Protocol numbers and vice versa.

Docking station= A platform that can be attached to portable computers giving them a variety of added options such as stereo speakers, a CD-ROM player, an SCSI port, and bays for additional components such as data tape drives and floppy disc drives. The numbers and types of options vary among vendors. Some docking stations are small and portable. Others are large and relatively heavy, especially those docking stations that provide notebook computers with added expansion slots for boards such as video capture boards. Some docking stations are reviewed in PC Computing, January 1995, p. 128. (See also Notebook computer)

Document= When used in reference to the World Wide Web, a document is any file containing text, media or hyperlinks that can be transferred from an HTTP server to a client program.

Document Object Model (DOM) = (See HTML)

Document type definition = (See DTD.)

Document window= This is the Web browser's scrollable window in which HTML documents can be viewed.

Dolby-NR= Dolby-Noise Reduction system invented by Ray Dolby. There are various levels of quality, which in rank order from lowest to highest quality include Dolby B (good), Dolby C (better), Dolby S (best), and Dolby SR (professional). DSB Dolby surround digital systems are even higher quality systems used in movie soundtracks and videodiscs. HDTV will also include DSD. A sound enforcement system first used in the movie THX 1138 by George Lucas is now known as the THX system. The THX-licensed speakers use a professional Dolby process for commercial and home theater systems. (See also HX-Pro)

DOM = (See HTML)

Domino = (see Lotus Notes).

DOS= MS DOS Microsoft Disk Operating System introduced by Microsoft Corporation in 1981. It became the operating system standard for PCs around the world and still serves as the foundation of the popular Microsoft Windows extended operating system. The ability to operate from DOS on low-capacity PCs having only 640K of random access memory (RAM) has become the limitation in modern times for DOS to remain a standard for higher speed and higher RAM computers. DOS has not been upgraded for newer 32-bit processors and will eventually fade as the newer 32-bit, 64-bit, and higher capacity PCs spread across world markets. (See also Operating system, Windows, Windows Chicago, Windows 2000, and OS/2)

Download= To transfer to your computer a copy of a file that resides on another computer. For details see Modem.

Driver= A memory resident program usually used to control a hardware device.

Dry camera= A digital camera that records images directly to a disk or other medium that can be read directly into computers without having to develop imaging film with "wet" developer chemicals. Various vendors have relatively inexpensive dry cameras whereas these same vendors like Nikon, Kodak, Logitech, and Dycam have superior and very expensive models that have much higher imaging quality. Apple, Stormware, and other vendors have only the lower priced modes. Photographs can be scanned readers that plug into the back PCs, although the later versions will also plug directly into a PCMCIA slot for downloading into a computer. An example of the latter option is Nikon's Coolpix model. (See also Video camera and Video from digital (DV) camcorders)

DSD= (See Dolby-NR)

DSL= Digital Subscriber Line technology for transmitting data up to 50 times faster than present analog modem and ISDN alternatives. Telephone companies are hoping that DSL service will keep telephone lines competitive with cable modems and other competitive alternatives to present telephone transmission services. Telephone companies are considering two dominant DSL technologies: Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL, ASL) and High Rate Digital Subscriber Line (HDSL). ADSL technology will deliver higher downstream speeds (6 Mbps) than upstream speeds (640 kbps).

By the way, ADSL or ASL differs from DSL in that there is an asymmetry in transmission speeds into (download) and out of (upload) your computer. In ASL, the upload speeds are much slower than the download speeds. However, ASL connections are being pushed heavily into the huge home market, whereas DLS is being touted for the business firm market.

For additional information, seehttp://www.kentrox.com/news/110696.pr.html. See also MMDS and Modem.

Bob:
Below is something that might make a good entry into your Technology Glossary. (Text below from What is.com) Ever since I got a DSL line I have been unable to log onto Temple University's primary mail server. I receive an abrupt and annoying message "The TCP/IP connection was unexpectedly terminated by the server." It happens that Temple has security procedure in place for this server that traces my IP address back to my ISP to verify my name when I try to log on to get my mail. However, my ISP uses a newer system called "Reverse Address Resolution Protocol" (RARP), which does not keep a list of names on a name server for immediate verification. (Maintaining an up-to-date list of client names on a name server apparently is an expensive, labor-intensive process.) I doubt if my ISP is the only one using this technology. This is an interesting clash of old fashioned security procedures and newer technology.
Steve Fogg

Reverse Address Resolution Protocol

RARP (Reverse Address Resolution Protocol) is a protocol by which a physical machine in a local area network can request to learn its IP address from a gateway server's Address Resolution Protocol (Address Resolution Protocol) table or cache. A network administrator creates a table in a local area network's gateway router that maps the physical machine (or Media Access Control - MAC address) addresses to corresponding Internet Protocol addresses. When a new machine is set up, its RARP client program requests from the RARP server on the router to be sent its IP address. Assuming that an entry has been set up in the router table, the RARP server will return the IP address to the machine which can store it for future use. RARP is available for Ethernet, Fiber Distributed-Data Interface, and token ring LANs.

Stephen L. Fogg, Ph.D., CPA,
Chair Department of Accounting Fox School of Business and Management
Temple University Philadelphia, PA 19122 Phone: 215-204-1915 Fax: 215-204-5587 URL: http://www.sbm.temple.edu/~fogg

DSP= Digital Signal Processing chips that are common in cards (boards) added to expansion slots in computers, especially for adding multimedia to computers. In the future, DSPs and video hardware will probably be more common on motherboards instead of add-on boards. All major sound systems for PCs in the future will probably be upgraded to DSP-based audio chips, many of them right on the motherboard. (See also Sound board and Multimedia Video Processor)

DSS= Digital Satellite Systems such as those introduced by Hughes Communications and USSB United States Satellite Broadcasting, Inc. The term for commercial satellite dishes used for this system is DirectTV which will compete actively with full-service cable TV. Since 120 channel capacity is expected on small 18-inch home satellite dishes, it becomes much more feasible to bring remote education into homes, schools, and offices. For a review of DSS, see Barcroft (1993). (See also Teleconference)

DSU= The abbreviation for Digital Services Unit, DSU replaces the modem in synchronous connections to the Internet.

DTD = Document Type Definition A document type definition (DTD) that follows the rules of the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). A DTD is a specification that accompanies a document and identifies what the funny little codes (or markup) are that separate paragraphs, identify topic headings, and so forth and how each is to be processed. For example, the most common DTD in web documents is HTML. DTD is vital to extracting SGML and XML from web documents and databases that are not marked up with SGML or XML. See wrapper.

DTP = can stand for DeskTop Publishing or Distributed Transaction Processing. Anthony Frey on Network Computing Online, October 24, 1997 compares four middleware DTP monitors and states the following at http://techweb.cmp.com/nc/820/820r1.html

If someone told you Microsoft Windows 2000 is a better application server than Novell NetWare or Unix, what kind of applications would they be talking about? Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes? No. Oracle? Not likely. A Web server? Definitely not. In most cases these folks are refering to distributed transaction processing (DTP) monitors. When networking vendors claim "one billion transactions per day" or quote Transaction Processing Council TPC-C benchmark results, they're talking about DTP.

These often-overlooked middleware packages provide the essential communications and other services that enable business logic to be hosted on distributed servers in the middle tier. This business logic is made up of real applications--applications that are vital to most enterprise line-of-business operations. DTP monitors ensure complete transactional integrity for transactions between distributed relational database management systems (RDBMSes). Perhaps more than any other type of middleware, DTP monitors have enabled true three-tier client/server computing.

See also Database and Middleware.

DVD= (See CD-DVD)

DVD-RAM= (See CD-DVD)

DVI= Digital Video Interactive video compression hardware and standard developed by the Moving Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) before MPEG video boards hit the market. DVI is a form of compressed full-motion video for computer file storage. Full-motion video at over 30 frames per second takes up so much digitized storage that video must be compressed to make it more useful in hypermedia. DVI was an early compression option that required special and somewhat expensive DVI hardware installation inside the computer of both authors and users (readers) of hypermedia materials. New technology allows for video compression without such expensive hardware. MPEG hardware for video coded compression and decompression seems to be taking over the recent market share lead over DVI largely due to quality of the MPEG and options emerging after DVI. At present, it is not clear whether MPEG or DVI/Indeo will emerge as the international standard with greatest market acceptance. Many analysts are betting on MPEG at the moment. (See also Video for Windows, QuickTime, Compression, Video, Indeo, MCI, Ultimedia Video, and MPEG)

E-Terms

ECCH= European Case Clearing House, Cranfield Institute of Technology, Beds, MK43 0AL, United Kingdom (also at Babson College in Babson Park, Wellesley, MA 02157). The ECCH now offers an on line network server for international cases. Although none of the cases are, as yet, in hypertext or hypermedia format, it is a useful feature to have cases available for file transfer on the Internet. (See also HBSP)

E-Business = (See E-Business).

Echo= return response between a host server and a terminal computer. It is generally coded to be "on" or "off." If echo is "on" (full duplex), the host will send back every character the user types in. If echo is "off" (half duplex), the host will not send back the characters, and the user's local computer or terminal writes each character to the screen directly. This can be confusing to new users if the state of the echo parameter is different on the host computer and the user's computer.

EDI= The abbreviation for Electronic Data Interchange or Electronic Data Invoicing. The EDI system allows linked computers to conduct business transactions such as ordering and invoicing over telecommunications networks. The technology dates back to the 1970s when the first attempts at setting uniform standards commenced. However, EDI in telecommunications never lived up to its expectations largely due to high fees of Value Added Network (VAN) providers that, prior to the Internet usage, charged both monthly and transaction fees. In the late 1990s, EDI became less costly (as low as 10% of former VAN costs) when business applications exploded on the Internet and in intranets. The ultimate goal of EDI is to have standardized computer forms for business transactions and networking of nearly all aspects business transactions. This would greatly simplify use of networks to conduct business, accounting for transactions, and auditing. See "Intranets and Iternet: New Life for EDI," in Information Week, March 17, 1997, pp 65-67. Gradually EDI is being taken over by extranet networks on the Internet. See Extranet.

EDGAR = Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval database of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). EDGAR contains the digitized versions of many corporate filings, including 10Q quarterly and 10K annual financial reports of registered corporations and mutual funds.

The main EDGAR URL is at http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm .

An EDGAR tutorial is available at http://www.sec.gov/edgar/quickedgar.htm
The EDGAR database is one probably the most widely used database by investors and financial analysts. The drawback is that many of the filings are very long, sometimes exceeding 300 pages. Searching is usually tedious and requires considerable financial searching and accounting skills. Until filings are marked up in XBRL, the searching EDGAR will be tedious.

Currently, there are some corporate Web sites to aid in searching for EDGAR data. One of the best known is EDGAR Online at http://www.edgar-online.com/. EDGAR Online uses enhanced parsing technologies to quickly extract the popular data most often sought after by investors. Added services include email alerts, multiple file formates, and spreadsheet downloads. One of EDGAR Online's most popular services is a sales lead geration product called Wealth ID. This provides personal wealth information about individuals who file SEC Form 144 regarding sales of restricted stock.

Another help site is called EDGAR Advantage at http://www.edgaradvantage.com/resources.htm .This is more of a consulting site for EDGAR filers than users.

Education grants= (See Funding)

EDUCOM= A group of cooperating colleges and universities dedicated to advancing computer and network communications technology in education. EDUCOM coordinates newsletters and other publishing efforts along with conferences and related activities. For free publication subscriptions, contact EDUCOM, 1112 16th St. NW, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036 (202-872-4200).

EduQuest= A revitalized system of multimedia hardware and software packages from IBM Corporation. The system primarily targets the K-12 education system in the United States. The new system is designed to be more powerful with networked PCs and a variety of Plug and Play adapters for auxiliary components.

EISA= (See Bus)

Electronic classroom= A large or small classroom filled with multimedia devices. The usual context is that of a lecture hall where the instructor has fingertip control of multimedia aids such as computer images, video tape images, videodisc images, audio, CD-ROM players, Internet connections, cameras that transfer images to large screens, etc. Some electronic classrooms have student response hardware such as response pads or even computer terminals. Usually, however, the electronic classroom is not viewed in the same context as a computer/multimedia lab or a language lab. In a lab setting the student usually works alone or in small teams in front of computers. In an electronic classroom, the instructor is usually focusing the attention of the entire class upon the same learning media. However, labs can be equipped with central screens so that combinations of instructor-focused materials can be combined with individual learning. Large lecture halls can also be equipped with students who combine large lectures with "studio classroom learning." See DeLoughry (1995a). (See also Studio classroom)

Electronic Jamming (See Security)

E-mail or email= Electronic mail transmitted between millions of users connected on networks worldwide. Messages are exchanged instantaneously, usually at zero marginal cost to users, thereby saving greatly on national or international telephone and express mail fees. Messages may be stored in computer files and processed at a user's convenience. Precautionary advice is given under ActiveX. (See also Internet, Internet Messaging, Instant Messaging, SLIP, and USENet)

For more about email virus risks and email attachment risks, see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce/assurance.htm


Email groups are like listservs with the distinction that a webmaster sets up designated members and one cannot simply "subscribe" to join the list or depart from the list. Since listservs are more complicated for webmasters to set up, the web master will usually recommend setting up an email group for a relatively fixed group. For example, the Department of Business Administration has a group address business-all@trinity.edu Staff in this department all receive any message sent to this address. However, no person can "subscribe" to or "unsubscribe from" the list with a simple email message like can be done with a listserv. Only the webmaster can add and remove members from the email group.

Forums can be listservs, email groups, or web sites programmed for input of user messages. The key distinction in being designated a "forum" is that there is a manager (moderator, editor, czar, steering committee, or what have you) who "runs" the thing to stimulate messaging on certain topics, follow-ups to messages, and generally keeps the thing moving in certain directions or blocks moving in other directions. The manager usually has an "official" appointment. For example, Southwestern Publishing as designated a famous author to manage a forum on certain types of topics. Often forums depend upon the reputation or power of the manager. An author or publisher may establish a forum for a given book or subset of related books.

Chat rooms entail messaging at designated times such that email discussions are more like conference calls.


Emulation= (See Native)

Encryption= cryptographic conversion of data into ciphertext in order to prevent any but the intended recipient from reading that data. There are many types of data encryption, and they are the basis of network security. Common types include Data Encryption Standard and public-key encryption.

(See Security)

eNetwork Software= (See IBM)

Enterprise= A synonym for business, mainly big business. The enterprise computing market is typically the corporations that buy hardware and software and use them to run their operations.

EPG= Electronic Program Guide that displays scheduled shows on screen such as TV Guide On Screen.

ERP = (See SAP).

ERIC= Educational Resources Information Center documents database that contains a variety of resources to educators, especially teachers in K-12 schools. (See also Telnet)

ESH= Electronic Super Highway. (See Information highway)

ERP = (See SAP.)

Ethernet= A widely used interface data processing scheme for managing data transfers on network. An ethernet board (card) must be put into the computer for network connections. It can network a wide variety of computers, it is not proprietary, and components are widely available from many commercial sources.

Evaluation= (See Assessment)

Event handler= A special type of function that executes automatically when a particular user-enabled, system-enabled, or code-generated event occurs.

eWorld= A commercial world-wide network launched by Apple Corporation to compete with Interchange, CompuServe, Prodigy, and America Online. Key features of eWorld include its ease of use and graphical interface. The major limitation is that its use is restricted to Mac operating systems. A second drawback according to Mossberg (1994c) is that eWorld uses older technology revised from America Online. (See also Networks, CompuServe, Internet, Prodigy, Interchange, and America Online)

Execution flow= The section of code that the application executes, depending on branching decisions.

Expanded memory= (See RAM)

Expansion board/slot= (See Board)

Expert systems= (See Artificial Intelligence)

Explorer = (See Web browsers)

Express Author = A front end to Asymetrix Multimedia ToolBook that performs automatic scripting to both speed authoring and aid ToolBook novices. The software was developed at the IAT. This front end is mainly an aid to beginning authors who do not plan to become ToolBook experts. (See also Authoring and IAT)

Extended memory = (See RAM)

eXstensible Style Language (XSL) = (See HTML)

External Viewer= A program used for presenting graphics, audio and video files. Programs that allow the viewing of GIF and JPEG files and the hearing of AU files fall into this category.

Extractor = (See Wrapper).

Extranet= a term depicting networks on the Internet dedicated to business communications between a vendor and its suppliers, customers, or dealers. The term originated from network pioneer Robert Metcalfe. Using the common format of the World Wide Web, companies, their suppliers, customers, or suppliers exchange data electronically rather than sending paper-based information back and forth. It is viewed as an Internet alternative to Electronic Data Interchange comprised of dedicated lines and software rather than the Internet. Extranets are a lower cost alternative to EDI. For example, see "Toshiba Debuts Extranet" in Information Week, October 20, 1997, p. 36. Therein it is stated that nearly all of Toshiba's 350 independent dealers will be ordering products and parts via a secure extranet. FedEx now offers a BusinessLink extranet service with intent on handling the accounting for transactions as well as delivery of product. Competitors either are or will soon offer similar extranets. See EDI, Internet, and Intranet.


F-Terms

FAQ= This is the acronym for Frequently Asked Questions. A common feature on the Internet, FAQs are files of answers to commonly asked questions. Read FAQs before wasting electrons asking obvious questions. Saves you from receiving flames.

FC-AL = (See SSA.)

Fax= Devices for transmitting and receiving photocopies over telephone lines. Text and graphics may be printed on paper or stored in computer files. Text is received as a graphic and must be translated by specialized software to be stored as text files for word processors. (See also PDA)



FDMA= (See Wireless Glossary of Terms)

Fiber optic= Cable that carries light pulses instead of electrical current. A cable comprised of a multitude of fine glass fibers has much more capacity than the previously popular copper cable. (See also Information highway, Networks, and Sonet)

Fiber Optics Terms from "Fiber to the School Desk," in T.H.E. Magazine, November 2001, p. 26 --- http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/vault/A3709B.cfm FIBER OPTICS TERMS
Category 5e (Enhanced) - A category of performance for inside wire and cable. Used in support of signaling rates of up to 100 MHz over distances of up to 100 meters. Calls for tighter twists, electrical balancing between pairs and fewer cable anomalies. CAT5e is intended to support 100 Base-T, ATM and Gigabit Ethernet.

Cisco IP/TV - A comprehensive network video-streaming system for businesses, schools and governmental organizations. Using network-efficient multicast technology it delivers TV-quality live video programming.

Fiber Optics - A technology in which light is used to transport information from one point to another. More specifically, fiber optics are thin filaments of glass through which light beams are transmitted over long distances carrying enormous amounts of data.

Hub - The point of a network where circuits are connected. Also, a switching node. In Local Area Networks, a hub is the core of a star as in ARCNET, StarLAN, Ethernet and Token Ring. Hub hardware can be either active or passive. Wiring hubs are useful for their centralized management capabilities and for their ability to isolate nodes from disruption.

IDF - Intermediate Distribution Frame. A metal rack designed to connect cables, located in equipment or in a closet. Consists of components that provide the connection between the interbuilding and intrabuilding cabling, i.e. between the Main Distribution Frame (MDF) and individual phone wiring. There's usually a permanent, large cable running between the MDF and IDF. The changes in wiring are done at the IDF, preventing confusion in wiring.

MDF - Main Distribution Frame. A wiring arrangement that connects external telephone lines on one side and the internal lines on the other. A main distribution frame may also carry protective devices as well as function as a central testing point.

MTRJ - A small form-factor style of fiber optic connector that is defined by its high-density footprint and RJ45 locking mechanism.

Multimode - An optical fiber designed to allow light to carry multiple carrier signals, distinguished by frequency or phase, at the same time. (Contrasts with singlemode.)

SC - Designation for an optical connector featuring a 2.5 mm physically contacting ferrule with a push-pull mating design. This connector is recommended in the TIA/EIA-568A Standard for structured cabling.

ST - Designation for the "straight tip" connector developed by AT&T. This optical connector features a physically contacting, nonrotating 2.5 mm ferrule design and bayonet connector-to-adapter mating.

Singlemode - A fiber that allows only a single mode of light to propagate. This eliminates the main limitation to bandwidth, modal dispersion.


Fiero Online= The Princeton University online art class on Fiero del Fancesca, an Italian 15th century Renaissance artist. This is an Iris Silicon Graphics high-end database library with scanned images of frescoes and a three-dimensional walking tour on computer for students. Students also construct their own models. This is considered one of the most successful CAL applications in universities.

File attributes= Access rights attached to each file.

File server= A computer running a network operating system that enables other computers to access its files.

File transfer= The ability to transfer text, graphics, software, spreadsheets, audio files, and video files over vast distances on computer networks such as the Internet. For example, the entire works of Shakespeare can be downloaded from Dartmouth College and government documents may be transferred from the Library of Congress. (See also FTP, Internet, and SLIP)

Finger= An Internet protocol used to find out more information about an Internet user. (See also Cookies)

Finger gateway= A source listing of graphics images that have been placed around the world on the Internet. (See also Mosaic)

Firewall= Go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/firewall.htm

Also see security.

FireWire = (See Bus.)

Flash = the name of a software product from Macromedia that is intended for more efficient Internet delivery of graphics and other media.

Flatbed= (See Scanner)

flc/fli= File extensions for animations conforming to Autodesk formats. With appropriate changes in the win.ini file, most PC computers will play back these animations without having Autodesk software installed. (See also Animation)

FM synthesis= The least-expensive method for producing synthesized sound. FM synthesis uses one sine wave to control the frequency of another. Most synthesizers built into PC audio boards and sound modules use more sophisticated synthesis techniques for greater accuracy in reproducing the sounds of different instruments.

FMV= Full Motion Video depicting video at 30 or more fps. (See also Video)

Fouth Generation Database Languages = (See 4GL Database Languages.)

fps= frames per second in video. Typical "full-motion" video in television and movies is 30 fps, but in digitized video such high fps rates are not yet common. Apple's QuickTime and Microsoft's Video for Windows typically run at 12 to 18 fps. (See also Video)

Freenets= Bulletin board services that are funded by individuals and organizations dedicated to making information freely available on networks. They operate much like public libraries through the National Public Telecommunication Network (NPTN.). Users can connect through modems or through Internet terminals. An example of a freenet is the "campus look-alike" Cleveland Freenet operated by Case Western Reserve University. (See also CWIS and BBS)

FTP= File Transfer Protocol used for downloading files on the Internet. Listings of ftp sites are available from Mosaic. (See also File transfer, Remote login, Mosaic, and Protocol)

File Transfers Across the Internet: The following article reviews the history and FTP options:
"FTP: For The People," by Michael Calore, Webmonkey, August 30, 2002 --- http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/02/36/index4a.html

Full-duplex= In full duplex communication, the terminal transmits and receives data simultaneously.

Function= An instruction to the application that performs operations or returns a value, or both.

Funding= The raising of funds for hardware, software, and development. Grants are available from a variety of sources as noted in Chapter 3. Funding grants are available from a variety of sources tracked in the newsletters listed in Appendix 4. A directory of some funding sources is given by Eckstein (1991). Summaries of grants and assistance in writing grant proposals can be found in Columns, Spring 1994, p. 3. The CETA Newsletter tracks funding sources for accounting educators. Summer fellowships are also available from Teletraining Institute (405-744-7510). Apple Corporation offers a variety of funding sources for Mac and PowerPC users. (See also Delta Project)


G-Terms

GainMomentum= The high-end $10,000 hypertext and hypermedia authoring software package from Sybase (800-879-2273). Features of this amazing, albeit expensive, software are reviewed in Morph's Outpost, September 1994, p. 1 ff, and in NewMedia 1995 Tool Guide, p. 25. Sybase is the first leading-edge vendor to offer serious database networking utilities for hypermedia and cross-platform utilities between UNIX, Windows, and Windows 2000. The main competitor at the high-end level will be ScriptX, although at this juncture it is not certain that ScriptX will match GainMomentum in database, networking, and Windows 2000 capabilities. (See also Cross-platform, Authoring, and ScriptX)

Games= Interactive entertainment programs that can be played back on computers or special playing machines connected to television sets. Some games are sold on compact discs that can either be played in CD-ROM drives connected to computers or CD players that are proprietary. For example, Sega games play on Sega players, Data Discman games play on Data Discman players, CD-I games play on CD-I players, etc. Games are generally authored by game vendors and cannot be modified or updated for education uses by users. Educators who think that their students are spending many hours in computer labs for academic purposes may discover that a large portion of computer lab time is taken up with game playing. More research needs to be conducted on the fascination of games so that educators can make better use of building these motivational factors into more serious learning materials. According to Pereira (1994), CD-ROM games are overtaking market leaders such as Sega and Nintendo that captured the early game markets with players that were not compatible with PC, Mac, or other desktop computers. Games are popular and addictive, in part, due to the release of endorphins in the brain, especially among women according to Carlton (1994a). (See also MUDs)

Gateways= Are connectors between two or more dissimilar networks that facilitate communication in such instances. Gateways have their own processors to perform both protocol and bandwidth conversions. Gateways between the Outernet and the Internet translate different protocols such as e-mail protocols of different networks into Internet protocols. (See also Internet, Mosaic, Finger Gateway, Whois Gateway, and Outernets)

GDI= Graphics Device Interfaces link graphics hardware devices with the CPU. Much of the power of graphics processing depends upon whether the system has 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, or 64-bit graphics power. Limitations of customer hardware often detract from the ability to develop operating systems to take full advantage of graphics power. For example, when developing Windows Chicago for 32-bit processors, Microsoft Corporation had to leave 16-bit GDI capacity on its 32-bit operating system.

Gershwin= The name given to Apple's planned operating system 9.0 for Mac and PowerPC computers. New features were to include advanced speed recognition, interfacing that adapts to individual users, and new microkernal architecture. However, the System 9.0 has been abandoned in favor of an entirely new operating system called Rhapsody. Apple's hopes are riding heavily upon the evolution of a new operating system called Rhapsody that is a revolutinary operating system based upon NEXTStep technology. (See also Mac, PowerPC, Operating system, Copeland, Gershwin, and Rhapsody)

GIF= This acronym stands for Graphic Interchange Format, a commonly used file compression format developed by CompuServe for transferring graphics files to and from online services. This is an extremely popular standard because it is so widely read in graphics software alternatives and is commonly used as the "GIF" file extensions of images carried on bulletin boards and transported across networks. A major drawback is the loss of color depth in GIF compression. Animated GIFs are popular at web sites. Click here for some links to Animated Gif Construction. (See alsoJPEG)

GINA= A graphical interface (formerly known as GUIDE) for the Internet. This is a low-cost option for graphically interfacing with e-mail, bulletin boards, databases, library catalogs, news services, and conferencing. Contact California Technology Project, P.O. Box 3842, Dept. PRG, Seal Beach, CA 90740-7842 (310-985-9631). The e-mail address is kvogt@eis.calstate.edu.

Gnutella/Napster = (See Napster/Gnutella )

Gopher= A menu-driven and user-friendly system of Internet sites that facilitate searching and browsing of documents and files around the world. Gopher has been largely overtaken by more modern web browsers (see Web browsers). Gopher was the first system that communicated easily between different types of operating systems and computer installations. The term "Gopher" arises from the fact that the system originated with graduate students at the site of the "Golden Gophers" at the University of Minnesota. The Gopher is one of the most popular of various menu-driven systems such as WAIS and World Wide Web. NOTIS Systems (708-866-0150) developed a Windows' front end to Gopher that is described in THE Journal, March 1994, p. 39. A graphical interface called WinGopher is available from NOTIS Systems Inc., 1007 Church Street, Evanston, IL 60201-3665 (800-556-6847). Gopher became very popular on the Internet, but it is now being replaced by a similar and more graphics-oriented system called Mosaic that has Gopher services available. (See also GINA, Mosaic, Internet, and SLIP)

Gopherspace= A term used to describe the entire gopher network.

GPS= Global Positioning System hardware that facilitates navigation via satellites. There are now versions for automobiles that have LCD screens to show maps and present vehicle location.

Grants= (See Funding)

Graphics = Computer images that contain pictures, drawings, and other forms of imagery other than text. Popular file extensions for graphics files are bmp, pcx, tif, and cgm. See CGM for a discussion of graphics that will cross platforms between Mac and PC computers. The best-buy graphics software options are ranked in PC Computing, December 1994, p. 205. Software options for 3-D rendering on the web are reviewed in the NewMedia, May 5 1998, pp. 52-64. The NewMedia web site is at http://www.newmedia.com Those authoring packages rated as "Awesome" include Live Picture Reality Studio at http://www.livepicture.com (800-724-7900) and Platinum Technology VRCreator at http://www.platinum.com (800-442-6861). There are many other options rated as "Thumbs Up" or "Does the Job." (See also 2-D, 3-D, SVG, and Paintbrush software)

Graphics adapter= The hardware inside a computer that enables the computer to display graphics on the screen. In contrast to Mac computers, PCs have a larger variety of graphics adapters that complicate compatibility between different PCs. In the early days, the PC standard was the Color Graphics Adapter (CGA) that, by today's standards, is low resolution and low in color combinations. This was replaced by EGA Enhanced Graphics Adapter and then VGA Video Graphics Array having a standard 480 lines vertical and 640 pixels horizontal resolution. Today Super VGA extensions (to at least 600 lines vertical and 800 pixels horizontal) are the choice among most PC users for whom graphics displays are important. Be aware, however, that there are different Super VGA resolutions and monitor options that can affect the compatibility of graphics images among different PCs. Also be aware that LCD panels are not able to handle the higher resolutions of cathode ray monitors; therefore, images may not look as good during class delivery as they did on a monitor during the authoring process. The top-rated graphics adapters at the end of 1994 are Impression Plus (Rank 1) with 4Mb of video RAM from Matrox (514-685-2630), Imagine-128 (Rank 2) with 4Mb of video RAM from Number Nine (800-438-6463), and Graphics Pro Turbo (Rank 3) with 4Mb of video RAM from ATI (905-882-2600) according to PC Computing, December 1994, p. 140. A good company with computer to video interfaces isExtron. (See also AB style switches and LCD)

Grid Computing

IBM Bets Future on Grid Computing

Whatis Definition of Grid Computing --- http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/sDefinition
/0,,sid26_gci773157,00.html

Grid computing (or the use of a computational grid) is applying the resources of many computers in a network to a single problem at the same time - usually to a scientific or technical problem that requires a great number of computer processing cycles or access to large amounts of data. A well-known example of grid computing in the public domain is the ongoing SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) @Home project in which thousands of people are sharing the unused processor cycles of their PCs in the vast search for signs of "rational" signals from outer space. According to John Patrick, IBM's vice-president for Internet strategies, "the next big thing will be grid computing."
Grid computing requires the use of software that can divide and farm out pieces of a program to as many as several thousand computers. Grid computing can be thought of as distributed and large-scale cluster computing and as a form of network-distributed parallel processing. It can be confined to the network of computer workstations within a corporation or it can be a public collaboration (in which case it is also sometimes known as a form of peer-to-peer computing).

A number of corporations, professional groups, university consortiums, and other groups have developed or are developing frameworks and software for managing grid computing projects. The European Community (EU) is sponsoring a project for a grid for high-energy physics, earth observation, and biology applications. In the United States, the National Technology Grid is prototyping a computational grid for infrastructure and an access grid for people. Sun Microsystems offers Grid Engine software. Described as a distributed resource management (DRM) tool, Grid Engine allows engineers at companies like Sony and Synopsys to pool the computer cycles on up to 80 workstations at a time. (At this scale, grid computing can be seen as a more extreme case of load balancing.)

Grid computing appears to be a promising trend for three reaons: (1) its ability to make more cost-effective use of a given amount of computer resources, (2) as a way to solve problems that can't be approached without an enormous amount of computing power, and (3) because it suggests that the resources of many computers can be cooperatively and perhaps synergistically harnessed and managed as a collaboration toward a common objective. In some grid computing systems, the computers may collaborate rather than being directed by one managing computer. One likely area for the use of grid computing will be pervasive computing applications - those in which computers pervade our environment without our necessary awareness.


Read more about it at:
> Terena offers a list of links to organizations working with grid computing.
> Sun Microsystems provides a press release about its Grid Engine.
> "Harnessing the Power of Grid Computing" describes simulations involving Einstein's General Relativity equations.
> The Peer-to-Peer Working Group is fostering the advancement of infrastructure best practices.



From ADT Trends Newsletter on May 13, 2002

E-Business

IBM: May the Grid be with you By John K. Waters

IBM (www.ibm.com) used last week's developerWorks Live conference in San Francisco as a platform for touting the Grid computing paradigm as well as unveiling new open standards-based integration software; new developer tools; and to announce new strategic partnerships, new partner program offerings and new developer support offerings.

But the real buzz at this year's show was generated by IBM's continued push into grid computing, which the firm defines as a persistent environment that enables software applications to integrate instruments, displays, computational and information resources that are managed by diverse organizations in widespread locations. And the company is betting big on its potential.

IBM's interest in grid computing is not new. Last year, company reps were touting it as vital in the evolution of computing. Last November, Irving Wladawsky-Berger, vice president of technology and strategy in IBM's Server Group, called grid computing the "key to advancing e-business into the future and the next step in the evolution of the Internet towards a true computing platform." He predicted that commercial uses of grid computing will soon emerge, and that the model will eventually serve as a vast infrastructure for e-business. Last week, Wladawsky-Berger was again IBM's point man for grid computing, declaring that "the grand challenge now is marrying Web services and grid computing."

Observers said Big Blue jumped to the head of the Grid pack last week by joining forces with Butterfly.net Inc. ( www.butterfly.net) , to deploy the first-ever custom commercial grid for the online video gaming market. The Butterfly Grid is designed to support so-called Massively-Multiplayer Games (MMGs), which pits millions of gamers worldwide against each other within the same game in real time.

Butterfly.net, a development studio, online publisher, and infrastructure provider for MMGs, built its Grid over the last two years using IBM e-business infrastructure technology. The Butterfly Grid is powered by rack-mounted Linux-based IBM eServer xSeries systems hosted by IBM and running on internal fiber-optic networks for optimal use of computing and communications resources. The grid design offers the potential to support over one million simultaneous players from each facility in a 24/7 environment with automatic fail over capability.

Butterfly.net officials said the open source Globus Toolkit ( www.globus.com ) was used to build its gaming grid. The Globus Project is a multi-institutional research and development effort creating fundamental technologies for computational grids. IBM also used Globus technologies to build its grid, described by IBM as a "geographically distributed supercomputer linking IBM research and development labs in the United States, Israel, Switzerland, Japan and England."

IBM officials describe the Butterfly Grid as a key commercial innovation. "We believe the Butterfly Grid is a breakthrough platform that will help entertainment, media and game companies reduce costs and better deploy their entertainment properties online," said Scott Penberthy, vice president of business development in IBM's global services group.

The Butterfly Grid is available as a fully managed service, as a packaged software license, or as a complete hardware/software solution.

Also see CFML, Database, DTP, GainMomentum, JDBC, Middleware, Relational database management, SAP, Resource Description Framework, and 4GL Database Languages.

Group= A collection of users.

Group rights= Rights given to a collection of users.

Groupware= software applications that facilitate shared work over long distances on documents and information. Groupware supports person-to-person collaborations and includesLotus Notes,Livelink from Open Text Intranets, E-mail, Silent Meeting Systems, Videoconferencing, etc. A good reference for groupware is found in http://www.collaborate.com/chapt1.html. Netscape's discussion of groupware is at http://home.netscape.com/comprod/products/communicator/faq.html. See also Collaboration and CMC.

GSM = (See Wireless Glossary of Terms)

GUI= An acronym for Graphical User Interface, this term refers to a software front-end meant to provide an attractive and easy to use interface between a computer user and application, which historically gave rise to the icon-based operating system of Apple Corporation computers. The GUI concept actually had its origins in Xerox Corporation's Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in the early 1970s. However, it was Apple Corporation who eventually exploited the technology that is now the fundamental basis of Mac, Windows, and other GUI operating systems that perform commands based upon bit-mapped graphics icons. This paved the way for object-oriented systems of the 1990s. (See also Mac and Windows) A decade of the revolution in GUI and hypermedia Mac computing is celebrated in a book by Levy (1994) that is given an extensive review in Time Magazine, January 31, 1994, pp. 93-94. (See also America Online)


H-Terms

Hacker = (See Phreaker.)

Half duplex= In half duplex communication, the terminal transmits and receives data in separate, consecutive operations.

Handicapped = (See Disabilities.)

Handshaking= A set of commands recognized by the sending and receiving stations that control the flow of data transmission.

Hard drive= A "hard disc" file storage disc (usually a magnetic disc) on a computer that has higher storage capacity and faster access time (e.g., under 20 ms) than slower devices such as floppy disc drives and optical disc (e.g., CD-ROM) drives. This is not the same as memory or random access memory (RAM). Usually the term "hard drive" refers to rigid discs coated with magnetic material. Fast hard discs are compared and reviewed in NewMedia, November 1994, p. 103. (See also RAM, Flash memory, RAID, and CD)

Hawthorne Effects= refer to distortions and possibly non-sustaining effects of a treatment just because its newness captures more of an individual's attentiveness. In double blind studies of the impact of technologies upon learning, Hawthorne effects are particularly troublesome. Students are more apt to be more attentive to newer technologies simply because they are "new" curiosities. Positive results on learning impacts may not be sustaining, however, after the novelty and curiosity factors decline with repeated use of the technology over time.

HBSP= Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston MA 02163 (800-545-7685). Although most noted for its hard copy publishing of cases and journals, HBSP has gone somewhat high tech with CD-ROM cases and catalogs listed on the Internet. Most CD-ROM options, unfortunately, do not include hypertext or hypermedia animations, audio, and video segments. A noted exception is the hypermedia video disc entitled Managing International Business by Harvard's Christopher Bartlett and INSEAD's Sumatra Ghoshal that is marketed by Course Technology (800-648-7450). A review is given in Harvard Business School Teaching Publications, Spring 1994, pp 1-3. Details of CD-ROM by Bartlett and Ghoshal are provided in Appendix 1. The Gopher address of HBSP is CATALOG@HBSCAT.HARVARD.EDU and the Telnet address is HBSCAT.HARVARD.EDU. E-mail may be addressed to HBSCAT@CCHBSPUB.HARVARD.EDU. The catalog is also available on floppy disc. (See also ECCH)

HDTV= High-Definition TV in digitized formats that will eventually replace present analog formats in 16:9 wide-screen TV. The Japanese version of HDTV is not truly the fully-digitized version broadcast system intended for the United States by the end of the year 2000. (See also Intercast,IDTV, Wide-screen TV, Video, and Videodisc-digital)

Helper app= (See Plug-in)

HERF Guns and EMP Bombs (See Security)

Hertz= Unit of measure that equals a frequency of one cycle per second. (See also Bandwidth, bps, Kilohertz, and megahertz)

Hi-8= A professional-quality format for high-end video cameras. Whereas the standard consumer resolution 8mm camera records 250 lines, the Hi-8 versions record 400 lines or more so as to produce more detail in video images.

HL= Hyper-Learning using hypertext, hypermedia, and computer networks. Authors like Perelman (1993) tend to use the term in the context of learning from servers on an information highway such as the Internet after multimedia transmissions become more common. (See also JITT and Hypermedia)

Hologram= (See 3-D)

Home Page= The document displayed when you first open your Web browser. Home Page can also refer to the first document you come to at a Web site.

HOP = (See Internet Messaging).

Host= A computer acting as an information or communications server.

Hot spots= Buttons or other programmable objects that can activate objects or linked events.

Hotlink= (See Hyperlink)

Hotlists= Lists of frequently used Web locations and URLs (Uniform Resource Locators).

Hotword= (See Hyperlink)

HP/UX= Hewlett-Packard Unix operating system. Hewlett-Packard also uses other operating systems such as its own proprietary MPE and NEXTStep. (See also Operating system and Unix)

HTML= An acronym for a HyperText Markup Language DTD. HTML is the language used to tag various parts of a Web document so browsing software will know how to display that document's links, text, graphics and attached media. Your are viewing an HTML document at this moment. The popular HTML and the emerging HTML are subsets of the GML text scripting conceived in1969 IBM researchers depicting Generalized Markup Languages (and not-so-coincidentally the lead researchers were named Goldfarb, Mosher, and Lorie). Between 1978 and 1987, Dr. Charles F. Goldfarb led the team that developed the SGML Standard GML that is became International Standard ISO 8879. In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee led a team of particle physicists that invented the World Wide Web using a very small part of SGML that became the widely known and used scripting language known as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). SGML is tremendously powerful but inefficient and complex. HTML is marvelously simple but not very powerful. In 1996, Jon Bosak of Sun Microsystems to spearheaded the development of the XML standard to lend power, efficiency, cross-platform standards, and simplicity to the networking of databases on the Internet. At the time of this writing, the world is converging upon an important standard known as RDF (Resource Description Framework) rooted in XML that will be the biggest thing to hit the Internet since HTML hit the Internet in 1991.

For my detailed review of XML, SMIL, XBRL, and RDF see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/xmlrdf.htm

XBRL= eXtensible Business Reporting Language. This is an extension of XML metatag technology key terminologies in business, accounting, and financial reporting. The major purpose is to allow users to locate and analyze financial reports or portions of financial reports in a manner that is far more efficient and effective than using traditional search engines and EDGAR utilities.

The main starting point in understanding XBRL is the XBRL Home Page at http://www.xbrl.org/

XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is a royalty-free, open specification for software that uses XML data tags to describe financial information for public and private companies and other organizations. XBRL benefits all members of the financial information supply chain.

XBRL is:

· A standards-based method with which users can prepare, publish in a variety of formats, exchange and analyze financial statements and the information they contain.

· Licensed royalty-free worldwide by XBRL International, a non-profit consortium consisting of over 140 leading companies, associations, and government agencies around the world.

· Permits the automatic exchange and reliable extraction of financial information across all software formats and technologies, including the Internet.

· Benefits all users of the financial information supply chain: public and private companies, the accounting profession, regulators, analysts, the investment community, capital markets and lenders, as well as key third parties such as software developers and data aggregators.

· Does not require a company to disclose any additional information beyond that which they normally disclose under existing accounting standards. Does not require a change to existing accounting standards.

· Improves access to financial information by improving the form of the information and making it more appropriate for the Internet.

· Reduces the need to enter financial information more than one time, reducing the risk of data entry error and eliminating the need to manually key information for various formats, (printed financial statement, an HTML document for a company's Web site, an EDGAR filing document, a raw XML file or other specialized reporting formats such as credit reports and loan documents) thereby lowering a company's cost to prepare and distribute its financial statements while improving investor or analyst access to information.

· Leverages efficiencies of the Internet as today's primary source of financial information. More than 80% of major US public companies provide some type of financial disclosure on the Internet, and the majority of information that investors use to make decisions comes to them via the Internet.

XBRL meets the needs of today's investors and other users of financial information by providing accurate and reliable information to help them make informed financial decisions.
Note that early in the Year 2000, XFRML at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants had a name change to XBRL. http://www.xfrml.org/

Efforts are underway to create standards for a new Dynamic HTML (DHTML) in a Document Object Model (DOM). However, progress is slow and will take years according to "A Tangled Web of Standards," in Internet Week, September 27, 1997, p. 1. For more on the WWW Consortium dealing with such issues, see http://www.w3.org/. A problem with DHTML is that it is inefficient and requires too many scripts to perform simple tasks. Moving beyond DHTML is Extensible Markup Language (XML) originating with Goldfarb and Bosak for putting tags on web pages to facilitate more efficient web searches. The XML term is misnamed in the sense that it is not technically a markup language. XML is becoming popular for business operations and web sites. For a review of XML see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/xmlrdf.htm. See wrapper.

Some key terms for XML:

Document Object Model (DOM) = a platform-independent and language-independent API that compiles an XML document into an internal tree structure and provides access to components and underlying data.


Document Type Definition (DTD) = a template that defines allowable structures in XML. DTD serves for checking validity in terms of XML.


eXtensible Style Languate (XSL) = pre-definined XML tags that define the XML data templates and formatting information for XML. XSL contains rules for transforming XML documents into other formats.


XML parser = a program that parses an XML document. A parser is a program that receives input from sequential source program instructions, interactive online commands, markup tags, or some other defined interface and breaks them up into parts (for example, the nouns (objects), verbs (methods), and their attributes or options) that can then be managed by other programming (for example, other components in a compiler). A parser may also check to see that all input has been provided that is necessary.
The Micrrosoft 2000 upgrades make use of HTML, DHTML, and XML. For example, it is possible to save an interactive Excel workbook or an Excel chart as a dynamic HTML document. For an illustrations, go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/dhtml/excel01.htm. Also see Round Tripping.

For a review of HTML and network databases, see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/260wp/260wp.htm.

See Round Tripping.

See ASP.

See CFML

Advantages of HTML

Easy to use with low-cost software (ranging from zero to $150 in most cases for HTML converters/editors). The latest word processing upgrades have limited HTML converters and editors included in the upgrade.

Both HTML authors and users can be trained easily and inexpensively.

HTML documents can be stored in cache such that the server is not tied up every time the client user wants to return to an HTML file (files can be stored in the browser's cache for short periods of time even if the user does not formally download and save the HTML file in a designated directory).

HTML documents can be easily printed using browser menu choices (linked graphics appear on pages as if they were pasted onto the document itself).

It is very easy to modify sizes of graphics images. A stored gif or jpg file can be viewed in a wide range of sizes (although increasing the size beyond the stored image size may result in pixelization).

HTML documents are easy to search and have given rise to popular web search engines (e.g., Yahoo, Altavista, Lycos, HotBot, etc.).

An HTML document can be viewed on multiple platforms (Windows, Macintosh, UNIX work stations, etc.).

HTML on the web can be networked across existing Internet networks.

HTML documents can contain links to graphics, audio, video, and animation files.

HTML documents are easy to access with modern browsers and save to client machines with minimal or no virus risks (relative to say virus risks of downloading word processor documents such as DOC files). (Browsers, however, are no longer risk free. See ActiveX.

HTML source codes are easy to view and modify --- usually with the menu choice (View, Source) in a browser.


Disadvantages of HTML

HTML is "document" rather than "data" centered and does not facilitate distributed network computing or relational database management utilities.

HTML is static and cannot make arithmetic calculations, date/time operations, perform Boolean logic, or revise data on the client or host computers. You cannot add 2+2 in HTML code.

HTML cannot be coded to conduct searches (although other software can be programmed to search HTML documents).

HTML cannot be made to tabulate survey responses (even though surveys can be conducted using forms in HTML documents).

HTML cannot perform security operations (authorize password clearances, authenticate servers or clients, encode and decode transmissions, etc.).

HTML cannot be made to react to signals such as the reaction of replying to messages.

HTML on the web requires connectivity to the web which, in turn, requires monthly or annual fees and frustrations of delays caused by clogged networks having insufficient bandwidth (especially for users that must use slow modem connections).

HTML generally leads to too many hits when using search engines. The XML and RDF solutions to this problem are on the way. See RDF.

For more on the WWW Consortium dealing with such issues, see http://www.w3.org/. See also CGI, Resource Description Framework, World Wide Web, and HTTP.

For searching information, see Search engine.

HTML Document= A document with a HyperText Markup Language DTD. It must be read using HTTP protocol. See HTML.

HTTP= The abbreviation for HyperText Transfer Protocol, HTTP is used to link and transfer hypertext documents. The secured socket extension is HTTPs for HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (has SSL underneath HTTP. Another extension is HTTPd standing for Hypertext transfer protocol Daemon. This protocol can be used to customize web searches and handle response forms on web documents.

HyperCard= (See Hypermedia, Hypertext, Resource Description Framework, World Wide Web, and Authoring)

Hyperfacts= Hypertext and/or hypermedia versions of fact books. The best known of these are encyclopedia CD-ROMs such as the Compton and Grolier options. But there are many other widely selling hyperfact books such as The Way Things Work by David Macauley, a CD-ROM book that has sold over 3 million copies to readers interested in guides and graphics of important inventions. This and several other innovative CD-ROM fact books ranging from sign language to art collections are referenced by Rigler (1994). (See Hyperfiction, Hypertext, Hypermedia, and Authoring)

Hyperfiction= Hypertext and/or hypermedia versions of fiction, usually on CD-ROM discs. The main feature of hyperfiction is that alternative navigations through the plot are possible. In some cases the reader creatively determines certain outcomes. For a review of some of the popular alternatives see Svoboda (1994). Rigler (1994) reports that electronic book offerings at the American Booksellers Association annual meetings seem to be doubling in size annually. She discusses some of the more popular options such as Stowaway by Stephen Biesty. (See also Hyperfacts, Hypertext, Hypermedia, and Authoring)

Hyperionics Hypercam = (See Video.)

Hyperlink= Interactive navigation to other parts of a document, other documents, and other WWW sites. (See also Hypertext and Hypermedia)

Hypermedia= Hypertext with added features for audio and video features. Hypermedia may also entail touchscreen or remote control capabilities such that users can navigate by touching the computer screen or remote control devices. Eventually hypermedia will entail other senses such as smell. The key to hypermedia is random access that allows lightning-fast non linear navigation based upon reader choice or other reader actions such as responses to questions. The term "multimedia" is not totally synonymous with "hypermedia," because multimedia may not entail hypertext authoring. (See also Hypertext, Multimedia, and Timeline presentation) Training workshops are offered by the IAT (Institute for Advanced Technology) (919-405-1900). The IAT also broadcasts training courses via satellite KU and C bands and distributes tapes of those broadcasts. An extensive listing of training programs is provided in Appendix 6. For an introduction to hypermedia, see Jensen (1993). Further details on ToolBook and other authoring options are given in Chapter 3. (Also see Asynchronous Learning Networks, CD, Hyperfiction, Authoring, RAID, and CMS)

Bob Jensen’s threads on computing technologies for sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/senses.htm

The history and trends in authoring are summarized at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/290wp/290wp.htm

Hypertext= Pages of computer text that are authored in software allowing for non linear navigation based upon button controls, hotwords, or other controls that make sequencing of pages virtually irrelevant. Hypertext authoring packages typically differ from word processing packages that are intended primarily for preparing text for hard copy printing. Hypertext software may have options to print particular pages, but the intent is for computer use rather than printing. The key to hypertext is random access that allows lightning-fast non linear navigation based upon reader choice or other reader actions such as responses to questions. (See also Hypermedia and Timeline presentation.) Popular software terminology for hypertext includes HyperCard "stacks," Authorware "network icons," and ToolBook "books." Career opportunities in authoring multimedia are discussed by Jerram (1994a). Courses, trade shows, and literature on learning how to author multimedia works are summarized by Lindstrom (1994). The IAT also broadcasts training courses via satellite KU and C bands and distributes tapes of those broadcasts for persons unable to view/record them live. An extensive listing of training programs is provided in Appendix 6. For an introduction to hypermedia, see Jensen (1993). See Chapter 3 for hypertext and/or hypermedia authoring software options. (Also see Asynchronous Learning Networks, Authoring and CMS)

The history and trends in authoring are summarized at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/290wp/290wp.htm

HX-Pro= An audio tape monitoring system marketed by Dolby that facilitates recording of analog audio tapes at higher decibel levels to reduce tape hiss. This is a feature available on high-end tape decks. (See also Dolby-NR)

Hz= (See Hertz)


I-Terms

IAB= The abbreviation for Internet Architecture Board, the IAB is the council that makes decisions about Internet standards. See also IETF .)

IAT= Institute for Academic Technology, University of North Carolina, P.O. Box 12017, RTP, North Carolina 27709 (919-405-1942) and http://www.iat.unc.edu/. This was initially an IBM-funded support center for PC hypertext/hypermedia developers in higher education that was funded primarily through a grant from IBM Corporation. The IAT served as a clearinghouse for technology developments, develops some Multimedia ToolBook hypermedia education materials (especially in language education), and provides demonstrations on hypermedia. The IAT offered workshops for developers. The IAT Inforbits online newsletter is still in operation. The IAT also broadcasted training courses via satellite KU and C bands and distributed tapes of those broadcasts for persons unable to view/record them live. After IBM withdrew its funding of the IAT, the University of North Carolina closed the IAT on June 30, 1998. (See also IKE)

IBM= International Business Machines Corporation, a giant present and historic leader in mainframe and PC computing. Having survived an enormous downturn of bad fortunes in the 1980s, IBM has struggled back with new products and joint ventures. In 1997, IBM announced that network software would all be sold under the banner eNetwork Software. IBM developed a superior operating system called OS/2, but poor marketing and timing resulted in a loss of momentum to Microsoft's Windows and Windows 2000 operating systems. IBM's joint venture with Apple Corporation resulted in the Power Mac and Power PC desktop computers. Most interesting is the IBM Global Campus initiative and the IBM Higher Education home page.. (See also EduQuest, IAT, and IKE)

ICBT = (See CBT )

Icon= Graphical representation of an object (file, directory, picture, text field, etc.) as a tiny symbol that can be arranged with other icons and clicked on using a mouse pointer.

IDE= Intelligent Drive Electronics interface hard drive disc controller standard for PCs that enables the controller to reside on the motherboard and, thereby, not require the use of an expansion slot. This enhances ease of installation and allows for the elimination of SCSI controllers for accessing auxiliary hard drives, CD-ROM drives, CD-R drives, etc. See SCSI.

IDTV= Improved Definitional TV that uses a computerized line doubling technique to simulate HDTV at higher resolutions. (See also Video and HDTV)


IDL= Interface Definition Language that facilitates interfacing between servers and IDL compliant client computers. For example, a Java IDL enables Java to communicate with non-Java objects on networks. (See also Java.)

IEEE= Institute for Electrical and Electonics Engineers. The IEEE is a huge organization that is a major source of technical literature, training, standards, and virtually everything else in electrical and electronics engineering. See also ISO 9000.

IIOP = (See Internet Messaging).

IETF= The abbreviation for Internet Engineering Task Force. IETF refers to a subgroup of the Internet Architecture Board that focuses on solving technical problems on the Internet.

IKE= IBM Kiosk for Education (see also IAT and the IBM Global Campus.). One thing that stood out, or rather did not stand out, at the 1994 EDUCOM Conference was a booth in the most obscure part of the vendor exhibit area. IBM made a grant to the University of Washington to develop the IKE-IBM Kiosk for Education. Subsequently, IBM folded the IKE activities into the IBM Global Campus portfolio of products and services for educators.

Image map= A graphic image at WWW sites that is a navigational tool. It contains two elements: (1) the graphic that is visible on the screen and (2) a text file that contains the HTML or other hyperlink coding. (See also World Wide Web)

IMAP4 = (See Internet Messaging).

Incremental packet writing= Like multisession Photo CD, this process lets you add data to a disk in multiple sessions and create a single table of contents when the disk is full. Unlike Photo CD disks, though, a disk written in this way is readable by other CD drives only when the disk is finalized, not before. (See also CD-R)

Indeo= Video compression hardware manufactured by Intel for PC computers. The i750 chipset will capture 32-by-240 pixel windows at 15 fps and 160-by-120 pixel windows at 30 fps. Creative Labs (that markets the popular Sound Blaster and Video Blaster hardware/software) will now market the Indeo boards according to NewMedia, January 1994, p. 36. The main competitor for Indeo will be MPEG compression boards that are anticipated by analysts to be the major standard of the future. Hood (1994) is cautious about MPEG and leans toward the Intel Indeo option. He concludes: "Intel's most compelling arugument, however, is in the numbers. Machines capable of playing Indeo video (486 or Pentium) are selling at a rate of 1 million a month, whereas fewer than 200,000 MPEG boards have sold." (See also Video for Windows, QuickTime, Video, DVI, Compression, MCI, Ultimedia Video, and MPEG)

Indy= (See SGI)

Information highway= A world wide combination of fiber optic cable and satellite receivers in a future time when homes and offices around the world will be linked by highways of electronic information that can be traversed interactively both to and from a connected user. Technologies are coming to a head and plans are being laid to bring the digital information highways to Main Street USA and elsewhere in the world. In homes and offices, a single piece of interactive TV digital television equipment (let's call it the PCTV computer/television superhighways terminal) will combine what are now television sets, telephones, stereos, videotape players, videodisc players, compact disc players, and computers. The PCTV will be networked to hundreds of millions of "servers" ranging from the computer files of individuals to the systems of computer files that contain virtually all the movies ever made, all the contents of daily newspapers, all the "television" shows ever recorded, all the cataloged products and services available from vendors, all public documents of governments, all the contents of libraries, all instructional and training courses on most anything known in the world, and so on to limits beyond our present imaginations. Even before the information superhighways come to town via digital satellites, Barcroft (1993), telephone fiber optics, and cable digital TV, technology see Victor (1993b) is presently in place to make vast amounts of digitized financial information publicly available in hypermedia structures. The hardware for a fiber optic superhighway across the United States made great progress when AT&T Corporation announced that "Sonet" service is operational initially between 200 cities. In 1994, Macromedia teamed up with Microware Systems Corporation in Des Moines, Iowa, to extend the Director software into PC and Mac utilities for authoring interactive network television titles. (See also Intercast, Webcasting, PCTV, Video server, PPV, Set-top box, Sonet, Internet, and SLIP)

Inline images= These are the graphics contained within a Web document.

Instant Messaging (IMING) = messaging between to or more individuals who are simultaneously online. It is more like a telephone conversation than email. America OnlineAOL introduced instant messaging and has had an ongoing dispute with Microsoft over its use in Internet Explorer. Instant Messenger can be used by AOL members but there is no requirement to be connected to the Internet through AOL. An Open Source alternative to AOL's instant messaging is called Jabber.

In order for IMing to work, both users (who must subscribe to the service) must be online at the same time, and the intended recipient must be willing to accept instant messages. Under most conditions, IMing is truly "instant." Even during peak Internet usage periods, the delay is rarely more than a second or two. It is possible for two people to have a real-time online "conversation" by IMing each other back and forth.

> AOL has an Instant Messenger Web page where you can sign up and download the software.
> Jabber.org provides more about Jabber instant messaging.

Integrated information system= Networked systems that allow centrally located multimedia sources to communicate with remote centers such as classrooms. For example, over 5,000 classrooms are purportedly linked to the Dynacom (800-782-7230) integrated information system that utilizes video servers, satellite receivers, and classroom hand-held control devices.

Intelligent Computer Based Training = (See CBT )

Interactive TV= (See Information highway)

Intercast= a term given by Intel Corporation for incoming-only (push-only) reception of HDTV. An upgrade tuner for intercasting can be installed in a PC. The cost of such a tuner is under $150. Without any monthly fee, phone modem, or cable modem, users can receive broadcasts and webcasts. However, intercasting will not allow interactive searching or other two-way communication. See also PCTV, HDTV, and Webcasting.

Interchange= A commercial network service introduced by a computer book publishing firm called Ziff-Davis. Although designed to compete with CompuServe and other commercial network services, Interchange tries to provide more services for technology monitoring of computer users. (See also Networks, CompuServe, Internet, eWorld, Prodigy, and America Online)

Interface= The connection between a computer and its auxiliary equipment such as hard drives, CD-ROM drives, videodisc players, printers, scanners, etc.

Interleaving= A process that allows separate channels for data, audio, and video files to be played back simultaneously on a compact disc. Interleaving also allows the reader to choose from one of several audio channels while a video channel is playing. In playback, interleaved audio and video sequences are alternately played back such that on slow systems there may be choppy interrupts when video and audio are played simultaneously.

International Internet Association= An Internet service that may be accessed for a fee under instructions given at phone number 813-923-4093. The IIA taps over 20,000 databases worldwide, including databases from government, business firms, news services, and universities. American Accounting Association members may access a free AAA bulletin board by phoning 813-923-4093. (See also ANet and PIC-AECM)

Internet= An international grouping of computer networks. The Internet started as a relatively tiny United States Department of Defense (DOD) Advanced Research Project Agency (ARPA) project in 1969. It commenced with the networking of four computers. The Internet was not widely known between 1969 and 1991. Its popularity exploded when HTML, HTTP, and the World Wide Web made it much easier to use the Internet. For interactive computing between computers on the Internet, see Distributed Network Computing. For web browsers see Web browsers, Java, GINA, Gopher, Mosaic, and SLIP. For accounting educator Internet networks see ANet, ADO and RDS, International Internet Association, Internet 2, PIC-AECM, and RAW. (See also ABKY, IKE, Sonet, Telnet, FTP, TENet, ARPANet, BITNET, World Wide Web, Finger Gateway, Whois Gateway, UUCP, NSFNet, NYSERNet, Gateways, Outernets, Macmillan Information SuperLibrary, Remote login, Search engine, TCP/IP, and USENet). Also see Instant Messaging and Portal.

Three quarters of the American population now have Internet access, with women slightly more likely than men to spend time surfing, a new survey says.
Wired News, March 18, 2004 --- http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,62712,00.html?tw=newsletter_topstories_html
How Web Pages Work --- http://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-page3.htm
How Internet Infrastructure Works --- http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet-infrastructure.htm
How Computer Things Work (including buying guides) --- http://computer.howstuffworks.com/
Personal technology reviews by Walter Mossberg --- http://ptech.wsj.com/
An Internet/Web portal with 14 channels on marketing and e-Commerce --- http://www.internet.com/home-d.html

Internet Technology
Ecommerce/Marketing
Web Developer
Windows Internet Tech.
Linux/Open Source
Internet Resources
ISP Resources
Internet Lists
Download
International
International News
International Investing
ASP Resources
Wireless
Other examples of portals and vortals can be found at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/portals.htm

Internet 2= the Internet 2 Consortium of more than 100 universities and other organizations collaborating to develop the next-generation Internet technology. In addition to bandwidth issues, the Consortium is dealing with such issues as audio and video integration, interactive distance learning, telemedicine, online research collaboration, and real-time simulation/modelling. The main web site is at http://www.internet2.edu/.

Internet audio and video= The transport of audio and video such that users can hear sounds and watch video while reading text and graphics on the Internet. It is no longer necessary to download these media files and install them on a local computer or a local server. These files can be played live on the Internet. Ozer (1996) reviews audio and video hardware and software for the Internet. Popular QuickTime (MOV) and Windows Video (AVI) standards will soon have to compete with the newer Microsoft (AV) standard. Various playback utilities, including the always popular QuickTime playback software, can be downloaded free from . Both real-time and pseudo streaming are discussed under Web streaming. (See also Active Video (AV), AVI, Java, QuickTime, and Web streaming)

Also see Instant Messaging

Internet Messaging = technologies for sending messages across the Internet. Leading technologies are shown below:

Mail & News

IMAP4 (Internet Message Access Protocol, Version 4)

A still-evolving protocol that allows a client to access and manipulate e-mail messages on a server. IMAP4--designed for disconnected e-mail use--lets you perform such tasks as managing folders remotely, viewing just message subject lines, and selectively downloading messages and attachments based on various criteria (size or author, for example). IMAP4 also allows for shared mail folders.

MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions)

A standard for transmitting nontext e-mail message attachments via SMTP. Most proprietary mail systems must translate any received MIME attachments through an SMTP gateway. See also MIME.

NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol)

The protocol used by clients to post and retrieve messages to and from news servers, which host discussions. NNTP is also used by news servers to replicate newsgroup discussions.

POP3 (Post Office Protocol, Version 3)

An established protocol that lets Internet users send and retrieve e-mail to and from mail servers. POP3 provides simple store-and-forward e-mail functionality, compared with the richer IMAP4 specification.

SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)

A standard protocol that defines how e-mail messages are transferred between servers. SMTP defines only ASCII text content, necessitating the MIME standard for nontext attachments.

Uuencode/uudecode

Along with MIME, another common method of sending binary e-mail attachments as plain ASCII text. See ASCII..

See Instant Messaging

Infrastructure

HTML (HyperText Markup Language)

The simple document-formatting language of the World Wide Web. Netscape and other vendors have begun using HTML as their standard for rich-text formatting across all Internet applications, such as e-mail and newsgroup messages. See HTML.

HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)

The protocol that negotiates delivery of text and other elements from a Web server to a Web browser. See HTTP.

IIOP (Internet Inter-ORB Protocol)

An evolving wire-level protocol that defines how distributed objects communicate with each other. IIOP--which is similar to Microsoft's Distributed Common Object Model (DCOM) specification--is based around the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA). In theory, any IIOP-compliant client software on any platform will be able to access the same object, a programming function that performs a specific task (such as authenticating a user against a server).

LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)

An emerging directory service protocol that uses a subset of the X.500 directory standard to provide a common way to identify user and group information. It can be extended to provide information on other network resources.

Security

S/MIME (Secure MIME)

A public-key encryption protocol for securely sending MIME attachments.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)

A protocol for sending encrypted information between a client and a server, often a Web server. SSL can work with any application-layer TCP/IP protocol and is most commonly used with HTTP.

X.509 certificates

Digital-signature certificates that use public-key encryption for authenticating users. X.509 certificates can be issued by either a certificate authority (such as VeriSign) or an internal certificate server.

(See also Security, ASCII, E-mail, Internet, Internet Messaging, Mosaic, SLIP, and USENet)

Internet phones and videoconferencing= Emerging telephony on the Internet coupled with the extension to video telephony. Technology in this area is reviewed in PC Magazine, March 26, 1996, pp. 143-145. Also see Instant Messaging

Internet surfing= (See Web surfing)

Internet surfing backwards= (See Web surfing backwards)

Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX)= One of the data transmission protocols used by NetWare.

InterNIC InfoSource= An information server about the Internet. (See also Mosaic)

Intranet= The use of the Internet and Internet-type software for subsytems of computing for private organizations and individuals. Companies are storing key forms and documents on web sites inside their operations, making it easy for employees to find information using standard web browsers, not special-purpose database programs. Most intranets use the "free" connections of the Internet, and turn the Internet into an intranet with passwords or other access barriers to documents and databases. Combinations of free Internet lines connected with leased (usually from telephone companies) private nodes are termed "virtual private networks" or VPN. A VPN functionality of a dedicated line, but which is really like a private
network within a public one, because it is still controlled by a telephone company. VPN's use encryption and other security mechanisms to ensure that only authorized users can access the network and that the data cannot be intercepted. Some security mechanisms exist that are not available on intranets. The finer points of VPN networking is discussed by in a very long article by Mike Fratto in "VPNs Across Multiple Sites," Network Computing, July 1, 1998, 38-70.(See also TCP/IP, WAN, LAN, and Extranet.)

IP= The abbreviation for Internet Protocol, IP refers to the set of communication standards that control communications activity on the Internet. An IP address is the number assigned to any Internet-connected computer.

IRC= Internet Relay Chat audio conversation channel on the WWW that works much like a CB radio for chatting on particular topics. Chat lines are typically in real time whereas "conferencing" use topical message boards to allow messaging to take place asynchronously. (See also World Wide Web)

ISA= (See Bus)

ISDN= Integrated Services Digital Network means of connecting to digital networks, including the Internet, via a common (digital) telephone line. For a review of ISDN in accounting, see Harding (1996). It is the fastest way for many individuals to connect to digital networks via a modem. However, at the present capacity of 128,000 bps, it is very slow relative to cable TV modems that can do over 1 million bps and exponentially faster direct connections that do not use modems at all. (See also Modem, MMDS, and DSL)

ISO 9000= International Organization for Standardization's series of international standards for information systems intended for compatibility and quality assurance. These are intended to foster world trade.

ISO 9000 Translated into Plain English http://www.connect.ab.ca/~praxiom/.

ISO statdards include:

ISO 9001- "Quality Systems - Model for Quality Assurance in Design, Development, Production, Installation, and Servicing";

ISO 9002 - "Model for Quality Assurance in Production, Installation, and Servicing";

ISO 9003 - "Model for Quality Assurance in Final Inspection and Test.";

ISO 9004 - a document guide to further quality development;

ISO 14000 - a new standard to address environmental issues.
Most importantly, ISO is comprised of many other standard setting bodies, including the following:

ANSI (American National Standards Institute)

ITU (International Telecommunication Union)

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers)

VESA (Video Electronics Standards
Association)
The key to these standards has been an audit and ceritfication system. Companies seeking ISO certification must have an audit. The certification has become important, especially in Europe, for market advantages, cost reduction, access to markets, improved communications, reduced political conflicts, documentation and dissemination processes, and employee training. Many of the standards are focused upon meeting paperwork and record keeping requirements.

For a plain English explanation see http://connect.ab.ca/~praxiom/

ISO 9660 = The data-format and file-naming conventions that ensure CD-based data can be accessed across multiple computer platforms. (See also CD-R)

ISOC= This is the abbreviation for Internet Society, an organization formed to support a worldwide information network. ISOC is the sponsoring body of the Internet Architecture Board.

ISP= Internet Service Provider that provides access to the Internet and the World Wide Web.

iSync

iSync From Apple Corporation Beats Microsoft to the Market
January 6, 2002 message from AppDevTrends@101communications-news.com

Basically, the iSync platform adds mobile phones to Apple's digital hub strategy. It works with the Mac OS X Jaguar Address Book and iCal (Apple's calendar program) to synchronize contacts and calendars among Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones, PalmOS devices, Apple's iPod portable digital music player and other Macs using Apple's .Mac service. With iSync 1.0, users can sync their Jaguar Address Book with the new .Mac Address Book, making it possible to access contacts while using .Mac Web Mail from virtually any computer, the company said in a statement. iSync 1.0 also includes a feature that allows for regularly scheduled Mac-to-Mac synchronization.

For the rest of the story, please go to http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=7132

Also see Wireless.

ITAD= Integrated Telephone Answering Device that avoids tape recording by using direct digital recorders for telephones.


J-Terms

Java= A programming (a slow running derivative of C++) language also known as "Hot Java" from Sun Microsystems that is designed for browser plug-in running of applications called "applets." In 1997, IBM became the world leader in Java development with its subsidiary Taligent developer leading the way. Java has spread like wildfire among software developers. and can now be run from leading browsers such as the Netsacape Navigator and Microsoft's Internet Explorer. An especially important advantage of Java is the ability to run applets on virtually any operating system (Windows, Macintosh, OS/2, etc.) or even without a GUI operating system. Plug-in utilities are now available on most WWW browsers. An important advantage on network computers is the Remote Method Invocation (RMI) standard. RMI is that part of the Java programming language library which enables a Java program running on one computer to access the objects and methods of another Java program running on a different computer. Java is extremely controversial since it allows for "centralized" housing of software to run on inexpensive networked computers (as opposed to decentralized installation of software on higher-capacity desktop machines). Many users hope to rent software (e.g., word processors) as opposed to purchasing and installing software on individual machines. Although it has been possible for some time to purchase LAN versions of software for multiple machines, Java makes it possible to run software world wide from a single server. Traffic jams on the Internet, however, are serious obstacles to the future of Java. Java has put Sun Microsystems in head-to-head combat with Microsoft's newer OLE options for running applications on the Internet. See "Java Takes Hold" in NewMedia, July 15, 1996, pp. 46-54. Note especially Page 54 and Microsoft's strategy of embedding Java in Windows in an effort to stave off the Java threat of no longer needing the Windows operating system. Microsoft is also attempting to thwart Java success by extending Windows OLE capabilities. Options for creating and playing digital audio Java applets are reviewed in deCarmo (1996). For interactive computing on the web, see Distributed Network Computing.See also Taligent, IDL , World Wide Web and OLE.

JavaScript = a web document scripting language introduced by Netscape. These are codes that allow users to go beyond what is possible in HTML coding of web documents. You may learn more about them by searching for the term "Java Scripts" in my bookmarks file. A good starting site is at Netscape's JavaScript File. You may also search some key references such as the web site http://www2.bath.ac.uk/~ccsnad/java/jsfaq.html. A summary of JavaSript commands can be found at http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-12-1996/jw-12-javascript.html Some good JavaScript hints are given by Jen at http://www.frymulti.com/~jwang/jsintro.html . For interactive computing on the web, see Distributed Network Computing.

JavaStation= a low cost hardware unit that provides users an internet browser specifically designed to employ Java. The first model introduced was described in "Information Week," October 28, 1996, p. 24. JavaStation is based on the Pico-Java technology that Sun licenses to developers for WWW-based microcomputing. (See also Browser and Java)

Java Virtual Machine = software that allows Java to run on different platforms (operating systems.)

JDBC= Java Database Connectivity standard that allows Java to interface with databases. See Database, IDL, and Java.

Jeeves = (See Search Engine /.)

JITT= Just-In-Time Training. In many technical and complex areas it is not practical for employees or other persons to be knowledgeable about all details at all times. For example, it has become impractical for auditors to have a working knowledge of every accounting and auditing standard in the United States and other nations. Physicians and other medical practitioners cannot have instant recall of details of every disease and combination of medical symptoms and treatments. JITT refers to a process (that is usually aided by computers, compact discs, computer networks, and/or teleconferencing) in which the person receives training "just-in-time" when it is needed for a particular purpose. The JITT process may change the entire process of education and training, because the focus may become how to effectively access and utilize JITT rather than how to teach students and/or employees technical details that have to be memorized long before they are needed in practice. (See also Kiosk)

Joy stick= A remote control device that can be used in place of a keyboard or a mouse to allow for interactions between a computer and its user. Joy sticks are commonly used for computer games and usually connect through a serial port.

JPEG= Joint Photographic Expert Group standards for image compression that is an increasingly popular compressed graphics image file, the extension for which is usually jpg. Because large and high resolution graphics images with considerable color depth require massive amounts of storage (e.g., over 30 Mb) for each image, compression routines that create images almost as good with substantially fewer storage requirements are highly desirable. Doyle (1994b) calls several options "awesome," including the $940 Fast Electronic's Movie Machine Pro (415-802-0772) with M-JPEG and Avi file capturing options. Similarly, he calls the $570 Intel Smart Video Recorder (800-538-3373) and the $890 Micro Computer microVIDEO DC1 tv (800-249-6476) awesome. JPEG images are generally of sufficient quality that it is not necessary to utilize more storage space for uncompressed files. JPEG compression of graphics images requires no special playback boards. When using any compression utility such as JPEG, it pays to study the limitations. For example, JPEG compression does not work especially well with hard edges and lines in graphics images. Black and white images should never be compressed into JPEG images. Also conversions from GIF to JPEG may be disappointing since GIF images are usually color reduced before becoming GIF images. Also math coprocessors will not speed up JPEG graphics since JPEG algorithms use only integer arithmetic. JPEG can be used with motion video cards such as the RasterOps MoviePak2 video compression daughter card for Mac computers. (See also Video board, Compression, GIF, and MPEG)

jpg= (See JPEG)

Jukeboxes= Hardware devices for stacking discs, especially compact discs such as CD-ROM discs for a computer. Two hardware options for moving from one active CD to another are called jukeboxes and arrays. Jukeboxes typically take up only one SCSI device spot but they can be slow to access while the robot finds, extracts, moves, and inserts each disc. Arrays are linked CD devices that are both faster and cheaper than jukeboxes. See Glatzer (1994) for a discussion of details and comparisons of alternatives.


K-Terms

Kaleida= Kaleida Labs, Inc. in Mountain View, CA (415-966-0400). This is a software/hardware development company (along with the PowerPC and another company called Taligent) funded in a joint venture by Apple Corporation and IBM. The first noteworthy product is the long-delayed ScriptX hypermedia package designed to cross multiple platforms. Kaleida announced a 20% reduction in work force on May 10, 1994. Eventually the project was terminated as a joint venture and work in process was diverted to other projects in both companies. Kaleida is largely viewed by the public as a failed joint venture that did not meet its main goals. (See also Taligent, Firewall, PowerPC, and ScriptX)

Kerberos=

Kerberos -- Here is a FAQ that explains what Kerberos is
Also see http://www.cmf.nrl.navy.mil/CCS/people/kenh/kerberos-faq.html

Kerberos is a network authentication protocol. It is designed to provide strong authentication for client/server applications by using secret-key cryptography. A free implementation of this protocol is available from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Kerberos is available in many commercial products as well.

Also see security.

KE Shell= Knowledge Executive Shell software from Arthur Andersen Worldwide Organization, Center for Professional Education, St Charles, IL. The software called Knowledge Executive Shell (KE Shell) provides facilities for integrating multimedia components of text, video, audio, and graphics.

KHz= (See kilohertz)

kilohertz= Unit of measure that equals a frequency of 1 thousand cycles per second. (See also Hertz and megahertz)

Kiosk= A multimedia display system such as those used in marketing displays at conferences and in stores. Kiosks are typically used for demonstrations and may be self-contained hardware units having computer, video, and audio capabilities. For example, Computer and Control Solutions (800-998-3525) offers one such self-contained Kiosk machine. (See also JITT) Also, a center of standalone interactive information or content. Large department store chains such as Sears and Kmart are installing web kiosks for accessing online catalogs and the entire inventories of items available for ordering. See "Virtual Shopping Gets Real," Information Week, May 17, 1999. p. 30.

KISS= Keep It Simple Stupid refers mainly to the authoring of electronic books and/or development of software in which success often depends upon keeping the learning and usage mindlessly simple. (See also Authoring)

Knowledge Management = a term that can have multiple meanings. In business information technology knowledge management refers to an entire integrated system for accumulation, integration, manipulation, and access of data across multiple organizations, including such data as credit data, consumer profiles, market data, product development data, etc. A good article about Microsoft Corporation's movement into this systems market is "Smart Moves," by Stuart Johnston in Information Week, May 31, 1999, 18-20. The online version is at http://www.informationweek.com/736/km.htm . At another level, it may refer to Enterprise Resource Management systems such as SAP. At still another level it may simply refer to database systems for "knowledge" such as the Ask Jeeves knowledge base. See also database.

posted by צביקה שורצמן @ 3:59 AM 93 comments

Technology Glossary M - Q

L-Terms

Lab= (See Studio classroom)

LAN= A Local Area Network that depicts any computer network technology that operates at high speed over short distances (up to a few thousand meters). A LAN may refer to a network in a given department or within a given firm or campus. It differs from computer networks that cross wider geographic spaces such as those networks on a WAN network. A LAN does not use the publc arteries of the Internet like intranets and VPNs. (See also Internet, TCP/IP, WAN, Intranet, Wireless, Extranet, and Virtual Private Networks (VPN))

Glossary of Wireless LAN Terms

Access Point (AP): A device connected to the wired local area network that receives and transmits signals to wireless clients; this device must also be connected to the wired LAN if connections to external networks are required.

Authentication: A process that verifies that the user has permission to access the network; often associated with the process of joining a Bluetooth piconet or WLAN.

Channels: Another name for frequencies, especially within a defined band.

Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS): A spread spectrum technique that uses a "chip" (redundant bit pattern for each bit to be transmitted) to encode the signal to ensure more reliable delivery; the technology employed in IEEE 802.11 implementations.

Frequently Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS): A spread spectrum technique that uses a range of frequencies and changes frequencies during the transmission; the technology employed in HomeRF (SWAP) implementations.

Industry, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) Band: An unregulated radio frequency that uses the 900 MHz and 2.4 GHz bands for communication; these bands were approved by the FCC in 1985.

Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM): A multiplexing technique used in 802.11a WLANs; this technique minimizes the effect of multipath distortion encountered in 802.11b networks.

Spread Spectrum Transmission (SS): A technique that takes a narrow signal and spreads it over a broader portion of the radio frequency band.

Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) Band: An unregulated radio frequency that uses the 5 GHz band for communication; this band is divided into three sub-bands and are intended for use by short-range, high-speed wireless digital communication devices.

Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity): Another name for IEEE 802.11b standard; this trademark is owned by WECA and devices that comply with it assure interoperability among vendors.

Wired Equivalent Protocol (WEP): The IEEE specification for data encryption between wireless devices defined by the IEEE 802.1x standard.

Wireless Local Network (WLAN): A local area network that is not connected by wires but instead uses one of the wireless technologies.

Laserdisc= (See Videodisc and Videodisc-digital)

LCD= Liquid Crystal Device computer/video panel and projector displays. Miniature television sets, laptop computers, and notebook computers generally use some type of LCD display due to difficulties in manufacturing portable cathode ray tube monitors. LCD displays may come in black and white, gray scale, and various degrees of color depth. The panels that can be laid on top of overhead projectors for displaying computer images on walls and large screens are called "LCD panels." LCD panels differ as to whether they can display full-motion video as well as computer images. For a review of some of the leading vendors and their panels, see NewMedia, September, p. 89, and NewMedia, February 1994, p. 85. One of the top new generation projectors is the Sharp XG-E850U that is so bright it is "bringing the obsolescence of CRT-based projectors one step closer" according to a quotation from Videography, October 1994, p. 112. (See also Three-beam projector)

LD= Videodisc. (See Videodisc)

LDAP = (See Internet Messaging).

Legacy= An adjective that refers to technology associated with old corporate programs, such as those on mainframes. Increasingly used as a put-down, the opposite of cutting edge.

Lindspire (Lindows)= LinspireTM is a full-featured operating system like Microsoft Windows XP or Apple Mac OSX. Linspire offers you the power, stability and cost-savings of Linux with the ease of a windows environment. In addition, Linspire features exclusive CNR technology that makes installing software on Linspire fast and easy -- simply find the software you want in the CNR Warehouse, then click and run it! Watch a 5-minute Flash Demo to quickly learn more about Linspire and CNR --- http://www.linspire.com/lindows_sales_intro.php

Lindows Inc. on April 14, 2004 changed the name of its Lindows operating system to Linspire, responding to a federal judge's refusal to halt Microsoft Inc.'s trademark infringement lawsuits outside the U.S.

See operating systems.

Linear presentation= (See Hypermedia and Timeline presentation)

Links= These are the hypertext connections between Web pages. This is a synonym for hotlinks or hyperlinks.

Linux= (See Operating System)

Listserv= an email system where users "subscribe" to join in on group messages. A message sent to the listserv is sent to every subscriber's mail box. A listserv is similar to an email "bulletin board." However, users of bulletin boards do not receive the messages in their mail boxes without first going to the bulletin board to view a listing of messages. There are thousands upon thousands of listservs on topics of mutual interest from sewing to microbiology. It is common for college courses to have a listserv so that instructors and students can all communicate easily with group messages. Over 70,000 interest groups (at this writing) are linked at http://www.liszt.com/. Comparisons with bulletin boards, email groups, chat rooms, etc. are made in the e-mail definition of this glossary. See e-mail, Chat Lines, IRC, USENet, teleconferencing, videoconferencing, webcasting, andtelephony.

Chris Nolan at Trinity University wrote the following in an email message on October 7, 1998:

I was told by my book editor today that L-Soft, the owner of the Listserv software, sent a letter to the American Library Association about the use of the term "listserv" in some recent ALA publications. L-Soft claims that the term is trademarked and therefore cannot be used as a generic term for these sorts of bulletin board/mailing list systems, much like Xerox not being used as a generic for photocopying. Although I had only used the term once in my manuscript, ALA’s editors felt that I should either capitalize the term to refer to the L-Soft software or use other terms to describe the more general concept.

Checking L-Soft International’s web site, I see that they clearly state that LISTSERV is a trademark of their company.

Linux - (See Operating Systems.)

Live= When used in reference to a World Wide Web file, this term designates an object linked to another layer of information.

Livelink = (See Groupware).

Local bus= (See Bus)

Logic Bomb = (See Security)

Lotus Notes = a networking set of application programs from Lotus Development Corporation, now owned by IBM Corporation, which allows organizations to share documents, databases, and exchange electronic mail messages. Purportedly, Lotus Notes was the major reason why Lotus was purchased by IBM Corporation. An interactive web server called Domino was introduced in 1996 so that Lotus Notes users could build intranets on the internet. For example, the accounting firm of Coopers & Lybrand makes extensive use of Domino for worldwide groupware applications. Java applets will give web browsers the look and feel of Notes. The main web site for Lotus Notes is at http://www2.lotus.com/home.nsf. See also Groupware and CollabraShare.

Lotus ScreenCam = (See Video.)

Loop= A set of statements in a program executed repeatedly, either a fixed number of times or until a specified condition is true or false.


M-Terms

Mac= An abbreviation of the popular Macintosh computers manufactured and sold by Apple Corporation. These computers contain what is called the Macintosh Operating System that will only run software written for that processor. A decade of the revolution in GUI and hypermedia Mac computing is celebrated in a book by Levy (1994) that is given an extensive review in Time Magazine, January 31, 1994, pp. 93-94. Although software can be added so that Mac computers will run (in emulation form) many DOS and Windows programs (slowly), the PC computers cannot as a rule run Mac programs. Differences between Mac and PC operating systems have led to constant frustrations for authors since there is no single standard for authoring materials that can be used across the computer market. This is especially frustrating for authors of CD-ROM learning and entertainment materials. Mac computers took an early lead in graphics computing and menu-driven operating systems emulated later in Windows and OS/2 operating systems. A drawback for hypermedia developers, however, has been market share. Apple Corporation has less than 5% of the worldwide desktop computer market and has lost much of its competitive lead in graphics and hypermedia computing. In 1994, Apple's disturbing declines in market share, even after PowerMacs were introduced, led Apple Corporation to the first-time licensing of its operating system to other hardware manufacturers, notably IBM which will undertake a new joint venture to produce a new computer running forthcoming versions of the Mac operating system. Analysts, however, are skeptical that Apple's licensing agreements may be too little too late to stop the market share momentum of Windows 95 and Windows 2000. Apple also has videotape rendering workstations known as AV or Mac Video Computers. Video options from Apple Corporation are reviewed in Birkmaier (1993), Torres (1993), and Tuckerman (1993). Apple's hopes are riding heavily upon the evolution of a new operating system called Rhapsody that is a revolutinary operating system based upon NEXTStep technology. (See also AIF, QuickTime, Dry camera, Bus, Amiga, Mozart, Copeland, Gershwin, SGI, SUN, PC, PowerPC, GUI, NEXTStep, Operating system, , and Apple AV)

Apple Corporation's operating system for its Mac OS X servers is called "Darwin." Apple announced that it will make the Darwin source code available to developers. It is a variant of UNIX.

Mac AV= (See Apple AV)

Mac OS 8 = (See Copeland .

Mac TV= (See Apple AV)

Macmillan Information SuperLibrary= Is an online World Wide Web database (at mcp.com) to contents of computer books from Que, Sams Publishers, Hayden Press, Que College, NRP, Grady, and Adobe Press. Discount prices are also available to WWW users. There are other features such as a free online newsletter sent to your email address. The Macmillan USA Information SuperLibrary Newsletter is intended for your own personal use. Feel free to copy this newsletter and distribute it freely, as long as it is not for any business or commercial use, and is not altered, modified, or edited in any way. For further information about these terms send email to "info@mcp.com", or write Brian Mansfield, Marketing Manager-Online Services, Macmillan Digital USA, 201 W. 103rd Street, Indianapolis, IN, 46290 (317-581-4941).

Malibu Graphics Chip= (See Kaleida)

MAPLE= Mathematics computing software also known as Waterloo Maple, because it was developed at the University of Waterloo in Canada. This is a very popular software for both research and teaching of mathematics. New enhancements include a spreadsheet interface and interfacing with mathematics text processors. There are also interactive graphics and symbolic computing utilities. MAPLE runs on DOS, Windows, UNIX, and Macintosh platforms at present. (See also MATLAB and MATHEMATICA)

MATHEMATICA= Mathematics computing software from Wolfram Research Inc. in Champaign, Illinois. This is a widely popular software package used by many major universities. It is capable of two- and three-dimensional animated graphics. There are both Mac and Windows versions that allow users to choose between direct interaction with the kernel and interaction through a front end that supports a GUI. The front end allows users to create Mathematica Notebooks that incorporate text, graphics, animation, and audio. Many universities supplement or replace traditional curriculum materials with Mathematica curricula. (See also MAPLE and MATLAB)

MATLAB= Mathematical computing software from The Math Works, 24 Prime Park Way, Natlick, MA 01760-1500 (508-653-1415). Two important features of MATLAB software are the integration of MATLAB with Microsoft's Word for Windows and the Symbolic Math Toolbox for advanced visualizations of mathematical functions. (See also MAPLE and MATHEMATICA)

MCA= (See Bus)

MCF = (See RDF.)

MCI= Media Control Interface established by Microsoft Corporation that has become a popular standard for Windows authors and users. MCI menus drop down to let users select input sources such as CD-Audio inputs, videodisc inputs, MIDI sequencers, and auxiliary sources such as inputs from a stereo set or a videotape player. These standards also mean that certain types of files should play on MCI systems (e.g., WAV files should play audio and AVI files should play video on MCI systems). It is recommended that any hardware/software purchased for the PC go beyond MCI standards and be Sound Blaster compatible. This does not mean that you must buy multimedia upgrades from Creative Labs. It only means that your system is compatible with the popular standard established by Sound Blaster. (See also PCMCIA and MPC) Also, a standard control interface for multimedia devices and media files, including a command-message interface and a command-string interface.

MD= (See Minidisc)

MDA= Model Driven Architecture in information systems (rather than management's discussion and analysis MDA in financial reporting). Johanna Ambrosio states the following in "MDA: Tools for the Code Generation," Application and Development Trends, July 2003, Page 27 --- http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=7850

Model-Driven Architecture, or MDA, embodies the conundrum: Is the glass half full or is it half empty? Even though the MDA standard is still evolving, many products claim to be compliant with it and early adopters are developing apps with them.

MDA vendors claim that today’s products can generate between 40% and 80% of the completed code for a given app based on models created with UML, and customers and analysts back up those claims. MDA’s purported benefits go beyond automatic code generation and the reduction of development costs, but those advantages are longer-term and most have yet to be proven outside of theoretical conversations. They include factors like eventual code and model reuse, and more effective fulfillment of user requirements. One advantage touted by the MDA camp is the ability to swap out underlying technologies -- OSs or languages, for example -- by simply revamping the platform-specific model and then regenerating the applications.

Still, a split remains between current users of these products -- mostly architects who speak UML or another modeling language -- and the targeted group of developers who believe they can do a better job of writing apps than any code generator. And it is developers that need to be convinced that these tools can make their work lives more meaningful by allowing them to concentrate on the creative stuff.

MD-Data= (See Minidisc)

Media streaming= (See Web streaming)

megahertz= Unit of measure that equals a frequency of 1 million cycles per second. (See also Hertz and kilohertz)

Memory= (See RAM).

Meta Content Framework = (See RDF.)

Metadata = (See RDF.)

Metaverse= From the novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, this term describes a virtual online representation of reality.

mff= (see MIDI)

MHz= (See megahertz)

Money Backup File (mbf)

I think you have to have Microsoft Money software to read mbf files. Take a look at http://www.referenceguide.com/reviews/msmoney2003.htm

For this and other file extensions, go to http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/fileextensionsm.asp I suggest that you do a word search at www.microsoft.com or at Google http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en

Also, MBF stands for Microsoft Binary Format. You can probably do a Google search or a Microsoft site search for more information. One document of possible interest is at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B73027 I found a conversion link at http://myfileformats.com/download_info.php?id=6510







I found a conversion link at http://myfileformats.com/download_info.php?id=6510

Microsoft Camcorder = (See Video.)

Microsoft Tiger Video= (See Video server)

Microsoft Video for Windows= (see Video for Windows)

Mid= (See MIDI)

Middleware = second generation network computing applications extends data transfers from the client computers back to the web server and/or database server computers. Software for doing this is commonly termed "middleware." Software mediates between an application program on a server and a network of client machines. Middleware manages the interaction between applications across the heterogeneous computing platforms of client computers. See CORBA and DTP.

MIDI= Musical Instrument Digital Interface audio standardized hardware parameters set under MPC standards for MIDI interfaces that connect electronic keyboards, synthesizers, and related devices to computers. Musicians may record music into computer (MIDI) files that require much less storage space than WAV files that contain complete files of digitized sounds. A MIDI file does not contain digitized sound. Instead, such a file contains the information needed to play such sounds from a MIDI-compatible device. Music files may be played back (somewhat analogous to the old player pianos) on the MIDI. MIDI sound files are generally of higher quality than their WAV audio files that play on computers without MIDI interfaces. The MIDI is extremely popular among composers and arrangers of music who want to utilize computer aids in their tasks. The mff and mid MIDI file formats are popular file extensions for MIDI files that will run on most PC computers. (See also Channel and MPC)

MIME= Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension to files that tell computers what kind of program to use to view or run a file. Mimes are typically plug-ins to browsers that help launch helper apps or user apps. For use of MIMEs in messaging, see Internet Messaging. (See also Plug-in)

Mimosa= (See Video server)

Minidisc= Is used in a variety of contexts to depict miniature "MD" optical discs and/or magnetic discs smaller than the standard 4.72 inch CD. Some MD alternatives such as the Sony MD Data 2.5 inch disk are smaller than floppy discs but hold nearly as much as a CD-ROM. The Sony version holds up to 74 minutes of CD quality audio or 140 Mb of data storage. The most typical MD size is the 2.5 inch audio disc. The term MD-Data refers to a minidisc used to record computer files and hypermedia presentations. MD options are reviewed by Miastkowski (1994).

MIPS= Million Instructions Per Second benchmark for rating computer processor CPU speed. Comparisons of MIPS ratings, however, can be misleading since the speed of access to peripheral equipment has become so important in overall computing performance.

MMDS = Multipoint Multichannel Distribution Service using neighborhood line-of-sight microwave antennas to transmit wireless data from homes to Internet providers. Cable companies are employing this technology that will allow for fast wireless Internet connections to homes and businesses. See also DSL and ISDN.

Modem= Process of converting digitized data into analog form for a carrier wave. Demodulation transforms data transmitted in analog form back into digital form for computer storage and/or processing. Modems modulate and demodulate computer data for transmission on telephone lines. Fax modems have the added capability of importing facsimiles received over phone lines directly into computer files. Cable TV modems offer transmitting speeds of over five times those of ISDN modems. The term "ricochet modem" is sometimes used to depict a wireless connection of a computer to the Internet. The product Ricochet Modem is brick-sized connector from Metricom Inc. that is a special kind of radio connector to the Internet in metropolitan areas having Ricochet's receivers for Internet connections. The early applications of the Ricochet Modem are reviewed in Mossberg (1996). (See also ISDN, DSL, MMDS, and ADC)

Downstream (download) refers to the transmission of network datainto your computer from another computer. Upstream (upload) refers to transmission of network data out of your computer into another computer on the network. In other words, messages or data sent to you go downstream and messages or data sent by you go upstream. At the present time the fastest analog modems that convert analog phone line downloads into digital data on your computer (or vice versa for uploads) run at 56 Kbps (56,000 bits per second). Most users, however, are still using 28.8 Kbps modems. An ISDN line doubles capacity to 128 Kbps. The new DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) offered by phone companies increases this up to 6400 Kbps. However, Asymetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADsL) can go up to 6 Mbps downstream and 640 Kbps upstream. ADC Kentrix has a report discussing DSL and ASDL.

Good Morning! Today is March 19, 1997 And this is.... ---------INFORMATIONWEEK DAILY------------ The E-Mail News Service For IT Decision Makers from the editors of InformationWeek magazine * Now reaching 75,000 subscribers and growing at http://www.informationweek.com *********
_____Switched Broadband Key To Future Of E-Commerce____ Bell Atlantic chairman Ray Smith said yesterday at the Internet & Electronic Commerce Conference in New York that the success of Internet-based commerce depends on speed. He then described how his company will provide it: with high-performance "switched broadband" connections that he claims will render technology like ISDN and ADSL obsolete. "Switched broadband will obsolete everything that comes before." Smith said in his speech that Bell Atlantic's bandwidth "end game," lies with next-generation switched broadband technology currently under development and set for deployment in Philadelphia in 18 months. Switched broadband, built on unnamed technology licensed from Lucent Technologies, will offer downstream connect speed of 52 Mbps and upstream connect speed of 3 Mbps, while taking advantage of customers' existing telephone wiring. According to Smith, switched broadband is able to jump the performance hurdles posed by the final 20 yards between buildings and the fiber optic line that ends at the curb. Telephone companies like Bell Atlantic typically bury eight to 10 copper lines instead of just one when installing voice networks. Switched broadband uses devices licensed from Lucent that let data communications take advantage of those extra wires for data transmission, making high-speed connections across the copper. "[Switched broadband] turns that buried copper into gold," Smith said. --Jeff Sweat

********************************************** ************

Morphing= Process of special effects video and/or computer animation that distorts images in motion. What started out in the movies as perverse distortions and unreal "morphed" images has gained respectability in science as a means of visualizing data and dynamic changes in data. Originally, morphing was only something professionals could do on very expensive workstations. Now morphing software and hardware requirements are much more modest. See Burger (1994b) for an easy-to-read description of the morphing process. (See also Animation)

Mosaic= A menu-driven and user-friendly hypertext system (also called NCSA Mosaic) of Internet sites that facilitate searching and browsing of documents and files around the world. Mosaic has largely been overtaken by more modern web browsers. (See Web browsers) For users not connected to the Internet, Mosaic can also be used with SLIP. Mosaic combines various former Internet servers such as Gopher Servers, World Wide Web, InterNIC InfoSource, ftp Sites, Finger Gateway, Whois Gateway, and Home Pages. Stefanac (1994) provides both a brief history of the Internet and an excellent review (including Internet addresses of World Wide Web sites with their Uniform Resource Locator Addresses) of newer options for transmitting graphics, audio, and video over Mosaic networks. Rivera, Singh, and McAlister (1994) term Mosaic as an "educator's best friend." Key features include world wide free networking by graphical interfacing to text, pictures, digitized video, and audio. Clicking on a highlighted Mosaic hotword or phrase (indicating a hyperlinked term) will complete a connection to the appropriate server to display documents, graphics, audio, or other multimedia files. Mosaic is becoming even more popular than Gopher largely due to the graphics-orientation of Mosaic and commercial developers of Mosaic interfaces. Internet users interested in Mosaic should contact the Software Development Group, National Center for Supercomputing Applications, 605 E. Springfield, Champaign, IL 61820 (217-244-0072). The e-mail address is mosaic@ncsa.uiuc.edu. Newsweek on October 31, 1994, page 60, asserts that NCSA Mosaic "free software works widely but not well." Enhanced NCSA from Spyglass Inc. and Netscape from Mosaic Communications Corporation have improved Mosaic code. James Clark, former CEO of Silicon Graphics Corporation, on May 16, 1994 announced the opening of Mosaic Communications Corporation in Mountain View, CA (415-254-1900) to develop software that interfaces business firms with direct Internet access. This interfacing development company has tough competitors such as Spry Inc. in Seattle, WA (206-447-0300) and others according to Information Week, May 23, 1994, p. 20. Spry Inc. specializes in connectivity tools for Microsoft Windows and has a new Mosaic interface ready for shipment. According to PC Computing, July 1994, p. 113:

Mosaic does the seemingly impossible: And its free! Mosaic provides easy net navigation by using hypertext links, and it lets you view graphics and embedded sounds while you're online.

For web browsers see Web browsers, GINA, Gopher, Internet, and SLIP.

Motherboard= A circuit board or "logic board" inside the computer that contains the central processing unit (CPU), microprocessor support chips, RAM, and slots for adding expansion boards such as audio, scanner, SCSI, and video boards. Multimedia chips such as DSP audio and video chips will increasingly be put on the motherboard rather than on expansion boards.

Mov= (See QuickTime)

Mozart= The name given to Apple's operating system 7.5 for Mac and PowerPC computers. New features include multitasking, improved networking, better multimedia support, and DOS/Windows capabilities. (See also Mac, PowerPC, Operating system, Copeland, Gershwin, and Rhapsody)

MP3 = (See Audio.) Alternatives for creating MP3 audio files are given at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book99q4.htm#MP3

MPC= A Multimedia PC refers to combinations of PC hardware that meet multimedia hardware-combination (e.g., audio and video boards for computers) standards set by the Multimedia Marketing Council to make multimedia hardware products of vendors more compatible. The MPC1 Level 1 standard requires a 386 PC with a minimum of 2 Mb of RAM. The MPC2 Level 2 standard requires a 486SX or greater PC with 4 Mb of RAM. A variety of PC manufacturers use the MPC trademark. Consumers can then be assured that MPC hardware from one vendor will be compatible with hardware of another vendor. Also, software written for MPC hardware should run on any MPC equipment. The term is generally used in conjunction with CD-ROM multimedia hardware. A CD-ROM player, for example, should run on a computer with an MPC trademark provided the player is MPC compatible. It is probably best not to invest in multimedia PC hardware that is not compatible with MPC standards. In the future, MPC standards will dwindle in importance as more and more vendors build audio and video hardware on the motherboard rather than as boards to place into expansion slots. However, Spanbauer (1993b), p. 42) observes that MPCs will "hang on" into the near future due to the number of computer manufacturers that find them to be lower cost and lower price alternatives. Brown and Lombardi (1994) review the new Level 2 MPC upgrade kits and provide consumer ratings of the vendor alternatives. A review of hardware options is given in NewMedia, July 15, 1996, p. 19. (See also MIDI and MCI)

MPC upgrade= (See Multimedia upgrade)

MPEG= Moving Pictures Experts Group systems boards and compression standards (e.g., MPEG-2 and MPEG-1) for the most popular emerging form of compressed full-motion video standard for computer file storage. MPEG compression requires MPEG playback boards and/or MPEG authoring boards such as the Optibase MPG-1000 digital video codec (compression/decompression) board (800-451-5101). Although MPEG-2 is superior to MPEG-1, MPEG-2 requires at least quad speed CD-ROMs that, thereby, limits the use of MPEG-2 in the commercial market. MPEG-2 works much better with CD-DVD. However, even MPEG-1 is considered a better video compression alternative than its competitors. Full-motion video at over 30 frames per second takes up so much digitized storage that video must be compressed to make it more useful in hypermedia. In 1996, Miro Computer Products (415-855-0955) introduced the first JPEG video capture card for less than $1,000 that will encode (capture) video in compressed MPEG format. MPEG video files have an mpg file extension and will not run on computers that do not have special MPEG playback hardware/software installed. MPEG playback hardware is becoming standard in most new computer models. (See also Active video, Compression, DVI, Indeo, Video, Video for Windows, QuickTime, MCI, Ultimedia Video, and JPEG) Also, a digital video standard developed by the Motion Pictures Experts Group.

mpg= (See MPEG)

MS-DOS= (See DOS)

MS-Windows= (See Windows)

MTS/SAP= Multichannel Television Sound and Second Audio Program dbx system for compressing stereo audio in a technical fashion too complicated to explain here. (See also dbx)

MUDs, MOOs, MUSes and MUSHes= Multi-User Dimensions or Multiple User Dungeon, or Multiple User Dialogue. These are extensions of Dungeons and Dragons that seduced "adolescents" into a network world of imaginary places. Now there are serious social and education MUDs. Some of the many types are reviewed in Basic Information About MUDs and MUDding. There are extensions such as Multi-user, Object-Oriented MOO applications that, along with MUDs, have become serious educational experiments and applications. For example, Conlon (1997) reports on the MOOville writing workshop for over 2500 students per semester at the University of Florida. Click here for a summary of it in Jensen and Sandlin (1997). Another less extreme extension is the MUSH which, like a MUD, is an electronic space in which multiple persons (players, users, students) socialize, create "worlds," and interact in gaming or serious episodes. For a discussion of the history and applications of MUSHes, see The Mush Manual by Lydia Leong. Also see MUDs, MOOs, and Muses. The variations differ more in terms of underlying codes than in purpose and application.

For an early overview of MUDs see Germain (1993). The addictive powers of MUDS and the fantasy world of LambdaMOO are discussed by Hafner (1994). MUDs and extensions such as MOOs and MUSHes are no longer viewed as merely interactive games. They have become serious paradigms for education and training. For a summary of MOOville and its outcomes see Chapter 2 of Jensen and Sandlin (1997). MUDs are particulary intriguing as education paradigms for reaching students who perform poorly in traditinal classroom settings. (See also Games)

Multimedia= The ability to combine audio, visual, and possibly other types of hardware into a presentation. For example, a "multimedia" classroom will typically have projection hardware and switching controls that make it easy for teachers to switch back and forth between computer projections, videotape projections, audio CDs, 35mm slides, videodiscs, CD-I players, etc. Although hypermedia presentations may require multimedia facilities, the two terms are not synonymous. Hardware and software options are discussed in considerable detail in Chapter 3. Career opportunities in authoring multimedia are discussed by Jerram (1994a). Courses, trade shows, and literature on learning how to author multimedia works are summarized by Lindstrom (1994). At the moment, multimedia hardware technology is in a greater state of change. For a discussion, see Document 7 at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen. Brickman and Manning (1995) discuss how student laboratories might be designed for multimedia technologies. (See also Video/audio networking and Hypermedia)

Multimedia database= (See Database)

Multimedia upgrade= Hardware additions (usually insert boards or plug-and-play devices) to computers that make some aspect of multimedia operational. The lowest form of upgrade is an audio upgrade kit. This is usually followed by a digital video upgrade kit. Other upgrades may include CD-ROM players, videodisc players, video scan converters, mixers, speakers, video editing systems, etc. Common upgrades meet MPC standards. (See also MPC and Multimedia)

Multimedia Video Processor= A DSP multimedia processing chip from Texas Instruments that is claimed to be 20 to 50 times more powerful than Intel's Pentium according to Information Week, March 14, 1994, p. 10. The MVP processor combines parallel-processing, DSP, and RISC technology.

Multisession recording= Creating a disk in several stages rather than all at once. (See also Single-session recording and CD-R)

Multitasking= Execution of programs simultaneously on a single computer. In newer operating systems, two or more programs may be running "in the background" while the user is concentrating on another program running "in the foreground." Limits on how many programs can be run at the same time depend more upon hardware capacities, especially RAM amounts. Most operating systems now have multitasking capabilities. Multitasking differs from multiloading in which RAM contains multiple programs that can only be run one at a time. (See also Operating system)


N-Terms

Nano Machines and Microbes (See Security)

Nanotechnology --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ubiquit.htm

Napster/Gnutella = software for sharing files over the Internet. The cover story entitled “The War Over Napster” by Steven Levy appeared in the June 5, 2000 issue of Newsweek Magazine, pp. 46-53. Although most of the controversy over Napster concerns copyright and royalties, the way in which Napster broadcasts online directly from multiple servers to a single user is revolutionary and should be of great interest to accountants and financial analysts. In essence, every browser becomes a server for whatever files a person wants to share with the world. This is a very complicated issue that in tantamount to a paradigm shift in web serving, searching, and file sharing. See http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/napster.htm. Also see P2P.

Native= The availability of a software package written directly for an operating system as opposed to running in emulation under some type of translation process. Emulation usually runs slower and possibly less effectively than native versions. For example, Word Perfect and Microsoft Word have native versions for both Power Mac and Windows Chicago operating systems. Most Windows and DOS programs must be run in emulation on PowerPCs such that the speed advantages of the PowerPC are virtually lost due to not being able to run in native form. Francis (1994) reports that the main drawback that is holding down sales of Apple Corporation' s Power Mac is that "no one is building mainstream (native) productivity applications for the Power Mac." Whether or not Windows Chicago is truly better than the IBM and Apple competition operating systems may be a moot point if there are over 40 million Windows users that have installed or soon will install Windows Chicago. Market share determines the number of native software applications being developed for operating systems. Mac, UNIX, and other operating systems are losing the native software development war to Windows Chicago and Windows 2000. Windows Chicago is almost certain to become the PC operating system standard of choice until its upgrade called Windows Cairo rolls off the line and/or Windows 2000 with upgraded object-oriented programming features become the operating systems of choice among users having newer hardware speed and memory components. (See also Operating system)

Navigation= The navigation of a reader or user through learning and entertainment materials such as electronic books, courseware, and networks. (See also Hypertext and Hypermedia)

NC= Short for network computer. Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison popularized this term for a simple device connected to the Internet that can do many tasks associated with PCs, but for a fraction of the cost. A good review as of the end of 1996 is provided in Information Week, November 18, 1996, pp. 14-16. For interactive computing on the web, see Distributed Network Computing.

NCSA= National Center for Supercomputing Applications, 605 E. Springfield, Champaign, IL 61820 (217-244-0072). This University of Illinois center produces high-end video imaging of art and scientific data. The NCSA also develops software for multimedia education and research. (See also Mosaic)

NetBIOS= A network communication protocol that NetWare can emulate.

Netcasting = (See Castanet.)

NetWare= A network operating system produced by Novell Incorporated.

Network address= A hexadecimal number used to identify a network cabling system.

Network computer= (See NC)

Networks= Linkages between computers allowing data and other digitized information to be transmitted between computers. Networks may be local, regional, national, or international. Commercial vendors such as Prodigy, America Online, CompuServe, and World of Boston provide relatively user friendly instructions about how to use networks. Internet users no longer have to acquire greater expertise in Unix coding for creating web documents and FTP usage. For a summary of alternatives, see Document 6 at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen. For a sampling of professors who use network technology for courses, go to Document 4 at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen . Alternatives such as email, BBS services, and Groupware for networked PC instruction are compared at Texas A&M University by Klemm and Snell (1994). They conclude that desktop conferencing is the best alternative and compare alternative vendor products for such purposes. For accounting educator Internet networks see also ANet, International Internet Association, PIC-AECM, and RAW. Prentice-Hall was the first publishing company, to our knowledge, to offer an interactive two-way network dialog between adopters of selected textbooks and the authors of those books, including a bulletin board of latest readings related to the text, abstracts of related literature, and classroom aids (see ABKY for an illustration). CD-ROMs can be used on network servers using new hardware described in PC Computing, December 1994, p. 144. (See also America Online, DAB/DAR, Delta Project, CompuServe, eWorld, Interchange, Prodigy, LAN, Video/audio networking, Video server, Internet, and SLIP)

Newsgroups = (See Newsgroups)

NexGen= Next Generation microprocessor RISC chip from Alaris (a venture company formed with seed money from Compaq, Olivetti, Paine Webber, and others) that was independently designed from Intel chips but is aimed at being equal to or better than the best Pentium alternatives from Intel. Alaris may be contacted at Phone 510-770-5770 or Fax 510-770-5769. Major manufacturers such as IBM and Compaq are offering NexGen alternatives to Pentium. At present, NexGen can deliver most performance efficiencies of the best Pentium alternatives at significantly lower prices. (See also RISC and Pentium)

NEXTStep= An operating system developed by Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer. For a comparative analysis with other current operating systems see PC/Computing Special Report (1994). NEXTStep is a leader in GUI interfaces and has some native applications software such as Word Perfect and Mathematica up and running. The future of NEXTStep was uncertain until Apple Corporation purchased the OS for $400 million in 1997 with the intention of making it the core of the future Mac and PowerMac operating systems. a revolutionary operating system from Apple Corporation that is based upon NEXTStep technology. Apple plans to deliver two operating systems for the next several years. First will be the Mac OS, which we will continue to upgrade and improve to support the current Macintosh customers worldwide, approximately 60 million users. Second will be a new OS based on NeXT Software's operating system technologies, NEXTStep and OPENStep. The powerful and advanced NeXT technologies are years ahead of competitive offerings, and will provide the foundation for a new OS, code-named Rhapsody. In addition to leveraging the NeXT technologies, Rhapsody is designed to run Mac applications through a Mac OS compatibility environment. Rhapsody's user interface will combine elements from both the Mac OS and NEXTStep, but will be closer in look and feel to the Mac OS Finder. We realize that customers need a consistent interface in the two operating systems to deploy them throughout a single organization. It's important for training and ease of use. One of the advantages of NeXT's technology is the easy support of multiple user interface paradigms. (See also Operating system and Rhapsody.)

NFS= The abbreviation for Network File System, NFS is a protocol suite developed and licensed by Sun Microsystems that allows different makes of computers running different operating systems to share files and disk storage.

NIC= The abbreviation for Network Information Center, NIC is an organization responsible for supplying information for component networks that comprise the Internet.

NIC= The Network Interface Card is a circuit board that is installed in the file server and workstations that make up the network. It allows the hardware in the network to send and receive data.

Nintendo/SGI Media Cartridges= Refer to data storage cartridges that are much faster than present CD-ROM alternatives for storing computer games, audio, and video files. The outlook for CD-ROM in the long haul is not so rosy. Billups (1994), p. 100 predicts the following:

As a lingering vestigial remnant of the mechanical age, the CD-ROM has no place in a fully digital communications environment and is no doubt destined to the same scrap heap as the eight-track. The new Nintendo/Silicon Graphics Inc. (SGI) media environment, for instance, uses a silicon cartridge that is two million times faster than CD-ROM. The storage capacity of this new environment has doubled in the last two months and the price unit has dropped more than half. By the time it hits the market it will set a new standard overnight.

In our viewpoint, however, the CD-ROM will remain the standard until better alternatives can be recorded as simply and as cheaply in homes and offices as CD-ROM discs can now be mastered (burned) for less than $20 per disc on desktop recorders costing less than $3,000. (See also Games)

NOC= The abbreviation for Network Operations Center, NOC is the organization responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Internet's component networks.

Node= A workstation, file server, bridge, or other device that has an address on a network.

Non-core= Those Chapter 3 attributes commonly found in course authoring systems that are not part of the core attributes of course management systems (CMS). (See also Authoring and CORE)

Nonlinear presentation= (See Hypermedia and Timeline presentation)

Notebook computer= A portable computer about the size of a standard ring binder notebook. Original laptop computers were about the size of a briefcase. Notebook computers later emerged that could be carried inside a briefcase. Next, sub-notebook computers were introduced that could be carried inside a suit pocket, although the most popular models presently are notebook size portables. Multimedia versions are slightly larger and heavier. Although notebook computers do not have expansion slots for hardware modifications, SCSI, Ethernet, ISBN, video caputure, and other hardware options are available on PCMCI cards. Also, docking stations allow notebook computers to have most of the features of desktop computers, including expansion slots. (See also Docking station, PDA, and PCMCIA)

Novell= A company based in Provo, Utah, that produces the NetWare network operating system.

NNTP = (See Internet Messaging).

NPTN= National Public Telecommunication Network in Cleveland that is dedicated to making communication, bulletin boards, and networking services freely available through linkages of privately funded sources. (See also Freenets)

NREN= National Research and Education Network (NREN). In December 1991, the U.S. Congress passed the High Performance Computing and Communications Program. This will expand international networking to thousands of times its present capacities and uses. Although intended primarily for research and education, the NREN will carry commercial traffic in research and education in addition to the types of noncommercial traffic carried presently on the Internet. The NSFNet is now referred to as the "Interim NREN. (See also Internet)

NSFNet= National Science Foundation Network connecting research universities and other research centers in the United States. (See also NREN)

NSP = Native Signal P rocessingsoftware from Intel that improves multimedia playback.

NTSC= National Television Standards Committee standards adopted in the 1960s by most nations in the Western Hemisphere, Japan, and other parts of Asia. These standards differ from PAL and SECAM standards in other parts of the world. For example, videotapes recorded under NTSC standards will play on videotape players sold in the United States and Canada. NTSC videotapes will not, however, play in European countries which have not adopted the NTSC standards. (See also PAL and SECAM)

NYSERNet= An Internet network that links rural libraries with a high speed communications network. This network is a nonprofit, equal-access network that has strong backing from major computer vendors and publishing firms. For details see EDUCOM Update, July/August 1993, pp. 3-4.


O-Terms

Object linking and embedding= (See OLE)

Object-Oriented Database Systems

Object-oriented database systems are quite different from the extremely relational database systems (e.g., MS Access, FoxPro, DBase, etc) that are extremely popular today. I will begin this module with a quote from my favorite online textbook in accounting information systems (that I adopt each year for my ACCT 5342 course):

Emerging database systems concepts
We conclude this chapter with a brief discussion of an emerging concepts relating to database systems. Object-oriented (OO) approaches to modeling and implementing database systems are becoming increasingly popular. This approach employs object-oriented modeling (OOM) techniques to model the domain of interest and then implements the resulting model using an object-oriented database management system (OODBMS). The object-oriented approach focuses on the objects of interest in the domain. Customers, vendors, employees, sales orders, and receipts are all viewed as objects that have certain attributes. OOM involves identifying the objects of interest, their attributes, and relationships between objects.

A critical feature unique to the OO approach is that an "object" package includes both the attributes of the object and the methods or procedures that pertain to that object. The methods might dictate how the object's attributes are modified in response to different events, or how the object causes changes in the attributes of other objects. Thus, a key difference between the database models described earlier and the OO approach is that OO models combine data (attributes) and procedures (methods) in one package, i.e., the "object." This feature of OO models is referred to as encapsulation - attributes and methods are represented together in one capsule. Another powerful feature of OO models is inheritance. OO models depict the real world as a hierarchy of object classes, with lower level classes inheriting attributes and methods from higher level classes. Thus, lower level object classes do not need to redefine attributes and methods that are common to the higher level object classes in the class hierarchy.

An OO model contains all details needed for implementation and object-oriented DBMS are powerful enough to represent all the information contained in the model. However, most organizations that have made heavy investments in RDBMS see little need to migrate to OO environments. While OO modeling methods are available, there is no consensus regarding the "best" method to use. Finally, although OODBMS are beginning to become commercially available, they have not gained much acceptance in the marketplace probably due to their relatively high cost and poor performance in comparison to RDBMS. Gemstone, ObjectStore, VBase, and O2 are some examples of OODBMS.

Accounting Information Systems: A Database Approach
by Uday S. Murthy and S. Michael Groomer
For more information go to http://www.cybertext.com/

Next I will repeat a great illustration pointed out in the message below from Alexander Lashenko:

Hello Bob,

Take a look at http://www.sanbase.com/cx.html

It's an original object-oriented DBMS with web interface. Looks very nice.

Regards,

Alex.
Alexander Lashenko [alashenko@cryptologic.com]

Also see Database.

OCR= Optical Character Recognition software and hardware used to interpret scanned symbols into characters of text or numbers recognized as something other than mere graphics images. The term is commonly used in such software as OmniPage Pro (800-535-7226) to indicate options of translating scanned words and numbers into computer text files that can be read by word processing and spreadsheet software. For a review of options, see Molinari (1995). (See also Scanner)

ODBC= Open Database Connectivity support. Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) refers to a standard for accessing different database systems in Visual Basic and Visual C++. Applications in most any software (e.g., Asymetrix ToolBook) can submit statements to ODBC using the ODBC type of SQL. ODBC then translates the code for use in common database systems such as Access, Paradox, dBase, Text, Excel and Btrieve databases. ODBC is based on Call-Level Interface and was defined by the SQL Access Group. Microsoft was one member of the group and was the first company to release a commercial product based on its work (under Microsoft Windows) but ODBC is not a Microsoft generated standard. ODBC drivers and development tools are available now for Microsoft Windows, Unix, OS/2, and Macintosh. See http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/260wp/260wp.htm#ODBC.

OKI = Open Knowledge Initiative

For more detail see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/updateee.htm#OKI

OKI and OCW: Free sharing of courseware from MIT, Stanford, and other colleges and universities.
"CourseWork: An Online Problem Set and Quizzing Tool," by Charles Kerns, Scott Stocker, and Evonne Schaeffer, Syllabus, June 2001, 27-29. I don't think the article is available online, although archived table of contents for the June edition is at http://www.syllabus.com/syllabusmagazine/magazine.asp?month=6&year=2001

"MIT's Superarchive," by Sally Atwood, Technology Review, November 2002 --- http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/atwood1202.asp

A digital repository will revolutionize the way research is shared and preserved.

Every year MIT researchers create at least 10,000 papers, data files, images, collections of field notes, and audio and video clips. The research often finds its way into professional journals, but the rest of the material remains squirreled away on personal computers, Web sites, and departmental servers. It’s accessible to only a few right now. And with computers and software evolving rapidly, the time is coming when files saved today will not be accessible to anyone at all.
Until recently there has been no overall plan to archive or preserve such work for posterity. But true to its problem-solving nature, MIT has come up with a solution. In September the Institute launched DSpace, a Web-based institutional repository where faculty and researchers can save their intellectual output and share it with their colleagues around the world and for centuries to come. The result of a two-year collaboration of the MIT Libraries and Hewlett-Packard, DSpace is built on open-source software and is available to anyone free of charge. But it’s even more important to note that many believe this groundbreaking effort will fundamentally change the way scholars disseminate their research findings.





OLAP = Online Analytical Processing database design in which data can be analyzed from a multidimensional point of view. A great example is given online at the FedScope Website of the U.S. Government. Whereas a relational database can be thought of as two-dimensional, a multidimensional database considers each data attribute (such as product, geographic sales region, and time period) as a separate "dimension." OLAP software can locate the intersection of dimensions (all products sold in the Eastern region above a certain price during a certain time period) and display them. Attributes such as time periods can be broken down into sub-attributes.

I stumbled upon a rather unique website that organizes data in a way that may interest some of you. It has possibilities for online training and education site designs. The site is called FedScope from the Office of Personnel Management of the U.S. Government --- http://www.fedscope.opm.gov/index.htm

I stumbled upon a rather unique website that organizes data in a way that may interest some of you. It has possibilities for online training and education site designs. The site is called FedScope from the Office of Personnel Management of the U.S. Government --- http://www.fedscope.opm.gov/index.htm

FedScope is an On Line Analytic Processing tool which provides a free and easy way to access and analyze a large array of Federal employment data on your own.

FedScope uses multidimensional data sources called "Cubes". A FedScope cube brings together 13 key dimensions (data elements) on the Federal workforce and lets you explore any combination of the data: up, down, and across the dimensions.

You can easily

use our shortcut canned reports that we've provided in this application.

free-style with our OLAP tool to create your own reports.

export data to your favorite software (i.e. Excel Spreadsheet) for analysis and presentation.

export reports to Adobe Acrobat PDF for printing.

Online Glossary of Online Terms from the Office of Personnel Management of the U.S. Government --- http://www.fedscope.opm.gov/glossary/index.htm
(This glossary has a somewhat unique design for online users.)

Another OLAP-type approach entails pivot table analysis in Excel spreadsheets. You can download sample pivot table illustrations from Microsoft Corporation's financial statement Website at http://www.microsoft.com/msft/tools.htm . To slice and dice these pivot table reports, the Excel spreadsheets containing the data must be downloaded into an Excel program (which in reality makes this no longer an "online analytical process." After doing so, the pivot tables can be manipulated and users can prepare their own custom charts, other pivot tables, etc. This is very useful, but is not as neat and tidy as the truly online Cube OLAP approach available at the Fedscope site note above.



OLE= Object Linking and Embedding standards established by Microsoft Corporation for Mac and Windows operating systems. In 1997, Microsoft declared that OLE no longer stands for object linking and embedding (seeActiveX and CORBA ). Before 1997, however, OLE standards allowed the creation of links between documents and the embedding of documents in multiple applications. The OLE standards are designed to be "dynamic" in that as changes are made in an object in one document, the changes are simultaneously made automatically in all linked documents. For example, in pasting from the clipboard, authors choose the Paste Link or Paste Special command rather than the Paste command in the Edit menu. Pasting in this way creates a dynamic link between the source document and the destination document. OLE also supports embedding which embeds the source document (or a portion of the document) into the destination file such that the two documents become a "compound" file. Embedding is often used where a server file (creating embedded items) and client files (receiving embedded files) are in the system. In contrast to OLE linkages, OLE embedding edits in client files will not alter server files. This is not the case with OLE linkages, where any changes in a linked file will change all other linked files. Most word processor and spreadsheet software options have OLE capabilities. (See ActiveX, CORBA, and Java)

OLE/DCOM = (See CORBA )

Online= (See also Networks)

OLTP = On-Line Transaction Processing in database management systems. See Database.

On-the-fly recording= Sending data from your hard disk directly to the CD-R burner, without creating a physical image file first. (See also CD-R)

Ontology Web Language --- See OWL

Open= a public standard in computer contexts that is the opposite of "proprietary." Open refers to software and hardware made from published specifications that anyone can copy --- so customers have choice among multiple suppliers that compete on price and innovation. (See also Cross-platform)

Operating system= The master control software system that serves as a foundation for applications software. Examples of past, present, and forthcoming operating systems include MS-DOS, Amiga DOS, Windows, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Chicago, Windows Cairo, OS/2, Workplace OS, Apple/Mac Systems 7 and 8, Taligent (Pink), PowerOpen, NEXTStep, Rhapsody, Unix, SCO, AIX, HP/UX, HP/MPE, SCO Open Desktop, Solaris, and UnixWARE (Novell). A second class of operating systems is known as real time processing. These are used more for on-the-fly control systems such as aviation control systems and military applications. Examples include the Intel Multibus and iRMX operating systems. For a comparative analysis of the 32-bit options, see PC/Computing Special Report (1994) where it is concluded that there are advantages and drawbacks of each option and no clear optimal choice at this juncture in time. For 10 years, Apple Corporation would not license its proprietary Mac operating system to other manufacturers. However, in 1994 Apple announced that it would license its System 7 operating system to other vendors on PowerPC computers. In 1997, plans for Copeland and Gershwin upgrades were abandoned in favor or Rhapsody. Apple's hopes are riding heavily upon the evolution of a new operating system called Rhapsody that is a revolutinary operating system based upon NEXTStep technology. This may help to overcome the problem that Apple Corporation's market share has declined to less tan 5% of the desktop computing market and an even smaller percentage of the laptop/notebook computer market. The new licensing agreement is designed to cut into the huge market share of Windows operating systems from Microsoft Corporation. However, Microsoft Windows still remains the market share choice. Then along came Linux to challenge the Microsoft's operating systems. Linux (pronounced Leenicks) is a freely-distributable implementation of UNIX that runs on a number of hardware platforms, including Intel and Motorola microprocessors. It is very popular among computer scientists who have freely given their time to develpment of Linux.

The Linux home page is at http://www.ssc.com/linux/ .

"The Penguin Is Popping Up All Over Linux is fast breaking out of its original stomping ground in servers and into cell phones, cars, telecom gear, consumer electronics...," Business Week Online, March 30, 2004 --- http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2004
/tc20040330_8251_tc167.htm

UNCOUNTED MILLIONS.
Sound familiar? It should. To a degree, the same dynamics are propelling Linux' swift rise in the server OS market. Linux had a 7% share of that market in the fourth quarter of 2003 according to Framingham (Mass.) tech tracker IDC. But this number may not reflect the tens of millions of free versions of Linux that system administrators have downloaded and installed themselves. And year-over-year, Linux posted a 63% increase in market share, by far the biggest increase for any server OS.

This rapid growth in part reflects Linux' rapid move into the embedded operating system market. Until recently, makers of proprietary operating systems mainly worked that sector. The largest among them, Wind River (WIND ), attained close to 50% market share but remained far from dominant, as no one company could create products to span the thousands of types of processors that run embedded software. In fact, many device companies -- in aerospace and defense in particular -- have kept their development and code in-house.

As Linux has begun to mature, however, electronics makers have started to focus on its advantages. By incorporating it, they can minimize the number of operating systems they use in products to boost efficiency -- and thus free their programmers to concentrate on work that adds value to their products.


LinspireTM (formerly Lindows) is a full-featured operating system like Microsoft Windows XP or Apple Mac OSX. Linspire offers you the power, stability and cost-savings of Linux with the ease of a windows environment. In addition, Linspire features exclusive CNR technology that makes installing software on Linspire fast and easy -- simply find the software you want in the CNR Warehouse, then click and run it! Watch a 5-minute Flash Demo to quickly learn more about Linspire and CNR --- http://www.linspire.com/lindows_sales_intro.php

(See also Cross-platform, Lindspire, Amiga, Windows, Windows XP, DOS, Windows Cairo, Windows Chicago, Windows 2000, Mac, Alpha processor, Mozart, Copeland, Gershwin, Native, OS/2, Wintel, and Rhapsody.)

Apple Corporation's operating system for its Mac OS X servers is called "Darwin." Apple announced that it will make the Darwin source code available to developers. It is a variant of UNIX.

News from Microsoft --- http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/migrate/unix/default.asp

As the Windows platform continues to evolve to address changing business computing needs, many organizations currently on UNIX platforms are turning to Windows to run their new client and server business applications. They're discovering that moving to the Windows platform does not require abandoning existing investments in UNIX applications and infrastructure.

This section explains why customers should consider migrating to Windows from UNIX. It also provides detailed information for IT professionals and developers on how to move from UNIX systems to Windows XP, Windows 2000, and the upcoming Windows .NET Server and Microsoft .NET Web services platforms.

Why Migrate to Windows from UNIX and Linux
How to Migrate to Windows from UNIX and Linux
Migration Tools and Resources


Optical character recognition= (See OCR)

Optical drive= Any medium or device using a laser beam for accessing data stored on an optical disc. Typical optical drives are CD drives and videodisc drives. However, there are many types of optical drives including those that can be written on and re-written on much like floppy discs or computer tape. To date, most optical drives have slower access time than magnetic drives. (See also CD and Videodisc)

Optical scanner= (See OCR)

ORB = (See CORBA )

OS/2= Operating System 2 introduced by IBM Corporation in 1992 and upgraded to OS/2 Warp in 1994. This is the first 32-bit processing system designed for PCs. It beat its rival Microsoft Windows 2000 to the market by almost two years. In early 1994, neither Windows 2000 nor OS/2 have made a huge dent in the DOS and Windows market. For example, there were only four million OS/2 adopters and 250,000 Windows 2000 adopters at the end of 1993 in comparison with over 40 million Microsoft Windows adopters. As older PCs are replaced by higher speed PCs with more memory, 32-bit processors will become more popular. OS/2 gets some high praises when compared with current 32-bit alternatives in PC/Computing Special Report (1994). At issue is whether OS/2 or Windows 2000 or Pink or some other operating system will saturate the market (after DOS, Windows, Apple/Mac, and Windows Chicago stubbornly fade from the scene). OS/2 is a very reliable operating system that requires less PC capacity than Windows 2000. However, Windows 2000 has more networking utilities that may give it the competitive edge in the future. Until software vendors offer a wider array of options for either OS/2 or Windows 2000, the operating systems most widely used worldwide will continue to be DOS, Windows, and Windows Chicago. An alternate IBM operating system called Workplace OS combines the object-oriented Workplace with the OS/2 operating environment. Since OS/2 Warp has such a small market share, developers are not generating significant native software applications that run more efficiently in OS/2 vis-a-vis Windows. In CD-ROM Today, February 1995, pp. 40-51, OS/2 Warp performance is evaluated and a forecast is made that IBM will abandon OS/2. Although OS/2 Warp runs DOS applications better than MS-DOS itself, it is very slow when trying to run Windows applications. Neither Apple Corporation nor IBM Corporation have been able to significantly gain market share against Microsoft Windows. (See also Ultimedia Video, Operating system, DOS, Windows, Windows Chicago, and Windows 2000)

OS 8 = (See Copeland)

OSI Model= The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model for describing network protocols was devised by the Internet Standards Organization. It divides protocols into seven layers to standardize and simplify definitions.

OTM = (See CORBA).

Outernets= Systems of computer networks that are not bundled on the Internet but nevertheless can be accessed to the Internet through gateways that translate outernet protocols into Internet protocols. The worldwide system of gateways is called the "Matrix" or "the Net". (See also Internet)

OWL = Ontology Web Language (OWL)

The main link for Web Ontology is at http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/WebOnt/

The OWL Web Ontology Language is designed for use by applications that need to process the content of information instead of just presenting information to humans. OWL facilitates greater machine interpretability of Web content than that supported by XML, RDF, and RDF Schema (RDF-S) by providing additional vocabulary along with a formal semantics. OWL has three increasingly-expressive sublanguages: OWL Lite, OWL DL, and OWL Full.

Also see RDF at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/XBRLandOLAP.htm#RDF_Extended

It is interesting how OWL had an entirely different meaning at one time. OWL was the first commercial hypertext course management system in a box following OWL Corporations training development efforts for the U.S. Navy. OWL died when DOS faded. You can read the following at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/290wp/290wp.htm


P-Terms

P2P= Peer to Peer Networking. Not just a chaotic haven for Napster fans, peer-to-peer networking is getting praise from the button-down side of e-commerce for the business problems it can solve. http://www.eweek.com/a/pcwt0012201/2663715/

For my Threads on the Napster/Wrapster/Gnutella/Pointera/FreeNet Paradigm Shift in Web Serving and Searching, go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/napster.htm


Packet= A discrete unit of data bits transmitted over a network.

Paintbrush software= Software used to create new or modify imported graphics images and photographs. Options and prices vary widely. Important features to look for are the variety of filters that enable importing a wide variety of types of graphics images, the ability to resize and change aspect ratios of pictures, and the layering of objects in an image such that images behind layers can be recovered (this is a feature of Adobe Photoshop that is not available in most other software options). Alternative software features and options are reviewed in the annual NewMedia Tool Guide from NewMedia magazine in the 1995 edition. 2-D graphics software options are listed on pp. 40-43.

Photoshop 7.0 Overview Adobe's Photoshop 7.0 has officially hit the shelves! Evany takes a whirlwind tour of new features like the File Browser, Healing Brush, and the beefier Brush palette, then shares her opinions --- http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/02/16/index1a.html

For a great alternative that is easier to use than Adobe Photoshop, much less expensive, and far less demanding of computer power, try Paintshop Pro from JASC --- http://www.jasc.com/

(See also Animation and Texture)

PAL= Phase Alternation Line television standard for most western European nations. For example, videotapes recorded under PAL standards will not play on the NTSC tape players found in the Western Hemisphere and Asia. (See also NTSC and SECAM)

Palette = A table of available simultaneous colors that paints pixels on the screen.

Panning =

Video: Panning effects are created by moving the "camera" (usually from side to side) while keeping the subject in the viewfinder. Zooming entails making the image more or less magnified.

Audio: Positionings of sounds to the left or right in a stereo sound field, creating the effect of different instruments playing in different parts of the room. You must be able to control panning in order to take advantage of the stereo capabilities of high-end synthesizers and some MPC boards.

Paradox= A relational database PC system from Borland International. See GainMomentum, Relational database management, and 4GL Database Languages.

Parallel processing = (See Multitasking)

Parser = a program that receives input from sequential source program instructions, interactive online commands, markup tags, or some other defined interface and breaks them up into parts (for example, the nouns (objects), verbs (methods), and their attributes or options) that can then be managed by other programming (for example, other components in a compiler). A parser may also check to see that all input has been provided that is necessary. See HTML.

Password= A secret word used to identify a user.

Patch= A set of tone-generating parameters that determine the instrument imitation (flute, violin, etc.) of a synthesizer.

PC= A Personal Computer that is compatible with the IBM desktop computers. PCs that are not manufactured by IBM Corporation are typically referred to as "clones." Generally, programs written on any PC will play on another PC. Most PC users now run under Microsoft DOS or Microsoft Windows operating systems. Newer and more advanced processors include OS/2 from IBM and Windows 2000 from Microsoft Corporation. Programs written on a Mac operating system will not usually run on a PC. Differences between Mac and PC computers have led to constant frustrations for authors since there is no single standard for authoring materials that can be used across the computer market. This is especially frustrating for authors of CD-ROM learning and entertainment materials. PC computers using the early Intel 8088 processor were called XT models. The XT's gave way to the AT models containing the 80286 or higher level Intel processors. Now the model names usually contain the processor specifications such as Intel 386, 486, and Pentium designations. The top-rated PCs at the end of 1994 are Dell Dimension (Rank 1), Micron PCI (Rank 2), Gateway P% (Rank 3), and IBM ValuPoint (Rank 4) according to PC Computing, December 1994, p. 126. Two pages later, that same magazine ranks the best-buys in portables as TravelMate 4000M from Texas Instruments (Rank 1), Latitude XP from Dell (Rank 2), and ThinkPad755C from IBM (Rank 3). (See also Bus, Amiga, Mac, SGI, SUN, and PowerPC)

pcd= (See Photo CD)

PCI= (See Bus)

PCM= Pulse Code Modulation of audio waveform sampling that records actual values rather than the ADPVM difference between samples. This decreases fidelity with higher resolution than ADPCM. (See also Audio and ADPCM)

PCMCIA= Personal Computer Memory Card International Association defined standards for memory card external slots (ports) to peripheral devices such as fax modems. PCMCIA slots are common in printers, and notebook/laptop computers, but these "slots" have been troubled technologies from the start. Before buying a computer with PCMCIA slots, readers are advised to read Doe (1994) and Smarte (1994) regarding the problems and hopes for improvements in the future. Doe (1994), p. 172 states that: "User outrage about this incompatibility has scared many people away from PCMCIA." The Type I slots are 3.3 mm thick and serve mainly as memory cards. The Type II slots are more input/output compatible with fax modems and LAN adapters. The Type III slots are 10.5 mm thick and can be used for porting to some auxiliary storage devices such as external hard drives. One problem is that some vendors who claim to have Type III slots are really manufacturing with only Type II slots stacked on top of each other giving rise to a .5 mm incompatibility difference. There is also some doubt whether PCMCIA technology can be expanded to 32 bit and 64 bit processors of the future. Smarte (1994), pp. 204-205 compares performances of leading PC models on various PCMCIA attributes and functions. Readers might especially want to note how many of the computer models "fail" with respect to SCSI performance using PCMCIA slots. Smarte (1994), p. 208 also provides a small glossary of PCMCIA terms. For example, "CIS" depicts Card Information Structure of formatting and data organization on the card. "Plug and play" is a feature that allows changing of cards without having to reboot the system. Smarte (1994), p. 215 also provides a listing of new PCMCIA technologies and their vendors.

PCS= (Wireless Glossary of Terms)

PCTV= (See Information highway)

PCX= (See Graphics)

PDA= Personal Digital Assistant pocket-sized devices for recording of typed or handwritten messages that can later be ported to computers. See Wireless Glossary of Terms. The most innovative device was the Newton developed and later abandoned by Apple Corporation. Two leading devices that emerged are linked below:

The Psion Series gives you the computing power that you need without the excess weight. It has a touch type
keyboard and full page width touch-sensitive screen, yet weighs less than 13 ounces (or less than 360g), has around 35 hours of battery life and fits into your pocket. The Psion handheld computer is compatible with all leading Windows 95/NT4 word processors, spreadsheets and databases, and synchronizes with schedule and contacts software on your desktop PC, including Microsoft, Lotus, Corel, WordPerfect and other applications. PsiWin 2 - included as standard - docks your Psion to your PC. See http://www.psion.com/series5/index.html

The market share leader in the latest PDA devices is Palm. The Internet connections to the world are wireless and use only AAA batteries. I wish it had a keyboard when it is not connected to a PC. But theres are some great features in spite of not having a keyboard. For a Palm product review, see http://www.computerworld.com/home/print.nsf/all/990521palm .
The Palm home page is at http://www.palm.com/ .

PDA and PDF= Portable Document Aassistant PostScript formatting technology that attempts to provide a viable way of exchanging documents across operating systems and different types of software. The of the best known PDA option is the Acrobat tools from Adobe Corporation that gives rise to PDF documents in Protable Document Format file extensions. Acrobat also provides other utilities such as the Distiller tool that translates PostScript files into a PDF format, the Exchange tool that facilitates insertion of hypertext linkages, the PDF Writer containing printer drivers, and other utilities. For a review of Acrobat, go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/wwwsoft.htm. Also see Cross-platform.

I have been playing a little more with Version 4 of Adobe Acrobat. The most common way to generate an Acrobat PDF file is to create a document in a word processor (say a DOC file) or a spreadsheet (say a XLS file). With Adobe Exchange installed, you can simply save a second copy of the document as a PDF file. In the past, I pretended there was a glass barrier in which the original images were behind the glass (and could not be modified with Adobe Exchange) versus Acrobat Exchage things that you could do in front of the glass (such as add annotations, hyperlinks, bookmarks, audio, video, etc.). Prior to Version 4, any changes in content of the file behind the glass could not be made using Adobe Exchange. Version 4, however, allows certain types of changes such as "touching up" words, insertion of pages, and renumbering of pages. However, most serious modifying and editing of text or data are still best accomplished by returning to the word processor or spreadsheet program. For example, if I added text in a sentence I could not get the longer sentence to easily wrap around and adjust the lines for the added text. Have any of you found a way to make such text wrappings automatice in PDF text editing?

Version 4 of Adobe Acrobat (particularly the Adobe Exchange module) certainly makes it easier to publish web documents in PDF form rather than HTML or dome other DTD. Version 4 is a significant upgrade. The main advantage is that the original document produced on a word processor or spreadsheet program does not have to be edited and touched up in the same manner that an HTML conversion often requires fixing up and images. For example MS Word tables and Excel tables do not have to be fixed up in a PDF file, but these tables almost always have to be fixed up following a conversion to a HTM file. Images do not have to be stored in separate files like they do for HTML documents. Another advantage arises in that the hard copy printout of the PDF file is nearly perfect in terms of looking just like the original DOC or XLS printout.

But there is one huge disadvantage of a PDF document on the web that is often overlooked. That disadvantage is that a PDF document cannot be scanned by web search engines such as Altavista, HotBot, and Lycos. If authors want to have their work picked up by search engines, one possibilty is to publish a summary of the PDF document in a separate HTML document. Include lots of key words and text in the HTML document that will motivate users to click on the hyperlink to the PDF file.

Adding (limited) text editing capabilities will not be viewed happily by all authors. For example, PDF files are often the files of choice by corporations issuing annual reports. A main reason is that they print so nicely from PDF files. Another reason in the past, however, was that users could not modify the text in a PDF file. With Version 4 of Acrobat Exchange, however, readers can change text, insert pages, import other PDF files, repaginate, etc. PDF authoring no longer comforts authors that their documents remain "Pretty Decidedly Fixed" after they are downloaded by users.

From Information Week Newsletter on March 6, 2001

The future is wireless, or so we're told. While vendors work out the formula for devices and services that will put wireless clients into every consumer's hands, at least one wireless networking technology has moved out of the early-adopter stage. Wireless Ethernet, defined by the 802.11b standard, is coming into its own as a common technique to connect clients to networks. It is this genuine maturity that new technologies are pushed to achieve. This is the magic place on the product life curve when companies can begin ordering and installing the technology as a solution rather than as an experiment.

We took five separate 802.11b systems to the Review Bunker at the University of Hawaii's Advanced Network Computing Lab to see whether these products truly are as mature as they seem. We wanted to see whether the wireless networking systems would be easy to integrate into an existing network and easy to forget once they were installed. In short, we wanted to find out whether wireless networking systems can replace standard 10Base-T with no performance or management penalties for users and administrators.

Five companies accepted our invitation to this lab test. Cisco, Enterasys Networks, Intel, Proxim and Symbol Technologies brought network access devices, management software and wireless PC cards to the Review Bunker and helped us put the systems through their paces. In the end, we found that there's a lot of good news in wireless networking, along with one little detail that will cause you some trouble. --Curtis Franklin

Read on to find out how they performed: http://update.internetweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eCoW0Bdl6n0V30LWBN

***************************************************

Providers Overcome Bluetooth Blues

Bluetooth--a technology that backers in the wireless and computer industry promise will enable cheap, short-range wireless networking--is set to become a reality after more than two years of development.

By this summer, wireless operators will be selling phones with Bluetooth transceivers, small chips that can communicate at distances up to 30 feet and wirelessly connect to PCs and PDAs.

Wireless service providers are excited about the prospects. They expect gadget fans and road warriors to use their cellular networks to connect Bluetooth-enabled devices to the Internet and corporate LANs.

The coming of age of Bluetooth means more traffic over the network and more demand for wireless services, say wireless operators. --Jonathan Collins, tele.com

Read on: http://update.internetweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eCoW0Bdl6n0V30LWCO

Pentium= A CISC high speed processor that followed the 486 processors of Intel. The Pentium runs much faster than the 486 in most instances and, thereby, is a better alternative for graphics, audio, and video processing. It is also better suited to newer operating systems such as Windows Chicago and Windows 2000. Early versions tended to overheat and had an unknown life and reliability. Later versions of Pentium processors such as the P54C overcame all doubts about Intel's ability to produce a cool running CISC processor at speeds up to 100 MHz and plans to produce even faster Pentiums. These newer versions dispel all doubts about "Intel's aim to crunch the PowerPC" according to Information Week, February 21, 1994, p. 60. The comparative advantages, and they are serious advantages in the market, are the ability to run DOS and Windows applications in direct rather than emulation form in Pentium processors. This is not the case with PowerPC alternatives. Also, some users prefer CISC to RISC. (See also Mulimedia Video Processor, NexGen, RISC, and CISC)

Peripheral Component Interconnect= (See Bus)

PERL = (See CGI.)

PersonaLink Service= (See PDA)

Phase Change Dual (PD)= A technology for recording rewritable compact discs that was developed by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. of Osaka, Japan. The PD phase change on tiny disc crystals is achieved with a laser beam burning that makes them more or less reflective. The PD rewritable discs, however, cannot be read on standard CD-ROM players. This limits the market for developers. However, the rewritable feature has many useful attributes. The capacity of a PD disc is currently 650 MB and the player/recorder sells for less than $1,000. (See also CD)

PHP = a server-side, cross-platform, HTML embedded scripting language. This may sound a little foreign to all you folks coming from a non-Unix background, but PHP doesn't cost anything. The PHP web site is at http://www.php.net/ . Also see Shell.

Photo CD= A CD that contains up to 100 high quality photographs developed by Kodak from 35 mm film directly onto a CD-ROM or a CD-I disc. PhotoCD files generally have a pcd extension and can be played back on Kodak software. New Photo CD Portfolio and Create-It software from Kodak (800-CD-KODAK) facilitate presentations such as classroom lectures and outside presentations to be pressed to Photo CDs. However, the Photo CD disc only stores graphics images (including text stored as a graphic) and will not store files that can be executed in computer software such as playing back a ToolBook book or HyperCard stack or storing a Lotus or Excel spreadsheet file. (In contrast, a CD-ROM disc will store computer files that can be read into execution files.) Reading of such discs requires special software. Also, CD-ROM drives have to be sufficiently fast (e.g., double or triple speed) to playback Photo CD discs. CD-I and related machines that play on television sets rather than computers will also play Photo CD discs. For a guide to Photo CD usage see Brannon (1993). For the Photo Factory software package see Multimedia Store in Appendix 6. A production guide is provided by Larish (1993). (See also Dry camera and Video from digital (DV) camcorders)

Photography= (See Dry camera)

Phreaker = the skilled saboteur who relies on guile and the fallibility of employees in an information system. Employees do not necessarily have to be co-conspirators. The phreaker takes advantage of their innocence and trusting nature. The term is used in contrast to a hacker and a cracker. A hacker is a person who relies only upon technology to hack into the system (e.g., by breaking the encryption code.) Whereas a hacker usually breaks in without intention to harm the system or for personal gain, a "hacker" turns into a "cracker" when the intention becomes more sinister. A "phreaker" may do some hacking or cracking, but the to be a phreaker the saboteur must also rely upon human fallibility. (See also firewall.)





PIC-AECM= Pacioli International Centre for Accounting Education using Computers and Multimedia, Loyola College in Maryland, 4501 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21210-2699 Phone: (410-617-2478), Fax: (410-617-2006) email: pacioli@Loyola.edu. The AECM-L mailing list is also available. A description of services is contained in the CETA Newsletter, June, 1994. (See also ANet, International Internet Association, and RAW)

Pink= A forthcoming Taligent multi-platform operating system jointly backed by Apple Corporation and IBM as the next generation of operating systems. The "multi-platform" feature will permit running DOS, Windows, OS/2, Apple/Mac systems, Unix, and PowerOpen. (See also Operating system)

PIP= Picture-In-Picture that can simultaneously display two TV images on the same screen, including images from two separate TV tuners or a TV tuner and VCR tape deck. (See also POP and Video)

Pitch bend= Gradual change in a tone's frequency (highness or lowness). For example, this can be used to create effects like vibrato or to produce more natural note attacks on some instruments.

Pixel= The rectangular "dots" that comprise the smallest units of screen color variations. The more pixels that the computer can display per square inch of screen, the higher the resolution of graphics images on the screen. Older CGA resolutions had such large pixels that outlines of individual pixels could be seen in the graphics images. Higher resolutions such as those in Super VGA make it harder to detect pixels without zooming enlargements of parts of the screen. Larger numbers of pixels make graphics modification tasks more tedious.

Platform= Another word with many meanings. A platform can be a chip, a computer, an operating system, an application--or any combination of them. But it usually refers to a collection of technology that software companies use in making new products. (See also Operating system)

Plug and play= A phase that can have a variety of meanings in different contexts. In the most general sense, it means ease of setup and operation such as when a device can simply be plugged into power and run with ease. In the area of PCMCIA cards, the term means that cards can be removed and replaced with other cards without having to reboot the system. Details of plug and play are given in White (1994). (See also PCMCIA)

Plug-in= Has a meaning that can vary with context. The most common meaning in WWW browsers is reader (runtime, playback, view) software that will "plug" into the browser such that when a file extension (e.g., PDF, TBK, WAV, AVI, MOV, etc.) is encountered the browser will view or download the file automatically and run that file. Most plug-in readers are free. Examples include the PDF Acrobat reader from , the shockwave reader from , the neuron reader from , and movie readers from . VRML readers are usually browser plug-ins. A summary of browser plug-ins is contained in "Get Plugged In: Navigator Plug-Ins That Liven Up the Web," PC Magazine, May 28, 1996, pp. 44-60. (See also MIME, Internet, Browser, and World Wide Web)

POP= Picture-On-Picture that entails wide-screen viewing of up to three TV images simultaneously on 16:9 wide-screen TV. (See also Wide-screen TV, PIP, and Video)

POP3 = (See Internet Messaging).

POP = An acronym for Point of Presence, POP is a service provider's location for connecting to users. Generally, POP refers to the location where people can dial into the provider's host computer. Most providers have several POPs to allow low-cost access via telephone lines.

PORTAL =

A "one-stop" place of information and services for some topical area or grouping of related topical areas. Following on the heels of my featured knowledge portal in my August 22, 2000 New Bookmarks comes a featured review of "Portals in Higher Education," by Michael Looney and Peter Lyman, Educause Review, July/August 2000 --- http://www.educause.edu/pub/er/erm00/erm004.html

A few selected quotations from the Looney and Lyman article are given below:

WHAT ARE PORTALS?
Let’s start with a simple definition, and then explore some of the variations of portals. At the most basic level, portals gather a variety of useful information resources into a single, “one-stop” Web page, helping the user to avoid being overwhelmed by “infoglut” or feeling lost on the Web. But since no two people have the same interests, portals allow users to customize their information sources by selecting and viewing only the information they find personally useful. Some portals also let you personalize your portal by including private information (such as your stock portfolio or checking account balance). Put simply, an institution’s portal is designed to make an individual’s Web experience more efficient and thereby make the institution as a whole more productive and responsive.

. . .

The two most popular consumer portals are AOL and Yahoo! AOL ( http://www.aol.com ) has over twentyfive million users averaging 12 minutes per session.2 Yahoo! ( http://www.yahoo.com ) has over twentytwo million users averaging nearly 25 minutes per session and is the classic directory portal that most other portals have imitated. Portals often seem similar from one site to another because publishers of generic consumer information, such as InfoSpace ( http://www.infospace.com ) and MyWay ( http://www.myway.com ), license the same information services to many dot.coms. College.com companies may license these information to companies as B2B (business-to-business) enterprise or use them on student-oriented web pages as a B2C (business-to-consumer) enterprise.

. . .

According to the Delphi Group’s published survey results, 55 percent of Fortune 500 companies are already using an enterprise portal or have plans to develop one in the near future. Enterprise portals are intended to assist employees to be more efficient and productive by centralizing access to needed data services—for example, competitive information, manufacturing and accounting data, 401K information, and other human relations data. Enterprise portals often include news, weather, and sports feeds as a benefit for the employee, giving these portals the appearance of a community portal.

Examples of campus portals:

Some campuses have already started developing educational portals to accomplish these goals. The University of Washington has developed MyUW ( http://myuw.washington.edu ). This portal site uses information in innovative ways that enhance the educational mission, personalizing student data (student debit-card totals, student course information) and providing faculty with ideas and resources for new uses of technology for teaching. The UW portal seems to have the mission of creating an online community encompassing a diverse and complex on-and off-campus environment. And the MyUCLA site ( http://www.my.ucla.edu ), one of the oldest in higher education, provides a classic directory-style portal, ranging from new modes of accessing campus administrative data to relevant feeds from the UCLA Daily Bruin.

My main objection to a portal is that is requires user log-in. This makes it difficult to locate documents within using search engines like Google. I might never have been "discovered" if my Web site was instead a portal requiring a log-in at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/

"Why Are Portalized University Home Pages Rare? by Joe St Sauver, Syllabus, March 2004, pp. 21-24 --- http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=9022

What's a Portal Anyway?

A good defining answer to "What's a portal?" has always been elusive, but operationally it is a Web site that:

Requires users to log in. A login allows users to customize the portal to best reflect their interests --- interests that could then be recalled during subsequent logins.

Is inclusive enough to act as the user's default Web start page, providing access to all the major tools the user wants or needs to work online.

Is tightly integrated with existing administrative systems such as Banner, and existing teaching and learning systems such as Blackboard or WebCT.

Straight forwward, secure Web sites that many have deployed --- sites that allow users to perform administrative tasks online such as registering for classes or looking up grades --- are generally not considered to be portals, because users will not routinely log in to sites of that sort unless they have a specific administrative task to accomplish, and it is extremely unlikely that anyone would make one of these secure administrative Web sites their default home page.

"Facing the Portal: A conversation with Annie Stunden (University of Winconsin-Madison's CIO)," Syllabus, March 2004, pp. 8-14 --- http://www.syllabus.com/article.asp?id=9021

Syllabus: What would you say are the most important lessons learned from your experience with your portal?

Annie Studnen: We learned that on a campus as big as ours, fostering the collaboration of the campus community is one of the most important things, and one of the hardest. We’re a very distributed environment so people can sort of do what they want to do. There’s very little top-down direction that dictates what you have to do. Our chancellor was certainly interested in having a portal, or at least something that looked like a portal, on campus. But we needed to champion this actively, to get people willing to put the information that they felt ultimately responsible for into the portal. That was the hardest part. We know how to do the technology. The people work is harder. Folks on campus felt that if they put the information that they were responsible for—think about student records information, for example—in the portal, that they were, in some way, losing control.

An issue still floats out there about how the portal is governed. Student Affairs manages the student information system, Finance manages the financial system, and the Graduate School manages the grants management system. But who manages the portal? Is it that awful technology organization you never trust? —Read: “Why should they be calling the shots on this?”

Well, if the central technology organization is not calling the shots, in concert with some kind of campuswide advisory or governance body, where else can you put the responsibility so that the portal does not become one-department centric? And the whole point is to keep the portal a campus portal, not a teaching and learning portal, not a student information system portal, not a payroll portal, but a campus portal. This remains a challenge, because distributed governance is hard. Regardless, our campus portal is becoming more and more accepted—we’re getting something like 70,000 hits a day.

The best and most imaginative campus portal did not survive. I contend that the Fathom knowledge portal at Columbia University extended well beyond the objectives and strategies of other campus portals do date. The Fathom portal was leading partners such as the Smithsonian and the New York Public Library for heavy input of knowledge into the portal. It was called Fathom --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/book00q3.htm#Fathom

An Internet/Web portal with 14 channels on marketing and e-Commerce --- http://www.internet.com/home-d.html

Internet Technology
Ecommerce/Marketing
Web Developer
Windows Internet Tech.
Linux/Open Source
Internet Resources
ISP Resources
Internet Lists
Download
International
International News
International Investing
ASP Resources
Wireless
Other examples of portals and vortals can be found at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/portals.htm

POTS= This is an acronym for Plain Old Telephone Service.

Power Macintosh= (See PowerPC)

PowerOpen= (See Operating system and PowerPC)

PowerPC= A revolutionary new desktop RISC computer emerging from a joint venture between Apple Corporation, Motorola, and IBM. Rupley (1994, p. 129) writes that: "PowerPC will remake the computer industry at its foundations." What is revolutionary is the ability of the PowerPC to run under Apple, OS/2, DOS, Windows, and Unix operating systems. This is a remarkably fast and cheap CPU using RISC chip technology. IBM was the first company to introduce the PowerPC notebook computer. For a time it looked like the PowerPC would indeed capture enormous chunks of market share from Intel, but then in hurried desperation Intel introduced its 90-MHz and 100-MHz O54C CISC processors. With the new CISC Pentiums and RISC NexGen alternatives selling at a much faster clip than Mac and IBM PowerPC processors, it appears that PowerPC will have a tough time selling to users other than Mac users who want faster processors for the Apple operating systems. Later versions of Pentium processors such as the P54C overcame all doubts about Intel's ability to produce a cool running CISC processor at speeds up to 100 MHz and plans to produce even faster Pentiums. These newer versions dispel all doubts about "Intel's aim to crunch the PowerPC" according to Information Week, February 21, 1994, p. 60. The comparative advantages of the Intel processors, and they are serious short-term advantages in the market, are the abilities of Intel processors to run DOS and Windows applications in direct rather than the emulation form used in PowerPCs and Macs. The main drawback of the PowerPC is that PowerPC users can only run DOS and Windows applications in emulation form such that all speed advantages of the PowerPC are lost. For this reason, the "PC" part of the tradename "PowerPC" is somewhat misleading since most PC users run under DOS and/or Windows operating systems. Certainly users who prefer to stay in a DOS and/or Windows operating system are advised to stick with the 486, Pentium, or some other CPU alternative that does not require emulation. When applications vendors bring applications to market in PowerOpen, Pink, and planned PowerPC native software, Intel and NexGen may lose market share to PowerPC, but this probably will not happen to a major extent in this century, largely due to the fact that PowerPC requires replacement of existing computers with new PowerPC computers. Worldwide, this will not happen for years due to tight budgets in business and government. It will be years before software developers offer PowerPC native software anywhere close to the present Windows product lines. Francis (1994) reports that the main drawback that is holding down sales of Apple Corporation's Power Mac is that "no one is building mainstream (native) productivity applications for the Power Mac." IBM is also working with Apple to develop the PowerOpen operating system for the PowerPC. Taligent is developing the Pink operating system for the PowerPC. At the time of this writing the planned full line of PowerPCs is not available. It will only be a short time before portable (e.g., Tadpoles and PowerBooks) and multimedia PowerPC lines are produced, although demand for these portable versions leads to long delivery delays. Another drawback of the PowerPC is that the alliance between IBM and Apple was weakened somewhat by delays in developing a PowerPC that will switch back and forth between Mac and IBM operating systems (e.g., between Mac and OS/2 or Mac and Windows). Users still have to make that big choice between one operating system or another. Good news includes the current availability of some popular software packages designed specifically for the PowerPC such as WordPerfect native Power Macintosh. Bad news includes the decision of Lotus Corporation not to produce native PowerPC versions at the present time. Even more discouraging for PowerPC hopefuls are analyst forecasts of the pent up demand for Windows 95 and Windows 2000 that will probably lead consumers toward Intel and NexGen processors. At the moment, it's still a horse race between Intel and PowerPC with PowerPC far behind and waning hopes for a burst of speed. Francis (1994) reports that Moody's Investors Service Inc. placed Apple Corporation under review largely due to "concerns about the computer vendor's long-term operating performance and the viability of its technology strategy." A huge area of concern has been the tapering off of demand for the new Power Mac versions of the PowerPC. Apple's share of the PC market reached 14% in 1993, but has since slipped back down to less than 5%. Apple admits to losing the operating system war to Microsoft. In Information Week, November 11, 1996, p. 26 Marco Landi (Chief Operating Officer at Apple Corporatiion) is quoted as saying "We are not an OSS company. We've lost that battle." In 1997, Apple intends on moving more into the cross- platform basis for software for the Internet. (See Cross-platform. Market share determines the number of native software applications being developed for operating systems. Mac, UNIX, and other operating systems are losing the native software development war to Windows 95, 97, and Windows 2000. Windows 2000 is almost certain to become the PC operating system standard of choice until its upgrade called Windows Cairo rolls off the line and/or Windows 2000 with upgraded object-oriented programming features become the operating systems of choice among users having newer hardware speed and memory components. But for users who stand by their Power Macs, we recommend joining the Apple Multimedia Program (408-974-4897) that offers a variety of online services and other services that, in our viewpoint, are well worth the $750 price of membership. (See also Native, CPU, Pentium, CISC, RISC, Taligent, Operating system, Mozart, Copeland, Gershwin, and Mac)

PPP= Point-To-Point protocol used over serial lines that are necessary for phone line connections to computers. (See also ISP, SLIP, and Modem)

PPV= Pay-Per-View commercial selling of live-event TV such as PPV boxing events. PPV will probably become a much more lucrative business when the information highway comes to town. (See also Information highway)

Premastering/mastering software= The software layer that readies files for recording. This involves converting file structures to adhere to the ISO 9660 conventions, simulating the image on the hard disk as a CD-ROM, and sending the image to the CD-R drive. (See also CD-R)

Presentation= Presentation electronic "slide show" options such as SPC's Harvard Graphics, Gold Disk's Astound, Asymetrix's Compel, Microsoft's PowerPoint, Macromedia's Action, Micrografx's Charisma, Just-Ask-Me, On-The-Air, Lotus Corporation's Freelance, Word Perfect's Presentations, Special Delivery, Q/Media, Zuma Group's Curtain Call, and others are mentioned in Chapter 3 and listed in greater detail in Appendix 6. These, in conjunction with spreadsheet software (Lotus, Excel, Quatro Pro, etc.), are the most widely employed aids currently used by accounting professors according to survey results reported in Chapter 4. An extensive list of presentation software vendors and product attributes is provided in Appendix 6. Green and Green (1994) discuss how presentation software is becoming closer to authoring software. Jerome and Lee (1995) rate and compare presentation software alternatives with particular focus on multimedia features. Hardware options are reviewed in the NewMedia Tool Guide for 1995 ( pp. 105-112). For a review of presentation software options also see NewMedia Tool Guide for 1995 ( pp. 11-16), McCraken (1994) and Green and Green (1994). (The addresses and phone numbers of NewMedia, Multimedia World, and other periodicals are contained in Appendix 4.) The top rated options according to PC Computing, December 1994, p. 178 are PowerPoint from Microsoft Corporation (800-426-9400), Harvard Spotlight (Rank 2) from Software Publishing (800-336-8360), and Freelance Graphics (Rank 3) from Lotus Development (800-343-5414). Paintshow and photoshow options such as Micrografx PhotoMagic, MacPaint, Corel Draw, Publisher's Paintbrush, and Adobe Photoshop may be used for pictures but are cumbersome for group presentations but are often used for images imported into presentation, hypermedia, and CMS courseware. Robinson and Lee (1994) discuss the fine line between "authoring" and "presentation" software. Many presentation software vendors such as Gold Disk (Astound) are adding audio, video, and button navigation utilities. They also discuss options for crossing platforms between operating systems such as between Windows and Mac operating systems. (See also Projection and Authoring)

Print devices= Definition files for different types of printers to be used on a print server.

Print forms= Definitions of different types of paper size to be used on a print server.

Print job configurations= Complete descriptions of how a file is to be printed on the network.

Print queues= Definitions of the order in which and where a file is to be printed on the network.

Print server= A computer running a program that allows it to accept files to be printed from other workstations.

Processor= (See CPU)

Prodigy= A commercial network service that is a joint venture between Sears Roebuck and IBM. This service has improved some of its technical problems but it is also expensive according to Mossberg (1994a). NewMedia, January 1994, p. 31 has a brief summary of new features such as color-coded menus, digitized photos, Internet mail, TV listings, and travel services. (See also Networks, CompuServe, Internet, eWorld, Interchange, and America Online)

Projection= Display of computer and video images on monitors and screens. A "Multimedia Projectors Buyers' Guide" is provided in Multimedia World, June 1994, pp. 77-79. (Also see AB style switches, LCD and Three-beam-projector)

Protocol= Any formal description of message formats and the rules two computers must follow to exchange those messages. Protocols can describe low-level details of machine-to-machine interfaces (e.g., the order in which bits and bytes are sent across a wire) or high-level exchanges between allocation programs (e.g., the way in which two programs transfer a file across the Internet). Files on the Internet are transferred via what is known as FTP File Transfer Protocol. See World Wide Web for the common http protocol. See Internet Messaging for common protocols for sending messages across the Internet. (See also FTP and File transfer)

Pseudo web streaming= (See Web streaming)


Q-Terms

QuickRing= (See Bus)

QuickTake= (See Dry camera)

QuickTime= Animation and video files that originally were designed for by Apple Corporation for Mac computers. Next came the software for playing quicktime video on PC computers. In late 1996, Apple announced that it was letting go of its proprietary rights so that Quicktime could become an open-platform recording standard. Now PC users can record and well as play back Quicktime video. Various playback utilities, including the always popular QuickTime playback software, can be downloaded free from . Quicktime is clearly the standard in the lead for WWW video. But Microsoft's replacement of Video for Windows with its newer Active Video software makes it a closer race for dominance in video software. (See also Active video, DVI, Video for Windows, Indeo, MPEG, Video, MCI, Ultimedia Video, Internet audio and video, and AVI)

posted by צביקה שורצמן @ 4:04 AM 2 comments

Technology Glossary R - S

R-Terms
Click on a term or phrase below:
/ RAD / Radio / RAID / RAM / Random access memory / RARP / RAW / RDF / RDS and ADO / Real time / RealAudio / Reengineering / Relational database management / Remote control / Remote login / Remote print server / Rendering / Rescaling / Resource Description Framework / Response pads / Reverse Address Resolution Protocol / RGB / Rhapsody / Rich-text format / Ring topology / RISC / RMI / Rochochet Modem / ROM / Round Tripping / Router / RPC / RSA / RTF / Runtime

Click here to view (in a new window) Bob Jensen's Listing of Other Technology and Networking Glossaries



RAD = Rapid Application Development in the context of development applications software. The term is used in the context of object oriented (oo), component-based and vissually-aided software that allows for faster development of applications software. For example, Netscape Corporation in 1997 introduced a component-based Visual Java-Script intended to be for the web what Microsoft's Visual Basic software was for earlier applications development. Visual Java Scrip also licensed TV-Objects from TV-Objects Corporation in Princeton, N.J. for translating Visual Basic applications into JavaScript for RAD. In 1997 Apple Corporation bet the farm on Rhapsody for RAD.

Radio = Internet and satellite radio delivered by non-traditional media.

Question:
What is XM Radio?

Answer:
Stallite radio such as XM Radio will soon give traditional AM and FM radio stations daunting competition. Most General Motors cars will soon be equipped with XM receivers. In addition, dealers will be able to install XM receivers in other makes of cars. XM Radio is featured in a Barron's cover story on February 17, 2003.

You can read the following at http://www.xmradio.com/

It's easy to get XM in your new car, right at the dealership. For the 2003 model year, many vehicles are now available with XM as a manufacturer–supported option, including 25 models from GM. Select one of the brands below for more information. We're adding new models all the time so be sure to keep checking back. If you don't see your desired model, ask your dealer about how to add XM to any radio.

One big idea can change everything. And XM Satellite Radio is one big idea: Radio to the Power of X. America's most popular satellite radio service gives you the power to choose what you want to hear - wherever and whenever you want it. XM offers 70 music channels - more than any other satellite radio service. Plus 30 channels of news, talk, sports and entertainment. 100 basic channels in all, for a low $9.99 monthly subscription. And now, XM is the first satellite radio service to offer a premium channel for an additional monthly fee.

It's our passionate commitment to program quality that will give you more of the listening you enjoy most, including many commercial-free channels. XM's radios for the car and home offer you freedom - from static, from distortion, from that frustrating feeling when you drive out of range in the middle of an exclusive interview or a new song you've been waiting to hear.

So if you're a music devotee, a sports fanatic or a news hound, come share our passion for the new power of radio. Join us in a listening partnership as we capture the soundtrack of your imagination. Our job is to push radio beyond traditional limits and win you as a fan. Your job? To sit back, listen, and open yourself to the excitement of radio as you've never heard it before.

Oh Goodie
Sexy Stories and Surprises --- http://www.xmradio.com/programming/channel_page.jsp?ch=205

Based on Playboy TV's hit show Night Calls, join your hosts, Juli and Tiffany, for a romp on the wild side. Hear stories, get advice and join their special guests for some playful adult fun.

During select hours you'll even be able to call-in live. Don't be shy - these experts are always open to getting a few helpful hints for themselves.

For a limited time, a one-time transaction fee of $4.99 will be waived for current subscribers who wish to add our Playboy Radio premium channel.

Monthly premium service charge of $2.99 required. Only account holders may activate this channel.

So what's a better "Oh Goodie?"
Educational programming. For example, investors might one day tune into investing tutorials as well as commentaries on different investing alternatives and risks. There may be poetry readings and tutorials about writing poetry. Old and new novels might be read and analyzed. Eventually, continuing education courses may even be delivered over commercial-free radio by paying monthly service charges.

Jensen Added Note:
What's the downside to having all this commercial-free music and other programming?

Commercial-cluttered traditional radio stations and even donation-supported PBS and campus radio stations will have to scramble to compete. Classical music lovers may prefer a larger variety of classical music choices on satellite radio and Internet radio. Country music fans may prefer to listen to bluegrass even if they're driving across Utah rather than Kentucky. I think you probably get the point that XM radio will probably have a much better growth market than Internet radio. Internet radio has much less potential in moving vehicles, hotel rooms, and other places where hooking up a computer is too much bother.

However, Internet radio recently got a huge boost --- http://www.saveinternetradio.org/

In a stunning victory for webcasting, both the Senate and the House of Representatives unanimously passed a revised version of H.R. 5469 late last night that clears the way for copyright owners to offer webcasters a percentage-of-revenues royalty rate, essentially allowing the parties to mutually agree to override the CARP decision of last spring.

The Senate passed the bill at 10:32PM ET and the House passed it at 2:44AM. It now goes to President Bush for his signature.

The bill was actively supported by virtually all players on both sides of the debate this year, including the record industry, artist representatives, large webcasters, small webcasters, college radio representatives, and religious broadcasters.

In what was viewed as a surprise by some observers, the legislative staff in the office of retiring Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) (pictured) apparently played an active and valuable role in crafting what the parties concluded was a much better piece of legislation than the one Helms blocked at the last moment late last month (here).

President Bush signed H.R. 5469 just before Christmas in 2002.

For an example of streaming media, see http://www.streamingmediaworld.com/

Also see Web Media

RAID = Redundant Arrays of (Independent or Inexpensive) Discs refers to storage products with speed and capacity for large quantities of data, especially graphics, video, and audio data for multimedia computing. There are six RAID levels starting with RAID 0 available for Mac computers. Most PC disc array systems are designed for Novell NetWare software. Different levels of RAID are explained at Advanced Computer & Network Corporation at http://www.acnc.com/raid.html

RAM= Random Access Memory portion of a computer. The term "memory" typically refers to RAM as opposed to hard disc and optical disc storage of files that cannot be randomly accessed without searching by sectors. RAM stores instructions and other files potentially needed for immediate processing of a task at hand. Memory usually can be accessed "randomly" at relatively high speeds. Files stored on computer tape, floppy discs, hard drive, optical drives, etc. are not available in RAM until they are "loaded" into RAM. Four important types of RAM in PCs running DOS are conventional memory, high (upper) memory, expanded memory, and extended memory. When DOS first was designed, 640 Kb of memory seemed like a lot, so out of the then standard 1 Mb of base memory, 640 Kb was designated as conventional memory reserved for DOS and the remaining 360 Mb was high (upper) memory available for other internal system computing functions. Later, memory managers and the Windows HIMEM.SYS file made some of the high memory available for software usage. Another gimmick entailed use of peepholes of size 64 Kb swapping of chunks of memory. However, today the 1 Mb base memory utilized in the most efficient way is not sufficient to run most newer types of software. Memory SIMM chips can be added to raise the RAM to higher levels such as 64 Mb currently popular in multimedia authoring. Upper limits for extended memory options vary with types of PCs. Extended memory is much more important than expanded memory. Often the term extended memory applies to all RAM above the 640 Kb of conventional RAM, although from a technical standpoint it applies to RAM above the 1 Mb base. The term "RAM cache" refers to a section of RAM set aside to serve as a buffer between the central processing unit and auxiliary disc drives. At the present time it is not uncommon to pay in the neighborhood of $200 for each 16Mb of RAM added to computers. (See also Cache, SIMM, VRAM, Hard drive, Flash memory, and CD)

Random access memory= (See RAM)

RARP

Bob:
Below is something that might make a good entry into your Technology Glossary. (Text below from What is.com) Ever since I got a DSL line I have been unable to log onto Temple University's primary mail server. I receive an abrupt and annoying message "The TCP/IP connection was unexpectedly terminated by the server." It happens that Temple has security procedure in place for this server that traces my IP address back to my ISP to verify my name when I try to log on to get my mail. However, my ISP uses a newer system called "Reverse Address Resolution Protocol" (RARP), which does not keep a list of names on a name server for immediate verification. (Maintaining an up-to-date list of client names on a name server apparently is an expensive, labor-intensive process.) I doubt if my ISP is the only one using this technology. This is an interesting clash of old fashioned security procedures and newer technology.
Steve Fogg

Reverse Address Resolution Protocol

RARP (Reverse Address Resolution Protocol) is a protocol by which a physical machine in a local area network can request to learn its IP address from a gateway server's Address Resolution Protocol (Address Resolution Protocol) table or cache. A network administrator creates a table in a local area network's gateway router that maps the physical machine (or Media Access Control - MAC address) addresses to corresponding Internet Protocol addresses. When a new machine is set up, its RARP client program requests from the RARP server on the router to be sent its IP address. Assuming that an entry has been set up in the router table, the RARP server will return the IP address to the machine which can store it for future use. RARP is available for Ethernet, Fiber Distributed-Data Interface, and token ring LANs.

Stephen L. Fogg, Ph.D., CPA,
Chair Department of Accounting Fox School of Business and Management
Temple University Philadelphia, PA 19122 Phone: 215-204-1915 Fax: 215-204-5587 URL: http://www.sbm.temple.edu/~fogg

RAW= Rutgers Accounting Web informational retrieval system (funded with a grant from NCAIR) for a variety of free materials for accounting educators. The main purpose of the system is to share materials developed in connection with the Accounting Education Change Commission (AECC). Materials include lectures, cases, assignments, examinations, syllabi and course outlines, and reports of projects at various AECC sponsored sites. The World Wide Web address for the Lynx program for text only is . Lynx only transfers text. For graphics, a Mosaic option is available. Contact Professor Alex Kogan, Accounting and Information Systems, Faculty of Management, Rutgers University, 180 University Ave., Newark, NJ 07102-1905. Phone: 201-648-1064 and Fax 201-648-1283 and email kogan@andromeda.rutgers.edu. (See also ANet, International Internet Association, and PIC- AECM)

RDS = (See Database.)

Real time= (See Operating system and Web steaming.)

RealAudio= (See Audio and Web steaming.)

Reengineering= Computerized automation of a "production" system (factory, education, information, etc.) that entails radically redesigning the way work is done and the intended performance of the system.

Relational database management= A database system that stores data in two-dimensional data tables at the same time such that the program can work with two tables at the same time. It is "relational" if one table defines the relation between entries in rows (data records) and columns (fields). Not all database software claiming to be relational meet the "true" relational database mathematical theory developed by Edgar Codd in 1970. For example, dBASE and FoxPro can link two databases through a common field but are not true relational database programs. One of the most widely selling relational database management systems is the Unix-based system from Oracle Corporation (415-598-8000). Microsoft introduced two very popular systems called Microsoft Access and Visual Fox Pro. Most traditional database packages such as Paradox and dBase also upgraded to relational database systems. See ODBC. Also see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/260wp/260wp.htm#ODBC.

A language which provides a user interface to relational database management systems, developed by IBM in the 1970s, is called a Structured Query Language (SQL). Development is still underway to enhance SQL into a computationally complete language for the definition and management of persistent, complex objects. This includes user defined data types, support for knowledge based systems, recursive query expressions, and additional database query tools. It also includes the specification of abstract data types (ADTs), object identifiers, methods, inheritance, encapsulation, and all of the other utilities associated with object data management.

For interactive computing on the web, see Distributed Network Computing. Also see See GainMomentum, Database, and 4GL Database Languages.

Object-oriented database systems are quite different from the extremely relational database systems (e.g., MS Access, FoxPro, DBase, etc) that are extremely popular today. I will begin this module with a quote from my favorite online textbook in accounting information systems (that I adopt each year for my ACCT 5342 course):

Emerging database systems concepts
We conclude this chapter with a brief discussion of an emerging concepts relating to database systems. Object-oriented (OO) approaches to modeling and implementing database systems are becoming increasingly popular. This approach employs object-oriented modeling (OOM) techniques to model the domain of interest and then implements the resulting model using an object-oriented database management system (OODBMS). The object-oriented approach focuses on the objects of interest in the domain. Customers, vendors, employees, sales orders, and receipts are all viewed as objects that have certain attributes. OOM involves identifying the objects of interest, their attributes, and relationships between objects.

A critical feature unique to the OO approach is that an "object" package includes both the attributes of the object and the methods or procedures that pertain to that object. The methods might dictate how the object's attributes are modified in response to different events, or how the object causes changes in the attributes of other objects. Thus, a key difference between the database models described earlier and the OO approach is that OO models combine data (attributes) and procedures (methods) in one package, i.e., the "object." This feature of OO models is referred to as encapsulation - attributes and methods are represented together in one capsule. Another powerful feature of OO models is inheritance. OO models depict the real world as a hierarchy of object classes, with lower level classes inheriting attributes and methods from higher level classes. Thus, lower level object classes do not need to redefine attributes and methods that are common to the higher level object classes in the class hierarchy.

An OO model contains all details needed for implementation and object-oriented DBMS are powerful enough to represent all the information contained in the model. However, most organizations that have made heavy investments in RDBMS see little need to migrate to OO environments. While OO modeling methods are available, there is no consensus regarding the "best" method to use. Finally, although OODBMS are beginning to become commercially available, they have not gained much acceptance in the marketplace probably due to their relatively high cost and poor performance in comparison to RDBMS. Gemstone, ObjectStore, VBase, and O2 are some examples of OODBMS.

Accounting Information Systems: A Database Approach
by Uday S. Murthy and S. Michael Groomer
For more information go to http://www.cybertext.com/

Next I will repeat a great illustration pointed out in the message below from Alexander Lashenko:

Hello Bob,

Take a look at http://www.sanbase.com/cx.html

It's an original object-oriented DBMS with web interface. Looks very nice.

Regards,

Alex.
Alexander Lashenko [alashenko@cryptologic.com]

For extensions beyond relational databases see OLAP

Remote control= Any of a variety of meanings depending upon the context. There are remote control computer devices such as remote mouse controllers and wands that generate some keyboard controls. A remote control buyers' guide is provided by Glass (1994). (See also Student response pads)

Remote login= Refers to the capability of a network user to access databases and software on other computers, possibly computers linked on the Internet in remote parts of the globe. (See also Telnet and FTP)

Remote print server= A computer running the RPRINTER program, enabling it to print output from other network workstations and operate as a normal workstation.

Rendering= Generally refers to graphics rendering, especially 3-D rendering. Biedney (1994) provides a technical discussion and a comparison of alternative software options for rendering 3-D images on desktop computers. (See also Authoring)

Rescaling = (See Aspect ratio)

Resource Description Framework (RDF) = a framework for metadata and provides for interoperability for applications in "machine-understandable" information on the Web. RDF draws upon several technologies such as XML (Extensible Markup Language). RDF a recommendation of the World Wide Web Consortium currently headed by Tim Bermers-Lee, the creater of the HTML markup language and the http protocol that is the basis of the World Wide Web. Over the long run, Berners-Lee envisions a time when Web sites can be devoid of most broken links and difficult-to-find information.

See RDF and OWL at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/XBRLandOLAP.htm#RDF_Extended

The first step to understanding RDF is to distinguish between data and metadata. Metadata tags in documents and databases provide "data about data" like unseen genes provide data about body parts. One of the drawbacks of HTML is that HTML tags relate only symbols rather than attributes of what the symbols depict. For example, HTML tags tell us how to display the word "eyes" in a web document but there are no tags related to attributes such as eye color, eye size, vision quality, and susceptibility to various eye diseases.

For example, HTML tags relate only to formatting and linking tags on words red and purple appearing in a document. HTML tags do not disclose that both words depict colors, because HTML does not associate words with meanings. Metadata, on the otherhand, attaches meanings to the data by attaching hidden attribute tags. For example, attached to the word "petal" might be an invisible tag that records information that the petal has color having particular coded numbers for color hue and color saturation for rose petals. When any petal's invisible tags are read in a meta search engine, it would be possible to identify types of roses having a range of hue and saturation commonalities. Poppies would be excluded because they do not have rose tags. Red herrings (a term for false leads in a mystery) would be excluded because they do not have a tagged attribute for color.

In a sense, metadata is analogous to genetic code of a living organism. Attributes in hidden tags become analogous to attributes coded into genes that determine the color of a flower's petals, degree of resistance to certain diseases, etc. If we knew the genetic "metadata" code of all flowering plants, we could quickly isolate the subsets of all known flowering plants having red petals or resistance to a particular plant disease. In botony and genetics, the problem lies is discovering the metadata codes that nature has already programmed into the genes. In computer documents and databases, the problem is one of programming in the metadata codes that will conform to a world wide standard. That standard will most likely be the RDF standard that is currently being developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) having Tim Berners-Lee as its current Director.

The examples given by me above are gross simplifications of text tagging that will actually take place under RDF. RDF works in a more complicated fashion that will be much more efficient for meta searches. The core of RDF will be its "RDF Schema" briefly described below:

This specification will be followed by other documents that will complete the framework. Most importantly, to facilitate the definition of metadata, RDF will have a class system much like many object-oriented programming and modeling systems. A collection of classes (typically authored for a specific purpose or domain) is called a schema. Classes are organized in a hierarchy, and offer extensibility through subclass refinement. This way, in order to create a schema slightly different from an existing one it is not necessary to "reinvent the wheel" but one can just provide incremental modifications to the base schema. Through the sharability of schemas RDF will support the reusability of metadata definitions. Due to RDF's incremental extensibility, agents processing metadata will be able to trace the origins of schemata they are unfamiliar with back to known schemata and perform meaningful actions on metadata they weren't originally designed to process. The sharability and extensibility of RDF also allows metadata authors to use multiple inheritance to "mix" definitions, to provide multiple views to their data, leveraging work done by others. In addition, it is possible to create RDF instance data based on multiple schemata from multiple sources (i.e., "interleaving" different types of metadata). Schemas may themselves be written in RDF; a companion document to this specification, [RDF Schema], describes one set of properties and classes for describing RDF schemas.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
http://web1.w3.org/TR/REC-rdf-syntax/

The term "metadata" is not synonymous with RDF. There were various metadata systems before RDF was on the drawing boards. Microsoft's Channel Definition Format (CDF) used in "Web Push Channels" and Netscape's Meta Content Framework (MCF) preceeded RDF. These technologies describe information resources in a manner somewhat similar to RDF and can be used to filter web sites and web documents such as filtering pornography and violence from viewing. Metadata systems can be used to channel inflows of desired or undesired web information. CDF, for example, carries information not read on computer screens that perform metadata tasks.

RDF resources are built upon a foundation of Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs) that are described at http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-fielding-uri-syntax-04.txt . The metadata structure for in RDF has the following components described on Page 4 of http://web1.w3.org/TR/REC-rdf-syntax/

Resources
All things being described by RDF expressions are called resources. A resource may be an entire
Web page; such as the HTML document "http://www.w3.org/Overview.html" for example. A
resource may be a part of a Web page; e.g. a specific HTML or XML element within the
document source. A resource may also be a whole collection of pages; e.g. an entire Web site. A
resource may also be an object that is not directly accessible via the Web; e.g. a printed book.
Resources are always named by URIs plus optional anchor ids. Anything can have a
URI; the extensibility of URIs allows the introduction of identifiers for any entity imaginable.


Properties
A property is a specific aspect, characteristic, attribute, or relation used to describe a resource.
Each property has a specific meaning, defines its permitted values, the types of resources it can
describe, and its relationship with other properties. This document does not address how the
characteristics of properties are expressed; for such information, refer to the RDF Schema
specification).

Statements
A specific resource together with a named property plus the value of that property for that resource
is an RDF statement. These three individual parts of a statement are called, respectively, the
subject, the predicate, and the object. The object of a statement (i.e., the property value) can be
another resource or it can be a literal; i.e., a resource (specified by a URI) or a simple string or
other primitive datatype defined by XML. In RDF terms, a literal may have content that is XML
markup but is not further evaluated by the RDF processor.

I received the following message from one of my graduate students (Dan Price) that led me to two very helpful web sites:

Hi Dr. J,
I asked my wife about XML and RDF, and she gave me some good information about how they work in relation to HTML.
XML is a metalanguage based on the same foundation as HTML. RDF works within XML as a foundation for processing metadata. In a way, the two will work together like OO databases do. USAA’s web page uses some XML.

Two good sites on the topic are:

(XML for the Absolute Beginner) www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-04-1999/jw-04-xml.html

(A good RDF web site) http://web1.w3.org/TR/REC-rdf-syntax/

Dan Price

To my graduate student's message above, I might add the following online article entitled "XML Gains Ground: Vendors pledge support as XML stands poised to become a universal format for data exchange" at http://www.informationweek.com/725/xml.htm .

The most likely scipting codes will be XML, although RDF can be used in other scripting systems. The popular HTML and the emerging HTML are subsets of the GML text scripting conceived in1969 IBM researchers depicting Generalized Markup Languages (and not-so-coincidentally the lead researchers were named Goldfarb, Mosher, and Lorie). Between 1978 and 1987, Dr. Charles F. Goldfarb led the team that developed the SGML Standard GML that is became International Standard ISO 8879. In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee led a team of particle physicists that invented the World Wide Web rooted in the rule-based text scripting markup innovations of SGML. The World Wide Web is comprised of all web documents marked up in scripts known as Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) scripts. SGML is tremendously powerful but inefficient and complex. HTML is marvelously simple but not very powerful. In 1996, Jon Bosak of Sun Microsystems to spearheaded the development of the XML standard to lend power, efficiency, cross-platform standards, and simplicity to the networking of databases on the Internet. At the time of this writing, the world is converging upon an important standard known as RDF (Resource Description Framework) rooted in XML that will be the biggest 21st Century thing to hit the Internet since HTML hit the Internet in 1991.

For more discussion of RDF and XML see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/260wp/260wp.htm#RDF

Also see See OWL

Response pads= (See Student response pads)

Reverse Address Resolution Protocol = (See RARP).

RGB= A signal that can be separated into red, green, and blue components, combinations of which then can be used to create color screens or color print. Most computers have an RGB output that differs from the composite video or S-video outputs of television sets. This is why RGB computer signals must be scan converted into composite video for television viewing.

Rhapsody= a one time revolutionary operating system from Apple Corporation that was based upon NEXTStep technology. Apple plans to deliver two operating systems for the next several years. First will be the Mac OS, which we will continue to upgrade and improve to support the current Macintosh customers worldwide, approximately 60 million users. Second will be a new OS based on NeXT Software's operating system technologies, NEXTStep and OPENStep. The powerful and advanced NeXT technologies are years ahead of competitive offerings, and will provide the foundation for a new OS, code-named Rhapsody. In addition to leveraging the NeXT technologies, Rhapsody is designed to run Mac applications through a Mac OS compatibility environment. Rhapsody's user interface will combine elements from both the Mac OS and NEXTStep, but will be closer in look and NEXTStep feel to the Mac OS Finder. We realize that customers need a consistent interface in the two operating systems to deploy them throughout a single organization. It's important for training and ease of use. One of the advantages of NeXT's technology is the easy support of multiple user interface paradigms. See also Mac and NEXTStep.

Rich-text format= A text formatting standard established by Microsoft Corporation to enable text to be transferred between a word processor and other software without losing all of its formatting properties. Many modern word processors have the option of saving documents in rich-text format (RTF). Increasingly, authoring software vendors of hypertext, hypermedia, and CMS software are adding RTF importing utilities to overcome the frustrations of importing in ASCII or ANSI forms that lose all or most formatting properties. (See also ASCII and ANSI)

Ring topology= A network configuration that connects all nodes in a logical ring-like structure.

RISC= Reduced Instruction Set Computing chipsets such as the MIPS R4000 and R4400 intended to outperform CISC complex instruction chipsets such as the Intel family of popular 386, 486, and Pentium competitors and the Motorola 680x0 family in Mac computers. The concept of RISC evolved from IBM laboratories where it was noted that most routine processing of consumers does not require full use of the processor. RISC processors consume less power and generate less heat than CISC processors powerful enough to compete at the same speed and capacity as RISC processors. They do this by reducing the number of operations and executing multiple instructions in what is known as "superscaler" processing. However, INTEL intends to keep its CISC lines competitive with RISC processors. At this juncture, it is impossible to know who will win the RISC versus CISC processor competitions of the future. The RISC-architecture is the foundation of the new PowerPCs and the PA-RISC systems of Hewlett-Packard Corporation. The HP 32-bit PA-7100 chip, for example, runs about 25% faster than the PowerPC RISC chips and the Pentium CISC chips. A new RISC processor from Texas Instruments called the Multimedia Video Processor is claimed to be 20 to 50 times more powerful than Intel's Pentium. RISC chipsets may become more of a threat to CISC in the form of NexGen alternatives to Pentium that are being manufactured by Alaris for Compaq, IBM, and other major PC manufacturers. (See also Mulimedia Video Processor, NexGen, PowerPC, and CISC)

RMI = (See Java).

Rocochet Modem= (See Modem)

ROM= Read-Only Memory whose files can be accessed, executed, and possibly copied. However, ROM files cannot be deleted or otherwise altered on the ROM device; for example, a CD-ROM compact disc can be read only but not written upon by the user. (See also WORM)

Round Tripping = a term used mainly to refer to the transformation of a computer file into a different type with the option to return to the original type. Microsoft uses this term in conjunction with Office 2000 products. For example, an Excel worksheet or an Excel chart can be saved as an HTML file with many of the interactive features of Excel (such as replacement of data and recomputation of functions) in the browser rather than Excel. However, the HTML files have round-trip recovery features for saving the file back to an Excel worksheet or Excel chart. See HTML.

Router= A communications device designed to transmit signals via the most efficient route possible. See Firewall.

Tom Hicks brought me up to date on wireless home firewall computers. He recommends Linksys products such as the one at http://www.linksys.com/splash/wcg200_splash.asp

The Linksys Wireless-G Cable Gateway is the all-in-one solution for Internet connectivity in your home. The Cable Modem function gives you a blazing fast connection to the Internet, far faster than a dial-up, and without tying up your phone line.

Connect your computer to the Wireless-G Cable Gateway via USB, or take advantage of the built-in 4-port 10/100 Ethernet Switch to jump start your home network. You can share files, printers, hard drive space and other resources, or play head-to-head PC games. Connect four PCs directly, or daisy-chain out to more hubs and switches to create as big a network as you need. The built-in Wireless-G Access Point allows up to 32 wireless devices to connect to your network at a blazing 54Mbps, without running cables through the house. It's also compatible with Wireless-B devices, at 11Mbps. The Gateway's Router function ties it all together and lets your whole network share that high-speed Internet connection.

To protect your data and privacy, the Wireless-G Cable Gateway features an advanced firewall to keep Internet intruders and attackers out. Wireless transmissions can be protected by powerful data encryption. Safeguard your family with Parental Control features like Internet Access Time Limits and Key Word Blocking. Configuration is a snap with any web browser. With the Linksys Wireless-G Cable Gateway at the heart of your home network, you're connected to the future.

See Firewall.

RPC = Remote Procedure Call protocol that allows a program on one computer to execute a program on a server computer. Using RPC, a system developer need not develop specific procedures for the server. With RPC you call a specific function whereas with an ORB you call a method within a distributed object. In ORB each object manages its own private instance of the data whereas in RPC you can only call a specific function and all functions get implemented in the same way. ORB allows for differential processing. See CORBA.

RSA=
This RSA faq provides answers to a host of questions about RSA, including what it is (an asymmetric -- public key -- encryption algorithm developed by mathematicians Rivest, Shamir and Adelman) --- http://www.iae.nsk.su/pages/CRYPTO/rsafaq.html

RSA is a public-key cryptosystem for both encryption and authentication; it was invented in 1977 by Ron Rivest, Adi Shamir, and Leonard Adleman. It works as follows: take two large primes, p and q, and find their product n = pq; n is called the modulus. Choose a number, e, less than n and relatively prime to (p-1)(q-1), and find its inverse, d, mod (p-1)(q-1), which means that ed = 1 mod (p-1)(q-1); e and d are called the public and private exponents, respectively. The public key is the pair (n,e); the private key is d. The factors p and q must be kept secret, or destroyed.

It is difficult (presumably) to obtain the private key d from the public key (n,e). If one could factor n into p and q, however, then one could obtain the private key d. Thus the entire security of RSA is predicated on the assumption that factoring is difficult; an easy factoring method would ``break'' RSA

Also see security.

RTF= (See Rich-text format)

Runtime= Permissive use of a portion of a software system that allows for the "running" or "viewing" or "delivery" or "playback" of an application in contrast to its "authoring." An author may write an electronic book in Asymetrix ToolBook authoring software, for example, which can then be played by readers using ToolBook runtime software. Many types of software (e.g., word processor, spreadsheet, and database software) have no runtime versions. Most hypertext and hypermedia authoring packages have runtime versions. Vendors vary as to whether fees are charged for runtime versions. Apple Media Kit from Apple Corporation and ScriptX from Kaleida Labs are examples of options that can have costly runtime fees, especially for items sold in large-scale markets. Some options have free runtime within an organization but charge a royalty on all sales of applications outside the organization. A professor who writes a CD-ROM textbook in some types of software (Apple Media Kit, Icon Author, Tencore, etc.) can use the free runtime versions for discs distributed free to students and faculty within his or her university but would have to pay a royalty on each CD-ROM sold for a profit. There is a strong incentive for authors to seek out hypertext and hypermedia authoring packages that are accompanied by free runtime (reader, player, playback, delivery) files for all customers. Many of these alternatives are discussed and compared in Chapter 3.

Return to Top of Document


S-Terms
Click on a term or phrase below:
Sampling rate / SAP / Satellite Radio / Scalability / Scan converter / Scanner / SCMS / SCO Open Desktop / Scopeware / Score / Screen capturing / Scripting / ScriptX / SCSI / Search engine / Search Extractor and Wrapper / SECAM / Security / Sega / Senses / Sequence / Server / Set-top box / SGI / SGML / Shareware / Shell / Silent Meeting / SIMM / Simulation / Single-session recording / SLIP / Smart agent / Smart card / SMIL / S/MIME / SMITS / SMTP / Socket / Solaris / Sonet / Sound Blaster compatible / Sound board / Sound recording / Sparc / Speech recognition / Sprite / SQL / SSA / SSL / Stand-alone / Star topology / Still video camera / Streaming Media / Structured / Structured Query Language / Student response pads / Studio classroom / SUN / Surfing / Surfing backwards / SVG / S-VHS / Switched network / Synchronous / Synchronous connection / Syntax

Click here to view (in a new window) Bob Jensen's Listing of Other Technology and Networking Glossaries



Sampling rate= The frequency with which samples are taken and converted in digitizing operations. This is measured in kilohertz (KHz). The MPC standard requires a sound card with a recording sampling rate of at least 11 KHz and an output rate of 11 and 22 KHz.

SAP = (Acronym for a long German name) SAP is a company from Germany that sells the leading suite of large-scale client-server business software. The US branch is called SAP America. The web site is at http://www.sap.com . SAP is powerful but very slow and expensive to implement. The following message appears in InformationWeek Online for November 13, 1997:

General Motors has chosen SAP's R/3 software as its global financial application. The decision is part of the automaker's "common platform strategy," a program that aims to reduce costs and complexity by standardizing GM's many businesses on several core IT products. GM says it plans to implement the financial apps in a "phased rollout," beginning with its automotive assembly and components operations in Europe and the Asia-Pacific, and later in North and South America. GM's goal is for full deployment by 2002. The R/3 software will replace a mix of applications GM has running in hundred of locations, a GM spokesman said. SAP software isn't new to GM: The automaker already has SAP human resources modules in a handful of places, including its Opel manufacturing operations in Germany and Delphi parts operations in France. The GM spokesman noted, however, that the new deal with SAP doesn't include HR modules. GM will take the lead in managing the R/3 rollout, while former GM unit EDS will "have some role," probably alongside other third-party service providers, the spokesman said. Financials terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Major ERP providers include the following:

SAP at http://www.sap.com
JD Edwards at http://www.jdedwards.com/
Baan at http://www5.baan.com/cgi-bin/bvisapi.dll
PeopleSoft at http://www.peoplesoft.com/
I worry some about business schools that are jumping on the huge commitment to bring SAP or other ERP software to students. SAP is one of the various alternatives for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). First SAP is a major commitment of resources, faculty, and students. Second, there is a legal liability risk that should be carefully cleared through any university's legal department since it is possible for users to find themselves in lawsuits brought against developers of SAP.

More importantly, I worry about the future of ERPs. In this context I call your attention to an article by Tom Stein entitled "ERP's Fight for Life," in Information Week, April 12, 1999, 59-66. The online version is at
http://www.informationweek.com/729/erp.htm

On May 5, 1999 InformationWeek Online reported the following:

J.D. Edwards has hit hard times as the demand for ERP software remains stagnant. The company said yesterday it
expects an operating loss of more than $25 million for its second quarter, ended April 30. Company officials blame the
anticipated shortfall on lower-than-expected license fee revenue, the impact of headcount additions made in the first fiscal
quarter, investments in product development, and a $2.1 million write-off as a result of the acquisition of the Premisys Corp.
According to preliminary results, J.D. Edwards expects to report total second-quarter revenue in the range of $215 million
to $235 million, which represents approximately a 3% to 12% increase over revenue of $209 million in the same period last year. License fee revenue is projected to be in the range of $60 million to $65 million. The company says revenue was adversely impacted by a general slowdown in demand for enterprise software as companies focus on year 2000 readiness. Final results for the quarter will be released on May 26.
Brent Thill, a financial analyst with Credit Suisse First Boston Corp., says the shortfall in license revenue is attributable to
a slippage of new customer orders in the United States. He adds that J.D. Edwards' win rate against market leaders SAP
and Oracle fell to 30% from 50% six months
ago.
From InformationWeek Online May 6, 1999

SpeechWorks International Inc. yesterday introduced the first speech-recognition applications that will let employees and customers access SAP applications by speaking over the phone. SpeechWorks unveiled software building blocks that let developers add speech-recognition capability to SAP’s Sales & Distribution, HR Employee Self-Service, and Customer Interaction Center modules.

Demand for speech-enabling SAP applications is strongest among customers already implementing other speech-recognition applications, according to SpeechWorks. The sales module lets sales representatives and customers determine the status of customer accounts, product availability and pricing, and sales-order placement. People can also speak to the applications to place and confirm orders. The HR module lets employees speak to access information about benefits, salaries, paychecks, travel expenses, time reporting, and personal information.

SpeechWorks for SAP will be available from SpeechWorks early in the third quarter. SpeechWorks will deliver similar software for PeopleSoft Inc. and other enterprise resource planning vendors around year’s end.

Various schools of business have moved heavily into SAP. One example is California State University at Chico. It would be interesting to hear from some accounting faculty who are using SAP to give some advice to faculty who are contemplating recommending SAP to their administrators.

Information Week on May 10, 1999, Page 26 elaborates its notices that SpeechWorks International has speech recognition modules for ERP systems. For example, these modules can now be deployed in SAP. See http://www.speechworks.com/ .

From InformationWeek Online on March 16, 2000

ERP vendors are adapting to the new IT environment in which businesses are betting on online exchanges, not enterprise resource planning solutions. Both SAP and J.D. Edwards & Co. made significant moves this week to host and develop online marketplace technology.

SAP on Wednesday revealed the formation of SAPMarkets, a subsidiary that, starting in May, will develop, market, and operate marketplaces using SAP technology. Hasso Plattner, co-chairman and CEO of SAP, will act as interim CEO until a permanent one is found.

The vendor's mySAP.com Marketplace efforts will be consolidated into the new company. One goal is to clear up the confusion the mySAP.com moniker created by encompassing the vendor's Internet strategy, software applications, and hosted applications under one name. "I applaud that SAP is finally resolving the confusion 'mySAP.com' brings to customers," says Byron Miller, VP at Giga Information Group. "But before they compete head-on with other companies in a new market, they need to resolve some functionality problems."

J.D. Edwards on Tuesday created a unit to focus on business- to-business solutions and expand development of its online- exchange technology. Michael Schmidt, former VP of worldwide sales and marketing, will head up the unit. - Elisabeth Goodridge with Alorie Gilbert

"Spotlight on Midlevel ERP Software," by Roberta Ann Jones, Journal of Accountancy, May 2002 --- http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/may2002/jones.htm

Years ago, when the personal computer was just coming into its own, accounting software was relatively simple: Its single function was to automate the task of double-entry accounting and produce a straightforward balance sheet. As computers became more robust and integrated databases standardized, accounting software developers added more functions—including cost accounting, manufacturing resource planning (MRP), customer resource management (CRM), human resources (HR) and payroll. To differentiate these superproducts from the simple accounting programs, marketing-minded vendors christened the new packages enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.

Exhibit 1: Software Vendors
Product Vendor Web address Address
Carillon Pettit & Co. www.carillonfinancials.com 100 N. Central Expressway, Suite 1300
Richardson, TX 75080
eEnterprise Microsoft
Great
Plains www.greatplains.com One Lone Tree Rd.
Fargo, ND 58104
E by Epicor Epicor
Software www.epicor.com 195 Technology Dr.
Irvine, CA 92618
MK Manufact'g Computer
Associates’
InterBiz www.interbiz.com One Computer Associates Plaza
Islandia, NY 11749
Enterprise IQ IQMS www.iqms.com 4250 Aerotech Center Way, Suite A
Paso Robles, CA 93446
Progression Macola www.macola.com 333 E. Center St.
P.O. Box 1824
Marion, OH 43301
ERP Plus PowerCerv www.powercerv.com 400 North Ashley Dr.,
Suite 2700
Tampa, FL 33602
Scala 5.1 Scala
Business
Solutions www.scalaworld.com 300 International Parkway, Suite 300
Heathrow, FL 32746
Solomon Microsoft
Great
Plains www.solomon.com 200 East Hardin St.
P.O. Box 414
Findlay, OH 45840
Traverse Open
Systems
Inc. www.osas.com 1157 Valley Park Dr.,
Suite 105
Shakopee, MN 55379


Exhibit 2: Service, Support, Price, Implementation

Exhibit 3: Manufacturing Process

Exhibit 4: Core Financials

Exhibit 5: Purchasing and Sales Processes

Exhibit 6: Human Resources Process

Exhibit 7: Tax and International Processes

Many accounting software vendors, while eager to jump on the ERP bandwagon but unwilling or unable to develop their own complete ERP functionality, choose instead to license the very best special modules developed by other software companies. This option has gained popularity as advances in Windows and compatibility tools have made it easier to seamlessly link new modules to existing software packages.

Using such best-of-breed, third-party products was a boon to ERP vendors: It saved them money and made their products more powerful and more competitive. Further, it meant that the customer was getting an already proven (read that debugged) product.

Not all customers agree that plugging in third-party products is a good idea. If the licensed product malfunctioned (and what software product is perfect?), the customer now had to deal with two vendors—the ERP vendor and the third-party vendor. More often than not, when such a problem arose, each vendor tended to blame the other, leaving the customer uncertain where to turn for help. In our reviews, we have not provided separate evaluations of any third-party products.

From The Wall Street Journal Accounting Educators' Reviews on January 14, 2004

TITLE: Large Software Customers Refuse to Get With the Program
REPORTERS: Kevin J. Delaney and David Bank
DATE: Jan 02, 2004
PAGE: A1,6
LINK: http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB107300003323708100,00.html
TOPICS: Accounting Information Systems

SUMMARY: Delaney and Bank report that business software giant SAP blinked in its confrontation when one of its customers refused to upgrade to a newer version of their software. During the economic downturn, SAP, as well as other application software providers, had increased their revenues not so much through new sales, rather they insisted their current customers upgrade their previously purchased software packages. The related article from one year ago reflects that trend.

QUESTIONS:
1.) How does an ERP impact the relationships in the financing, manufacturing, and other business processes?

2.) Briefly outline how a customer relationship module (CRM) is expected to influence performance for a purchasing firm. Do the same for a supply chain management (SCM) module.

3.) Given the conclusion from Delaney's related article about SAP's return to dominance one year ago, what do you think this bodes for the future of SAP?

Reviewed By: Judy Beckman, University of Rhode Island
Reviewed By: Benson Wier, Virginia Commonwealth University
Reviewed By: Kimberly Dunn, Florida Atlantic University

--- RELATED ARTICLES ---
TITLE: Germany's SAP Regains Edge in U.S.
REPORTER: Kevin Delaney
PAGE: B5
ISSUE: Jan 31, 2003
LINK: http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1043914959248254464,00.html

If you click here, you will find messages from various users of ERP software, especially SAP, in business education programs. I think you will find these messages very candid and helpful
http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245glosap.htm

See Database and CRM.

Scalability= how well a system performs as it grows. For example, a central server of some kind with ten clients may perform efficiently. It has a scalability problem if it fails with an increasing number of clients. If the average response time probably scales linearly with the number of clients, it has a complexity of O(N) ("order N"). The October 1997 issue of Application Development Trends (ISSN 1073-9564) on Page 13 describes the IBM DB2 "Web-enabled database which potentially lets customers scale from desktop or laptop systems to massively parallel processors." See Database .

Scan converter= A hardware device for converting the digitized monitor signals of a computer into analog signals that can be played on a television set. For a detailed review of options and comparison of products see Waring (1994c). Some projection devices such as three-beam projectors for computers in classrooms have built in scan converters. (See also Analog and Video)

Scanner= Both hand-held and flatbed hardware and software for copying graphics images and text into computer files. Both color and black and white options are available. We have never had much luck with hand-held versions, but flatbed scanners do a terrific job. Text scanned as graphics must be converted into computer text via specialized software such as Omni Page Pro from Caere (800-GO-CAERE). Flatbed scanners are reviewed and rated in NewMedia, May 5, 1998, 69-71. (See also OCR)

SCMS= Serial Copy ManagementSystem circuitry in digital recorders that allows copying from a source program but blocks making copies of copies.

SCO Open Desktop= Santa Cruiz Operations' GUI operating system that is compared with other 32-bit operating system alternatives in PC/Computing Special Report (1994). This is a UNIX-based system that runs on Intel and MIPS hardware. (See also Operating system)

Scopeware= File arranging softare invented by David Galernter from Yale University.

"The Next Computer Interface," by Claire Tristram, Technology Review, December 2001 --- http://www.techreview.com/magazine/dec01/tristram.asp

The desktop metaphor was a brilliant innovation—30 years ago. Now it's an unmanageable mess, and the search is on for a better way to handle information.

Game, set, match: Chief scientist David Gelernter of Mirror Worlds Technologies says the desktop metaphor is over. (Photos by Timothy Archibald and Jonathan Worth)

"The desktop is dead," declares David Gelernter. Gelernter is referring to the "desktop metaphor"—the term frequently used for the hierarchical system of files, folders and icons that we use to manage information stored on our home or office computers. At the annual gathering of technophiles at TechXNY/PC Expo 2001 in New York last June, he told the rapt crowd attending his keynote speech that the desktop metaphor is nothing more than virtual Tupperware. "Our electronic documents are scattered by the thousands in all sorts of little containers all over the place," he said. "The more information and the more computers in our lives, the more of a nuisance this system becomes."

For the past decade or so Gelernter has been campaigning for a new metaphor to overthrow the desktop—first in research he carried out at Yale University, where he is a professor of computer science, and now as chief scientist of his new company, Mirror Worlds Technologies, with offices in New Haven, CT, and New York City. In March, Mirror Worlds announced a novel metaphor called Scopeware, software that automatically arranges your computer files in chronological order and displays them on your monitor with the most recent files featured prominently in the foreground. Scopeware is far more sweeping than a simple rearrangement of icons, however: in effect, it transfers the role of file clerk from you to the computer, seamlessly ordering documents of all sorts into convenient, time-stamped files.

Score= A sequence, either time-based or frame-based, that determines the timing of a presentation and the synchronization of its objects.

Screen capturing= The "capturing" of images on a computer screen onto a clipboard or into a graphics file so that they can be imported into other software. Screen captures are analogous to photographs of screen images. Captured text is normally in graphics mode such that it must be run through a text converter (e.g., OmniPage text conversion software) that translates graphics text back into word processor text. In PC World, February 1994, p. 224 it is shown how Windows screen capturing can be accomplished using the Windows Recorder utility in the Program Manager. Doyle (1994a) provides useful tips for QuickTime video capturing. Screen capturing software options are reviewed in the NewMedia 1995 Tool Guide (p. 34). (See also OCR) It is important to also go to Video.

Scripting= (See Authoring, HTML, and RDF)

ScriptX= A somewhat revolutionary and failed authoring and scripting hypertext and hypermedia language. ScriptX from the defunct Kaleida Labs (in a joint venture with Apple and IBM corporations) was and early option designed to cross between various operating systems (e.g., Unix, Windows, DOS, Apple/Mac, OS/2, and PowerOpen). ScriptX was intended compliment the failed Taligent (Pink) multi-platform operating system. (See also GainMomentum, Kaleida, Taligent, Cross-platform, and Authoring)

SCSI= Small Computer System Interface, is a set of interfaces that allow personal computers to communicate with peripheral hardware such as disk drives, tape drives, CD-ROM drives, CD-RW drives, printers, and scanners faster and more flexibly than previous interfaces. SCSI interfaces often cost a bit more than IDE controllers, but there are some advantages to SCSI interfaces. See IDE.

Search engine= WWW sites that allow users to type in a word or phrase and then search for other WWW sites linked to that word or phrase. Bob Jensen' search engine helpers are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/searchh.htm


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Thank you Curtis Brown

Chances are many of you know about this already, but I thought I’d mention that the search engine I now go to first for most purposes is Google (http://www.google.com/). This search engine rates a site higher the more links there are to it from other highly rated sites. Don’t know exactly how they manage that, but in my experience the results are remarkable—if I’m looking for one particular site, it’s usually the number one-ranked result.

I suppose it wouldn’t be so effective for very new or very esoteric sites that no one (yet) knows about. But for sites that have been around long enough for word to get out, it’s very effective. It may not find things that Alta Vista or HotBot or whatever wouldn’t find, but it does a much better job of putting what I’m looking for at the top of the list. The web site describes it as a "Beta" version, but it looks ready for prime time to me.

(example: type "thomas" into Google and the number one result is the library of congress site with information about the US Congress. This site isn’t in the top 50 results for HotBot, Alta Vista, or Lycos (though it is #1 on HotBot’s top ten most visited sites for that search string). Similarly, a search for "Phil Gramm" on Google turned up his Senate homepage as the number one link. This wasn’t in the top 20 on HotBot or Alta Vista; a subpage of his Senate site was around number 10 on Lycos.)

Another nice feature of Google is that they cache the pages: if your search results include a broken link, you can still bring up Google’s cached copy of the page to see what used to be there. The cached pages are text only, but they use the URL for the original page as the base for relative links so that if images are still there they will load properly.


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Thank you Neil Hannon

For people who search the Web frequently and want to use it more efficiently, Infoseek Express is a next-generation desktop search product which brings multiple search and information sources together in one place. With Express you can find, explore, and do anything on the Internet faster and easier than before.

Express is different from other search engines because it runs within your Web browser, searches multiple search engines simultaneously, and provides an easier to use, faster interface. In addition, Express has an open architecture that allows for mass distribution, easy updates, and extensive personal customization.
http://www.tiac.net/users/nhannon/news.html


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Probably the most interesting of the "search engines" are those that use natural language and artificial intelligence. The best known illustration is the "Ask Jeeves" web site at http://www.ask.com/ . The software commenced with David Warthen in Berkeley in 1996. The following is a quotation from "Ask Jeeves," NewMedia, June 1999, p. 54:

Warthen tapped into artificial intelligence research at Berkeley and Stanford, hired "computational linguistics" experts, and brought in editors to link standardized question templates to Web sites with the right answers. The editors are critical to Ask Jeeves' power. "Humans are very good at cognitive decision making," says Warthen. "When we designed our system we were very conscious of how to get human value added."

They created software that can examine a question for its semantics (word meaning) and syntax (grammar and sentence structure). Their system parses it, rearranges it into a template, and searches for a "best-match" template tied to a collection of Web sites, or scroll-down menus that give the user a chance to further refine his query.

Over time the site has expanded its "knowledge base" to more than seven million question/answer connections.

On Page 55, the above article states the following:

Ask Jeeves now licenses its technology for corporate online tech support. Dell Computer's Ask Dudley site (using the name and likeness of their head tech-support guru) "took off like wildfire," according to Manish Mehta, Dell's senior online support manager. It already accurately answers more than 60 percent of all questions, and provides valuable feedback. "It's a nifty mechanism to learn exactly what customers are asking as soon as a new system launches."

Toshiba America receives 380,000 tech-support calls a month. It launched its Ask IRIS (Instant Response Information Service) in mid-March and hopes to see a 20 to 30 percent reduction in calls by year's end. "We're hoping IRIS will be as smart as our very smartest technician," says Dan Ludwick, Toshiba's director of service marketing.

Ask Jeeves customizes its corporate clients' existing tech support database to match the question/answer template format. In addition, Ask Jeeves maintains and monitors the system software and knowledge base, plus handles data mining and analysis. Initial costs range from $400,000 to more than $1 million, depending on the depth of the data. Licensees pay a fraction of a penny to Ask Jeeves for each good question/answer match.

Yahoo is still my choice if you have a particular category. However, my first choice in general is now Ask Jeeves because of the neat way I can merely type a natural language query. I suggest that you ask Jeeves a question just for kicks and then see how fast you will get hooked on Jeeves. http://www.ask.com/ .

(See also Smart agent, XML Resource Description Framework (RDF), Webcasting, Knowledge Management, and World Wide Web)

Search Extractor and Wrapper = (See Wrapper.)

SECAM= SEquential Couleu AvecMemoire sequential color and memory television standard adopted by France and the USSR in 1967. This has some phase and amplitude integrity (skew-symmetry) advantages over NTSC and some line flicker (Hanover bars) disadvantages. Having France and some parts of Eastern Europe on a different standard than PAL for the rest of Europe and NTSC for North America and Japan is somewhat frustrating for manufacturers of hardware and developers of videotapes. (See also NTSC and PAL)

Security= Protection against error and fraud. In computing and networking this includes firewall protections (e.g., passwords) for entry and encryptions for messages that contain protected data such as credit card numbers. A computer virus is one of the most serious problems. A virus hardware/software infection designed intentionally to corrupt a computer, computer files, and/or networks. For virus updates and news, two good web sites are Network Associates at http://www.nai.com/vinfo/ and Mcafee at http://www.mcafee.com/ . (Also see ActiveX.)

The main computer security site is probably CERT --- http://www.cert.org/

One of the main systems and security sites is at http://www.isworld.org/

The U.S. Department of Justice Cybercrime Website --- http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/

Bob Jensen's threads on security --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce/000start.htm#SpecialSection

Nearly the entire April 2004 issue of Syllabus Magazine is devoted to computer and network security. This is a useful reference with lots of links --- http://www.syllabus.com/mag.asp

You should also know about this site when you have a computer security question --- http://www.alw.nih.gov/Security/security.html

Hackers Hall of Fame --- http://tlc.discovery.com/convergence/hackers/bio/bio.html

Bob Jensen's computer security bookmarks are at --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob4.htm#200503Security

An Innovative Cookie Jar

The big question is whether Microsoft will adapt to StealthSurfer or introduce a competitive product for Internet Explorer. My guess is no! We may have to install Netscape once again just to keep pesky cookies off the main hard drive.

"Furtive Surfers Find a Way to Keep Their Travels Secret," by Howard Millman, The New York Times, March 4, 2004 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/04/technology/circuits/04quie.html

A new thumb-size U.S.B. drive from a company called StealthSurfer aims to guard your privacy by keeping the records of your Web activity close to the vest. When you plug in the StealthSurfer and use its customized version of the Netscape browser, the device stores the cookies, U.R.L. history, cache files and other traces of your Web browsing that would ordinarily accumulate on your computer's hard drive. When you're done surfing, you unplug the drive and take the records of your travels with you.

StealthSurfer's name is a bit of an overstatement. It does keep your Web-hopping and file-sharing activities away from prying eyes after the fact. But since it uses your computer's Internet connection, the Web sites you visit can still track your Internet protocol address as you move around online.

The StealthSurfer comes in four capacities, ranging from 64 megabytes ($70) to 512 megabytes ($299). You may experience a slight reduction in performance when you use the device because its flash memory writes data at slower speeds than a full-size hard drive does.

On the other hand, installation is a breeze - computers running Windows Me, 2000 and XP recognize the StealthSurfer as a drive when it is plugged in. (If you're running Windows 98, you must download a driver

The StealthSurfer home page is at http://www.stealthsurfer.biz/
Don't you hate it now that some businesses now use biz instead of com in their URLs?

You can read more about cookies at "Cookies."

Examples of available (or possible) IW weapons
From a document entitled "An Introduction to Information Warfare" by Reto Haeni at http://www.seas.gwu.edu/student/reto/infowar/info-war.html

Computer Viruses

A virus is a code fragment that copies itself into a larger program, modifying that program. A virus executes only when its host program begins to run. The virus then replicates itself, infecting other programs as it reproduces. Viruses are well known in every computer based environment, so that it is not astonishing that this type of rough program is used in the Information Warfare. We could imagine that the CIA (or Army, Air Force ....) inserts computer viruses into the switching networks of the enemy's phone system. As today's telephone systems are switched by computers, you can shut them down, or at least causing massive failure, with a virus as easy that you can shut down a "normal" computer. An example what the damage a virus could cause exists. We can compare it with the system crash of AT&T long distance switching system on January 15, 1990 [10].

Worms (Also see Worm)

A worm is an independent program. It reproduces by copying itself in full-blown fashion from one computer to another, usually over a network. Unlike a virus, it usually doesn't modify other programs. Also if worms don't destroy data (like the Internet Worm, they can cause the loss of communication with only eating up resources and spreading through the networks. A worm can also easily be modified so that data deletion or worse occurs. With a "wildlife" like this, I could imagine breaking down a networked environment like a ATM and banking network.

Trojan horses

A Trojan horse is a code fragment that hides inside a program and performs a disguised function. It's a popular mechanism for disguising a virus or a worm. A trojan horse could be camouflaged as a security related tool for example like SATAN (Security Administrating Tool for Analyzing Networks). SATAN checks UNIX system for security holes and is freely available on the Internet. If someone edits this program so that it sends discovered security holes in an e-mail message back to him (lets also include the password file? No problem), the Cracker learns much information about vulnerable hosts and servers. A clever written trojan horse does not leave traces of its presence and because it does not cause detectable damage, it is hard to detect.

Logic bombs

A bomb is a type of Trojan horse, used to release a virus, a worm or some other system attack. It's either an independent program or a piece of code that's been planted by a system developer or programmer." With the overwhelming existence of US based software (e.g. MS Windows or UNIX systems), the US Government, or whomever you would like to imagine, could decide that no software would be allowed to be exported from that country without a Trojan horse. This hidden function could become active when a document with "war against the USA" exists on the computer. Its activation could also be triggered from the outside. An effect could be to format the computers harddisks or to mail the document to the CIA.

Trap doors

A trap door, or a back door, is a mechanism that's built into a system by its designer. The function of a trap door is to give the designer a way to sneak back into the system, circumventing normal system protection." As I mentioned in the last section, all US software could be equipped with a trap door that would allow IW agencies to explore systems and the stored data on foreign countries. This could be most useful in cases of military strategic simulations and plans and would provide the DoD's intelligence with vital information.

Chipping

Just as software can contain unexpected functions, it is also possible to implement similar functions in hardware. Today's chips contain millions of integrated circuits that can easily be configured by the manufacturer so that they also contain some unexpected functions. They could be built so that they fail after a certain time, blow up after they receive a signal on a specific frequency, or send radio signals that allow identification of their exact location - the number of possible scenarios exceeds, by far, the scope of this paper. The main problem with chipping is that the specific (adapted) chip be installed in the place that is useful for the Information Warrior. The easiest solution is to built the additional features into all the chips manufactured in the country that is interested in this type of IW.

Nano machines and Microbes

Nano machines and Microbes provide the possibility to cause serious harm to a system. Unlike viruses, we can use these to attack not the software but the hardware of a computer system. Nano machines are tiny robots (smaller than ants) that could be spread at an information center of the enemy. They crawl through the halls and offices until they find a computer. They are so small that they enter the computer through slots and shut down electronic circuits. Another way to damage the hardware is a special breed of microbes. We know that they can eat oil, what about if they were bred for eating silizium? They would destroy all integrated circuits in a computer lab, a site, a building, a town.......

Electronic jamming

In the old days (and even today) electronic jamming was used to block communications channels at the enemy's equipment so that they can't receive any information. The next step is not to block their traffic, but instead overwhelm them with incorrect information. This type of disinformation can also be combined with the possibilities described in the section "soft war"

HERF Guns - EMP Bombs

HERF stands for High Energy Radio Frequency. HERF guns are able to shoot a high power radio signal at an electronic target and put it out of function. The damage can be moderate (e.g. that a system shuts down, but can be restarted) or severe (e.g. the system hardware has been physically damaged). Electronic circuits are more vulnerable to overload that most people would suspect. This mechanism uses HERF guns with big success. In essence, HERF guns are nothing but radio transmitters. They send a concentrated radio signal to the target. The target can be a mainframe inside a business building, an entire network in a building, or as today's planes and cars are stuffed with electronic equipment, the target can even be a moving vehicle with all the inherent dangers for the people who are inside. EMP stands for electromagnetic pulse. The source can be a nuclear or a non-nuclear detonation. It can be used by special forces teams who infiltrate the enemy's and detonate a device near their electronic devices. It destroys the electronics of all computer and communication systems in a quite large area. The EMP bomb can be smaller than a HERF gun to cause a similar amount of damage and is typically used to damage not a single target (not aiming in one direction) but to damage all equipment near the bomb.

Also see Authenticated Payment Program (SET), Clipper Chip, Cookies, Cryptolope, Data Encryption Standard (DES), Encryption, Firewall, Kerberos, Secure Socket Layer (SSL), and WebLedger.

Bob Jensen's main documents on e-Commerce e-Business (including security) are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce.htm

I added a Special Section to the document entitled "Opportunities of E-Business Assurance: Risks in Assuring Risk" at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce/assurance.htm

For more information about fraud, information warfare, and security, go to http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/fraud.htm



Sega= (See Games)

Senses = Bob Jensen’s threads on computing technologies for sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/senses.htm

Sequence= A combination of events executed in a predetermined order.

Server= A computer that shares its resources, such as printers and files, with other computers on the network. An example of this is a Network File System (NFS) server which shares its disk space with other computers. Especially see the concept of a shell.

Set-top box= A digital device that will sit on top of or inside a television set and provide the digital processing necessary to support interactive network services (video-on-demand, network placing of purchase orders, database access, etc.) in the early phases of the information highway. Eventually PCTVs will probably replace set-top box processors. (See also CD-Stand Alone and Information highway)

SGI= Silicon Graphics, Inc., 2011 North Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View, CA, 94039-7311. This company manufactures high-end graphics work stations such as its Indy line for hypermedia, video, and 3-D graphics rendering. Some software vendors such as Information International write software for SGI workstations. These are among the best of the professional options for generating videographics and virtual realities, but they come at a high price for hardware, software, and technical help to obtain and maintain an SGI workstation. Software for SGI and other Unix-based workstations costs much more, "often 10 times the price of equivalent software for high-volume platforms like MPC---and much of it is extremely vertical in nature" says Spanbauer (1993b), p. 42. SGI now has a low-end multimedia workstation starting at under $5,000, The Sun Microsystems SPARClassic M (under $5,000) and 10SX (over $15,000) are designed to compete with the SGI Indago line for multimedia computing. Beware that buying an SGI computer such as the Indy for less than $5,000 is analogous to buying an automobile without a transmission, wheels, and other essential components. For example, the hard drive and monitor are not included at the $5,000 price. Lindy (1994) says the price of a complete Indy system rises to $27,600. He compares features of the Quadra 840AV with the more expensive and faster SGI Indy and finds that the Quadra 840AV performs as well or better in most instances for a lot less money for hardware and software. The SGI Indy competes with NewTek's Video Toaster and Apple AV competitors, but should not be confused with the more extensive concept of network video server. (See also Video server, Amiga, Apple AV, PowerPC, SUN and Unix)

SGML= The abbreviation for Standard Generalized Markup Language, SGML is an international standard for the publication and delivery of electronic information.

Shareware= This term refers to software that is available on public networks and BBSs. Users are asked to remit a small amount to the software developer, but it's on the honor system.

Shel = web server/client software focused on storage, delivery, and course management. This software facilitates server/client networking that allows for student record keeping, test grading, etc. Unlike high-end authoring software, courseware shells have utilities for creating network listservs, bulletin boards, chat rooms, electronic forums, telephony, etc. These shells also facilitate lesson authoring in virtually all of the high-end authoring software listed above. Some courseware shells have more authoring capabilities than others, although none have the full authoring capabilties of the high-end authoring systems.

TopClass WebCB WebCT Asymetrix Librarian Mallard Real Education
Convene CourseInfo (Blackboard) IntraKal MentorWare WebMentor Enterprise
Learning Space Oncourse McGraw-Hill Learning Architecture (MHLA) PHP
CyberClass (Note: Cyberclass is unique in that server space is provided and users such as university professors need not use servers in their own institutions

. My review of shells is given at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245soft1.htm

Silent Meeting = (See Virtual.)

SIMM= Single In-line Memory Module plug-in memory module containing all the chips needed to add blocks of RAM to a computer. At the present time, it is not uncommon to pay in the neighborhood of $200 for each 16mb of RAM added to computers. (See also RAM)

Simulation= Computer generated or enhanced emulation of real world happenings. In the early days of computing simulation was largely a numerical modeling of factory operations, weather systems, planetary movements, etc. The advent of flight simulation ushered in physical reproductions of reality that gave the look and feel of being in a real world happening such as landing an aircraft at night in simulated airports around the world or simulated combat situations. Modern day multimedia computing has ushered in countless applications of visual as well as numerical modeling simulations. The high end technology for simulation today is virtual reality. (See also Virtual Reality)

Single-session recording= The older CD-ROM standard, where all data you intend to put on a disk must be recorded in one session rather than in several different sessions over time. (See also CD-R)

SLIP= Serial Line Internet Protocol that allows users in selected parts of the world to access the Internet via modems and phone lines if they are not directly connected to the Internet system of worldwide networks. There are specialized SLIP firms plus some of the more general firms such as Delphi and CompuServe. Unlike direct connections, however, SLIP interfacings normally have usage fees based upon timing and extent of usage. (See also ISP, PIP, and Modem)

Smart agent= A utility for scanning Internet resources and collecting files pertinent to selected interests. This also includes screen savers that collect information (e.g., news is downloaded at assigned intervals on the Pointcast screen saver at ). (See also XML and Search engine)

Smart card= a credit card with an embedded microchip that contains extensive information. Smart cards are presently used for telephone cards, health cards, pay TV, banking, GSM Global System for Mobile communications, and other cellular/satellite telephones. Smart cards can hold encrypted secure data transferred in from a personal computer. The future appears to be unlimited for secure smart cards.

SMIL = (See HTML)

S/MIME = (See Internet Messaging).

SMITS= Self-Monitoring Intelligent Tutoring System for computer-aided instruction of accounting information systems. SMITS was developed with an NCAIR grant by Professors Glen L. Gray and L. Richard Ye at California State University at Northridge. See Gray (1994).

SMTP = (See Internet Messaging).

Socket= This is a communication mechanism originally implemented on the BSD version of the UNIX operating system. Sockets are used as endpoints for sending and receiving data between computers. A SSL (secure socket layer) is a secured security socket that controls data flows into and out of a socket for security purposes. (Also see Security and Internet Messaging).

Solaris= (See Unix)

Sonet= Synchronized Optical Network that is now operational on 155 Mb per second fiber optic cable between major cities in the United States. This forms the AT&T Corporation backbone for asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switching and transmission of voice, video, graphics, and data. (See also Information highway, Fiber optic, and Networks)

Sound Blaster compatible= (See MCI)

Sound board= A hardware insert for computers that allows mono or stereo audio (e.g., from cassette players, microphones, and television audio tracks) to be sent to computer speakers "on the fly" and/or to be captured as computer files such aswav and voc files for PC computers. The wav file extensions run on Microsoft MCI standards and the voc files run on Soundblaster sound boards from Creative Labs. Hardware options are reviewed in the NewMedia 1996 Tool Guide. Software (audio editing) options are reviewed in the NewMedia 1996 Tool Guide. When available, it is often better to have audio hardware on the motherboard rather than as a board added to a computer's expansion slot. (See also DSP)

Sound recording = (See Sound board)

Sparc= A class of Unix-based workstations from Sun Microsystems, Inc., 2550 Garcia Ave., Mountain View, CA 94305. These are common in Unix-based networks. (See also SUN)

Speech recognition = The ability of the computer to interpret speech or other audio commands along with keyboard, mouse, and joystick commands. Bob Jensen's Threads on Speech Recognition and Conversations With Computers (Audio Portals) --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/speech.htm

"Just talk to me," The Economist, December 6, 2001 --- http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=885022

Speech recognition: At long last, speech is becoming an important interface between man and machine. In the process, it is helping to slash costs in business, create new services on the Internet, and make cars a lot safer and easier to drive
In the early days of computing, information was put into computers by flipping switches. After this came the relative sophistication of loading programs and data by means of punched cards or punched paper-tape. These were followed in their turn by such devices as the keyboard, the mouse, the trackball, the joystick, the touchpad and the touch-sensitive screen. Throughout all this, speech—the most natural, and perhaps the most effective, interface between people and computers—has remained largely neglected. Apart from some modest developments in software for desktop dictation in the 1990s, the only time most people have talked to their computers has been when cursing them.

All this is changing. Already, speech recognition is a not-uncommon feature at the call-centres of telephone companies, financial-service providers and airlines in the United States. In Japan and Europe, meanwhile, speech recognition is being adapted for use as a hands-free input device for motor cars.

Technologies such as automatic speech recognition (ASR), speaker verification and text-to-speech generators (see article) are catching on fast. They promise to deliver access to information and services anytime and anywhere that there is telephone. With more than 1 billion phones in the world and new subscribers being added to the global networks at double-digit rates, the enthusiasm is understandable. What is really driving the enthusiasm for the technology is not just that people are used to talking over telephones and so need little encouragement or training. They have also proved themselves willing to pay a premium for such services.

Continued at http://www.economist.com/science/tq/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=885022


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From SyllabusNews on August 16, 2002

DePaul Develops Sign Language Translator

A team of faculty and students at DePaul University's School of Computer Science has created a computer-generated synthetic interpreter capable of translating spoken English into American Sign Language (ASL). The program, dubbed "Paula," uses speech recognition and sophisticated animation. Using the system, a hearing person speaks through a headset connected to the computer. The animated figure of Paula then translates intoASL through hand gestures and facial expressions on the computer screen. The project required four years and more than 25,000 hours worth of work by the project team. "Most people are not aware that ASL is not simply a signed form of English," said Rosalee Wolfe, professor of computer science at DePaul and one of the leaders of the research team. "It is a series of hand configurations, hand positions, body positions and movement and facial expressions that are used in certain specific combinations. Hence, creating an animated translator is a very intricate and detailed process."

For more information, visit: http://asl.cs.depaul.edu


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To date, vocabulary limitations and other problems make this a less than perfect option for authoring at the moment. However, technology seems to be adequate for major companies like American Express, UPS, Schwab & Co., and other companies to move from "curious novelty to strategic technology" according to Mary Thyfault in "Voice Recognition Enters the Mainstream" in Information Week, July 14, 1997, p. 20. These companies intend to have computers respond to customer voices. For example, using technology developed by Nuance, Scwab & Co. introduced the "Voice Broker" that responds to telephone requests for market price quotations and other investment information. American Express uses voice recognition for travel services. The ability to talk directly with a computer was anticipated years ago in Star Trek television shows and with the supercomputer named HAL in the popular film "2001 Space Odyssey". Eventually speech recognition will be commonplace when using both large and small computers. Apple Corporation led the way in speech recognition, but the gap has been closed between Mac and PC users. The latest excitement in software that will recognize normal (continuous) speaking speeds is Dragon's Naturally Speaking fromhttp://www.dragonsys.com/. Other options such as Voice Assist from Creative Labs (800-998-1000) are available for PCs. However, the leading and most reliable PC software at the time of this writing are Naturally Speaking from Dragon and VoicePlus ViaVoice Simply Speaking Software from IBM Corporation. VoiceType sells for less than $100 and had 94% accuracy rate in tests reported in Consumer Reports, July 1997, p. 6. Another competitor (Kurzweil VoiceCommands) only had a 72% accuracy in the same tests, although VoicePad did receive the Software Publishers Association's Award for the "Best New Software Program of the Year" in 1997. Older links for discrete (non-continuous) speaking recognition include IBM's VoiceType and AVRI's SpeechCommander. Microsoft has Speech Dictation software. Siemens Business Communication also has products on speech recognition. One product from Siemens is ComManager telephony and call accounting software. Microsoft Agent can be downloaded free from http://www.microsoft.com/workshop/imedia/agent/agentdl.asp (See also Text reading and Disabilities products)

For applications of speech recognition see TRACI Talk: The Mystery and Let's go Read! An Island Adventure. Islip Media Inc. in Pittsburgh offers a speech recognition search engine for video libraries. It is costly, howver, at $50,000 for a 50 user license. The Islip web site is at http://www.islip.com/

Probably the most exciting thing this week is the featured speech recognition software on the PBS television show called Computer Chronicles. This show was a summer re-run of the Computers Without Keyboards show summarized at http://www.cmptv.com/computerchronicles/shows/99-00/1721keyboards/1721-summary.html

There were various demonstrations, including almost flawless letter dictation using Dragon's Naturally Speaking. You simply say "new paragraph," "comma," or other accepted commands, including correction comments such as a command to change "two" to "too." The Dragon Naturally Speaking software and other leading speech recognition websites are given at http://www.trinity.edu/~rjensen/245glosf.htm#Speech1

But everything else on the show paled in comparison to the BeVocal demonstration of how you can call a free long distance number and interact by phone with a virtual woman at http://www.bevocal.com/index.html

It's the only way to get FREE driving directions, traffic reports, weather forecasts, business locations, flight information, stock quotes, and more by phone. Just call 1-800-4-BVOCAL, speak up, and get what you need.

What is impressive is the fact that you can interrupt the virtual woman and ask her to repeat herself or spell words like names of city streets. You can also ask for current delays due to construction or traffic at the moment.

You can "barge in" by saying commands anytime; you don't have to wait until the end to speak.
Some BeVocal commands can be said anytime. That is, they can be used in any BeVocal service. Voice commands you can say anytime are: BeVocal Home, BeVocal Tips, BeVocal Driving Directions, BeVocal Traffic, BeVocal Flight Information, BeVocal Weather, BeVocal Stock Quotes, Pause, Repeat, What Are My Choices?, and Goodbye.
Other commands are specific to individual BeVocal services.
What is important to educators and librarians is not this particular virtual woman and this particular application with a knowledge base on the above topics. What is important is that this demonstrates the future of education and training of the 21st Century. Suppose you really do not know how to account for a cross-currency swap using a EURIBOR index. Someday it will be possible to dial up (from a hand-held phone which will also be a wireless computer) and listen to a detailed interactive tutorial that walks you through your particular problem (where you feed in your own particular parameters). You will be able to "barge in" when you don't understand something, ask for definitions, ask for diagrams, ask for history, ask for examples, ask for current index levels, etc. One day in the future you will also be able to do the same thing when trying to understand passages from Hamlet or Bob Jensen's muddled up theory paper at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/315wp/315wp.htm

As educators, we have a responsibility to begin to organize the academy to design speech-recognition knowledge bases for BeVocal types of education and training.

The flip side of "speech recognition" is "text reading" conversion of written text into audio. The pioneer in this technology is Bell Labs at http://www.islip.com/. That Bell Labs web site has some wonderful demonstrations of this technology. (See Text reading.)

Information Week on May 10, 1999, Page 26 elaborates its notices that SpeechWorks International has speech recognition modules for ERP systems. For example, these modules can now be deployed in SAP. See http://www.speechworks.com/ .

Added on March 5, 2001
Send voice messages.

Impress and freak out your friends, family, or business associates by sending mass robotic phone messages (you choose the voice, male or female!) to up to fifty people via email, your PDA, or your WAP-enabled phone -- courtesy of ImBot, "your Internet messaging robot." Just sign up for the demo, and send up to three messages, free. --- http://www.imbot.com/

Added June 27, 1999 --- The June 27 broadcast of the Dynamic Duo had some helpful information to pass on to the world. I like the way the Duo is willing to tell it like it is from the standpoint of user friendliness and reliability. The web site for the Duo is at http://www.digitalduo.com/ .

The lead segment was on the state of speech recognition. Speech recognition has come a long way in a short time. It is especially wonderful for persons who cannot use keyboards for one reason or another. Dragon Systems Naturally Speaking Mobile is an award winning pocket-size recorder --- see http://www.dragonsys.com/products/naturallyspeaking/mobile/index.html .

A major advantage of speech recognition is that audio files are recorded on the fly. This would be great product for me since I usually videotape conference presentations and student presentations. My beleaguered secretary spends over half her time transcribing the audio into text. It would be wonderful if I could bypass her by recording directly into my Dragon Mobile. The Dynamic Duo, however, reports that this will probably not be possible until speech recognition gets much better. Although the time it takes to "train the system" on a particular voice such as my own voice has been reduced from two hours to 30 minutes, it is not likely that each speaker at a conference will want to speak into my recorder for 30 minutes prior to his or her presentation. Even when the Dragon Mobile is properly trained, the Dynamic Duo found an average of one error in 20 words --- and that is an average number. When there is ambient noise the error rate explodes. Recording from a distance such as 15 feet greatly increases error rates. I think I will wait for a while before going Dragon Mobile. You can find links to other speech recognition vendors at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/245glosf.htm#Speech1

L&H Voice Xpress Professional has some key advantages over leading voice recognition software according to Jeff Angus in "Balanced Skills Make Voice Xpress a Winner," in Information Week, August 23, 1999, pp. 56-59. The online version is at http://www.informationweek.com/749/voice.htm. One of the advantages is that voice training is only takes about a third as much time as the training required for Dragon Systems. Another advantage is integration with Office 2000 products, especially Internet Explorer 5.0. You can dictate Office 2000 instructions by voice. Jeff Angus states the following

With about eight hours of use, Voice Xpress worked well enough for me to prefer it to typing. With 12 hours of use (work and training) it's a hands-down winner.

Voice Xpress still requires more help from me than I'd like recognizing Windows and application commands. Even going to the Voice Xpress toolbar and clicking the button that tells the utility to expect a command doesn't guarantee it will recognize my command every time.

In terms of desktop applications, Voice Xpress works best with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, both text-intensive processes. I struggled a little bit to have it work with my spreadsheet, and while it occasionally pulled the correct set of format and numbers ($1,287, for example) out of a string of spoken input, this complex task requires more training. Users who work extensively with spreadsheets may find the payback time quick enough.

The web site for Voice Xpress is at http://wemark.com/oivl.html. The base price is $149. Beware that you should not even think about this product without 96 Mb of RAM with Windows 98 and 128 Mb of Ram with Windows NT. I think I will wait for this product to be a bit more user friendly. When there's a Voice Xpress for Dummies I will be the first in line.

December 1999 Update Update on speech technologies --- http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/news/0,4153,2409293,00.html

Dragon Systems Inc. has begun previewing its new AudioMining speech technology, which will enable users to search and retrieve audio and streaming media content on the Web.

The AudioMining technology converts audio data into text, which can then be accessed by keyword searches, company officials said. That saves time and helps users be more productive because they don't need to listen to entire recordings to find information, they added.

Dragon demonstrated the technology for the first time at the Giga Showcase for Innovative IT Solutions earlier this month (December 1999) in Palm Desert, Calif., and conference participants voted it Best Overall Winner, Most Innovative Product, Best Business Application Potential and Highest-Quality Demonstration.

From New Media on July 19, 2001
SpeechGenie --- http://www.voicegenie.com

Gateway Platform Allows VoiceXML Based Access To Web Info

SpeechGenie is a turnkey deployment platform that allows corporations or service providers to enable their customers to access their applications and Web data via phone; i.e., customers can dial phone numbers, and by speaking commands into their phones, can access Web information and perform transactions, or manage their e-mail or personal information.

SpeechGenie is composed of a combination of hardware and software technology from both VoiceGenie and SpeechWorks. The product provides for the corporation and its developers a VoiceXML-based platform allowing them to create voice-activated (both speech recognition and TTS - Text-To-Speech - responses) interfaces to their Web applications or information.

VoiceGenie provides the VoiceGenie VoiceXML Interpreter (a 100% VoiceXML compliant tool that allows for the processing of VoiceXML scripts), and the VoiceGenie Telephony Software, which manages the ASR/TTS call channels.

SpeechWorks, on the other hand, provides the SpeechWorks OpenSpeech DialogModules, which provide developers with a collection of common reusable components for the creation of speech recognition interfaces; the SpeechWorks SMARTRecognizer ASR Version 7 for speech recognition chores; and the SpeechWorks Speechify TTS engine.

A key feature of SpeechGenie noted by the vendor is "...extensive OA&M (operations, administration and maintenance)..." capabilities through support for SNMP, Web and console interfaces, etc., allowing admins to monitor the status of the system and identify and diagnose faults or performance problems.

SpeechGenie is available now, with introductory pricing (through September 15, 2001) of $20,000.

"Software Called Capable of Copying Any Human Voice," by Lisa Guernsey, The New York Times, July 31, 2001 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/31/technology/31VOIC.html

AT&T (news/quote) Labs will start selling speech software that it says is so good at reproducing the sounds, inflections and intonations of a human voice that it can recreate voices and even bring the voices of long-dead celebrities back to life. The software, which turns printed text into synthesized speech, makes it possible for a company to use recordings of a person's voice to utter things that the person never actually said.

The software, called Natural Voices, is not flawless — its utterances still contain a few robotic tones and unnatural inflections — and competitors question whether the software is a substantial step up from existing products. But some of those who have tested the technology say it is the first text-to-speech software to raise the specter of voice cloning, replicating a person's voice so perfectly that the human ear cannot tell the difference.

"If ABC wanted to use Regis Philbin's voice for all of its automated customer-service calls, it could," said Lawrence R. Rabiner, vice president for AT&T Labs Research.

Potential customers for the software, which is priced in the thousands of dollars, include telephone call centers, companies that make software that reads digital files aloud, and makers of automated voice devices.

From Syllabus e-News on October 9, 2001:

U. Texas Med Center Institutes Speech Recognition

The University of Texas's Southwestern Medical Center is offering a speech recognition service enabling callers to say the name of the employee, physician, department, clinic, or study they are trying to reach and connect to an appropriate number. The service uses SpeechSite speech recognition technology from SpeechWorks International, Inc., and helps university operators, who field calls for about 75,000 patients annually, work with callers with more complex needs. The Center said more than 60 percent of all calls are now automated using the system, which resides on server in the data center and uses employee information from its human resources management system. In the near future, the system will be expanded to recognize Spanish-speaking callers.

For more information, visit: http://www.speechworks.com

See Also Text Reading that translates written text into voice audio.

Semantic Interpretation for Speech Recognition http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-semantic-interpretation-20011116/

This document defines the process of Semantic Interpretation for Speech Recognition and the syntax and semantics of semantic interpretation tags that can be added to speech recognition grammars to compute information to return to an application on the basis of rules and tokens that were matched by the speech recognizer. In particular, it defines the syntax and semantics of the contents of Tags in the Speech Recognition Grammar Specification.

Semantic Interpretation may be useful in combination with other specifications, such as the Stochastic Language Models (N-Gram) Specification, but their use with N-grams has not yet been studied.

Although the results of semantic interpretation are describing the meaning of a natural language utterance, the current specification does not specifically generate such information in the Natural Language Semantics Markup Language for the Speech Interface Framework. It is believed that semantic interpretation can produce information that can be encoded in the NL Semantics Markup Language, but this is not ensured or enforced.

"The Last Word in Dictation. Period," by David Pogue, The New York Times, January 24. 2002 --- http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/24/technology/circuits/24STAT.html

Copytalk is a glorified dictation service. From any phone, you dial Copytalk's toll-free number. At the tone, you dictate, for example, an e-mail message. Between 3 and 20 minutes later, the message you dictated is sent on its merry way across the Internet (with or without your review, at your option), looking exactly as if it came from your desktop PC.

The system relies on the world's most sophisticated speech-recognition system: a person wearing headphones. Because you're simply leaving a message for a transcriptionist, the results are far more accurate, and the system far more flexible, than you would get using speech-recognition software like NaturallySpeaking.

You might say, for example: "O.K., this e-mail's going out to Bill G., that's B-I-L-L G, at Microsoft.com. The subject is Windows XP, and the body is, let's see: `Dear Bill, Thanks for Windows XP.' No wait, make that, `Thanks a bunch for Windows XP.' Then, going on: `It's incompatible with my virus software, my printer and my wife. Can you fix it? Sincerely, Frank.' Oh, and also CC it to Steve B. at Microsoft.com. And I'd like to review it before you send it."

In other words, you dictate precisely as you would to a personal assistant. Copytalk says that its transcriptionists even try to correct spelling, grammar and muddled ZIP codes, which they check against the city information in addresses that you dictate.

If you have a Palm-based organizer, Copytalk gets even more interesting. You can dictate anything you can store on your organizer: datebook appointments, to-do items, memos, expense-report items, addresses and phone numbers and so on. In the process you can exploit the full range of Palm software features. You might say, for example, "I want a new appointment, called `Gadget-obsession therapy,' repeating every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 2:30 p.m., through May 30. Give me an alarm 20 minutes in advance. Oh, and attach a note to this appointment that has the phone number: Technophiles Anonymous, (212) 555-4433."

A Palm-savvy transcriptionist at Copytalk takes all of this down. The next time you sync your organizer with your Windows PC, the Copytalk software connects to the Internet and downloads the freshly transcribed material. A minute later the new appointment appears on the appropriate days, as though you had scratched it in yourself.

If your cellphone is your organizer (because it's a hybrid from Samsung, Handspring or Kyocera), or if you have equipped your organizer with some kind of modem and Palm's Mobile Internet Kit, life is even better: the new entries are entered into its calendar, address book, to-do list and so on, computerlessly.

If you're calling from a number that the service doesn't recognize or from an office whose phone system uses extension numbers, you have to plug in your phone number and password to prove that you're you.

But when you dial the service from your cellphone or home, the service immediately recognizes you and prompts you to begin dictating. That's when Copytalk begins to take on a life of its own, turning your phone into something like a magic voice recorder. You press Copytalk's speed-dial number on your phone, the call is answered before even one ring, and you're ready to dictate — all within five seconds.

On your cab ride back from a conference, for example, you can rattle off the contact info from the business cards that rained on you — and then throw them away. Recording business-travel expenses is another big payoff: it's hard to forget to bill your boss for some expenditure if you record it by voice while you're still expending.

The Copytalk Website is at http://www.copytalk.com/index.htm

A new breed of customer service agents will be so attentive to your needs that you’ll never guess you’re talking to software.

"Are You Being Served?" by Joe Nickell, MIT's Technology Review, March 15, 2002 --- http://www.techreview.com/articles/nickell031502.asp

Somehow it seems the more businesses cater to customers through the use of new technologies, the harder it is to get good service. It's hard to find a company of any size today that answers its phone or e-mail without first sending customers through a maze of touch-tone menus or voice prompts—"voice hell" always a 1-800 number away. Then there are online customer support centers: soulless lists of frequently asked questions, hyperlinked conceptual puzzles and unintuitive search engines that never quite answer the question at hand. "What customers very often end up wanting is an F-U button," jokes Dr. Rosalind Picard, an associate professor at MIT whose research examines the role of emotions in human-computer interactions.

Undaunted, technology providers and their corporate clients are pushing toward a future in which an increasing percentage of customer inquiries can be handled automatically and, hopefully, with better results. They aim to build so-called "service bots"—software-hardware hybrid systems that understand spoken or written English (or any other dialect or language preferred by the customer), interpret vague or broad queries, possess a thorough understanding of both the company's products and the customer's past interactions, and speak or write answers in an intelligible, context- and emotion-sensitive fashion. The necessary skill set for the perfect service bot demands several interdependent layers of technology: voice recognition modules, natural language understanding engines, artificial intelligence for data extraction and text-to-speech synthesizers.

Customers should like these new bots because they would be faster, more accurate and more consistent than live service agents, providing personalized interactions managed across any medium, available any time of the day. Companies will line up for the new technology in order to fend off ever-rising customer service costs and catastrophic call-center employee turn-over rates.

That's the premise, anyway. It may all sound pie-in-the-sky, but numerous technology companies, as well as research centers at leading academic institutions, are hammering away at the challenges of building a better service bot. The first generation is already here. Ford Motor Company employs a chatty online bot named Ernie, built by San Francisco-based NativeMinds, who helps technicians at its network of dealerships diagnose car problems and order parts. IBM's Lotus software division employs a service bot from Support.com that can examine a user's software, diagnose problems and fix them by uploading patches to the user's computer—without any necessary intervention by human tech support personnel.

And in an odd twist, Electronic Arts has built an entire game, called Majestic, around service bot technology built by San Francisco-based developer eGain. Majestic carries players through a complex, multi-media episodic mystery. Players receive clues and information via pager, fax, e-mail, Web sites and even telephone calls. eGain's service bot keeps track of player information such as what clues they've collected and how they have reacted. The software can handle 100,000 simultaneous player interactions.

But given the lousy track record of automated customer service so far, consumers have reason to be skeptical of this new generation of talking machines. Confusing or insufficient menu choices, lack of personalization, outdated or insufficient responses and failure to carry over punched-in account information to conversations with live reps rank at the top of consumer complaints about automated customer service systems today. Almost 40 percent of Americans press zero whenever they encounter an automated answering system, rather than waiting to hear the menu options, according to a study conducted in 1998 by the Center for Client Retention.

So will service bots truly give us better service, or will they simply allow companies to reinforce the walls between themselves and customers? Can we really hope for a better-than-human service bot? And, is it realistic to expect companies to deploy tomorrow's automated systems any better than they deploy today's?

"I don't think it's possible to even imagine a generic customer service [bot] that can handle any kind of question in any industry," says Joe Bigus, leader of the Agent Building and Learning Environment (ABLE) project at IBM Research. Bigus' research group has recently produced a toolkit that allows developers to build small software agents—programs that gather information and perform duties automatically—in Java. The toolkit consists of software code that provides baked-in machine learning capabilities and a set of instructions for customizing the software agents with specific domain knowledge. This allows developers to design any number of discreet agents that possess specialized knowledge and problem-solving capabilities; the agents can even interact with one another when faced with a complex problem.

By facilitating the deployment of a number of small, specialized software agents—rather than one massively complex agent—this approach mimicks the way human resources are managed: customer service agents at Sony aren't all trained to understand every product from audio cassettes to digital video cameras. Instead, small groups of service agents are given specific products to understand thoroughly.

Continued at http://www.techreview.com/articles/nickell031502.asp

See Also Text Reading that translates written text into voice audio.


Sprite= An independent graphic object that moves freely across the screen.

SSA = Serial Storage Architecture, along with its FC-AL Fibre Channel alterative, that offer huge bandwidth networking schemes that operate within an Eithernet network. Shared discs in SSA or FC-AL systems can be operated over networks as fast as hard drives on a local computer. Furthermore, the connecting cables are "thin" relative to traditional SCSI connection cables. Whjile Ultra-Wide SCSI has a 40Mbps maximum bandwidth, SSA offers 80 MBps and FC-AL goes up to 100 MBps. SSA is fully duplex with two cables to devices. One advantage of SSA is that if a connected device fails, the entire loop does not fail since SSA does not require a hub. Over time, SSA systems and FC-AL will probably replace SCSI systems. See also SCSI.

SSL = (See Socket. Also see Internet Messaging.)

Stand-alone= (See CD-Stand Alone)

Star topology= A network configuration where each node is connected by a single cable link to a central location, called the hub.

Still video camera= (See Dry camera)

Streaming = (See Web Streaming)

Structured= This adjective describes how data are stored and used at companies. Travel agents, for example, type information into designated spaces on electronic forms on their computer screens that are connected to database programs. That structures, or categorizes, the information so it can be searched and sorted using such criteria as a customer's name or destination. The Web, in contrast, stores data in an unstructured way that limits the kinds of searches that can be performed.

Structured Query Language = (See Relational database management.)

Student response pads = Hand-held wireless audience response pads which allow individual answers or group frequency responses to be immediately displayed in front of the class. The pads themselves must be separately purchased. HyperGraphics is the only CMS vendor that sells response pads with built in CMS software utilities. Barry Rice at Loyola College in Maryland performs Multimedia ToolBook authoring with student response pads for accounting applications in a Windows environment. See also Remote control and Electronic classroom)

Studio classroom= An application of computer technology pioneered by Jack M. Wilson at Rensselaer Polytechnical Institute for replacing large lecture courses with students working in pairs in front of computer screens where they interactively tackle problems and issues rather than listen to or passively watch lectures in front of a mass lecture section. The only lecture comes at the beginning and end of class where the instructor commences or wraps up the learning session. The "studio" is a combination lab and electronic classroom. For a summary see DeLoughry (1995a). (See also Electronic classroom)

SUN= Sun Microsystem computers, most of which are network workstations using Unix operating systems. The Sun Microsystems SPARClassic M (under $5,000) and 10SX (over $15,000) are designed to compete with the SGI Indago line for multimedia computing. (See also SGI, Sparc, and Unix)

Surfing= (See Web surfing)

Surfing backwards= (See Web surfing backwards)

SVG = open-standard vector graphics format that lets you add high-quality graphics and animation to Web pages using plain text commands. It's the powerful combination of dynamic two-dimensional vector graphics and Extensible Markup Language (XML). Simply put, SVG creates small file sizes for faster Web page downloads, offers unlimited color and font choices, and that's just the beginning. Find out more about SVG at http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/Overview.htm8

S-VHS= (See VHS)

Switched network= Is the opposite of dedicated bandwidth on the information highway. It is analogous to having a bridge that opens certain lanes in one direction to accommodate traffic flows in the morning rush hours and then changes the directions to accommodate evening rush traffic. In the case of switched networks, the bandwidth dedicated to flows of data, voice, video, and audio can be changed as needed. For example, video may require a temporary widening that limits data and audio flows. (See also Bandwidth, Information highway, and Video server)

Synchronous= A method of communication using a time interval to distinguish between transmitted blocks of data.

Synchronous connection= An analog to analog or digital to digital connection that is able to perform two or more processes at the same time by means of a mutual timing signal or clock.

Syntax= The rules of construction and terminology of a computer programming language. These rules are analogous to rules of spelling and grammar in a language, except that syntax rules are usually less forgiving. We can read a thousand-page book that has one error in spelling or grammar. Such is not the case with a computer program because it will not usually run if there is a syntax error.

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T-Terms
Click on a term or phrase below:
Tags / Taligent / TCP/IP / TDMA / Teleconference / Telematics / Telephony Television / Telnet / TENet / Text conversion / Text reading / Text recognition / Texture / Three-beam projector / THX / tif / TIFF / Tiger Video Server / Time line / Timeline presentation / Titles / Token / ToolBook / Topology / Touchscreen / Track-at-once recording / Training / Transaction Control / Trap Door / Trojan Horse / Trumpet Winsock / Trustee rights / TULIP

Click here to view (in a new window) Bob Jensen's Listing of Other Technology and Networking Glossaries



Tags= These are formatting codes used in HTML documents. Tags indicate how parts of a document will appear when displayed by browsing software.

Taligent= A former software development venture initially commenced by Apple and IBM corporations. In 1994, Hewlett-Packard announced it would take 15% in Taligent and provide technical support. Taligent's primary mission is to develop cross-platform object-oriented operating systems and applications software, the first release of which will be in 1995 for IBM's Unix-based system called AIX. Versions for OS/2, PowerOpen, and Hewett-Packards HP-UX systems will follow. The future of Taligent along with a similar joint venture at Kaleida Labs is somewhat uncertain due to changing times and top management strategies in IBM and Apple according to Information Week, May 23, 1994. Key features of the Taligent applications operating system and the "People, Places, and Things" user interface are discussed in Panettieri (1994b). The key feature is the object-oriented design that will greatly reduce the time and effort needed by software developers who can make use of chunks of pre-written code.

In in 1996, Taligent seemed beaten up and dead in the water until IBM decided to put an enoromous investment into Java support. In 1997, Taligent became the industry leader in Java development. (See also Java, Kaleida and Pink)

TCP/IP= Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol is an internet transmission protocol that is extremely popular on the Internet. This is a standard for routing and data transfer around the world. It has become even more important in the rising tide of intranets. A good beginner's guide is provided in PC Magazine, November 19, 1996, pp. 223-224. (See also CORBA, Internet, and Intranet.)

TDMA = (Wireless Glossary of Terms)

Teleconference= A telephone communication in which more than two people are simultaneously connected so they can exchange verbal comments as if they were in the same room having a face-to-face conference. A teleconference need not have visual communications in addition to audio communications, but modern technology now makes it possible to see conference members on monitor screens or television screens. (See also IRC and Videoconferencing)

Telematics = the combination of computers in concert with telecommunications systems. This includes dial-up service to the Internet as well as all types of networks that rely on a telecommunications system to transport data.

Telephony = real time telephone conversation across a network, especially networks on the Internet. See Chat Lines and IRC.

Television= (See Video)

Telnet= The Internet standard protocol for remote login service that allows users on the Internet to access programs and applications on computers in remote locations. Telnet allows a user at one site to interact with a remote timesharing system at another site as if the user's terminal were connected directly to the remote computer. When using the Internet, type "Telnet" followed by a space and the address of the computer for remote login. Note that the Telnet protocol should not be confused with the Telnet public data network. (See also Protocol and Remote login)

TENet= Texas Education Network education Internet computer network connecting 15,000 school teachers and administrators in Texas. On the Internet, people from around the world can communicate with educators and access educational resources such as an online encyclopedia, the Educational Resources Information Center Documents Database (ERIC), lesson plans, study guides, current events, etc. (See also Internet)

Text conversion= (See OCR)

Text reading = The conversion of computer text into audio sounds. The flip side of "speech recognition" is "text reading" conversion of written text into audio. The pioneer in this technology is Bell Labs athttp://www.islip.com/. That Bell Labs web site has some wonderful demonstrations of this technology. Apple Computer has a text manager in its AV models. Options such as Text Assist from Creative Labs (800-998-1000) and related hardware/software from sound board vendors are available for PCs. (See also Speech recognition)

iSpeak Personal Text Reader and MP3 Recorder --- http://www.computertimes.com/oct01edchoiceispeak.htm
(So simple that it does not even have a manual and the current price should be under $50.

iSpeak Personal Text Reader, from Fonix, reads text with a natural, human sounding voice using inflection, intonation, and pauses, to facilitate listening comprehension. This is not only a useful product, it is also a lot of fun. It injects “personality” into your PC with voices that let you control speed, pitch, and volume.

iSpeak allows you to quickly and easily transform text into clear, natural sounding audio files. With just a few clicks, you can conveniently scan e-mail, review Websites and listen to lengthy documents - all while working on other tasks, like browsing the Web, cooking dinner or writing a letter. You can even save text files as portable MP3s and then listen to them on a plane, in the car or anywhere else you want to be.

iSpeak is also ideal for those who are learning English as a second language or for children who are just learning to read. Simply highlight the desired text and then hit play to hear how it’s read, or set iSpeak to pronounce specific words as they’re typed in. The uses for iSpeak are many.

ISpeak is a powerful and flexible personal text reader. iSpeak can speak with a high-quality, human-sounding voice and voice lists of text files, text you enter from the keyboard, and the contents of the clipboard. With iSpeak, you can record synthesized speech to MP3 (.mp3) or Wave (.wav) files. You can also listen to and record Microsoft Outlook 2000 email with the click of a button.

Computer requirements for iSpeak?

Pentium computer (minimum 100MHz processor)
35 MB available disk space for Compact installation or 288 MB for Typical installation
32 MB RAM
CD-ROM drive
A Sound Blaster 16 or compatible sound card
Microsoft Windows 95/98/2000, ME, or Microsoft NT 4.0
What type of files will iSpeak read?

iSpeak will only read text files. A text file is a text-only file, which does not include formatting or graphics. Text files end with the extension .txt. To create a text file from text in an existing document, simply copy the text and paste it into Notepad, then save the new file. iSpeak will not play Word files (.doc).

Will iSpeak create and play audio files?

iSpeak can play a text file and record the synthesized speech to an MP3 (.mp3) or Wave (.wav) file. You can choose to record synthesized speech as a single audio file or as several audio files. However, iSpeak will only play text files. To play the audio files you have created, you must have an application that plays audio files.

Will iSpeak read email?

Fonix iSpeak 2.0 supports Microsoft Outlook® 2000. This does not include Microsoft Outlook Express® or any other e-mail application. During the iSpeak installation, an iSpeak menu will be automatically added to your Outlook menu bar. You can select the e-mail messages that you want iSpeak to read, play the contents of the inbox or a selected folder, and specify which e-mail messages iSpeak should read.

Will iSpeak read content from the World Wide Web?

iSpeak will read text from any web page. Simply copy the text, then click the Play button on the iSpeak interface. Alternatively, you can create a text file by pasting the text into Notepad, then save the new file.

What are the iSpeak modes?

The functionality of iSpeak is organized into two modes: Playlist and Keyboard. In Playlist mode, iSpeak will read text files that you organize into playlists, or lists of files. In Keyboard mode, iSpeak will voice individual keys, individual words, entire sentences, or combinations of all three.

What are iSpeak skins?

You can select between multiple skins to change the appearance of the iSpeak interface. Each skin provides the same functionality, but displays the interface elements differently.

You can download different skins from the Internet.

What are some common uses of the iSpeak product?

Save files or e-mail to listen to while you commute.
Get a feel for how a presentation or speech will sound.
Edit documents for school or work (you'll hear spelling or grammar errors your eyes don't see).
Save the synthesis of articles and online courses and textbooks to audio files for convenience.
Save stories to be read aloud to children as they follow along.
Use it to help teach English as a Second Language courses.
Use it to read your love notes to your significant other.
.System Requirements

- Pentium computer (minimum 100 MHz processor)
- Microsoft Windows 95,98,2000,NT,ME
- Hard disk with a minimum of 35 MB of free drive space
- 35 MB RAM for Compact installation or 288 MB RAM for Typical installation
- CD-ROM drive
- A Sound Blaster 16 or compatible sound card

Barry Rice forwarded the following message in January 1998:

Dear Mr. Rice: Thank you for your interest in the Lucent Technologies TTS system. The Windows 95/NT version of our multilingual TTS will be available for beta test in September, although the beta program is full at this time. General availability is scheduled for November. The full Software Development Kit, containing SAPI-compliant engines for both ASR and TTS, will be in the $500 range. Specific information on this product will be given on the Bell Labs web site shortly prior to general availability, so check our site again at that time. John Holmgren Business Development Manager Lucent Technologies Phone: 908 949-8864 Email: jholmgren@lucent.com

From Syllabus News on September 11, 2001

Convert Print to Spoken Words

The recently released Scan and Read family of software scans any printed material and converts it to spoken words, delivered in a variety of voices through the computer's speaker. The software also displays the text on the screen and highlights each word as it's read, a helpful feature for readers of all ages, those with learning disabilities, and non-English speakers looking for a way to increase their vocabularies. The more advanced members of the software family include word processing capability; the ability to access Microsoft Word files and convert them to spoken words; automatic image rotation, which allows software to convert text regardless of how it's positioned on the scanner bed; and the ability to create MP3 files, which can then be downloaded to other devices.

For more information, visit http://www.premier-programming.com.

Dismuke's Virtual Talking Machine (Music, Speech, Recording, History) http://www.dismuke.org/

This is fascinating with all sorts of implications for research and future communication!

"Animated face helps deaf with phone chat," by Will Knight, NewScientist.com, August 4, 2004 --- http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996228

Software that creates an animated face to match someone talking on the other end of a phone line can help people with hearing difficulties converse, suggests a new study.

The animated face provides a realistic impersonation of a person speaking, enabling lip-readers to follow the conversation visually as well as audibly.

The prototype system, called Synface, helped 84 percent of participants to recognise words and chat normally over the telephone in recently completed trials by the UK's Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID).

The RNID trials involved hard-of-hearing volunteers trying to decipher preset sentences and also taking part in real conversations.

Synface takes around 200 milliseconds - one fifth of a second - to generate the animated annunciations. But the system incorporates a fractional delay, so that the face is perfectly synchronised with the voice on the end of the line.

Regional dialects

Synface runs on an ordinary laptop and can be connected to any type of phone, including a cell phone. It uses a neural network to match voice to mouth movements. This mimics the way neurons operate inside the brain and can be trained to recognise patterns.

The neural network used by Synface identifies particular sounds, or "phonemes", rather than entire words. This has been shown to be a particularly fast way of matching words to animation. By concentrating on sounds the system can also represent words that it has not encountered previously.

The technology is not meant to assist people who are profoundly deaf, but rather those who have some hearing difficulties. Around one in seven people in western countries fall into this category. So far, Synface has been trained to work in English, Swedish and Dutch. It could also be fine-tuned to recognise different regional dialects.

"The accuracy still needs to be improved," admits Neil Thomas, head of product development at the RNID. But he says it could eventually make life easier for many people who have trouble hearing.

"There are a lot of people who struggle with using the telephone," Thomas told New Scientist. "It really gives them an added level of confidence."

The system was developed by researchers at Royal Institute of Technology, in Stockholm, Sweden, University College London, UK as well as Dutch software company Viataal and Belgian voice analysis firm Babletech.

Bob Jensen's threads on multivariate faces are at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/000aaa/newfaculty.htm#faces



See also speech recognition and www.bevocal.com

Text recognition= (See Text reading)

Texture= Texturing effects in graphics images and multimedia backgrounds. Comparisons of software options for "tantalizing textures" are compared in NewMedia, November 1994, p. 104.

Three-beam projector= A computer/video projector having three color beams (guns) to project computer and/or video images on the wall or large screens. These are generally the top of the line in terms of projection quality and lowest in line in terms of portability. Most of these have scan converters to convert computer RGB into NTSC images. Early models could only scan CGA images from PC computers. Modern versions can scan almost any type of computer display, although they may require skilled technicians to adjust the display whenever a computer is first connected to the projector. These projectors are very popular as ceiling mounts in electronic classrooms. (See also Projection, LCD, and Graphics adapter)

THX= (See Dolby-NR)

tif= (See TIFF)

TIFF= Tagged Image File Format graphics file format popularized by Aldus PageMaker for recognizeing graphics from different types of software. TIFF graphics files typically have a tif extension. (See also Graphics)

Tiger Video Server= (See Video server)

Time line= A graphical representation of a span of time and the chronological relationship of events.

Timeline presentation= A "linear" presentation where the sequence on images or tasks is predetermined and cannot be interactively altered or modified by the user. This is just the opposite of "nonlinear" hypertext and hypermedia presentations where users interactively determine or partly determine the sequencing. (See also Hypertext and Hypermedia)

Titles= The vast array of CD-ROM, CD-I, CD-3DO, videodisc, videotape, and other "titles" of electronic books, electronic games, etc. available on the market. Many such titles of interest to accounting educators are listed in Appendix 1. Jerram (1994b) reports on the "explosion" of CD-ROM titles in general (e.g., electronic books and games) in 1993 and 1994. Weiner (1995) describes the activities of publishing companies to expand multimedia titles and related software. Weiner features efforts by Addison-Wesley Interactive. For reviews of CD-ROM titles on the market, we recommend CD-ROM Today (see Appendix 4). (See also Authoring, Games, and Hypermedia)

Token= The data packet used to carry information on LANs using the ring topology.

ToolBook= a Windows and Windows 2000 based authoring system for computer based training and education. The main competitor is Macromedia Authorware. ToolBook has full functionality with web delivery options of Neuron. For links to Asymetrix and applications on the web, see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/links/prelim.htm. (See Hypermedia, Hypertext, and Authoring)

Topology= The manner in which nodes are connected on a LAN.

Touchscreen = An overlay for a computer monitor screen that allows users to control navigation and other actions by touching the screen. Although widely used for children, touchscreens are also useful when customers enter reception areas and library users want to search holdings listings. A review of options is provided in the NewMedia 1995 Tool Guide (pp. 101-103).

Track-at-once recording= A mode that lets you record contents to a disk in multiple sessions, a track at a time. (See also Disk-at-once recording and CD-R)

Training= (See Authoring and Multimedia)

Transaction Control (See Concurrency Control)

Trap Door (See Security)

Trojan Horse (See Security)

Trumpet Winsock= A popular, cheerier TCP/IP protocol stack.

Trustee rights= Rights given to users to access directories on the file server.

TULIP= A program from Elsevier Science (212-633-3787) to license universities to receive technical journals in electronic form, including bibliographic information. To date, over 43 Elsevier and Pergamon journals are available at major universities such as The University of Michigan, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Georgia Tech, University of Tennessee, University of California, University of Washington, Virginia Tech, MIT, and others. This is probably the first major attempt by a publisher of science journals to depart from hard copy publishing in favor of electronic media. Major advantages to users include compactness for storage, rapid access and retrieval, keyword searching, and ability to add user annotations and updates.

posted by צביקה שורצמן @ 4:12 AM 68 comments

Technology Glossary T - Z

Terms

Ubiquitous Computing (Nanotechnology) --- http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ubiquit.htm

Ultimedia Video= Is IBM Corporation's OS/2 equivalent of Video for Windows. Ultimedia Video IN/2 is priced at under $200 and supports video capture and editing in IBM Ultimation and Indeo compression formats. It can deliver up to 30 fps at 320 by 240 window size if the user's hardware can handle the upper-end capabilities. (See also OS/2 and Video for Windows)

UML = Uniform Modeling Language

"UML Hits the Street," by Jack Vaughan, Application Development Trends, September 2001, pp. 18-23 --- http://www.adtmag.com/article.asp?id=4805

When people initially get down to work with the Unified Modeling Language (UML), it is typically the first time they take up the practice of use cases. These are an important element of UML, intended to help gather functional requirements, as well as to provide a means of communication among development team members.

But use cases are not without controversy. And for long-time industry observers, the controversy may be somewhat familiar.

Many of the brickbats loosed years ago upon Case tools and structural analysis are now aimed at UML and use cases. Use cases lead to "analysis paralysis." Use cases are "shelfware." These are just some of the criticisms unloaded by influential software consultants and authors, many of whom are counted among the ranks of eXtreme Programming (XP) advocates.

At times, the XP squad, although it includes a number of individuals who see some merit in use cases, seems to echo the arguments of Rapid Application Development (RAD) advocates of the client/server era. These earlier RAD advocates challenged development orthodoxy of the day, which centered on "waterfall" processes. The RAD folk also took some arrows for creating a few allegedly non-scalable and non-repeatable systems.

On one level, the battle—and "battle" is probably too powerful a word—between UML and XP is new evidence of the timeless divide between designers who want just a little more time to do a little more analysis of system needs, and developers who just want to start coding.

This situation is natural. UML had something of a honeymoon. It arose in the late 1990s out of the combined efforts of notable software methodologists Grady Booch, James Rumbaugh and Ivar Jacobson, who came to work at Rational Software Corp. and who came to be known in a series of road shows as "The Three Amigos." The battle of the object methodologies was effectively ended as UML standardization responsibility was eventually ceded to the Object Management Group (OMG). Now, as UML is increasingly used, developers have had some mixed experiences, so there is a higher likelihood that UML will take a few shots.

While the recent UML World 2001 conference held in New York City featured sessions that considered new UML extensions and studied best practices in UML use case gathering, the conference was just as notable for a use case panel at which UML and XP proponents traded verbal barbs.

In technology, such battles are common. But if you are getting ready to sit down to a slug fest between UML and XP, I'm sorry—this is not that article. Rather than focus on the guerre du jour, this effort will instead uncover some user experiences with use cases. This will hopefully provide a useful backdrop for development managers trying to visualize their next steps in design and development.

Unencod/undecode = (See Internet Messaging).

Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) = (See RDF.)

Uninterruptible power supply= A device that keeps computers running after a power failure, providing power from batteries for a short period of time.

Unix= An operating system developed by Bell Laboratories for use on large workstations. Latest information on Copeland and other operating systems can be obtained at . Details are provided in Information Week, April 29, 1996, p. 15. Unix became one of the main operating systems for networked computers. It is especially suited for networks and is commonly used for Internet networks. The Unix System V Release 4 based operating system is called Sun's Solaris that runs off Sun Workstations and the PowerPC. IBM's Unix-based operating system is called the AIX, and the Hewlett-Packard version is called HP/UX. A discussion of whether Unix should become more of a part of operating systems in accounting practices is provided by Courtney and Hunton (1993). Since the advent of Windows 2000, much of this argument becomes muted. (See also AU, SCO Open Desktop, Networks, and Operating system)

News from Microsoft --- http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/migrate/unix/default.asp

As the Windows platform continues to evolve to address changing business computing needs, many organizations currently on UNIX platforms are turning to Windows to run their new client and server business applications. They're discovering that moving to the Windows platform does not require abandoning existing investments in UNIX applications and infrastructure.

This section explains why customers should consider migrating to Windows from UNIX. It also provides detailed information for IT professionals and developers on how to move from UNIX systems to Windows XP, Windows 2000, and the upcoming Windows .NET Server and Microsoft .NET Web services platforms.

Why Migrate to Windows from UNIX and Linux
How to Migrate to Windows from UNIX and Linux
Migration Tools and Resources
Upgrade= (See Multimedia upgrade)

Urban Legend =

Urban legends are lies about what somebody said or wrote and are circulated wildly across the Web or some other network, including mouth-to-mouth dissemination. . The best way that I found to check on something before I forward it is to select an identifying phrase such as part of the title of a story. Then I go to http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en
I enter the selected phrase into the "exact phrase" box and then in the "all of the words" box above I enter the word "urban" and the word "legend" without quote marks. Then I hit the Google Search button.

There are hundreds of sites that explain and/or archive supposed urban legends, some of which are as follows:

A great article on how urban legends work ---
http://science.howstuffworks.com/urban-legend.htm

http://www.snopes.com

http://www.urbanlegends.com/

http://www.urbanlegends.com/

http://www.ulrc.com.au/
We should always check to see if something is an urban legend before we pass it along. However, once something is claimed to be an urban legend, there is a tendency to immediately conclude the claim that it is urban legend is a true claim.

What about claims that may be false? Is there any site devoted to setting the record straight about urban legends that are not urban legends?

Proving a legend to be true is often a scholarship question, such as when a writer claims that "X did not say yyyy." A scholar may then search among the archives of the world for proof that X really did say "yyyy." What is more difficult, however, is when claims cannot be researched in any archives. For example, one might claim that President Lincoln had an affair during his presidency. To my knowledge, there is no archived record of such a claim. And people who might know first hand are no longer living. All we can do is criticize all unsupported claims for not being supported by any credible evidence.

After my Google search finds a site that boldly asserts that something is an urban legend, like most people I immediately concluded that it is an urban legend. Proving it to be otherwise may be impossible or impractical relative to the time and money available to prove it otherwise.

What about claims that may be false? Is there any site devoted to setting the record straight about urban legends that are not urban legends?

Urban legends have urban legends about urban legends that claim not to be urban legends but really are urban legends that may in fact not be urban legends and so on infinitum. Some are blatantly false from the beginning; others are embellished over time. One definition is as follows from http://support.airmail.net/faq/glossary_mz.php

Urban legend - A story, which may have started with a grain of truth, that has been embroidered and retold until it has passed into the realm of myth. Some legends that periodically make their rounds include "The Infamous Modem Tax," "Craig Shergold/Brain Tumor/Get Well Cards," and "The $250 Cookie Recipe."

One thing not to be believed is the typical claim that "This is not an urban legend." That's generally a signal that what follows is all or mostly bull.

One thing I do know! When one urban legend site claims something is an urban legend, the other urban legend sites follow the leader blindly like lemmings. Is there any site devoted to false claims about urban legends?

Bob Jensen

February 27, 2004 reply from David R. Fordham [fordhadr@JMU.EDU]

Bob, one of the modules in my AIS class is devoted to what I call “identification of trustworthy sources”.

While not a foolproof methodology, it is better than the “no methodology at all” approach used by the general population.

In a nutshell: use your own experience (supplemented by the experience of actual acquaintances whom you trust based on your own experience with them) to accumulate a repertoire (or harem, or collection, or …) of websites run by organizations which you trust to tell you the truth. Examples from my own collection include snopes, Symantec, McAfee, DataFellows, etc. I then rely on these “trustworthy” sites to tell me what is “the truth” vs. what is fiction.

Google searches return everything, and it is very easy to Spoof a legitimate site, even to Google. My experience has been thus: when someone tells me of a strange story, I check it out with one of my “trustworthy” sites, and 999 times out of 1000, I am surprised to learn that the trustworthy site not only tells me the story is a hoax, but that the hoax has been around since 1998, where it originated, why it is still circulating (e.g., the grains of truth which tend to bring the story to present consciousness, etc.), and other information which I didn’t know. Further, these sites often are “up to the minute” on new stuff, too.

There is no substitute for determining “who ya gonna call?”

I really like that quote, although I don’t know who to attribute it to: “The trouble with keeping an open mind is that people are always dropping their garbage in it.” Perhaps this was Pogo, too?

David R. Fordham
PBGH Faculty Fellow
James Madison University



URL= This is the abbreviation for Uniform Resource Locator, the addressing system used in the World Wide Web and other Internet resources. The URL contains information about the method of access, the server to be accessed and the path of any file to be accessed.

USB = (See Bus.)

USENet or Usenet= USEr's Network of machines that exchange information tagged with labels called "newsgroups" which are transmitted between individuals at universities, secondary schools, government agencies, home computers, etc. Databases are available on many topics, from foreign hotels to kite flying. USENet traffic can be carried on the Internet, but is not restricted to the Internet. Internet users can exchange papers and lengthy data files. Anyone putting up a USENet newsgroup will discover that it is somewhat tedious.

Probably the least understood and least used resources on the Internet is Usenet (as opposed to the popular www). A nice article appears in "A Network for the World" by Richard Koreto in the Journal of Accountancy, August 1998, 33-35.

There are a variety of search engines that specialize in newsgroup searching, but few offer original content - most pull information from the DejaNews index. Tile.net at http://www.tile.net , however, provides special functions you won’t find in standard search engines and that can prove very useful in resear ching newsgroup information. Tile.net is a Web site designed to make USENET newsgroups easy to find. Tile.net’s advantage over other newsgroup indexes is that it helps you search for newsgroups rather than individual messages. Tile.net also provides statistics and other information about newsgroups and provides a link directly to each newsgroup, which will launch your Web browser newsreaders. Newsgroups in Tile.net are organized by index, description, and newsgroup hierarchy. Tile.net also provides information about listservs, FTP sites, and computer product vendors.

One of the more frequently posted questions is "How can I create a new newsgroup?" Briefly, creating a new newsgroup in the comp, humanities, misc, news, rec, sci, soc or talk hierarchies involves first proposing the newsgroup in news.announce.newgroups, then conducting a "vote" among those Usenet readers who have an opinion on the proposed group. The entire process can take up to three months. For additional details see http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/8211/newgroup.html See Chat Lines and IRC.

User= Under NetWare, the definition of a set of access rights for an individual.

User app= (See Plug-in)

UUCP= Unix-to-Unix Copy Protocol that can be used for transferring files between Unix computers on network. (See also FTP)

Return to Top of Document


V-Terms

VAP= A Value-Added Process to the NetWare operation system provided by a third party vendor.

Variable= A named container that holds values, either numeric or text.

VB = (See Visual Basic.)

VBE/AI= (See Sound board)

VBX = (See Visual Basic and CORBA )

V-CD= (See CD-Karaoke)

VCR= A videotape player designed to connect to television sets or computer video capture boards. Videotapes are recorded in video format (e.g., NTSC or PAL) in half, three quarter, or one inch formats. The most common tape is the half-inch VHS tape, but for professional video materials and videodisc mastering one-inch tape is preferred. (See also VHS, Video, and Videodisc)

Veronica= This is a search utility that helps find information on gopher servers. Veronica allows users to enter keywords to locate the gopher site holding the desired information. The name is an acronym for "very easy rodent oriented net-wide index of computerized archives."

VESA= Video Electronics Standards Association that set such standards as the 1992 VL-Bus standards for local buses. A highly critical discussion of the VESA/BIOS Extension/Audio Interfase (VBE/A1) that is not backwards compatible with the Sound Blaster standard appears in New Media, June 1994, p. 18. (See also Sound board, Bus, ISO 9000, and VL-Bus)

VESA/BIOS= (See VESA)

VGA= (See Graphics adapter)

VHS= Videotape having 240-325 lines of horizontal resolution. Super VHS (S-VHS) and videodiscs contain up to 425 lines of resolution. S-VHS tape decks can also play VHS formats. (See also Video)

Video= A term that was once used to refer almost exclusively to analog recordings of images on tape that can be replayed at 30 or more frames per second (fps) depicting "full motion video." Since the age of digitization, the term now refers to analog or digital recordings (e.g., digitized video in computer files and HDTV) that can be replayed at 30 fps or a reasonably close approximation of full motion video. The term differs somewhat from "animation" in that animations are successions of still frames not necessarily intended to be "full-motion" at speeds comparable to video full motion. The highest quality video connectors are termed S-video connectors, whereas the lowest quality connector is the RF connector. Because of the tremendous bandwidth required for network transmission of video between computers, it is not yet common to watch a movie on the Internet. The wave of the future isMPEG compression. However, until there are millions of computer users with enough computer hardware capacity to run MPEG digitized video, Microsoft Video for Windows and Apple QuickTime will probably remain more common in CD-ROM authoring of education materials. Video options for the PC with particular stress upon Intel's Indeo Video amd Smart Video Recorder are analyzed by Liebman (1994). (See also Internet audio and video, Active video, Video server, HDTV, IDTV, PIP, POP, Videodisc-digital, Apple AV, Amiga, Ultimedia Video, Video for Windows, fps, MPEG, VHS, NTSC, PAL, and SECAM





Video adapter= The video hardware that determines the resolution and color depth of screen images. A k-bit adapter can display 2 to the kth power colors. For example, an 8-bit adapter displays up to 256 colors whereas a 24-bit adapter can display over 16 millions colors in a single screen. In hypermedia authoring, problems are created when the color depth of the authored image is higher than the color depth of the user (customer, student, reader) computer. Mac and PowerPC computers will usually dither to make the image reasonably good for users, whereas PC users may have terrible images if their video adapters are too low in color depth. The same thing can happen if the user's PC screen resolution adapter is lower than the authored PC screen. These are terribly frustrating problems for authors and users. For this reason, most of the commercial PC graphics and video CD-ROM files are authored for lower video adapters than the author's video adapter. For example, the author may be capable of presenting a graphics image in 30 million colors in a resolution of 1024 by 768. The author may elect, however, to only use no more than 256 colors in standard VGA resolution in order to have better images on user computers with lower powered video adapters.

Video board= A somewhat misleading term that can apply to video capture and/or video playback hardware inside a computer. Video can be played back on computers without having video capture hardware. This enables CD-ROM users to view video and animations without having to install MPC or other standard video capture boards. However, if video capture boards are installed, users can also connect their computers to video sources (video recorders, video cameras, and television signals) in order to either view incoming video "on the fly" and/or capture segments of the video into digitized formats such as quicktime, avi, MPEG, or JPEG video formats. . Video board options for PCs are compared in NewMedia 1996 Tool Guide. In particular, Windows users should not purchase or install a video capture board before reading Doyle (1994b). He provides excellent advice on things to do before installing a Windows video board along with comparisons of alternative hardware options. Price is not currently a good indicator of quality and features. He also provides important advice for capturing and storing video files. For example, video files should not be saved using disk compression utilities like Doublespace or Stacker. For capturing and playback of digitized video into and out of computer files, a full-motion video frame grabber (digitizer) of some type allows authors to capture selected full-motion video (camcorder, videotape, videodisc, cable TV, satellite dish, etc.) images and convert those analog frames into digital graphics files on the computer. Video boards (cards) and frame grabbers start at around $200, but prices vary a great deal with vendors and options, including options under Microsoft Windows Video MCI standards, Apple QuickTime standards, IBM M-Motion (MM) standards, MPEG standards, and Intel Indeo standards. Virtually every major computer brand on the market has multiple options for video (multimedia) devices. Many of those devices also have accompanying frame grabber software. For example, readers may consider Pioneer's LaserActive system (213-746-6337). Compression boards for PCs come in a variety of prices and features. MPEG compression requires MPEG playback boards and/or MPEG authoring boards such as the Optibase MPG-1000 digital video code compression/decompression) board (800-451-5101).. Other alternatives such as XingIt from Xing Technology (800-294-6448) for video capturing software on ReelMagic MPEG playback hardware from Sigma designs (800-845-8086) are listed in Appendix 6. MPEG encoding compression boards are now available for under $1,000. Most computer vendors are now offering MPEG playback (decoding) options, but these differ from recording (encoding) options. However, until there are millions of computer users with newer computer hardware capacity to run MPEG digitized video, Microsoft Video for Windows under MCI standards and Apple QuickTime will probably remain more common in CD-ROM authoring of education materials until the market sorts out its preferences for MPEG, DVI, and the Intel Indeo. The term "video overlay" is used to depict a video board option to view live video "on the fly" in a monitor screen without burdening the CPU until the user elects to capture video. Not all video cards have video overlay options. (See also Active video, QuickTime, and Video capture)

Video camera = A camcorder camera that records full-motion images and audio directly to videotape. Video cameras exist for filming tapes of varying widths. Usually the wider the tape (e.g. one inch versus half inch), the better the picture quality. However, other factors such as High 8 versus Regular 8 come into play. High 8 cameras are especially popular among hand-held cameras, because of the professional quality for the size and price of the camera. Users who, for example, purchase an 8 mm video camera can play the tape into a videotape recorder and record VHS tapes or videotapes of other widths. (See also Hi-8, VHS, and Dry camera)

Video camera= A camera that captures video to tape or tape cassettes. These are typically called camcorders with popular models being analog camcorders in Regular8 or Hi8 quality. (See also Dry camera and Video from digital (DV) camcorders)

Video camera still= (See Dry camera)

Video capture= a process of transforming a video (e.g., NTSC) image into a computer (digitized) image. Video capturing options are reviewed in New Media, March 24, 1997, pp. 58-70. The process entails adding hardware and software designed to transform an analog (TV) image, say from a videotape, into a digital computer image. Usually a video capture board must be installed that is compatible with the bus of the computer. For example, a PC generally has an ISA, EISA, or MCA bus that in turn requires a compatible video capture board inside the computer. Video boards also enable computer users to view videotape or television images "on-the-fly" without necessarily capturing the images into computer files. Video capture boards vary greatly in price and quality. What is best for a given computer depends a great deal upon the amount of RAM, video RAM, graphics adapter, screen resolution, color depth, and speed of the computer. More recent comparisons are provided by Doyle (1994a) and (1994b). In particular, Windows users should not purchase or install a video capture board before reading Doyle (1994b). He provides excellent advice on things to do before installing a Windows video board along with comparisons of alternative hardware options. Price is not currently a good indicator of quality and features. (See also Video board, Active video, and QuickTime)

Video card= (See Video board)

Video digital (DV) camcorders= (See Video from digital (DV) camcorders)

Video/audio networking (streaming) = refers to audio and video on network that commences to play before files are fully downloaded. The terms "real" and "streaming" are synomyms in terms of network video and audio. For example, see http://www.tvontheweb.com/ and http://www.intrastream.com/ for an examples of streaming video players. An example of a daily news application is the Nightly Business Report delivered over real video at http://www.nightlybusiness.org/. Examples of real audio are provided at http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/bookbob.htm#Real1 For more detail see Web streaming.

Videoconferencing= Remote communication in which two-way video images are transmitted with audio. Although this can be accomplished with video cameras on special telephone connections, it is now possible to become much more sophisticated with videoconferencing using computers. A review of available systems is provided by Sherman (1995). Many colleges have videoconferencing systems in place (e.g., see T H E. Technology Horizons in Education, September 1993, pp. 38-40). Purportedly, the highest proportion of videoconferencing worldwide is for education and training. A review of videoconferencing options for the Internet is provided in New Media, March 24, 1997. (See also IRC, Internet phones and videoconferencing, Teleconference, and DSS)

Videodisc= An antiquated "large" (more than 12 cm or 4.72 inches) injection-molded optical disc containing digitized information that has been recorded with a laser device and must be read on a laser device known as a videodisc player. See CD-DVD for a discussion of why videodisc technology is in the sunset of its use in the world. The most common sizes are eight and 12-inch discs. A 12-inch disc will hold 54,000 video frames of super VHS quality. Full-length movies usually require more than one disc since only 30 minutes of video with audio can be stored on each side of a 12-inch CAV disc. A CLV disc can hold up to 60 minutes per side of a 12-inch disc. CLV holds more video but is more limited than CAV in terms of searching for individual frames. Two audio tracks can accompany a video track, thereby enabling educational audio to accompany entertainment audio. Although a videodisc resembles a CD-ROM in appearance, there are major differences. Relative to a CD-ROM disc, the laser disc is "large" in varying sizes of eight or more inches. Whereas a CD-ROM player can hold computer files and computer graphics images in common file extensions (e.g., GIF, BMP, PCX, TIF, JPG, etc.) and can be treated as a computer storage disc somewhat analogous to a high-capacity floppy disc, a videodisc cannot hold computer files. Videodiscs are more like videotape in that they are recorded in video formats such as NTSC or PAL or SECAM. Videodisc players are generally connected to television sets and will play on-the-fly in a computer only if that computer has a video board for any video source such as television inputs and VCR inputs. Videodisc and videotape images can be "captured" and transformed into computer files only if the computer has video capture hardware and software. Videodiscs are currently used in some multimedia presentations but their future in hypermedia is uncertain. Videodisc players cannot be made portable as CD-ROM players. Recently options became available for desktop recording of videodiscs. For example, Panasonic (201-348-7837) offers the LQ-3031T model starting at $12,500. However, most videodiscs mastered in professional labs require inputs of professional-quality videotape (usually one-inch videotape) produced in a video workstation. A second drawback of videodiscs is that, unlike CD-ROM discs, videodiscs cannot be previewed prior to being mastered. There are two types of videodiscs known as CAV and CLV. The most common entertainment and educational videodiscs are CLV discs. There are currently four levels of interactivity for videodisc players. Level "one" is controlled with an inferred or wired remote control or bar code reader. Level "two" players have programmable memory. Level "three" is controlled by an external computer which greatly improves interactive controls with hypermedia software. Level "four" is a high speed computer interface videodisc player that accesses each side of the videodisc. Level four is more useful for using a videodisc as an external storage device for computer data. For a short discussion of levels of interactivity see Lynch (1994), p. 19. Sources of educational videodiscs are given in Appendix 6. Applications in accounting education and training are listed in Appendix 1. Alternative videodisc players are discussed by Waring (1994a). Most hypermedia authoring software packages allow for interactive random access of videodiscs. NeXt users can control videodiscs from the Xanthus Craftman. One of the best buys for less than $1,000 is the MDP-1700R Multi Disc Player from Sony that plays different size discs and has an auto reverse feature that allows viewing and searching on both sides of the disc without having to turn the disc over in the playback machine. Videodiscs are likely to be overtaken by CD-DVD discs that will hold both video and data files. (See also CD-DVD, Bar codes, CAV, CLV, Delta Project, Videodisc-digital, CD, Titles, and CD-I)

Videodisc levels= (See Videodisc)

Videodisc-digital= A videodisc in digital format. For example, the DDV-7100 8-bit, 4.5 MHz bandwidth model was unveiled in October 1993 by Optical Disc Corporation (800-350-3500). The DDV-7100 will hold four hours of compressed digital video on one side of a 12-inch videodisc. Later systems will hold up to 10 gigabytes of data or one hour of HDTV. This technology is intended for interactive television of the future and for satellite uplinks and mass storage video servers. Playback units start at under $5,000 but recording units are likely to be found only in professional videodisc recording and reproduction laboratories since the disc recorder sells for almost $100,000 and requires other workstation hardware and software. This technology will probably be overtaken by newer CD-DVD technology. (See also CD-DVD)

Video Editing (Digital)

"Digital Video Editing" by Reno Marioni, Webmonkey, April 24, 2002 --- http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/02/15/index4a.html

In the pages that follow, I'll be taking a look at the basics of digital video editing and production using Apple's iMovie and Final Cut Pro 3, both of which run on the Macintosh (under either OS 9 or OS X).

iMovie is a free digital video editing program that comes bundled with every new Apple computer. It’s geared towards the novice, so it's incredibly intuitive and easy to learn. Final Cut Pro 3 is a more complex and professional level program with lots of features and a price tag of US$999. That may seem like a lot of cash, but it’s spare change compared to the costs of traditional video editing.

So the time has come for mere mortals — even poor, starving artists — to produce fine-tuned documentaries, commercials, music videos, and other works of video artistic expression. It just takes equal parts desire, dedication, and creative talent.

Continued at http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/02/15/index4a.html

Video for Windows= Animation and video files that originally were developed by Microsoft Corporation for PCs running under Windows. This has become a widely popular option for PCs operating under MCI standards. Like QuickTime, Video for Windows is a low cost and low fps option that will be common in CD-ROM authoring of education materials until MPEG compression options and video networking become more widespread. Although Microsoft's Video for Windows and Apple's QuickTime captured early market share leads in digital video, newer and better compression alternatives such as Indeo and MPEG probably will take over this market. (See also DVI, QuickTime, Indeo, MPEG, Video, AVI, MCI, and Ultimedia Video)

Video from digital (DV) camcorders= Camcorders that capture video directly into digital formats that offer many advantages for multimedia computer files. The captured video can be copied indefinitely with higher resolution, digitized audio, and no loss of frames. The mini-DV cassettes are smaller and have at least double the capacity of the Regular 8 and Hi8 analog cassettes. Vendors and products are reviewed by Doyle (1996). (See also Dry camera)

Video on the Internet= (See Internet audio and video)

Video overlay= (See Video capture)

Video scan conversion= (See Scan converter)

Video server= The combination of hardware and software that allows for storage and transmission of continuous animation and video in real time. The core of a video server is a continuous media operating system that allows animation, audio, and real-time video to be processed and transmitted across networks or over digital television satellites. Major players are rushing to develop video servers, including the over $100 million dollar per year effort by the Advanced Technology Group (ATG) and Microsoft Corporation to develop the Tiger video server as part of the overall information highway architecture development code named Mimosa by Microsoft managers. For a review see Soat (1994). Microsoft's Tiger Video Server competes head on with rival video servers from IBM, Digital Equipment, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, Silicon Graphics Corporation, and others. What is unique about Tiger is that it can save about 90% on costs and can network the video directly into PC computers. For comparisons of video servers, see The Wall Street Journal, February 18, 1994, p. B1. (Also see Switched network and Set-top box)

Islip Media Inc. in Pittsburgh offers a speech recognition search engine for video libraries. It is costly, howver, at $50,000 for a 50 user license. The Islip web site is at http://www.islip.com/

Video streaming= (See Web streaming)

Video toaster = (See Amiga)

Virtual = a seeming reality that lacks some elements of total reality. Since the early days of computing, simulation has become the most common form of achieving virtual worlds for learning and research. The term "virtual" is now loosely applied in many contexts. At one extreme it is applied to most anything connected with a computer or networks. For example, network chat lines may be viewed as "virtual communities." Interactive creation (by multiple persons) of artificial worlds (e.g., MUDs, MOOs, MUSHes, simulations, etc.) has become a major component in creating virtual communities. At the other extreme there is virtual reality in its most advanced stages with headgear, wired body suits, simulated odors, simulated tactle sensations, surrounding 3-D worlds, interactions of multiple people and machines in a shared cyberspace, etc. Entire courses are either using or devoting the course to "virtual communities." For example, students in a sociology course at Northern Arizona University create virtual communities in a simulation of the colonization of mars. A Harvard University course is entitiled "Virtual Communities" with a web site at http://icg.harvard.edu/~cscie10/course-intro.html. See CMC, The term "virtual community" has evolved to where it usually refers to "conversations" that are not face-to-face and are often anonymous to at least the point where speakers cannot be identified (although groups to which they belong might be known). The key element is anonymity. Corporate boards of directors and other groups often pay to rent "silent meeting rooms" that are available in some universities such as the University of Arizona, Syracuse University, the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee, and other campuses. In a "silent meeting," participants can be face-to-face and still communicate anonymously. This is because the "conversations" are taking place within the computers in front of all participants. When a participant makes a point, none of the other participants can detect which person in the room made the comment. See IRC, Simulation, USENet, MUDs, MOOs,and Virtual Realtiy.

Virtual Reality= Computer and video "VR" simulations that entail wearing headgear, electronic gloves, and possibly electronic body suits such that users are immersed in a cyberspace of simulated reality that gives the sensation of being in a three-dimensional world where objects can be moved about with hand movements and sensations of walking and touching are simulated using super computing power. The origins of virtual reality are in flight simulators of the military. There are now VR game arcades and laboratories where wide varieties of applications in entertainment, training, medical research, architectural design, data research, etc. are taking place. Virtual reality programs require massive computer power. Usually, the closer authors attempt to simulate the real world, the greater the computing power needed to achieve sensations of reality. Although most of virtual reality applications to date have been in training and entertainment, there are some applications in data analysis such as the use of VR to analyze international portfolio data in the TIAA/CREF Pension Funds. Winn (1994) contends VR will become a major part of university curricula. He cites evidence that VR is especially successful for learning in disadvantaged and physically handicapped students. In June 1994, Apple Corporation unveiled a new desktop computing software option (with a CD-ROM recorder) called QuickTime VR that takes a collection of photographs (e.g., photographs of numerous angles of the inside of a room) and assembles them into motion scenes that resemble more expensive virtual reality generated on super computers. Viacom Inc. sells a QuickTime VR entertainment CD-ROM called "Star Trek: The Next Generation Interactive Technical Manual" that provides VR tours of the Starship USS Enterprise. For a review of some initial applications of QuickTime VR in anatomy education see Carlton (1994b). (See also Simulation and VRML.)

Virtual-image file= A set of pointers to the files on your hard disk to be sent to the CD-R drive, rather than a duplicate physical-image of those files. Usually employed for on-the-fly recording. (See also CD-R)

Virtual Private Network (VPN) = (See intranet.)

Virus = See Security.

For more about virus risks and email attachment risks, see http://www.trinity.edu/rjensen/ecommerce/assurance.htm

More information can be found on the vendors' security pages:

Microsoft
http://www.microsoft.com/security/bulletins/
Netscape
http://www.netscape.com/products/security/
Qualcomm
http://eudora.qualcomm.com/security.html
Finally, don't forget that some documents do carry viruses. For example, Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint all support macro languages that have been used to write viruses. Naturally enough, if you use any of these programs and receive an e-mail message that contains one of these documents as an enclosure, your system may be infected when you open that enclosure. An up-to-date virus checking program will usually catch these viruses before they can attack. Some virus checkers that recognize macro viruses include:

McAfee VirusScan
http://www.mcafee.com/
Symantec AntiVirus
http://www.symantec.com/
Norton AntiVirus
http://www.symantec.com/
Virex
http://www.datawatch.com/virex.shtml
IBM AntiVirus
http://www.av.ibm.com/
Dr. Solomon's Anti-Virus
http://www.drsolomon.com/
Visual Basic (VB) = an extension of Microsoft Basic that allows for GUI controls, animations, and drag-and-drop features. Its main competitors are Borland's Delphi and Sun's Java. VB is used in many Microsoft products and in numerous applications by third parties. The main web site for Visual