PROJECT: My It Dictonary Blog.

UNIT 1

• App (application)
• A software program which allows a user to perform specific tasks such as word processing, email, accounting, database management "Examples of popular applications include Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, and Mozilla Firefox." 

• Component
• Any device internal to the computer, such as a primary hard disk drive or motherboard "A hardware geek is constantly upgrading components in his computer to achieve more performance." 

• Computer
• An electronic, digital device that stores and processes information "A computer needs to be replaced or upgraded regularly or it will become obsolete."

• Data
• Literally meaning 'that which is given', this term refers to raw information of any kind "The network administrator was fired when he lost all the company data by accidentally formatting the wrong hard disk drive array." 

• Data Base
• An organized, electronic collection of information optimized for fast access and typically consisting of rows, columns, indexes, and keys "The international company stored their customer information in a central database in Brussels."

• Hardware 
• Physical things that make up a computer, such as a component or a peripheral "Hardware today has become such a commodity that it's often more expensive to repair it than to replace it."

• Internet
• The largest known public network in the world, connecting millions of computers around the world "Some people refer to the Internet as an information superhighway." 

• Network
• A group of connected computers which share resources "The company network consisted of 3 servers, 95 workstations, and 10 printers."

• Peripheral 
• An external computer add-on, such as a printer or a scanner; also known as an 'accessory' "The woman hated the look of all the tangled wires behind her desk, which were caused by so many peripherals." 

• Software
• Any program designed to run on a computer "The geek purchased new software for his computer almost every weekend."

UNIT 2

• Abort 
• To end a program or a process before its completion "When the word processor application crashed, the user had to abort the program and lose all his unsaved changes."

• Bug 
• An error or glitch in a computer program caused by a programmer's mistake "An average developer will create one bug for every 10 lines of code written." 

• Closed source 
• Software in which the license stipulates that the user cannot see, edit, or manipulate the source code of a software program "I wanted to develop a new feature for the program, but I couldn't because it was closed source." 

• Compatible 
• Capable of being used without modification "The IBM 360 was the first commercially successful computer family with a wide range of compatible parts."

• Crash 
• A computer failure which aborts an application or freezes an operating system "The user was advised to reboot the computer after a serious crash in which the computer no longer responded." 

• End user 
• A person who uses a product or service on a computer "Developers must maintain a close relationship with end users if they want to have a successful career."

• Error 
• An incorrect action attributable to poor judgment, ignorance, or inattention "The computer reported a "division by zero" error and automatically aborted the program." 

• Execute 
• To start a program on a computer "The program was set to execute every night at midnight."

• Feature 
• Something a computer program is "supposed" to do; often a reason to buy or upgrade software "The man upgraded his copy of Word because of a new feature that allowed him to spell-check documents in Spanish."

• IDE (integrated development environment) 
• An application normally consisting of a source code editor, a compiler and/or interpreter, build-automation tools, and a debugger "The new employee asked his boss to buy him a license for his favorite IDE because there was none installed on his new company laptop." 

• Open Source 
• A program in which the code is distributed allowing programmers to alter and change the original software as much as they like "The article stated that many programmers prefer open source solutions because they can modify features and fix bugs without waiting for an upgrade or patch from the manufacturer." 

• Programmer 
• A person who writes or modifies software "The software company needed to hire three new programmers to help debug their flagship application."

• Proprietary
• Privately developed and owned technology "Because of proprietary code, you may not modify or redistribute the source code of Windows or Macintosh operating systems."

• Restriction 
• A rule or law which limits or controls access to something "The video website had content restrictions in place for users under the age of 18." 

• Usability 
• A measure of how easy or hard a program is to use "Back in the day, programmers or salespeople would often be responsible for the user experience, but now we assign that task to a properly trained UX designer."

UNIT 3

• CLI (command line interface) 
• A text-only link between a computer and its operator "The technician enjoyed administering the Unix server with the CLI tools." 

• Compression 
• A method of packing data in order to save disk storage space or download time "Zip and mp3 are examples of two common file compression algorithms." 

• Device driver
• Software which converts the data from a component or peripheral into data that an operating system can use"The IT support technician asked the end user if he had recently updated any device drivers." 

• File permissions 
• A set of strict rules for controlling read, write, and execute access to a file or directory "The company switched from FAT32 to NTFS file system because the former did not support file permissions."

• Format 
• Prepare a device to store data, erasing any existing data"One must format a flash memory drive or a hard disk drive before it can be used to store data."

• GUI (graphical user interface) 
• an icon based link between a computer and its operatorMost users prefer an icon-based GUI over a command line option."

• Hidden File
• A file which does not appear by default in a directory listing; normally for security reasons or to spare confusion in end users"The administrator was upset when the end user found a way to display and then delete several hidden files."

• Kernel 
• The fundamental part of an operating system responsible resource management and file access"The system administrator needed to upgrade the kernel in order to provide native support for Serial ATA drives."

• Linux 
• An open source version of Unix developed by Linus Torvalds"Linux was originally developed by Linus Torvalds, who wanted a free Unix-like operating system that ran on standard PC hardware."

• Multitasking 
• Concurrent execution of two or more tasks by a processor"UNIX is the original multitasking environment and was designed from the beginning to share resources over a network."

• OS (operating system) 
• A GUI or CLI software link between the computer and operator; also provides a framework for productivity software such as an office suite, web browser, or programming languages"The programmer tested his Java code on many operating systems including: Windows, Linux, and Macintosh."

• Sign in 
• To enter information related to an account name and its password in order to access a computer resource"The man could not sign in to his Windows computer because he forgot his username and password."

• Sign out 
• To end a session with computer or network resource"The server was set to automatically sign out users after 10 minutes of inactivity."

• VM (virtual machine) 
• A software program which mimics the performance of one or more hardware devices in order to run software independently of the actual hardware"In order to run Java programs in Windows one needs to download an appropriate virtual machine."

• X (X Window System) 
• A software toolkit for UNIX systems underlying numerous GUI window managers including KDE and Gnome"The man was surprised at how similar in functionality X was to Microsoft Windows."

 APPLICATION EXERCISES

• Complete the crossword with the units explained.

                                  

VERTICAL

1. A software program which allows a user to perform specific tasks such as word processing, email, accounting, database management.

3. Any device internal to the computer, such as a primary hard disk drive or motherboard,

5.  To end a program or a process before its completion.

7.  An error or glitch in a computer program caused by a programmer's mistake.
9.  Prepare a device to store data, erasing any existing data.
11. The fundamental part of an operating system responsible resource management and file access.
13. An organized, electronic collection of information optimized for fast access and typically consisting of rows, columns, indexes, and keys.

15. The largest known public network in the world, connecting millions of computers around the world.

17. Something a computer program is "supposed" to do; often a reason to buy or upgrade software.

19. An application normally consisting of a source code editor, a compiler and/or interpreter, build-automation tools, and a debugger.


HORIZONTAL

2. A method of packing data in order to save disk storage space or download time.
4. A file which does not appear by default in a directory listing; normally for security reasons or to spare confusion in end users.
6. An incorrect action attributable to poor judgment, ignorance, or inattention.
8. To start a program on a computer.
10. An electronic, digital device that stores and processes information.

12. Literally meaning 'that which is given', this term refers to raw information of any kind.

14. Software which converts the data from a component or peripheral into data that an operating system can use.

16. An open source version of Unix developed by Linus Torvalds.

18. A measure of how easy or hard a program is to use.

20. A group of connected computers which share resources.  

UNIT 4

                            

• Acronym:
• An abbreviation; a way of writing a longer string of words more

• Bit (binary digit)
• the smallest unit of storage; normally referred to as a '1' or '0'

• Byte (binary term)
• 8 bits

• Hz (Hertz)
• An internationally used frequency unit; equals one cycle per second "

• IPS (instructions por second)
• A very raw measurement of computer processor speed  

• K (kilo)
• One thousand

• M (mega)
• One million

•  µ (micro)
• One millionth

•  m (milli)
• A prefix meaning one thousand

• n (nano)
• One billionth

• T (tera)
• One trillion