A great deal of jargon is used when talking about computers, andit’s surprising how often these terms are used incorrectly. Evenpublished, successful novels sometimes do so. The following listprovides an explanation of some of the more common computing terms youmay come across or need to employ in your own writing.
Internet, World Wide Web
The Internet is the network of computers we’re all familiar with.It’s quite common for the terms “Internet” and “World Wide Web” to beused interchangeably, but these aren’t actually the same thing. TheInternet is essentially the wiring that allows computers all over theworld to communicate. The World Wide Web is a system that operates viathis wiring. Web pages are transmitted via Internet connections butthere is more to the Internet than just the web. Many other types ofdata travel across the Internet too, for example email.
Web Browser
A program you use to look at, and navigate between, pages on theWorld Wide Web. Examples include Internet Explorer and Firefox althoughthere are many others. Again, people sometimes refer to web browsers as“the Internet”, whereas they really only provide the means to viewpages on the web.
Bandwidth, Broadband
Bandwidth is an indication of how quickly data travels along aconnection. The greater the bandwidth, the faster data will be sent andreceived. Broadband is a rather vague term that refers to bandwidthsomewhere above that of an old dial-up modem, although there is noprecise definition of the term. Broadband connections are generally“always on”, unlike modem connections. There are various technologieswhich provide “broadband” speeds – such as ADSL, cable, satellite etc.
Modem
The word modem was originally coined in the days when computerscommunicated by converting numbers into sounds that could then betransmitted over a regular telephone line. At each end you needed a“modulator” to generate the sounds to transmit and a “demodulator” toconvert received sounds back into numbers. From “MOdulator/DEModulator”came the word modem.
With modern digital communication, no conversion to and from audiblesounds is required, but even so it’s common to hear people talkingabout “broadband modems” or “ADSL modems” when referring to devicesproviding broadband connectivity. Strictly speaking, such devices arenot modems at all as they communicate digitally but the word has stuck;its meaning has shifted to refer to digital devices as well.
Memory, Disk Space
Another very common source of confusion. In computing, “memory”generally refers to the temporary storage used by a computer whilst itis switched on. A computer loads programs and data into its memory inorder to carry out tasks. This is more accurately called RAM or“random-access memory”. Disk space (or “hard disk space”), on the otherhand, is a more permanent store that holds files even when the computeris switched off. It’s from here that the computer loads things into itsmemory. Strictly speaking you don’t store things in the computer’smemory as that vanishes when you turn the machine off.
Virus, Spyware, Trojan, Worm, Malware
These terms are often confused, although they have distinct meanings.
A virus is a piece of software that can copy itself and whichattaches itself to some other program in order to survive andreplicate. It may have some malicious intent or it may exist simply toreproduce. A worm is similar but it can exist independently; it doesn’tneed to attach to a separate program. A Trojan – or Trojan Horse – is apiece of software that gains access to a computer by pretending to bebenign or by hiding within some innocent-looking application. The nameis obviously derived from the wooden horse employed by the Greek armyduring the Trojan Wars. Spyware is software that secretly monitorscomputer activity, attempting to gain private information without thecomputer user knowing.
By and large, all of the above will have some malicious intent – toharm data, spy on computer activity and so forth. Malware is a generalterm for all such programs – it simply means any software, of whateversort, written with a malicious intent. Viruses are generally malwarebut there is more to malware than just viruses.
Bits, Bytes
At a basic level, all computer data is just a series of 0s and 1s.Each of these is referred to as a “binary digit”, for which “bit” isjust an abbreviation. A byte is (generally) a collection of eight bits,so called because of the pun with bit and bite. Similarly a collectionof four bits – half a byte – is sometimes called a “nybble”.
In order to refer to large numbers of bits and bytes, various prefixes are used, as in :
1 kilobyte = 1024 (or 1000) bytes
1 megabayte = 1024 (or 1000) kilobytes
1 gigabyte = 1024 (or 1000) megabytes
1 terabyte = 1024 (or 1000) gigabytes
1 petabyte = 1024 (or 1000) terabytes
Reboot
To switch a computer off and on again, allowing its operating systemand programs to be reloaded. Note that this is not the same as placinga computer into standby/hibernate and then resuming. A reboot requiresthat all software is completely reloaded.
The term derives from “bootstrap”, as in the phrase “to pull oneselfup by one’s bootstraps”, because of the similarity to that seeminglyimpossible act (as a computer can’t run without first loading somesoftware but must be running before any software can be loaded).
Cookie
A small text file sent to your computer by a web site you havevisited. These can be very useful in that they can allow the web siteto recognize who you are when you return. Cookies cannot store virusesor other threats, although they can be used to track your activityacross different web sites in order to provide, for example, “targeted”advertisements.
Firewall
A firewall is a piece of computer software or hardware thatrestricts the data that is allowed to flow through. Firewalls blocktraffic that is undesirable in some way, the intention being to preventinfection by malware and so on without restricting the user fromcarrying out legitimate activity.
Spam
Unsolicited email messages sent out in bulk and generally commercialin nature. In fact the term is used more widely these days to refer tosuch messages in a variety of places, not just on email – for examplecomments on blogs.
The origin of this sense of the word spam is unclear.
CAPTCHA
CAPTCHA checks are the strings of letters and numbers that have tobe typed in on some web pages before something can be saved. They existbecause, although humans find interpreting these strings relativelyeasy, computers do not. Setting up these checks therefore blocks anautomated process – such as one generating spam – from using the page,whereas a human is still able to.
The acronym CAPTCHA actually stands for “Completely Automated PublicTuring test to tell Computers and Humans Apart” – a rather contrivedway of arriving at an acronym that sounds like the word “capture”.
