802.11n
802.11n is a wireless (Wi-Fi) standard that was introduced in 2007. It supports a longer range and higher wireless transfer rates than the previous standard, 802.11g.802.11n devices support MIMO (multiple in, multiple out) data transfers, which can transmit multiple streams of data at once. This technology effectively doubles the range of a wireless device. Therefore, a wireless router that uses 802.11n may have twice the radius of coverage as an 802.11g router. This means a single 802.11n router may cover an entire household, whereas an 802.11g router might require additional routers to bridge the signal.
The previous 802.11g standard supported transfer rates of up to 54 Mbps. Devices that use 802.11n can transfer data over 100 Mbps. With an optimized configuration, the 802.11n standard can theoretically support transfer rates of up to 500 Mbps. That is five times faster than a standard 100Base-T wired Ethernet network.
So if your residence is not wired with an Ethernet network, it's not a big deal. Wireless technology can finally keep pace with the wired network. Of course, with the faster speeds and larger range that 802.11n provides, it is more important than ever to password protect your wireless network.
BitTorrent
BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing protocol designed to reduce the bandwidth required to transfer files. It does this by distributing file transfers across multiple systems, thereby lessening the average bandwidth used by each computer. For example, if a user begins downloading a movie file, the BitTorrent system will locate multiple computers with the same file and begin downloading the file from several computers at once. Since most ISPs offer much faster download speeds than upload speeds, downloading from multiple computers can significantly increase the file transfer rate.
In order to use the BitTorrent protocol, you need a BitTorrent client, which is a software program that accesses the BitTorrent network. The client program allows you to search for files and begin downloading torrents, which are in-progress downloads. Most BitTorrent clients allow you to resume torrents that have been paused or stopped. This can be especially helpful when downloading large files.
Captcha
A captcha is program used to verify that a human, rather than a computer, is entering data. Captchas are commonly seen at the end of online forms and ask the user to enter text from a distorted image. The text in the image may be wavy, have lines through it, or may be highly irregular, making it nearly impossible for an automated program to recognize it. (Of course, some captchas are so distorted that they can be difficult for humans to recognize as well.) Fortunately, most captchas allow the user to regenerate the image if the text is too difficult to read. Some even include an auditory pronunciation feature.By requiring a captcha response, webmasters can prevent automated programs, or "bots," from filling out forms online. This prevents spam from being sent through website forms and ensures that wikis, such as Wikipedia, are only edited by humans. Captchas are also used by websites such as Ticketmaster.com to make sure users don't bog down the server with repeated requests. While captchas may be a minor inconvenience to the user, they can save webmasters a lot of hassle by fending off automated programs.
The name "captcha" comes from the word "capture," since it captures human responses. It may also be written "CAPTCHA," which is an acronym for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart."
BIOS
Stands for "Basic Input/Output System." Most people don't need to ever mess with the BIOS on a computer, but it can be helpful to know what it is. The BIOS is a program pre-installed on Windows-based computers (not on Macs) that the computer uses to start up. The CPU accesses the BIOS even before the operating system is loaded. The BIOS then checks all your hardware connections and locates all your devices. If everything is OK, the BIOS loads the operating system into the computer's memory and finishes the boot-up process.Since the BIOS manages the hard drives, it can't reside on one, and since it is available before the computer boots up, it can't live in the RAM. So where can this amazing, yet elusive BIOS be found? It is actually located in the ROM (Read-Only Memory) of the computer. More specifically, it resides in an eraseable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) chip. So, as soon as you turn your computer on, the CPU accesses the EPROM and gives control to the BIOS.
The BIOS also is used after the computer has booted up. It acts as an intermediary between the CPU and the I/O (input/output) devices. Because of the BIOS, your programs and your operating system don't have to know exact details (like hardware addresses) about the I/O devices attached to your PC. When device details change, only the BIOS needs to be updated. You can make these changes by entering the BIOS when your system starts up. To access the BIOS, hold down the key as soon as your computer begins to start up.
Cross-Browser
When a software program is developed for multiple computer platforms, it is called a crossplatform program. Similarly, when a website is developed for multiple browsers, it is called a cross-browser website.The job of a Web developer would be much easier if all browsers were the same.
While most browsers are similar in both design and function, they often have several small differences in the way they recognize and display websites. For example, Apple's Safari uses a different HTML rendering engines than Internet Explorer. This means the browsers may display the same Web page with slightly different page and text formatting. Since not all browsers support the same HTML tags, some formatting may not be recognized at all in an incompatible Web browser. Furthermore, browsers interpret JavaScript code differently, which means a script may work fine in one browser, but not in another.
Because of the differences in the way Web browsers interpret HTML and JavaScript, Web developers must test and adapt their sites to work with multiple browsers. For example, if a certain page looks fine in Firefox, but does not show up correctly in Internet Explorer, the developer may change the formatting so that it works with Internet Explorer. Of course, the page may then appear differently in Firefox.
The easiest fix for browser incompatibility problems is to use a more basic coding technique that works in both browsers. However, if this solution is not possible, the developer may need to add code that detects the type of browser, then outputs custom HTML or JavaScript for that browser.
Making a cross-browser site is usually pretty simple for basic websites. However, complex sites with a lot of HTML formatting and JavaScript may require significant extra coding in order to be compatible with multiple browsers. Some developers may even generate completely different pages for each browser. While CSS formatting has helped standardize the appearance of Web pages across multiple browsers, there are still several inconsistencies between Web browsers. Therefore, cross-browser design continues to be a necessary aspect of Web development.
DNS
Stands for "Domain Name System." The primary purpose of DNS is to keep Web surfers sane. Without DNS, we would have to remember the IP address of every site we wanted to visit, instead of just the domain name. Can you imagine having to remember "17.254.3.183" instead of just "apple.com"? While I have some Computer Science friends who might prefer this, most people have an easier time remembering simple names.The reason the Domain Name System is used is because Web sites are acutally located by their IP addresses. For example, when you type in "http://www.adobe.com," the computer doesn't immediately know that it should look for Adobe's Web site. Instead, it sends a request to the nearest DNS server, which finds the correct IP address for "adobe.com." Your computer then attempts to connect to the server with that IP number. DNS is just another one of the many features of the Internet that we take for granted.
Firmware
Firmware is a software program or set of instructions programmed on a hardware device. It provides the necessary instructions for how the device communicates with the other computer hardware. But how can software be programmed onto hardware? Good question. Firmware is typically stored in the flash ROM of a hardware device. While ROM is "read-only memory," flash ROM can be erased and rewritten because it is actually a type of flash memory.Firmware can be thought of as "semi-permanent" since it remains the same unless it is updated by a firmware updater. You may need to update the firmware of certain devices, such as hard drives and video cards in order for them to work with a new operating system. CD and DVD drive manufacturers often make firmware updates available that allow the drives to read faster media. Sometimes manufacturers release firmware updates that simply make their devices work more efficiently.
You can usually find firmware updates by going to the "Support" or "Downloads" area of a manufacturer's website. Keeping your firmware up-to-date is often not necessary, but it is still a good idea. Just make sure that once you start a firmware updater, you let the update finish, because most devices will not function if their firmware is not recognized.
IMAP
Stands for "Internet Message Access Protocol" and is pronounced "eye-map." It is a method of accessing e-mail messages on a server without having to download them to your local hard drive. This is the main difference between IMAP and another popular e-mail protocol called "POP3." POP3 requires users to download messages to their hard drive before reading them.The advantage of using an IMAP mail server is that users can check their mail from multiple computers and always see the same messages. This is because the messages stay on the server until the user chooses to download them to his or her local drive.
Most webmail systems are IMAP based, which allows people to access to both their sent and received messages no matter what computer they use to check their mail.
Most e-mail client programs such as Microsoft Outlook and Mac OS X Mail allow you to specify what kind of protocol your mail server uses. If you use your ISP's mail service, you should check with them to find out if their mail server uses IMAP or POP3 mail. If you enter the wrong protocol setting, your e-mail program will not be able to send or receive mail.
Permalink
Short for "permanent link." A permalink is a URL that links to a specific news story or Web posting. Permalinks are most commonly used for blogs, which are frequently changed and updated. They give a specific Web address to each posting, allowing blog entries to be bookmarked by visitors or linked to from other websites.Because most blogs are published using dynamic, database-driven Web sites, they do not automatically have Web addresses associated with them. For example, a blog entry may exist on a user's home page, but the entry may not have its own Web page, ending in ".html," ".asp," ".php," etc. Therefore, once the posting is outdated and no longer present on the home page, there may be no way to access it. Using a permalink to define the location of each posting prevents blog entries from fading off into oblivion.
Session
A common type of client/server session is a Web or HTTP session.
An HTTP session is initiated by a Web browser each time you visit a website. While each page visit constitutes an individual session, the term is often used to describe the entire time you spend on the website. For example, when you purchase an item on an ecommerce site, the entire process may be described as a session, even though you navigated through several different pages.
Another example of a client/server session is an email or SMTP session. Whenever you check your email with an email client, such as Microsoft Outlook or Apple Mail, you initiate an SMTP session. This involves sending your account information to the mail server, checking for new messages, and downloading the messages from the server. Once the messages have been downloaded, the session is complete.
An example of a session between two personal computers is an online chat, or instant messaging session. This type of session involves two computers, but neither system is considered a server or client. Instead, this type of communication is called a peer-to-peer or P2P. Another example of P2P communication is BitTorrent file sharing, where file downloads are comprised of one or more sessions with other computers on the BitTorrent network. A P2P session ends when the connection between two systems is terminated.
SMTP
Stands for "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol." This is the protocol used for sending e-mail over the Internet. Your e-mail client (such as Outlook, Eudora, or Mac OS X Mail) uses SMTP to send a message to the mail server, and the mail server uses SMTP to relay that message to the correct receiving mail server.Basically, SMTP is a set of commands that authenticate and direct the transfer of electronic mail. When configuring the settings for your e-mail program, you usually need to set the SMTP server to your local Internet Service Provider's SMTP settings (i.e. "smtp.yourisp.com"). However, the incoming mail server (IMAP or POP3) should be set to your mail account's server (i.e. hotmail.com), which may be different than the SMTP server.
