Ait 131

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Information Technology

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a general term that describes any technology that helps to produce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or disseminate information.

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Computer

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a programmable, multiuse machine that accepts data - raw facts and figures - and processes, or manipulates it into information we can use

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Communications technology

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also called telecommunications technology, consists of electromagnetic devices and systems for communicating over long distances

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Online

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using a computer or some other information device, connected through a network, to access information and services from another computer or information device

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Network

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Communications system connecting tow or more computers

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email

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electronic mail, messages transmitted over a computer network, most often the internet

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e-learning (distance learning)

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online education programs

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Avatars

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computer depictions of humans

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Telemedicine

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medical care delivered via telecommunications

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Robots

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automatic devices that perform functions ordinarily performed by human beings

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Virtual

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something is created, simulated, or carried on by means of a computer or a computer network

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micropayments

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electronic payments of as little as $.25 in transactions for which it is uneconomical to use a credit card

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downloading

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transferring data from a remote computer to one's own computer

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ENIAC

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Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator - one of the first computers, the outcome of military-related research delivered to the US Army in 1946

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cyberspace

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encompasses not only the online world and the internet in particular but also the whole wired and wireless world of communications

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Internet

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a worldwide computer network that connects hundreds of thousands of smaller networks

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World Wide Web

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an interconnected system of internet computers (called servers) that support specially formatted documents in multimedia form

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Supercomputer

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high capacity machines with thousands of processors that can perform more than several trillion calculations per second

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nanotechnology

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molecule-size nanostructures are used to create tiny machines for holding data or performing tasks

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mainframe

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water- or air-cooled computers that cost $5000-$5 Mil and var in size from small, to medium, to large, depending on use. These process billions of instructions per second.

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Terminal

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Used to access a mainframe, this has a display screen and a keyboard and can input and output data but cannot by itself process data

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Workstations

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Expensive, powerful personal computers usually used for complex scientific, mathematical, and engineering calculations and for computer aided design and computer-aided manufacturing

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Microcomputer

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also called a personal computer and can fit next to a desk or on a desktop

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Local Area Network (LAN)

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connects usually by special cable, a group of desktop PCs and other devices, such as printers, in an office or a building

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Tower PCs

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microcomputers with a case that sits as a "tower"

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Notebook Computer

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Also called a laptop

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Microcontrollers

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also called embedded computers, tiny microprocessors installed in "smart" appliances and cars

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Server

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a central computer that holds collections of data (databases) and programs for connecting or supplying services to PCs, workstations, and other devices, which are called clients.

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Data

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raw facts and figures that are processed into information

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Information

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data that has been summarized or otherwise manipulated for use in decision making

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Hardware

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all of the machinery and equipment in a computer system

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Software

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all the electronic instructions that tell the computer how to perform a task

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Input

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whatever is put in to a computer system

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Processing

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manipulation a computer does to transform data into information

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Primary storage

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internal computer circuitry that temporarily holds data waiting to be processed

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Secondary storage

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devices and media that store data or information permanently

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Output

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whatever is output from the computer system

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Processor chip (CPU)

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a tiny piece of silicon that contains millions of miniature electronic circuits

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Memory chips (RAM)

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Primary storage, or temporary storage; they hold data before processing and information after processing, before it is sent along to an output or storage device

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Peripheral device

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any component or piece of equipment that expands a computer's input, storage, and output capabilities

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Ethics

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a set of moral values or principles that govern the conduct of an individual or a group

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ARPA

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Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense; created basis for the internet in 1969

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Bandwith

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channel capacity, an expression of how much data- text, voice, video, etc can be sent through a communications channel in a given amount of time

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Broadband

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very high speed connections

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bps

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bits per second (8 bits equals one character)

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Kbps

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kilobits per second

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Internet access provider

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the regional, national, or wireless organization or business that connects you to the internet

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ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)

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consists of hardware and software that allow voice, video, and data to be communicated over traditional copper-wire telephone lines

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DSL

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uses regular phone lines, a DSL modem and special technology to transmit data in megabits per second

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T1 Line

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essentially a traditional trunk line that carries 24 normal telephone circuits and has a transmission rate of 1.5 Mbps

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communications satellite

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a space station that transmits radio waves called microwaves from earth-based stations

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Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity)

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the name given to any of several standards = so-called 802.11 standards - set by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) for wireless transmission

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access point

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a station that sends and receives data to and from a Wi-Fi network

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Point of Presence

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a local access point to the internet

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Network access point

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a routing computer at a point on the internet where several connections come together

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Protocol

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set of rules that computers must follow to transmit data electronically

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packets

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fixed-length blocks of data for transmission

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Internet Protocol (IP) address

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uniquely identifies every computer and device connected to the internet

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Transistor

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tiny electrically operated switch, or gate, that can alternate between "on" and "off" many millions of times per second

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integrated circuit

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an entire electronic circuit, including wires, formed on a single "chip" or pice of special material, usually silicon

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solid-state device

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electrons travel through solid material

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semiconductor

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material whose electrical properties are intermediate between a good conductor of electricity and a nonconductor of electricity

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chip

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tiny piece of silicon that contains millions of microminiature integrated electronic circuits

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micro-processor

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miniaturized circuitry of a computer processor -- the CPU, the part that processes, or manipulates, data into information

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parity bit

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check bit, an extra bit attached to the end of a byte for purposes of checking for accuracy

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machine language

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binary-type programming language built into the cpu that the computer can run directly

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bay

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shelf or an opening used for the installation of electronic equipment

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Expansion

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a way of increasing a computer's capabilities by adding hardware to perform tasks that are beyond the scope of the basic system

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chipset

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groups of interconnected chips on the motherboard that control the flow of information between the microprocessor and other system components connected to the motherboard

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multicore processor

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lets the operating system devide the work over more than one processor, with to or more processor "cores" on a single piece of silicon

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system clock

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how fast all the operations within a computer take place

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MIPS

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"millions of instructions per second"

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Word Size

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the number of bits that the processor may process at any one time

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CPU

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brain of the computer, follows instructions of the software to manipulate data into information. 2 parts: the control unit and the arithmetic/logic unit (ALU)

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registers

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high-speed storage areas that temporarily store data during processing

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buses or bus lines

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electrical data roadways through which bits are transmitted within the CPU and between the CPU and other components of the motherboard

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volatile memory

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the contents are lost when the power goes off or is turned off

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DRAM

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member of RAM that must be constantly refreshed by the CPU or it will lose its contents

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SDRAM

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synchronized by the system clock and is much faster than DRAM

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SRAM - Static RAM

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faster than DRAM and retains its contents without having to be refreshed by the CPU

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DDR-SDRAM

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newest type of RAM chip and is the one most commonly used in PCs and Apple Computers

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ROM

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cannot be written on or erased by the ocmputer user without special equipment, contain fixed startup instructions

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cache

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temporarily stores instructions and data the processor is likely to use frequently

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virtual memory

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some free hard-disk space that is used to extend the capacity of RAM