Computer Tech Terms, Facts, and Trivia that You May NOT Know

The word digital is widely used, but many folks don't know what it actually means; digital describes any system that's based on discontinuous data or events (discontinuous means not continuous or having breaks).

The opposite of digital is analog (analog processes information more or less in a continuous stream).

The word Internet has spawned several new words. Did you know that a netizen is a citizen of the Internet? You do now. A netiquette is etiquette for the Internet.

Query-This is the word or string of words you type into a search engine. When you tell the search engine what you want to know you are querying the Web.

Search Utility-(also called search tool)-This is the page you see when you visit a search website.

Google is a version of the word Googol, which is the number 1 followed by 100 zeroes, representing the large number of web pages Google searches.

There's technically a difference between a search engine (the actual search mechanism) and a search utility, but both are commonly referred to as search engines.

Some search engines like Google use the minus sign (-) to show that you want to subtract the word after the minus sign from your search.

The first online version of an encyclopedia and the first one on CD was Grolier.

Anyone who uses a computer is probably familiar with Wikipedia, but did you know that this word is formed from the Hawaiian word, wiki (meaning "quick") and the word encyclopedia? Now you do.

The word blog comes from weblog.

Online stores are sometimes called click-and-mortar (It's a play on words, derived from "brick-and-mortar", stores that sell their products from a physical building).

e-Bay was started in 1995; more than 1 billion dollars worth of merchandise are sold each month by its users.

Geocaching is a type of game or sport where treasure hunters seek a hidden prize, commonly referred to as a cache (pronounced as "cash").

A plug-in is a small piece of software that adds features to a larger piece of software. Plug-ins are often used by Internet browsers to increase the program's functions.

In 1998 the U.S. Congress made identity theft a federal offense.

What makes a camera digital is this: instead of film, digital imaging technology uses a grid of very small sensors that translate what enters the lens into data. This data's transferred to an image file that is then recorded on the camera's own internal memory or on a reusable memory card. After a photo's in the camera's memory, it's ready for viewing, printing, or uploading to a computer.

There are four basic types of digital cameras. They are:

Professional-for serious photographers; they allow you to manually adjust all the settings.

Prosumer-for the part-time professional or the amateur who wants to attempt a high-end camera; for those who want auto-adjusting, but might also want to manually adjust the settings.

Point-and-Shoot-These handle all the settings for you; no photography knowledge required.

Mini-cameras-Basically created as and for a "novelty act", but are becoming more useful as the quality improves.

Most of you know that the most common file format for photographic images in JPEG, but do you know what it means?

JPEG stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group and is pronounced "jay-peg". They're often referred to as jpg files.

Fire Wire-a very fast type of connection called bus, that's often used for transferring audio and video files. Fire Wire was originally developed by Apple but is compatible with PCs that are equipped with a Fire Wire port.

If you're going on a long vacation or won't be using your printer for more than a month, remove the print cartridges and carefully store them in an airtight container. This will prevent the ink from drying up and clogging the print head. Did you know that like traditional photos, digital prints fade over time? How long a print can last depends on the printer, paper, and ink you're using.

The newer scanners can take old photos, 35mm film, or old slides and transfer them to the computer in digital form. Just make sure that your scanner can handle that particular type of media.

MP3 stands for MPEG-Layer III; it's a film compression method that shrinks the size of data sent over the Internet or used on a computer. That's why you can load hours and hours of music on those MP3 players.

In just a few years, XM satellite radio has acquired more than four million subscribers (Did you know that radio gets its name from the word radiation? For radio transmissions are electromagnetic radiation or energy).

The GPS (Global Positioning System) was designed by and is controlled by the U.S. Department of Defense. It can now be used for free by anyone.

The first GPS satellite was placed into orbit in 1989.

Medical Informatics-The application of information technology to health care.

HIPAA, Title II-Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996; governs the privacy and security of health information records and transactions.

Computerized dating services actually first appeared in the 1960s (You thought they came along much later, didn't you? I know you did).

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