Glossary of Technology Terms

 

Ammeter                                     An instrument for measuring the magnitude of electric current flow.

 

Binary                                         Binary is the base two number system that computers use to represent data. It consists of only two numbers: 0 and 1.

                                                     In the table below, binary numbers are shown with their decimal equivalents:

 

                                                     Binary                                        Decimal

                                                        0                                                   0

                                                        1                                                   1

                                                        10                                                 2

                                                        11                                                 3

                                                        100                                               4

                                                        101                                               5

                                                        110                                               6

                                                        111                                               7

                                                        1000                                             8

                                                        1001                                             9

                                                        1010                                          10

                                                       

Construction technology            The ways that humans build structures on sites.

 

CPU                                             CPU (central processing unit) is an older term for processor

(central processing unit)             and microprocessor, the central unit in a computer containing the logic circuitry that performs the instructions of a computer's programs.

 

Decode                                        To convert coded data back into its original form.

 

Digital camera                            A digital camera records and stores photographic images in digital form that can be fed to a computer as the impressions are recorded or stored in the camera for later loading into a computer. Currently, Kodak, Canon and several other companies make digital cameras.

 

Electrical energy                        Energy made available by the flow of electric charge through a conductor [syn: electricity].

 

E-mail                                          E-mail (electronic mail) is the exchange of computer-stored

(electronic mail)                          messages by telecommunication. (Some publications spell it email; we prefer the current spelling of e-mail.) E-mail messages are usually encoded in ASCII text. However, you can also send non-text files, such as graphic images and sound files, as attachments sent in binary streams.

 

                                                     E-mail was one of the first uses of the Internet and is still the most popular use. A large percentage of the total traffic over the Internet is e-mail. E-mail can also be exchanged between online service users and in networks other than the Internet, both public and private.

 

                                                     E-mail can be distributed to lists of people as well as to individuals. A shared distribution list can be managed by using an e-mail reflector. Some mailing lists allow you to subscribe by sending a request to the mailing list administrator. A mailing list that is administered automatically is called a list server.

 

                                                     E-mail is one of the protocols included with the Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite of protocols. A popular protocol for sending e-mail is SMTP and a popular protocol for receiving it is POP3. Both Netscape and Microsoft include an e-mail utility with their Web browsers.

 

Encoding                                     The process of putting information into digital format.

 

Flowchart                                    A graphical representation of the sequence of operations in an information system or program.

 

Geodesic dome                           A triangulation of a platonic solid or other polyhedron to produce a close approximation to a sphere. The nth order geodesation operation replaces each polygon of the polyhedron by the projection onto the circumsphere of the order in regular tessellation of that polygon.

 

Horsepower                                The measure of rate of work. One horsepower is equivalent to lifting 33,000 pounds to a height of one foot in one minute. The horsepower of a motor is expressed as a function of torque and rpm. For motors the following approximate formula may be used: 

                                                     H = (T x RPM) / 5250, where HP = horsepower, T = torque (in. lb. ft.) and RPM = revolutions per minute.

 

HTML                                         HTML (hypertext markup language) is the set of "markup"

(hypertext markup                      symbols or codes inserted in a file intended for display on a

language)                                    World Wide Web browser. The markup tells the Web browser how to display a Web page's words and images for the user.

 

Hydrology                                   The scientific study of the properties, distribution and effects of water on the Earth’s surface, in the soil and underlying rocks and in the atmosphere.

 

Information system                    The entire infrastructure, organization, personnel and components that collect, process, store, transmit, display, disseminate and act on information.

Internet                                       A large network made up of a number of smaller networks. "The" Internet is made up of well over 100,000 interconnected networks in more than 100 countries covering commercial, academic and government endeavors.

 

Internet Explorer                      Microsoft's free web browser for Microsoft Windows, Windows 98, Windows NT and Macintosh.

 

IT                                                 IT (information technology) is a term that encompasses all

(information technology)            forms of technology used to create, store, exchange and use information in its various forms (business data, voice conversations, still images, motion pictures, multimedia presentations and other forms, including those not yet conceived). It is a convenient term for including both telephony and computer technology in the same word. It is the technology that is driving what has often been called "the information revolution."

 

LCD                                            LCD (liquid crystal display) is the technology used for displays

(liquid crystal display)                in notebook and other smaller computers. Like light-emitting diode and gas-plasma technologies, LCDs allow displays to be much thinner than cathode ray tube (CRT) technology. LCDs consume much less power than LED and gas-display displays because they work on the principle of blocking light rather than emitting it.

 

                                                     An LCD is made with either a passive matrix or an active matrix display grid. The active matrix LCD is also known as a thin film transistor (TFT) display. The passive matrix LCD has a grid of conductors with pixels located at each intersection in the grid. A current is sent across two conductors on the grid to control the light for any pixel. An active matrix has a transistor located at each pixel intersection, requiring less current to control the luminance of a pixel. For this reason, the current in an active matrix display can be switched on and off more frequently, improving the screen refresh time (your mouse will appear to move more smoothly across the screen, for example). Some passive matrix LCDs have dual scanning, meaning that they scan the grid twice with current in the same time that it took for one scan in the original technology. However, active matrix is still a superior technology.

 

Manufacturing technology         Combination of knowledge, equipment, techniques and methods used to mass produce a product.

 

Mechanical energy                     Energy in a mechanical form.

 

 

 

MHz                                            The megahertz, abbreviated MHz, is a unit of alternating

(megahertz: million                     current (AC) or electromagnetic (EM) wave frequency equal to

cycles per second)                      one million hertz (1,000,000 Hz). The megahertz is commonly used to express microprocessor clock speed. The unit is occasionally used in measurements or statements of bandwidth for high-speed digital data, analog and digital video signals and spread-spectrum signals.

 

Model                                          A representation of something that helps us understand it better (e.g., a physical model, a conceptual model, a mathematical model).

 

Network                              An arrangement of objects that are interconnected. In communications, the transmission channels interconnecting all client and server stations, as well as all supporting hardware.

 

Peak power                                 Power generated by a utility unit that operates at a very low capacity factor; generally used to meet short-lived and variable high demand periods, such as during the summer when many air conditioners are suddenly turned on.

 

Radial stress                               Stress normal to the tangent to the boundary of any opening.

 

Ring                                             A ring is a network topology or circuit arrangement in which each device is attached along the same signal path to two other devices, forming a path in the shape of a ring. Each device in the ring has a unique address. Information flow is unidirectional and a controlling device intercepts and manages the flow to and from the ring. The token ring network is the most prevalent form of ring network (and is also a type of local area network).

 

Robotics                                      The art and science of the creation and use of robots.

 

 

Rotational                                   Of or pertaining to rotation; "rotational inertia."

 

Schematic                                    A line drawing used to define plumbing piping routing, an electrical circuit layout, street layout or any other planned arrangement.

 

Search engine                             On the Internet, a search engine has three parts.  A spider (also called a "crawler" or a "bot") goes to every page or representative pages on every website that wants to be searchable and reads it, using hypertext links on each page to discover and read a site's other pages. A second program creates a huge index (sometimes called a "catalog") from the pages that have been read. A third program that receives your search request, compares it to the entries in the index and returns results to you.

 

Strut                                            A structural member which is designed to resist longitudinal compressive stress, such as members supporting a ridge beam or rafters; a short column.

 

System                                        A group of related components that work together to perform a task.

 

Technology                                 The use of tools, materials and processes to solve problems and improve the quality of life.

 

Technological                              Recognizing the problem, proposing a solution, implementing

design process                            the solution, evaluating the solution, modifying the solution if necessary, and communication of the problem, design and solution.

 

 

Transmit                                      To send data over a communications line.

 

Voltmeter                                    Instrument used to measure difference in potential between two points.

 

Zoetrope                                      An optical toy, in which figures made to revolve on the inside of a cylinder and viewed through slits in its circumference, appear like a single figure passing through a series of natural motions as if animated or mechanically moved.