computer definitions

hardware | networking | software | miscellaneous

Check out techterms.org for more.

hardware

CRT: Cathode Ray Tube; The classic television tube that has been commonplace until the availability of the LCD monitor. A large, heavy box of metal and glass but still gives the best picture quality versus its younger cousin LCD.
DSL: Digital Subscriber Line; High-speed Internet link carried via copper telephone wire. The telephones make use of the standard analog signal while the network connection is carried in digital format. Filters attached to phones help separate the digital and analog signals pass on the same telephone line.
hard drive: A flat, brick-like object (usually located towards the front) inside the computer case where data (Windows, programs, files, etc.) resides.; acronym: HDD
LCD: Liquid Crystal Display; Similar to the liquid crystals used in digital watches and calculators, but applied to a larger scale with color. LCD design cuts back drastically on the depth of the monitor.
"R" media: CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R are blank media that may be recorded on, but may not be erased.
"RW" media: CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW are blank media that may be recorded on. The media may be erased at any time. All data on the media must be erased, not just pieces of interest.
RAM: Also known as "computer memory", it is where the computer temporarily stores data to be "worked on" or computed.; Programs running on the computer sit in this memory until you close them or pull the power to the computer. Nothing is permanently remembered like a hard drive.; RAM is an acronym for Random Access Memory

networking

BSSID: Basic Service Set Identifier; MAC address of the access point
DHCP: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol; Relieves pressure from the network operator by automatically assigning an IP address to a computer connected to the network.
DNS: Domain Name Service; Makes life easier to find this Web page by typing computervoodoo.biz versus the IP address 76.162.240.21.
ESSID: Extended Service Set Identifier; The wireless network's name
HTTP: HyperText Transport Protocol; The protocol that allows you to view lousy Web pages like this.
IP address: Internet Protocol; A way of identifying each component attached to a network.; IPv4 uses the xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx format where xxx is a decimal value from 0 to 254. Extra rules apply, but you get the idea.; IPv6 (successor to IPv4) uses eight groups of 4 hexadecimal digits. IPv4 only allows around 4 billion address, so the Internet is running low on numbers.
router: Piece of network equipment used to create a sub-network.
switch: Network equipment used to connect network segments together.; Think of it as a power strip. You plug it into a single outlet to give you more places to plug devices into.
VPN: Virtual Private Network; A communication network that tunnels through another network like the Internet.; Commonly used to create a secured connection between a network and an end user computer so snooping of traffic passing between does not occur.
Wi-Fi: The brand name used by the Wi-Fi Alliance that may or may not stand for "wireless fidelity". Depends on how they feel at the time. Right now it doesn't. It's just a proper name.; Refers to the wireless LAN equipment based on the IEEE 802.11 standards.

software

adware: A type of malware, this software that is used for advertising purposes. Often this junk is placed on your Windows machine by on-line advertising without your knowledge or consent.
BHO: Browser Helper Objects are add-ins for Internet Explorer that add increased functionality. The Wikipedia definition addresses concerns I typically see with BHOs.
file association: A file association is when you want a file to automatically be opened with the proper program. An example is if you download a Microsoft Word document (.doc) and when you double-click the file Microsoft Word will start and the document will appear in Word. You can change the association to another program like OpenOffice Writer so that OpenOffice will start (instead of Microsoft Word) and your .doc file will appear in the OpenOffice Writer window. Often people are unable to open a file due to inappropriate file associations.
Internet: The culmination of the World Wide Web (Web pages), e-mail, telnet, Usenet (news groups), IRC (internet relay chat), instant messaging, and anything else you can think of done on-line. Often time people incorrectly use the term "Internet" for the World Wide Web.
phishing: The act of tricking a user into releasing their personal info to others in order to steal it. An exmple would be receiving an e-mail from what appears to be your bank requesting that you visit a web site to rectify an issue. The web site you get directed to after clicking on the link appears legitimate and asks you to input things like your credit card number, social security number, address, telephone, etc. In reality this is all fake and someone is stealing your identity to purchase that Ferarri and tickets to the Bahamas.
spyware: Another type of malware, this garbage is often placed unknowingly on your Windows machine. It can do something simple as reporting your interests to advertising companies or send the credit card info you typed in on that Web site to buy that special something to fraudsters.
virus: Wikipedia definition of malicious software.

miscellaneous

bit: Known as a binary digit; Has a value of either 0 or 1. The decimal form of counting uses 0 through 9.; This is the method computers use to do all calculations.
byte: A group of 8 bits.; 01110010 is an example of a byte (equal to 114 in decimal notation)

Difference between ISU and IEC measurement of bytes
or
Why my 300GB hard drive is only 279GB
ISU				IEC
name	symbol	quantity	human readable	name	symbol	quantity	human readable
kilobyte	KB	10³	1,000	kibibyte	KiB	2¹⁰	1,024
megabyte	MB	10⁶	1,000,000	mibibyte	MiB	2²⁰	1,048,576
gigabyte	GB	10⁹	1,000,000,000	gibibyte	GiB	2³⁰	1,073,741,824
terrabyte	TB	10¹²	1,000,000,000,000	tebibyte	TiB	2⁴⁰	1,099,511,627,776

Here's the math behind a 300GB (decimal) hard drive being 279GiB (binary):
300 multiplied by 1 gigabyte (ISU) divided by 1 gibibyte (IEC) roughly equals 279 gibibytes
300 * (10⁹) / (2³⁰) = 279.39677 GiB
300,000,000,000 GB / 1,073,741,824 GiB = 279.39677 GiB

Cloud computing or the Cloud: Instead of storing the data on your computer you're storing the data on another computer/server attached to the Internet. This makes it easy for a user to access files from any computer instead of being tied down to the sole computer that contains the files.
Example: You have pictures stored on your desktop computer. If you are in another town and want to show your pictures to a friend you would have to travel home, copy the pictures to a USB flash drive, travel back to the friend's house, plug the USB flash drive into their computer. If these pictures were stored on the Cloud you could start up a friend's laptop in another town and load the pictures from the Internet.
coaster: A CD or DVD that failed to burn properly and cannot be read by a computer. The disc is now only useful as a drink coaster.
DRM: Digital Rights Management; A tactic used by companies tied in with the RIAA and MPAA to control how/where you may listen/watch their media. This is in response to people copying CDs and DVDs to their computers and then distributing on-line via file sharing programs.
FUD: Fear Uncertainty and Doubt; A tactic used by businesses to make the other guy's product look inferior by way of misleading or vague info about said product. Wikipedia definition and history regarding FUD usage.
leet-speak: Short for "elite". A symbolic substitute lettering system used by users attempting to appear superior in knowledge or stature on the Internet. Numbers and symbols are used to replace similar looking alphabetical letters. A 3 may replace an "E", /\/\ appears as an "M", etc. Users will often times mangle proper spelling for the sake of phonetics. Typically used by script-kiddies, the uneducated, misinformed, or just plain moronic wanna-be.
script-kiddies: Users that think they are hackers simply because they can run a program written by someone else to bypass security, hack, etc. These users may be considered "power users" in the Microsoft Windows sense, but typically are unable to write any programming code. These users often type words using "leet-speak".
social engineering: A technique used by hackers to gather information from people in order to gain entry or bypass security. An example would be calling an office worker on the phone and pretending to be someone of importance. The hacker would then convince the worker that he requires the user's password or other similar info. The weakest link in this security chain is the user. It is easier to trick the user than to attempt to get past computer-based security.