Computer Jargon


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S
  • script A type of computer code than can be directly executed by a program that understands the language in which the script is written. Scripts do not need to be compiled into object code to be executed.
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  • SCSI small computer systems interface. pronounced skuzzy. An interface for connecting hard disks and other compatiable devices to a PC. More expensive than EIDE, but faster and more versatile, with the latest Ultra3 SCSI supporting up tp 16 devices (including the SCSI adapter card or chip) and transfer rates of 160MBps (megabytes per second).
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  • SDRAM synchronus DRAM. A type of memory that synchronises itself with the speed of the CPU's bus speed and can run at up tp 133MHz. It's about twicw as fast as EDO RAM and the latest SDRAM can run at 133MHz on PC's that support this speed.
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  • scrolling text box A labeled, multiple-line form field in which users can type one or more lines of text.
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  • search form A FrontPage WebBot component that creates a form that provides full text-searching capability in your FrontPage web when the FrontPage web is browsed. When the user submits a form containing words to locate, the WebBot Search component returns a list of hyperlinks to the pages in your FrontPage web containing matches for the words.
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  • Secure Socket Layer (SSL) A low-level protocol that enables secure communications between a server and FrontPage or a browser.
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  • selection bar An unmarked column along the left edge of the FrontPage Editor window that is used to select text with the mouse.
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  • server A computer that offers services on a network. On the World Wide Web, the server is the computer that runs the Web server program that responds to HTTP protocol requests by providing Web pages. Also called host.
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  • server name In a URL, the unique name that identifies an Internet server. A network location has two or more parts, separated by periods, as in my.network.location. Also called host name and Internet address.
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  • server-side image map An image map that passes the coordinates of the cursor to a CGI handler routine on the server. Server-side image maps require your server to compute the target URL of the hyperlink based on the cursor coordinates.
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  • server-side include A feature provided by some Web servers that automatically inserts text onto pages when they are given to the browser.
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  • SGML An ISO (International Standards Organization) markup language for representing documents on computers. HTML is based on SGML concepts.
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  • SIMM single inline memory module. A small board that holds a row of memory chips and has a 72 pin connector and uses a 32 bit wide bus. As pentium processors have a 64 bit bus, Simms must be installed in pairs.
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  • 16/32 bit fat Software today is being written to run from within Windows 95/98, so we may as well get used to using this system. Applications written for Windows 95/98 take advantage of the 32-bit architecture. Which is designed to move data 32 bits at a time. This is in contrast older windows and MS-DOS platforms, which have slower 16 bit architectures. Windows 95/98 applications support long file names, names that have up to 255 characters. Where as previous versions of Windows and MS-Dos were restricted to file names of eight characters, and the three character extension. Along with the long file name, Windows 95 also saves an eight character file name for compatibility with 16 bit applications. For Example the directory Program Files would read in dos as follows Progra~1
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  • size handle The black rectangle displayed on a selected form field or hotspot. When you select a size handle, the cursor becomes abi-directional arrow. Click and drag a size handle to reshape the field or hotspot.
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  • SMART self monitoring analysis and reporting technology. A feature of EIDE (on mother boards that support it) where the BIOS can receive data about hard disk performance and warn a user if it predicts a failure is likely to occur.
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  • software Software is the data information which tells the computer what to do and how to do it. Software can be stored on diskettes, floppy disks, a hard drive, tape, cd rom, zip disks or other types of devices.
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  • spam junk email A commonly encountered slang term for UBM. Unsolicited Bulk Messaging (More detailed Spam info here)
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  • special character A character not in the standard 7-bit ASCII character set, such as the copyright mark (©). In FrontPage, you add special characters in the FrontPage Editor using the Symbol command on the Insert menu.
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  • standard toolbar The FrontPage Editor toolbar containing the most commonly used menu commands.
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  • status bar The area at the bottom of the FrontPage Editor or FrontPage Explorer that displays information about the currently selected command or about an operation in progress.
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  • strong text The HTML character style used for strong emphasis. Certain browsers display this style as bold.
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  • switches These are the characters \/ on your keyboard. (example) In a typed command or web page URL they have many uses.


  • SWAP FILE also called virtual memory, this is a file on your hard disk used as a main memory supplement to make programs think there is more memory than is actually installed. Program code and data are written to it in chunks called pages and these are swapped into the main memory when required. Most people set their swap file MB minimum to twice the ram MB they have installed on their PC.
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  • SUB DIRECTORYIn a dos box, On the screen, a listing of any sub directory might show the first two entries mysteriously named . .. (single dot and double dot). The first dot is a name for the sub directory itself. The double dot is a name for the parent (higher) directory one level up. It's like a folder, within a folder, when used inside windows.
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