Author Topic: Computer Terms Beginning with "P"  (Read 19462 times)

Offline MysteRy

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Computer Terms Beginning with "P"
« on: April 10, 2014, 01:21:52 PM »
Source : PC.net


P2P

Stands for "Peer to Peer." In a P2P network, the "peers" are computer systems which are connected to each other via the Internet. Files can be shared directly between systems on the network without the need of a central server. In other words, each computer on a P2P network becomes a file server as well as a client.

The only requirements for a computer to join a peer-to-peer network are an Internet connection and P2P software. Common P2P software programs include Kazaa, Limewire, BearShare, Morpheus, and Acquisition. These programs connect to a P2P network, such as "Gnutella," which allows the computer to access thousands of other systems on the network.

Once connected to the network, P2P software allows you to search for files on other people's computers. Meanwhile, other users on the network can search for files on your computer, but typically only within a single folder that you have designated to share. While P2P networking makes file sharing easy and convenient, is also has led to a lot of software piracy and illegal music downloads. Therefore, it is best to be on the safe side and only download software and music from legitimate websites.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "P"
« Reply #1 on: April 10, 2014, 01:23:05 PM »
Packet

This is a small amount of computer data sent over a network. Any time you receive data from the Internet, it comes to your computer in the form of many little packets. Each packet contains the address of its origin and destination, and information that connects it to the related packets being sent. The process of sending and receiving packets is known as "packet-switching." Packets from many different locations can be sent on the same lines and be sorted and directed to different routes by various computers along the way. It works a lot like the post office, except billions of packets are transferred each day, and most packets take less than a few seconds to reach their destination. Even FedEx same-day delivery can't compete with that.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "P"
« Reply #2 on: April 10, 2014, 01:27:38 PM »
Page Orientation

Example: "He changed the page orientation from portrait to landscape when creating the sign."

Page orientation describes the way a document is printed or displayed on a screen. The two main types are "Portrait," in which the height is longer than the width, and "Landscape," in which the width is longer than the height. Most printers print in portrait mode by default, which means the page is printed vertically from top to bottom. Some programs allow the user to change the orientation to landscape mode within the "Page Setup" window.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "P"
« Reply #3 on: April 10, 2014, 01:28:45 PM »
Page View

Each time a user visits a Web page, it is called a page view. Page views, also written "pageviews," are tracked by website monitoring applications to record a website's traffic. The more page views a website has, the more traffic it is receiving. However, since a page view is recorded each time a Web page is loaded, a single user can rack up many page views on one website. Therefore, unique page views are commonly tracked to log the number of different visitors a website receives in a given time period.

Page views are commonly confused with website hits. While people often use the term "hit" to describe a page view, technically a hit is recorded for each object that loads during a page view. For example, if a Web page contains HTML, two images, and a JavaScript reference, a single page view will record four hits. If a page contains over two hundred images, one page view will record over two hundred hits.

Page views are more similar to impressions, which are commonly tracked by online advertisers. Page views and impressions may be identical if one advertisement is placed on each page. However, if multiple ads are positioned on each page, the number of ad impressions will be greater than the number of page views.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "P"
« Reply #4 on: April 10, 2014, 01:45:17 PM »
Parallel Port

This interface is found on the back of older PCs and is used for connecting external devices such as printers or a scanners. It uses a 25-pin connector (DB-25) and is rather large compared to most new interfaces. The parallel port is sometimes called a Centronics interface, since Centronics was the company that designed the original parallel port standard. It is sometimes also referred to as a printer port because the printer is the device most commonly attached to the parallel port. The latest parallel port standard, which supports the same connectors as the Centronics interface, is called the Enhanced Parallel Port (EPP). This standard supports bi-directional communication and can transfer data up to ten times faster than the original Centronics port. However, since the parallel port is a rather dated technology, don't be surprised to see USB or Firewire interfaces completely replace parallel ports in the future.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "P"
« Reply #5 on: April 10, 2014, 01:45:54 PM »
Parse

No, this is not a typo of the word "sparse." The word "parse" means to analyze an object specifically. It is commonly used in computer science to refer to reading program code. For example, after a program is written, whether it be in C++, Java, or any other language, the code needs to be parsed by the compiler in order to be compiled. Web scripts, written in scripting languages such as Perl or PHP, need to be parsed on the Web server so that they can output the correct HTML to a user's browser.

Parsing can also refer to breaking up ordinary text. For example, search engines typically parse search phrases entered by users so that they can more accurately search for each word. Some programs can parse text documents and extract certain information like names or addresses. Spreadsheet programs can turn formatted documents into tables with rows and columns by parsing the text. As you can see, the ways to parse are clearly not sparse.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "P"
« Reply #6 on: April 10, 2014, 01:46:33 PM »
Partition

A partition is a section of a hard disk. When you format a hard disk, you can usually choose the number of partitions you want. The computer will recognize each partition as a separate disk, and each will show up under "My Computer" (Windows) or on the desktop (Macintosh).

So why would you want to create multiple partitions? Well, there are two main reasons. One is if you want to have multiple operating systems on your computer. Typically, an operating system needs to be installed on its own partition so that it won't conflict with other operating systems on the machine. The other reason is that multiple partitions can improve the efficiency of your hard disk. On larger disks, the cluster or block size (which is the minimum amount of space a file can take up), is larger than on small disks. This can result in a waste of disk space if you have a lot of small files. So creating multiple partitions can actually give you more space. Yep, more room for all those MP3s. "Partition" can also be used as a verb, meaning to create multiple partitions.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "P"
« Reply #7 on: April 10, 2014, 01:47:08 PM »
Password

A password is a string of characters used for authenticating a user on a computer system. For example, you may have an account on your computer that requires you to log in. In order to successfully access your account, you must provide a valid username and password. This combination is often referred to as a login. While usernames are generally public information, passwords are private to each user.

Most passwords are comprised of several characters, which can typically include letters, numbers, and most symbols, but not spaces. While it is good to choose a password that is easy to remember, you should not make it so simple that others can guess it. The most secure passwords use a combination of letters and numbers and don not contain actual words.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "P"
« Reply #8 on: April 10, 2014, 01:47:50 PM »
Paste

Just like you can paste a note on a sheet of paper, you can paste data into a document on a computer. The paste function can be used to paste copied data into text documents, images, Web browser address fields, and just about any place where you can enter data. However, to paste data, you first need to copy it to the "Clipboard," which is a temporary storage area in your system's memory, or RAM. This is done by first selecting the data you want to copy and then choosing "Copy" from the program's Edit menu.

Once you have data copied to the Clipboard, you can paste it within the same document or within a different document in the same program. You can even paste copied data into a document within a different program. However, you can typically only paste data into a document with the same kind of data. For example, you cannot paste an image into your Web browser's address field or an audio file into image editing program.

To paste a copied piece of data, select "Paste" from the Edit menu in the program you wish to paste the data in. Text documents or programs with text fields will typically paste the data wherever the flashing cursor is. You can also use the keyboard shortcut "Control-V" for Windows or "Command-V" for the Mac OS to paste the data. The reason the "V" key is used is because the "P" key is usually reserved for the "Print" shortcut and "V" is right next to the "C" key, which is used for copying. So it might not be that intuitive at first, but it makes sense when you think about it. =)

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "P"
« Reply #9 on: April 10, 2014, 01:48:26 PM »
Path

Example: "The path to the Mac OS X iTunes Library is ~/Music/iTunes/iTunes Library."

A path, also known as a "file path" or "directory path," defines the location of a file or folder. Paths can either be relative or absolute. Relative paths describe file and folder locations from the current directory, such as "pdfs/instructions.pdf." Absolute paths define locations of files and folders from the root directory, such as "/Users/[username]/Documents/pdfs/instructions.pdf." Both relative and absolute paths are useful in describing the location of files and folders within a computer's file system.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "P"
« Reply #10 on: April 10, 2014, 01:48:59 PM »
Payload

When data is sent over the Internet, each unit transmitted includes both header information and the actual data being sent. The header identifies the source and destination of the packet, while the actual data is referred to as the payload. Because header information, or overhead data, is only used in the transmission process, it is stripped from the packet when it reaches its destination. Therefore, the payload is the only data received by the destination system.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "P"
« Reply #11 on: April 10, 2014, 01:52:55 PM »
PC

Stands for "Personal computer." PCs are are what most of us use on a daily basis for work or personal use. A typical PC includes a system unit, monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Most PCs today also have a network or Internet connection, as well as ports for connecting peripheral devices, such as digital cameras, printers, scanners, speakers, external hard drives, and other components.

Personal computers allow us to write papers, create spreadsheets, track our finances, play games, and do many other things. If a PC is connected to the Internet, it can be used to browse the Web, check e-mail, communicate with friends via instant messaging programs, and download files. PCs have become such an integral part of our lives that it can be difficult to imagine life without them!

While PC stands for "personal computer," the term can be a bit ambiguous. This is because Macintosh computers are often contrasted with PCs, even though Macs are also technically PCs. However, Apple itself has used the term "PC" to refer to Windows-based machines, as opposed to its own computers, which are called "Macs." While the Mac/PC dilemma remains, PCs can always contrasted with other types of computers, such as mainframes and server computers, such as Web servers and network file servers. In other words, if you use a computer at home or at work, you can safely call it a PC.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "P"
« Reply #12 on: April 10, 2014, 01:53:27 PM »
PCB

Stands for "Printed Circuit Board." A PCB is a thin board made of fiberglass or a similar material. Electrical wires are "printed" onto the board, connecting the central processor to other components on the board. Some examples of PCBs include motherboards, RAM chips, and network interface cards.

Printed circuit boards are sometimes abbreviated as "PC boards," which is fitting, since the boards are commonly used in personal computers. However, PCBs are also found in other types of electronic devices, such as radios, televisions, and computer monitors. Because PCBs are relatively flat, they can also be used in thin devices such as laptops and portable music players.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "P"
« Reply #13 on: April 10, 2014, 01:54:09 PM »
PCI

Stands for "Peripheral Component Interconnect." It is a hardware bus designed by Intel and used in both PCs and Macs. Most add-on cards such as SCSI, Firewire, and USB controllers, use a PCI connection. Some graphics cards use PCI, but most new graphics cards connect to the AGP slot. PCI slots are found in the back of your computer and are about 3.5" long and about 0.5" high. So before you go buy that Firewire expansion card, make sure you have at least one PCI slot available.

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Re: Computer Terms Beginning with "P"
« Reply #14 on: April 10, 2014, 01:54:50 PM »
PCI Express

First came PCI, then PCI-X, then PCI Express. PCI Express can be abbreviated as PCIe or, less commonly and more confusingly, PCX. Unlike earlier PCI standards, PCI Express does not use a parallel bus structure, but instead is a network of serial connections controlled by a hub on the computer's motherboard. This enables PCI Express cards to run significantly faster than previous PCI cards.

Because the PCI Express interface is a serial connection, it does not have a speed measured in Megahertz, like PCI or PCI-X. Instead, its performance is measured in data throughput speeds, which are several times faster than PCI-X. Furthermore, PCI Express is available in x1, x4, x8, and x16 implementations, which increases the bandwidth by the corresponding amount. However, larger implementations require longer PCI Express slots. For example, a x4 slot is larger than a x1 slot and a x16 slot is larger than a x8 slot. A PCI Express card can be inserted in any slot that is large enough for it. For example, a x8 card could be inserted into a x16 slot, but a not a x1 or x4 slot.

Since PCI Express connections can support such fast data transfer rates, they can be used to connect high-speed devices such as Gigabit Ethernet cards and high-end video cards. For this reason, PCI Express is expected to replace both PCI and AGP connections. Fortunately, PCI Express was designed to be backwards compatible with both PCI hardware and software. However, to use a PCI Express card, your computer must have at least one available PCI Express slot.