Technical Corner > The PC Glossary - Definitions of Computer and Internet Terms

Computer Terms Beginning with "W"

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MysteRy:
Source : PC.net


W3C

Example: "The W3C has developed several HTML, CSS, and XML standards for the Web."

W3C is short for "World Wide Web Consortium." The W3C is an international organization that develops Web standards. It is comprised of a full-time staff, a community of member organizations, and industry experts. By creating and publishing Web standards, the W3C aims to help ensure the long-term growth of the Web. Software developers and device manufacturers can adopt the W3C standards, which helps ensure their programs and equipment will work with the latest Web technologies.

MysteRy:
WAIS

Stands for "Wide Area Information Server." This is a program that can index enormous amounts of information and make it searchable across large networks (including the Internet). People can search the WAIS index and it will return results by relevance. Searches can then be narrowed down by subsequent searches on the original results. Search engines are a new and improved version of WAIS, specifically for the Web.

MysteRy:
WAN

Stands for "Wide Area Network." It is similar to a Local Area Network (LAN), but it's a lot bigger. Unlike LANs, WANs are not limited to a single location. Many wide area networks span long distances via telephone lines, fiber-optic cables, or satellite links. They can also be composed of smaller LANs that are interconnected. The Internet could be described as the biggest WAN in the world. You could even call the Internet a Super WAN BAM if you wanted to. Or maybe not.

MysteRy:
Waveform

A waveform is an image that represents an audio signal or recording. It shows the changes in amplitude over a certain amount of time. The amplitude of the signal is measured on the y-axis (vertically), while time is measured on the x-axis (horizontally).

Most audio recording programs show waveforms to give the user a visual idea of what has been recorded. If the waveform is very low and not pronounced, the recording was probably very soft. It the waveform almost fills the entire image, the recording may have been too "hot" or recorded with the levels set too high. Changes in a waveform are also good indicators as too when certain parts of a recording take place. For example, the waveform may be small when there is just a vocalist singing, but may become much larger when the drums and guitar come in. This visual representation enables audio producers to locate certain parts of a song without even listening to the recording.

MysteRy:
Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is term that was introduced in 2004 and refers to the second generation of the World Wide Web. The term "2.0" comes from the software industry, where new versions of software programs are labeled with an incremental version number. Like software, the new generation of the Web includes new features and functionality that was not available in the past. However, Web 2.0 does not refer to a specific version of the Web, but rather a series of technological improvements.

Some examples of features considered to be part of Web 2.0 are listed below:

Blogs - also known as Web logs, these allow users to post thoughts and updates about their life on the Web.

Wikis - sites like Wikipedia and others enable users from around the world to add and update online content.

Social networking - sites like Facebook and MySpace allow users to build and customize their own profile sand communicate with friends.

Web applications - a broad range of new applications make it possible for users to run programs directly in a Web browser.

Web 2.0 technologies provide a level user interaction that was not available before. Websites have become much more dynamic and interconnected, producing "online communities" and making it even easier to share information on the Web. Because most Web 2.0 features are offered as free services, sites like Wikipedia and Facebook have grown at amazingly fast rates. As the sites continue to grow, more features are added, building off the technologies in place. So, while Web 2.0 may be a static label given to the new era of the Web, the actual technology continues to evolve and change.

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