Computer Terms Beginning with "C"

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Configuration

In the computing world, when people talk about their computer configuration, they are referring to the technical specifications, or the "tech specs" of their computer. These specs typically include processor speed, the amount of RAM, hard drive space, and the type of video card in the machine. While there are many other advanced specifications that you could list, if you know the four mentioned above, most computer geeks will grant you acceptance into their conversation.

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Contextual Menu

A contextual menu is a pop-up menu that appears when you right-click on a certain area of the screen. It is "contextual" because the menu options are relevant to what you click on. While not all programs support contextual menus, most modern operating systems and applications include them as part of the interface design.

Contextual menus provide a choice of options that depend on where the cursor is when you click the right mouse button. For example, if you right-click on your computer's desktop, the menu that appears will have desktop-specific commands. These may include options to change the desktop background, create a new folder, clean up the icons, or view the desktop properties. If you right-click within a desktop window, you might see options to create a new folder, change the view options, or view the folder properties.

Right-clicking within an application typically provides menu options that are specific to the current program. For example, if you right-click in a Web browser window, the menu that appears may include options such as "Back," "Reload," and "Print." Right-clicking a misspelled word in a word processing program often presents a list of similar correctly spelled words. If you right-click a picture in an image-editing program, you may see a choice of editing options. These are just a few examples of the many contextual menus included in different programs.

It may be helpful to think of a contextual menu of as a streamlined menu bar. This is because they typically contain many of the same options as the program's main menu, but only include the choices relevant to the location you clicked. Therefore, contextual menus can be a quick and efficient way of selecting the option you need. So next time you use your favorite program, try right-clicking in different areas of the screen. You might find some pretty useful options you didn't even know existed!

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Control Panel

The Control Panel is a feature of the Windows operating system that allows the user to modify system settings and controls. It includes several small applications, or control panels, that can be used to view and change hardware or software settings. Some examples of hardware control panels are Display, Keyboard, and Mouse settings. Software control panels include Date and Time, Power Options, Fonts, and Administrative Tools.

Many control panels are included as part of the Windows operating system, but others can be installed by third-party applications or utilities. For example, if you add a new mouse to your computer, it may come with a CD for installing a control panel specific for that mouse. Some graphics cards may also install an additional control panel that gives the user greater control over the computer's visual settings. Regardless of when control panels are installed, they can always be found within the Control Panel folder.

The Windows Control Panel can be accessed by clicking the Start menu and selecting Control Panel. It is also available in the "Other Places" section of the window's sidebar when you open My Computer. In Windows XP and Windows Vista the Control Panel can be viewed in either Category View or Classic View. Category View arranges the control panels into sections, while Classic View shows them all at once. While the Category View is designed to make locating different settings easier, people familiar with most of the control panels often find the Classic View more efficient.

Control Panels were also used for many years by the Mac OS, through Mac OS 9. However, with the introduction of Mac OS X, control panels were consolidated into a single interface called System Preferences. The control panels themselves are now called "Preference Panes" in Mac OS X. They can be accessed by selecting "System Preferences" from the Apple menu or by clicking the System Preferences icon in the Dock.

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Controller Card

The controller card, or simply "controller," is a piece of hardware that acts as the interface between the motherboard and the other components of the computer. For example, hard drives, optical drives, printers, keyboards, and mice all require controllers to work. Most computers have all the necessary controllers built in the motherboard as chips, not full-sized cards. However, if you add additional components such as a SCSI hard drive, you may need to add a controller card as well. Controller cards are typically installed in one of the computer's PCI slots.

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Cookie

It seems like everyone who tries to explain what a cookie is just has to make a joke out of it (because of the name), so I'm not even going to bother. In computer terminology, a cookie is data sent to your computer by a Web server that records your actions on a certain Web site. It's a lot like a preference file for a typical computer program. When you visit the site after being sent the cookie, the site will load certain pages according to the information stored in the cookie.

For example, some sites can remember information like your user name and password, so you don't have to re-enter it each time you visit the site. Cookies are what allow you to have personalized web sites like "My Excite" or "My Yahoo," where you can customize what is displayed on the page. While cookies have many benefits, some people don't like to have their information recorded by Web sites that they visit. For this reason, most Web browsers have an option to accept or deny cookies. Personally, I like cookies -- I think they taste great too.

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Copy

Many software programs allow you to copy data, such as text in Microsoft Word or an image in Adobe Photoshop. To copy a piece of data, you need to first select it (or highlight it) and choose "Copy" from the Edit menu within the program. Most programs allow you to use the keyboard shortcut "Control-C" for Windows or "Command-C" for the Mac OS.

When you copy a piece of data, it is moved to a buffer in the system's memory called the "Clipboard." This is a temporary storage area in your computer's RAM that holds the most recent item that has been copied. Of course, copying isn't very helpful if you can't use the data somewhere else. To insert the copied data into a document, choose "Paste" from the Edit menu and the data will be pasted into the document.

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Copyright

Example: "Original websites are automatically protected by copyright law."

Copyright protects an author's original work from being copied and republished by others. It gives the author exclusive publication and distribution rights, which means others cannot republish the content without the author's consent. Copyright applies to many types of content, including literary works, artwork, music, video, and digital publications, such as websites and blogs.

In most countries, copyright protection is automatic. However, for highly valuable content, copyrights may be registered with a central agency. Most websites and blogs are protected by automatic copyright, though many include a basic copyright line near the bottom of each page. This short line of text, which often includes the "©" symbol, lets users know the page contains copyrighted content.

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CPA

Stands for "Cost Per Action," and is used in online advertising. CPA defines how much revenue a publisher receives when a user clicks an advertisement on his website and then completes a certain action. For example, a publisher may place a banner or text link from an advertiser on his website. When a user clicks the link, she is directed to the advertiser's website. She might then be asked to fill out a form or take a survey. If she completes the form or survey, the action has been completed, and the advertiser pays the publisher a certain amount based on the CPA.

CPA and CPL (cost per lead) are often used interchangeably, though CPA is more generic.

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CPC

Stands for "Cost Per Click," and is used in online advertising. CPC defines how much revenue a publisher receives each time a user clicks an advertisement link on his website. For example, a publisher may place text or image-based ads on his website. When a visitor clicks one of the advertisements, he or she is directed to the advertiser's website. Each click is recorded by the advertiser's tracking system and the publisher is paid a certain amount based on the CPC.

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CPL

Stands for "Cost Per Lead," and is used in online advertising. CPL defines how much revenue a publisher receives when he creates a lead for an advertiser. For example, the publisher may place an ad for an investment site on his website. If a user clicks on the advertisement link, she is directed to the advertiser's website where she can sign up for an investment account. If she chooses to sign up, a lead has been created and the publisher is paid a certain amount based on the CPL.

CPL and CPA (cost per action) are often used interchangeably, though CPL is more specific.

[MysteRy]

CPM

Stands for "Cost Per 1,000 Impressions," and is used in online advertising. CPM defines the cost an advertiser pays for 1,000 impressions of an advertisement, such as a banner ad or other promotion. An impression is counted each time an advertisement is shown.

While some advertisers pay publishers an amount based strictly on impressions, most advertisers pay for individual clicks or leads generated from their advertisements. Therefore, in Web advertising, it may be more effective to measure pay per click (PPC) or pay per lead (PPL) rates. Either way, the advertiser's goal is to generate as many leads as possible by keeping the rates as low as possible.

Web publishers also use the CPM to measure the revenue per 1,000 impressions. While technically this should be "revenue per 1,000 impressions," or RPM, the terms CPM and RPM are often used interchangeably from the publisher's perspective.

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CPS

Stands for "Classroom Performance System." CPS refers to a technology system that is used for educational purposes within a classroom. It includes both hardware and software that works together to create a modern, interactive learning environment for students. A typical CPS classroom setup includes a projector, a CPS Chalkboard, a computer running CPS software, and response pads that are given to the students.

In a CPS-enabled classroom, the teacher can use a handheld CPS Chalkboard to give lessons or tests that are visually displayed on the projector. The students can interact with the lesson or test by using the response pads, which are similar to remote controls. Each response pad has several buttons (i.e. A through H), which can be used to answer test questions displayed on the projector in real-time. This allows each student to answer every question in a more systematic way than everyone yelling out the answer at one time.

CPS has been shown to improve kids' learning capabilities and retention of subject matter. Because each student is able to interact with every aspect of the lesson, CPS can significantly increase students' interest in the subject matter. Considering how difficult it can be to keep kids' attention these days, many teachers may find CPS to be a welcome new technology.

[MysteRy]

CPU

Stands for "Central Processing Unit." This is the pretty much the brain of your computer. It processes everything from basic instructions to complex functions. Any time something needs to be computed, it gets sent to the CPU. Every day, it's compute this, compute that -- you'd think the CPU would need a break after awhile. But no -- it just keeps on processing. The CPU can also be referred to simply as the "processor."

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CRM

Stands for "Customer Relationship Management." This is a business term that started somewhere in the deep abyss of the IT (Information Technology) world. CRM refers to solutions and strategies for managing businesses' relationships with customers. (I suppose that's why they call it customer relationship management). With the advent of Web retailing, companies have found it hard to develop relationships with customers since the e-commerce interface is so impersonal. After all, don't you miss the firm handshake and sparkling smile of the salesperson who just sold you the most expensive computer system in the store? Well, whether or not you miss the personal experience of the retail store, the goal of CRM is to give you that feeling when you buy products over the Internet. When it comes to CRM, customer service is the number one priority. Yes, all companies seem to make that claim, but when online businesses create CRM models, it really is the case.

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Cron

Also known as a "cron job," a cron is a process or task that runs periodically on a Unix system. Some examples of crons include syncing the time and date via the Internet every ten minutes, sending an e-mail notice once a week, or backing up certain directories every month.

Crons can be scheduled using the Unix "crontab" command. The jobs are stored in a crontab file and are run by the system at their scheduled times. Or course, if you're not using Unix, you will not need to use a cron, or even know what one is. But, if you've read this far, it certainly is a good term for impressing your friends.