Tech Dictionary

For tech wizards and n00bs alike. Questions, answers, or just general hoo-haa.

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Ken Vermette

#16 Post by Ken Vermette »

SQL - Structured Query Language - SQL languages are databases used in storing information. SQL systems use tables, sorted by rows and columns. If you were to visually find a piece of data, it would almost be like battleship. SQL databases are popular because they are extremly fast, very efficent, and can store massive amounts of information. Currently MySQL is the most popular language, as it works well with PHP. SQLite, another SQL language, is becoming increasingly popular.

PHP - PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor - Currently one of the leading server-side languages on the internet. PHP is embedded within HTML pages, and as a command-line language. This forum is an example of a PHP generated system.

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#17 Post by Check Source »

Hacking-is a term used both by those who write code and those who exploit it. Even though these two groups of hackers have different end goals, both groups use similar problem-solving techniques. And because an understanding of programming helps theose who exploit, and an understanding of exploitation helps those who program, many hackers do both. There are interesting hacks found in both the techniques used to write elegant code and the techniques used to exploit programs. Hacking is really just the act of finding a clever and counterintuitive solution to a problem.
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#18 Post by Check Source »

TCP/IP Hijacking-TCP/IP hijacking is a clever technique that uses spoofed packets to take over a connection between a victim and a host machine
RST Hijacking-A very simple form of TCP/IP hijacking involves injecting an authentic-looking reset(RST) packet.
DoS Attack-Denial of service attack is another form of RST hijacking, instead of trying to steal information, a DoS attack simply prevents access to a service or resource.
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#19 Post by Check Source »

NOP-No operation
Format Strings-Format-string explotis are a relatively new class of exploit. The ultimate goal of a format-string exploit is to overwrite data in order to control the execution flow of a privileged program.
Direct Parameter Access-Direct parameter access is a way to simplify format-string exploits.
Shell-Spawning Code-Shell-spawning code is simple code that executes a shell.
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#20 Post by GordonFreeman »

Assembly language - A low-level programming language specific to an individual processor type. (IE. x86, x64, SPARC) The main advantage of the language lies in it's quick execution speed and high level of optimization due to the level of control over the processor.

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#21 Post by FastChapter »

PEBCAC - Problem Exists Between Chair and Computer - 95% cause of every error, glitch, hiccup, and lockup a computer can experience, ever.

You didn't use proper form. xD But that's the best acronym here. -DK

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#22 Post by Kakurady »

Kibibit (Kib, Kibit) - 1024 bits (= 128 bytes).
The SI (International System of Units) defines the prefix "kilo-" to be exactly 1 000. In computer usage this is usually approximated with 1 024 (2^10).
All goes well, until storage gets into Gigabyte magnitudes. You see, 2^30 is 1 073 741 824, which is 7% more than 1 billion. So someone came up with the idea to make a new set of prefixes for powers of two.
But not everyone is adopting these prefixes. When you see GB on a hard drive, it's 1 000 000 000 bytes (a billion bytes), but when you see it on your computer it's usually 1 073 741 824 bytes. Except GNOME, which uses Gibibytes.
Also the nickname of a chatter of #twokinds.

Bit Short for "binary digit", is the lowest unit of data in current electronic computers. Takyoji is wrong here. Abbreviated sometimes b.
>Okay, I didn't see the post time, I usually don't look at them... but still... it's been like that for 3 years?
Nibble - Half a byte (4 bits), not 1/5 - 1/8 bytes.
Byte - also called an octet, this is 8 bits, save for some old IBM mainframes that have 9-bit bytes. Abbreviates sometimes B, which also means Bel, but Bel is mostly used in decibel (dB) so....

Kilobit - 1000 bits. Abbreviated kb.
Kibibit - see above.
Kilobyte - Exactly 1 000 bytes, or equal to 1 Kibibyte. Abbreviated kB. Notice the capitalization.
Kibibyte (Kib, Kibit) - 1,024 bytes.

Megabit (Mb) - 1 000 000 bits.
Mebibit (Mib, Mibit) - 1 048 576 bits, or 131 072 bytes.
Megabyte (MB) - 1 000 000 bytes, or equal to 1 Mebibyte.
Mebibyte (MiB) - 1 048 576 bytes. 1024 times larger than a Kibibyte.


Gigabit (Gb) - 1 000 000 000 bits.
Gibibit (Gib, Gibit) - 1 073 741 824 bits, or 134 217 728 bytes.
Gigabyte (GB) - 1 000 000 000 bytes, or equal to 1 Gibibyte.
Gibibyte (GiB) - 1 073 741 824 bytes. 1024 times larger than a Mebibyte.

And so we have a slew of units, each 1000 or 1024 times larger than the one before, Terabyte/Tebibyte, Petabyte/Pebibyte, Exabyte/Exbibyte, Zettabyte/Zebibyte and...

Yes, there still are units larger than Zebibyte!
Yottabit (Yb) - 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 bits.
Yobibit (Yib, Yibit) - 1 208 925 819 614 629 174 706 176 bits, or 151 115 727 451 828 646 838 272 bytes.
Yottabyte (YB) - 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 bytes, or equal to 1 Yobibyte.
Yobibyte (YiB) - 1 208 925 819 614 629 174 706 176 bytes. 1024 times larger than a Zebibyte. As you can see, it's 20% larger than a Yottabyte...

digitalizer - Another name for graphics tablet, as it takes real-world positions and turns them into digits.
dB (Decibel) - A unit for ratio between two values in logarithmic, commonly used in electrical engineering, to describe sound volume and pressure... Umm, can I point to Wikipedia for this?
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#23 Post by avwolf »

I prefer to consider the difference that hard drive manufacturers lie to you and sane people believe in the holy powers of two, Kakurady. ;) Trying to introduce new units to sync with the metric system is simply going to confuse people. And considering I have two degrees and a membership in the IEEE, and your post is the first I've ever heard of those units of measure, my suspicion is that the rest of the computer world rather agrees with me. I could be wrong, but that's my suspicion. Can you source me that one please?

You're right, a decibel is a unit for ratio between two values, generally as measured on a logarithmic scale because decibels fit nicely on a logarithmic scale. It's used to measure energy, thus its use in frequency analysis. The confusing thing about decibels is that, as a unit of ratio, they are effectively unitless themselves.

-- Intriguing --
This is a rather fascinating discussion. I don't have access to the authoritative dictionary, but the Standards Activities Board voted to accept without enforcing the new terms in 2002. In other words, while the new terms are acceptable, so are the old ones as powers of two, and it's generally recommended that anyone using kB as SI-adapted make sure to note the ambiguity. Considering the lack of their use in education, I doubt we'll see any sort of full adoption of them any time soon. Now, I don't know what the official Standards Board decided, however, I only found some SAB minutes I could get access to.

Maybe I should email some of my old professors. I don't think my student id will get me into the library anymore to check the IEEE 100 with their references, and I'm kind of poor to buy subscription to the digital library just for this...
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#24 Post by Kakurady »

Wikipedia (Template:Quantities of bits and Kibibyte - also check out citation #1 - http://www.iec.ch/zone/si/si_bytes.htm ), GNOME System Monitor, or just join #twokinds and ask Kibi. (Note: I'm not Kibi.)

I'll probably continue to say Megabyte over Mebibyte however.
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Re: Tech Dictionary

#25 Post by pitchblack »

GUI - Graphical User Interface, basically what any modern, non-command prompt operating system is.
DVI - Digital Visual Interface, the type of connector most modern computer monitors use.
VGA - Video Graphics Array, can mean many things, but is most ofter heard in VGA connector, the connector most older monitors used.
GPU - Graphics Processing Unit, your videocard
DPI - Dots Per Inch, a measuring unit for the quality of printers and optical/laser mice
SATA - Serial Advanced Technology Attachment - the mainstream hard disk connection port.
eSATA - External SATA
IDE - Integrated Drive Electronics, the old connectors for hard disks. Properly known as PATA
PATA - Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment - see IDE
RAM - Random Access Memory, the primary memory of your computer. The more the better!
DDR - Dual Data Rate, a way of making RAM faster. Current mainstream is DDR2 RAM, high end is DDR3 RAM.
CMOS - Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor, the chip that stores all of your BIOS settings
ROM - Read-Only Memory, usually contains the POST instructions for a computer, in chip form. Also seen as CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, etc.
POST - Power-on Self Test, where your computer checks all devices and makes sure everything is working after you turn it on

Edit: Fixed spelling
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Re: Tech Dictionary

#26 Post by aj »

pitchblack wrote: TSAA - Serial Advanced Technology Attachment - the mainstream hard disk connection port.
...
RAM - Random Access Memory, the primary memory of your computer. The more the better!
SATA - Superseded PATA. Smaller connector (7 pins, flat and rectangular, key on one end) and faster speeds prompted this. Most commonly used with hard drives, but also increasingly seen on CD/DVD/Blu-ray drives.

RAM - 32 bit operating systems can (generally) only use ~3.5GB of RAM, depending on what other equipment is present. Use a 64bit operating system if you have more than 3GB of RAM. (i.e. Vista 64 bit, Windows XP 64 bit, Windows 7 64 bit (currently in beta though), or most recent versions of Linux distros)
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Re: Tech Dictionary

#27 Post by Ashpool »

Just as a side note for people who may have forgotten, this is not a discussion thread. If you want to ask about a term, the question thread is the best place, or you can create a new thread.
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Re: Tech Dictionary

#28 Post by RobbieThe1st »

Because I don't like how you defined LED:
LED - Light Emitting Diode. A small semiconductor device, based on the diode. When this device is forward-biased, energy is released in the form of light. The wavelength of light is dependent on how the device is built.
A typical LED requires about 1.7V to operate(it has a 1.7V forward voltage drop when connected in a series circuit).
LEDs come in a variety of packages, both colored and clear, of all sizes from greater than 5mm to tiny surface-mount components. Despite the differences in package size, the actual light-emitting diode is very small, generally less than 1mm square.
A LED has an extremely long life, small form-factor, and a low drive-voltage.
The light output of an LED depends on the current being used to drive the LED and the type of the LED - common indicator LEDs can only be run up to 15ma(and produce a modest amount of light), whereas you can get power LEDs that take upwards of 1000ma and produce a huge amount of light.

-----------
contrast this with:

Incandescent Lamp(Bulb) - A inert-gas or vacuum filled bulb or tube which has a piece of high-resistance wire inside of it. When a current is passed through this wire, it glows due to heat caused by the resistance of the wire. These are extremely simple devices, and while they are not the best efficiency wise, they are cheap and very common.
Incandescent lamps generally have a light-yellow to white color, and operate on a wide range of voltages depending on the length & diameter of the wire inside. Generally you will find the voltage of these lamps stamped somewhere on them.
One other advantage of these lamps is that because they operate on the principle of resistance, they don't need any external current-limiting device(when run off a constant-voltage source), and so are able to be connected directly to the source. ]



DRM - Digital Rights(or Restrictions) Management refers to access control technologies that prevent full copying/viewing for anyone with a copy of the file. While with an MP3 file you can simply copy it, give it out, and it will be fully playable on any device that supports the format, a file with DRM on it may either only be playable on specific devices, may not allow you to copy it, may delete itself after a period of X days, may only be viewable X times... What restrictions are on a file is dependent on both the technology being used and how the author/whoever set up the restrictions decided to limit.
Apple AAC files can have DRM on them(or not); same with Microsoft WMA files.
There are many other formats for all manner of things that carry one form of DRM or another, not just audio files.


(I could probably write up at least a page on this topic but I am tired and I doubt anyone wants such a long definition.)

-RobbieThe1st

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Re: Tech Dictionary

#29 Post by gangman5 »

High level programming language (HLPL) :
A programming language that uses a high level of abstraction. This allows programmers to be more flexible in writing code and makes writing complex code a world easier. However with the level of abstraction comes abstraction penalty. This is to say that someone is more likely to make an error when writing in a high level language while a Low Level Language gives much more efficient code. it also can slow the processing time and execution of the code, for this reason, a program that has to run very quickly is often written in a Low Level Language. Another draw back is that High level languages have to be compiled before running whcih can take time and memory to perform. some high level languages include: C#, HTML and Java

Example code in C#:

Code: Select all

Chilkat.PrivateKey pvk = new Chilkat.PrivateKey();

boot success;

//  Password is "wiggy"
success = pvk.LoadPvkFile("myKey.pvk","wiggy");
if (success == false) {
    textBox1.Text += pvk.LastErrorText + "\r\n";
    textBox1.Refresh();
    return;
}

//  Save it as XML:
success = pvk.SaveXmlFile("myKey.xml");
if (success == false) {
    textBox1.Text += pvk.LastErrorText + "\r\n";
    textBox1.Refresh();
    return;
}

Very High Level programming language (VHLPL)
A programming language that uses a very very high level of abstraction to write code. Because of being even more abstract that a HLPL, it is usually only used if someone would need to write a goal specific program that only was designed to achieve one type of outcome.

Low Level Programming Language (LLPL):
The opposite to a high level language, often written with little or no use of abstraction. Sometimes referred to as 'Machine code' or 'Assembly language', these languages were used for early computers but are sometimes still be used today due to some of the advantages over HLP languages. one example is that the code doesn't need to be compiled before running which can save time and memory. the code can also be executed faster than a HLP language.

an example of assembly code is:

Code: Select all

fib:
    mov edx, [esp+8]
    cmp edx, 0
    ja @f
    mov eax, 0
    ret
    
    @@:
    cmp edx, 2
    ja @f
    mov eax, 1
    ret
    
    @@:
    push ebx
    mov ebx, 1
    mov ecx, 1
    
    @@:
        lea eax, [ebx+ecx]
        cmp edx, 3
        jbe @f
        mov ebx, ecx
        mov ecx, eax
        dec edx
    jmp @b
    
    @@:
    pop ebx
    ret
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Re: Tech Dictionary

#30 Post by boygenius32 »

HKI error - Human Keyboard Interface error

PEBCAK error - Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard

using these you can insult peoples computer skills without them knowing.

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