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Technology Terminologies

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UNIX

A popular computer software operating system used on many Internet host systems.

upload

To transfer information from a users system to a remote system. Opposite of download.

URL

Uniform Resource Locater. A scheme used to locate a document accessible over the Internet.

Usenet

The network of UNIX users, generally perceived as informal and made up of loosely coupled nodes that exchange mail and messages. Started by Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill. An information cooperative linking around 16,000 computer sites and about 1 million people. Usenet provides a series of "news groups" analogous to on-line conferences.

user

Anyone who uses a computer connected to the Internet.

user-friendly

A system or program that relatively untrained users can interact with easily.

userid

A code that uniquely identifies a user and then provides access privileges to a computer system.

username

Account name or user ID.

utility

A specialized program that performs a frequently required everyday task such as sorting, report program generation, or file updating.

variable

In social science research, for each unit of analysis , each item of data (e.g., age of person, income of family, consumer price index) is called a variable.

virtual

Pertaining to a device or facility that does not physically exist, yet behaves as if it does. For example, a system with 4 megabytes of virtual memory may have only one megabyte of physical memory plus additional (slower and cheaper) auxiliary memory. Yet programs written as if 4 megabytes of physical memory were available will run correctly.

virus

A program that can make a copy of itself without you necessarily being aware of it; some viruses can destroy or damage files, and generally the best protection is to always maintain backups of your files

volume

A physical unit of a storage medium, such as tape reel or disk pack, that is capable of having data recorded on it and subsequently read. Also refers to a contiguous collection of cylinders or blocks on a disk that are treated as a separate unit.

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