Computer See

keyboard shortcuts for Word 2002, Word 2003, and Word 2007

2010-04-30T17:06:00.000-07:00

All Caps CTRL+SHIFT+A

Annotation ALT+CTRL+M

App Maximize ALT+F10

App Restore ALT+F5

Apply Heading1 ALT+CTRL+1

Apply Heading2 ALT+CTRL+2

Apply Heading3 ALT+CTRL+3

Apply List Bullet CTRL+SHIFT+L

Auto Format ALT+CTRL+K

Auto Text F3 or ALT+CTRL+V

Bold CTRL+B or CTRL+SHIFT+B

Bookmark CTRL+SHIFT+F5

Browse Next CTRL+PAGE DOWN

Browse Previous CTRL+PAGE UP

Browse Sel ALT+CTRL+HOME

Cancel ESC

Center Para CTRL+E

Change Case SHIFT+F3

Char Left LEFT

Char Left Extend SHIFT+LEFT

Char Right RIGHT

Char Right Extend SHIFT+RIGHT

Clear DELETE

Close or Exit ALT+F4

Close Pane ALT+SHIFT+C

Column Break CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER

Column Select CTRL+SHIFT+F8

Copy CTRL+C or CTRL+INSERT

Copy Format CTRL+SHIFT+C

Copy Text SHIFT+F2

Create Auto Text ALT+F3

Customize Add Menu ALT+CTRL+=

Customize Keyboard ALT+CTRL+NUM +

Customize Remove Menu ALT+CTRL+-

Cut CTRL+X or SHIFT+DELETE

Date Field ALT+SHIFT+D

Delete Back Word CTRL+BACKSPACE

Delete Word CTRL+DELETE

Dictionary ALT+SHIFT+F7

Do Field Click ALT+SHIFT+F9

Doc Close CTRL+W or CTRL+F4

Doc Maximize CTRL+F10

Doc Move CTRL+F7

Doc Restore CTRL+F5

Doc Size CTRL+F8

Doc Split ALT+CTRL+S

Double Underline CTRL+SHIFT+D

End of Column ALT+PAGE DOWN

End of Column ALT+SHIFT+PAGE DOWN

End of Doc Extend CTRL+SHIFT+END

End of Document CTRL+END

End of Line END

End of Line Extend SHIFT+END

End of Row ALT+END

End of Row ALT+SHIFT+END

End of Window ALT+CTRL+PAGE DOWN

End of Window Extend ALT+CTRL+SHIFT+PAGE DOWN

Endnote Now ALT+CTRL+D

Extend Selection F8

Field Chars CTRL+F9

Field Codes ALT+F9

Find CTRL+F

Font CTRL+D or CTRL+SHIFT+F

Font Size Select CTRL+SHIFT+P

Footnote Now ALT+CTRL+F

Go Back SHIFT+F5 or ALT+CTRL+Z

Go To CTRL+G or F5

Grow Font CTRL+SHIFT+.

Grow Font One Point CTRL+]

Hanging Indent CTRL+T

Header Footer Link ALT+SHIFT+R

Help F1

Hidden CTRL+SHIFT+H

Hyperlink CTRL+K

Indent CTRL+M

Italic CTRL+I or CTRL+SHIFT+I

Justify Para CTRL+J

Left Para CTRL+L

Line Down DOWN

Line Down Extend SHIFT+DOWN

Line Up UP

Line Up Extend SHIFT+UP

List Num Field ALT+CTRL+L

Lock Fields CTRL+3 or CTRL+F11

Macro ALT+F8

Mail Merge Check ALT+SHIFT+K

Mail Merge Edit Data Source ALT+SHIFT+E

Mail Merge to Doc ALT+SHIFT+N

Mail Merge to Printer ALT+SHIFT+M

Mark Citation ALT+SHIFT+I

Mark Index Entry ALT+SHIFT+X

Mark Table of Contents Entry ALT+SHIFT+O

Menu Mode F10

Merge Field ALT+SHIFT+F

Microsoft Script Editor ALT+SHIFT+F11

Microsoft System Info ALT+CTRL+F1

Move Text F2

New CTRL+N

Next Cell TAB

Next Field F11 or ALT+F1

Next Misspelling ALT+F7

Next Object ALT+DOWN

Next Window CTRL+F6 or ALT+F6

Normal ALT+CTRL+N

Normal Style CTRL+SHIFT+N or ALT+SHIFT+CLEAR (NUM 5)

Open CTRL+O or CTRL+F12 or ALT+CTRL+F2

Open or Close Up Para CTRL+0

Other Pane F6 or SHIFT+F6

Outline ALT+CTRL+O

Outline Collapse ALT+SHIFT+- or ALT+SHIFT+NUM -

Outline Demote ALT+SHIFT+RIGHT

Outline Expand ALT+SHIFT+=

Outline Expand ALT+SHIFT+NUM +

Outline Move Down ALT+SHIFT+DOWN

Outline Move Up ALT+SHIFT+UP

Outline Promote ALT+SHIFT+LEFT

Outline Show First Line ALT+SHIFT+L

Overtype INSERT

Page ALT+CTRL+P

Page Break CTRL+ENTER

Page Down PAGE DOWN

Page Down Extend SHIFT+PAGE DOWN

Page Field ALT+SHIFT+P

Page Up PAGE UP

Page Up Extend SHIFT+PAGE UP

Para Down CTRL+DOWN

Para Down Extend CTRL+SHIFT+DOWN

Para Up CTRL+UP

Para Up Extend CTRL+SHIFT+UP

Paste CTRL+V or SHIFT+INSERT

Paste Format CTRL+SHIFT+V

Prev Cell SHIFT+TAB

Prev Field SHIFT+F11 or ALT+SHIFT+F1

Prev Object ALT+UP

Prev Window CTRL+SHIFT+F6 or ALT+SHIFT+F6

Print CTRL+P or CTRL+SHIFT+F12

Print Preview CTRL+F2 or ALT+CTRL+I

Proofing F7

Redo ALT+SHIFT+BACKSPACE

Redo or Repeat CTRL+Y or F4 or ALT+ENTER

Repeat Find SHIFT+F4 or ALT+CTRL+Y

Replace CTRL+H

Reset Char CTRL+SPACE or CTRL+SHIFT+Z

Reset Para CTRL+Q

Revision Marks Toggle CTRL+SHIFT+E

Right Para CTRL+R

Save CTRL+S or SHIFT+F12 or ALT+SHIFT+F2

Save As F12

Select All CTRL+A or CTRL+CLEAR (NUM 5) or CTRL+NUM 5

Select Table ALT+CLEAR (NUM 5)

Show All CTRL+SHIFT+8

Show All Headings ALT+SHIFT+A

Show Heading1 ALT+SHIFT+1

Show Heading2 ALT+SHIFT+2

Show Heading3 ALT+SHIFT+3

Show Heading4 ALT+SHIFT+4

Show Heading5 ALT+SHIFT+5

Show Heading6 ALT+SHIFT+6

Show Heading7 ALT+SHIFT+7

Show Heading8 ALT+SHIFT+8

Show Heading9 ALT+SHIFT+9

Shrink Font CTRL+SHIFT+,

Shrink Font One Point CTRL+[

Small Caps CTRL+SHIFT+K

Space Para1 CTRL+1

Space Para15 CTRL+5

Space Para2 CTRL+2

Spike CTRL+SHIFT+F3 or CTRL+F3

Start of Column ALT+PAGE UP

Start of Column ALT+SHIFT+PAGE UP

Start of Doc Extend CTRL+SHIFT+HOME

Start of Document CTRL+HOME

Start of Line HOME

Start of Line Extend SHIFT+HOME

Start of Row ALT+HOME

Start of Row ALT+SHIFT+HOME

Start of Window ALT+CTRL+PAGE UP

Start of Window Extend ALT+CTRL+SHIFT+PAGE UP

Style CTRL+SHIFT+S

Subscript CTRL+=

Superscript CTRL+SHIFT+=

Symbol Font CTRL+SHIFT+Q

Thesaurus SHIFT+F7

Time Field ALT+SHIFT+T

Toggle Field Display SHIFT+F9

Toggle Master Subdocs CTRL+\

Tool SHIFT+F1

Un Hang CTRL+SHIFT+T

Un Indent CTRL+SHIFT+M

Underline CTRL+U or CTRL+SHIFT+U

Undo CTRL+Z or ALT+BACKSPACE

Unlink Fields CTRL+6 or CTRL+SHIFT+F9

Unlock Fields CTRL+4 or CTRL+SHIFT+F11

Update Auto Format ALT+CTRL+U

Update Fields F9 or ALT+SHIFT+U

Update Source CTRL+SHIFT+F7

VBCode ALT+F11

Web Go Back ALT+LEFT

Web Go Forward ALT+RIGHT

Word Left CTRL+LEFT

Word Left Extend CTRL+SHIFT+LEFT

Word Right CTRL+RIGHT

Word Right Extend CTRL+SHIFT+RIGHT

Word Underline CTRL+SHIFT+W

Reference: http://support.microsoft.com

PERSONAL COMPUTER HISTORY

2008-04-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

In order to properly understand and appreciate the progress we have made and to
anticipate the continued evolution of the industry, let's look at the progress of the
computer. What precisely is a computer? Machines that helped people do computation
have been around for almost 150 years (Brigham Young invented a device to calculate the
number of miles a wagon traveled by counting the number of wheel rotations). There
have been all types of machines built to compute or measure various things (there’s even
one that will compute a logarithm).
Most of these machines are “analog” or value-based. So they can represent any value
between zero to one equally as well as zero to a million. An example of an analog device
is the odometer on your car (please note that these may not be true analog, but the concept
still holds). Whether you move the car one inch vs. one thousand miles, it makes little
difference—your car still retains the distance, thus further depreciating it’s value.
There was another type of machine which used a magnet-powered switch which would
close the switch when the electromagnet was turned on (this kind of switch is a “relay”).
Telegraph used crude relays. The advantage of using switches (either “on” or “off”—
called “digital”), the results would always be predictable (the value will always be zero or
one). Analog devices always have to be tuned (just try to put a different sized tire on your
car). The problem with relays is the power required and delay experienced was too great
to make them into a computational device. Early computers went a different route by
using electron (or vacuum) tubes.
Vacuum tubes have been used for power amplifiers, but they could also be used as
switches as well and would function many times faster than the relays would. The idea
was pretty simple: the tube had three plates. The first plate was the source power, the
second was the destination, and the third was the “switch.” The electrons would at the
source would gather but would not be able to get to the destination unless power was
applied to the “switch-plate.” Think of it like having scuffed your feet on the floor to
generate static electricity then getting close to something (or someone) you want to zap—
still they’re too far away. You need something to close the gap. That’s something like
what the “switch plate” does.
Memories and calculations were held and completed by turning on and off thousands of
these switches.
However, vacuum tubes still required tons of equipment and megawatts of power. The
proverbial add/subtract/multiply/divide calculator on your wrist used to take up an entire
building floor and require many megawatts.
In the mid 1950s, a special little switch was invented that has thus reshaped our history:
the transistor. The power (no pun, honestly!) in this little thing was it’s size (less than .
1”—compared to 3-4” for a vacuum tube) and its power (much less than a watt—
compared to 5-10 watts).
Modern computers are composed of millions and millions of these transistors switches.
Like the vacuum tubes, the transistors are arranged in arrays to accomplish what we ask
of them. Your computer memory alone has millions of transistors—one megabyte has
one million bytes or eight million bits. That’s more than 8,000,000 transistors!
Personal computers have been around as early as the mid-1970s. The companies
involved include Apple, Commodore, Atari, Synclair, to name a few. The first chips for
these computers only had 10-50 thousand transistors. At the time personal computers
were not taken seriously and were infrequently found in the workplace.
The first attempt to make a business-directed personal computer was by Apple when they
introduced the LisaÔ computer. That was a failure—mostly do due to the $7000 price
tag. The next was the MacintoshÔ which was better received. The growth of personal
computers did not really take off until IBM entered the market. From their open
architecture, hundreds and thousands of computer companies sprang up. All the while
technology advanced at a tremendous rate. Also, due to advances in chip manufacturing,
the prices plummeted.
1.2.1MICROPROCESSOR REVOLUTION/EVOLUTION
The microprocessor, from the onset of personal computers, has been the driving force of
hardware and software technology. There a couple primary claims to the first
microprocessor, but the concept of placing all the computing power on a single literally
was revolutionary. In fact, many of the first microprocessors (as old as 25 years!) are still
being manufactured and used as simple control units in various appliances and machines.
As the processor became more powerful, the supporting hardware and software became
more powerful and complex. Simply, a processor takes commands from memory and
does things with them. Think of it like your math teacher telling you each step to solve a
problem. These steps are repeated over and over—the computer does not learn, rather
has to follow each command issued to it the same as the day before. Here we need to
clarify a few things: processor families and clock speeds.
1.2.1.1Processor Families
Think of some kind of blender in the kitchen. It originally had a dial to select the speed:
either blend or liquefy; then, a new model of the same blender came out with buttons.
Now, the modern model has “flash” or “chop” modes that only run while you are holding
the button. These extra capabilities which may not seem all that significant are called
“features.” The sequence of blenders from the original design is called a “product
family.” Microprocessors have these families as well—in fact, they are far more crucial to
the industry than that of the blenders'. Because software was written for an old processor,
the industry does not want to rewrite the software for the new one. This is called
“backwards compatibility.”
1.2.1.2Clock Speeds
The clock is like the rhythm to a song: each word is sung to each beat; the faster the beat,
the faster we can complete the song. Generally, the processor obeys (called “executes”)
each command in a certain number of clock beats (called “clock ticks”). The faster the
clock the faster things get done.
“Wait a minute, why is the next family member faster than the first at the same clock
rate?” you might hear (e.g. the Pentium/66 is twice as fast as a 486/66). It is the aim of
each processor generation to do things faster and better than the generation before. The
80286 processor required about 50 clock ticks to complete a multiplication. The next
generation (80386) only took 10 clock ticks! Again, the more you can do within a clock
tick and the faster the clock, more can be done in less time.
You may think that naming processors with numbers might be rather sterile and boring.
Well, they are. In fact, until recently processors and chips were given numbers for names
(e.g. Z80, 6502, 68000, etc.). Now we have the Pentium and the Pentium Pro (this last
one was “quite original”). Most of the time, the numbers follow a sequence: the bigger
the number within a family, the faster/better/more complex it is. Then as time passed
individual processors could go varying speeds (the 80386 entered the market running a
dazzling 16MHz; about six months later Intel introduced the 20 and 25MHz versions,
25% and 56% faster, respectively).
1.2.1.3Faster is Better
In 1985, the primary competing processors were 8088/8086, 68000 and Z80 (these only
had 20-50 thousand transistors). These processors were considered “state of the art”.
However, if you think about the sheer speed processing we can do now, these were plain,
dog slow. For example, the Pentium/100 is easily 200x faster than the first IBM PC.
That means that the Pentium processor can run the same software as the first IBM PC but
will be blazingly faster. The latest processor (Pentium Pro) has 5.5 million transistors for
the CPU alone.

WHAT PIECES ARE FOUND IN A COMPUTER?

2008-04-19T20:00:00.000-07:00

Adapter

Most of the time it refers to a card that plugs into the motherboard adding special capabilities not originally found on the computer. Other times it refers to tools to convert one connector type to another.

Cables

A thick wire that connects the computer to the external device or power. Cache An interface between the CPU and the memory (RAM and ROM). It helps the CPU keep running even though the RAM may be too slow. It does this by keeping a copy of what the processor has read/written.

Card Slot

The slots found on the PC motherboard may be one of five types: ISA, EISA, MCA, VESA & PCI.. Slower adapters (like I/O boards) can be ISA. But for the best performance, use VESA or PCI for harddrives, CD-ROMs or Video adapters. Cards An option (adapter) which is a printed circuit board that plugs into the motherboard.

CD-ROM

A disk made of plastic and aluminum which can store up to 650MB of data. Usually these disks cannot be written to, instead they often are used to distribute software from companies.

CPU Central Processing Unit.

The “brain” of the computer. It executes commands which, eventually, we see as a response to our input. Without the CPU, the computer is nothing.

Disk

A storage medium to keep data while the computer is turned off.

DRAM

RAM that uses a device called a “capacitor” to store each bit. The problem with this is the capacitor loses the charge very quickly. Therefore, the DRAM has to be “refreshed” to keep the data valid. This is thus far the cheapest RAM.

DVD

The next generation CD-ROM which will store 10-20x the current capacity.

Floppy

A disk that has flexible media (the actual material onto which the data is recorded). The material and flexibility is a lot like that of a cassette tape. Glidepoint A mouse-replacement that has a little pad that you can use to move the mouse pointer. Simply glide your finger over the surface and the pointer will move. To “click”, tap the pad. To “double-click” double-tap the pad.

Harddisk

A medium to store data for the computer while the power is out. It uses a hard material (typically aluminum). Keyboard A typewriter-like tool that has keys. Sends letters or commands to the computer.

Microprocessor
A CPU that composes only one chip. Some CPUs may actually be several square feet is size; but, the microprocessor is designed to be 100% self-contained in a single chip.

Modem

A device that will let your computer talk to other computers through the telephone line.

Monitor

The CRT or display that shows the words, graphics, etc., to the user. It is a critical part of a user’s interface.

Motherboard

A printed circuit board that has (at least) slots to connect cards into. Often, they also include a CPU and memory.

Mouse

An input device which has one to three buttons and when you move it, it causes the arrow in a Windows display to move.

Open
Architecture

The original computer companies hid their secrets from competitors by keeping their architecture closed (proprietary). IBM made the IBM PC an open architecture, allowing anyone to make options for it.

Parallel

A type of port which transmits and receives several bits of data at a time (typically 8 bits). Typically used to connect to printers.

Ports

Connectors (usually in the back of the computer) which connect to external devices (e.g. mouse, keyboard, modem, printer, display, etc.)

Power supply

A basic component in the computer that converts the outlet power into power that the computer can use.

Printer

An external device that takes commands and data from the computer to place on paper. There are several types of printers: daisy-wheel, matrix, laser, thermal, inkjet, and plotter.

RAM “Random Access Memory“.

A pool of storage for the CPU. It can be written to/read from in any order (unlike a VCR tape which is serial— you have to wind to the place you want). There are several types of RAM: SRAM, DRAM, EDO-RAM.

ROM

“Read Only Memory“. Memory that has imprinted in it data and programs for the CPU which cannot be erased or written to.

Scanner

An external device that is able to optically read in printed material—kind of like a copier, but it stores the image on the computer instead.

Serial

A type of port that transmits only one bit at a time. In order to send a byte of data, the data has to be “turned on its side” and send out bit by
bit.

SRAM

RAM that does not “lose its mind” if not refreshed. This is typically used in caches. It tends to be much more complicated than DRAM and thus much more costly.

Surge
protector

A device that will isolate your computer from outlet power problems (spikes and noise).

Trackball

A mouse replacement that is a small box with a ball in the center. You roll the ball in the direction you want the pointer to go.

Trackpoint

A mouse replacement with a little rubber post between the “g” and “h” keys on some laptop computers. Gently push the post in the direction you want the mouse pointer to go.

UPS “Uninterruptable Power Supply”.

This is a box that is like a surge protector but will keep you going even if you lose power. You can plug your computer into. If you have a brown- or black-out, this unit will keep you running for 3 minutes to an hour (certainly enough time to save your work and shutdown the computer).

BASICS OF COMPUTERS - ONE

2008-04-19T19:55:00.000-07:00

BASICS OF COMPUTERS - ONE

Name:__________________________ Date:______________

Instructions: Circle the correct answer or enter the correct answer in the space provided after reading the Additional Comments or as per your Knowledge.

_____________1. The Internet is made of many computers connected to each other through 'Communication-Lines'

True

False

Additional Comments:
Broadband over power lines (BPL), also known as power-line Internet or Powerband, is the use of PLC technology to provide broadband Internet access through ordinary power lines. A computer (or any other device) would need only to plug a BPL 'modem' into any outlet in an equipped building to have high-speed Internet access. BPL seems, at first glance, to offer benefits relative to regular cable or DSL connections: the extensive infrastructure already available would appear to allow people in remote locations to have access to the Internet with relatively little equipment investment by the utility. Also, such ubiquitous availability would make it much easier for other electronics, such as televisions or sound systems, to hook up. PLC modems transmit in medium and high frequency (1.6 to 80 MHz electric carrier). The asymmetric speed in the modem is generally from 256 kbit/s to 2.7 Mbit/s. In the repeater situated in the meter room the speed is up to 45 Mbit/s and can be connected to 256 PLC modems. In the medium voltage stations, the speed from the head ends to the Internet is up to 135 Mbit/s. To connect to the Internet, utilities can use optical fiber backbone or wireless link. Power line communication (PLC), also called power line carrier, mains communication, power line telecom (PLT), or power line networking (PLN), are terms describing several different systems for using electric power lines to carry information over the powerline.

_____________2. The URL, or Web-Address, displayed in the address bar generally indicates:

(a) The name and location of the current document
(b) The Size of the currently displayed document
(c) Your favorite link
(d) The Availability of the Server.

_____________3. The Microsoft's Internet Explorer enables the user to:

(a) Create professional graphics (An image that is generated by a computer i.e. Icon or pictures)
(b) Visit the World Wide Web (Computer network consisting of a collection of Internet sites that offer text and graphics and sound and animation resources through the hypertext transfer protocol-HTTP)
(c) Configure your Windows System (Instrumentality that combines interrelated interacting artifacts-A man-made object taken as a whole designed to work as a coherent ordered and logical entity)

_____________4. What generally happens when user click a link, or Hyperlink? (A link from a hypertext {Machine-readable text that is not sequential but is organized so that related items of information are connected, It is a part of object-oriented database, Hyperlink or link has two ends: A Source and a Destination} file to another location or file; typically activated by clicking on a highlighted word or icon at a particular location on the screen)

(a) The Internet Explorer (A commercial browser which is part of MS Windows - A Software/ application program {A program that gives a computer instructions that provide the user with tools to accomplish a task} used to view/ browse HTML documents) program closes.
(b) The document (a computer file that contains text (and possibly formatting instructions) using seven-bit ASCII characters) represented by the link is displayed.
(c) The current document is redisplayed.
(d) You're prompted to enter the URL (The address of a web page on the world wide web known as uniform resource locator or universal resource locator) of the document.

_____________5. To return to pages you've visited, you use which buttons?

(a) Back and Forward
(b) Back and Home
(c) Stop and Refresh
(d) Back and Refresh

_____________6. What enables the user to access other pages on the World Wide Web, which can be offered by any organization in the world?
(a) Text (textual matter - The words of something written)
(b) Pictures (A visual {optical or Visible} representation (of an object or scene or person or abstraction) produced on a raster or vector surface
(c) Navigation (The mechanism through which a user on WWW travels from one webpage {A document connected to the World Wide Web and viewable by anyone connected to the Internet who has a web browser} to another or from one location to another)
(d) Sound (Utter with vibrating vocal chords or which make a certain noise and which could be a particular auditory effect produced by a given cause i.e. Voice or noisiness)
(e) Videos (The visible part of a transmission (computer science - visual communication {Communication that relies on vision}) the appearance of text and graphics on a video display)
(f) None of these

Additional Comments:
Navigation: For a successful navigation design, it's important to consider the interface as well. The interface is the intermediary between users and content, an interpreter and guide to the complexities of a site. In the graphical environment of the Web, interface design has to do with constructing visual meaning. The happy marriage of architecture and interface--of logical structure and visual meaning--creates a cohesive user experience. This marriage is crucial to helping users get around on the Web.

_____________7. Web Pages are written in a special programming language called as:

(a) Hypertext Markup Language {A set of tags and rules (conforming to SGML - a standardized language for the descriptive markup of documents; a set of rules for using whatever markup vocabulary is adopted - “Standard generalized markup language”) for using them in developing hypertext documents}
(b) XML (Extensible {Extensible because XML allows the author to define his own tags and his own document structure} Markup Language; used for describing data in a structured text format)
(c) Both

_____________8. Web-Page links can be represented by:

(a) Underlined words only
(b) Buttons only
(c) URLs in the address bar
(d) Underlined words, pictures and graphic text

_____________9. You can enter a URL into the “Address Bar” by:

(a) Typing it in or choosing it from “Auto-Complete” list
(b) Clicking a link on the page.
(c) Clicking the Go Button
(d) Pressing “Enter”

_____________10. When you encounter a browser error, you can remedy the problem by:

(a) Retyping the URL
(b) Check your connection to the Internet
(c) Go back to the previous web-page you've visited
(d) All of the above

Total Score:__________________/ 10

Percentage Score:__________________%

Marks:__________________

References:
Wikipedia.org

Glossary of computer terms

2007-12-05T17:13:00.000-08:00

A

Address bar The portion of the screen that contains the current Web address and drop-down list of recently visited sites.

Ad-ware Software applications in which advertising banners are displayed while the program is running is called Adware. Any Software that sends data back to a third party - WITHOUT ASKING the user - is Spyware.

Anonymous FTP Part of the Internet's appeal is the huge number of files available for download. Anonymous File Transfer Protocol (FTP) enables anyone to download files from a properly configured FTP server. This allows users without accounts to access files by entering the username anonymous, along with their email address as a password. Because anyone can access files that have been set up for anonymous FTP, Webmasters need to be careful to use it only for files meant for public consumption.

Applet Applet is a diminutive form of app (application), and it refers to simple, single-function programs that often ship with a larger product. Programs such as Windows' Calculator, File Manager, and Notepad are examples of applets.
AuthenticationAuthentication ensures that digital data transmissions are delivered to the intended receiver. Authentication also assures the receiver of the integrity of the message and its source (where or whom it came from). The simplest form of authentication requires a username and password to gain access to a particular account. But, authentication protocols can also be based on secret-key encryption, such as DES, or on public-key systems using digital signatures.

B

Bandwidth The transmission capacity of the lines that carry the Internet's electronic traffic. In the past, this has imposed severe limitations on the Internet's ability to deliver everything that is demanded from it. However, fiber-optic cables will ensure that bandwidth will soon be essentially limitless and free.

Browser If you can read this, it's highly likely that you're using a Web browser. In brief, a browser is your interface to the World Wide Web; it interprets hypertext links and lets you view sites and navigate from one Internet node to another. Among the companies that produce browsers are NCSA Mosaic, Netscape, and Microsoft, as well as commercial services like CompuServe, Prodigy, and America Online.

Browser sniffing Browser sniffing describes the process by which a Web site detects which versions of various browsers users are running, in order to determine whether or not they can access certain Web site features. Browser sniffing--usually accomplished with JavaScript--can also be used to detect whether or not a user has a specific plug-in required to access the site (such as Macromedia's Flash or RealNetworks' RealPlayer).

C

Cache The browser cache plays an important role in providing a smooth and speedy surfing experience. Cache, pronounced "cash", is a temporary holding area for images, sounds, videos, and other items that may appear on a web page that you visit. The way the browser cache works is by eliminating the need to re-download an image or web page if the content has not changed since your last visit. Size of the disk cache varies depending on the size of your hard-drive, and if you have manually altered the size in your browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape…etc). Typical cache size is 10% of your hard-drive space.Once the cache is full, the internet browser begins clearing items to make room for new stuff. If the cache is too small (like only 1 mb) then a 2 mb cartoon can cause a problem. Choose preferences or settings on the browser menu and look for something called 'Cache' or 'disk cache size', and increase it to 15 megs, or even higher if you have enough hard disk space. For example, in Netscape, the path is preferences > advanced > cache >disk cache. For Microsoft Internet Explorer, the path is tools > internet options > temporary internet files > settings > amount of disk space to use. The best way: close all web pages, adjust the cache size, hit the clear cache button, quit and restart your browser.

CGI (common gateway interface) The CGI standard lays down the rules for running external programs in a Web HTTP server. External programs are called gateways because they open up an outside world of information to the server.

ComDlg32 listA list stored in the Windows registry which contains names of all recently run applications and files.

Cookies The most common meaning of "Cookie" on the Internet refers to a piece of information sent by a Web Server to a Web Browser that the Browser software is expected to save and send back to the Server whenever the browser makes additional requests from the Server. Depending on the type of Cookie used, and the Browsers' settings, the Browser may accept or not accept the Cookie, and may save the Cookie for either a short time or a long time. Cookies might contain information such as login or registration information, online "shopping cart" information, user preferences, etc. When a Server receives a request from an internet browser that includes a Cookie, the Server is able to use the information stored in the Cookie. For example, the Server might customize what is sent back to the user, or keep a log of particular users' requests. Cookies are usually set to expire after a predetermined amount of time and are usually saved in memory until the Browser software is closed down, at which time they may be saved to disk if their "expire time" has not been reached.Cookies do not read your hard drive and send your life story to the CIA, but they can be used to gather more information about a user than would be possible without them. More...

D

Dial-up connection An Internet account that can connect any stand-alone PC directly to the Internet. The account is used by having a PC-based (most often, Windows-based) software application dial-in to an Internet service provider (ISP). The software connects with the ISP and establishes a TCP/IP link to the Internet that enables your software to access Internet information. The PC that accesses a dial-in connection needs either a modem to connect via a regular phone line or a terminal adapter (TA) to connect via an ISDN phone line.
Digital certificateCiting concerns about security, many people are still wary of online transactions. In an attempt to assuage those fears, software vendors, security specialists, and online vendors have developed the concept of digital certificates. A digital certificate is a password-protected file that includes a variety of information: the name and email address of the certificate holder, an encryption key that can be used to verify the digital signature of the holder, the name of the company issuing the certificate, and the period during which the certificate is valid. Certificate authorities (CAs) gather information about a person or company and then issue certificates. These certificates can be used as online identification, much in the same way a driver's license can verify your identity in the physical world. If an email message or order form comes through with an attached digital certificate, the recipient can be more confident that the document is genuine. Several technologies (including SET, SSL, and Authenticode) are currently competing for market share, each hoping to become the certificate of choice.

Digital signature Forgery is a growing concern among Netizens. After all, who's to say that a message with your name on it is really from you and not somebody pretending to be you? Digital signatures are a means of proving that a file or email message belongs to a specific person, much as a driver's license proves identity in real life. Digital signatures have the added benefit of verifying that your message has not been tampered with. When you sign a message, a hash function--a computation that leaves a specific code, or "digital fingerprint"--is applied to it. If the fingerprint on the recipient's message doesn't match the original fingerprint, the message has been altered.Digital signatures are often used in combination with strong-encryption software to create a secure channel of communication, in which both privacy and identity are protected.

"Documents" log Links to documents, images, etc. that were accessed by your system. These are displayed as icons when you press the Windows "Start" button and select "Documents".
Domain nameLooking for a domain name? You'll find it to the right of the @ sign in an email address, or about ten characters into a URL. U-Wipe's domain name is u-wipe.com. The domain name of info@nrlab.com is nrlab.com. Domain names are issued by the National Science Foundation (NSF), and they come with different extensions based on whether the domain belongs to a commerical enterprise (.com), an educational establishment (.edu), a government body (.gov), the military (.mil), a network (.net), or a nonprofit organization (.org). Some domains use a geographical notation too (such as the United Kigdom, www.amazon.co.uk)
Downloaded Program FilesActiveX controls and Java applets downloaded automatically from the Internet when you view certain pages. They are temporarily stored in the Downloaded Program Files folder on your hard disk.

DSL (digital subscriber line) Digital subscriber lines carry data at high speeds over standard copper telephone wires. With DSL, data can be delivered at a rate of 1.5 mbps (around 30 times faster than through a 56-kbps modem). Also, DSL users can receive voice and data simultaneously, so small offices can leave computers plugged into the Net without interrupting phone connections. Currently, DSL is expensive because specialized equipment--a splitter--needs to be installed at the subscriber's location. DSL Lite, the consumer-ready version of DSL, requires no such splitter, and promises comparable access speeds at a cheaper rate. xDSL is the collective term for different variations of DSL, such as ADSL and HDSL.

E

Expired Digital Certificates
E-mail (electronic mail) Whenever you send messages to people using a computer and they read it later, you've sent a piece of email. You can send email in several ways--across a local area network, via the Internet, or through an online service like CompuServe or America Online--and you can send it to a single recipient or to a whole slew of them. But all email behaves pretty much the same way: you send it to a virtual mailbox, and the recipient has to pick it up or can use software that does it automatically.

Encryption Encryption is the process of changing data into a form that can be read only by the intended receiver. To decipher the message, the receiver of the encrypted data must have the proper decryption key. In traditional encryption schemes, the sender and the receiver use the same key to encrypt and decrypt data. Public-key encryption schemes use two keys: a public key, which anyone may use, and a corresponding private key, which is possessed only by the person who created it. With this method, anyone may send a message encrypted with the owner's public key, but only the owner has the private key necessary to decrypt it. PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) and DES (data encryption standard) are two of the most popular public-key encryption schemes.

Ethernet Ethernet is a standard for connecting computers into a local area network (LAN). The most common form of Ethernet is called 10BaseT, which denotes a peak transmission speed of 10 mbps using copper twisted-pair cable.

F

"Find" log A log of files, computers and users, searched by Windows "Start" - "Find".
FirewallA firewall prevents computers on a network from communicating directly with external computer systems. A firewall typically consists of a computer that acts as a barrier through which all information passing between the networks and the external systems must travel. The firewall software analyzes information passing between the two and rejects it if it does not conform to pre-configured rules.

Freeware Programming that is offered at no cost. However, it is copyrighted so that you can't incorporate its programming into anything you may be developing.

FTP (file transfer protocol) This Internet protocol is used to copy files between computers--usually a client and an archive site. It's old-fashioned, it's a bit on the slow side, it doesn't support compression, and it uses cryptic Unix command parameters. But the good news is that you can download shareware or freeware apps that shield you from the complexities of Unix, and you can connect to FTP sites using a Web browser.

G
Gateway A gateway is a program or piece of hardware that passes data between networks. You'll see this term most often when you either log in to an Internet site or when you're passing email between different servers.

H
Hit Probably the most misused term in Net vocabulary, a hit can refer to any one of a few different things. If you perform a search using MSN or Google , the results are called hits. If you load up a Web page, you've hit the site. However, when people say, "Our Web site had 2,000 hits" (meaning that there were 2,000 visitors, or 1,000 visitors looking at two pages each), that's simply wrong. Technically, a hit is a request made to the Web server. For example, if you look at a Web page that contains ten GIF files, one person visiting one page will make 11 hits on the server: one for the page, and ten for the graphics on the page.

I
Index.dat file A specially formatted type of data file used by Internet Explorer to contain URLs and other reference data like ‘Hits’, last access date and pointers to associated files such as Cookies and Temporary Internet Files. These files could not be deleted by standard methods. More...

Internet Often abbreviated as the Net. The global collection of networks that transfer information, between each other using Internet Protocol. Interestingly, the Internet was named after the protocol rather than the other way around. The Internet was created by the US Military as a network designed to transmit data even if one point of the network went down (i.e. - due to nuclear attack). It was called ARPAnet. Universities and research institutes began to connect to the network and exchange research information. Users made information or software freely available and were able to access others' information for free as well. A CERN physicist developed a hypertext system which spread over the Internet and became the World Wide Web. For viewing the WWW you need a software browser like Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape.

Internet History Both your browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape…. Etc) and Microsoft Windows keep track of certain pieces of information in order to provide a more pleasant computing and surfing experience. These history trails can be invaluable at times. For instance, if you found an interesting piece of information on a web site, and then later moved on to other web sites, the browser history provides an easy to follow trail back to the previous web site.Unfortunately these history items also provide a way for others to view and gain an understanding into what you have been doing, searching for, etc. on a particular computer, and it is often desirable to remove these history trails.All of these history trails can be cleared. There are various methods in which to clear these history trails, and some of the options are not readily accessible from your desktop. Most web browsers such as Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape keep a list of the most recent web sites and links that you have visited.The URL, or drop-down URL history as is sometimes referred, typically contain the last URL (web site links) that you have typed into your browser.

Internet Explorer's AutoComplete Data and AutoComplete PasswordsInternet Explorer's AutoComplete Data and AutoComplete Passwords stores and automatically enters your information for Web-based forms and password-protected Web sites. When you submit the information in the form, Internet Explorer records each input field's data in the Registry in a list associated with the particular field name. The next time you start typing in a field that has the same internal name, whether on the same Web page or a different one, IE will pop up a list of previous values that begin with the text you've typed up to that point. This information could be available to any person who uses your computer and thus is a source of privacy invasions.
IP address (Internet protocol address)This address is a unique string of numbers that identifies a computer on the Internet. These numbers are usually shown in groups separated by periods, like this: 124.198.76.1. All resources on the Internet must have an IP address--or else they're not on the Internet at all.

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) The plain old telephone system doesn't handle large quantities of data, and the phone companies realized this a long time ago. So the ISDN spec was hammered out in 1984 to allow for wide-bandwidth digital transmission using the public switched telephone network. Under ISDN, a phone call can transfer 64 kilobits of digital data per second. But it's not always easy to adopt.

J

Java A programming language that developers use to create applets, small programs that are embedded in Web pages and that run when a user accesses the page or clicks on a certain area. If you have visited sites that play sounds, have animated figures trotting across the screen, or display scrolling text, you have already seen Java. Java was created by Sun Microsystems and is specifically designed to run on any computer regardless of the operating system.
JavaScriptDesigned by Sun Microsystems and Netscape as an easy-to-use adjunct to the Java programming language, JavaScript code can be added to standard HTML pages to create interactive documents. As a result, JavaScript has found considerable use in the creation of interactive Web-based forms. Most modern browsers, including those from Microsoft and Netscape, contain JavaScript support.

K
Kbps Your modem's speed is measured in the number of bits it can transfer in a second. Modems rated in kilobits per second are now the standard.

Kernel Modern operating systems are typically built in layers, with each layer adding new capabilities, such as disk access techniques or a graphical user interface. But the essential layer, the foundation on which the rest of the operating system rests, is typically called a kernel. In general, the kernel provides low-level services, such as memory management, basic hardware interaction, and security. Without the kernel, your system would stop.

L
List of Most recently Used (MRU) files of Microsoft Office programsSuch as MS Word, MS Excel, MS Power Point, MS Access etc.
List of Most recently Used (MRU) files of Standard Windows programsLocated in Windows "Start" - "Programs" - "Accessories" - such as Paint, WordPad etc.

M
Mirror server Sometimes a Web server will receive more traffic than it can handle. When this happens, the server's administrator may add extra servers--containing identical data--to accommodate the flow. These duplicates are called mirror servers. By adding mirror servers and telling users how to access them, an administrator can keep users from receiving error messages or unacceptably slow response times when they try to access a site. Mirror servers also act as backups if the primary site goes down.

N

Netscape cache files A temporary storage for the pictures and text that are downloaded as parts of every web page you look at using Netscape. Usually Netscape cache folder is located in the current Netscape profile folder.
Netscape's saved passwordsNetscape's Password Manager stores and automatically enters your login information for password-protected Web sites. These saved passwords could be decrypted.

Newsgroup Think of newsgroups as worldwide bulletin boards, organized more or less stringently around a topic. Some are technical, others silly--and some you don't even want to know about.

O

OS (operating system) A computer by itself is essentially dumb bits of wire and silicon. An operating system knows how to talk to this hardware and can manage a computer's functions, such as allocating memory, scheduling tasks, accessing disk drives, and supplying a user interface. Without an operating system, software developers would have to write programs that directly accessed hardware--essentially reinventing the wheel with every new program. With an operating system, such as Windows NT or Mac OS 8, developers can write to a common set of programming interfaces called APIs and let the operating system do the dirty work of talking to the hardware. quadratic texture mapping This technique, used with Nvidia-based 3D graphics boards, speeds up texture mapping and redrawing by reducing the amount of work required. Nvidia chips use fewer polygons to render an acceptable-looking rounded object. Filling the screen, therefore, takes less time and CPU horsepower than it would using another rendering chip.

P

POP (Post Office Protocol) The current champ in Internet email mailbox access standards, but its limitations--basically, you connect to a server and download all your messages, which are then deleted from the server--discourage flexibility. Of course, some clients let you leave all messages on the server, and/or refuse to download messages above a certain size. Still, as messages become longer--with multimedia (such as sound or video) objects and the likes--we'll want some flexibility in what we retrieve and when we retrieve it. That's where IMAP comes in.
Pop-up A pop-up is a graphical user interface display area, usually a small window, that suddenly appears ("pops up") in the foreground of the visual interface. Pop-ups can be initiated by a single or double mouse click or rollover (sometimes called a mouseover), and also possibly by voice command or can simply be timed to occur. A pop-up window must be smaller than the background window or interface; otherwise, it's a replacement interface. On the World Wide Web, JavaScript (and less commonly Java applets) are used to create interactive effects including pop-up and full overlay windows. A menu or taskbar pulldown can be considered a form of pop-up, and so can the little message box you get when you move your mouse over taskbars in many PC applications.

PPP (point-to-point protocol) PPP is the Internet standard for serial communications. Newer and better than its predecessor, SLIP, PPP defines how your modem connection exchanges data packets with other systems on the Internet.

Privacy The interest that individuals have in sustaining a 'personal space', free from interference by other people and organizations. The issue of Internet privacy has become increasingly important over the past few years, as policymakers, industry leaders, and privacy advocates have come together to decide how to deal with the prolific collection and distribution of personal data in the electronic world. One of the most thorough privacy bills introduced in Congress, and one cited in the ACT study, is the Consumer Privacy Protection Act (S. 2606), introduced in May 2000 by Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C. The bill requires Web sites to provide users access to personal information that the site has collected about them, and to allow users to "correct, delete, or supplement" that information. You can guard your online privacy on the Internet, but not every Web site takes measures to secure and keep your confidential information private. Look for evidence of such measures as you move from site to site. If you need to send confidential information and are unsure about a internet site's security, you should consider sending it by phone or by regular mail instead. Email on the Internet is not secure unless you are using a special secure email program. If any organization or individual asks you for confidential information - for instance, your social security number or a bank or credit card account number - you should check to make sure that the organization or individual needs the information in order to conduct business with you and guarantees the security of the information during transmission by using encryption to find out how you can tell if such a system is active.

Proxy servers A proxy server is a system that caches items from other servers to speed up access. On the Web, a proxy first attempts to find data locally, and if it's not there, fetches it from the remote server where the data resides permanently.

Q

QuickTime Developed by Apple Computer, QuickTime is a method of storing sound, graphics, and movie files. If you see a MOV file on the Web or on a CD-ROM, you'll know it's a QuickTime file. Although QuickTime was originally developed for the Macintosh, player software is now available for Windows and other platforms. If you don't have a QuickTime player, you can always download versions for either Mac Mac or PC from Apple's Web site.

R
Recycle BinContains files you have deleted from your computer. These files are not permanently removed until you empty the Recycle Bin.
"Run" logA log of commands and paths to programs, entered in Windows "Start" - "Run".

S
ServerThe business end of a client/server setup, a server is usually a computer that provides the information, files, Web pages, and other services to the client that logs on to it. (The word server is also used to describe the software and operating system designed to run server hardware.) The client/server setup is analogous to a restaurant with waiters and customers. Some Internet servers take this analogy to extremes and become inattentive, or even refuse to serve you.

Shareware Shareware is software that is distributed free on a trial basis with the understanding that the user may need or want to pay for it later. Some software developers offer a shareware version of their program with a built-in expiration date (after 30 days, the user can no longer get access to the program). Other shareware (sometimes called liteware) is offered with certain capabilities disabled as an enticement to buy the complete version of the program.

S/MIME (Secure Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions)S/MIME defines a means to make email messages more secure by adding both digital signatures and encryption. Using S/MIME-compliant email packages, users can make sure that a message in fact comes from the supposed sender (thanks to the signature), and that no one else could read the message before it arrived (thanks to encryption).

SMTP (simple mail transfer protocol)When you're exchanging electronic mail on the Internet, SMTP is what keeps the process orderly. It's a protocol that regulates what goes on between the mail servers.

Spam Spam is unsolicited e-mail on the Internet. From the sender's point-of-view, it's a form of bulk mail, often to a list culled from subscribers to a usenet discussion group or obtained by companies that specialize in creating e-mail distribution lists. To the receiver, it usually seems like junk e-mail. In general, it's not considered good netiquette to send spam. It's generally equivalent to unsolicited phone marketing calls except that the user pays for part of the message since everyone shares the cost of maintaining the Internet. Some apparently unsolicited e-mail is, in fact, e-mail people agreed to receive when they registered with a site and checked a box agreeing to receive postings about particular products or interests. This is known as both opt-in e-mail and permission-based e-mail.

Spyware Spyware is software that transmits information back to a third party without notifying the user. Some privacy advocates also call legitimate access control, filtering, Internet monitoring, password recovery, security or surveillance software "Spyware" because it could be used without notifying the users.

SQL (Structured Query Language) A type of programming language used to construct database queries and perform updates and other maintenance of relational databases, SQL is not a full-fledged language that can create standalone applications--but it is strong enough to create interactive routines in other database programs. If you're looking into buying relational database software, make sure it has SQL support. Incidentally, SQL was developed as a result of an IBM project called Structured English Query Language, so to this day it is pronounced "sequel," not "squeal."

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) A protocol designed by Netscape Communications to enable encrypted, authenticated communications across the Internet. SSL is used mostly (but not exclusively) in communications between web browsers and web servers. URL's that begin with "https" indicate that an SSL connection will be used. SSL provides 3 important things Privacy, Authentication, and Message Integrity. In an SSL connection each side of the connection must have a Security Certificate, which each side's software sends to the other. Each side then encrypts what it sends using information from both its own and the other side's Certificate, ensuring that only the intended recipient can de-crypt it, and that the other side can be sure the data came from the place it claims to have come from, and that the message has not been tampered with.

ScanDisk *.CHK filesFiles created by Scandisk during checking the disks of your computer.

T

TCP/IP (transmission control protocol/Internet protocol)These two protocols were developed by the U.S. military to allow computers to talk to each other over long distance networks. IP is responsible for moving packets of data between nodes. TCP is responsible for verifying delivery from client to server. TCP/IP forms the basis of the Internet, and is built into every common modern operating system (including all flavors of Unix, the Mac OS, and the latest versions of Windows).

TEMP folder A folder which contains temporary files created by various Windows software.
Temporary Internet FilesMS Internet Explorer uses this folder for saving recently viewed web pages and graphics. It allows you to speed up pages that you've already been to.

U

URL (universal resource locator or uniform resource locator) URLs are the Internet equivalent of addresses. How do they work? Like other types of addresses, they move from the general to the specific (from zip code to recipient, so to speak). Take this URL, for example:http://www.u-wipe.com/download.html
First you have the protocol:http:/
then the server address or domain:/www.u-wipe.com
finally the page:/download.html
Two debates rage: first, does the U stand for uniform or universal? Universal was the original definition of choice but was deemed by most to be too ambitious, and the more frequently used uniform was instated by the now-defunct URI Working Group.Second, is URL pronounced "you are ell," or does it rhyme with hurl? Both pronunciations are widely used.

V
Virus A virus is a piece of programming code usually disguised as something else that causes some unexpected and usually undesirable event. A virus is often designed so that it is automatically spread to other computer users. Viruses can be transmitted as attachments to an e-mail note, as downloads, or be present on a diskette or CD. The source of the e-mail note, downloaded file, or diskette you've received is often unaware of the virus. Some viruses wreak their effect as soon as their code is executed; other viruses lie dormant until circumstances cause their code to be executed by the computer. Some viruses are playful in intent and effect ("Have a nice day, Peter!") and some can be quite harmful, erasing data or causing your hard disk to require reformatting.

VPN (Virtual Private Network) A Virtual Private Network, or VPN, is a private network of computers that's at least partially connected by public phone lines. A good example would be a private office LAN that allows users to log in remotely over the Internet (an open, public system). VPNs use encryption and secure protocols like PPTP to ensure that data transmissions are not intercepted by unauthorized parties.

W

World Wide Web Also known as the WWW, the W3, or most often simply as the Web, it originally developed by CERN labs in Geneva, Switzerland. Continuing development of the Web is overseen by the World Wide Web Consortium. The Web can be described (dryly) as a client/server hypertext system for retrieving information across the Internet. On the Web, everything is represented as hypertext (in HTML format) and is linked to other documents by their URLs. The Web encompasses its native http protocol, as well as ftp, Gopher, and Telnet.

X

XML(Extensible Markup Language) XML is the Extensible Markup Language, a system for defining specialized markup languages that are used to transmit formatted data. XML is conceptually related to HTML, but XML is not itself a markup language. Rather it's a metalanguage, a language used to create other specialized languages.

Y
YmodemThis is a protocol for transferring files during direct dial-up communications. So named because it builds on the earlier Xmodem protocol, Ymodem sends data in 1,024-byte blocks and is consequently faster than Xmodem. However, it doesn't work well on noisy phone lines, unlike its successor, Zmodem. Ymodem has undergone a few enhancements: Ymodem-Batch can send several files in one session; Ymodem-G drops software error correction, which speeds up the process by leaving hardware-based error correction in modems.

Z
ZmodemThis file transfer protocol should be your first choice for sending and receiving files using dial-up connections. Zmodem's speed and error checking recommend it, and it can resume a file transfer after a break in communications, so make sure this protocol is available in your communications software and any BBS you dial into. In case you couldn't tell, it's so named because it's intended to supersede Xmodem and Ymodem.

References:
This information is taken from http://www.u-wipe.com/glossary.html/