Toshiba TECRA A8 User Manual page 259

analog signal: A signal whose characteristics such as amplitude and
ANSI: American National Standards Institute. An organization established
antistatic: A material used to prevent the buildup of static electricity.
application: A group of programs that together are used for a specific task
ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange. ASCII code
async: Short for asynchronous.
asynchronous: Lacking regular time relationship. As applied to computer
B
backup: A duplicate copy of files kept as a spare in case the original is
batch file: A file that can be executed from the system prompt containing
binary: The base two number system composed of zeros and ones (off or
BIOS: Basic Input Output System. The firmware that controls data flow
bit:
board: A circuit board. An internal card containing electronic components,
boot: Short for bootstrap. A program that starts or restarts the computer.
bps: Bits per second. Typically used to describe the data transmission
buffer: The portion of the computer's memory where data is temporarily
User's Manual
frequency vary in proportion to (are an analog of) the value to be
transmitted. Voice communications are analog signals.
to adopt and define standards for a variety of technical disciplines.
For example, ANSI defined the ASCII standard and other
information processing requirements.
such as accounting, financial planning, spreadsheets, word
processing and games.
is a set of 256 binary codes that represent the most commonly used
letters, numbers, and symbols.
communications, asynchronous refers to the method of transmitting
data that does not require a steady stream of bits to be transmitted
at regular time intervals.
destroyed.
a sequence of operating system commands or executable files.
on), used by most digital computers. The right-most digit of a binary
number has a value of 1, the next a value of 2, then 4, 8, 16, and so
on. For example, the binary number 101 has a value of 5. See also
ASCII.
within the computer. See also firmware.
Derived from "binary digit," the basic unit of information used by the
computer. It is either zero or one. Eight bits is one byte. See also
byte.
called chips, which perform a specific function or increase the
capabilities of the system.
The program reads instructions from a storage device into the
computer's memory.
speed of a modem.
stored. Buffers often compensate for differences in the rate of flow
from one device to another.
Glossary
Glossary-3