Toshiba M500 User Manual page 214

Glossary
SIO: Serial Input/Output. The electronic methodology used in serial data
transmission.
soft key: Key combinations that emulate keys on the IBM keyboard, change
some configuration options, stop program execution, and access the numeric
keypad overlay.
software: The set of programs, procedures and related documentation associated
with a computer system. Specifically refers to computer programs that direct
and control the computer system's activities. See also hardware.
stop bit: One or more bits of a byte that follow the transmitted character or group
codes in asynchronous serial communications.
system disk: A diskette that contains the operating system files needed to start
the computer. Any diskette can be formatted as a system disk. A system disk
is also called a "bootable disk", "boot disk" or a "startup disk." Compare non-
system disk.
T
terminal: A typewriter-like keyboard and CRT display screen connected to the
computer for data input/output.
TFT display: A liquid crystal display (LCD) made from an array of liquid crystal
cells using active-matrix technology with thin film transistor (TFT) to drive each
cell.
Touch Pad: A pointing device integrated into the TOSHIBA computer palm rest.
U
USB: Universal Serial Bus. This serial interface lets you communicate with several
devices connected in a chain to a single port on the computer.
V
VGA: Video Graphics Array is an industry standard video adaptor that lets you run
any popular software.
volatile memory: Random access memory (RAM) that stores information as long
as power is supplied to the computer.
W
warm start: Restarting or resetting a computer without turning it off.
Wi-Fi : A registered trademark term of the Wi-Fi Alliance that stands for Wireless
®
Fidelity, and is another term for the communication protocol to permit an
Ethernet connection using wireless communication components.
window: A portion of the screen that can display its own application, document or
dialog box. Often used to mean a Microsoft Windows window.
Wireless LAN: Local Area Network (LAN) through wireless communication.
Wireless WAN: Wide Area Network (WAN) through wireless communication.
write protection: A method for protecting a floppy diskette from accidental
erasure.
Glossary-16 User 's Manual