|
Term |
Definition |
|
Abandonware |
Also known as Abandon Warez, abandonware is a type
of software developed several years ago that is no
longer being produced, sold, or supported and is
considered to be abandoned. However, although many
of these programs appear to be abandoned or the
companies that developed them are out of business,
downloading and installing abandonware is illegal.
|
|
Access light |
Also known as the activity light, the access light
is a LED on the front of a computer and/or disk
drive that indicates when the computer or disk drive
is being used. |
|
Aggro |
In addition to in-game creatures aggro is also often
used in chat and games to describe real-life aggro.
For example, a player might say "parent aggro" or "gf
aggro" as a way to let others communicating with
that user that they need to log off or step away
because their parents or girlfriend is giving them
grief about being in the game or chatting. |
|
AIMBOT |
Program / Software tool used with first person
shooting games to help the player shoot more
efficiently, commonly automatically aiming their gun
to the enemy. Because this helps the user shoot more
accurately with less skill, this is considered
cheating when used. Various programs are available
to help detect or not allow players to use Aimbots.
One commonly used program is PunkBuster.
|
|
Alias |
Also known as a nick or handle, an alias is an
alternative name for a computer, object, person,
group, or user. Usually used to replace long names
or to keep your own name private. |
|
Anamorphic |
When referring to DVD movies, anamorphic is an
ability that enables a DVD to automatically increase
its size to match that of the TV the movie is being
displayed on. This allows for better resolution and
a better viewing experience. Most DVDs that support
this feature will be labeled as Anamorphic
Widescreen. |
|
Applet |
A
small Java application that is downloaded by an
ActiveX or Java-enabled web browser. Once it has
been downloaded, the applet will run on the users
computer. Common applets include financial
calculators and web drawing programs. |
|
Application |
Computer software that performs a task or set of
tasks, such as word processing or drawing.
Applications are also referred to as programs.
|
|
Archived |
A
file that contains one or more compressed files.
Most archive formats are also capable of storing
folders in order to reconstruct the file/folder
relationship when decompressed. |
|
ASCII |
American Standard Code for Information Interchange,
an encoding system for converting keyboard
characters and instructions into the binary number
code that the computer understands. |
|
ATA |
Advanced Technology Attachment. A computer disk
drive interface standard. |
|
ATAPI |
Short for AT Attachment Packet Interface, ATAPI is
an extension to ATA that allows support for devices
such as CD-ROM drives, Tape drives and other
computer peripherals and not just hard disk drives.
Before the release of ATA-4 or ATAPI-4, ATAPI was a
separate standard from ATA. Additional information
about ATA, ATAPI and other computer interfaces can
be found on our Interface Page. |
|
Audio CD |
Also commonly known as a music CD, an audio CD is
any compact disc that contains audio tracks that
enable the user to listen to music, speeches, books
on tape, or any type of audio. |
|
AutoPlay |
Also known as autorun, AutoPlay is a feature that
was first introduced in Microsoft Windows 95 and
above that enables CDs that have the proper files to
automatically run when inserted into the computer.
This feature enables for a much easier setup and/or
program execution because the program developer can
easily start the installation of a program or create
a menu that is automatically displayed when the CD
is inserted. |
