Glossary: Chapter 2

cold type

Setting type and producing pages on computer screens. The resulting computer typesetting files can be printed by laser and xerographic processes. Older Linotype methods set what was called hot type.

computational science

A partnership between computer science and the laboratory sciences. It combines the computer's ability to do massive amounts of mathematical calculations quickly and to represent the results as graphic images to solve problems in the physical and biological sciences.

computer conferencing

Multiple users commenting on an issue of common interest via electronic mail. Individual members can monitor what others are adding to the conference and contribute over a set period of time.

computer monitoring

Employing a computer system to monitor the vital signs of critically ill patients automatically and to display the results on a computer screen at the nurses' station.

computer-aided design (CAD)

Using computer graphics software to aid the process of design, especially in architecture or engineering.

computerized axial tomography (CAT)

Using a CAT (or CT) scanner to combine x-rays with computer graphic imagery techniques to offer fine-quality images for medical diagnosis of conditions like brain tumor.

cybernetics

The study of how control mechanisms work, both in the nervous system of animals and in automation for machines.

data communications

Transferring data or information between computer-related devices such as electronic mail.

desktop publishing

Using software to do page design and computer typesetting with laser printers for publications such as newsletters and magazines.

distance learning

The delivery of educational course materials offsite, formerly through videotape and closed circuit television, now often carried out with shared content resources on the Internet.

electronic mail

Application that enables users to electronically send and receive messages to colleagues using data communications technology with computers.

electronic prosthetics

Computerized devices developed to replace or bypass missing or inoperative body parts.

file management

Software for storing simple files, such as mailing lists for a small company, in which one file is accessed at a time.

gigaflop (GFLOP)

A billion floating-point computer instructions per second, a measure of the enormous number of operations carried out by supercomputers today (giga = billion).

graphical workstation

A computer designed specifically to produce complicated graphics speedily and efficiently.

high-definition television (HDTV)

The next generation of television with much higher picture quality, probably distributed digitally and capable of being integrated with computers to offer many services and information resources to the home.

integrated package

Multifunctional software that combines several applications under one consistent user interface. Different application programs in the package can share data with each other.

killer app

A slang term for a new and popular software application that is widely accepted and purchased by computer users.

magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

A modern medical imaging technology for diagnosis. MRI employs reflected radio waves to get safe and reliable computer images of internal body organs.

medical database

A specialized database of current medical research findings and treatments, such as MEDLINE.

modem

A hardware device that enables data to be transmitted over telephone lines by conversion of digital computer signals to analog signals, and vice versa at the receiving end.

pixel

A term made from the words picture element to describe a spot on a computer screen capable of changing color or shade. Modern graphical screens may have more than a million pixels.

productivity software

A general term applied to the most common kinds of applications software to increase a user's productivity: word processors, spreadsheets, database systems, graphics, data communications.

punch card

Invented for compiling the Census of 1890, an early means of encoding data for computers and other data processing equipment using a code made up of patterns of punched holes on a card.

real time

A term used to describe a computer application in which the delay between input of data and completed processing is negligible. When a computer presents results as soon as the data have been received, the process is called a real-time application.

scientific visualization

A process associated with computational science to represent as graphic images the results of complex simulation computations, sometimes involving millions of items of numerical data.

smart weapons

Military hardware, like the Tomahawk missile from the 1991 Persian Gulf War, that incorporates computers in its design to carry out its mission.

Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)

A defense system nicknamed "Star Wars" that combined computerized radar monitoring of incoming missiles and shooting them down with automated interceptor missiles. Controversial from the start, the program is being dismantled in the 1990s.

supercockpit

A Defense Department research project to create a computerized helmet that resembles a video game and automates many functions for the pilot of the plane.

supercomputer

The fastest and most expensive type of computer designed for massive mathematical calculations necessary for much high-level scientific research. Supercomputer speeds today are measured in gigaflops (one billion floating-point mathematical operations in a second) and soon in teraflops (one trillion such operations).

teraflop (TFLOP)

A trillion floating-point computing instructions per second, a measure of the enormous number of operations carried out by the most advanced supercomputers today (tera=trillion).

videoconferencing

A system of computer-monitored two-way video transmission using phone lines that allows viewers at both ends of the session to see and hear each other.

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