| Word or
Term |
Description or
Explanation |
| FAQ |
Frequently Asked Questions - many FAQs can be
found on the Internet - they provide a list of answers to the most common
questions to help out new users (newbies) - you should always try to find and
read any FAQs on a subject before sending out queries as experienced users get
fed up repeatedly answering the same questions - FAQs can be found on:
ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/news.answers |
| FAST |
Federation Against Software Theft - an
organisation supported by software producers that is dedicated to preventing
software piracy |
| FAT |
the file allocation table of DOS discs, i.e. it
is a map of where all the (bits of) files are located on the disc |
| Fax |
abbr. Facsimile - a method of sending graphical
data down a serial communication system (usually a telephone line) that
involves (conventionally) scanning a document at one end, transmitting the data
via modulated tones and then reproducing the picture at the other end on
heat-sensitive paper - computers are now able to link directly to fax modems to
allow computer-generated graphics to be transmitted as if they came from a
conventional fax - similarly, a computer and fax modem can be used to receive a
fax transmission whether or not it is originated by a 'real' fax machine - it
can then display it on the screen and/or output it via a conventional
printer |
| Fax modem |
a modem that is used to enable a computer to
provide fax-type transmission of data down a telephone line |
| Fetch |
extra code added to the operating
system to replace other code that has been found to be buggy or simply in need
of improvement |
| Fetcher |
a sub-program of ArcWeb that is used to
actually get the pages - ArcWeb is purely a display program and knows nothing
about how to get the pages - it just sends out a message and any fetcher that
is loaded and supports the required protocol gets the page and returns it to
ArcWeb for display - thus it is possible to use FTP and Gopher through ArcWeb
as well as the more obvious HTTP - there is also the special Local fetcher for
getting pages stored on your hard disc |
| Fidonet |
a network of BBSs used to transfer files and
messages both nationally and internationally - it is slow because transfers
only (usually) take place at night so messages can take days to get from source
to destination, especially when going from country to country |
| File |
a collection of information gathered together
and given a filename to identify it. It is stored in a directory in a filing
system |
Filer or Filing
system |
a system used to handle the storage of
information - the ADFS filer and the SCSI filer are the two most common on
Acorn machines |
| Finger |
a simple form of interrogation of a remote
machine or user - the response may be details of who is currently logged onto
the system or other informatiom as decided by the system operator - if an
individual is 'fingered', they may respond with a 'plan' file giving witty
and/or useful information about the user |
| Firewall |
a security system to restrict access to certain
computers, areas or information - a firewall is normally a computer or router
that is put between a local network and an external network such as the
Internet - it will normally enable all users on the inside to connect to the
outside, but not the other way around |
| Firmware |
this refers to software, applications and/or
data which is stored in a ROM |
| Flame |
an offensive or abusive message |
| Flame-war |
a discussion consisting of a series of
offensive or abusive messages |
| Flamebait |
a provocative posting to Usenet that
deliberately tries to elicit flames |
| Flash card |
similar in operation to a Flash ROM, but with
the memory chip on a removable card; used increasingly with portable computers
and digital cameras |
| Flash ROM |
to change the contents of a conventional EPROM,
the chip has to be removed and erased using ultra-violet radiation - it can
then be electrically re-programmed - a flash ROM, by contrast, can be
re-programmed electrically in situ, i.e. it can be reprogrammed through
software |
Floating point
numbers |
in order to represent a wider range of numbers
than can be done with integers, and to represent fractions, computers use
floating point numbers - these use a number of bytes (usually four) to
represent the main part of the number and another byte to represent the power
of two by which the number is multiplied |
| Floppy disc/drive |
this is a data storage medium consisting of a
removable flexible (floppy) magnetic disc in a hard plastic case - these discs
can be inserted as required into a floppy drive usually housed within the case
of the computer - the most common standard of floppy drive used now is
3½" - some 5¼" drives are still in use but the 8" floppies have
virtually all been consigned to the museum of computer technology |
| FMV |
full Motion Video - a term used to refer to
displaying video on a computer screen at full speed - Acorn Replay provides FMV
at 12.5 or 25 frames per second |
| Followup |
an article posted to a newsgroup in response to
an earlier posting |
| Fonts |
characters on the screen and on the printed
page can take on all sorts of different shapes and styles - a font is a set of
characters that have been designed so that all the letters of the alphabet and
a whole range of other special characters (200 or more in a complete set) have
the same style - there are also sets of related fonts using the same basic
style but with the characters angled (italic) or made heavier (bold) or both
(bold italic) |
| Foo/foobar |
a sort of online algebraic place holder. - for
example: "If you want to know when another site is run by a for-profit company,
look for an address in the form of foo@foobar.com.", i.e. it's a techical term
for 'thingi', 'whatsit' or 'doodah' |
| Format |
formatting is preparing a floppy disc or hard
disc ready to receive data - hard discs usually arrive ready-formatted - floppy
discs may be formatted in a number of different ways - not all formats of
floppy disc can be read on all computers - without any extra software, Acorn
computers can read and write various Acorn formats as well as a number of
different PC and Atari formats - with extra software, other formats, such as
Apple Mac, are also accessible on Acorn computers |
| Fortune cookie |
an inane/witty/profound comment that can be
found around the net |
| FPA |
Floating Point Accelerator - this is a hardware
add-on to a cpu which enables it to do floating point calculations more quickly
by doing them in hardware rather than in software |
| FPE |
Floating Point Emulator - if an application
requires full floating point calculations, it is possible to run it on a
computer that doesn't actually have an FPA by emulating the FPA's functions in
software |
| FPU |
Floating Point Unit - another name for an
FPA |
| FQDN |
Fully Qualified Domain Name - the complete
address of a site on the Internet |
| Frame buffer |
the area of a computer's memory which holds a
bitmap of (i.e. a buffer store of) the next frame of the screen display |
| Free-to-air |
digital broadcasts available to all without
additional payment (i.e. as opposed to pay-per-view or subscription
services) |
| Freeware |
software that doesn't cost anything |
| ftp |
File Transfer Protocol or File Transfer Program
(depending on context) - in its most general form, it allows users to exchange
files with a remote Internet host- this requires an account on the FTP server
and a valid password - however, a large number of sites provide an anonymous
FTP service which allows anyone to log in with restricted access - there is a
huge wealth of information and programs available via anonymous ftp |
| ftp site |
a computer where files are available for
downloading |
| Full Duplex |
an asynchronous communications protocol
allowing a communications channel to send and receive data at the same
time |
| Function keys |
these are the set of twelve keys at the top of
the keyboard, all prefixed with an "F" - what they do will depend on the
application currently in use |