Archive for the ‘Computer Terms’ Category

iHome

As you may recall, the term “iHome” was mentioned in one of our recent advertisements and ever since, I have been getting tons of e-mails about it. Many of you have told me that you’ve never heard of iHome and you have no clue what it is. On the other hand, a few of you have heard of the term before, but you’d still like more information… Continue reading

ULCPCs: What Are They?

As you may recall, we ran an article in the newsletter last week that mentioned ULCPCs and ever since, I have been getting non-stop phone calls and e-mails from all of you wondering what they are. I know I didn’t explain it very well in the article, so that’s why I’m taking the time today to go over it a little more with you… Continue reading

Message Board Stickies

Just out of curiosity, how many of you use WorldStart’s message board? I know there are quite a few of you out there, because a lot of you e-mail me and tell me how much the message board has helped you with your computer problems and I know several of you use it by referral from me as well. So, when you’re using… Continue reading

Q:
Can you please explain what the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is? It comes through every month with the Windows Updates, but I’ve never really figured out what it does.

A:
Oh, that’s such a good question! I’ve been asked this question several times in the past and to be honest, I thought we already covered it in the newsletter. That’s the only reason why I… Continue reading

Flaming

Have you ever been involved in a flaming match? Not sure how to answer that, because you don’t know exactly what it means? Well, allow me to give you a brief description and let’s just say, I hope none of you have! According to techterms.com, the term “flaming” is basically “the act of posting or sending offensive messages over the Internet.” The actual messages are called “flames”… Continue reading

All About WiFi

I received an e-mail the other day from a reader asking for some basic information about the term “WiFi.” After reading it, I immediately went to our archives, because I thought for sure we had done a tip on that in the past. Well, come to find out, we have done a few things on WiFi, but we’ve never covered just the basics of it… Continue reading

Q:
Can you give us some information on what a terabyte is? I’ve heard it mentioned a couple times in some of the online articles I read, but I don’t know too much about it. Please fill us in!

A:
Ah, yes, the terabyte. I’m actually a little surprised that none of you have asked about this before. The term has been around for awhile, but I think… Continue reading

E-mail Harvesting

Have you ever heard of the term “e-mail harvesting” before? I know some of you have, because I’ve gotten e-mails and phone calls from you about it. Well, whether you do or you don’t, it’s an important term to be familiar with and that’s exactly what I’m going to go over with you today. Obviously, e-mail harvesting has to do with your e-mail, but in what… Continue reading

Karen from AL. asks:

Can you tell me what the difference is between the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows? I’ve tried to research it online, but I’m not getting any concrete answers, so I thought you might have some information you could share. Please help!

Fuzz Testing

Here’s a new term for you! It’s possible that some of you have heard of this before, but I’m guessing most of you don’t really know exactly what it means in reference to the computer world. So, I thought I would help you all out with that today and fill you in on what fuzz testing really is. Are you ready? Then let’s stop wasting time and get… Continue reading

Tell me, has your computer ever “crashed” on you? Now, tell me, was it really a computer crash or was it something else? It’s hard to be completely sure what constitutes as a computer crash, but don’t worry too much, because you’re not alone.

Basically, a “computer crash” occurs whenever a program (one that’s either an application you’ve installed on your PC or… Continue reading

Cyberspace

I’m sure you’ve all probably heard of this term in passing, but have you ever been given an exact definition of it? I mean, I know we’ve mentioned it a lot in some of our other tips, but we’ve never written a tip solely on what cyberspace is. So, that’s what I thought I would do for you today. Here we go!

Basically, cyberspace is the word that is… Continue reading

Firewall Basics

We here at WorldStart have talked about firewalls before, but we have never just taken a step back and given you the basics about them. So, that’s exactly what I’m going to do for you today!

A firewall is designed to help protect your computer from being attacked by malicious users or by malicious software programs, such as viruses that use unsolicited incoming network traffic and so on… Continue reading

System Tray

In one of the tips I wrote last week, I happened to mention the term “system tray” and without thinking much about it, I figured most computer users know what that is. Well, when I got back into the office on Monday, I had quite a few e-mails from you all asking me about it. So, evidently I was wrong and I want to take this time to… Continue reading

All About the Volume

I was brainstorming for new tip ideas the other day and I got to thinking that we have never done a tip on the basics of your computer’s volume controls before. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, go down to your system tray and double click on the little speaker icon (it looks like this: ). A new window will then open that is… Continue reading

Recently, the term “dongle” (pronounced DONG-uhl) has been making its way around our office. Some of my co-workers have been seeing it on certain Web sites, but they weren’t really sure what it meant, so they’ve been asking me to look it up and write a tip on it. Plus, I figured some of you have probably heard it before as well, but maybe you don’t know what it is… Continue reading

Progress Bar

Here’s the scenario: You just typed in the address of your favorite Web site and you’ve hit the button that will start the loading process. You then wait patiently in anticipation for the site to come up so you can start using it. Now, while you’re waiting, what do you usually look at to see how much of the site has been loaded? Perhaps you look at the… Continue reading

Active Content

Have you ever heard of the term “active content” before? You may have seen it referenced along with some Web sites, but have you ever gotten a formal definition of it? If not, you’re in luck, because that’s exactly what I’m going to give you today. Are you ready to add another computer term to your “I Know What That Means” list? Then let’s do it!

Basically, active… Continue reading

Refresh Rate Basics

So, I was looking in our computer tip archives the other day and found a tip on the term “refresh rate.” I was reading through it and although it was very helpful, it didn’t give just the basics of what the refresh rate really is. And I figured a lot of you would probably want to know, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do for you… Continue reading

Pharming

No, I didn’t spell it wrong! Pharming (with a “ph”) is actually a term used in the computer world. I know you’ve heard of phishing before, because we’ve talked about it in the newsletter and well, pharming sort of goes along with that. It’s just another example of how hackers try to manipulate computer users via the Internet. Keep reading for a more detailed definition.

Basically, pharming is the… Continue reading

Tooltips

Did you know that everyday, at some point in time while you’re working on your computer, you’ve come across a tooltip? It’s such a common thing with computers these days and most of us probably don’t even realize it when we see one. Do you have any idea what I’m talking about yet? Well, whether you do or you don’t, come along with me as I explain what exactly… Continue reading