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TCP/IP (transmission control protocol): An Internet protocol for moving data from one computer to another. IP, or Internet protocol, is also an essential part of the Internet data transmission process. The Internet protocol coordinates the addressing and packaging of the data packets that make up the article.

terminal: A device with a screen and keyboard that relies on a mainframe or another computer for intelligence.

thumbnail: A miniature representation of a page or image. A thumbnail program may be stand-alone or part of a desktop-publishing or graphics program. Thumbnails take considerable time to generate, but provide a convenient way to browse through multiple images before retrieving the one you need. A number of programs let you click on the thumbnail to retrieve the item it represents.

TIFF (tagged image file format): A common ile format for storing bit-mapped images on computers. The images may display any resolution, and they can be monochrome, gray-scaled, or in full color. TIFF file extensions often end with .tif.

timecode: Timecode is a signal that contains a chronological record of the absolute time in a recording. It is used for synchronizing different recorders. It can be used for electronic editing. Timecode was initially invented for motion pictures as a method of synchronizing the pictures recorded in the frames of a camera with the sound recorded on a tape recorder.

Trojan horse: Like its namesake from Greek mythology, a Trojan horse is something nasty that pretends to be nice. In tech terms, its a destructive program that masquerades as a benign one. It doesnt replicate itself like a virus, but it can be just as destructive as one. Among the most insidious species of Trojan horse is a program that claims it will cleanse your computer of viruses even as it introduces them.

TrueType: A scalable font technology that renders fonts for both the printer and the screen. Originally developed by Apple, it was enhanced jointly by Apple and Microsoft. Unlike PostScript, in which the algorithms are maintained in the rasterizing engine, each TrueType font contains its own algorithms for converting the outline into bitmaps. The lower-level language embedded within the TrueType font allows unlimited flexibility in the design.

Uuencode: When it was new, uuencode stood for Unix-to-Unix encode, but gradually it became a universal protocol for transferring files between platforms such as Unix, Windows, and Macintosh. Its a set of algorithms that converts files into a series of 7-bit ASCII characters that can be transmitted over the Internet. Uuencoding is especially popular for sending email attachments. Most email applications support uuencoding for sending attachments and uudecoding for receiving attachments. See also, ASCII.

Unix: A computer operating system. Unix is designed to be used by many people at the same time and has TCP/IP built-in.

USB (universal serial bus): An external bus standard that supports data transfer rates of 12 Mbps (12 million bits per second). One USB port can connect up to 127 peripheral devices, such as keyboards, modems, and mice.. USB also supports hot plugging and Plug-and-Play installation.

unbalanced: A connector that has a positive conductor that's surrounded by the negative conductor.

VBS (Visual Basic Script): A programming language for World Wide Web applications from Microsoft. It is an extension to Microsoft's Visual Basic language. VBScript is widely used as the scripting language in Active Server Pages.

Visual Basic: Based on the BASIC computer programming language, Microsofts Visual Basic was one of the first products to provide a graphical programming environment and a paint metaphor for developing user interfaces. With Visual Basic, a programmer can add or delete code by dragging and dropping controls, like buttons and dialog boxes, instead of worrying about syntax details.

virtual memory: An area of imaginary memory that some operating systems support. Virtual memory expands the available RAM by commandeering hard-disk space and making it work as pseudo RAM. The more RAM you have, the more applications you can open at the same time. True RAM works many times faster than virtual memory. Once your computer starts using hard-drive space for RAM, it slows down considerably.

virus: A piece of software that has been written to surreptitiously enter your computer system and "infect" your files. Some viruses are benign and won't harm your system, while others are destructive and can damage or destroy your data. Typically, a computer virus will replicate itself and try to infect as many files and systems as possible. If your system is infected, when you save a file to a disk, you will probably infect the disk, and in turn, whoever uses that disk will infect his or her system.

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