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`MicrosoftPress
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`Apple 1019
`Apple 1019
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`PUBLISHED BY
`Microsoft Press
`
`A Division of Microsoft Corporation
`One Microsoft Way
`Redmond, Washington 98052-6399
`
`Copyright © 1999 by Microsoft Corporation
`
`All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
`or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.
`
`Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
`Microsoft Computer Dictionary. -- 4th ed.
`p. cm.
`Previous eds. published undertitle: Microsoft Press computer
`dictionary
`ISBN 0-7356-0615-3
`
`2. Microcomputers Dictionaries.
`1. Computers Dictionaries.
`I. Microsoft Press computer dictionary.
`QA76.15.M538
`1999
`004'.03--de21
`
`99-20168
`CIP
`
`Printed and bound in the United States of America.
`
`23456789 MLML 432109
`
`Distributed in Canada by Penguin Books Canada Limited.
`
`A CIPcatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
`
`Microsoft Press books are available through booksellers and distributors worldwide. For further information
`aboutinternational editions, contact your local Microsoft Corporation office or contact Microsoft Press
`International directly at fax (425) 936-7329. Visit our Website at mspress.microsoft.com.
`
`Macintosh, Power Macintosh, QuickTime, and TrueType fonts are registered trademarks of Apple Computer,
`Inc. Kodak is a registered trademark of the Eastman Kodak Company. Intel is a registered trademark and Indeo
`is a trademark of Intel Corporation. Active Desktop, Active Directory, ActiveMovie, Active Platform, ActiveX,
`Authenticode, BackOffice, DirectInput, DirectX, Microsoft, Microsoft Press, MS-DOS, MSN, NetMeeting,
`NetShow, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual J++, WebTV, WebTV Network, Win32, Win32s, Windows,
`WindowsNT, and XENIXare either registered trademarksor trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the
`United States and/or other countries. PANTONE is a registered trademark of Pantone, Inc. Other product and
`company names mentioned herein may be the trademarksof their respective owners.
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`The example companies, organizations, products, people, and events depicted herein arefictitious. No associa-
`tion with any real company, organization, product, person, or event is intended or should be inferred.
`
`Acquisitions Editor: Christey Bahn
`Project Editor: Kim Fryer
`
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`
`
`Introduction
`vii
`
`Dictionary
`of Computer Terms
`1
`
`Appendix A
`ASCII Character Set
`494
`
`Appendix B
`IBM Extended Character Set
`496
`
`Appendix C
`Apple Macintosh Extended Character Set
`498
`
`Appendix D
`EBCDIC Character Set
`502
`
`Appendix E
`Numeric Equivalents
`509
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`
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`Appendix F
`Internet Domains
`517
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`Appendix G
`Common File Extensions
`527
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`Appendix H
`Year 2000 Problem Reference
`536
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`vi
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`binomialdistribution n. In statistics, a list or a func-
`tion that describes the probabilities of the possible
`values of a random variable chosen by means of a
`Bernoulli sampling process. A Bernoulli process has
`three characteristics: each trial has only two possible
`outcomes—successor failure; each trial is indepen-
`dent ofall other trials; and the probability of success
`for eachtrial is constant. A binomial distribution can
`
`be used to calculate the probability of getting a speci-
`fied number of successes in a Bernoulli process. For
`example, the binomial distribution can be used to
`calculate the probability of getting a 7 three times in
`20 rolls of a pair of dice. Also called Bernoulli distri-
`bution.
`
`bipolar adj. 1. Having two opposite states, such as
`positive and negative. 2. In information transfer and
`processing, pertaining to or characteristic ofa sig-
`nal in which opposite voltage polarities represent on
`andoff, true and false, or some otherpair of values.
`See also nonreturn to zero. Compare unipolar. 3. In
`electronics, pertaining to or characteristic of a tran-
`sistor having two types of charge carriers. See also
`transistor.
`
`BIS n. See business information system.
`BISDN n. See broadband ISDN.
`
`bistable adj. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a
`system or device that has two possible states, such as
`on and off. See also flip-flop.
`
`bistable circuit nm. Any circuit that has only twostable
`states. The transition between them mustbe initiated
`
`biometrics n. Traditionally, the science of measuring
`and analyzing human biological characteristics. In
`computer technology, biometrics relates to authenti-
`cation and security techniques that rely on measur-
`able, individual biological stamps to recognize or
`verify an individual’s identity. For example, finger-
`prints, handprints, or voice-recognition might be
`used to enable access to a computer, to a room,or to
`an electronic commerce account. Security schemes
`are generally categorized into three levels: level 1
`relies on something the person carries, such as an ID
`badge with a photo or a computer cardkey; level 2
`relies on something the person knows, such as a
`password or a code number;level 3, the highestlevel,
`relies on something that is a part of the person’s bio-
`logical makeup or behavior, such as a fingerprint, the
`pattern of blood vessels in a retina, or a signature.
`See also fingerprint reader, handwriting recognition
`(definition 1), voice recognition.
`bionics \bi-on‘iks*\ n. The study ofliving organisms,
`their characteristics, and the ways they function, with
`a view toward creating hardware that can simulate or
`duplicate the activities of a biological system. See
`bit n. Short for binary digit. The smallest unit of in-
`also cybernetics.
`formation handled by a computer. Onebit expresses
`a 1 ora0ina binary numeral, ora true orfalse logi-
`BIOS \bi‘6s\ n. Acronym for basic input/output sys-
`cal condition, and is represented physically by an
`tem. On PC-compatible computers, the set of essential
`element such as a high or low voltage at one pointin
`software routines that tests hardwareat startup, starts
`a circuit or a small spot on a disk magnetized one
`the operating system, and supports the transfer of data
`way or the other. A single bit conveys little informa-
`among hardware devices. The BIOSis stored in read-
`tion a human would consider meaningful. A group of
`only memory (ROM)so that it can be executed when
`8 bits, however, makesup a byte, which can be used
`the computeris turned on. Althoughcritical to perfor-
`to represent many types of information, such as a
`mance, the BIOSis usually invisible to computer
`letter of the alphabet, a decimal digit, or other char-
`users. See also AMI BIOS, CMOSsetup, Phoenix
`acter. See also ASCH, binary', byte.
`BIOS, ROM BIOS. Compare Toolbox.
`
`from outside the circuit. A bistable circuit is capable
`of storing 1 bit of information.
`
`bistable multivibrator n. See flip-flop.
`BISYNC \bi’sénk\ n. Short for binary synchronous
`communications protocol. A communicationsstan-
`dard developed by IBM. BISYNCtransmissionsare
`encodedin either ASCII or EBCDIC. Messages can
`be of any length andaresentin units called frames,
`optionally preceded by a message header. BISYNC
`uses synchronoustransmission, in which message
`elements are separated by a specific timeinterval, so
`each frame is preceded and followed by specialchar-
`acters that enable the sending and receiving machines
`to synchronize their clocks. STX and ETX are con-
`trol characters that mark the beginning and end of the
`message text; BCCis a set of characters used to
`verify the accuracy of transmission. See theillustra-
`tion. Also called BSC.
`
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