AI — artificial intelligence. In other words, computers that think. (See the film 2001: A Space Odyssey to see how this can get out of hand.)

Applications &12;<$> programs for specific functions, such as word-processing.

B2B — business to business. An e-business term for transactions between businesses over the intet.

Blogging<$> — an online diary or journal. A blogger is someone who keeps an online diary or journal.

C++ — a programming language based on C and replac it.

C# —<$> Microsoft’s new language based on C++ and Java.

CRM — customer relationship management. Software that enables different sectors of a business to share information about cumers.

Cybershoring<$> — the outsourcing of business IT needs via the internet. This is very much associated with the emerging application service provision industry.

ERP — enterprise resource planning. A system that helps businesses manage functions, such as purchasing and lstics.

Front-end applications — programs with which systems users interact directly. (Back-end programs support the process.)

H —<$> hypertext markup language. This is the language used to display text on web pages.

a —<$> a programming language created by Sun Microsystems.

Operating sem —<$> provides the software to manage all the application programs in a computer. <

Offshoring<$> — the relocation of IT services to a lower cost location, usually overseas.

Outsourcing — the concept of taking internal company functions and paying an outside firm tandle them.

Portal<$> — a website designed to be a user’s main point of entry to the internet. Portals attempt to achieve this by providing assistance, usually in navigation or information.

SAP — application software that manages financial, HR and or functions.

SQL — structured query language. Aids the input and extraction of information into and from databases.

UML — unified modelling language. Allows the development of ‘object oriented’ software, an approach that makes software easier to maiin and reuse.

UNIX —<$> a commonly used operating systemAnd here are some common terms concerning every day technologies, from digital cameras to televisions:Bluetooth - Bluetooth <$>provides a way to connect and exchange information between devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, laptops, PCs, printers, digital cameras and video game consoles via a secure, globally unlicensed short-range radio frequency. It means no wires or leads need to be used — useful if you’re out and about. It’s also a good way to exchange information with other Bluetooth enabled ducts instantly.

Cathode Ray Tube<$>, which is the way normal television displays work. It technically refers to any electronic vacuum tube employing a focused beam of electrons. In simple terms, a beam of electrons makes the tube glow different colours depending on what chemicals the tube has been treated with, which in turn makes the picture on your TV. It’s also why some people refer toe TV as the tube.

DAB Radio — — a radio that intercepts and interprets digital signals, turning it into your favourite music or radio show. It means a better and crisp, clear sound quality and a greater number of radio stons to choose from.

DECT<$> — Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications is a telecoms-industry standard that guarantees excellent call quality and range. DECT can also be used for wireless data transfers. DECT is recognised as a 3G system, being short for the 3rd Generation we associate with current mobile phone techogy.

Digital Zoom<$> — This enlarges detail from the centre of the photo to give a ‘zoom’ effect. If a camera says it has a digitalom, it means it allows cropping and enlarging of an area of a captured image. It is lower in quality than an optical zoom, as the resolution (when zooming in) doesn’tay constant.

DVD-R<$> — a format DVD that is recordable<$>. These discs can record data once, which then becomes permanent on the disk. DVD-R has more storage capacity than a CD-R, typically 4,700,372,992 bytes (4.7 GB or 7 GiB) instead of 700 MB.

DVD+R<$> - a formaf DVD that is recordable<$>. It is different and in competition with the —R format already mentioned above. These discs can record data once, which then becomes permanent on the disk. It also has 4.7 GB of space on each diskB>

HD Ready TV — High Definition Television<$>, is a television picture with much higher resolution than normal television can offer. Except for early formats it’s almoslways broadcast digitally <$>which also makes the picture quality better. HDTV has at least twice the resolution of standard-definition television (SDTV), so allowing much more detail to be shown compared to analog television or regular DVD. It basically gives you at least twice as good a picture as normal televisi

HDMI Socket — High-Definition Multimedia Interface socket <$>is the socket where you can plug in a cable from any other compatible and digital product (such as a set-top box or DVD player). It allows crystal-clear, all-digital audio and video signals to delivered via a single cable<$>, to r monitor.

LCD — Liquid Crystal Display<$> - A liquid crystal display is a thin, flat display device made up of any number of colour or monochrome (black and white) pixels arranged in front of a light source or rector. It makes a flat screen <$>television display possible they take up a tiny fraction of the space of traditional Cathode Ray Tubes.

MAFF Rating< — Refers to the rating for cooking time<$>; it’s usually contained on the food packaging for guidance. It is usually to do with the strength of the product so the higher the rating, the less cooking time is needed.

Megapixel — A dial image is made up of dots called pixels<$>. The higher the megapixel rating of your camera, the sharper the image will be as the more pixels per cm squared there will be — so making resolution sharper. A pixel (short for picture element, using the common abbreviation “pix” for “picture”) is a single poinn a graphic image.

Optical Zoom<$> — This lets you get closer to the subject without losing the picture quality. A 3x optical zoom gets closer by a factor of 3; a 4x optl zoom gets closer by a factor of 4.

PDAare basically handheld mini computers — having evolved from their original use as personal organisers. They now have many different options and functions, such as Microsoft Office programs, email, MP3 music players, Camera and Internet accessories, amongst other things (it depends on the model choose). They’re time saving <$>— they connect to your computer so information usually only needs to be entered once. They commonly have touch screens where ynavigate using a sial pen (stylus)<$>.

SCART Socket<$> — the socket that allows your audio-visual equipment (such as DVD player, TV, VCR or games console) to be connected to other audio-visual equipment — such as a screen. Previously, each of these would have had their own sock requiring numerous separate connections.

Screens - CRT (normal Cathode Ray Television) televisions with flat screens help reduce light reflections and offer a wider ving angle — so the picture is better.

SMART Oven Technology - this is re the appliance has a SmartCode scanner <$>to read SmartCodes printed on food packaging. The oven programs itself, changing throughout the cooking period as needed, from microwave to oven to grill and at varying temperatures hopefully ensure the tastiest l.

USB<$> — Universal Serial Bus<$>, usually referred to as the USB cable or USB port. Originally designed for PCs and Macs it is now also a standard port <$>on cameras, video game consoles, cell phones and even some stereo equipment. The idea was to reduce the need for many ports, none of which were standardised — now if you have a USB cable or device it will fit onto anything that has a port, and enable the transfer of information between it and whatever else.