| b |
Bit. Short for binary digit. The smallest unit of information a computer can hold. The value of a bit is 1 or 0.
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| B |
Byte. The smallest addressable unit of storage; the amount of memory space used to store one character, which is usually 8 bits. A computer that has 8-bit bytes (most large and small computers today) can distinguish 28 = 256 different characters. See bits, kilobytes and megabytes.
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| B channel |
On an ISDN (ISDN), a connection that provides voice and data at the same time.
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| B-) |
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| B-ISDN |
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| B2B e-commerce |
Business to business electronic commerce. Businesses conducting transactions with one another via the World Wide Web.
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| B4 |
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| B: |
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| Babbage, Charles |
(1791-1871) A British inventor of computing machines, known as the "Father of Computing" for his contributions. Babbage invented a "difference engine," which was a device for producing mathematical tables. His "analytical engine" introduced ideas that were later used in electronic computers. Babbage was the first to have the idea of a machine which could be run by a program stored in its memory.
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| Baby AT |
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| back door |
A means of disabling a system's security which is deliberately left by designers of the system, often to give access to service technicians or maintenance programmers.
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| back end |
A computer that does the main processing but has a smaller, more friendly computer that the user interacts with (called the front end). 2. A program that takes care of details behind the scenes, performing tasks not directly controlled by the user.
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| Back Orifice |
A hostile application which can be used by a cracker to take remote control of a computer. It appeared in the summer of 1998, then was quickly brought under control by anti-virus and security software programs; the application left a clear 120,000-byte signature.
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| back up |
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| backbone |
In a hierarchical network, the backbone is the top level, employing high-speed data transmission and serving as a major access point; smaller networks connect to the backbone.
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| background |
The color or pattern on a computer screen which is behind the text and graphic elements.
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| background noise |
Interference in the form of extra signals in a line or circuit.
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| background task |
A task that runs on its own while the user interacts with the computer on another (foreground) task; for example, some computers can run a printer in background while the user edits text or reads other files.
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| backing up |
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| backout |
The elimination of updates made in a transaction that was interrupted by a system failure.
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| backslash |
The character (ASCII 92), not to be confused with the forward slash / (ASCII 47).
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| backspace |
To move the screen cursor to the left, using the "backspace" or "delete" key, depending on keyboard layout. On a typewriter, a backspace simply moves the carriage back one character or space; on a computer, backspacing deletes the character.
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| backspace key |
A keyboard key that moves the screen cursor to the left, sometimes called the delete key. On a typewriter, a backspace simply moves the carriage back one character or space; on a computer, the backspace key deletes the character.
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| backup copy |
An extra copy of a file kept for safety.
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