| W |
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| W-O |
Write Once. Refers to storage media such as WORM and CD-R on which data can be written once, but not erased or rewritten.
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| W3 |
WWW; the World Wide Web. A hypermedia-based system for browsing Internet sites. It is named the Web because it is made of many sites linked together; users can travel from one site to another by clicking on hyperlinks. Text, graphics, sound, and video can all be accessed with browsers like Mosaic, Netscape, or Internet Explorer. The Web can also be accessed with text-only browsers like Lynx. 2. A World Wide Web browser for Emacs.
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| W3 Consortium |
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C); also called W3O. The main body that creates standards for the World Wide Web. Based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), it also produces reference software.
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| W3C |
W3 Consortium (World Wide Web Consortium); also called W3O. The main body that creates standards for the World Wide Web. Based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), it also produces reference software.
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| W3O |
World Wide Web Consortium; also called W3C. The main body that creates standards for the World Wide Web. Based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), it also produces reference software.
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| WAA |
Wide Area Adapter. An adapter connecting to a wide area network (WAN).
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| wabbit |
A computer program that is not a virus or worm but that makes copies of itself every time it is run, which eventually crashes the system. The original "wabbit" appeared in the late 1970s.
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| WABI |
Windows ABI (Windows Application Binary Interface). A software package from SunSoft that provides Microsoft Windows emulation for UNIX. It translates calls made by Windows applications into X Window calls.
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| WACK |
Wait before sending positive acknowledgement. This means the receiving station is not ready to receive the ACK.
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| wafer |
A very thin sheet of semiconductor material, about 1/30" thick, which comprises the substrate for a microchip.
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| WAIS |
Wide Area Information Server. A search engine developed by Thinking Machines, Inc., which can find documents on the Internet. WAIS uses keywords to search text files, and can search the entire contents of documents rather than only titles. WAIS uses the ANSI Z39.50 query language.
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| wait state |
A brief delay added before a microprocessor executes an instruction, to allow time for slower memory chips or external devices to respond. A wait states may be one or more of the computer's clock cycles or may be timed differently. One wait state on each access of memory can make the processor up to 20% slower. With no wait state (called zero wait state) the processor will run faster.
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| waiting time |
The time lag between the beginning of a request for data and the moment it begins to be received; also called latency.
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| waldo |
A mechanical arm or other extension of a human limb, which is operated by a human and used to do various tasks. The term originates in Robert Heinlein's science fiction story, "Waldo".
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| wall |
A UNIX command meaning "write all". It sends a message to everyone logged in at the time.
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| wall time |
The time according to a clock on the wall, rather than on the computer's clock.
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| wall wart |
A transformer plugged into a wall outlet that converts the AC power from the outlet into DC power for an electronic device such as a modem. Also called a power adapter.
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| wallpaper |
A picture or pattern displayed as a background to the windows or other items on the computer's desktop in a graphical user environment. The user can choose the wallpaper from a group of available patterns, or create original wallpaper.
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| WAN |
Wide Area Network. A network in which computers are connected to each other over a long distance, using telephone lines and satellite communications. Contrast with Local Area Network (LAN).
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| Wang Laboratories |
Wang Laboratories, Inc. A Lowell, Massachusetts computer systems and software company founded by Dr. An Wang. Some Wang Labs products have been desktop calculators, WPS word processors, and VS minicomputers.
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| Wang, Dr. An |
The founder (in 1951) of Wang Laboratories, Inc. Originally from China, Dr. Wang studied at Harvard University in the U.S. One of his inventions was a pulse transfer device that made it possible to use magnetic cores for computer memory. He was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 1988.
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| WAP |
(Wireless Application Protocol). A global standard for developing applications over wireless communication networks.
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| WAP gateway |
When implementing services in Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), information is translated into Wireless Markup Language (WML) by a two-way device called a WAP gateway.
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| warez |
Software that is illegally made available, for example on an FTP or Telnet site, by software pirates.
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