Barrons Publishing Dictionary of Computer and Internet Terms 10th

The essential characteristic of fair use is that it does not decrease the market for the original; it may in fact increase it. Fair use does not permit reproduction of a complete essay, poem, or other copyrighted work, nor does it extend to music, artwork, or software. See COPYRIGHT.

fanfic (fan fiction) stories written by fans of a television series, movie, or book. Fanfic makes use of the established fictional world, expanding or enriching the original story so that it more closely matches the author’s interpretation and imagination. The tradition emerged as soon as there were stories to fuel imaginations, and fan fiction is now widely published on the Internet.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) a file of often-needed information in question-and-answer format. Many Usenet NEWSGROUPs have, or formerly had, their own FAQ files. These are collected at www.faqs.org and other sites and can easily be found by using a SEARCH ENGINE.

FAT (File Allocation Table) the part of the disk that contains information about the sizes and locations of the files. In Windows, a FAT file system is a file system that is compatible with DOS, as opposed to a Windows NT native file system (NTFS). See also FAT32.

FAT16 the original form of the FAT file system used by DOS and by Windows 95 and its predecessors. Contrast FAT32.

FAT32 (File Allocation Table, 32 bits) a modified form of the FAT file system that was introduced in Windows 98 and some late releases of Windows 95. FAT32 allows each disk to be divided into a larger number of clusters (allocation units); thus, space can be allocated in smaller units and used more efficiently. More importantly, FAT32 supports disk drives larger than 2 gigabytes.

favorites recorded addresses on the WORLD WIDE WEB. Web browsers normally let the user record the addresses of frequently visited web pages in order to go directly to them in the future without having to type the full web address or use a search engine. Also called bookmarks.

fax (originally an abbreviation for facsimile) a method of transmitting copies of paper documents over telephone lines by converting the appearance of the document into an electronic signal. The output looks much like a photocopy. Computers can send and receive fax signals by using suitable software and a fax modem. A fax document consists of a BITMAP image, not a file of characters.

fax broadcasting sending the same message by fax to multiple recipients, one after another. Compare E-MAIL BROADCASTING. See also JUNK FAX; SPAM.

fax modem a MODEM that can transmit FAX messages as well as computer- to-computer connections.

carried by a single fiber-optic cable. Unlike wire cables, fiber-optic cables are not subject to crosstalk or electromagnetic noise, and they cannot be tapped into (e.g., by an eavesdropper) without producing a noticeable drop in signal level.

field

1.a portion of a record in a database, containing one piece of information. For instance, in an address list, the zip code might be stored in a 10character field. See also DATABASE; RECORD.

2.a place where information can be typed on the screen, such as one of the cells in a spreadsheet. See SPREADSHEET.

3.a region of space where an electrical, magnetic, or gravitational effect is present.

field-effect transistor (FET) a transistor in which the flow of current from source to drain is controlled by a charge applied to the gate. This charge attracts electrons into the area between source and drain or repels them away from it, thus changing its semiconductor properties. No current actually flows into the gate (in practice, there is a tiny current, on the order of 10–12 ampere). Thus, field-effect transistors consume little power and can be packed very densely on integrated circuit chips.

MOSFETs (metal-oxide-semiconductor FETs) have an insulating layer of metal oxide between the gate and the rest of the transistor. They consume the least power of all kinds of transistors. See CMOS; INTEGRATED CIRCUIT; TRANSISTOR.

FIFO (first-in-first-out) a QUEUE (definition 1); a data structure or memory device from which items are retrieved in the order in which they were stored. Contrast LIFO.

fifth-generation computers computers built with advanced large-scale integrated circuits that break out of the traditional Von Neumann architecture by making extensive use of pipelining and/or vector processing.

See also COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE; PIPELINE; VECTOR PROCESSOR. This includes the current Pentium microprocessor, but the term “fifth generation” is no longer widely used. It was popular in the 1980s when powerful computers were forseen but not yet built.

file a block of information stored on disk, tape, or similar media. A file may contain a program, a document, or a collection of data (such as a mailing list). A file need not occupy a contiguous block of disk space. See BINARY FILE; DATABASE MANAGEMENT; DISK; EXTENSION; RECORD; TEXT FILE.

file compression see DATA COMPRESSION.

file format a way of arranging information in a file. Almost every computer program has one or more file formats of its own; for example, WordPerfect documents are not in the same format as Microsoft Word documents, and similar programs from different manufacturers cannot necessarily process each other’s files. There are three reasons why file formats are diverse:

1.Different programs handle different kinds of data (text vs. pictures vs. spreadsheets, for example).

2.Different programmers simply pick different ways of doing the same thing. Sometimes, inventing a new format is a point of pride, or is necessary to avoid infringing someone else’s copyright or patent.

3.Even when the end result is the same, the way different programs achieve it may be very different. For example, a Windows Paintbrush picture is a bitmap (a large grid of dots), but a CorelDraw picture consists of vector graphics (instructions to draw lines or shapes in particular positions). The two kinds of pictures are very different from the computer’s point of view.

Many programs have the ability to import (bring in) files that are not in their own format. But the format of the imported file may not be very well suited to the way the program works, resulting in a loss of quality or partial loss of information (disappearance of italics or footnotes, loss of graphics resolution, inability to edit the imported material, or the like). It is also possible to export files to a format other than the usual one, but again, loss of information may occur. See SAVE AS... . See also CONVERSION

PROGRAM; EXTENSION.

file management system software allowing you to keep track of your computer files. The term is typically used to refer to products that include features that go beyond the file management capabilities provided with the operating system. The system should keep track of when changes are made and who makes them; make sure that you don’t have two people trying to make changes to a file at the same time; and provide ways of indexing and searching so a specific file can be found easily. See also CMS.

file permissions see PERMISSION.

file server a computer that performs FILE SHARING. Contrast DISK SERVER.

file sharing the use of networking to make files available to computers other than the one that owns and manages them. With file sharing, every file exists on the server, which knows it by file name and manages its space. File sharing is essentially the same thing as NETWORK ATTACHED STORAGE (NAS). Contrast DISK SHARING, STORAGE AREA NETWORK.

filename the name of a file. See also 8.3 FILENAME; EXTENSION; FILE.

Usage note: Many publishers prefer to write file name as two words.

filesystem a method of using a disk, optical disc, or tape to store data in files. Different filesystems are used for different operating systems and media. For examples see CDFS; FAT32; NTFS.

fill (in graphics programs) the color of an object. Fills may be of a uniform tone, or they may contain shades that gradually change from one color to another. A fill may even be a pattern. See also LINEAR FILL; UNIFORM FILL.

In Windows, a similar function is available by choosing Search on the start menu.

3. a Windows command that finds all lines in a text file that contain a particular character string; a less powerful version of the UNIX grep command. For example, this command will display all the lines in myfile.txt that contain the word birthday:

find ”birthday” <myfile.txt

To find the lines that do not contain birthday, add the option /V immediately after find. Compare GREP.

find and change, find and replace see SEARCH AND REPLACE.

Finder the part of MAC OS that enables the user to explore the contents of disk drives, launch programs, and open files.

fine-grained security a security model allowing the user to control the specific level of access that a particular program has to the computer. For example, a fine-grained security system would allow downloaded programs from certain providers to have read/write access to specified directories; read only access to other directories; and no access to other directories. This is generally better than an all-or-nothing approach to security, which forces the user to choose between crippling the functionality of a downloaded program by preventing it from having any access to the local machine, or else risking a breach of security by giving the downloaded program complete access. See also SANDBOX.

finger a UNIX command that provides you with information about users of your own or other machines. For example, if you type fingersmith@gizmo1.ai.uga.edu your computer will connect with GIZMO1 (the host computer’s name) at the University of Georgia and look for a user named Smith; if one exists, you will get that person’s full name and e-mail address, along with some other information depending on the exact version of the operating system.

Because the finger command has been abused (to collect addresses for junk e-mailing or even to deliberately overload a machine with requests), many larger UNIX systems no longer answer finger queries.

See COMPUTER SECURITY.

fingerprint reader a device that identifies a computer user by detecting the person’s fingerprint pattern, and can be used instead of passwords to allow access to computer services. Microsoft sells one such device for use with Vista.

FiOS a service from Verizon providing high-speed fiber optic connections to homes.

Firefox a popular free Web browser introduced in 2004 by Mozilla (www.mozilla.com/firefox). On June 17–18, 2008, version 3 of Firefox set a world record for most number of downloads of a piece of software

in a 24-hour period, and it continues to gain popularity. See BROWSER, MOZILLA.

firewall a link in a network that relays only data packets clearly intended and authorized to reach the other side. Firewalls are helpful in keeping computers safe from intentional hacker attacks and from hardware failures occurring elsewhere. They can be implemented in hardware or software.

Since 2005, a software firewall has been built into Windows. Software firewalls are also included with many ANTIVIRUS packages.

FireWire a high-speed serial bus standard more formally known as IEEE 1394, and similar in function to USB, but faster. The name FireWire is a trademark of Apple; the same bus is sometimes known as i.Link, a Sony trademark.

FireWire is most often used to interface video cameras to computers, but it has many other uses. The original version (IEEE 1394 and, with an improved software interface, 1394a) had a maximum speed of 400 megabits per second. The newer version, IEEE 1394b, achieves 800 megabits per second or more.

See also BILINGUAL (definition 2).

firmware software (i.e., computer programs) that is stored in some fixed form, such as read-only memory (ROM) or FLASH MEMORY. Contrast

SOFTWARE; HARDWARE.

first-generation computers the computers that were built in the late 1940s and early 1950s, using vacuum tubes as switching elements.

first-person shooter a type of computer game in which the player pretends to shoot a gun from the perspective of the person doing the shooting.

fish tape a tool for pulling cables through inaccessible spaces. A fish tape is a very long metal strip with a hook at the end which can be used to grab a wire or another fish tape, somewhat like catching fish with a hook on a line.

fishing

1.the act of pulling a cable through the interior of a wall, or through some other inaccessible space, by using a FISH TAPE; more precisely, the act of moving a fish tape around to try to catch a cable or another fish tape.

2.the act of trying to obtain personal information by setting up a fake version of a trusted web site; normally spelled phishing. See PHISHING.

fit text to path a draw program command that warps the baseline of a line of text so that it follows the shape of a specified line (PATH). See Figure 103 for an example.

fix a solution to a software defect; typically a new version of a program issued in order to correct a problem. Compare PATCH.

FIGURE 103. Fit text to path

fixed disk a disk drive that cannot be removed from the computer in normal use. See HARD DISK.

fixed-pitch type type in which all letters are the same width (e.g., I is the same width as M). Most typewriters and older printers and computer screens use fixed-pitch type. Also called MONOSPACE.

Contrast PROPORTIONAL PITCH.

FIGURE 104. Fixed pitch vs. proportional pitch

fixed-point number a number in which the position of the decimal point is fixed. For example, amounts of money in U.S. currency can always be represented as numbers with exactly two digits to the right of the point (1.00, 123.45, 0.76, etc.). Contrast FLOATING-POINT NUMBER.

flame (slang) an angry, ill-considered e-mail message or newsgroup posting. See ELECTRONIC MAIL; NEWSGROUP.

flame war (slang) an angry, uninformative quarrel in a NEWSGROUP or other electronic discussion forum.

Flash a program developed by Macromedia, Inc. to produce multimedia web content and presentations. To see Flash animations, viewers must first download the Flash player from Macromedia (www.macromedia.com/ downloads). One of the most powerful features of Flash is the ability to script an interactive experience for the viewer. Entire web sites are now being presented as Flash instead of HTML.

flash drive a device that works like a disk drive but uses FLASH MEMORY as the storage medium. For the most common type see USB FLASH DRIVE.

flash memory a type of EEPROM that can only be erased in blocks; it cannot be erased one byte at a time. In this regard it resembles a disk drive that is divided into sectors. Flash memory is usually used for storing

larger amounts of data, like a disk; EEPROM is used for small amounts of data, such as machine configuration. Contrast EEPROM. See also FLASH

and references there.

flash memory card (flash card) generic term for a card containing flash memory for non-volatile storage. For examples see COMPACTFLASH;

MEMORY STICK; MULTIMEDIACARD; SECURE DIGITAL CARD; SMARTMEDIA.

flat-file database a database like a relational database except that it has only one table. See RELATIONAL DATABASE.

flat-panel monitor a flat, thin computer screen like that of a laptop computer, using LCD technology. Contrast FLAT-SCREEN MONITOR.

flat-screen monitor a computer screen that is flat. Normally, flat-screen monitor denotes a conventional cathode-ray tube with a flat front, as opposed to a thin LCD panel, which is called a FLAT-PANEL MONITOR.

flatbed scanner a scanner in which the object to be scanned is held flat against a piece of glass. See SCANNER.

flavor

1.(slang) a variety or type of something. For example, CD-ROM, CD- R, and CD-RW might be described as three “flavors” of compact disc.

2.(in early object-oriented programming experiments at MIT) an inheritable object class.

fleuron a decorative typographic ornament. See Figure 105 for examples. Fleurons may be used for purely decorative purposes or to mark the beginnings of paragraphs.

FIGURE 105. Fleurons

flip-flop an electronic circuit that can switch back and forth between two states (called 0 and 1) and will remain in either state until changed. Flipflops are the basic component of which CPU registers are composed.

Figure 106 shows how to construct a flip-flop from two NAND gates. It has two possible states: state 1 (in which output 1 = 1) and state 0 (in which output 1 = 0). (Output 0 is always the opposite of output 1.)

If both inputs are 1 when the flip-flop is first powered up, it will settle into one state or the other, at random. Bringing the “set” input momentarily to 0 will put the flip-flop into state 1, and bringing the “reset” input to 0 will put the flip-flop into state 0. Whenever both inputs are 1, the flip-flop stays in whatever state it was already in. Thus, a flipflop is a 1-bit memory.

More elaborate flip-flops include control circuitry so that the data to be stored in them can be delivered through a single input. A 16-bit CPU register consists of 16 flip-flops side by side.

FIGURE 106. Flip-flop constructed from NAND gates

flip horizontal a command that creates a mirror image of the original object. The image still appears right-side-up, but left and right are reversed.

FIGURE 107. Flip horizontal; flip vertical

flip vertical a command that turns an image upside down, but maintains the image’s left-right orientation, just like a reflection in still water. This is not equivalent to rotating the object or defined area 180 degrees. (Try it and see.)

floating illustrations illustrations that should appear near, but not necessarily at, specified positions in a text. For instance, many of the tables in this book are floating illustrations; they appear near the articles that refer to them, but not between particular words. The page-layout software places the illustrations wherever it is convenient to put them.

floating-point number a number in which the decimal point can be in any position. For instance, a memory location set aside for a floating-point number can store 0.735, 62.3, or 1200. By contrast, a fixed-point memory location can only accommodate a specific number of decimal places, usually 2 (for currency) or none (for integers). Floating-point numbers are often written in scientific notation, such as 4.65E4, which means 4.65 × 104 = 46,500. See DOUBLE PRECISION; REAL NUMBER; ROUNDING ERROR. Contrast FIXED-POINT NUMBER.

floppy disk see DISKETTE.

floppy disk drive a disk drive for diskettes (floppy disks).

FLOPS floating-point operations per second, a measure of computer speed.

flowchart a chart consisting of symbols and words that completely describe an algorithm (i.e., how to solve a problem). Each step in the flowchart is followed by an arrow that indicates which step to do next.