Technology

A screensaver is a computer program originally designed to conserve the image quality of computer displays by blanking the screen or filling them with moving images or patterns when the computers are not in use. Today, screensavers are primarily for ... entertainment or security purposes. Until recently, most computer screens depended on cathode ray tubes (CRTs). CRT images are generated using electron beams which are "launched" from the back of the monitor and "draw" images continuously on the screen. Most computer programs paint images in the screen. Some of these images (letters, pictures, ... (view more)

A weblog (now more commonly known as a blog ) is a web-based publication consisting primarily of periodic articles (normally in reverse chronological order). Although most early weblogs were manually updated, tools to automate the maintenance of ... such sites made them accessible to a much larger population, and the use of some sort of browser-based software is now a typical aspect of "blogging". Blogs range in scope from individual diaries to arms of political campaigns, media programs, and corporations. They range in scale from the writings of one occasional author, to the collaboration of a ... (view more)

Internet Explorer , abbreviated 'IE' or 'MSIE', is a proprietary web browser made by Microsoft and currently available as part of Microsoft Windows. Internet Explorer is an integrated component of all current versions of Microsoft Windows. Microsoft ... has shipped Internet Explorer as the default browser in all versions of Microsoft Windows since Windows 95 OSR1. Features of Internet Explorer Internet Explorer has been designed to view the broadest range of web pages and to provide certain features within the operating system, including Windows Update. During the heydays of the historic browser ... (view more)

A modem (a portmanteau word constructed from modulator and demodulator) is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal (sound) to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The ... goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data. The most familiar example of a modem turns the digital '1s and 0s' of a personal computer into sounds that can be transmitted over the telephone lines of Plain Old Telephone System (POTS), and once received on the other side, converts ... (view more)

Dial-up Internet access is an inexpensive but relatively slow form of internet access in which the client uses a modem to dial the internet service provider's (ISP) node, a dialup server type such as the Point-to-Point Protocol and TCP/IP protocols ... to establish a modem-to-modem link, which is then routed to the Internet. It is now regarded as legacy technology given the advent of widely available broadband Internet access in the Western world. Dial-up Access: Availability Dial-up requires no additional infrastructure on top of the telephone network. As telephone points are available ... (view more)

Fax (short for facsimile - from Latin "fac simile", "make similar", i.e. "make a copy" - or telefacsimile) is a telecommunications technology used to transfer copies of documents, especially using affordable devices operating over the telephone ... network. The words telecopy and telefax are also used as synonyms. Fax: Overview A fax machine is essentially an image scanner, a modem, and a computer printer combined into a highly specialized package. The scanner converts the content of a physical document into a digital image, the modem sends the image data over a phone line, and the printer at the ... (view more)

Pop-up ads are a form of online advertising on the world wide web intended to increase web traffic or capture email addresses. It works when certain web sites open a new web browser window to display advertisements. The pop-up window containing an ... advertisement is usually generated by JavaScript, but can be generated by other means as well. A variation on the pop-up window is the pop-under advertisement. This opens a new browser window, behind the active window. Pop-unders interrupt the user less, but are not seen until the desired windows are closed, making it more difficult for the user to ... (view more)

Universal Serial Bus (USB) provides a serial bus standard for connecting devices, usually to a computer, but it also is in use on other devices such as set-top boxes, and game consoles. USB: Overview A USB system has an asymmetric design, consisting ... of a host controller and multiple devices connected in a tree-like fashion using special hub devices. There is a limit of 5 levels of branching hubs per controller. Up to 127 devices may be connected to a single host controller, but the count must include the hub devices as well. A modern computer likely has several host controllers so the total ... (view more)

Definition: Annoy (like the French ennui, a word traced by etymologists to a Latin phrase, in odio esse, to be "in hatred" or hateful of someone), to vex or affect with irritation. In the sense of "nuisance," the noun "annoyance" is found in the ... English "Jury of Annoyance" appointed by an act of 1754 to report upon obstructions in the highways. Annoyance is an unpleasant mental state that is characterized by such effects as irritation and distraction from one's conscious thinking. It can lead to emotions such as frustration and anger. See also irritation. An annoyance is a stimulus that can ... (view more)

The Control Panel is part of the Microsoft Windows graphical user interface (GUI) menu. It is accessible from the Start Menu, which allows users to view and manipulate basic system settings and controls, such as: adding hardware, adding/removing ... software, controlling user accounts, changing accessibility options, and more. The Control Panel is accessed by going into Start -> Settings -> Control Panel on Windows 95, 98, and Me and directly from Windows XP. Control Panel Categories in Windows XP In Windows XP, the following Control Panel options are present: Accessibility Options: allows ... (view more)