|
Term |
Definition |
| FAQ |
(Frequently Asked Questions) -- FAQs are documents that list and
answer the most common questions on a particular subject. There are hundreds of
FAQs on subjects as diverse as Pet Grooming and Cryptography. FAQs are usually
written by people who have tired of answering the same question over and over.
|
| fax |
An abbreviation for facsimile. The electronic encoding of a printed
page and the transmission of the electronic page over a telephone line. |
| FDDI |
(Fiber Distributed Data Interface) -- A standard for transmitting
data on optical fiber cables at a rate of around 100,000,000 bits-per-second
(10 times as fast as Ethernet, about twice as fast as T-3). |
| feasibility study |
An analysis of the practicality of a proposal such as a description
and analysis of the potential cleanup alternatives for a site. The Feasibility
Study emphasized data analysis and usually recommends selecting a
cost-effective alternative. |
| fibre optic cable |
Thin, flexible medium capable of conducting modulated light
transmission. Fibre optic cable is very expensive compared to other types of
transmission media, but is it not susceptible to electromagnetic interference
and can transmit data at higher rates. |
| field |
Are placeholders for discrete bits of information in a database.
For example, your last name would be typed in to a field for that purpose. The
grouped contents of several fields together form a record. |
| Finger |
An Internet software tool for locating people on other Internet
sites. Finger is also sometimes used to give access to non-personal
information, but the most common use is to see if a person has an account at a
particular Internet site. Many sites do not allow incoming Finger requests, but
many do. |
| Fire Wall |
A combination of hardware and software that separates a LAN into
two or more parts for security purposes. |
| First Normal form (1NF) |
A database table is in first normal form if it contains no
repeating attributes or groups of attributes (THE KEY) |
| Flame |
Originally, flame meant to carry forth in a passionate manner in
the spirit of honourable debate. Flames most often involved the use of flowery
language and flaming well was an art form. More recently flame has come to
refer to any kind of derogatory comment no matter how witless or crude. |
| Flame War |
When an online discussion degenerates into a series of personal
attacks against the debaters, rather than discussion of their positions. A
heated exchange. |
| FTP |
(File Transfer Protocol) -- A very common method of moving files
between two Internet sites. FTP is a special way to login to another Internet
site for the purposes of retrieving and/or sending files. There are many
Internet sites that have established publicly accessible repositories of
material that can be obtained using FTP, by logging in using the account name
anonymous, thus these sites are called anonymous ftp servers. |
| full duplex |
Simultaneous two-way independent transmission. The capability of
both sides of a connection to send information at the same time. Full duplex is
the same as duplex. When you are talking on the telephone to someone you are
using duplex (you can both talk at the same time if you want to). |
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