|
Term |
Definition |
| macro |
Some programs use the term macro to mean a saved sequence of
commands or keyboard strokes that can be recalled with a single command or
keyboard stroke. |
| maestro |
Maestro is a Europay/MasterCard debit card network. With Maestro,
you can make purchases abroad at shops and outlets that are part of the Maestro
system. |
| Magnetic stipe |
The magnetic material on the back of a credit card. |
| Mail merge |
A mail merge is a method of taking data from a database and
inserting it into a document such as a letter, mailing labels, and name tags.
It usually requires two files. One stores the data to be used, while the other
contains information on how to format the data. |
| Maillist |
(or Mailing List) A (usually automated) system that allows people
to send e-mail to one address, whereupon their message is copied and sent to
all of the other subscribers to the maillist. In this way, people who have many
different kinds of e-mail access can participate in discussions together. |
| many to many relationship |
An association between two tables in which one record in either
table can relate to many records in the other table. To establish one, create a
third table and add the primary key fields from the other two tables to this
table. |
| Megabyte |
A million bytes. Actually, technically, 1024 kilobytes. |
| MICR |
Magnetic Ink character recognition |
| microfiche |
Microfiche are rectangles of film on which journal articles or
scholarly papers are stored. Libraries have special readers for microfiche that
allow you to print directly from the reader. |
| microprocessor |
A computer processor on a microchip. It's sometimes called a logic
chip. It is the "engine" that goes into motion when you turn your computer on.
A microprocessor is designed to perform arithmetic and logic operations that
make use of small number-holding areas called registers. Typical microprocessor
operations include adding, subtracting, comparing two numbers, and fetching
numbers from one area to another. |
| Microsoft |
Currently the world's largest vendor of personal computer software,
including the Windows operating system, Microsoft Office (Word, Excel,
PowerPoint, Access), and the web browser Internet Explorer. Occasionally used
to mean bug ridden poorly designed software |
| MIDI |
(Musical Instrument Digital Interface) - Rather than recording
sounds, MIDI instruments/software record finger action - what note is being
played, when, and for how long. |
| millennium problem |
A problem on PCs that were unable to store 4 figure year dates
(i.e. 98 not 1998) |
| MIME |
(Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) -- The standard for
attaching non-text files to standard Internet mail messages. Non-text files
include graphics, spreadsheets, formatted word-processor documents, sound
files, etc. |
| Mirror |
Generally speaking, “to mirror” is to maintain an exact
copy of something. Probably the most common use of the term on the Internet
refers to “mirror sites” which are web sites, or FTP sites that
maintain exact copies of material originated at another location, usually in
order to provide more widespread access to the resource. |
| MIS |
Management of Information Services" MIS is the designation for the
field of computer solutions internal to an organisation. An MIS department is
typically responsible for administering the computer hardware, software, and
networking within a company or group. |
| Modem |
(MOdulator, DEModulator) -- A device that you connect to your
computer and to a phone line, that allows the computer to talk to other
computers through the phone system. Basically, modems do for computers what a
telephone does for humans. |
| MOO |
(Mud, Object Oriented) -- One of several kinds of multi-user
role-playing environments, so far only text-based. |
| Mosaic |
The first web browser. The main author of Netscape, Mark
Andreessen, was hired away from the NCSA by Jim Clark, and they founded a
company called Mosaic Communications and soon changed the name to Netscape
Communications Corporation. |
| Mosaic |
The first WWW browser that was available for the Macintosh,
Windows, and UNIX all with the same interface. Mosaic really started the
popularity of the Web. The source-code to Mosaic has been licensed by several
companies and there are several other pieces of software as good or better than
Mosaic, most notably, Netscape. |
| Mozilla |
Mozilla... you've seen that name somewhere, haven't you? This is
the original name for the Netscape Navigator browser, which is supposedly a
hybrid of the words "Mosaic" and "Godzilla." Web lore has it that Mozilla means
"the beast (Godzilla) that ate Mozaic (the browser)." |
| MS-DOS |
MicroSoft-Disk Operating System, A command line operating system.
Produced by Microsoft from 1980 to 1998?) Now largely redundant |
| MUD |
(Multi-User Dungeon or Dimension) -- A (usually text-based)
multi-user simulation environment. Some are purely for fun and flirting, others
are used for serious software development, or education purposes and all that
lies in between. A significant feature of most MUDs is that users can create
things that stay after they leave and which other users can interact with in
their absence, thus allowing a world to be built gradually and collectively.
|
| multitasking |
The ability to run more than one program at the same time. There
are different types of multitasking. Cooperative multitasking requires a
program to be written to allow other programs to access the system. In
pre-emptive multitasking, the system can suspend any program to allow other
programs access. Pre-emptive multitasking provides better performance, as
programs can switch with less overhead. The Macintosh and Windows 3.1 use
cooperative multitasking. Windows 95 and Unix use pre-emptive
multitasking. |
| MUSE |
(Multi-User Simulated Environment) -- One kind of MUD - usually
with little or no violence. |
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