Glossary of Terms - C

A device that allows computers or networks to connect to the Internet using a connection provided by a cable Television/telephone supplier.

Temporary storage area used to speed up different processes. A web browser keeps recently used web pages on hard disk cache, so it doesn't have to download the same page again. A processor stores recent or frequently used instructions in chunks of very fast memory called level 1 and 2 caches.

See Computer Aided Design

Carbon Copy - A feature supported by email programs which is used to send a secondary copy of the email to additional recipient(s)

Charge-Coupled Device. A CCD is used by digital cameras and scanners. It is a grid of light-sensitive cells that store an electrical charge proportional to the amount of light falling on them. The charge value in each cell is converted from analogue to digital and is used to build up a complete image.

See Compact Disc

The candela per meter squared (cd / m2) is the standard unit of luminance. It represents a luminous intensity of one candela radiating from a surface whose area is one square meter. Luminance is sometimes quoted when specifying the brightness of computer displays. Cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitors generally provide greater luminance than thin-film transistor (TFT) displays. However, the best criterion for choosing and adjusting a display is the user's own viewing comfort. This will depend on the level of illumination in the room where the display is used.

Code Division Multiple Access. CDMA is a digital cellular technology. Unlike GSM, CDMA does not assign a specific frequency to each user. Instead, every channel uses the full available spectrum and the frequency is divided using codes.

Compact Disc - Recordable: This disc looks like a staandard CR, but as it's name suggests may be written to using a CD Writer. The process of writing to the CD is known as "burning"(See burn). Once written to the data can not be erased, for this reason the device is known as a WORM (Write Once Read Many. (See also Compact Disc)

A compact disc used to store computer data. The disc can be read but not written to. (See also Compact Disc)

Compact Disk - ReWriteable: Simailar to the CR-R but the data can be erased from the disc. A compatible CD Rewriter is requird for this process. (See also Compact Disc)

Conseil European Le Reserche Nucleaire: The European laborotory for nuclear research in Geneva, Switzerland. It was here that the British engineer Tim Berners-Lee came up with the idea of the World Wide Web/

See Common Gateway Interface

A single letter, number, or symbol that is displayed or printed.

A number of integrated circuits which carry out related tasks. This is the name often given to the core functionality of a motherboard, or to the chip that powers a graphics card.

Two chips which form the circuitry that enables and controls the communication between the different components on the motherboard.

Compex Instruction Set Computer: a type of processor which has a large set of instructions to direct the processor operation. The Pentium and Athlon are 2 such examples

A program or computer that connects to a a server by way of a network(see also client/server)

A network where all services and facilities such as email or file and printer sharing are provided to networked, or client PCs and controlled by separate, purpose-built systems called servers.

An area of computer memory set aside as a temporay storage used to store "cut" or "copied" information

A logical unit on a magenetic disk. Each disk is divided into segments or clustes, the size of each cluster is determined by the size of the disk and how the disk has been formatted. The smallest ami=ount os space a file can occupy on disk is 1 cluster.

complementary metal oxide semiconductor. A process used to make chips, but in a PC is shorthand for a battery powered chip on the motherboard, which stores basic system configurations and clock settings.

Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Keystone black. These are the four basic colours used by inkjet and laser colour printers. A huge range of colours are created by a combination of overlaying and dithering.

A type of script that runs on Web Servers, typical uses include taking data from forms and sending them as emails.

A compact disc, also known as a CD, is a thin, circular disc of metal and plastic about 12cm (just over 4½ inches) in diameter used to store data, which could store audio, video, or computer data. CDs can be Read only, Write once, or rewritable.

Special program that takes the instructions written in a programming language and turns them into machine code that a PC processor can understand.

A video cable with yellow connectors on the end used to view digital cameras on a television.

A software package that allows designers to construct plans or virtual images, for example buildings, various products, and electronic circuit boards.

This is the difference in intensity between the brightest white and darkest black that can be displayed. The larger the ratio, the better the display of colours available on the display device.

Message sent by a web server to a browser and stored in a text file, usually called cookie.txt. The message is sent back to the browser every time a new request is made at the website. Cookies are mostly used to identify users and create site visit statistics on types of browser, operating systems and popular pages.

Central Processing Unit. A microprocessor chip that is the "brains" of a computer. Its many functions include fetching and carrying out instructions for programs.

Cathode Ray Tube. A monitor technology that works by moving an electron beam back and forth across the back of the screen. Each time it passes across the screen it lights up red, green and blue phosphor dots on the inside of the screen to make up the images you see.