MICROSOFT

Microsoft is the world’s leading producer of computer software. Microsoft develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices. Microsoft’s best-selling products are the Micorsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software.

Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1976 with the name coming from microcomputer and software. 

http://www.microsoft.com/about/companyinformation/timeline/indexFlash.html

MEMORY STICK

Memory sticks or USB flash drives have a flash memory ( can be electrically erased and reprogrammed) data storage device integrated with a universal serial bus connector (USB).  Memory sticks are typically removable and rewritable with  storage capacities ranging from 64 MB to 32 GB or more.  Some allow 1 million write or erase cycles and have 10-year data retention. 

A memory stick offers advantages over other portable storage devices, as they are more compact, faster, hold much more data, are more reliable for lack of moving parts, and have a more durable design. A memory stick consists of a small printed circuit board,  typically in a plastic or metal casing and more recently in rubber casings to increase their robustness. This makes the drive sturdy enough to be carried about in a pocket, for example as a key fob, on a lanyard or in ones handbag/manbag ! Only the USB connector protrudes, and it is typically protected either by a removable cap or by retracting into the body of the drive. Most flash drives use a standard type-A USB connection allowing them to be connected directly to a port on a personal computer.

MOUSE

A mouse is a pointing device that functions by detecting two-dimensional motion relative to its supporting surface. Physically, a mouse consists of a small case, held under one of the user’s hands, with one or more buttons. It sometimes features other elements, such as “wheels”, which allow the user to perform various system-dependent operations, or extra buttons or features can add more control or dimensional input. The mouse’s motion typically translates into the motion of a pointer on a display, which allows for fine control of a graphical user interface.

The name mouse originated at the Stanford Research Institute, derives from the resemblance of early models (which had a cord attached to the rear part of the device, suggesting the idea of a tail) to the common rodent.

MASH UP

A digital mashup is a digital media file containing any or all of text, graphics, audio, video and animation drawn from pre-existing sources, to create a new derivative work. Digital text mashups, for example, appear by the thousands every day as users of blogs and online forums copy and paste digital text in juxtaposition to comment on topics of interest, while fan-created video/audio mashups juxtaposing commercially produced video clips with favorite pop songs constitute a major portion of YouTube content. Digital mashups represent a new phase in the re-use of existing works not so much conceptually as in ease of use. The creation of digital media formats such as ASCII text, Redbook audio, JPEG images and MPEG video has made it far easier for potential mashup creators to create derivative works, than was the case in the past, when significant technical equipment and knowledge was required to manipulate analog content. The internet is a major contributing factor to the spread of digital mashups by providing channels both for acquiring source material and for distributing derivative works, both often at negligible cost.  Check out this site !   http://jokay.wikispaces.com/mashups08

META TAGS

Meta tags are sections of HTML code in a webpage that search engine spiders scan and analyse to assess the page’s relevance for a given query. Originally very important in search engine optimisation (SEO), meta tags have declined somewhat in SEO importance, with the keywords meta tag being considered virtually redundant.

MIRROR

In computing, a mirror is an exact copy of a data set. On the internet, a mirror site is an exact copy of another Internet site. Mirror sites are most commonly used to provide multiple sources of the same information, and are of particular value as a way of providing reliable access to large downloads. Mirroring is a type of file synchronisation.

A live mirror is automatically updated as soon as the original is changed.

Mirroring of sites occurs for a variety of reasons.

• To preserve a website or page, especially when it is closed or is about to be closed.
• To allow faster downloads for users at a specific geographical location. For example, a US server could be mirrored in Japan, allowing Japanese Internet users to download content faster from the local Japanese server than from the original American one. This may be viewed as caching on a worldwide scale.

Wikipedia is mirrored at numerous locations.

MEDIA FILE

Media files are as follows:

.wmv   Windows Media based file which contains both video and audio

.wma   Windows media based file which contains audio only

.wvx   Metafile which points to a Windows Media Video (.WMV) file

.wax   Metafile which points to a Windows Media Audio (.WMA) file

.asf    ASF structured file that contains audio and/or video content compressed with 3rd party codecs

.asx    Metafile which points to an ASF structured file (.ASF)

.wms   Windows Media Skin file, compatible with Windows Media Player 7 or later

.wmz   Compressed Windows Media Skin file, compatible with Windows Media Player 7 or later

.wmd   Windows Media Download package, compatible with Windows Media Player 7 or later

MONITOR (1)

A visual display unit which displays images generated from the video output of devices such as a computer without producing a permanent record.  A newer monitor typically consists of a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD), with most older monitors based around a cathode ray tube (CRT). The monitor comprises the display device, simple circuitry to generate and format a picture from video sent by the signals source, and usually an enclosure.

MONITOR (2)

A monitor is an approach to synchronize two or more computer tasks that use a shared resource, usually a hardware device or a set of variables (an attribute of a physical or an abstract system which may change it’s value)

MEDIA PLAYER

A program that allows you to play and manage audio and video files. Some programs also offer ripping, burning, and visual effects. Examples include: iTunes, Winamp, Windows Media Player, Sonique, Quintessential, Musicmatch Jukebox.

MELBOURNE IT

Melbourne IT is a world leader in domain name registrations and related online business solutions. Established in 1996, and listed on the ASX in 1999, the company has experienced rapid growth through the delivery of high value online solutions and outstanding customer service.

Melbourne IT began registering .com.au domain names in 1996 and in April 1999 was accredited by ICANN to provide registrar services in the .com, .net and .org domain spaces. In 2006, Melbourne IT manages more than 4 million domain names and is a truly global domain name registrar which supplies more than 40 different domain name types to customers across the globe.

In addition to its strong organic growth, Melbourne IT has also expanded its business through strategic acquisitions. In 2003, it purchased New Zealand-based domain name registrar, Domainz, which offers corporate domain management, reseller and direct domain services into the fast growing New Zealand market.

In April 2004, Melbourne IT acquired Cogent IPC, a European-based online brand protection company which specialises in providing services to high profile internet based brands such as those in the airline, automotive, clothing, banking & finance, electrical, IT, furniture and food and beverage industries.

In September 2006, Melbourne IT cemented its position in the online services market with the acquisition of WebCentral Group, incorporating Australia’s largest web and application hosting company, WebCentral. This acquisition has given Melbourne IT a significant sales capability within the developing Software as a Service (SaaS) market which provides customers with access to software via the Internet as an alternative to purchasing, installing and maintaining software on local computers.

In January 2007, Melbourne IT enhanced its UK market presence with the acquisition of IDR Management Services, a pioneer in the UK corporate domain management space with an impressive client base of FTSE 100 companies and trademark attorney firms.

MEGABYTE

A measure of computer processor storage and real and virtual memory, a megabyte (abbreviated MB) is 2 to the 20th power bytes, or 1,048,576 bytes in decimal notation.

MOTHERBOARD

The motherboard of a typical desktop consists of a large printed circuit board. It holds electronic components and interconnects, as well as physical connectors (sockets, slots, and headers) into which other computer components may be inserted or attached.

Most motherboards include, at a minimum:

• sockets (or slots) in which one or more microprocessors (CPUs) are installed
• slots into which the system’s main memory is installed (typically in the form of DIMM modules containing DRAM chips)
• a chipset which forms an interface between the CPU’s front-side bus, main memory, and peripheral buses
• non-volatile memory chips (usually Flash ROM in modern motherboards) containing the system’s firmware or BIOS
• a clock generator which produces the system clock signal to synchronize the various components
• slots for expansion cards (these interface to the system via the buses supported by the chipset)
• power connectors and circuits, which receive electrical power from the computer power supply and distribute it to the CPU, chipset, main memory, and expansion cards.

NANO TECHNOLOGY

A branch of science and engineering devoted to the design and production of extremely small electronic devices and circuits built from individual atoms and molecules.  The unit of measurement is the nanometre (one thousand-millionth of a metre)

NOTEBOOK (aghhh I’m confused)

    nahhh . . . . maybe . . . .

Notebook is software that can be used as a personal information notebook. Text formatting is done in a markup language similar to MediaWiki (the same system used by Wikipedia), and the software has the capability of exporting notebook contents to a variety of formats, including MediaWiki’s markup and HTMLL.   . . . . . . . or maybe  . . . . 

Google Notebook. . . . .    or  maybe it’s just   . . . . . .

one of those cute little computers. Laptop computers began to be called Notebooks when they reached a relatively small size in the 1990’s.

NETWORK

A computer network is an interconnected group of computers. Networks may be classified by the network layer at which they operate according to basic reference models considered as standards in the industry, such as the five-layer Internet Protocol Suite model. While the seven-layer  Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model is better known in academia, the majority of networks use the Internet Protocol Suite (IP).

NETWORK SECURITY ADMINISTRATOR

• A Network Security Administrator evaluates network and internet security issues and design, and implements successful security policies and firewall strategies. In addition, they expose system and network vulnerabilities and defend against them.
• Network Security Administrator 1.72 is a program intended for checking the user’s work in the network. Hidden observation is done over the user’s pc and main moments of work are being observed. 
   

NON-GRAPHICAL DISPLAY BROWSER

The most popular non-graphical browser is called Lynx. Viewing web pages with Lynx means there are no graphics; just text.   An obvious advantage to this is it’s very quick to load up a website, which makes it suitable for users with limitations on their internet connection or bandwidth. All navigation is undertaken through the keyboard or some other input device (but not a mouse). The real benefactors of a text-based browser though are those with visual impairments (including blind users).

NAVIGATION

The act of moving from location to location within a web site, or between web sites. Navigation is accomplished by clicking on text links or navigation buttons.

NOISE

Image noise is a random fluctuation of pixel values in an image. Image noise can originate in film grain, or in electronic noise in the input device (scanner or digital camera) sensor and circuitry.  Image noise is most apparent in image areas with low signal level, such as shadow regions or underexposed images.

Much of today’s photo editing software offers tools for reducing noise in digital photos, as well as filters for adding noise for a film grain effect. There are many specialised tools for reducing noise in digital photos eg. Neat Image plugin for Photoshop and also a stand alone program.   Before and after noise reductions images below.