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`Microsoft‘GPress
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`Apple 1020
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`PUBLISHED BY
`Microsoft Press
`
`A Division of Microsoft Corporation
`One Microsoft Way
`Redmond, Washington 98052-6399
`
`Copyright © 1999 by Microsoft Corporation
`
`All rights reserved. No part of the contents of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
`or by any means without the written permission of the publisher.
`
`Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
`Microsoft Computer Dictionary -- 4th ed.
`p. cm.
`Previous eds. published under title: Microsoft Press computer
`dictionary
`ISBN 0-7356-0615-3
`
`2. Microcomputers Dictionaries.
`1. Computers Dictionaries.
`1. Microsoft Press computer dictionary.
`QA76.15.M538
`1999
`004'.03--dc21
`
`99-20168
`CIP
`
`Printed and bound in the United States of America.
`
`23456789 MLML 432109
`
`Distributed in Canada by Penguin Books Canada Limited.
`
`A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
`
`Microsoft Press books are available through booksellers and distributors worldwide. For further information
`about international editions, contact your local Microsoft Corporation office or contact Microsoft Press
`International directly at fax (425) 936-7329. Visit our Web site at mspress.microsgft.com.
`
`Macintosh, Power Macintosh, QuickTime, and TrueType fonts are registered trademarks of Apple Computer,
`Inc. Kodak is a registered trademark of the Eastman Kodak Company. Intel is a registered trademark and Indeo
`is a trademark of Intel Corporation. Active Desktop, Active Directory, ActiveMovie, Active Platform, ActiveX,
`Authenticode, BackOffice, Directlnput, DireetX, Microsoft, Microsoft Press, MS-DOS. MSN, NetMeeting.
`NetShow, Visual Basic, Visual C++, Visual J++, WebTV, WebTV Network, Win32. Win325, Windows.
`Windows NT, and XENIX are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the
`United States and/or other countries. PANTONE is a registered trademark of Pantone, Inc. Other product and
`company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
`
`The example companies, organizations, products, people, and events depicted herein are fictitious. No associa-
`tion with any real company, organization, product, person, or event is intended or should be inferred.
`
`Acquisitions Editor: Christey Bahn
`Project Editor: Kim Fryer
`
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`
`
`Introduction
`vii
`
`Dictionary
`of Computer Terms
`1
`
`Appendix A
`
`ASCII Character Set
`494
`
`Appendix B
`
`IBM Extended Character Set
`496
`
`Appendix 0
`Apple Macintosh Extended Character Set
`498
`
`Appendix D
`
`EBCDIC Character Set
`502
`
`Appendix E
`
`Numeric Equivalents
`509
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`

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`Appendix F
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`Internet Domains
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`517
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`Appendix G
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`Common File Extensions
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`527
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`Appendix H
`Year 2000 Problem Reference
`536
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`vi
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`
`binomial distribution n. In statistics, a list or a func-
`tion that describes the probabilities of the possible
`values of a random variable chosen by means of a
`Bernoulli sampling process. A Bernoulli process has
`three characteristics: each trial has only two possible
`outcomes—success or failure; each trial is indepen-
`dent of all other trials; and the probability of success
`for each trial is constant. A binomial distribution can
`
`be used to calculate the probability of getting a speci-
`fied number of successes in a Bernoulli process. For
`example, the binomial distribution can be used to
`calculate the probability of getting a 7 three times in
`20 rolls of a pair of dice. Also called Bernoulli distri-
`bution.
`
`biometrics n. Traditionally, the science of measuring
`and analyzing human biological characteristics. In
`computer technology, biometrics relates to authenti-
`cation and security techniques that rely on measur-
`able, individual biological stamps to recognize or
`verify an individual’s identity. For example, finger—
`prints, handprints, or voice—recognition might be
`used to enable access to a computer, to a room, or to
`an electronic commerce account. Security schemes
`are generally categorized into three levels: level 1
`relies on something the person carries, such as an ID
`badge with a photo or a computer cardkey; level 2
`relies on something the person knows, such as a
`password or a code number; level 3, the highest level,
`relies on something that is a part of the person’s bio-
`logical makeup or behavior, such as a fingerprint, the
`pattern of blood vessels in a retina, or a signature.
`See also fingerprint reader, handwriting recognition
`(definition 1), voice recognition.
`
`bionics \bi-on’iks‘\ n. The study of living organisms,
`their characteristics, and the ways they function, with
`a view toward creating hardware that can simulate or
`duplicate the activities of a biological system. See
`also cybernetics.
`
`BIOS \bi’63\ n. Acronym for basic input/output sys-
`tem. On PC-compatible computers, the set of essential
`software routines that tests hardware at startup, starts
`the operating system, and supports the transfer of data
`among hardware devices. The BIOS is stored in read-
`only memory (ROM) so that it can be executed when
`the computer is turned on. Although critical to perfor-
`mance, the BIOS is usually invisible to computer
`users. See also AMI BIOS, CMOS setup, Phoenix
`BIOS, ROM BIOS. Compare Toolbox.
`
`bipolar adj. 1. Having two opposite states, such as
`positive and negative. 2. In information transfer and
`processing, pertaining to or characteristic of a sig-
`nal in which opposite voltage polarities represent on
`and off, true and false, or some other pair of values.
`See also nonreturn to zero. Compare unipolar. 3. In
`electronics, pertaining to or characteristic of a tran-
`sistor having two types of charge carriers. See also
`transistor.
`
`BIS n. See business information system.
`BISDN It. See broadband ISDN.
`
`bistable adj. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a
`system or device that has two possible states, such as
`on and off. See also flip-flop.
`
`bistable circuit n. Any circuit that has only two stable
`states. The transition between them must be initiated
`
`from outside the circuit. A bistable circuit is capable
`of storing 1 bit of information.
`
`bistable multivibrator n. See flip-flop.
`
`BISYNC \bi’senk\ n. Short for binary synchronous
`communications protocol. A communications stan-
`dard developed by IBM. BISYNC transmissions are
`encoded in either ASCII or EBCDIC. Messages can
`be of any length and are sent in units called frames,
`optionally preceded by a message header. BISYNC
`uses synchronous transmission, in which message
`elements are separated by a specific time interval, so
`each frame is preceded and followed by special char-
`acters that enable the sending and receiving machines
`to synchronize their clocks. STX and ETX are con-
`trol characters that mark the beginning and end of the
`message text; BCC is a set of characters used to
`verify the accuracy of transmission. See the illustra-
`tion. Also called BSC.
`
`bit n. Short for binary digit. The smallest unit of in-
`formation handled by a computer. One bit expresses
`a l or a 0 in a binary numeral, or a true or false logi-
`cal condition, and is represented physically by an
`element such as a high or low voltage at one point in
`a circuit or a small spot on a disk magnetized one
`way or the other. A single bit conveys little informa—
`tion a human would consider meaningful. A group of
`8 bits, however, makes up a byte, which can be used
`to represent many types of information, such as a
`letter of the alphabet, a decimal digit, or other char-
`acter. See also ASCII, binary', byte.
`
`50
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