The A-Z of Tech: Because you may not know what you don't know

Yes, I know you're all web savvy 2.0 girls, but I'm sure occasionally you come across a term that baffles you slightly. Instead of just nodding your head and pretending you know what they're talking about, (whilst making a mental note to Google it) how about you check out this A-Z guide of terms that baffle a lot of people. There are some obvious ones missing from the list- I'm sure you don't want me to condescend to you by putting Playstation or PC in there do you?

A-

Apple (obvious). C'mon Steve Jobs started a great thing with the iPod, iPhone, Mac etc.

Avatar- A character that represents you online, be it in a game or as an icon for you. Does NOT need to look realistic.

Active X- Nope not a porno term but a scripting control that works with Windows and helps applications share information, such as playing video on a website etc.

B-

Beta- This is when a programme/website is in the early unfinished mode, and normally pre-release, so people can test it and check it out before it goes 'live'.

Bloglines- This is a way of complying you RSS feeds into an easy to use file. You can also use PageFlakes or Google Reader to do this, and it lets you keep up to date on your favourite sites without visiting each one individually. Check it out here.

C-

Click-through- This refers to when a user clicks on a Web page advertisement or a hyperlink and is sent to an advertiser's site/another web page.

CMS- Content Management System. This is a way of getting copy onto the Internet, by using a site that allows you to upload text, images and video and then sync it to your website. Popular ones are Movable Type, Wordpress and Typepad.

Cache-This is a temporary storage area where frequently accessed data can be stored for rapid access. You may need to clear out the cache on your web browser if pages start loading slowly.

CCD-This stands for charged coupled device, and you'll mostly find this applicable to digital cameras. It works by converting light into electrons and produces high-quality, low-noise images

D-

Digg- This is a website where users can highlight interesting articles they've read or written on the web. If you agree with the content you also 'Digg it', hence the term 'I dug that'. You can do a similar thing on Del.ici.ous and StumbleUpon as well. Check it out here.

E-

Ethernet-A common method of linking several computers together into a network, using copper cables.

Embed-This is when you use a video from a site such as YouTube, take the code and place it in your own website.

F-

Facebook-If you don't know what this is I pity/envy you

Flash-This is software used for animations, graphics an videos on websites, and saves on download time as it's vector based.

FAQ- Stands for frequently asked questions. Very useful on sites when you don't know what to do when navigating a tricky site, manual etc.

Fark- Fark is a site that is a news aggregator and an edited social networking news site. it compiles top stories from over the net, with a male slant to them. Check it out here.

G-

GB-A gigabyte is a measurement of data storage that equals 1,024 megabytes. Typically used to describe the storage capacity on a computer's hard drive.

Gif-This is the name of those moving images you see on your screen. Only useful to know if you're embedding or writing them!

H-

HTML- This stands for HyperText Markup Language, and is coding used to publish documents and arrange text and images on web pages.

Hyperlink-This the clickable link in text or graphics on a Web page that takes you to another page, or another site. It's often underlined like so, or in another colour.

Hardware-This describes physical components, be they computers, drivers, printers, etc.

HDMI-Stands for High-Definition Multimedia Interface, which is basically a way of hooking high def TV's to things like Sky boxes and DVD players. You get audio and video signals through one connection.

HDSPA-Stands for High-Speed Downlink Packet Access. This gives you 3G connections, and is capable of very fast downloading speeds.

Hits- How many times a web site is visited.

I-

Impressions (page). How many times a web page is refreshed, also know as 'hits',

ISP- This stands for Internet Service Provider. This will be whatever company provides you with Internet access, be it SKY, Bulldog Broadband,AOL etc.

IP- IP address is the four numbers that identify your computer on a network and the Internet. Each computer has a different IP address.

J-

Java- This is technology that lets you develop cross platform applications.

JPEG- An image format for saving picture files.

K-

Kryptonite- Superman couldn't stand it, and when computers go into a meltdown we often refer to them as having been affected with the same poisonous stuff.

KB- A Kilobyte. Smaller than a MB and a GB, and a measurement of data storage.

Keywords- These tend to be terms which people search for (Lindsay Lohan naked being a very popular choice). If you can get that into a post you'll get more Hits (see Hits) and do better.

L-

Lolcat-A Lolcat is the image of a cat with an interesting and often misspelled caption over it.

Logie- low level gamer

LAN- This stands for local area network. This is how you get connected to the Internet, you may have a shared LAN for an office, or connect to a server to reach it. It will also give you access to shared files and should let you connect to the printer.

M-

MMORPG- This stands for Massive Multi player Online Role Playing Game, made famous by Final Fantasy and World of Warcraft.

MPEG- a file name for video and audio compression, basically means you can watch videos in this format

N-

NDA- Not strictly a tech term, but I do seem to end up signing a lot of these. It's a legal document called Non Disclosure Agreement which means even if I have news of the latest bestest flying car, I can't reveal it or I get my ass sued.

Nokia- You must of heard of these bad boys, they practically invented mobile phones!

O-

Oyster- This is the name for the London travel card that allows you to use London transport and works electronically to let you through barriers.

P-

Photoshop- A programme used to edit and enhance pictures, especially when tweaking celebrities into air brushed Barbie's.

PDF- This stands for Portable Document Format. It can be easily sent to other computers and will open with most software.

Peripherals- An external device. In technology terms it usually refers to devices which are external to a computer such as a wireless mouse, USB penguin or printer

Pixels- These are the dots that make up a computerized image, the more dots means the better the picture quality.

Q-

QWERTY- This is what the top 6 letters to the left of your keyboard spell out.

Quark Xpress- This is a programme used by graphic artists and designers to create digital files ready for print.

R-

RPG- This stands for role playing game, where you play online or on a console, and attempt to conquer kingdoms/kill wizards/create houses.

RAM- This stands for Random Access Memory, which is the memory you have left to run programmes on your PC.

S-

Second Life- A 3-D virtual world online, where you create an Avatar, and interact with other people. The lure is you can be whoever you want, and look however you like. It's possible to even purchase things there using the local currency of Linden dollars.

SEO- search engine optimization. This is how you make sure your web page gets hit up by Google and rises in the rankings. You can do this in sneaky ways by repeating keywords and adding searched for tags in your copy.

T-

Twitter-A recent addiction and a very annoying addiction. Basically it's an online compilation of the 'Zara is washing her hair' feature on Facebook. Real addicts get it sent to their mobiles by using services such as OutTwit. Check it out here.

Traffic-How many visitors are viewing different sites and pages.

Trojan- This is either an American condom or a nasty computer program that messes up your computer.

U-

URL- This stands for Unique Resource Locator and is also known as a web address.

USB- This stands for Universal Serial Bus and is commonly used to store document, pictures and videos on to transfer from computer to computer,

UMPC- Stands for Ultra Mobile Portable Computer such as the Eee PC.

V-

Vista- This sis the latest windows operating system, which features new software and an 'Aero' interface.

Virus- A computer nasty that will make your system slow down.

W-

Wallpaper- This is the background on you computer monitor, or mobile phone.

World of Warcraft- Can be shortened to WoW. One of most famous Role playing games ever.

X-

X Chromosome - Women have two of these and men have one.

XBOX- A popular gaming console.

Y-

Y can't I think of anything to go here?

Z-

ZIP- A zip file is a compressed file that makes other files smaller and easier to transfer. Often used in archiving documents.

-Zara- your guide to geekdom

Please feel free to add any other terms you feel I've missed out. This is intended to be an easy to read guide, NOT a fully comprehensive article of every term that has ever existed. I've included ones that I think are important, I'm happy to hear your views as well.