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Computer Glossary



An easy to use glossary of computer and Internet terms with definitions that are easy to understand. Terms and definitions relating to computer, technology, Internet resources and much more.

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What is Gateway?
A gateway is either hardware or software that acts as a bridge between two networks so that data can be transferred between a number of computers. For example, when you send an e-mail to a friend or when you log in to a Web site, there is a gateway that allows the connection take place. Often, your connection to a Web site will involve many smaller connections to other servers along the way. In these cases, a number of gateways are used.



What is Gateway Page?
Gateway Page are web pages that are created to rank high in search engines for particular phrases with purpose to seduce or hoax you to watch another page. They are also known as bridge pages, portal pages, zebra pages, jump pages, gateway pages, entry pages and by other names.



What is Gibibyte?
A gibibyte is a unit of data storage that equals 2 to the 30th power, or 1,073,741,824 bytes. While a gigabyte can be estimated as 10^9 or 1,000,000,000 bytes, a gibibyte is exactly 1,073,741,824 bytes. This is to avoid the ambiguity associated with the size of gigabytes. A gigibyte is 1,024 mebibytes and precedes the tebibyte unit of measurement.



What is GIF?
Graphics Interchange Format, this is a type of graphic image very common on online services and the Internet.



What is Gigabyte?
A gigabyte is a measure of computer memory or disk space consisting of about one billion bytes (a thousand megabytes). The actual value is 1,073,741,824 bytes (1024 megabytes).



What is GIGO?
Stands for "Garbage In, Garbage Out." It means that if invalid data is entered in a computer program, the resulting output will also be invalid. So if a program asked you to enter a letter of the alphabet and you decided to be funny and enter "3.14159", there's a good chance the results you would get back would be pretty messed up, or "garbage." Because we computer users aren't always smart enough to enter valid data, programmers have to take extensive mesaures to prevent GIGO errors.



What is GIS?
Stands for "Geographic Information Systems." GIS tools are used to gather and analyze data about the surface of the earth. The data can be used to create charts, maps, and 3D models of the earth's surface. This includes hills, mountains, trees, buildings, streets, rivers, and pretty much anything else. Sounds fun, but how is it used? Well, organizations such as the police and fire department can use the data to develop emergency routes. The government can use the data to measure the growth and expansion of cities or the depletion of forests. Most importantly, however, GIS can assist with special effects by simulating landscapes and terrain in action movies.



What is Gopher?
The Gopher technology was invented at the University of Minnesota, whose mascot is, not surprisingly, the Golden Gopher. The gopher system allows people to search for and retrieve information using a text interface. The technology is based on a client-server structure, where a gopher client program is used to search gopher servers. These servers can store documents, articles, programs, and other information. Instead of hyperlinks, the gopher interface uses menus of links to other documents and programs. The University of Minnesota began a licensing program for the gopher technology in 1993 as the use of gopher was spreading rapidly over the Internet. However, this was around the same time that the World Wide Web was introduced. Because the Web used hypertext and images, it soon became the preferred way to search and browse for information. While there are still servers and client programs that use gopher technology, their use is not nearly as widespread as the Web.



What is GPS?
Stands for "Global Positioning System." GPS is a satellite navigation system used to determine ground position and velocity (location, speed, and direction). Though it was created and originally used by the U.S. military, GPS is now available to the general public all over the world. GPS navigation systems are currently installed in a number of luxury cars, complete with an LCD map that shows the driver exactly where in the world he is. Advanced car GPS units can actually speak the directions to a certain destination and tell the driver when to turn. Cool, huh?



What is GPU?
Stands for "Graphics Processing Unit." Like the CPU (Central Processing Unit), it is a single-chip processor. However, the GPU is used primarily for computing 3D functions. This includes things such as lighting effects, object transformations, and 3D motion. Because these types of calculations are rather taxing on the CPU, the GPU can help the computer run more effienciently.



What is GUI?
Stands for "Graphical User Interface," and is pronounced "gooey." It refers to the graphical interface of a computer that allows users to click and drag objects with a mouse instead of entering text at a command line. Two of the most popular operating systems, Windows and the Mac OS, are GUI-based. The graphical user interface was first introduced to the public by Apple with the Macintosh in 1984. However, the idea was actually taken from an earlier user interface developed by Xerox.