A semaphore (pronounced as sehm uh fawr, invented by Edsger Dijkstra) in computer science is a classic way of protecting shared resources. In multi-programming environments like Unix systems, semaphores are a technique for coordinating or synchronising activities in which multiple processes compete for the same operating system resources. A process needing the resource checks the semaphore to determine the resource’s …

A google bomb is an effort to inflate a website’s search ranking for a particular term. Google gives importance to pages linking to a particular page for ranking purposes. In case of Google bombing, pranksters use a phrase to link to a particular page from their sites multiple times, to push that page to the top of search results. One …

It’s a tiny fitness gadget which constantly monitors if you’re eating right, exercising enough and sleeping adequately. The rationale is to motivate people to lead a healthy lifestyle. The FitBit tracker is wireless and functions with the help of a motion sensor called accelerometer, which keeps tabs on movements. When a person walks by a wireless base station, the information …

The Magic of Scheherazade is a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System released by Culture Brain in 1989. It is the translation of the 1987 Famicom game Arabian Dream Scheherazade. The game was innovative for its time, incorporating elements of adventure and RPG styles.

The original was a quotation by Wordsworth, inscribed into the logo: “Newton – a mind forever voyaging through strange seas of thought”. That was changed by designer Rob Janoff into a multi-coloured bitten apple – the “rainbow apple” – to commemorate the discoveries of gravity (the apple) and separation of light (colours) done by Isaac Newton. Besides, Alan Turing, the …

Habib Tanvir — Habib Ahmed Khan ‘tanvir’ (1 September 1923 – 8 June 2009) was born on September 1, 1923 in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, to Hafiz Ahmed Khan, who hailed from Peshawar. He passed his matriculation from Laurie Municipal High School, Raipur, and later completed his B.A. from Morris College, Nagpur in 1944. Thereafter he attended Aligarh Muslim University, for a …

Pharming involves rerouting the traffic of a particular website to a bogus one. This is done by exploiting the weaknesses of the site’s Domain Name System (DNS) server. Pharming poses major concerns to corporates and e-commerce sites. Anti-pharming measures are required to safeguard sites.

Bloatware, also called junkware, adware and demoware, refers to preinstalled software and trial software that come with Windows computers. While it’s a ploy to get consumers to buy the software, most users regard it as junk and get confused by various icons or toolbars that pop up on their computers. Bloatware can also clog up the system and slow it …

Dumping refers to the cleaning of stored data from the core memory area of a computer into trash or somewhere else in an unorganized manner. Dumping may be done in the event of a system failure or as part of maintenance work. The reason for dumping, in most cases, is that the data has lost its value over time and …

Widget, literally, is a blend of window and gadget, coined by George S Kaufman in his play ‘Beggar on Horseback’. It is a hypothetical manufactured good or product. In computing, the term has become frequently used to refer to objects on a computer screen the user interacts with. A widget is anything that can be embedded within a HTML page. …