Computer & IT Questions & Answers

This refers to the tendency to google information on someone we meet for the first time. This generally happens when one consumes alcohol, and under its influence, he looks up the person on the internet. For example, I met Geeta at ABC bar for the first time and she tells me that she works for XYZ Inc. On returning home, …

T9, which stands for Text on 9 keys, is a patented predictive text technology for mobile phones, originally developed by Tegic Communications, now part of Nuance Communications. T9 is used on phones from LG, NEC, Nokia, Samsung Electronics, Siemens, Sony Ericsson, Sanyo, Sagem and others. It was also used by Texas Instruments PDA Avigo during the late ’90s. Its main …

The most common sort of spoofing online is ‘e-mail spoofing’, i.e making an e-mail message appear to have come from one place when really it comes from another. It is generally used by spammers, who do not want their real address to appear on the e-mails they send. Since the messages they send out have web links in them, they …

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261, is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, by House Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill, if made law, would expand the ability of U.S. …

Sonet (Synchronous Optical Network) is a high-speed, physical layer network designed to carry large volumes of traffic over relatively long distances on fiber optic cabling using lasers or light-emitting diodes (LEDs). It provides a standard interface for communications carriers to connect networks based on fiber optic cable to handle multiple data types (voice, video, and so on). Sonet defines a …

The tendency, over time, for software to become difficult and costly to maintain is known as software entropy. A software system that undergoes continuous change, like new functionality added to its original design, will eventually become more complex, losing its original design structure, and may even become disorganized as it grows. In theory, it may be better to redesign the …

It’s a movement that emphasizes blogging after thoughtful consideration instead of hammering out posts in a surge of emotion. While successful bloggers are known to update their blog regularly and in a quick manner, slow blogging urges bloggers to slow down. In its manifesto, Todd Sieling, a Canadian technology consultant, writes that slow blogging is “a rejection of immediacy… an …

Slacktivism is used to describe activism which does not require a person to put in any great effort. Slacktivists join causes on the internet and get a feeling of satisfaction without even moving out of their chairs. It is a slightly derogatory term for meaningless causes, as opposed to activism as a crusade. A slacktivist is rarely identified with the …

Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) is an online system for settling transactions of financial institutions, especially banks. RTGS systems are push payment systems with transactions initiated by the paying bank. If Bank A or one of its customers needs to pay $1,000 to Bank B or one of its customers, Bank A initiates the transaction and Bank B is immediately …

Ratware is the colourful name for any mass email software that generates, sends, and automates spam email sending.