GLOSSARY
Glossary-2
alphanumeric: Keyboard characters
including letters, numbers and other
symbols, such as punctuation marks or
mathematical symbols.
alternating current (AC): Electric
current that reverses its direction of flow
at regular intervals.
analog signal: A signal whose
characteristics such as amplitude and
frequency vary in proportion to (are an
analog of) the value to be transmitted.
Voice communications are analog
signals.
ANSI: American National Standards
Institute. An organization established to
adopt and define standards for a variety
of technical disciplines. For example,
ANSI defined the ASCII standard and
other information processing
requirements.
antistatic: A material used to prevent
the buildup of static electricity.
application: A group of programs that
together are used for a specific task such
as accounting, financial planning,
spreadsheets, word processing, and
games, etc.
ASCII: American Standard Code for
Information Interchange. ASCII code is
a set of 256 binary codes that represent
the most commonly used letters,
numbers, and symbols.
async: Short for asynchronous.
(Abbreviations continued)
SO-DIMM: small-outline dual in-line
memory module
SVGA: super video graphics adapter
SDRAM: synchronized dynamic
random access memory
TFT: thin-film transistor
UART: universal asynchronous
receiver/transmitter
USB: Universal Serial Bus
VESA: Video Electronic Standards
Association
VGA: video graphics array
VRM: video ready modem
VRT: voltage reduction technology
A
AccuPoint: A pointing device inte-
grated into the TOSHIBA computer
keyboard.
adapter: A device that provides an
interface between two dissimilar
electronic devices. For example, the AC
adapter modifies the power from a wall
outlet for use by the computer. This
term also refers to the add-in circuit
cards that control external devices, such
as video monitors and magnetic tape
devices.
allocate: To assign a space or function
for a specific task.
AccuPoint