Cache
A special area of RAM that stores the data most frequently accessed from the hard drive. Cache memory can optimize the use of your systems.
CAD (Computer Aided Design) Software
Software used to produce complex technical drawings by designers and engineers.
Calibration
In information technology and other fields, calibration is the setting or correcting of a measuring device or base level, usually by adjusting it to match or conform to a dependably known and unvarying measure.
CardBus
CardBus is the trade name for an advanced PC Card (also known as PCMCIA card) specification. The technology is used primarily in notebook and portable computers. The CardBus card fits in a slot like a conventional PC card.
CAT5 (Category 5)
An EIA/TIA standard for UTP wiring that can operate up to 100 megabits per second.
CD Burner
A CD burner is the informal name for a CD recorder, a device that can record data to a compact disc. CD-Recordable (CD-R) and CD-Rewritable (CD-RW) are the two most common types of drives that can write CDs, either once (in the case of CD-R) or repeatedly (in the case of CD-RW). In the recording process, the data is actually etched into the disc (burned) with a laser, as compared with non-recordable CDs. Audio CDs and CD-ROMs are pressed from copies of the original recordings (which are burned by lasers). Since the non-recordable CDs are manufactured in this manner, they can not be written, or rewritten in a desktop environment.
CD-RW
CD-RW (for compact disc, rewriteable) is a compact disc (CD) format that allows repeated recording on a disc. The CD-RW format was introduced by Hewlett-Packard, Mitsubishi, Philips, Ricoh, and Sony, in a 1997 supplement to Philips and Sony's Orange Book. CD-RW is Orange Book III (CD-MO was I, while CD-R was II). Prior to the release of the Orange Book, CDs had been read-only audio (CD-Digital Audio, described fully in the Red Book), to be played in CD players, and multimedia (CD-ROM), to be played in computers' CD-ROM drives. After the Orange Book, any user with a CD Recorder drive could create their own CDs from their desktop computers. CD-RW drives can write both CD-R and CD-RW discs and can read any type of CD.
CDROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory)
A misnomer, as strictly speaking it is not memory but storage. Identical to standard music CDs. Currently the most popular medium for releasing programs on, as it can hold literally hundreds of times as much information as a standard floppy disk, about 650 Megabytes in total. Once a CD-ROM has been created its contents cannot be changed.
CDRW (Recordable and Re-writeable Compact Disc)
Recordable and Re-writeable Compact Disc - this allows up to 650Mb of data to be stored very cheaply on a compact disc using a special CD Writer. Unlike CDR, data can be written to the CDRW more than once.
Celeron
A lower-cost CPU based on Intel's Pentium range of CPU's.
Centrino
Centrino is a technology package from Intel that provides built-in wireless support for laptop computers while making it possible to run a laptop all day (up to seven hours) without a battery recharge. Through Centrino, Intel hopes to encourage corporations and users to replace their current laptops with a newer, more mobile version.
CGI (Common Gateway Interface)
Common Gateway Interface refers to a specification that allows a web server and a CGI program to communicate and transfer data. CGI programs provide interactivity for users of a web site, a typical example of a CGI implementation is a contact form where the data the user enters into a web form gets transferred to the CGI program and then processed.
The transfer of data can be done using the ACTION parameter of a HTML form, the two options are GET and POST, the former sending the data as part of the URL and the latter sending the data via the HTTP headers.
Chipset
A chipset is a group of integrated circuits (microchips) that can be used together to serve a single function and are therefore manufactured and sold as a unit. For example, one chipset might combine all the microchips needed to serve as the communications controller between a processor and memory and other devices in a computer.
CMOS (Complimentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor)
When in the context of computing CMOS refers to a chip that stores information about your PC including the time, date and configuration data, this technology is used due to the low power consumption. The CMOS device is backed up by a battery to retain the information when the system is switched off. The information (typically 64 Bytes) in the CMOS device is accessed by the BIOS when the machine is booted up (turned on), the CMOS settings (information) can be changed by the user by the way of a setup program usually accessed with a key sequence when the machine is first booted, different systems use different key sequences to access the CMOS settings, you can find out the key sequence for your particular system from either the manual that came with your machine or your motherboard manual.
Coaxial Cable
Coaxial cable is the kind of copper cable used by cable TV companies between the community antenna and user homes and businesses. Coaxial cable is sometimes used by telephone companies from their central office to the telephone poles near users. It is also widely installed for use in business and corporation Ethernet and other types of local area network.
Coaxial cable is called "coaxial" because it includes one physical channel that carries the signal surrounded (after a layer of insulation) by another concentric physical channel, both running along the same axis. The outer channel serves as a ground. Many of these cables or pairs of coaxial tubes can be placed in a single outer sheathing and, with repeaters, can carry information for a great distance.
CODEC (COmpressor/DECompressor)
A small piece of computer code that tells the computer how to decode particular types of information, usually video files. If your video player won't play a particular format, you can usually download and install a codec which will tell it how from the internet.
Cookie
A transaction ID used between cooperating programs. Cookies are used by some browsers and Web server programs to identify the client user and even unique preferences or requests from the client user. Cookies may be stored for use during a given session, for a set length of time (seconds, minutes, hours, or days), or retained permanently. Cookie information is stored with the browser on the client side; the information is automatically accessed and used by the browser in subsequent transactions.
CPU (Central Processing Unit)
The main processing chip of a computer
