| ISP Dictionary - ISP Glossary Definitions for 'm' |
| M2020 riser - This board holds a Pentium Pro processor and fits into a Slot 1 slot on a motherboard. This provided backwards-compatibility for Pentium Pro chips with... |
| MAC Address - A unique 128-bit address of a network card or device. The first part of the address is unique to the company that produced the device, and beyond that... |
| Macro - A means of executing a group of instructions within a program. Many programs offer the capability to put together macros so that you don't have to do the... |
| macro virus - A virus contained in and spread by a macro language program that supplements a word processed document or spread sheet. These are by far the most common... |
| Macrovision - A method of copy protection that rapidly modulates colorburst signals and pulses the vertical blanking signal in order to make videotaped copies of protected... |
| MAE - Metropolitan Area Exchange or Metropolitan Area Ethernet. A major Internet Network Access Point (NAP) where different providers and networks hand off traffic... |
| Magnetic RAM - A form of memory that stores information magnetically instead of electrically like DRAM. IBM has been working on developing MRAM since 1974, and has recently... |
| Magnetic stripe - A piece of plastic coated with ferromagnetic particles to hold a magnetic flux. In human speak: a strip of audiotape glued onto a card to hold a bit of... |
| Magnetic stripe unit - A device to read and encode cards with a magnetic stripe. |
| mailbomb - Flood a single e-mail address with a high volume of mail. Used to retaliate against an individual or organization that has bothered the sender(s) in some... |
| Mainframe - Basically a large and powerful computer designed to be very fault tolerant. Historically, mainframes with lots of memory and disk space are hooked to a... |
| majordomo - One of the common types of E-mail discussion lists. See our E-Mailing Discussion List FAQ and our Guide to Subscribing, Unsubscribing, and Searching Mailing... |
| malware - short for "malicious software", includes spyware, viruses, worms, and Trojan horses. Spyware is generally used for marketing purposes and, as such, not... |
| Management console - Under SNMP, the management console is the computer or device that collects SNMP messages and stores them in the MIB. |
| Management Information Base - When SNMP devices send SNMP messages to the management console, it stores information in this file or database. The MIB collects and contains information... |
| Management Information Systems/Services - The department at most companies that everyone loves to hate. MIS people are the people who work with Information Technology, now more commonly referred... |
| MAPI - Acronym for Message Application Programming Interface. A standard Windows interface for messaging that enables different mail programs and other mail-aware... |
| Master - When two IDE or EIDE devices are put on the same cable, one must be master and the other slave. The master/slave configuration is used not only to allow... |
| Master Boot Record - The first sector on a hard disk or other disk media. When a computer boots up it searches for a master boot record wherever the BIOS tells it to (usually... |
| Matrix Math Extensions - 64 additional instructions for matrix math operations that are commonly used to process multimedia data. This was a slight improvement of the Pentium chip... |
| Maximize - In a graphical OS, this is the act of clicking on the maximize button of an active window and causing it to cover the entire screen so that the desktop... |
| Maximum Transmission Unit - The largest size of a data packet that can be sent over a TCP/IP or other packet- or frame-based network. Ethernet uses an MTU of 1,500 bytes, while the... |
| Mbit - This is roughly one million bits, or more exactly, 1,048,576 bits (that's 2^20 bits). |
| MBps - Abbreviation for megabytes per second. |
| MBR - The first sector on a hard disk or other disk media. When a computer boots up it searches for a master boot record wherever the BIOS tells it to (usually... |
| MCA - A 32-bit standard developed by IBM for expansion cards. The standard offered improvements over 16-bit ISA, but never caught on outside of IBM computers.... |
| MCGA - A graphics standard prior to VGA which allows 320x200 resolutions with 256 colors, or 640x400 resolutions with two colors. It is a bit better than CGA.... |
| MCSE - A certification program offered by Microsoft. To become an MCSE you must pass a series of standardized tests at Microsoft-approved testing facilities.... |
| MDF - A type of particle board that is often used in the construction of subwoofer enclosures. It is used due to its ability to absorb vibration and its sturdiness.... |
| MDRAM - A form of graphics RAM created by MoSys that allows transfers of up to 1GB/second. Tseng Labs' popular ET6000 2D graphics chipset used this form of graphics... |
| Mean Time Between Failures - A time normally given in hours that predicts the failure rate of a device. The larger the number the better. |
| Mechanical Control - A dial or knob whose physical setting directly affects some measurement. For example, the power button in early PCs was a mechanical control, as were the... |
| Media Access Control Address - A unique 128-bit address of a network card or device. The first part of the address is unique to the company that produced the device, and beyond that... |
| Medium Density Fiberboard - A type of particle board that is often used in the construction of subwoofer enclosures. It is used due to its ability to absorb vibration and its sturdiness.... |
| Medium Scale Integration - Chips containing hundreds of transistors, but not thousands. See also ULSI, VLSI, LSI, and SSI. |
| mega - Prefix meaning one million (106) or in computer usage, the similar value 1,048,576 |
| Megabit - This is roughly one million bits, or more exactly, 1,048,576 bits (that's 2^20 bits). |
| Megabits per second - a.k.a. Mbps. This is a measure of throughput roughly in millions of bits per second. More exactly, that is 2^20 (1,048,576) bits per second. |
| Megabyte - This is roughly one million bytes. This is exactly 1,048,576 bytes (that's 1024 x 1024, or 2^20). |
| MegaFlop - The ability of a system to compute one million floating point operations in one second. |
| Megahertz - One million hertz, or one million cycles per second. |
| Megapixel - One million pixels. This term is most often used when talking about how fast 3D graphics cards can pump data to the display device, or how much data a... |
| Memory - Chips in a computer that remember data. Also commonly referred to as RAM. |
| Memory leak - A condition where a program continues to request more memory from an operating system and doesn't tell the operating system when it is no longer using... |
| Message Transfer Agent - In the X.400 Message Handling System this is a program that stores and forwards messages between different mail systems. |
| Messaging API - Originally developed by Microsoft, this allows Windows applications to use the Windows e-mail system using a standard programming interface. Thus any Windows... |
| meta - A prefix meaning "information about". |
| meta tag - In HTML or XML, a tag used in the header of a page to provide information about the page. There may be multiple meta tags in a header, each with different... |
| metadata - Information about data, or more specifically, the descriptive information provided in meta tags in an HTML or XML document header about that document. |
| metafile - A graphics format that combines the features of bitmap and vector graphics. Common types of metafile formats are CGM, Corel Draw CDR files, encapsulated... |
| Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor - A transistor with a source and drain region kept apart by a gate. A voltage applied to the gate controls the flow of electrons from the source to the drain.... |
| Metropolitan Area Exchange - A large Internet traffic switching station where ISP backbones meet and traffic moves between them. The two major MAE exchanges are MAE-East and MAE-West,... |
| Metropolitan Area Network - A collection of several LANs that are linked by faster backbone connections. A MAN is smaller than a WAN, and an example is a college campus with several... |
| MFC - A library of C++ functions provided by Microsoft that allows developers to more easily work with Windows operating systems. |
| Mflop - The ability of a system to compute one million floating point operations in one second. |
| MHz - One million hertz, or one million cycles per second. |
| MIB - When SNMP devices send SNMP messages to the management console, it stores information in this file or database. The MIB collects and contains information... |
| Mic - see micron or microphone |
| Mic in - An analog I/O sound port that accepts a microphone. If you want your computer, laptop, or sound device to be able to record your voice, it must have a... |
| Micro Channel Architecture - A 32-bit standard developed by IBM for expansion cards. The standard offered improvements over 16-bit ISA, but never caught on outside of IBM computers.... |
| Microchip - Synonymous with microprocessor. This term is commonly used to describe the CPU. More specifically, it refers to the part of the CPU that actually does... |
| Microcomputer - The older term for a common home computer, or single processor computer. The next step up is a workstation. |
| Microcontroller - This is like a scaled-down computer designed for a very specific task, unlike a desktop computer, which has many uses. An example of an application for... |
| Micron - The length of one millionth of a meter, or 1/1,000,000 meters. This length is also referred to as a micrometer. There is also a microchip company called... |
| Micron Process - The size of lines capable of being etched onto a chip. A fabrication plant with a .25 micron process can create smaller chips that consume less power,... |
| Microphone - A device that changes audio into an electric signal. You can plug a microphone into most sound cards, and they are required for certain operations, such... |
| Microphone Cable - An analog audio cable normally used to connect microphones to professional audio devices. It has three pins and provides a balanced input, as opposed to... |
| Microprocessor - This term is commonly used to describe the CPU. More specifically, it refers to the part of the CPU that actually does the work, since many CPUs now contain... |
| Microsoft Certified System Engineer - A certification program offered by Microsoft. To become an MCSE you must pass a series of standardized tests at Microsoft-approved testing facilities.... |
| Microsoft Foundation Class - A library of C++ functions provided by Microsoft that allows developers to more easily work with Windows operating systems. |
| Mid Tower case - A metal (or metal-framed plastic) box about two feet high that has special fittings to hold computer components like a motherboard, power supply, hard... |
| Middleware - Software that is used to tie an application to a network, thus the "middle" terminology. Often the middleware is a type of network authentication or directory... |
| MIDI - Musical Instrument Digital Interface. See the Audio Guide and the File Extension Guide for more information. |
| millenium bug - The set of problems occurring on January 1, 2000 and other related dates caused by shortsighted programming that coded the years with only 2 digits. Ambiguity... |
| Millions of Instructions Per Second - A rating of how quickly a processor can process instructions. A processor rated at 100 MIPS can process 100,000,000 instructions per second. Although it... |
| Millisecond - One thousandth of a second. It is often associated with the access speed of hard drives. |
| MIME - Acronym for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. The standard for |
| Minicomputer - This term refers to "mini" mainframe computers that are a step smaller than a large corporate mainframe. They were once popular in small businesses that... |
| Minimize - In a graphical OS this is the act of clicking on the minimize button of an active window and causing it disappear from view, or appear in a smaller form... |
| MIP Mapping - Multum in Parvam literally translates to "many in few." This stores a copy of the bitmap used as a texture in different sizes to minimize the distortion... |
| MIPS - A rating of how quickly a processor can process instructions. A processor rated at 100 MIPS can process 100,000,000 instructions per second. Although it... |
| Mirror - This can refer to many things in the land of technology. Most often it is used to describe a method of redundancy where data is mirrored across two devices,... |
| MIS - The department at most companies that everyone loves to hate. MIS people are the people who work with Information Technology, now more commonly referred... |
| Mission Critical Application - Any application that is critical to the proper running of a business. If this application fails for any length of time you may be out of business. For... |
| MMC - A postage stamp-sized Flash memory card that allows data to be saved onto it. MMC cards are a means of exchanging data between PDAs, phones, digital cameras,... |
| MMX - 64 additional instructions for matrix math operations that are commonly used to process multimedia data. This was a slight improvement of the Pentium chip... |
| Modal dialog - A dialog box or window that must be responded to before operation of a program can continue. Modal dialog boxes are easier to program than modeless dialog... |
| modem - Short for modulator/demodulator. A modem is used between a computer and a phone or cable line to convert the computer's digital signal to an analog signal... |
| Modem pool - A group of modems that answer calls at a single phone number and connect callers to a specific resource. ISPs use modem pools to connect callers to the... |
| Modulator/Demodulator - A device that serves as a bridge between your digital computer and some form of analog line used to transmit data, such as a phone line (standard modem)... |
| Moir‚ (pronounced mor-ay, accent on second syllable) - A graphic effect that puts an undesirable pattern composed of small dots placed in a tight pattern on a plain image. When monitors focus too tightly certain colors will appear to have patterns on the - A device for viewing the output from a computer, usually on a large glass screen, whether it's CRT, LCD, or otherwise. |
| MOO - MUD, Object-Oriented. See MUD. |
| Moore's Law - Former Intel chairman Gordon Moore is credited with predicting the trend that transistor counts in processors double every 18 months. This law has held... |
| Mosaic - The breakthrough first graphical browser, developed by Marc Andreeson and others at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) at the University... |
| MOSFET - A transistor with a source and drain region kept apart by a gate. A voltage applied to the gate controls the flow of electrons from the source to the drain.... |
| Motherboard - The large circuit board into which your CPU, memory boards, and peripheral cards are plugged. |
| MotherGlass - Thin sheets of glass that LCD screens are cut out of. Manufacturers have periodically increased their production lines to handle larger sheets of motherglass... |
| Mount - This term comes from the days when tape media had to be physically mounted at the instruction of an operating system. The terminology is still used in... |
| Mouse - A pointing device that is pushed around a desk area with the palm of your hand. Traditionally mice have used roller balls to detect motion, but newer models... |
| Mousepad - A pad that has a surface made for providing traction for a mouse that uses a roller ball. |
| Moving Pictures Expert Group - An ISO group that works to develop standard formats for compressing video. The standards associated with the group include MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (used in DVD... |
| Mozilla - An Open Source project put together to create the next generation of Netscape Web browsers starting after Netscape Navigator 4.x. The project is run by... |
| MP3 - A compression standard for audio. It enables compression of CD-audio by about 10 times, depending on the bit and sampling rate. It does not stand for MPEG-3,... |
| MPEG - An ISO group that works to develop standard formats for compressing video. The standards associated with the group include MPEG-1, MPEG-2 (used in DVD... |
| MPEG-1 - An audio/visual compression standard designed by MPEG for devices that can read or write about 1.5 Mbits/second worth of data. |
| MPEG-2 - An audio/visual compression standard designed by MPEG for devices that can read or write about four Mbits/second worth of data. |
| MPR - A standard for levels of electromagnetic field emissions by computer monitors published by the Swedish National Board for Measurement and Testing. Monitors... |
| MPR II - A newer version of the Swedish MPR electromagnetic field emission standards. It has much more stringent requirements, and CRT computer monitors meeting... |
| MRAM - A form of memory that stores information magnetically instead of electrically like DRAM. IBM has been working on developing MRAM since 1974, and has recently... |
| MSI - Chips containing hundreds of transistors, but not thousands. See also ULSI, VLSI, LSI, and SSI. |
| MTA - In the X.400 Message Handling System this is a program that stores and forwards messages between different mail systems. |
| MTBF - A time normally given in hours that predicts the failure rate of a device. The larger the number the better. |
| MTU - The largest size of a data packet that can be sent over a TCP/IP or other packet- or frame-based network. Ethernet uses an MTU of 1,500 bytes, while the... |
| MUD - Acronym for Multi-User Domain, Multi-User Dimension, or Multi-User Dungeon. An online interactive computer game or exploration medium. Early MUDs were... |
| Multi User Domain - This is also known as Multi-User Dungeon, but that is a misnomer. A MUD is a world created and that exists solely for the interaction of people within... |
| Multi-Threaded - Some operating systems allow multiple parts, or threads, of a single process to run simultaneously. These OSes are referred to as multi-threaded. UNIX... |
| Multi-tier client server - A form of client/server application that uses the multi-tiered architecture. |
| Multi-tiered architecture - This is the most scalable application architecture (over two-tier and three-tier). This architecture refers to 4-, 5-, or even higher-tiered architectures.... |
| Multibank DRAM - A form of graphics RAM created by MoSys that allows transfers of up to 1GB/second. Tseng Labs' popular ET6000 2D graphics chipset used this form of graphics... |
| Multicast IP - A form of TCP/IP being proposed that will allow for high-bandwidth transmissions (like television channels) to be broadcast over the Internet to all the... |
| MultiColor Graphics Array - A graphics standard prior to VGA which allows 320x200 resolutions with 256 colors, or 640x400 resolutions with two colors. It is a bit better than CGA.... |
| Multihomed - A machine with more than one NIC attached to more than one network. If a machine has multiple NICs but is only attached to one network, it is not multihomed.... |
| Multimedia - Any use of audio or video in a computer. In simplest terms this refers to the basic functions of sound cards and video cards. The term also covers television... |
| MultiMedia Card - A postage stamp-sized Flash memory card that allows data to be saved onto it. MMC cards are a means of exchanging data between PDAs, phones, digital cameras,... |
| MultiMedia Extensions - 64 additional instructions for matrix math operations that are commonly used to process multimedia data. This was a slight improvement of the Pentium chip... |
| Multiple Virtual Storage - An IBM mainframe operating system. The term MVS is used to describe an entire family of mainframe operating systems. The term "multiple virtual storage"... |
| Multiplexer - A logic circuit that sends one of several inputs out over a single output channel. In the network world it is used to describe devices that send several... |
| Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions - Functions used for the attachment of binary files to an e-mail message. MIME is the most common group of functions used to make this translation, and allows... |
| Multitasking - The ability of an operating system to run two or more tasks at once. With one processor you will not normally have more than one task using the processor... |
| Multum in Parvam Mapping - Multum in Parvam literally translates to "many in few." This stores a copy of the bitmap used as a texture in different sizes to minimize the distortion... |
| MUNG - A recursive acronym that refers to tweaking something until it is so tweaked that it is broken. It is pronounced, and sometimes referred to, as "munge,"... |
| Munge - A recursive acronym that refers to tweaking something until it is so tweaked that it is broken. It is pronounced, and sometimes referred to, as "munge,"... |
| Musical Instrument Digital Interface - The way to connect musical instruments (traditionally an electronic piano keyboard) to your computer. To connect them to your computer you need a MIDI... |
| Mux - A logic circuit that sends one of several inputs out over a single output channel. In the network world it is used to describe devices that send several... |
| MVS - An IBM mainframe operating system. The term MVS is used to describe an entire family of mainframe operating systems. The term "multiple virtual storage"... |
| MX Record - A record that exists on a DNS server and tells e-mail servers where to send mail for any particular DNS entry. The address is prefaced by a precedence... |
