A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.

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FAQ: The FAQ (pronounced FAk) or list of "frequently-asked questions" (and answers) has become a feature of the Internet. The FAQ seems to have originated in many of the Usenet groups as a way to acquaint new users with the rules. Today, there are thousands of FAQs on the World Wide Web.
To see the range and variety of topics for which FAQs have been written, go to Yahoo or any major search engine, and enter "faq" or "faqs" in the search entry box. To find a FAQ on a subject of interest (for example, hedgehogs), enter "faq and hedgehogs"(without the quotes). Also note that the number of subjects on which you will NOT find is FAQ is also large. The most useful FAQs are often found at a Web site you

FAX: Sometimes called "telecopying," a fax is the telephonic transmission of scanned-in printed material (text or images), usually to a telephone number associated with a printer or other output device. The original document is scanned with a fax machine, which treats the contents (text or images) as a single fixed graphic image, converting it into a bitmap. In this digital form, the information is transmitted as electrical signals through the telephone system. The receiving fax machine reconverts the coded image and prints a paper copy of the document.
Almost all modems manufactured today are capable of sending and receiving fax data. Fax/modem software generates fax signals directly from disk files or the screen. Even if a document is text only, it is treated by the computer as a scanned image and is transmitted to the receiver as a bitmap. Faxing a message online works well if the recipient wants only to read the message. However, if the document requires editing, it must be converted into ASCII text by an OCR (optical character recognition) program, or it must be retyped manually into the computer. A more efficient method of sending documents that require modification is through the e-mail system. E-mail files are already ASCII text so they can be edited immediately in any text editor or word processing program.
The Internet now provides a new and cheaper way to send faxes in some cases. A number of free and commercial companies provide arrangements for using the Internet rather than the public telephone system for most or part of the path to the fax point. Some services also provide the ability to broadcast a fax to multiple addresses. We ourself offer Fax2e-mail services.

FDDI: Fibre Distributed Data Interface is a standard for transmitting data through optical fibre cables at a rate of around 100 million bps.

FILE EXTENSION: 1) In computer operating systems, a file name extension is an optional addition to the file name in a suffix of the form ".xxx" where "xxx" represents a limited number of alphanumeric characters depending on the operating system. (In Windows 3.1, for example, a file name extension or suffix can have no more than three characters, but in Windows 95, it can have more.) The file name extension allows a files format to be described as part of its name so that users can quickly understand the type of file it is without having to "open" or try to use it. The file name extension also help/s an application program recognize whether a file is a type that it can work with.
2) In programming, an extension is a file containing programming that serves to extend the capabilities of or data available to a more basic program. Extensions are sometimes required to be stored in a separate extensions file so that they are easy to locate. When installing software, you may be instructed to take one or more steps related to installing extensions (or these steps may automatically be done for you).

FINGER: Finger is a program that tells you the name associated with an e-mail address. It may also tell you whether they are currently logged on at their system or their most recent logon session and possibly other information, depending on the data that is maintained about users on that computer. Finger originated as part of BSD UNIX.
To finger another Internet user, you need to have the finger program on your computer or you can go to a finger gateway on the Web and enter the e-mail address. The server at the other end must be set up to handle finger requests. A ".plan" file can be created for any user that can be fingered. Commonly, colleges, universities, and large corporations set up a finger facility. Your own Internet access provider may also set up information about you and other subscribers that someone else can "finger." (To find out, enter your own e-mail address at a finger gateway.)

FIREWALL: A firewall is a set of related programs, located at a network gateway server, that protects the resources of a private network from users from other networks. (The term also implies the security policy that is used with the programs.) An enterprise with an intranet that allows its workers access to the wider Internet installs a firewall to prevent outsiders from accessing its own private data resources and for controlling what outside resources its own users have access to.
Basically, a firewall, working closely with a router program, filters all network packets to determine whether to forward them toward their destination. A firewall also includes or works with a proxy server that makes network requests on behalf of workstation users. A firewall is often installed in a specially designated computer separate from the rest of the network so that no incoming request can get directly at private network resources.
There are a number of firewall screening methods. A simple one is to screen requests to make sure they come from acceptable (previously identified) domain names and IP addresses. For mobile users, firewalls allow remote access in to the private network by the use of secure logon procedures and authentication certificates.
A number of companies make firewall products. Features include logging and reporting, automatic alarms at given thresholds of attack, and a graphical user interface for controlling the firewall.

FLAME: Originally, flame meant to carry forth in a passionate manner in the spirit of honourable debate. Flames most often involved the use of flowery language and flaming well was an art form. More recently flame has come to refer to any kind of derogatory comment no matter how witless or crude.

FLAME WAR: When an online discussion degenerates into a series of personal attacks against the debaters, rather than discussion of their positions. A heated exchange.

FREEWARE: Freeware is programming that is offered at no cost. However, it is copyrighted so that you cant incorporate its programming into anything you may be developing. The least restrictive "no-cost" programs are open to copy programs in the public domain. These include a number of small UNIX programs. When reusing public domain software in your own programs, its good to know the history of the program so that you can be sure it really is in the public domain.

FTP: FTP (File Transfer Protocol), a standard Internet protocol, is the simplest way to exchange files between computers on the Internet. Like the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which transfers displayable Web pages and related files, and the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), which transfers e-mail, FTP is an application protocol that uses the Internets TCP/IP protocols. FTP is commonly used to transfer Web page files from their creator to the computer that acts as their server for everyone on the Internet. Its also commonly used to download programs and other files to your computer from other servers.
As a user, you can use FTP with a simple command line interface (for example, from the Windows MS-DOS Prompt window) or with a commercial program that offers a graphical user interface. Your Web browser can also make FTP requests to download programs you select from a Web page. Using FTP, you can also update (delete, rename, move, and copy) files at a server. You need to log on to an FTP server. However, publicly available files are easily accessed using anonymous FTP.
Basic FTP support is usually provided as part of a suite of programs that come with TCP/IP. However, any FTP client program with a graphical user interface usually must be downloaded from the company that makes it.

FUZZY LOGIC: Fuzzy logic is an approach to computing based on "degrees of truth" rather than the usual "true or false" (1 or 0) Boolean logic on which the modern computer is based. The idea of fuzzy logic was first advanced by Dr. Lotfi Zadeh of the University of California at Berkeley in the 1960s. Dr. Zadeh was working on the problem of computer understanding of natural language. Natural language (like most other activities in life and indeed the universe) is not easily translated into the absolute terms of 0 and 1. (Whether everything is ultimately describable in binary terms is a philosophical question worth pursuing, but in practice much data we might want to feed a computer is in some state in between and so, frequently, are the results of computing.)
Fuzzy logic includes 0 and 1 as extreme cases of truth (or "the state of matters" or "fact") but also includes the various states of truth in between so that, for example, the result of a comparison between two things could be not "tall" or "short" but ".38 of tallness."
Fuzzy logic seems closer to the way our brains work. We aggregate data and form a number of partial truths which we aggregate further into higher truths which in turn, when certain thresholds are exceeded, cause certain further results such as motor reaction. A similar kind of process is used in artificial computer neural networks and expert systems.

FYI: FYI (pronounced EFF-WAI-AI) is an abbreviation for "For your information," and is often used in forwarding e-mail or printed material to colleagues or friends. It usually means that information is simply being shared and that no immediate action is required or expected.