glossary — D
Database
Noun: An organized body of related information
In computing, a database is an organized collection of interrelated information,
records or data stored in a computer in a standardized format that provides
computer programs and users fast access, easy retrieval and manipulation
of information.
Databases consist of individual records,
which consist of various fields. Records can be accessed and sorted according
to a variety of criteria included in fields.
A simple database could be
a list of names and addresses.
del.icio.us
http://del.icio.us/ (pronounced "delicious") A social bookmarking Web site. The primary use is to store bookmarks online, which allows you to access the same bookmarks and add bookmarks from anywhere. Also allows users to see interesting links that friends and other people bookmark, and share links with them in return. Browse and search del.icio.us to discover cool and useful bookmarks that everyone else has saved.
Dialog Box
A window that opens during the execution of various tasks on a computer. It opens a "dialog" or discussion between the user and the computer. Dialog boxes are used to provide the user with further options or to request additional information from the user. An example of a dialog box is the Save File dialog box or the Open File dialog box in Windows and Macintosh systems. Generally, dialog boxes must be closed before you can continue in the application.
DNS — Domain Name System
The system by which hosts on the Internet have both domain name addresses (such as pinscreative.com) and IP addresses (such as 192.17.3.4). The domain name address is used by human users and is automatically translated into the numerical IP address, which is used by packet-routing software.
DNS — Domain Name Service
The Internet utility that implements the Domain Name System. DNS servers, also called name servers, maintain databases containing the addresses and are accessed transparently to the user.
Dot Pitch
One of the principal characteristics determining the quality of display monitors. It is the distance between pixels on a CRT (specifically, between two phosphor dots of the same color). Depending on the manufacturer, dot pitch distance is measured diagonally, horizontally or both. The finer the dot pitch, the better the image clarity. The highest-resolution monitors, displaying crisper images, have the smallest dot pitch.
Download
Verb: To transfer or copy data (such as pictures, text files, audio/video,
or programs) from another or remote computer, server or host computer to
one's own or local computer or device. To download is to request that a
file be stored in the visitor's file system, as opposed to being displayed
on the screen as part of a Web page. "I'm going to download the upgrade
for my software." "I want to download that video so I can watch
it later."
However, any transfer of information off
a remote machine onto your local machine, is considered a download. Therefore,
when browsers temporarily load Web pages from a server and display the
data in a browser window, it can be called a download. This is sometimes
referred to simply as "page load" as in "The
page is loading slowly today." Web page files are loaded only so that
the page can be displayed on the local computer. A cache is
generally used by browsers to temporarily store pages for quicker revisiting.
However, if the cache is not activated, the files do not remain on the
computer when the visitor goes to another page.
The opposite of download
is upload. In this case, a local file
is copied to a remote computer or server. In a communications session,
download means receive, and upload means transmit.
Noun: Download can also be used as a noun to refer to the action or the file downloaded. "The download was successful." "I have the download and I'm opening it now."
DPI / Dots Per Inch
A convention used to describe the of resolution and quality of an output
device. Measures the number of dots the device
can reproduce per inch both horizontally and vertically. A 600 dpi printer
prints 360,000 (600 by 600) dots in one square inch of paper. Higher DPI
produces clearer and more detailed output. Most monitors reproduce images
at 72 dots per inch. PostScript imagesetters are capable of resolutions
up to 1200 or 2450 dots per inch.
Dots per inch is also used as a measurement
of an image's resolution. The higher the dots per inch, the higher the
resolution, the crisper and more detailed the image (provided that it is
also output on a high-resolution device).
Monitors, cameras, scanners and
other digital devices are more accurately described in terms of dot pitch
or pixels per inch; printing devices in terms of dots per inch or linescreen
or lines per inch.
DSL / Digital Subscriber Line
A high-bandwidth Internet connection that uses conventional wiring, such as ordinary telephone lines, at limited distances. DSL lines can carry both voice and data.
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Sources:
Microsoft Press Computer Dictionary, Third Edition; Microsoft Encarta College
Dictionary; Wikipedia; Wiktionary; Urban Dictionary
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