World Wide Webfx Internet Glossary of Computer Terms

Glossary of Computer Terms
from World Wide Webfx

Java: A platform independent programming language, developed by Sun Microsystems. Java Applications are compiled and stored on a server and downloaded to be run on local "Java Virtual Machines" embedded into the client software.
Javascript: A special purpose Java-like language especially adept at interacting with user input and used extensively to make web pages interactive.
JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group, which defined a standard compression format for high-resolution color images
KA9Q: An implementation of TCP/IP and associated protocols for amateur packet radio systems. KA9Q is most popular with users of home computers: KA9Q implementations for computers rather than radios run on many varieties of computers (including such unusual models as Ataris and Apple 2's) to allow them to function as standalone Internet-connected workstations. "KA9Q" is the Amateur Radio call sign of the original author, Phil Karns. See also TCP/IP Protocol Suite.
Kerberos: A security system developed by MIT's Project Athena and others on the Net, named after the three-headed watchdog of Hades in Greek and Roman mythology. It is based on symmetric key cryptography; you give your login and password to a trusted agent on your local computer, who authenticates your identity to the services you wish to use on another computer. See also authentication, authorization, encryption, password.
Kermit: A popular file transfer protocol developed by Columbia University. Because Kermit runs in most operating environments, it provides an easy method of file transfer. Kermit is not the same as FTP See also File Transfer Protocol.
keyboard: Input device for computer commands, text and numerical data.
kill file: An automatically processed database of names, user IDs, topics, and so on, from whom or about which you do not wish to see e-mail or news postings. Kill files are useful to trim your information processing time down to something manageable, or to prevent you from seeing mail or postings from people who persist in behavior with which you do not agree. See also flame.
kilobit: One thousand bits. The kilobit is a convenient unit of data for talking about transmission speeds over computer networks. A 56-kilobit line, for example, can transmit 56,000 bits per second. A T1 line, by comparison, can transmit 1,544,000 bits per second. Kilobit is abbreviated Kb (i.e., 56Kb). See also bit, megabit, T1.
kilobyte: Approximately one thousand bytes (1,024).