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Computer, Telephony & Electronics
Industry Glossary

G3

Apple's name for the PowerPC 750 chip. It is short for Generation 3. Not the same as 3G. This has a processor speed of 200 to 233 mhz, has a 512 kb to 1mb L2 cache of half speed and a 66 mhz bus. See FSB.

G4

Apple's name for the power plant CPU of the super cube computer of 2000. It is short for Generation 4. Not the same as 4G. This has a processor speed of 400 to 450 mhz, has a 1mb L2 cache of half speed and a 100 mhz bus. See FSB.

G.Lite

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Study Group 15 / Question 4 is focusing on a number DSL type modem standards. During the working group meetings a designation was required to differentiate among the various options. For this sector of the ITU, standards are designated with a "G". For working group purposes g.lite was designated as the placeholder name for a light version of ADSL. There is also g.dmt, g.hs (handshake), and g.test.

gain

Gain is often quoted in the specifications of transistors; it is the ratio of the current in amps between the collector and the base of the transistor. Typically this can be a ratio several hundred to one, since the current needed to switch the transistor on is very small compared with what can be passed through the collector and out of the emitter. This is why transistors are used to amplify current in audio and video equipment.

games

A channel of most online services that is dedicated to gaming both online and offline. Take a look at at those we have on line.

garbage

1. A string of unwanted, meaningless, or unintelligible characters produced by error.
2. Incorrect input to a computer. See GIGO.
3. IMAC.

Garmin

An electronics industry leader specializing in GPS technology. See them at WWW.GARMIN.COM.

gate

One of the pins on a transistor, FETS in particular. See base.

gateway

1. A link from one computer system to a different computer system. Some gateways on many ISPs include EAASY SABRE, Stock Link, and the Internet.
2. In the IP sensitive world, an term referring to a routing device, usually used by technicians that have been in the computer industry for a long time. Today, the term router is used to describe nodes that perform this function, and gateway refers to a special scaled-down device that performs an application-layer conversion of information from one protocol stack to another.

gauge

1. An analog device for measuring something.
2. A measuring scale for determining the thickness of something. In the case of wire, the diameter of the wire.

GB

A gigabyte, a thousand megabytes, or a million kilobytes. A number equivalent to 2 to the 30th power (1,073,741,824) bytes. Gigabyte is often abbreviated as G or GB. (Also see powers of ten, kilobyte, megabyte, terabyte, exabyte, petabyte, zettabyte and yottabyte.)

Gbps

Gigabits per second. A measure of bandwidth capacity or transmission speed. It stands for a billion bits per second. A gigabit is approximately 1 billion bits; 1 bit x 1,0243 (that is, 1,073,741,824 bits, not approximately).

gearhead

A less than complimentary term for an intelligent computer person. The term is often used synonymously with Geek.

Gecko

The code name for the new engine design of the IE5.5 and up web browsers. It is the part of the browser that reads web pages, wherever they are, and displays graphics and text as indicated by the markup language (HTML for example) that page is using. Because of its streamlined code, Gecko can load web pages up to 10 times faster than Netscapes's Communicator 4.5, and uses considerably less memory in the process. Low memory requirements make it useful for devices like wireless phones and pagers. You can be certain such migration will take place quickly.

Geek

Derogatory term for a person with limited social skills, and usually strong technical skills. While anybody can become a nerd, geeks are born, not made. This term is often incorrectly associated with a dweeb. The difference between a geek and a dweeb is that dweeb has no redeeming qualities. Dweebs often get into politics. See Bill Clinton (or most any other political figure).

geometry

A term given to the head, cylinder, sector configuration of hard disks. It was originally slang to imply there was a math correlation needed to come up with the size of the drive. It has since become the industry definition for the process. See our Media And Drive Size Calculator.

geosynchronous

A particular type of orbit pattern for satellites. This is an abbreviation for geographical synchronization. This type of orbit synchronizes its position with that of a point on the Earth. In order to do that, the orbit must be 22,282 miles above the equator. For all practical purposes, it appears to be stationary since the satellite's orbit and Earth's rotation are in the same direction and at the same speed. Logically, one would assume such a satellite would be an ideal platform in space for cellular telephone relays and similar digital interactive transmissions. However, due to the great distance involved, the amount of time for sound to travel is not good for cellular calls. Much lower satellites must be used for such calls. They are ideal for streaming media such as TV signals, streaming data and other burst oriented transmissions. Geosynchronous systems include Inmarsat and OmniTRACS. The Inmarsat system uses allocations in the 6 GHz band from the ground station to the satellite, 1.5 GHz for the satellite-to-terminal downlink, 1.6 GHz for the terminal-to-satellite uplink, and 1 GHz from the satellite to the ground station.

Get a real computer!

An imperative issued as a response to someone who is complaining about not being able to get work done on an obsolete, single-tasking, graphical, or otherwise lame computer. (It is usually someone with two or three cigarettes at a time in his mouth and another couple in the ash tray or on his desk.) Generally, UNIX systems are considered to be real computers by real programmers in opposition to Windows-based systems. Mr. Gates does not agree.

generic

A term used to describe a plain product, generally one made for OEM distribution. See vanilla.

gflops

See the definition for flops. Also used to describe the Xerox Corporation's entries and exits into and from the computer industry; in this case, pronounced, Gee! Flops! (again).

ghz

The abbreviation for Gigahertz; a billion cycles. See hertz.

gigaflops or gflops

See the definition for flops.

gigaPOP

Short for gigabit Point of Presence, a network access point that supports data transfer rates of at least 1 Gbps. Currently, only a few gigaPOPs exist, and they're used primarily for accessing the I2 network. Each university that connects to I2 must do so through a gigaPOP, which connects the university's LANs and WANs to the I2 network. Originally, 12 gigaPOPs were planned, each one serving half a dozen I2 members, but the number of gigaPOPs is likely to grow. Whereas the POPs maintained by ISPs are designed to allow low-speed modems to connect to the Internet, gigaPOPs are designed for fast access to a high-speed network, such as I2.

GIF

See Graphics Interchange Format definition .GIF.

GIGO

Acronym for Garbage In Garbage Out. Usually said in response to complaints that a program didn't "do the right thing" when given bad or flawed input. See garbage.

GINI

Acronym for Gateway Interface for Network Initialization. A process on large Enterprise systems to set up an entire network from another network.

GIS

Acronym for Geographical Information Systems; it is a combination of hardware and software.
1. A computer based system for capture, storage, retrieval, analysis and display of spatial (locationally defined) data.
2. GIS are computer based systems that are used to store and manipulate geographic information.
3. An organized collection of computer hardware, software, geographic data, and personnel designed to efficiently capture, store, update, manipulate, analyze, and display all forms of geographically referenced information.
4. A computer system capable of holding and using data describing places on the earth's surface.
5. A computer system capable of capturing, storing, analyzing, and displaying geographically referenced information; that is, data identified according to location. Practitioners also define a GIS as including the procedures, operating personnel, and spatial data that go into the system. This is the general and encompassing definition that is held by the US Geological Survey (USGS).
6. GIS combines layers of information about a place to give you a better understanding of that place. What layers of information you combine depends on your purpose. It could be finding the best location for a new store, analyzing environmental damage, viewing similar crimes in a city to detect a pattern, and perhaps weather patterns, as examples.

glitch

A small malfunction, usually software (always to hardware engineers). These, according to programmers, do not show up in the world of computers. Those same programmers swear that the sun does not rise in the morning or set in the afternoon. Some used to work in the tobacco industry. They NEVER use the term BUG but often call such things "an undocumented feature".

GLOBALnet

One of AOL's world-wide network for dial-up connection.

GMRS

An abbreviation for General Mobile Radio Service. The GMRS has been transformed from the now antiquated Class A section of the Citizens Radio Service to the personal radio service available for conducting an individual's personal and family communications. See our frequency table and additional information and our Citizens Band Radio (CB) Frequency Table.

GMT

An acronym for Greenwich Mean Time. The time in Greenwich, England, the location of which defines where the prime meridian (that is, 0 degrees longitude) is. The rest of the world's time zones (and longitude) are referenced to this meridian. This was for many years the prime reference for time but is no longer. For more time information, also see Zulu time. See UTC. To see GMT in relationship to other time zones, check out Time Zone Converter.

GMTA

A form of online shorthand, meaning Great Minds Think Alike, commonly used in chat rooms and message boards.

GNN

Global Network Navigator, a stand-alone Internet service now owned by America Online.

GNU

The GNU project's goal is to provide freely redistributable Unix software.

Golden Rule of Netiquette

"Remember the Human", the rule upon which all Netiquette is based. Often in electronic communications, it is easy to forget that you are communicating with real people, not just networks of computers. See Netiquette.

Google

The King of the search engines. When Google came on the scene, the search engine technology was a daily battle between several contenders. Google changed all of that and now provides not only the best of the best in search engine technology but has numerous other services as well. See them at WWW.GOOGLE.COM.

Go To

The menu or button that allows you to navigate on various services or sites. This is a universal 'Take Me There' command.

gopher

Internet databases that can be accessed by the WWW as well as other gopher clients. This is an older protocol technology, used more heavily now in Europe than in the US. A menu-driven program developed at the University of Minnesota that helps you locate and retrieve information on the Internet.

go word

The word associated with a forum or area on a commercial online service that allows you to get to that place quickly. Exploited by AOL in the keyword service.

GPF (General Protection Fault)

A General Protection Fault (GPF) is an error that occurs when a program, or driver, tries to access memory addresses outside of the range that Windows has assigned to it. It normally yields the same outcome as jumping from an airplane with no parachute. Seldom does the environment recover from a GPF. It is best to shut down the computer in an orderly manner and restart it to (hopefully) clear the problem.

GPRS

An acronym for General Packet Radio System. A set of guidelines for wireless communications ranging in speed from 56 kbps to 114 kbps, due to be released sometime in 2000.

GPS

An acronym for Global Positioning System. GPS is a satellite navigation system used to determine ground position and the factors of speed and direction. Though it was created and originally used by the U.S. military, GPS is now available to the general public all over the world. It is a very reliable for of directional navigation in aircraft, both commercial and private. The Global Positioning System is composed of 24 satellites 20,200 km (12,500 miles or 10,900 nautical miles) above the earth. The satellites are spaced in orbit so that at any given time a minimum of 6 satellites should be in operable viewing and capture range to users anywhere in the world. The satellites continuously broadcast position and time data to users throughout the world. GPS navigation in one form or another is currently being installed in a number of luxury cars, complete with an LCD map that shows the driver exactly where in the world they are. Technology is also handheld now in several different forms of backpacking and marine assistants. The advanced car GPS units can actually speak the directions to a certain destination and tell the driver when to turn and in which direction. Depending on the service, there are also variations that give alternative routing in the event of a road closure or natural disaster. GPS is the atomic time scale implemented by the atomic clocks in the GPS ground control stations and the GPS satellites themselves. GPS time was zero at 0h 6-Jan-1980 and since it is not affected or altered by leap seconds, GPS is now ahead of UTC by 13 seconds, as of this update. Check our Multiple Time Display Converter for current changes. You can also get much more information at this JPL NASA site. As sub contractors, CSG helped in the creation of both the technology and the site. Also see Garmin.

GPU

Used primarily for 3D applications, GPU is an acronym for a graphics processing unit. It is a single chip processor that creates lighting effects and transforms objects every time a 3D scene is redrawn. These graphics functions are mathematically intensive tasks, which otherwise, would put quite a strain on the CPU. Lifting this burden from the CPU frees up cycles that can be used for other jobs. The first company to pioneer and develop the GPU was NVidia Inc. Its GeForce 256 GPU is capable of billions of calculations per second, can process a minimum of 10 million polygons per second, and has over 22 million transistors, compared to the 9 million found on the Pentium III. Its workstation version called the Quadro, designed for CAD/CAM applications, can process over 200 billion operations a second and deliver up to 17 million triangles per second. The GeForce NVidia GPU card is compatible with the following graphics APIs:
1. OpenGL and Microsoft's DirectX,
2. Intel's Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) technology, and
3. AMD 's 3DNow!
The Quadro is an OpenGL specific card with driver support for Pentium III, Xeon and AMD Athlon CPUs.

Graphical User Interface - GUI

See GUI

Graphics Interchange Format - GIF

See See Graphics Interchange Format definition .GIF.

grad

1. A unit of measurement of an arc in the metric system. There are 100 grads in a 90 degree angle. For a time a grad was also a unit of measure for distance on the Earth; one grad was 100km (kilometers) in the metric system.
2. A person who has successfully completed his computer education degree (no play on words intended, OK so there was) only to find out that everything he has learned is now obsolete.

granular

1. Used as a term to describe a computer system. The more components and individual parts, the more granular it is. Granular computers are most often custom built and the term is used with pride. On the other side of the coin, it can mean a computer that is put together with parts and pieces and is held together by rubber bands. The term used this way is derogatory.
2. Used as a term to describe a network as one with parts and components from many manufacturers. Concentrators from company A, routers from company B and NICs from many companies.

grep

1. An acronym for Global Regular Expression Print. It is a utility that allows you to search through files for specicif paterns, including regular expressions and strings. FGREP (FAST GREP) performs a similar function without expanding special characters from a string.
2. To rapidly scan a large volume of information looking for a particular string or pattern.
3. A UNIX command used to scan a file or group of files for a matching search string or pattern.

ground

1. An electronically neutral circuit having the same potential as the surrounding earth.
2. Normally, a non-current carrying circuit intended for the safety purposes.
3. A reference point for an electrical system.
4. The negative side of an electrical circuit or the negative side of a battery. See Earth Ground.

ground start line

A type of call signaling; a telephony term. In this scheme, when a call is routed to a subscriber, the phone company will apply a ground signal on the TIP side of the line even before a ring signal is sent. By detecting this signal, phone systems can immediately determine that the line is about to be in use, and avoid call crashing.

Group 3

Group 3: The universal protocol for sending FAX documents across telephone lines. The Group 3 protocol specifies CCITT T.4 data compression and a maximum transmission rate of 9,600 baud. There are two levels of resolution: 203 by 98 and 203 by 196. See FAX.

Group 4

Group 4: A protocol for sending FAX documents over ISDN networks. The Group 400 protocol supports images of up to 400 dpi resolution. See FAX.

GSM

A telephony acronym for Global Standard for Mobile communications, the digital section of cellular communications. See UMTS.

GTE

As of 2002, GTE was totally absorbed by Verizon, a move that has not been well accepted by employees or customers. A national major participant in ISP services. See them at WWW.VERIZON.NET (Internet facilities) and/or WWW.VERIZON.COM (Telephone operations). Major portions of GTE have been purchased by Verizon; they may become a wholly owned organization of Verizon. Hopefully, service will improve. As of 1/1/2002, it didn't; in fact it got worse, though I'm amazed that it could get worse.

GTG (got to go)

Online shorthand for "got to go" commonly used in E-Mail and chat rooms.

GUI

Abbreviation for Graphical User Interface; pronounced "GOOEY". A set of screen presentations and metaphors that utilize graphic elements such as icons in an attempt to make an operating system easier to use. Unlike classic UNIX and DOS, which feature a command line interface, the Windows and the Macintosh operating systems present graphical environments for input and output.

GUID

An acronym for Globally Unique IDentifier. The term applies to a "code" that is unique in all the world or in the case of various computer languages, within the application. A GUID is helpful in database applications, networks, and WANS. An example of a GUID in hardware is the CPU serial number in current Pentium chips; another is the ID code in the ROM of Ethernet network cards. Your Social Security number is a GUID. Bible prophecy states that the "mark of the beast" is a unique code identifier. Larry Allen's GUID generator in VB (Visual Basic) is available for download. See GUID.ORG, also GUTBN.
Microsoft has acknowledged that it has "for a long time", without the user's consent or knowledge, embedded the system's GUID, based on the Ethernet card number (or a Microsoft randomly generated number), within documents created on that system. See OUI.
As time has gone on (as it has always done and will continue to do until God sees fit to change it...), GUIDs have varied in size from 16 bits, as used and partially implemented in the Windows 3.1 days, to what Microsoft advertises is 128 bit use on Windows 2000 server functions. I admit, 128 bits offers a pretty unique number!
Another unique term used in the computer industry is UMID, used in making chips and CPUs.

Guide

An ISP staff member that helps members with (computer) problems online.

guru

An expert who acts as a knowledge resource for others and who is generally exhaulted by the people whose problems he or she solves. Synonymous with CSG/CSGNetwork.Com staff.

GUTBN

An acronym for Globally Unique Time Based Number. The term applies to a "code" that is unique in all the world. Globally unique time based numbers are globally unique identifiers (GUID) that you can create by yourself and that are registered for you.

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