assembler A program that converts assembly language into machine language.

assembly code Assembly language.The language in between machine language and high-level programming languages.Each statement in assembly code statement is translated into one machine code instruction.

assembly language (AL).The language in between machine language and high-level programming languages.Each assembly language statement corresponds to one machine language instruction.

ASV Adaptive Suspension Vehicle.An advanced walking robot that is 16 feet long, 10 feet high, and weighs 6,000 pounds.The ASV has six legs and can sprint at eight miles per hour and step over a four-foot wall.

AT Advanced Technology.An IBM PC introduced in 1984 that was the most advanced PC at that time, with an Intel 80286 processor, 16-bit bus, and 1.2MB floppy drive.

AT motherboard Advanced Technology motherboard.The motherboard that originally came with the IBM PC/AT computers, or one following the same design.

AT&T American Telephone and Telegraph, Inc.One of the largest corporations and telecommunications carriers in the United States.AT&T has been incorporated since 1885, and has provided telephone service throughout the United States and in other countries.AT&T was parent company of the Bell System of telephone companies, a monopoly which was dissolved in 1984 by a Federal court order.AT&T continues to be a competitive long distance telephone carrier.

AT&T has been credited with breakthroughs in technology, including the UNIX operating system and the C and C++ programming languages.At&T can be found online at www.att.com.

ATM 1.Asynchronous Transfer Mode, a network technology that enables the transmission of data, voice, audio, video, and frame relay traffic in real time. 2.Automatic Teller Machine, a bank terminal that lets customers deposit, withdraw cash, and perform other transactions electronically. 3.Adobe Type Manager, a software program that manages PostScript fonts on a system. 4.At The Moment (chat).

ATSL (Chat Expression) Along The Same Line.

audio Relating to the range of frequencies within human hearing, generally between 15Hz and 20,000 Hz cycles per second.

Audio Video Interleaved (AVI).A Microsoft multimedia file format, similar to MPEG and QuickTime, used by Video for Windows.In AVI, audio and video elements are interleaved (stored in alternate segments) in the file.

AUG Amiga User Group.

auto answer (AA).Some modems can be set up to accept telephone calls and automatically establish a connection; this ability is called auto answer.

auto dial The ability of some modems to dial the telephone number of another computer and make a connection.

autosave A function of some programs which save data to the disk at periodic intervals, without being given a Save command.In the Preferences menu, the user can set up the autosave function and tell the program how frequently to save.

AutoSPID (Automatic Service Profile Identifier).SPID is the identification number for connecting to an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) line.AutoSPID is a protocol an ISDN device uses to automatically negotiate the number with the switch without the need for user interaction.

AV 1.Audio/Video. 2.Audiovisual.

AVR Automatic Voice Recognition.

AX Architecture eXtended.

AYOR (Chat Expression) At Your Own Risk.

B Byte.The smallest addressable unit of storage; the amount of memory space used to store one character, which is usually 8 bits.A computer that has 8-bit bytes (most large and small computers today) can distinguish 28 = 256 different characters.See bits, kilobytes and megabytes.

B channel On an ISDN (ISDN), a connection that provides voice and data at the same time.

B4 Before.Variant: b4.

Baby AT A motherboard used in many PCs, smaller than the original Advanced Technology(AT) motherboard..

back up To make copies of important files in case the originals are damaged.Data can be backed up on external hard drives, floppy discs, CD-ROMs, tape, etc.

backout The elimination of updates made in a transaction that was interrupted by a system failure.

backslash The character \ (ASCII 92), not to be confused with the forward slash / (ASCII 47).

backspace To move the screen cursor to the left, using the "backspace" or "delete" key, depending on keyboard layout.On a typewriter, a backspace simply moves the carriage back one character or space; on a computer, backspacing deletes the character.

backup copy An extra copy of a file kept for safety.