29-letter words containing a, l, m, e, r
- man that corrupted hadleyburg — a short story (1900) by Mark Twain.
- mark-sweep garbage collection — Each cell has a bit reserved for marking which is clear initially. During garbage collection all active cells are traced from the root and marked. Then all cells are examined. Unmarked cells are freed.
- marquess of queensberry rules — the basic rules of modern boxing, providing for the use of gloves, the division of a match into rounds, etc.
- mecklenburg-western pomerania — a state in NE Germany. 8842 sq. mi. (22,900 sq. km). Capital: Schwerin.
- microelectromechanical system — (hardware) (MEMS) The integration of mechanical structures (moving parts) with microelectronics. MEMS devices are "custom" designed for a purpose which requires a mechanical action to be controlled by a computer. Applications include sensors, medical devices, process controls. See also nanotechnology.
- modified frequency modulation — (storage) (MFM, Modified FM, or sometimes "Multiple Frequency Modulation") A modification to the original frequency modulation scheme for encoding data on magnetic disks. MFM allows more than 1 symbol per flux transition (up to 3), giving greater density of data. It is used with a data rate of between 250-500 kbit/s on industry standard 3.5" and 5.25" low and high density diskettes, and up to 5 Mbit/s on ST-506 hard disks. Except for 1.44 MB floppy disks, this encoding is obsolete. Other data encoding schemes include GCR, FM, RLL. See also: PRML.
- mordovian autonomous republic — an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation in Europe. 9843 sq. mi. (25,493 sq. km). Capital: Saransk.
- more trouble than it is worth — If you say that someone or something is more trouble than they are worth, you mean that they cause you a lot of problems or take a lot of time and effort and you do not achieve or gain very much in return.
- multics relational data store — (database) (MRDS) The first commercial relational database, implemented as part of Multics by Jim Weeldreyer and Oris Friesen of Honeywell Phoenix in about 1977. MRDS included a report writer called LINUS written by Jim Falksen.
- multimedia messaging services — (messaging) (MMS) A feature of some mobile telephones that allows them to send messages including text, sound, images and video.
- multiple personality disorder — psychiatric illness: split personality
- multiprotocol label switching — (networking) (MPLS) A packet switching protocol developed by the IETF. Initially developed to improve switching speed, other benefits are now seen as being more important. MPLS adds a 32-bit label to each packet to improve network efficiency and to enable routers to direct packets along predefined routes in accordance with the required quality of service. The label is added when the packet enters the MPLS network, and is based on an analysis of the packet header. The label contains information on the route along which the packet may travel, and the forwarding equivalence class (FEC) of the packet. Packets with the same FEC are routed through the network in the same way. Routers make forwarding decisions based purely on the contents of the label. This simplifies the work done by the router, leading to an increase in speed. At each router, the label is replaced with a new label, which tells the next router how to forward the packet. The label is removed when the packet leaves the MPLS network. Modern ASIC-based routers can look up routes fast enough to make the speed increase less important. However, MPLS still has some benefits. The use of FECs allows QoS levels to be guaranteed, and MPLS allows IP tunnels to be created through a network, so that VPNs can be implemented without encryption.
- non-governmental organization — activism: independent group
- non-uniform rational b spline — (graphics, mathematics) (nurbs) A common term in Mechanical CAD. The NURBS has excellent continuity characteristics which make it useful for creating accurate models in 3D geometry generation and computer modelling.
- nuclear regulatory commission — an independent agency, created in 1975, that licenses and regulates the nonmilitary use of nuclear energy. Abbreviation: NRC.
- object compatibility standard — (OCS) An 88open standard for compilers and linkers.
- optimal flexible architecture — (database) (OFA) Recommendations for logical and physical allocation of database files to disks. The OFA principles can be summarised as: isolate redo, rollback, temp, data and index files as much as possible. OFA can be combined with SAME (Stripe And Mirror Everything).
- presidential medal of freedom — a medal awarded by the president of the U.S. to any citizen who has made an exceptionally meritorious contribution to the security or national interest of the U.S., to world peace, or to cultural or other significant endeavors.
- programmable logic controller — (hardware) (PLC) A device used to automate monitoring and control of industrial plant. Can be used stand-alone or in conjunction with a SCADA or other system.
- programmable read-only memory — (storage) (PROM) A kind of ROM which can be written using a PROM programmer. The contents of each bit is determined by a fuse or antifuse. The memory can be programmed once after manufacturing by "blowing" the fuses, which is an irreversible process. Blowing a fuse opens a connection while blowing an antifuse closes a connection (hence the name). Programming is done by applying high-voltage pulses which are not encountered during normal operation.
- quantum-dot cellular automata — (electronics, computing) (QCA) Quantum logic circuits created by orientating pairs of quantum cells so that their relative positions determine their affect on each other. This is functionally analogous but structurally different from how individual gates in integrated circuits are combined to create logical and memory circuitry. The advantages of quantum-dot cellular automata over conventional circuitry are extremely small size/high density, low power requirements, and potentially high processing speeds. Disadvantages (in 2000) are difficulty of fabrication and low yield. See also: quantum cell wire.
- rapid application development — (programming) (RAD) A loose term for any software life-cycle designed to give faster development and better results and to take maximum advantage of recent advances in development software. RAD is associated with a wide range of approaches to software development: from hacking away in a GUI builder with little in the way of analysis and design to complete methodologies expanding on an information engineering framework. Some of the current RAD techniques are: CASE tools, iterative life-cycles, prototyping, workshops, SWAT teams, timebox development, and Re-use of applications, templates and code.
- real-time structured analysis — (programming) (RTSA) Any version of structured analysis capable of modelling real-time aspects of software.
- recommended dietary allowance — the amount of an essential nutrient, as a vitamin or mineral, that has been established by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences as adequate to meet the average daily nutritional needs of most healthy persons according to age group and sex. Abbreviation: RDA.
- royal canadian mounted police — Canadian police on horseback
- run something up the flagpole — to pursue a tentative course of action in order to gauge the reaction it receives
- scanning tunneling microscope — a device that uses a moving needle and the tunnel effect to generate a maplike image of the atomic surface structure of matter, thereby achieving even greater magnification than the scanning electron microscope.
- sexually transmitted diseases — any disease characteristically transmitted by sexual contact, as gonorrhea, syphilis, genital herpes, and chlamydia. Abbreviation: STD.
- simple mail transfer protocol — (messaging) (SMTP) A protocol defined in STD 10, RFC 821, used to transfer electronic mail between computers, usually over Ethernet. It is a server to server protocol, so other protocols are used to access the messages. The SMTP dialog usually happens in the background under the control of the message transfer agent, e.g. sendmail but it is possible to interact with an SMTP server using telnet to connect to the normal SMTP port, 25. E.g. telnet mhs-relay.ac.uk 25 You should normally start by identifying the local host: HELO wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk You can then issue commands to verify an address or expand an alias: VRFY [email protected] VRFY postmaster or expand a mailing list: EXPN c-help You can even send a message: MAIL From:<[email protected]> RCPT To:<[email protected]> DATA What is the point? . QUIT This is useful if you want to find out exactly what is happening to your message at a certain point. See also Post Office Protocol, RFC 822, sendmail.
- simple object access protocol — (protocol) (SOAP) A minimal set of conventions for invoking code using XML over HTTP.
- small business administration — a federal agency, created in 1953, that grants or guarantees long-term loans to small businesses. Abbreviation: SBA, S.B.A.
- suppressed carrier modulation — an amplitude-modulated wave in which only the sidebands are transmitted, the carrier being removed
- symbolic automatic integrator — (mathematics, tool) (SAINT) A symbolic mathematics program written in Lisp by J. Slagle at MIT in 1961.
- the northern ireland assembly — the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland, located at Stormont in Belfast
- the royal shakespeare company — a British theatre company based mainly in Stratford-upon-Avon
- throw cold water on something — to be unenthusiastic about or discourage something
- thyrotropin-releasing hormone — a small peptide hormone, produced by the hypothalamus, that controls the release of thyrotropin by the pituitary. Abbreviation: TRH.
- to draw a veil over something — If you draw a veil over something, you stop talking about it because it is too unpleasant to talk about.
- to have the time of your life — If you have the time of your life, you enjoy yourself very much indeed.
- to laugh someone out of court — If you laugh someone out of court, you say that their opinions or ideas are so ridiculous that they are not worth considering.
- to lead someone a merry dance — If someone leads you a merry dance, they make you do things over a long period of time which cause you problems and do not benefit you in any way.
- to make someone's flesh creep — If something makes your flesh creep or makes your flesh crawl, it makes you feel disgusted, shocked or frightened.
- trichloromethyl chloroformate — diphosgene.
- trinitrophenylmethylnitramine — tetryl.
- virtual storage access method — (database) (VSAM) An IBM disk file storage scheme first used in S/370 and virtual storage. VSAM comprises three access methods: Keyed Sequenced Data Set (KSDS), Relative Record Data Set (RRDS), and Entry Sequenced Data Set (ESDS). Both IMS/DB and DB2 are implemented on top of VSAM and use its underlying data structures.
- women's liberation (movement) — the women's movement begun in the mid-20th cent.
- workflow management coalition — (body) (WfMc) A non-profit, international organisation of workflow vendors, users, and analysts committed to establishing standards for workflow terminology, interoperability, and connectivity. WfMC was founded in 1993 and now (1999) has over 130 members.
- yet another compiler compiler — (tool, language) (yacc) The LALR parser generator found on most Unix systems. Also, the language used to describe the syntax of another language to yacc (the program). Implementations: ayacc, YAY, perln-byacc, SASL-Yacc - "Yacc in SASL - An Exercise in Functional Programming", Simon Peyton-Jones, Software Prac & Exp 15:807-820 (1985). Mentions also a BCPL implementation. Yacc++ - 1990. An object-oriented rewrite of yacc, supports regular expressions, produces an LR1 grammar parser. Chris Clark, Compiler Resources Inc, +1 (508) 435-5016. MLYACC - Implementation and output in SML/NJ. ftp:research.att.com/dist/ml/75.tools.tar.Z. A version, by David Poole at Montana University has been retargeted to Turbo Pascal. See also Bison, yet another, Yet Another Yacc.