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24-letter words containing a, m, t, r, c

  • confederate memorial day — a day set aside in the South to pay tribute to those who served with the Confederate forces during the American Civil War. It is observed on April 26 in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi; on May 10 in North Carolina and South Carolina; on May 30 in Virginia; and on June 3 in Kentucky, Louisiana, and Tennessee.
  • configuration management — (job, system management)   A discipline applying technical and administrative controls to identifying, documentating and reporting on configuration items, their physical and functional characteristics and changes to characteristics of those configuration items.
  • conservation of momentum — the principle that the total linear or angular momentum in any isolated system is constant, provided that no external force is applied
  • cooperative multitasking — (parallel, operating system)   A form of multitasking where it is the responsibility of the currently running task to give up the processor to allow other tasks to run. This contrasts with pre-emptive multitasking where the task scheduler periodically suspends the running task and restarts another. Cooperative multitasking requires the programmer to place calls at suitable points in his code to allow his task to be descheduled which is not always easy if there is no obvious top-level main loop or some routines run for a long time. If a task does not allow itself to be descheduled all other tasks on the system will appear to "freeze" and will not respond to user action. The advantage of cooperative multitasking is that the programmer knows where the program will be descheduled and can make sure that this will not cause unwanted interaction with other processes. Under pre-emptive multitasking, the scheduler must ensure that sufficient state for each process is saved and restored that they will not interfere. Thus cooperative multitasking can have lower overheads than pre-emptive multitasking because of the greater control it offers over when a task may be descheduled. Cooperative multitasking is used in RISC OS, Microsoft Windows and Macintosh System 7.
  • detoxification programme — a programme of treatment for alcoholism or drug addiction
  • display screen equipment — Visual Display Unit
  • domestic relations court — in some states, a court with jurisdiction over matters involving relations within the family or household, as between husband and wife or parent and child
  • domestic-relations court — court of domestic relations.
  • double overhead camshaft — a pair of overhead camshafts, one to operate the intake valves and the other to operate the exhaust valves. Abbreviation: DOHC.
  • double-crested cormorant — a North American cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus, having tufts of black and white feathers on the sides of the head.
  • dream of the red chamber — Chinese Hung Lou Mêng or Hong Lou Meng. an 18th-century Chinese novel by Ts'ao Hsüeh-ch'in, completed by Kao E, in 120 chapters.
  • ductal carcinoma in situ — a form of breast cancer originating in the breast itself rather than spreading from another site
  • dynamic adaptive routing — Automatic rerouting of traffic based on analysis of current network conditions. This does not include routing decisions based on predefined information.
  • effort adjustment factor — (programming)   (EAF) A term used in COCOMO to calculate a cost driver attribute's effect on a project. It is the product of the effort multipliers corresponding to each of the cost drivers for the project.
  • electromagnetic spectrum — the complete range of electromagnetic radiation from the longest radio waves (wavelength 105 metres) to the shortest gamma radiation (wavelength 10–13 metre)
  • emotional roller coaster — a situation or experience that alternates between making you feel excited, exhilarated, or happy and making you feel sad, disappointed, or desperate
  • evolutionary computation — Computer-based problem solving systems that use computational models of evolutionary processes as the key elements in design and implementation. A number of evolutionary computational models have been proposed, including evolutionary algorithms, genetic algorithms, the evolution strategy, evolutionary programming, and artificial life.
  • federal trade commission — FTC.
  • free and accepted masons — a member of a widely distributed secret order (Free and Accepted Masons) having for its object mutual assistance and the promotion of brotherly love among its members.
  • geographical determinism — the theory that human activity is determined by geographical conditions
  • graduated pension scheme — (between 1961 and 1975) an earnings-related pension scheme which was based on the amount of an employee's National Insurance contributions
  • guaranteed annual income — Also called guaranteed income. compensation provided by the government to any family or individual whose annual income falls below a specified level.
  • have had a drop too much — to be drunk
  • hierarchical data format — (file format, data)   (HDF) A library and multi-object file format for the transfer of graphical and numerical data between computeres. The freely available HDF distribution consists of the library, command line utilities, test suite source, Java interface, and the Java-based HDF Viewer (JHV). HDF supports several different data models, including multidimensional arrays, raster images, and tables. Each defines a specific aggregate data type and provides an API for reading, writing, and organising the data and metadata. New data models can be added by the HDF developers or users. HDF is self-describing, allowing an application to interpret the structure and contents of a file without any outside information. One HDF file can hold a mixture of related objects which can be accessed as a group or as individual objects. Users can create their own grouping structures called "vgroups". HDF files can be shared across most common platforms, including many workstations and high performance computers. An HDF file created on one computer can be read on a different system without modification.
  • hierarchical file system — (file system)   A file system in which the files are organised into a hierarchy. The nodes of the hierarchy are called directories while the leaves are the files themselves. See also root directory. Compare flat file system.
  • high performance fortran — (language)   (HPF) A data parallel language extension to Fortran 90 which provides a portable programming interface for a wide variety of target platforms. The original HPF language specification was produced by the High Performance Fortran Forum, a broad consortium of industry and academia, which met regularly throughout 1992 and early 1993. HPF compilers are now available on most commonly-used computing systems, and users are beginning to gain first hand experience with this language. The Forum has continued to meet in order to address advanced topics.
  • high performance routing — (networking)   (HPR) Routing designed to work in conjunction with APPN Intermediate Session Routing (ISR) network nodes. HPR nodes perform many of the same functions as ISR nodes. For example, HPR nodes use the same method of calculating routes based on the Topology Routing Service database and class of service tables. HPR nodes also supports such APPN features as connection networks and support for parallel transmission groups (TGs). In the HPR architecture, both partner nodes must support HPR for RTP connections to take place between the nodes. If one node supports HPR and the partner node does not, then the link will support ISR functionality only.
  • homolographic projection — an equal-area projection in which the proportion between regions of unequal area is correctly shown.
  • human-computer interface — (software, hardware)   (HCI) Any software or hardware that allows a user to interact with a computer. Examples are WIMP, command-line interpreter, or virtual reality. See also Human-Computer Interaction.
  • implicit differentiation — a method of finding the derivative of an implicit function by taking the derivative of each term with respect to the independent variable while keeping the derivative of the dependent variable with respect to the independent variable in symbolic form and then solving for that derivative.
  • incomplete metamorphosis — insect development, as in the grasshopper and cricket, in which the change is gradual and characterized by the absence of a pupal stage. Compare complete metamorphosis.
  • information architecture — the design and organization of an online resource, usually with regard to usability.
  • international morse code — a form of Morse code used in international radiotelegraphy.
  • iterated function system — (graphics)   (IFS) A class of fractals that yield natural-looking forms like ferns or snowflakes. Iterated Function Systems use a very easy transformation that is done recursively.
  • kinetic theory of matter — a theory that matter is composed of small particles, all in random motion.
  • komi autonomous republic — an autonomous republic in the NW Russian Federation in Europe. 145,221 sq. mi. (376,122 sq. km). Capital: Syktyvkar.
  • lab for computer science — MIT. http://lcs.mit.edu/.
  • least common denominator — the smallest number that is a common denominator of a given set of fractions.
  • leave much to be desired — be inadequate
  • linear (induction) motor — an electric motor that produces thrust in a direct line, as distinguished from the rotary motion produced by a rotary engine, by the interaction of a moving magnetic field and the current induced by the field
  • local government officer — an employee of a local council
  • long-term care insurance — Long-term care insurance is insurance for people who may require long-term health or nursing care, and pays for things such as nursing homes and adult day care.
  • mach interface generator — (tool, programming)   (MIG) An implementation of a subset of Matchmaker that generates C and C++ remote procedure call interfaces for interprocess communication between Mach tasks.
  • macintosh user interface — (operating system)   The graphical user interface used by Apple Computer's Macintosh family of personal computers, based on graphical representations of familiar office objects (sheets of paper, files, wastepaper bin, etc.) positioned on a two-dimensional "desktop" workspace. Programs and data files are represented on screen by small pictures (icons). An object is selected by moving a mouse over the real desktop which correspondingly moves the pointer on screen. When the pointer is over an icon on screen, the icon is selected by pressing the button on the mouse. A hierarchical file system is provided that lets a user "drag" a document (a file) icon into and out of a folder (directory) icon. Folders can also contain other folders and so on. To delete a document, its icon is dragged into a trash can icon. For people that are not computer enthusiasts, managing files on the Macintosh is easier than using the MS-DOS or Unix command-line interpreter. The Macintosh always displays a row of menu titles at the top of the screen. When a mouse button is pressed over a title, a pull-down menu appears below it. With the mouse button held down, the option within the menu is selected by pointing to it and then releasing the button. Unlike the IBM PC, which, prior to Microsoft Windows had no standard graphical user interface, Macintosh developers almost always conform to the Macintosh interface. As a result, users are comfortable with the interface of a new program from the start even if it takes a while to learn all the rest of it. They know there will be a row of menu options at the top of the screen, and basic tasks are always performed in the same way. Apple also keeps technical jargon down to a minimum. Although the Macintosh user interface provides consistency; it does not make up for an application program that is not designed well. Not only must the application's menus be clear and understandable, but the locations on screen that a user points to must be considered. Since the mouse is the major selecting method on a Macintosh, mouse movement should be kept to a minimum. In addition, for experienced typists, the mouse is a cumbersome substitute for well-designed keyboard commands, especially for intensive text editing.
  • magnetothermoelectricity — thermoelectricity induced or affected by a magnetic field.
  • make a production out of — to make an unnecessary fuss about
  • make one's presence felt — If you make your presence felt, you do something which makes people notice you or pay attention to you.
  • maker interchange format — (MIF) A language used to describe a FrameMaker document in a text file. MIF is used to exchange information between FrameMaker and other applications.
  • mari autonomous republic — autonomous republic in the Russian Federation in Europe. 8994 sq. mi. (23,294 sq. km). Capital: Ioshkar-Ola.
  • mathematical probability — the probability of an event consisting of n out of m possible equally likely occurrences, defined to be n/m
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