0%

28-letter words containing a, s, t, i

  • information retrieval system — a system for recovering specific information from stored data
  • instantaneous sound pressure — sound pressure (def 1).
  • instruction address register — (architecture)   (IAR) The IBM name for program counter. The IAR can be accessed by way of a supervisor call in supervisor state, but cannot be directly addressed in problem state.
  • instruction set architecture — (architecture)   (ISA) The parts of a processor's design that need to be understood in order to write assembly language, such as the machine language instructions and registers. Parts of the architecture that are left to the implementation, such as number of superscalar functional units, cache size and cycle speed, are not part of the ISA. The definition of SPARC, for example, carefully distinguishes between an implementation and a specification.
  • integrated drive electronics — Advanced Technology Attachment
  • internet research task force — (IRTF) The IRTF is chartered by the Internet Architecture Board to consider long-term Internet issues from a theoretical point of view. It has Research Groups, similar to Internet Engineering Task Force Working Groups, which are each tasked to discuss different research topics. Multi-cast audio/video conferencing and privacy enhanced mail are samples of IRTF output.
  • it's a good job/a good thing — If you say it's a good thing that something is the case, you mean that it is fortunate.
  • java servlet development kit — (web)   (JSDK) A suite of software for easing the development of Java servlets.
  • karelian autonomous republic — an autonomous republic in the NW Russian Federation in Europe. 66,500 sq. mi. (172,240 sq. km). Capital: Petrozavodsk.
  • level premium term insurance — Level premium term insurance is term insurance with premiums that remain the same throughout the life of the contract.
  • like a lamb to the slaughter — without resistance
  • like water off a duck's back — You say that criticism is like water off a duck's back or water off a duck's back to emphasize that it is not having any effect on the person being criticized.
  • local mail transfer protocol — (messaging, protocol)   (LMTP) A protocol designed as an alternative to ESMTP for cases where the mail receiver does not manage a queue. LMTP is an application level protocol that runs on top of TCP/IP. It was initially defined in RFC 2033, and uses (with a few changes) the syntax and semantics of ESMTP. It should be used only by specific prior arrangement and configuration, and it must not be used on TCP port 25 (the SMTP port).
  • lucius quinctius cincinnatus — Lucius Quinctius [kwingk-tee-uh s] /ˈkwɪŋk ti əs/ (Show IPA), 519?–439? b.c, Roman general and statesman: dictator 458, 439.
  • machine-assisted translation — translation done by a human translator who uses computer software to assist with the translation
  • magnetic particle inspection — a method of testing for cracks and other defects in a magnetic material, such as steel, by covering it with a magnetic powder and magnetizing it: any variation in the concentration of the powder indicates a flaw in the material
  • make one's hair stand on end — any of the numerous fine, usually cylindrical, keratinous filaments growing from the skin of humans and animals; a pilus.
  • maxwell-boltzmann statistics — statistics for classical physics, based on the assumption that in a given physical system consisting of indistinguishable particles and regions, all possible arrangements of the particles in the various regions have equal probability.
  • medical specialist registrar — a hospital doctor senior to a house officer but junior to a consultant, specializing in medicine
  • meter-kilogram-second-ampere — of or relating to the system of units in which the meter, kilogram, second, and ampere are the principal units of length, mass, time, and electric current. Abbreviation: mksa, MKSA.
  • microsoft foundation classes — (programming)   (MFC) Software structures in C++, the Windows base classes which can respond to messages, make windows, and from which application specific classes can be derived.
  • mouth-to-mouth resuscitation — a method of artificial respiration in which a person rhythmically blows air into the victim's lungs, either directly, by placing the mouth over the patient's, or through a tube.
  • multimedia personal computer — (multimedia)   (MPC) A specification published by the Multimedia PC Marketing Council in 1990 to encourage the adoption of a standard multimedia computing platform. In May 1993, the MPC Marketing Council published a new specification called MPC Level 2 Specification as an enhanced multimedia computer standard. The original MPC specification, now also known as the MPC Level 1 Specification, continues in full effect. The appearance of the MPC or MPC2 certification mark on a computer system or upgrade kit indicates that the hardware meets the corresponding (Level 1 or Level 2) MPC Marketing Council specification. Software bearing the Multimedia PC mark has been designed to work on Multimedia PC licensed hardware. By establishing a standard platform, certifying hardware compliance and providing inter-operability between software and hardware for the consumer, the MPC Marketing Council is encouraging widespread use of multimedia applications and hardware.
  • national academy of sciences — a private organization, created by an act of Congress (1863), that furthers science and advises the U.S. government on scientific and technical issues. Abbreviation: N.A.S., NAS.
  • national bureau of standards — National Institute of Standards and Technology
  • national labor relations act — an act of Congress (1935) that forbade any interference by employers with the formation and operation of labor unions.
  • national physical laboratory — a UK establishment founded in 1900 at Teddington to carry out research in physics and monitor standards of measurement
  • national savings certificate — (in Britain) a certificate bought from the National Savings department which can be redeemed tax-free with accrued interest, usually after 5 years
  • national semiconductor 32000 — (processor)   (NS32000) The first of a series of microprocessors from National Semiconductor. The 320xx processors have an interface which allows coprocessors such as FPUs and MMUs to be attached in a chain. The 320xx was the predecessor of the Swordfish processor.
  • new revised standard version — a thorough revision of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible sponsored by the National Council of Churches in the U.S. and published in 1989
  • newly industrialized country — a country that has recently become, or is now in the process of becoming, industrialized
  • none the wiser/any the wiser — If you say that someone is none the wiser after an event or an explanation, or that nobody is any the wiser after it, you mean that they have failed to understand it, or are not fully aware of what happened.
  • not have room to swing a cat — to have very little space
  • object persistence framework — (programming)   (OPF) Any system for storing objects so they can be reloaded into a future session. Typically this will use a relational database along with some kind of object relational mapping. Another typical solution would store objects in XML files (a form of serialisation). One of the trickier problems to solve is how to maintain references between objects, e.g. replacing memory pointers with unique names or identifiers. Virtually identical considerations apply to transferring objects, or indeed any kind of data structure, from one process to another via some communications channel, e.g. a TCP/IP connection.
  • online public access catalog — (library)   (OPAC) A computerised system to catalogue and organise materials in a library (the kind that contains books). OPACs have replaced card-based catalogues in many libraries. An OPAC is available to library users (public access).
  • osborne computer corporation — (company)   The unsucessful computer manufacturer founded by Adam Osborne that produced one of the first laptop computers, the Osborne 1.
  • ousterhout's false dichotomy — Ousterhout's dichotomy
  • packet in plastic grid array — (integrated circuit)   (PPGA) The package used for Intel's Celeron Socket 370 CPU.
  • palestinian autonomous areas — the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in Israel: these areas were granted autonomous status under the control of the Palestinian National Authority following the 1993 peace agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization
  • persistent organic pollutant — a toxin resulting from a manufacturing process, which remains in the environment for many years
  • personal liability insurance — Personal liability insurance protects the insured if they are sued for claims that are covered by the insurance policy.
  • positron emission tomography — the process of producing a PET scan.
  • potassium antimonyl tartrate — a white, water-soluble, sweet and metallic-tasting, poisonous powder or granules, C 4 H 4 KO 7 Sb, used as a mordant for dyeing textiles and leather, and in medicine as an expectorant, for inducing vomiting, and for infections by schistosomes.
  • probability density function — a function of a continuous variable whose integral over a region gives the probability that a random variable falls within the region.
  • program composition notation — (PCN) A specification language for parallelism between C and Fortran modules. PCN provides a simple language for specifying concurrent algorithms, interfaces to Fortran and C, a portable toolkit that allows applications to be developed on a workstation or small parallel computer and run unchanged on supercomputers and integrated debugging and performance analysis tools. PCN was developed at Argonne National Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology. It has been used to develop a wide variety of applications, in areas such as climate modelling, fluid dynamics, computational biology, chemistry, and circuit simulation. Version 2.0 runs on networks of workstations: Sun-4, NeXT, RS/6000, SGI; multicomputers: iPSC/860, Touchstone DELTA; and shared memory multiprocessors: Symmetry/Dynix. E-mail: Ian Foster <[email protected]>, Steve Tuecke <[email protected]>.
  • quick mail transfer protocol — (communications)   (QMTP) An SMTP replacement that works better over high latency links as it doesn't require as much interaction as SMTP. QMTP listens on port 209 and is used by qmail.
  • raise specification language — (language)   (RSL) (RAISE = Rigorous Approach to Industrial Software Engineering). A wide-spectrum specification and design language developed by ESPRIT Project 315 at CRI A/S, Denmark. Systems may be modular, concurrent and nondeterministic. Specifications may be applicative or imperative, explicit or implicit, abstract or concrete.
  • read the riot act to someone — to warn or reprimand someone severely
  • real time streaming protocol — (multimedia, networking, protocol)   (RTSP) An application layer protocol for controlling delivery of a stream of real-time multimedia content. RTSP allows users to start playing from a certain position. It does not actually deliver the data, but works alongside existing delivery channels such as UDP, TCP, or IP multicast. RTSP was developed by RealNetworks, Netscape Communications, and Columbia University, and is described in RFC 2326, April 1998. RTSP is an IETF proposed standard.
  • real-estate investment trust — an unincorporated trust created for the purpose of investing in real property or to extend credit to those engaged in construction. Abbreviation: REIT.
Was this page helpful?
Yes No
Thank you for your feedback! Tell your friends about this page
Tell us why?