27-letter words containing f, e, r, n, l
- scalable coherent interface — (hardware, protocol) (SCI) The ANSI/IEEE 1596-1992 standard that defines a point-to-point interface and a set of packet protocols. The SCI protocols use packets with a 16-byte header and 16, 64, or 256 data bytes. Each packet is protected by a 16-bit CRC code. The standard defines 1 Gbit/second serial fiber-optic links and 1 Gbyte/second parallel copper links. SCI has two unidirectional links that operate concurrently. The SCI protocols support shared memory by encapsulating bus requests and responses into SCI request and response packets. Packet-based handshake protocols guarantee reliable data delivery. A set of cache coherence protocols are defined to maintain cache coherence in a shared memory system. SCI uses 64-bit addressing and the most significant 16 bits are used for addressing up to 64K nodes.
- seasonal affective disorder — recurrent winter depression characterized by oversleeping, overeating, and irritability, and relieved by the arrival of spring or by light therapy. Abbreviation: SAD.
- serial peripheral interface — (communications, hardware) (SPI) A serial interface in which a master device supplies clock pulses to exchanges data serially with a slave over two data wires (Master-Slave and Slave-Master). This term probably originated with Motorola in about 1979 with their first all-in-one microcontroller.
- the forest of fontainebleau — a forest in N France, where the town of Fontainebleau is located
- the long and (the) short of — the whole story of in a few words; gist or point of
- third law of thermodynamics — any of three principles variously stated in equivalent forms, being the principle that the change of energy of a thermodynamic system is equal to the heat transferred minus the work done (first law of thermodynamics) the principle that no cyclic process is possible in which heat is absorbed from a reservoir at a single temperature and converted completely into mechanical work (second law of thermodynamics) and the principle that it is impossible to reduce the temperature of a system to absolute zero in a finite number of operations (third law of thermodynamics)
- to cast pearls before swine — If you say that someone is casting pearls before swine, you mean that they are wasting their time by offering something that is helpful or valuable to someone who does not appreciate or understand it.
- wipe the floor with someone — If you wipe the floor with someone, you defeat them completely in a competition or discussion.
- working families tax credit — (in Britain) a means-tested allowance paid to single parents or families who have at least one dependent child, who work at least 16 hours per week, and whose earnings are low. It replaced family credit
- xml user-interface language — (language) (XUL) An XML-based language created for the Mozilla browser for development of cross-platform user interfaces. XUL supports input controls such as textboxes and checkboxes, toolbars, menus, dialogs, trees, keyboard shortcuts, and more.
- yeoman of the (royal) guard — a member of a ceremonial guard for the British royal family, made up traditionally of 100 men