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15-letter words containing m, s, i, e, u

  • computer ethics — (philosophy)   Ethics is the field of study that is concerned with questions of value, that is, judgments about what human behaviour is "good" or "bad". Ethical judgments are no different in the area of computing from those in any other area. Computers raise problems of privacy, ownership, theft, and power, to name but a few. Computer ethics can be grounded in one of four basic world-views: Idealism, Realism, Pragmatism, or Existentialism. Idealists believe that reality is basically ideas and that ethics therefore involves conforming to ideals. Realists believe that reality is basically nature and that ethics therefore involves acting according to what is natural. Pragmatists believe that reality is not fixed but is in process and that ethics therefore is practical (that is, concerned with what will produce socially-desired results). Existentialists believe reality is self-defined and that ethics therefore is individual (that is, concerned only with one's own conscience). Idealism and Realism can be considered ABSOLUTIST worldviews because they are based on something fixed (that is, ideas or nature, respectively). Pragmatism and Existentialism can be considered RELATIVIST worldviews because they are based or something relational (that is, society or the individual, respectively). Thus ethical judgments will vary, depending on the judge's world-view. Some examples: First consider theft. Suppose a university's computer is used for sending an e-mail message to a friend or for conducting a full-blown private business (billing, payroll, inventory, etc.). The absolutist would say that both activities are unethical (while recognising a difference in the amount of wrong being done). A relativist might say that the latter activities were wrong because they tied up too much memory and slowed down the machine, but the e-mail message wasn't wrong because it had no significant effect on operations. Next consider privacy. An instructor uses her account to acquire the cumulative grade point average of a student who is in a class which she instructs. She obtained the password for this restricted information from someone in the Records Office who erroneously thought that she was the student's advisor. The absolutist would probably say that the instructor acted wrongly, since the only person who is entitled to this information is the student and his or her advisor. The relativist would probably ask why the instructor wanted the information. If she replied that she wanted it to be sure that her grading of the student was consistent with the student's overall academic performance record, the relativist might agree that such use was acceptable. Finally, consider power. At a particular university, if a professor wants a computer account, all she or he need do is request one but a student must obtain faculty sponsorship in order to receive an account. An absolutist (because of a proclivity for hierarchical thinking) might not have a problem with this divergence in procedure. A relativist, on the other hand, might question what makes the two situations essentially different (e.g. are faculty assumed to have more need for computers than students? Are students more likely to cause problems than faculty? Is this a hold-over from the days of "in loco parentis"?).
  • computer vision — a robot analogue of human vision in which information about the environment is received by one or more video cameras and processed by computer: used in navigation by robots, in the control of automated production lines, etc.
  • computerisation — (chiefly, British) alternative spelling of computerization.
  • consumer choice — the range of competing products and services from which a consumer can choose
  • consumer credit — Consumer credit is money that is lent to people by organizations such as banks, building societies, and shops so that they can buy things.
  • consumer strike — a boycott of a product by consumers, often in protest over a raise in its price.
  • contrast medium — a radiopaque substance, such as barium sulphate, used to increase the contrast of an image in radiography
  • coumarone resin — any of the group of thermosetting resins derived by the polymerization of mixtures of coumarone and indene: used chiefly in the manufacture of paints, varnishes, and printing inks.
  • croque-monsieur — a sandwich filled with ham and cheese, either dipped in egg batter or buttered on the outside, and toasted or grilled
  • cucumber mosaic — a viral disease of cucumbers and many other plants, characterized by a mosaic pattern and distortion of leaves and fruits.
  • cuisine minceur — a style of cooking, originating in France, that limits the use of starch, sugar, butter, and cream traditionally used in French cookery
  • customer-facing — interacting or communicating directly with customers
  • customs officer — a person employed by a customs service
  • customs service — The Customs Service is a United States federal organization which is responsible for collecting taxes on imported and exported goods. Compare Customs and Excise.
  • cytomegalovirus — a virus of the herpes virus family that may cause serious disease in patients whose immune systems are compromised
  • demisemiquavers — Plural form of demisemiquaver.
  • demulsification — to break down (an emulsion) into separate substances incapable of re-forming the emulsion that was broken down.
  • deputy minister — (in Canada) the senior civil servant in a government department
  • deus ex machina — (in ancient Greek and Roman drama) a god introduced into a play to resolve the plot
  • deuteronomistic — one of the writers of material used in the early books of the Old Testament.
  • dichotomous key — a key used to identify a plant or animal in which each stage presents descriptions of two distinguishing characters, with a direction to another stage in the key, until the species is identified
  • dichotomousness — the quality of being dichotomous
  • dimethylsulfide — Alternative spelling of dimethyl sulfide.
  • discombobulated — to confuse or disconcert; upset; frustrate: The speaker was completely discombobulated by the hecklers.
  • discombobulates — Third-person singular simple present indicative form of discombobulate.
  • discount market — a trading market in which notes, bills, and other negotiable instruments are discounted.
  • disillusionment — to free from or deprive of illusion, belief, idealism, etc.; disenchant.
  • distinguishment — to mark off as different (often followed by from or by): He was distinguished from the other boys by his height.
  • domain squatter — (web)   An unscrupulous person who registers a domain name in the hope of selling it to the rightful, expected owner at a profit. E.g. http://foldoc.com/.
  • dumpster diving — the practice of foraging in garbage that has been put out on the street in dumpsters, garbage cans, etc., for discarded items that may still be valuable, useful, or fixable.
  • dutchman's-pipe — a climbing vine, Aristolochia durior, of the birthwort family, having large, heart-shaped leaves and brownish-purple flowers of a curved form suggesting a tobacco pipe.
  • e pluribus unum — one out of many: the motto of the USA
  • eastern rumelia — an autonomous province in the Balkan peninsula, part of the Ottoman Empire, ceded in 1885 to Bulgaria
  • echinodermatous — belonging or pertaining to the echinoderms.
  • eclipse plumage — the dull plumage developed in some brightly colored birds after the breeding season.
  • edriophthalmous — (of certain crustaceans) having stalkless eyes
  • emission nebula — a type of nebula that emits visible radiation
  • enantiomorphous — Of or pertaining to enantiomorphs or enantiomorphism; enantiomorphic.
  • entrepreneurism — Synonym of entrepreneurialism.
  • equalitarianism — Egalitarianism.
  • erosive mixture — An erosive mixture is a mixture containing substances that wear away components or cause problems with the flow of oil along pipelines.
  • ethnomusicology — The study of the music of different cultures, especially non-Western ones.
  • euphemistically — In a euphemistic manner.
  • excrementitious — Of or pertaining to the nature of excrement.
  • family business — company owned and run by a family
  • fleming's rules — two rules used as mnemonics for the relationship between the directions of current flow, motion, and magnetic field in electromagnetic induction. The hand is held with the thumb, first, and second fingers at right angles, respectively indicating the directions of motion, field, and electric current. The left hand is used for electric motors and the right hand for dynamos
  • fluid mechanics — an applied science dealing with the basic principles of gaseous and liquid matter.
  • fluorochemicals — Plural form of fluorochemical.
  • formation rules — the set of rules that specify the syntax of a formal system; the algorithm that generates the well-formed formulae
  • fundamentalists — Plural form of fundamentalist.
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