27-letter words containing n, o, v
- knowbot information service — (networking, information science) (KIS) Also known as netaddress. The Knowbot Information Service (KIS) provides a uniform user interface to a variety of remote directory services such as whois, finger, X.500, MCIMail. By submitting a single query to KIS, a user can search a set of remote white pages services and see the results of the search in a uniform format. There are several interfaces to the KIS service including electronic mail and telnet. Another KIS interface imitates the Berkeley whois command. KIS consists of two distinct types of modules which interact with each other (typically across a network) to provide the service. One module is a user agent module that runs on the KIS mail host machine. The second module is a remote server module (possibly on a different machine) that interrogates various database services across the network and provides the results to the user agent module in a uniform fashion. Interactions between the two modules can be via messages between Knowbots or by actual movement of Knowbots. There are electronic mail interfaces for KIS at the hosts cnri.reston.va.us and sol.bucknell.edu. Send a message containing just the word "man" to <[email protected]> or <[email protected]>. Telnet: info.cnri.reston.va.us port 185.
- language acquisition device — a hypothesized innate mental faculty present in infants that enables them to construct and internalize the grammar of their native language on the basis of the limited and fragmentary language input to which they are exposed. Abbreviation: LAD.
- magnetostrictive delay line — (storage, history) An early storage device that used tensioned wires of nickel alloy carrying longitudinal waves produced and detected electromagnetically. They had better storage behaviour than mercury delay lines.
- mechanically recovered meat — an amalgamation of the gristle, cartilage, and fat removed from animal carcasses, sometimes used in the manufacture of meat products such as sausages and hamburgers
- moving picture expert group — (spelling) Incorrect expansion of MPEG, which stands for Moving Picture Experts Group.
- network information service — (networking, protocol) (NIS) Sun Microsystems' Yellow Pages (yp) client-server protocol for distributing system configuration data such as user and host names between computers on a network. Sun licenses the technology to virtually all other Unix vendors. The name "Yellow Pages" is a registered trademark in the United Kingdom of British Telecommunications plc for their (paper) commercial telephone directory. Sun changed the name of their system to NIS, though all the commands and functions still start with "yp", e.g. ypcat, ypmatch, ypwhich.
- newton's law of gravitation — the principle that two particles attract each other with forces directly proportional to the product of their masses divided by the square of the distance between them
- non return to zero inverted — (storage) (NRZI) A recording method used for 9-track magnetic tapes (200 and 800 BPI) where a zero is represented by a change in the signal and a one by no change. NRZI is also used extensively in SDLC communications. VTAM has a parameter NRZI=YES|NO. Compare Phase Encoded, GCR.
- open-end investment company — an investment company that issues shares continuously and is obligated to repurchase them from shareholders on demand.
- oscillating universe theory — the theory that the universe is oscillating between periods of expansion and collapse
- pelvic inflammatory disease — an inflammation of the female pelvic organs, most commonly the fallopian tubes, usually as a result of bacterial infection. Abbreviation: PID.
- plain old telephone service — (communications) (POTS) The traditional voice service provided by phone companies, especially when opposed to data services. Note that the acronym POTS is sometimes expanded as "Plain Old Telephone System" in which sense it is synonymous to Public Switched Telephone Network but used somewhat derogatively.
- post-viral fatigue syndrome — Post-viral fatigue syndrome is a long-lasting illness that is thought to be caused by a virus. Its symptoms include feeling tired all the time and muscle pain.
- presumption of survivorship — a presumption that one of two or more related persons was the last to die in a common disaster, made so that the estates may be settled and the final heirs determined.
- provisional driving licence — a temporary driving licence issued to learner drivers
- public broadcasting service — a network of independent, noncommercial television stations that operate with public and government funding instead of with revenues from advertising. Abbreviation: PBS.
- public service broadcasting — publicly-funded broadcasting
- respiratory syncytial virus — a myxovirus causing infections of the nose and throat, esp in young children. It is thought to be involved in some cot deaths
- satellite navigation system — a computer-operated system of navigation that uses signals from orbiting satellites and mapping data to pinpoint the user's position and plot a subsequent course
- 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.
- serbs, croats, and slovenes — former name (1918–29) of Yugoslavia.
- soviet of the nationalities — (in the former Soviet Union) part of the bicameral legislature of the Supreme Soviet, together with the Soviet of the Union
- storage management services — (storage) (SMS) Software that enables network administrators to route backup data from various devices on a network to another device such as a server or a magnetic tape backup unit. This is done either to make use of a high-capacity storage system such as a tape juke-box or for disaster protection.
- take advantage of something — If you take advantage of something, you make good use of it while you can.
- take someone's name in vain — to use a name, esp of God, disrespectfully or irreverently
- the devil take the hindmost — You can say the devil take the hindmost to describe or comment on a situation you disapprove of because people do only what is best for themselves without thinking about other people.
- the odds are in sb's favour — If you say that the odds are in someone's favour, you mean that they are likely to succeed in what they are doing.
- to give someone a free hand — If someone gives you a free hand, they give you the freedom to use your own judgment and to do exactly as you wish.
- to give something houseroom — If you say that you wouldn't give something houseroom, you are emphasizing that you do not want it or do not like it at all.
- to give your word of honour — to solemnly promise
- to invade someone's privacy — If someone or something invades your privacy, they interfere in your life without your permission.
- to send someone to coventry — If people send you to Coventry, they avoid speaking to you whenever they meet you, as a way of punishing you for something that you have done.
- tonguing-and-grooving plane — a plane for cutting the edges of boards into tongues and grooves.
- united service organization — a private, non-profit organization that provides morale and recreational services to members of the US military, with programmes in 140 centres worldwide
- universal computer protocol — (communications, protocol) An earlier form of External Machine Interface (EMI).
- universal naming convention — (networking) (UNC) The type of file system path used in Microsoft Windows networking to completely specify a directory on a file server. The basic format is: \\servername\sharename where "servername" is the hostname or IP address of a network file server, and "sharename" is the name of a shared directory on the server. This is related to the conventional MS-DOS "C:\windows" style of directory name. E.g. \\server1\dave might be set up to point to C:\users\homedirs\dave on a server called "server1". It is possible to execute a program using this convention without having to specifically link a drive, by running: \\server\share\directory\program.exe The undocumented DOS command, TRUENAME can be used to find out the UNC name of a file or directory on a network drive. Even Microsoft don't know whether UNC stands for "Universal Naming Convention" or "Uniform Naming Convention", both appear on their website, sometimes withing the same document, but with a preference for "Universal".
- university grants committee — an advisory committee of the British government, which advised on the distribution of grant funding amongst British universities. It was in existence from 1919 until 1989. Its functions have now largely been taken over by the higher education funding councils (HEFCE (England), SHEFC (Scotland), HEFCW (Wales), and the Department for Employment and Learning in Northern Ireland)
- virtual machine environment — (operating system) (VME) ICL's mainframe operating system.
- you can't have it both ways — If someone says that you can't have it both ways, they are telling you that you have to choose between two things and cannot do or have them both.