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15-letter words containing o, c, t, p, 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 memory — memory (def 11).
  • computer screen — the working area on the monitor of a computer
  • computer system — a computer or a set of computers that works together
  • 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.
  • computer-phobia — a person who distrusts or is intimidated by computers.
  • computerisation — (chiefly, British) alternative spelling of computerization.
  • computerization — to control, perform, process, or store (a system, operation, or information) by means of or in an electronic computer or computers.
  • conceptualising — Present participle of conceptualise.
  • conceptualistic — Of or pertaining to conceptualism.
  • conceptualizing — Present participle of conceptualize.
  • concurrent lisp — (language)   A concurrent version of Lisp. Sugimoto et al implemented an interpreter on a "large scale computer" and were planning to implement it on multiple microprocessors.
  • consumption tax — a tax, as a sales tax, levied on consumer goods or services at the time of sale.
  • contadora group — a group of four Latin American nations, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, and Venezuela, formed in January, 1983, to help solve the problems of the region.
  • contemporaneous — If two events or situations are contemporaneous, they happen or exist during the same period of time.
  • copper sulphate — a copper salt found naturally as chalcanthite and made by the action of sulphuric acid on copper oxide. It usually exists as blue crystals of the pentahydrate that form a white anhydrous powder when heated: used as a mordant, in electroplating, and in plant sprays. Formula: CuSO4
  • corpus striatum — a striped mass of white and grey matter situated in front of the thalamus in each cerebral hemisphere
  • corruptibleness — The state or quality of being corruptible.
  • cottage pudding — plain cake covered with a sweet sauce
  • coude telescope — a telescope in which light from the primary mirror is reflected along the polar axis to additional mirrors, and in which the focus (coudé focus) is independent of the telescope's motion, permitting the use of heavy instruments without disturbing the delicate balance of the telescope.
  • countercampaign — a campaign responding to another campaign
  • counterexamples — Plural form of counterexample.
  • counterpetition — a formal request for legal action submitted to a court by a respondent who has received a petition
  • counterplotting — Present participle of counterplot.
  • counterpointing — Present participle of counterpoint.
  • counterpressure — an opposing pressure
  • counterproposal — a proposal offered as an alternative to a previous proposal
  • counterpunching — Present participle of counterpunch.
  • counterpurchase — barter, especially of products or materials between international companies or importers and exporters.
  • counterresponse — a response or reply which opposes or answers a previous response
  • country bumpkin — an awkward, simple, rustic person
  • county palatine — the lands of a count palatine
  • coup de theatre — a dramatic turn of events, esp in a play
  • couples therapy — a counseling procedure that attempts to improve the adaptation and adjustment of two people who form a conjugal unit.
  • court of appeal — A Court of Appeal is a court which deals with appeals against legal judgments.
  • courting couple — a pair of lovers
  • cpu info center — (processor)   An old website at the University of California at Berkeley describing many different computers and their performance.
  • cryptosporidium — any parasitic sporozoan protozoan of the genus Cryptosporidium, species of which are parasites of birds and animals and can be transmitted to humans, causing severe abdominal pain and diarrhoea (cryptosporidiosis)
  • culture complex — a group of culture traits all interrelated and dominated by one essential trait: Nationalism is a culture complex.
  • cushion capital — a capital, used in Byzantine, Romanesque, and Norman architecture, in the form of a bowl with a square top
  • customer appeal — attractiveness to customers
  • cut (up) didoes — to behave in mischievous or silly way
  • defunct process — zombie process
  • deposit account — A deposit account is a type of bank account where the money in it earns interest.
  • direct coupling — conductive coupling between electronic circuits, as opposed to inductive or capacitative coupling
  • distributor cap — the cap of an engine's distributor that holds in place the wires from the distributor to the sparking plugs
  • drying-up cloth — a tea towel
  • duplicitousness — The state or condition of being duplicitous.
  • durchkomponiert — having a different tune for each section rather than having repeated melodies
  • electropuncture — a therapy in which a small electric current is passed through the body via electrodes placed on the skin
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