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5 December 2009
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Backup

- the techie term for copying files onto disk or CD-Rom for safe keeping so that they are kept in more than one place.

Bandwidth

- the amount of data that can be carried per second by your internet connection. Usually measured in kilobytes per second (kbps).

Banner

- a rectangular shaped advert or heading normally at the top of a web page.

Baud Rate

- a techie word for the speed at which your modem can transmit and receive information. Nowadays techies use the term bps (bits per second).

Bitmap

- format used to save images. The file contains a colour value for each pixel in a picture.

BBS

- stands for Bulletin Board System. An system for 'posting' messages so other people on the board can read them and reply that you access by phoning the BBS and connecting using special software.

Bcc

- blind carbon copy. The Bcc box allows you to send an e-mail to more than one person but their e-mail addresses are hidden from other recipients.

Beta version

- a program that hasn't been tested enough to be on general public release. You can download them and the companies will use your experience of bugs to iron out the product's problems. At your own risk!

BETSIE

- BBC Education Text to Speech Internet Enhancer. Software running on the BBCi websites to help blind and visually impaired people. On most BBCi pages it's on the top left hand side (click on text only).

Blog

- an online personal diary with thoughts and opinions on life as well as links to other websites the author likes.

Bookmark/Favourite

- any website you like and want to remember, can be made a 'bookmark' or a 'favorite' in your browser. So, when you want to go back to that page, you can go there in one click instead of trying to remember its address.

Boolean searches

- advanced searches using the words AND, OR, and NOT (written in capital letters) to describe what you want to find. e.g. London AND job

bps

- bytes per second. The measurement of how fast data can be transmitted over a phone line or on a network line.

Broadband

- A permanent high-speed internet connection. It receives digital information at about 100 times faster than a dial up modem and is "always-on".

Browser

- a program you use to view web pages and 'browse' websites. Firefox and Internet Explorer are the most popular browsers.

Bugs

- errors in a piece of software or web page that can make it break or work strangely.

Byte

- bytes are used to measure amounts of computer data. One byte is roughly the same as one character (letter) of text. One KB (or one K) is approximately 1,000 bytes, one MB is approximately 1,000 KB, and one GB is approximately 1,000 MB.



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