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Bandwidth
The capacity of a communications channel to transmit information. Modem connections to the Internet via a telephone line are low bandwidth relative to a
SuperJANET connection, for example. Bandwidth is said to be congested when many users are sharing the same communications channel, using up the available
bandwidth. Bandwidth is usually expressed in term of frequency, ie khz or Mhz.
Baud
A unit which to measure the speed of modems run roughly equivalent to 1 bit per second.
BBC
British Broadcasting Corporation, Britain's state funded radio and TV. It has a web site...
http://www.bbc.co.uk
binary code
Binary code is string of data bits: code strings 7 bits long show the ASCII character set whilst 8-bit codes define the extended character set. All information stored
on and used by a computer is in the form of binary code.
Binary Files
Binary files include any computer data or program file containing non-ASCII characters. Because the extended characters found in binary files may be peculiar to a
particular computer platform, most binary files cannot be used on more than one system. See binary file transfer.
binary file transfer
The transfer of a file containing 8-bit data, as opposed to 7-bit ASCII characters.
BinHex
A standard method on the Macintosh of converting binary files into text files by ASCII encoding. This allows software etc. to be transferred on the Internet by
e-mail. BinHexed files have the file extension .hqx.
bit
Information is processed and stored on computers by noting two different electrical voltages. These voltages are represented by the digits 0 and 1. Bit is short for
binary digit, and is the smallest unit of information used by computers.
bitmap
A bitmaped or raster image breaks an picture nto a grid of equally-sized pieces, called pixels, and records color information for each pixel. The number of colors
that the file can contain is determined by the bits-per-pixel: the more information that is recorded for each pixel, the more shades and hues that the file can contain.
See vector file and metafile
BITNET
A network which links North American and European academic institutions. Similar to the former EARN (European Academic Research Network).
bits per second (bps)
A measure of the number of bits transferred per second over a communications channel. Modem speeds, measured in bps, are defined by modulation protocols.
Boolean operator
Also called a logical operator, used to define search criteria when using Internet and other database searches. It occurs frequently in structured query language
(SQL) searches. AND, OR, and NOT are Boolean operators, used in the form Find asthma NOT occupational.
boot
The act of starting a computer.
browser
Also known as a web browser. Software used to view pages on the World Wide Web. Refers to the casual ease that these clients bring to navigating the Internet.
bulletin-board service (BBS)
A computer running communications software that is set up to allow callers to connect with it using a modem. It provides a shared forum for the exchange of
messages and files.
byte
A sequence of 8 bits used to describe a character, and is also the basic unit of computer memory.