glossary of internet terms - p

A COMPLETE LIST OF DEFINITIONS OF THE TERMS USED THROUGHOUT OUR WEBSITE

Use the letters below to jump to a particular section or scroll down through the definitions.

misc A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

P11D - The form used by an employer to tell the Inland Revenue about taxable benefits (such as company cars or accommodation) provided to employees earning more than £8,500 a year or to directors. The employee should receive a copy in July each year.

P60 - A certificate, issued annually by employers, that shows an individual's total pay, income tax and National Insurance contributions.

P9D - The form used by an employer to tell the Inland Revenue about taxable benefits (such as company cars or accommodation) provided to employees earning less than £8,500 a year. The employee should receive a copy in July each year.

Packet - Information sent over the internet or other computer networks is split up into packets of data. Each of these includes the destination IP address, so they can travel separately and be rebuilt into the complete message on arrival.

Packet Writing - A technique (provided through software) that allows CD-Rs and CD-RWs to be treated as floppy disks, with drag-and-drop file management.

Page printer - General term for printers that, like laser printers or inkjets, process a whole page at a time.

Page Wizard - A simple series of on-screen forms to generate a page layout based on your preferences. For example, Microsoft Publisher can automatically create a birthday card based on your answers to some simple questions.

PAL - Stands for Phase Alternating Line, which is the broadcast TV standard used in the UK and in much of Europe.

Palette - In an image-editing program such as Paint Shop Pro, a palette will allow a user to select a range of tools or colours to use for drawing or photo-retouching work.

Palmtop - A PDA or small computer about the size of a pocket calculator. Usually without a keyboard and with a touch-sensitive screen, it will use text recognition for data entry. Most palmtops are supplied with contact management, diary and memo software, while many can access the internet and download email using a mobile phone. Third parties may supply on-screen maps, electronic books and the like.

Paper support - Plastic trays which provide support for paper feeding into a printer, and for catching printed sheets.

Parallel cable - Usually used to connect a PC to a printer, but can also be used to link two PCs together. Parallel cables allow data to be swapped between computers at a higher speed than serial cables.

Parallel port - A single socket on the back of a PC typically used for connecting a printer or a low-cost scanner.

Parasitic virus - Computer virus that spreads by attaching itself to another file, usually a program.

Parity error - Some types of computer memory have a built-in 'parity checking' system to warn of memory errors that otherwise might not be noticed. If a problem is detected, a parity error warning is produced. If this is repeated frequently, the memory module is probably faulty.

Partition - A large hard disk can be divided into two or more partitions or 'virtual' drives. Once partitioned, each section is treated by Windows as though it were a completely separate, smaller hard disk.

Patch (midi music) - In the context of music recording, one of a selection of 128 different instrumental sounds that MIDI can use.

Patch (software) - A software file or collection of files that fixes problems with an existing software application by making minor changes to the program.

Path (drawing software) - in drawing software, vector lines, curves and outline shapes. A path is invisible until given a stroke or fill.

Path (file management) - In file management, the names of the drive, folder and subfolders that indicate exactly where on a disk a file is stored, like 'C:WindowsMapsMyFile.xls'. This example means that the file MyFile.xls is located in the folder called Maps, which is inside the folder called Windows on your hard disk.

PAYE - Pay As You Earn. The normal system of paying tax if you work for somebody else. Your employer deducts tax from your pay before you receive it.

Payload - Activity initiated by a virus, such as displaying a message or deleting files.

PC Card - A credit card-size device for adding anything from a modem to a hard drive to a notebook PC. Requires a PC Card slot (standard on almost all notebooks).

PCI - Peripheral Component Interconnect. A high-performance expansion slot for desktop PCs, allowing simple installation of PCI components like sound cards and modems.

PDA - Personal Digital Assistant. A palmtop computer about the size of a pocket calculator. Usually without a keyboard and with a touch-sensitive screen, it will use text recognition for data entry. Most PDAs are supplied with contact management, diary and memo software, while many can access the internet and download email using a mobile phone or normal phone line.

PDF - Portable Document Format. A file format developed by Adobe that allows formatted pages of text and graphics to be viewed and printed correctly on a variety of machines, without the original author having to worry about the recipients. PDF pages created with Adobe Acrobat need to be read with the free Acrobat Reader application.

Peer-to-peer - A network connecting two or more computers without a central file server.

Pentium 4 - The latest and fastest member of Intel's Pentium line of processors.

Pentium II - An improved version of Intel's original Pentium processor ? it has now been superseded by the Pentium III and discontinued.

Pentium III - Until recently the fastest member of the Intel Pentium family of processors. It still continues in parallel with the newer Pentium 4.

Pentium MMX - A now-obsolete enhanced version of Intel's standard Pentium processor. The MMX part stands loosely for MultiMedia eXtensions, as the chip is optimised to handle all sorts of multimedia-intensive tasks such as playing videos and music.

Personal data - Any information referring to identifiable individuals; usually (but not always) used to refer to computerised information. Most businesses and organisations storing personal data must register with the Data Protection Commissioner.

Phonebook - A mobile phone memory used to record the owner's personal numbers, so they can be recalled and dialled easily rather than tapped out each time.

Phono - A term often used to describe standard stereo (red and white) audio connections.

Photo cartridge - Specialist cartridge of inks designed for printing photographic images. There are often six colours of ink compared to the four used in a normal inkjet print.

Piano Roll Editor - An on-screen representation of music recording or playback, where a vertical keyboard shows the notes, and the horizontal axis shows elapsed time ? this is similar to the punched paper song rolls used in Pianola machines.

Piezo - A system for inkjet printing, developed by Epson. The print head contains tiny crystals which change shape when an electric current is passed through them, forcing the ink onto the page.

PIM - Personal Information Manager. A software application that helps you to organise all your personal data by managing your diary, contact list and messages.

Pincushion - This setting controls curvature of left- and right-hand sides of a monitor's display.

Pins - In thermal printers, these heat up and press against heat-sensitive paper to form images and text. In dot-matrix printers, they strike an inked ribbon against the paper to make their mark.

Pitch bending - A technique much used by guitarists, who change the pitch of a note up or down by pulling the strings across the fretboard.

Pitch wheel - A small rotating control found on most Midi keyboards that generates pitch-bend information.PivotTable
A built-in Excel macro, or mini program, which summarises large amounts of data.

Pixel - Short for picture element, which is the smallest part of an image displayed on a monitor or captured by a scanner or digital camera.

Pixelation - Many digital images are made up of tiny dots. So tiny that to the naked eye they cannot be seen. However, if an image is enlarged or 'blown up' the individual become visible. This process is known as pixellation.

Plasma - A display where each pixel is illuminated by a tiny bit of plasma or charged gas.

Platform games - These involve jumping and running across 'platforms', fighting foes and collecting sundry objects.

Playlist - A list of audio tracks (usually MP3s) queued for playback, not unlike a stack of records on an old record player.

Plug and play - A standard for Windows PCs that allows peripherals to be connected and used in a matter of moments. In theory, Windows will automatically detect the new device and install any needed drivers from its own database.

Plug-in - A small program that adds extra features such as streaming video to your web browser or to other applications, and is loaded only when it's needed to display information

Pocket PC - A generic term for any handheld computer that uses the Microsoft Pocket PC operating system.

Point size (or pt size) - The measurement that typographers use to describe the size of text. One point is approximately 1/72nd of an inch. Accordingly, 72pt text is twice as big as 36pt text.

POP3 - Post Office Protocol 3. A protocol for remotely accessing and retrieving email from an ISP. Most email applications and ISPs use POP3

Pop-up menu - A menu that can be displayed on the screen at any time by pressing the appropriate key, usually displayed over material already on the screen. Once you have made a choice from the menu, it disappears and the original screen is restored.

Port - A socket, which is located at the back of the computer's base, where you plug in items like the printer and keyboard.

Port scanning - using a computer to search for weak spots in other computers connected to the internet, usually for unlawful purposes.

Portal - A website that offers a variety of services, such as news, weather reports, stock information, email and so on. The information on offer may be personalised for your interests if you have registered with the portal. Most search sites are also portals.

Posting - To send a message to a newsgroup.

PostScript - A printer description language, including outline font technology, developed by Adobe. It enables typefaces to be displayed on screen exactly as they will print, and allows them to print to best effect on different resolution devices.

Power Management - Power-saving features on a PC, printer or monitor, designed to turn off or put on standby any part of the system that is not needed.

Preferences - The part of a program that lets you alter various settings and remembers your changes so it looks and behaves how you want it to.

Pre-payment - No-contract phone services where there is no commitment and no monthly rental charge. Instead users buy calls in advance using pre-paid call vouchers. Pre-payment mobiles start from around ?30.

Preview - In graphics and drawing programs, a mode that allows you to see your artwork in colour with fills and strokes. Some programs offer more than one preview quality mode.

Preview pane - Part of a window in an email application that lets you read a message without having to first double-click it to open it. This has the disadvantage that some malicious emails can contain HTML which will run automatically in the preview pane, potentially importing a virus to your system.

Preview scan - A quick 'rough draft' of subject to be scanned at a low resolution. This allows you to pick out which areas of the image you want to scan in greater detail.

Print head - The part of the printer that actually prints onto the paper. In the case of an inkjet printer, this is the part that squirts ink, in strips, onto the page. In a dot-matrix printer it's the part that hammers a row of pins through the ink ribbon

Printer carriage - The internal printer mechanism which moves back and forth and to which the cartridge attaches.

Processor - The chip that is the 'brain' of the computer. The faster the processor, the better a computer will perform.

Program - Software or applications. Programs tell your computer, and its accessories (the hardware) what to do and how to do it. Examples are Excel, Word, and computer games.

Program Change - A MIDI message that selects one of the 128 different instrumental sounds that Midi is able to use.

Programming Language - The computer instructions that are used to build computer programs. There are many programming languages, with names like C++ and BASIC, and each is designed for a specific purpose.

Progressive scan - Provides a more film-like image display for viewing DVDs on a television.

PS Receiver - A small (usually handheld) device with a screen that's capable of receiving GPS satellite location information.

PS/2 - A set of standards for such things as mouse and keyboard interfaces, originally used by IBM.

PS/2 port - A small, round 6-pin connector, for plugging a keyboard and/or mouse into a computer.

Pt - Point size. The measurement that typographers use to describe the size of text. One point is approximately 1/72nd of an inch. Accordingly, 72pt text is twice as big as 36pt text.

PVR - Personal video recorders store recorded TV shows on hard disk,rather than tape or DVD.Most can be set to automatically record a whole series.
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