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Showing posts from August, 2007

beware of -ware - I

Abandonware: It refers to computer software that is no longer current. While the term has been applied largely to older games, other classes of software are sometimes described as such. Adware: Software which is free to download and use but includes pop-up banner ads somewhere. Annoyware / Nagware: A type of shareware that frequently disrupts normal program operation to display requests for payment to the author in return for the ability to disable the request messages. Beerware: It is a somewhat tongue-in-cheek term for software released under a very relaxed license. It provides the end user with the right to use a particular program (or do anything else with the source code) if they buy the author a beer, or, in some variations, drink a beer in the author's honor. Bloatware: Software that provides minimal functionality while requiring a disproportionate amount of diskspace and memory. Catware: A type of otherware which requests the user to pet one or several cats. Charitywar

defining a computer bug

The problem of bugs in machines has existed since the time of inventor Thomas Edison, who described finding one in his phonograph. The word surfaced in an 1896 manual to describe faults in electrical apparatus. Radio technicians called an early gadget that traces radio interference a bug because of its roach-shaped body. In 1945, Harvard University operators removed a moth fouling the guts of a primitive computer called the Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator. They taped it to that day’s log book with the entry: “First actual case of bug being found.” Computer bugs naturally spawned the term computer virus, notable for spreading nasties from one infected machine to another faster than you can sneeze. Bugs aren’t the only ‘creatures’ in computer, though. “Worm” describes a virus that contaminates computer networks, and some anti-virus software boasts “bait” or “goat” files that flush out viruses. via