Daisy Chaining

Connecting accessories by connecting other accessories like
SCSI devices, etc. 

Data

Information that the computer uses. 

Data Glove 

A glove you wear on your hand that has sensors on it. These sensors
transmit coordinate information to a computer in order to track what
the hand is doing. Most often used within a virtual world. 

Data Packet

A format in which data is transmitted over a network packet contains the data itself as well as addresses, error checking, and other information necessary to ensure the packet arrives intact at its intended destination. 

Database

A specific electronic list where you have people's addresses or
anything that a database would be useful for. 

Data Bus

A communication route through which data can travel between
the computer’s central processing unit, memory, and peripherals

Data Transfer Rate

The speed at which data can be transferred.  Measured in kilobytes 
per second for a CD-ROM drive, in bits per second for a modem, and
in megabytes per second for a hard drive aka DTR 

Daughter board

A small board connected to the motherboard.

Dead in the Cockpit

Your screen freezes up but you can move the mouse. 

Debug

To search and take out bugs in software. 

Decode 

The converting of encoded data to its original form.  

Decompiler

A program that translates machine code back into a high-level source language. 

Dedicated IP Address

A static or dedicated IP Address is a type of account from an ISP where your computer(s) are assigned the same IP Address at all times. 

Dedicated Line 

A telecommunications line that lets your computer have a direct,
permanent connection to the internet. 

Default

What settings of hardware or software you had before you changed it.

Default Browser

The internet browser that you want your computer system to
automatically open up or launch when you click on a web page link. 

Defragment

To put together pieces of data stored on your hard drive that have
been "fragmented" or separated. 

Desk Accessory

A lil' ole handy program you can select while running another program,
such as a word processor. Yer computer comes with numerous Desk
Accessories (DA's for short). Some, such as the Calculator and Alarm
Clock, are like the things you see in the real World. Weird stuff like the
Chooser lets you manage other stuff on the computer. 

Desktop

Where you manage your files, or the finder. (MAC). The screen
background for Windows on which windows, icons, and dialog
boxes appear. (PC) 

Desktop File

An invisible file that is a database of information like where your icons
are placed, etc. 

Desktop Publishing

Designing documents on your computer. 

Device

A component of the systems hardware configuration, such as a
modem, sound card, etc. 

Device Contention

Occurs when more than one application is trying to use the same
device. 

Device Driver

Software that controls how a computer communicates with a device,
such as a printer or a mouse. 

DHCP

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. 
Windows NT Server software that assigns an IP address to each node in a network. 

DHTML

Dynamic HTML; a language that has sprung from other web
languages, DHTML is now popular because it loads fast and
is very powerful, online animations are a popular usage of
DHTML (Suggested by: YTCC Guru) 

Diagnostics

Programs used for finding and fixing common hardware and software
problems. Submitted by: Kitty3210 

Dialog Box

An alert that tells you the computer needs more information to finish
what it was assigned to do. 

Dialup Connection 

The most popular form of connection to the net for a home user,
this is a connection from your desktop computer to the host/server
computer over standard telephone lines. 

Digital Camera

A camera that takes pictures without film, and saves the images in digital form. The camera stores the snapshots in its memory which you can then  transfer to your computer 

Digital Millennium Copyright Act

A bill which indicates United States acceptance of online copyright provisions agreed to by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). 

Digital Signal Processor (DSP)

A type of coprocessor designed to manipulate massive amounts of
data in real time. DSP chips are built into the cool Quadra AV Mac's
and are available on expansion boards for many other Mac models.

Digitizing Board

A board that will change video pictures into files on your computer. 

DIMM

Stands for Direct Inline Memory Module. It's a newer memory type compared to the older SIMM's. 

Dingbats

Type characters such as hearts, squares, ornamental bullets, etc. Usually used for graphic design. Examples of popular fonts would be wingdings and webdings.  Submitted by-  totallyunreal 

Direct Connection

A permanent connection between your computer system and the
internet.  Submitted by- tyler 

Directory

Part of a structure for organizing your files on a disk. A directory can
contain files and other directories (subdirectories). 

Directory Path

The identification of a file by its name and the name of all directories leading to it. 

Directory Tree

In file manager, a graphical display of the directory structure of a disk.
The directions on the disk are shown as a branching structure that
resembles a tree. The top-level directory is known as the root directory.

Directory Window

A file manager window that displays the directory structure of your 
disk and the files and directories on the disk. 

Disk

A device that saves information by changing magnetic or optically
sketching the information into it. 

Disk Cache

A piece of RAM used to store information that you use frequently
to make it run faster. 

Disk Drive

The place you stick in a disk so the computer can read the data. 

Disk Formatting

Preparing a disk so a computer can read and write data on it. Formatting a disk includes creating the physical tracks and sector identification, and creating the indexes specific to the operating system it will be used on.  

Disk Window

A window that shows everything on your disk. 

Display Adapter

Also called graphics card, video card, or video adapter. A circuit board that enables a computer to display information on its screen.  

DLL - Dynamic Link Library

A Windows platform file that is actually an executable mini-program
itself that is NOT executed directly by a user but by a running program
or application. 

DMA - Direct Memory Access

A technique where information is transferred in a computer with the assistance of the microprocessor.  For example, it's possible to transfer information between memory and an "intelligent" device, 
such as a hard drive, by simply telling a DMA chip, "look here. Move
this data from memory here to disk drive there. "The information is moved without slowing down the microprocessor. 

DNS  Domain Name System

A  database system that translates an IP address  into a domain
name. The DNS is a static, hierarchical name service and it uses TCP/IP hosts, and is housed on a number of servers on the internet. 
Basically, it maintains this database for figuring out and finding (or
resolving) host names and IP addresses.  Also referred to as domain
name service and domain name server. 

Docking Station

A hardware device that a portable computer can be plugged
into when it is at a fixed location. The docking station makes
available devices that the portable computer is not able to
support. 

Document

Files that do not run by themselves. They either support an
application or it is something you saved from an application. 

Document File

A file that is associated with an application. When you open a
document file in the file manager, the associated application
starts and loads the file. 

Document Object Model

Is the specification of how objects in a web page are represented,  it also defines the attributes associated with each object and how objects and attributes can be manipulated. 

Document Window

A window within an application window. There can be more than
one document window open at a time. 

Documentation

The manual. 

DOM - Document Object Model

A platform and language neutral interface that allows programs and
scripts to dynamically access and update the content, structure, and
style of documents. 

Domain Name

The address or URL of a particular website .  Domain Name must 
have at least two parts... the part on the left is the name of the 
website or organization and part on the right defines the highest
subdomain.  

DOS

stands for "Disk Operating System". It is the program developed
by Microsoft that is the main operating system for IBM PC's and
compatibles. 

Dot Matrix Printer

A printer that prints by having pins hit colored tape that hits the
paper that makes a mark on the paper.

Dots Per Inch

or DPI. It's the resolution of the printer measuring how many tiny 
dots there are per square inch. 

Double Click

When you press the button on the mouse twice to open an
application, folder, or document. 

Double Density Disk

A floppy disk that holds twice as much information as a single- density
disk. The Macintosh single- density holds around 800K formatted, and
I think 1 MB unformatted. The double density Mac disks hold 1.4 MB
formatted, 2 MB unformatted

Download

To transfer a file from one computer to another computer, usually
with your modem and phone lines. 

DPI

Stands for "dots per inch". It is a measurement used by mainly
printers and scanners of how many dots there are per square inch. 

Drag

To click on the mouse button while moving the mouse. You can
move icons to other folders this way.  Also called Drag and Drop.

Dragging

The process of moving the mouse while holding down it's button.

DRAM

Stands for Dynamic Random Access Memory. It's a type of RAM chip
where the computer keeps on taking the information in and out of the
RAM or else the RAM will throw away the information.

Drawing Program

A type of program where you work with shapes to draw something.

Drive Icon

An icon in the file manager that represents a disk drive. Different
icons depict floppy disk drives, hard disk drives, network drives,
RAM drives, and CD-ROM drives. 

Drive Letter

The letter assigned to a drive for example, C drive is usually the
hard drive. 

Driver

A file that controls, and runs an add on a piece of equipment. 

Dumb Terminal

A terminal that doesn’t contain an internal microprocessor. It 
responds to simple control codes, and usually displays only 
characters and numerals. 

DVD

It stands for "Digital Video Disc".  DVD is a great way to enjoy a
movie at home. A DVD can also hold over 5 Gigabytes of computer
data on a 2-sided disc.   (Suggested by: YTCC CPU) 

Dynamic SQL

Creating queries based on user data, environment variables, and
previously returned query results. Dynamic SQL can also increase
processing efficiency by executing multiple queries and sending
them to multiple databases from a single browser request.