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Xyzzy (computing)
In computing, Xyzzy is sometimes used as a metasyntactic variable or as a video game cheat code. ''Xyzzy'' comes from the ''Colossal Cave Adventure'' computer game, where it is the first "magic word" that most players encounter (others include "plugh" and "plover"). Origin Modern usage is primarily from one of the earliest computer games, ''Colossal Cave Adventure'', in which the idea is to explore a cave with many rooms, collecting the treasures found there. By typing "xyzzy" at the appropriate time, the player could move instantly between two otherwise distant points. As ''Colossal Cave Adventure'' was both one of the first adventure games and one of the first interactive fiction pieces, hundreds of later interactive fiction games included responses to the command "xyzzy" in tribute. The origin of the word "xyzzy" has been the subject of debate. According to Ron Hunsinger, the sequence of letters "XYZZY" has been used as a mnemonic to remember the process for computing cross p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, engineering, mathematical, technological and social aspects. Major computing disciplines include computer engineering, computer science, cybersecurity, data science, information systems, information technology and software engineering. The term "computing" is also synonymous with counting and calculating. In earlier times, it was used in reference to the action performed by mechanical computing machines, and before that, to human computers. History The history of computing is longer than the history of computing hardware and includes the history of methods intended for pen and paper (or for chalk and slate) with or without the aid of tables. Computing is intimately tied to the representation of numbers, though mathematical conc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Z-DOS
Z-DOS is a discontinued OEM version of Microsoft's MS-DOS specifically adapted to run on the hardware of the Zenith Z-100 personal computer. Overview The Z-100 used a 8086-family microprocessor, (the Intel 8088), but otherwise had a completely different internal architecture from the IBM PC. At the time Microsoft's MS-DOS wasn't specifically geared to any specific hardware platform, but could be tailored to run on most any system as long as it used a 8086-compatible microprocessor, a situation completely like with the popular CP/M systems of the time, which typically used a 8080-compatible (8080, 8085 and Z80 among others) microprocessor. In order to achieve this, MS-DOS, like CP/M, relied on a platform-specific (DOS-)BIOS, which had to be written for the target machine, so that the hardware-independent DOS kernel could run on it. Beside IBM's OEM version of MS-DOS released as PC DOS there were dozens of other OEM versions of MS-DOS geared to a specific non-IBM-compatible O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
DECnet
DECnet is a suite of network protocols created by Digital Equipment Corporation. Originally released in 1975 in order to connect two PDP-11 minicomputers, it evolved into one of the first peer-to-peer network architectures, thus transforming DEC into a networking powerhouse in the 1980s. Initially built with three layers, it later (1982) evolved into a seven-layer OSI-compliant networking protocol. DECnet was built right into the DEC flagship operating system OpenVMS since its inception. Later Digital ported it to Ultrix, as well as Apple Macintosh and IBM PC running variants of DOS and Microsoft Windows under the name DEC Pathworks, allowing these systems to connect to DECnet networks of VAX machines as terminal nodes. While the DECnet protocols were designed entirely by Digital Equipment Corporation, DECnet Phase II (and later) were open standards with published specifications, and several implementations were developed outside DEC, including ones for FreeBSD and Linux. DECnet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BITNET
BITNET was a co-operative U.S. university computer network founded in 1981 by Ira Fuchs at the City University of New York (CUNY) and Greydon Freeman at Yale University. The first network link was between CUNY and Yale. The name BITNET originally meant "Because It's There Network", but it eventually came to mean "Because It's Time Network". A college or university wishing to join BITNET was required to lease a data circuit ( phone line) from a site to an existing BITNET node, buy modems for each end of the data circuit, sending one to the connecting point site, and allow other institutions to connect to its site free of charge. Technical details Bitnet, with Remote Spooling Communications Subsystem (RSCS) and the Network Job Entry (NJE) network protocol, was used for the huge IBM internal network known as VNET. BITNET links originally ran at 9600 bit/s. The BITNET protocols were eventually ported to non-IBM mainframe operating systems, and became particularly widely implemen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
OpenVMS
OpenVMS, often referred to as just VMS, is a multi-user, multiprocessing and virtual memory-based operating system. It is designed to support time-sharing, batch processing, transaction processing and workstation applications. Customers using OpenVMS include banks and financial services, hospitals and healthcare, telecommunications operators, network information services, and industrial manufacturers. During the 1990s and 2000s, there were approximately half a million VMS systems in operation worldwide. It was first announced by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) as VAX/VMS (''Virtual Address eXtension/Virtual Memory System'') alongside the VAX-11/780 minicomputer in 1977. OpenVMS has subsequently been ported to run on DEC Alpha systems, the Itanium-based HPE Integrity Servers, and select x86-64 hardware and hypervisors. Since 2014, OpenVMS is developed and supported by VMS Software Inc. (VSI). OpenVMS offers high availability through clustering — the ability to distribute the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Digital Equipment Corporation
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president until forced to resign in 1992, after the company had gone into precipitous decline. The company produced many different product lines over its history. It is best known for the work in the minicomputer market starting in the mid-1960s. The company produced a series of machines known as the PDP line, with the PDP-8 and PDP-11 being among the most successful minis in history. Their success was only surpassed by another DEC product, the late-1970s VAX "supermini" systems that were designed to replace the PDP-11. Although a number of competitors had successfully competed with Digital through the 1970s, the VAX cemented the company's place as a leading vendor in the computer space. As microcomputers improved in the late 1980s, especially wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pidgin (software)
Pidgin (formerly named Gaim) is a free and open-source multi-platform instant messaging client, based on a library named libpurple that has support for many instant messaging protocols, allowing the user to simultaneously log in to various services from a single application, with a single interface for both popular and obsolete protocols (from AOL to Discord), thus avoiding the hassle of having to deal with a new software for each device and protocol. , the number of Pidgin users was estimated to be over three million. Pidgin is widely used for its Off-the-Record Messaging (OTR) plugin, which offers end-to-end encryption. For this reason it is included in the privacy- and anonymity-focused operating system Tails. History The program was originally written by Mark Spencer, an Auburn University sophomore, as an emulation of AOL's IM program AOL Instant Messenger on Linux using the GTK+ toolkit.Herper, Matthew (July 16, 2002)"Better Instant Messaging Through Linux"Forbes. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
MIRC
mIRC is an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client for Windows, created in 1995. It is a fully functional chat utility and its integrated scripting language makes it extensible and versatile. mIRC has been described as "one of the most popular IRC clients available for Windows." It has been downloaded over 40 million times from CNET's Download.com service. In 2003, Nielsen/NetRatings ranked mIRC among the top ten most popular Internet applications. History mIRC was created by Khaled Mardam-Bey ( ar, خالد مردم بي), a British programmer. He began developing the software in late 1994, and released its first version on 28 February 1995. Mardam-Bey states that he decided to create mIRC because he felt the first IRC clients for Windows lacked some basic IRC features. He then continued developing it due to the challenge and the fact that people appreciated his work. The author states that its subsequent popularity allowed him to make a living out of mIRC. mIRC is shareware and req ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Internet Relay Chat
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a text-based chat system for instant messaging. IRC is designed for group communication in discussion forums, called ''channels'', but also allows one-on-one communication via private messages as well as chat and data transfer, including file sharing. Internet Relay Chat is implemented as an application layer protocol to facilitate communication in the form of text. The chat process works on a client–server networking model. Users connect, using a clientwhich may be a web app, a standalone desktop program, or embedded into part of a larger programto an IRC server, which may be part of a larger IRC network. Examples of programs used to connect include Mibbit, IRCCloud, KiwiIRC, and mIRC. IRC usage has been declining steadily since 2003, losing 60 percent of its users. In April 2011, the top 100 IRC networks served more than half a million users at a time. History IRC was created by Jarkko Oikarinen in August 1988 to replace a program cal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Usenet
Usenet () is a worldwide distributed discussion system available on computers. It was developed from the general-purpose Unix-to-Unix Copy (UUCP) dial-up network architecture. Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979, and it was established in 1980.''From Usenet to CoWebs: interacting with social information spaces'', Christopher Lueg, Danyel Fisher, Springer (2003), , Users read and post messages (called ''articles'' or ''posts'', and collectively termed ''news'') to one or more topic categories, known as newsgroups. Usenet resembles a bulletin board system (BBS) in many respects and is the precursor to the Internet forums that have become widely used. Discussions are threaded, as with web forums and BBSs, though posts are stored on the server sequentially.The jargon file v4.4.7 , Jargon File Archive. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cisco PIX
Cisco PIX (Private Internet eXchange) was a popular IP firewall and network address translation (NAT) appliance. It was one of the first products in this market segment. In 2005, Cisco introduced the neweCisco Adaptive Security Appliance(Cisco ASA), that inherited many of the PIX features, and in 2008 announced PIX end-of-sale. The PIX technology was sold in a blade, the FireWall Services Module (FWSM), for the Cisco Catalyst 6500 switch series and the 7600 Router series, but has reached end of support status as of September 26, 2007. PIX History PIX was originally conceived in early 1994 by John Mayes of Redwood City, California and designed and coded by Brantley Coile of Athens, Georgia. The PIX name is derived from its creators' aim of creating the functional equivalent of an IP PBX to solve the then-emerging registered IP address shortage. At a time when NAT was just being investigated as a viable approach, they wanted to conceal a block or blocks of IP addresses behind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
