Algorithm

An algorithm is a set of instructions, sometimes called a procedure or a function, that is used to perform a certain task. This can be a simple process, such as adding two numbers together, or a complex function, such as adding effects to an image. For example, in order to sharpen a digital photo, the algorithm would need to process each pixel in the image and determine which ones to change and how much to change them in order to make the image look sharper.

Most computer programmers spend a large percentage of their time creating algorithms. (The rest of their time is spent debugging the algorithms that don't work properly.) The goal is to create efficient algorithms that do not waste more computer resources (such as RAM and CPU time) than necessary. This can be difficult, because an algorithm that performs well on one set of data may perform poorly on other data.

As you might guess, poorly written algorithms can cause programs to run slowly and even crash. Therefore, software updates are often introduced, touting "improved stability and performance." While this sounds impressive, it also means that the algorithms in the previous versions of the software were not written as well as the could have been.

  Alpha Builds

The first actual builds of software or a Web site that are stored on the imagun server to which the client has access to review the artwork and the progress of the site. A cycle of a site is alpha-beta-Finito. The specific content and parameters of an alpha site are dependent upon the project.

  Active X

Active X, formerly known as OLE2, is a computer programming language designed by Microsoft to write programs that can be downloaded from the internet or intranet into Microsoft's Internet Explorer Browser using small Active X programs called scriptlets or hooks. These include functions such as animations, calculations, forms, and other interesting events.

  Audio

Noise, Music, effects. Sometimes annoying, sometimes cool. With the advent of streaming technologies such as Shockwave, Real One Player - Video and Audio, and Microsoft's Media Player, audio can make for effectual presentations.
Some file types: mid, wav, aiff, au, asf, ra, rm, mp3

  Applet

A small application written in the Java language for the internet.

  ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network)

The precursor to the internet. Developed in the 60's and 70's by the U.S. Department of Defense as a way for communications to survive a nuclear war.

  ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)

A world wide standard for the code numbers used by computers to represent all upper and lower case letters, numbers, punctuation, etc.

  Autoresponders

An email, containing targeted content, that is sent automatically in response to an inquiry or the submitting of an online form. The autoresponder works without the intervention of anyone and is a completely automated process. If you have specific information you want to disperse, autoresponders are an excellent tool for the job.