Unit 1 | Navigating Your Tablet

Bonus Terminology

Below are some additional technical terms that you may run into. They didn't fit very well in the rest of the content, so we gave them their own page here.

Font: Font refers to both how big the letters are (can also be called font size), and how the letters look. Example sentence: "You must submit your essay in a standard font like Times New Roman and with a font size of 12pt."

Cursor: A symbol that looks like a capital “I”, indicates where the next character you type on your screen will appear. You use your mouse, touch screen, touch pad or the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the cursor around on your screen. Example sentence: "Can you see my cursor? I'm using it to point at the button I'm talking about."

Streaming: A method of getting content on the internet where the data is sent as a continuous stream. This data could be music or a video, and you can watch/listen as it is being sent. This takes up less space on your device than if you downloaded the whole song/video and then watched it. Example sentence: "I was streaming a movie last night, but my internet cut out halfway through, so I didn't get to finish it."

Android/iPhone: There are different companies who produce mobile phones. Mobile phones produced by the company Apple are called iPhones. Mobile phones produced by any other company are called Androids. Some people have strong opinions about whether iPhones or Androids are superior. Example sentence: "I am sick of the Android versus iPhone debate--it's silly to judge someone based on what kind of phone they use."

Laptop/Macbook: A laptop is a small computer that folds flat (the screen folds towards the keyboard). This makes it easy to transport. Macbooks are a type of laptop produced by the company Apple. Example sentence: "My new laptop is way lighter so it's earier to carry to class."

Bot: A bot is a program that performs tasks automatically, and often simulates human behaviour. For instance, some users on social media are bots--they are not real people and their behaviour is governed by algorithms. As technology becomes more advanced, it can be very difficult to tell whether a user is a bot or a real person. Example sentence: "This person comments almost the same thing on every post--I think they're a bot."

Server: A server is a kind of computer that provides some service to other computers. For instance, when you send an email, an email server will be involved in delivering the email to its recipient. When you visit a website, your computer is communicating with a web server that has the website's information. The web server sends the contents of the web page to your computer, and then your browser displays it for you to see. Example sentence: "Something happened to the company's servers and that's why their website wasn't reachable last night."

Data: Data can mean two different things depending on what it refers to. When referring to computer data, it means information that is stored on a computer, or information that is sent between computers. Example sentence: "I heard that company had a data leak, and bunch of people's passwords got stolen." When referring to a phone's connections, it means the ability for the phone to connect to the internet without needing to connect to WiFi. Example sentence: "I can't Google that right now because there's no WiFi here and I don't have data."

Bluetooth: A technology that lets you connect to headphones, speakers, projectors, and other devices without wires. The information is transferred using radio waves, so the connection is invisible. Example sentence: "I got new bluetooth headphones, so now I don't have to deal with my headphone cord getting tangled anymore!"

Bug: A bug represents an error in software coding that prevents a program from working. Example sentence: "I think the app has a bug because whenever I click this button, the app crashes."