Grade 11 Information Technology Term 3 Notes

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering Grade 11 Term 3 IT notes, including hardware specifications, networking terminology, software management, and spreadsheet functions.

Sensor size

A camera component where larger variations capture light more efficiently and produce higher quality images than smaller ones, even with the same megapixel count.

Importing

The process of fetching or bringing in a copy of data stored in another file format and placing it into the current file format.

EULA (End User Licence Agreement)

A legally binding contract between a user and a software company that describes the permissible and prohibited actions regarding the software.

Resolution (Scanning)

The detail of an image normally expressed in $dpi$ (dots per inch), where a greater value indicates more pixels and better quality but results in a larger file size.

Intranet

A private network belonging to an organisation that functions like the internet but is only available to employees for accessing internal documents and business information.

Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

A policy used by organisations to outline the rights and responsibilities of users during ethical interaction and resource sharing in networked environments.

ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line)

A permanent digital connection to the internet using a telephone line split into two channels: one for voice calls and one for data.

QuickTime

An example of a plug-in program specifically used to view multimedia content.

JPEG

A common image graphics file format identifiable by the .jpg extension.

Web Application (Blogs)

Online publishing tools such as Squarespace, Blogger, or WordPress used for online diaries or commercial updates.

GPS

A technology built into smartphones and other devices used for navigation.

UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)

A battery-powered device used to protect computers from power fluctuations and provide temporary power during failures to allow for proper shutdown.

Response time

The time it takes to change a pixel from one colour to another, measured in milliseconds ($ms$); low values are essential for gamers to avoid ghosting.

UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair)

A type of cable, resembling a telephone cable, most commonly used for connecting computers in a LAN because it is cheap and easy to install.

CSV (Comma Separated Values)

A typical text file where a comma acts as the delimiter to separate values.

Colour depth

The number of different colours that can be represented by a pixel, with $24\,bit$ colour ($16.7\,million$ colours) being the standard for high-quality images.

WLAN (Wireless LAN)

A local area network where at least part of the connection is linked wirelessly.

Optical zoom

A camera feature that uses physical lenses to get closer to a subject for better quality images.

Digital zoom

A software-based magnification that enlarges pixels, resulting in blurry or pixelated images as you get closer to the object.

CAPTCHA

Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart; used to prevent automated 'bots' from signing up for services.

Fibre

A fast internet connection that transmits data along thin glass tubes, offering much higher bandwidth than copper-based ADSL.

Contrast ratio

The number of shades between the whitest white and the blackest black a screen can display; higher ratios result in clearer and sharper images.

Transpose (Excel)

An option in Excel used to change a column of data into a row or vice versa.

Accelerometer

A sensor that detects movement, allowing devices to change screen orientation or function as a game controller.

Anti-virus software

Software that scans files for viruses and eliminates them by comparing findings to its database of signatures.

Virus signature/definition

The unique pattern that identifies a specific virus; these must be updated often to detect new or variant threats.

Plug and Play

A series of technologies, such as those used by USB ports, that allow an operating system to automatically detect and configure hardware for immediate use.

CPU (Central Processing Unit)

The processor responsible for running programs and processing data, with speed measured in Gigahertz ($GHz$).

802.11 a/b/g/n

A set of specifications and protocols used for communication on a wireless network representing different versions of Wi-Fi standards.

Sleep mode

A power scheme where the computer cuts power to most components but keeps enough for RAM to hold content for an instantaneous wake-up.

Hibernation

A power-saving state that saves the contents of RAM to the hard drive and switches the computer off completely.

GUI (Graphical User Interface)

An interface using graphical elements like icons and tiles to allow users to interact with a computer using a mouse or keyboard.

Touchpad

A pressure-sensitive surface built into laptops that acts as a pointing device.

Spyware

Software or techniques used to monitor and track computer usage to report information to third parties, often for targeted advertising or data theft.

Keyloggers

A dangerous form of spyware that captures keystrokes, mouse movements, and screenshots to discover usernames and passwords.

Phishing

A social engineering attack where users are tricked into clicking e-mail links or visiting fake websites to steal their credentials.

Metadata

Additional data stored about a file that describes its contents, such as author and title, used to enable specialised searches.

Count (Excel)

A function that counts the number of cells in a range that contain numeric values, including dates and times.

Counta (Excel)

A function that counts all non-empty cells in a range, including those containing numbers, text, or symbols.

VALUE!

An Excel error occurs when a formula refers to cells containing data types that cannot be used in numerical calculations.

DIV/0!

An Excel error occurs when a formula attempts to divide by zero or an empty cell.

NAME?

An Excel error occurs when an invalid function name is used in a formula.

REF!

An Excel error occurs when a cell reference in a formula is no longer valid or has been deleted.

NUM!

An Excel error occurs when an invalid numerical value is used, such as the square root of a negative number.

#

An Excel display error occurs when a column is not wide enough to display the numeric result or value.

Primary Key

A database field that must be unique for each record and cannot be left empty.

Firewall

A hardware or software barrier that checks programs accessing the internet from a computer and protects against unauthorised external access.