Definitions by LarsTaiT

ISSN 

Integrated Special Services Network

In a phone system (notably AT&T), controls special user features and customer control options. Not to be confused with ISSN, the serial number used by the Library of Congress used to register magazines.

ISSN by LarstaiT November 6, 2003

locked 

1 - When a computer system shuts down and stops operation, usualyl without the operator wanting it to happen.

2 - A protected program.

3 - A file that has been changed by the OS so that it cannot be changed or deleted; often very easy to unlock.

4 - A floppy disk which has been physically locked to prevent accidental alteration or to prevent stupid people from modifying the contents.

The system is locked.

locked by Larstait November 6, 2003

ISDN 

Integrated Services Digital Network.

Technology to completely digitize the phone service that was abandoned after much work (it began in the early 1980s) in the early 1990s becayse it was too expensive. It is currently used for high-speed Internet access, slower than T1 but faster than a modem. It is widely used by phone networks in some areas.

I don't have ISDN access

ISDN by Larstait November 6, 2003

Three-letter Agencies 

The federal agencies comprised of three letters.

Usually refers to the ATF (bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms), CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), DOE (Department of Energy), FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigations), IRS (Internal Revenue Service) and NSA (National Security Agency)

Three-letter Agencies by Larstait November 6, 2003

avatar

An icon which represents a user in a virtual reality/Internet setting, currently attempted with varying success. The term is adopted from Neal Stephenson; another word used for the same concept is Rudy Rucker's term "tuxedo."

First used from an Internet perspective in 1992 in SNOW CRASH, by Neal Stephenson, in one of those self-fulfilling SF prophecies. Stephenson got the name from the Hindu concept of avatars, which are the personification of various deities or entities.

avatar by LarstaiT November 6, 2003

risque 

Suggesting.

Naughty.

Tee hee !

risque by LarstaiT November 6, 2003

Analog 

A way of representing information that uses a continuous range of values. Opposite of digital-- while a CD is digital, a tape is analog; while a computer is digital, an abacus is analog.

Analog by LarstaiT November 6, 2003