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What Does Resource Kit Mean? A Microsoft Resource Kit is a set of resources that provide support for major Microsoft products. Microsoft offers resource kits for products such as operating systems, office suites and other kinds of major licensed software most commonly used by businesses and individual users. Techopedia Explains Resource Kit Resource kits are used for different things like troubleshooting software, configuring it for optimal use and managing things like database connections and the deployment of software features....

What Does Software Patent Mean? A software patent is a patent that is provided to enhance computer performance by means of a computer application. There is no legal or conclusive definition for a software patent. This and the topic of related intellectual property (IP) protection rights have been intensely debated at all levels in the tech world. Different countries have different restrictions on patenting software innovations. For example, U.S. patent law does not permit patents that involve abstract ideas....

What Does Surface-Mount Device (SMD) Mean? A surface-mount device (SMD) is an electronic device whose components are placed or mounted onto the surface of the printed circuit board (PCB). This method of manufacturing electronic circuit boards is based on the surface-mount technology (SMT), which has largely replaced the through-hole technology (THT) especially in devices that need to be small or flat. Compared to the latter, SMT allows both sides of a PCB to be used when required....

What Does Surrogate Key Mean? A surrogate key is a unique identifier used in databases for a modeled entity or an object. It is a unique key whose only significance is to act as the primary identifier of an object or entity and is not derived from any other data in the database and may or may not be used as the primary key. The usual surrogate key used is a unique sequential number....

What Does Transaction Server Mean? A transaction server is a specialized type of server that manages the operations of software based transactions or transaction processing. It manages application and database transactions on a network or Internet, within a distributed computing environment. A transaction server may also be referred to as a transaction processing system (TPS) or as a part of one composite TPS solution. Techopedia Explains Transaction Server A transaction server primarily enables transactions to be processed within distributed computing applications....

What Does Video Scaler Mean? A video scaler is a system which is capable of converting video signals from one resolution to another. It increases or decreases the input resolution for video output at the specified ratio. Video scalers can be internal or external to the device. They are used in a wide range of applications such as broadcast, imaging, video effects and video surveillance. Techopedia Explains Video Scaler Although all video displays have a built-in scaler for most varieties of inputs, the products are not designed for wide variety of formats and resolutions....

What Does Virtual World Mean? A virtual world is a computer-based online community environment that is designed and shared by individuals so that they can interact in a custom-built, simulated world. Users interact with each other in this simulated world using text-based, two-dimensional or three-dimensional graphical models called avatars. Avatars are graphically rendered using computer graphics imaging (CGI) or any other rendering technology. Individuals control their avatars using input devices like the keyboard, mouse and other specially designed command and simulation gadgets....

What Does Insertion Sort Mean? Insertion sort is a sorting algorithm in which the elements are transferred one at a time to the right position. In other words, an insertion sort helps in building the final sorted list, one item at a time, with the movement of higher-ranked elements. An insertion sort has the benefits of simplicity and low overhead. Techopedia Explains Insertion Sort In an insertion sort, the first element in the array is considered as sorted, even if it is an unsorted array....

What Does Bluetooth Mean? Bluetooth is an open wireless technology standard for transmitting fixed and mobile electronic device data over short distances. Bluetooth was introduced in 1994 as a wireless substitute for RS-232 cables. Techopedia Explains Bluetooth In contrast to other wireless technologies, Bluetooth equips its network and devices with high-level services like file pushing, voice transmission and serial line emulation.

What Does Code Division Multiplexing (CDM) Mean? Code division multiplexing (CDM) is a networking technique in which multiple data signals are combined for simultaneous transmission over a common frequency band. Techopedia Explains Code Division Multiplexing (CDM) CDMA uses spread spectrum, a technology that was developed in World War II to prevent enemies from intercepting and jamming transmissions. In spread spectrum, a data signal is sent over a range of frequencies in an assigned frequency spectrum....

What Does CPU Congestion Mean? CPU congestion is a type of bottleneck caused by an excessively high demand on the capabilities of a processor in a given network or system. Techopedia Explains CPU Congestion The central processing unit (CPU) is a key part of any hardware system. It drives the processing of data throughout an entire system. As networks and systems become more elaborate, more demands are placed on the CPU or CPUs....

What Does Distance Vector Multicast Routing Protocol (DVMRP) Mean? Distance Vector Multicast Routing Protocol (DVMRP) is an efficient Interior Gateway Protocol routing mechanism that combines Routing Information Protocol features with a truncated reverse path broadcasting algorithm for IP multitask data sharing between connectionless autonomous systems. DVMRP is defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force as RFC 1075. Techopedia Explains Distance Vector Multicast Routing Protocol (DVMRP) DVRMP’s main tasks include: Tracks multicast datagram source paths Encapsulates packets as Internet Protocol (IP) datagrams Supports multicast IP datagram tunneling via unsupported encapsulated and addressed unicast packet routers Generates dynamic multicast IP delivery trees via reverse path multicasting and a distributed routing algorithm Exchanges routing datagrams made up of small, fixed-length headers and tagged data streams via Internet Group Management Protocol Handles tunnel and physical interfacing according to broadcast routing exchange source trees produced during truncated tree branch removal Manages reverse path forwarding for multicast traffic forwarding to downstream interfaces DVMRP header components are as follows:...

Fortnite Chapter 3 Season 2 has well and truly shaken the foundations of Epic’s ever-popular Battle Royale game by temporarily disabling its building mechanic. To help remedy this, there are new movement mechanics and abilities available to players to help them get around the world that little bit easier. Especially, given many players would build their way up to rooftops and other vantage points. That’s where Fortnite’s Parkour mechanics come into play, such as Tactical Sprinting, Mantling and the Shoulder Bash....

What Does IT Cost Transparency Mean? IT cost transparency is a branch of IT management that combines finance and management accounting principles with the acquisition, maintenance and deployment of IT products and services used by large and small organizations. IT cost transparency factors include licensing costs, IT personnel/labor, asset management and project portfolio management (PPM). Techopedia Explains IT Cost Transparency As businesses mature, many discover the need to keep proper track of IT-related expenses....

What Does Log-Periodic Antenna Mean? A log-periodic antenna is an antenna that can operate on a wide frequency band and has the ability to provide directivity and gain. It has radiation and impedance characteristics that are repeated as a logarithmic function of excitation frequency. These antennas are fractal antenna (self-similar antenna) arrays. A log-periodic antenna may also be referred to as a log-period array or a log-periodic beam antenna. Techopedia Explains Log-Periodic Antenna Log-periodic antennas were initially developed at the University of Illinois in 1955....

What Does Network Tap Mean? A network tap is a test access point or hardware device placed at a specific network point where data can be accessed. The aim of a network tap is for a third party to monitor the network traffic between two terminals.Network taps are usually employed for network intrusion detection systems (NIDS), network probes, remote network monitoring (RMON) probes and Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) recording....

What Does Smitfraud Mean? Smitfraud is a type of Trojan application that fakes users into buying commercial anti-virus and malware removing software. It displays fake notifications and pop-ups to the user, alerting them that their system is infected from a virus and they must buy the premium (not free) anti-virus version to remove infections. Techopedia Explains Smitfraud Smitfraud works when a user downloads an infected file or data from the computer carrying the smitfraud app code....

What Does Static Verification Mean? Static verification is an analysis of computer code to ensure that standard coding practices have been adhered to without having to run the program. An analysis is performed on some versions of the source code and provides a way for programmers to debug new code and detect potential errors in compiled code. Techopedia Explains Static Verification Static verification is widely used in software for safety-critical computer systems....

What Does PROTECT IP Act of 2011 (PIPA) Mean? Techopedia Explains PROTECT IP Act of 2011 (PIPA) Online and print publishing Entertainment industry Cable and satellite TV Electronics and computer software companies Consumer groups and small business associations Police and firefighter unions Credit agencies, finance companies and legal services Online computing service providers Human rights organizations Nonprofits Museums, libraries and art galleries Schools and universities

What Does Transient Mean? In computer programming, in Java specifically, transient is a keyword that is used to indicate that a variable should not be serialized. By default, all variables in an object can be serialized and therefore become persistent, but if a specific variable does not require persistence for any reason, the transient keyword can be used to mark that variable so that it is not serialized when the code is compiled....