Not everyone who uses technology needs to or wants to talk like a computer programmer. However, it seems inevitable that a lot of conversations at work, with family and around friends turn to technology. We can’t all have brains like Nathan Myhrvold, Bill Joy or the late Michael Dertouzos. Heck, a lot of us even think the IT guys at work are speaking a foreign language. Knowing a few key words and phrases may help you better understand and contribute to the conversations.

Technologies Defined

Google provides a great search engine and is my personal favorite. They recently added a feature that helps search out the definition of words. This is particular helpful as you look for definitions of emerging technology terms. The next time you Google (yes, some people even use it as a verb), try this. In the box above “Google Search,” type “define: word” where “word” is a term you want defined. You’ll get a list of places where your word is defined.

Now, on to the hot topics for home computer users.

This year turned into the Year of the Virus. The term “virus” is applied to a broad range of attacks against your computer. A virus is computer instructions that infect either a computer or the software on a computer. The spread of a computer virus is directly linked to the number of connections a computer makes to other computers. And, just as with a virus that infects our bodies, the effects and severity of receiving a computer virus depend on how well we keep our computers in shape. The use of an antivirus software package is like keeping up on your daily vitamins.

A variant of a virus is a “worm.” This refers to a type of virus that spreads from system to system all by itself. Where your run-of-the-mill computer virus needs you to actually do something to help it to spread, a worm often seeks out other computers like the one it’s on then launches toward it.

The term “spam” comes from a skit about the lunchmeat “Spam,” not from the product itself. It now applies to unwanted e-mail schlepping everything from RC Mini Cars to Vicodin, or requesting everything from money for fake African rulers to renewals for publications that don’t exist. The official term for this menace is “unsolicited commercial e-mail” or simply “UCE.” I’ll cover spam in depth in an upcoming column.

“Spyware” refers to nasty software that surreptitiously tracks your use of the computer and reports that information to some organization so that they can market their products to you or even steal from you. The term is somewhat interchangeable with “adware,” though some of the companies creating the junk are trying to make a distinction between the two. Conventional wisdom holds that “spyware” is somehow worse and the term gets applied to programs that are installed without your permission and don’t request your acknowledgement of their work.

“WiFi” sounds like HiFi. It’s short for Wireless Fidelity and refers to technologies that allow computers to connect to other computers through the airwaves. WiFi is white-hot for connecting computers at home because no new wiring has to be installed. As more families become multi-computer families, this trend will only increase. Basic components are a WiFi access point that is the central connection and WiFi cards on each computer. WiFi has a range of about 300 feet, and lets you connect to the Internet from a computer in a kid’s room or from your laptop on the sofa.

Breaking The Ice

If conversation is dragging at your next holiday bash, try these to get things going. “I really like all the spam I get; it makes me feel wanted.” Or, “The government and legislatures are wasting their time on spam laws. I say we round up a posse and chase down the lowlifes who are sending this stuff out!”

And, in case you might have been wondering, the trio mentioned at the top of the article were some of the brains behind Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and MIT’s Laboratory of Computer Sciences respectively.