Appendix Glossary K

In the left margin you will find links to the glossary categorised alphabetically. Some of the pages are quite long and may take a few moments to load if you use a modem. This glossary is always being updated.

Glossary - K

K - Short for kilobyte.

Katmai The code name for Intel's Pentium III processor, released in late Feb. 1999.

KB - A unit of computer measurement. Kb is an abbreviation for kilobyte (1024 bytes).

Kbps - Kilobits per second. Usually used to express modem speeds. A 28.8Kbps modem theoretically transfers around 3 Kilobytes per second, as there are 8 bits per byte. For comparison, so-called cable modems or ADSL "asynchronous digital subscriber line" technologies can transfer files at maximum speeds about 100 times faster.

Kermit - A file transfer protocol developed and freely distributed by Columbia University. Kermit is noted for accuracy but not speed.

Kernel - (sometimes spelled kernal) The central component of an operating system, responsible for disk, memory, task and process management.

Kerning - Adjusting the space between characters in a word, a line of text, or an entire document to allow the text to align or fit properly. This is accomplished by placing characters closer together or farther apart.

Keyboard - This is another input device that is used to print letters of the alphabet on the screen. You cannot use your computer without a keyboard.

Keyword - 1. a word that has a special meaning, or identifies a specific file or document within a program. For example, in the Windows environment, if a user forgot where a particular document was created, he could initiate a search for the document by left clicking on Start then Find, then, Files or Folders. Typing a "keyword" such as a single word from the document's title will prompt a search of all files. 2. When searching for a Web page or information from any of the many search engines, the user will type in a word related to the page or topic. In this case the keyword could be a single word or a phrase.

Kill file - A newsreader file into which you can enter e-mail addresses or key phrases to prevent unwanted posts from being downloaded.

Kilobit - Approximately one thousand bits, or exactly 1 bit x 210 (1,024) bits. 240 kilobits per second means 240,000 bits of information are being transmitted over a network per second (240 Kbps). Recall that 8 bits comprise a byte.

Kilobyte - A kilobyte is a unit of data storage that is equal to about a thousand bytes. I say "about" a thousand because a kilobyte actually equals exactly 1024 bytes. If you think that seems like an insignificant discrepancy, you are pretty much right, but there are certain members of the technical community who would rather not let you get away with making that mistake. This is about 1/2 page of text. It is abbreviated K. 15K then equals 15,000bytes (more or less)!