Index: A-B | C-D | E-H | I-L | M-O | P-S | T-Z M º Mainframe º Man-Computer Symbiosis º Marvel, Mary º MEDLARS (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System) º MedlinePlus º Merit Corporation º Metcalfe, Robert (1946- ) º Microprocessor º Minicomputers º Modem º Moore's Law º Morino, Mario (1943- ) º Morse Code º Morse Telegraph º Morse, Samuel F. B. (1791-1872) º Mosaic º MP3 N º Napster º National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) º National Information Infrastructure º National Library of Medicine º National Science Foundation (NSF) º National Weather Service º Needle Telegraph º Nelson, Theodor (1937- ) º Netscape º Network º Network "Backbone" º Network Protocol º Neuron º NSFNet O º Online º Operating Room º Operator º Optical Telegraph

 

M Mainframe A large central computer. The term is usually used to refer to the giant machines used by large corporations and government agencies in the 1950s and 60s. Man-Computer Symbiosis Paper: "Man-Computer Symbiosis" Author: J. C. R. Licklider Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider was a psychologist interested in how humans interacted with machines — and in how humans could use machines to interact with each other. In his work on SAGE and at the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), "Lick" encouraged people to think of computers as tools for communication and collaboration. Marvel, Mary A costumed comic book super-heroine of the 1940s. Like her brother Captain Marvel, Mary Marvel acquired super powers by shouting the magical word, SHAZAM. When not performing super deeds, she was Mary Batson, an orphan who worked during wartime as a telegraph messenger. MEDLARS (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System) A computerized medical bibliographic system created by the National Library of Medicine in 1964 to replace the printed Index Catalogue. By 1973, users could dial in to search the MEDLARS database via the online service MEDLINE. MedlinePlus A Web-based service of the National Library of Medicine, providing both physicians and the public with access to information about specific diseases and conditions as well as links to consumer health information from the National Institutes of Health, medical dictionaries, lists of hospitals and physicians, health information in Spanish and other languages, and information about clinical trials. Merit Corporation Nonprofit corporation hired by the National Science Foundation to build and administer the NSFNet. Metcalfe, Robert (1946- ) Computer scientist and engineer who developed Ethernet, the basic technology used to link computers into local area networks. Microprocessor An integrated circuit or "chip" that contains both instructions and data, first invented in 1971 by Ted Hoff of the Intel Corporation. Often called a "computer on a chip" or the "brains" of a computer because it controls the computer's operations and executes its central functions. A Pentium chip is an example of a microprocessor. Minicomputers A new generation of computers built in the late 1960s and 1970s using integrated circuits. Minicomputers were smaller and less expensive than the giant mainframe computers of the day but were comparatively fast and powerful. Many of the first computers connected to the ARPANET were minicomputers. Modem A device used to connect computers to telephone lines so that they can transmit and receive information electronically. The word "modem" comes from "modulator-demodulator." Moore's Law Prediction made by computer scientist Gordon Moore (co-founder of the Intel Corporation) that computing power would double every 18-24 months in the future, just as it had during the 1950s and 1960s. Morino, Mario (1943- ) Businessman and philanthropist who ran a very successful software firm before creating the Morino Institute, a center for the study of how the Internet can be used to advance social change. Morse Code A system for representing letters of the alphabet, numerals, and punctuation marks by dots, dashes, and spaces; invented by Samuel F. B. Morse in the 1830s for use with his electrical telegraph, and further improved by Alfred Vail, Morse's assistant and partner. The code can be transmitted as electrical pulses of varied lengths or as mechanical or visual signals, such as taps or flashing lights. After its introduction in Europe, an international version, called Continental or International Morse Code, was prepared for the transmission of non-English text, since the original version lacked codes for letters with diacritic marks. The 1851 conference that devised International Morse Code, also made the system easier to operate by substituting spaces and dashes of constant length for the variable length spaces and dashes used in American Code. Morse Telegraph An electrical communications device originally conceived and developed by Samuel F. B. Morse in the 1830s and 1840s, in its simplest form consisting of a transmitting apparatus or key, an electromagnetic receiver, and a battery connected by wires. The Morse apparatus used dots, dashes and spaces to encode messages for transmission (see Morse Code). Morse, Samuel F. B. (1791-1872) American painter and inventor; inventor of an electromagnetic telegraph and Morse Code. Mosaic The first widely used browser for the World Wide Web, developed at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) in 1992-93. The developers of Mosaic began their own business in 1993, changing the program's name to Netscape in 1994. MP3 Format for encoding music in a compressed digital form. (MP3 is an abbreviation for Motion Picture Experts Group 1, Layer 3) [Back] [Index] [Close]

 

N Napster Controversial online music-sharing service created in 1999. Thousands of people have downloaded songs encoded in the MP3 format via Napster, including a great deal of copyrighted material, angering the music industry and many musicians. In 2001, the courts ordered Napster to stop allowing the distribution of copyrighted material through its servers. National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) One of five regional supercomputing centers established by the National Science Foundation in the 1980s. NCSA staff, led by Larry Smarr, developed Mosaic, the first web browser, and Telnet, a program enabling users to connect to remote computers. National Information Infrastructure Term used to refer to the nation's communications networks as a whole. Also used to refer to a set of federal programs launched in the 1990s that aimed to integrate and improve these networks. National Library of Medicine The world's largest medical library and reference center; one of the institutes of the National Institutes of Health. The Library began in 1836 as a small collection of books in the office of the ArmySurgeon General. For much of its existence, it was known as the Library of the Surgeon General's Office, United States Army, and later as the Army Medical Library and the Armed Services Medical Library, before acquiring its present name in 1956. Since the beginning, the Library has been a leader in applying new communications technology to the distribution of medical information. National Science Foundation (NSF) Agency of the federal government established in 1950 to support the advancement of science. The NSF played a major role in the development and expansion of the Internet between 1986 and 1995 through the NSFNet project. National Weather Service The era of modern weather forecasting began in 1870 when a joint resolution of Congress directed the U.S. Signal Corps, under Brigadier General Albert J. Myer, to establish a telegraphic meteorological service, the Division of Telegrams and Reports for the Benefit of Commerce. By 1875, the Signal Corps had established hundreds of weather stations, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and in adjoining areas of Canada and the Caribbean, which reported weather conditions via telegraph to the Division's headquarters in Washington, D. C. Headquarters then prepared national and regional weather reports, and distributed them to the public via telegraphic bulletins. The Division of Telegrams later became the Weather Bureau, and is currently known as the National Weather Service. Needle Telegraph An electrical communications device invented in England in the 1830s by Charles Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke, about the same time that Morse invented his telegraph in America. The Wheatstone-Cooke device transmitted messages by using electromagnetism to make a needle point to a printed alphabetic letter. It required more wires than the Morse telegraph, could not print messages, and, after an enthusiastic reception in Great Britain, gave way to the Morse system. Nelson, Theodor (1937- ) Inventor of the concept of hypertext. Netscape Name for a popular web browser and the company that makes it. The Netscape program was a direct descendant of the Mosaic browser developed at the NCSA. The explosive rise in the stock price of Netscape when it was first made available for public trading in 1995 was the first big sign of the Internet's economic importance. Network An interconnected system arranged in the pattern of a net. In computing, the term refers to an interconnected set of computers that are able to communicate with each other. The Internet is a network of networks. Network "Backbone" A set of high-speed lines used to carry long-distance communictions, such as the NSFNet. A "backbone" typically connects many lower-level networks to each other. Network Protocol A set of rules for communication that must be shared by all the computers connected to a network. The Internet Protocol is the essential set of rules for communication on the Internet. Neuron Nerve cell in the brain. The human brain is composed of many billions of neurons. Some biologists and computer scientists today see neurons as analogous to the transistor switches that make up a computer's memory. In the 19th century, physiologists compared the brain to a telegraph office and nerve cells to telegraph cables. NSFNet A high-speed network backbone created in the late 1980s by the National Science Foundation to link regional networks across the country, vastly improving the Internet's performance and accessibility. In the early 1990s, responsibility for the NSFNet was transferred to private businesses, and the NSFNet itself was phased out by 1995. [Back] [Index] [Close]

 

O Online Term used to refer to the state of being in connection with others (or with information stored electronically at a remote location) via an electronic communications medium, such as the telegraph or Internet. Operating Room In telegraphy, the office where telegraph operators tapped out and received messages. Operator In telegraphy, a person whose profession it is to send and receive telegraphic transmissions; a telegrapher or (Brit.) telegraphist. Optical Telegraph The first device to be called a telegraph, a long-distance optical signaling system invented by French engineer Claude Chappe in the 1790s, as an aid to the beleaguered French revolutionary government. In the early 19th century, it was used to send messages of vital military importance, but also to convey governmental decrees, news reports, and correspondence between manufacturers, traders and bankers. In Chappe's telegraph, mechanical arms assumed different positions that corresponded to letters of the alphabet. Deployed on hilltops, towers, and church steeples, in networks that in some cases stretched for hundreds of miles, the optical telegraph reduced the time it took for information to travel to minutes and hours rather than days or weeks, but had severe limitations: it could transmit information slowly, in small increments, in daylight when the weather was good. [Back] [Index] [Close]