Global Positioning System
Have you seen those car commercials for something called OnStar? If you get lost in the middle of nowhere, they can pinpoint your exact location within mere feet. Pretty cool, heh? Well, that's done by using the Global Positioning System (GPS). Ya see, it's a bunch of satellites (twenty-four to be exact) in geosynchronous orbit that can help you find yourself, provided you have the corresponding ground receiver. How accurate this system is depends on the sophistication of your equipment. Regular folks like you and me can use it if we go hiking, driving, biking, or anything else where we might lose our way. Scientists use it to monitor volcanic activity and other cool stuff.
Gnome
No, not that kind of gnome. This is GNOME, or "GNU Network Object Model Environment," and this particular use of the word is pronounced "gah-NOME." Okay, it's not a newsletter or a tiny bearded man, so what is it? It's a GUI (that's "Graphical User Interface," we defined it for ya a few days back) for Linux users. Ya see, Linux mainly uses a command line interface at its core. Let's face it, not everyone is a power user, nor do they aspire to be, so GNOME allows "regular" users to see the interface as they would a Windows or MacOS desktop. If you've been curious about Linux and you aren't a geek like myself, this is one approach you might want to consider, and since it's freely available, and packaged with most Linux distributions, it's not terribly difficult to get started. And, for your information, Lockergnome was around long before the GNOME ever surfaced. Confused? Me too.
Gnutella
We all know about Napster: a client that lets folks instantly download music off of each others' hard drives. Or, allows clients to download folk music, for that matter. While reading up on this infamous little proggie, you might have stumbled upon another piece of software known as Gnutella. What's that? A service that works pretty much the same way as Napster does, except you can share ANY type of file (not just MP3s). Like Napster, you specify which files you wish to share. And, like Napster, you can download the files directly from other users' systems without any formalities. The legal and moral issues, though, are still being debated. It's open source (hence, the GNU prefix). When I asked Tom Pepper how Gnutella got its name, his (paraphrased) story was simple: "My roommate had gone through seven jars of it in a week. It was all over the place." There ya go. A program named after a chocolate spread.
Graffiti
If you own a PDA or have seen on in use, you've probably noticed them writing on it as if it were just a regular paper notebook. Well, it's not a regular notebook, and writing on a PDA using the special "pen" (known as a "stylus") takes years of training and practice. Okay, not really, but there is a technique to learning graffiti, which is most often associated with Palm OS devices. You can't just scrawl words on a PDA, you have to use continuous strokes that are designed to be easily recognized and properly translated by the recognition software. Therefore, certain letters look somewhat incomplete in this format. It takes some getting used to, but it's not difficult to figure out. Why did I write down "Don't forget to give Sprocket a bat?" He hates baseball.
Graphical User Interface
Okay, we talked about "command line interface" earlier. Actually, I was doing all the talking. Nevermind. You may have overheard "graphical user interface" at some point in the past. Well, a GUI uses graphics (big surprise) to make things go. For example... Microsoft Windows? You see that icon for Word 2000? When you double-click it, if everything goes as it's supposed to, Word will open. The GUI contained the icon you clicked. If you were on a command line, there would be nothing to click. Browsers, such as Internet Explorer and Opera, are GUIs for the Web. Sure, geeks like to flex their brains and use a command line interface, but for the rest of the world, a GUI works fine. And yes, GUI sounds like "gooey." Seeing as it slows some people down, this pronunciation is appropriate.
Gravesite
This site was last updated on August 12, 1995. Kinda looks like it's not going to be updated anytime soon, huh? Why do people abandon their sites? What did those sites ever do to them? Well, the reason for a site getting left out in the cold is anybody's guess. There is, however, a name for such sets of Web pages. They're called gravesites. Usually, when a site builder can no longer maintain their resource, they take it off the server. Failing this, the site will remain accessible (though no more updates will be posted). There's a lot of gravesites haunting the Web... far too many to mention. From a more capitalistic standpoint -- a site that doesn't generate a lot of revenue is said to be a gravesite as well. But, not all sites are out to make money, ya know. Some are just out there to sell graves. I suppose they'd be gravesites, too. Spooky.
Grep
C'mon, you people really need to get a grep on yourselves. Ya see, "grep" is a UNIX command that is also available for Windows (and other operating systems as well) in the form of third-party utilities. So what is it for? It lets you search multiple files for a specific character string. You can also replace this string with another, if you so desire. For example, if you wanted to search the file lockergnome.htm for any line including "html," you would use a command line interface to type "grep html lockergnome.htm." You can also add an asterisk before a word or part of a word in order to find and replace any string containing that particular word. This would come in handy if, say, you used the word "gnome" to modify words a lot... not that I know anyone who does that. ;)
