Read Ellie’s Blog
Keep up with the latest techno-jargon by following definitions Eillie digs up. Read the blog |
Slang. Shoptalk. Jargon. Argot.
Follow Ellie Shaw’s blog to keep up with the “Latest Word”
The online age spawns new words every day – a dizzying array of tech terms, acronyms and clever redefinitions. Some are easy to remember like tweets or phishing.
But most remain curiosities – copyleft, anyone? – because users don’t have the time to look up definitions. Nor do the digerati offer much help. Heaven forbid that they include definitions within their work.
"Digerati" (noun) – Digital = literati. Collectively, people who are considered the elite in information technology. Source: Wiktionary
There’s an easy way to keep up with the latest words, though. Ellie Shaw regularly digs out the definitions of new words from the interactive universe and posts them on her blog, which is called “The Latest Word from Ellie Shaw…”
When you sign on to follow the blog and every few days a “moodle” or “Twestival” will post with a quick explanation of what it means. So remain among the digerati by following Ellie’s blog, which is posted on Facebook as well as this website.
(www.facebook.com/pages/The-latest-word-from-Ellie-Shaw-is-/180034378322)
Complete record of the definitions of “Latest Words”
Here’s a list of all the words defined in her blog over since it began in 2010. If you find a word you would like to have a word researched, just contact her.
"Pharming" (noun) – Pharming is a more sophisticated method of stealing information than phishing, the practice of using emails to lure users to bogus websites.
To start “pharming,” crooks create a phony website that copies a legitimate one. Then they hack into the real site’s servers and change the coding so that unsuspecting users are automatically sent to the fake site. There the victims’ confidential information is harvested.
Sources: techterms.com, pcmag.com
“Link bait” (noun, aka “link bait content”) – Content posted online that draws links from other users’ blogs or websites and thus increases traffic (visits) to the originating site. “Link baiting” is a legitimate marketing technique if the blog, article, video or whatever is truly interesting.
“Cruft” – (noun, verb) – Denotes useless or shoddy computer stuff – codes, data, software or equipment – or the action of creating those things. Also describes dust bunnies and other annoying accumulations.
NOTE: Not to be confused with Crufts, the largest dog show in the world. There are a couple of theories that link the origin to either grain harvesting or Harvard’s Cruft Laboratory. I like the latter better.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruft.
"Noogle" (noun) – 1. A word or phrase that yields no search results on Google. 2. A nickname for new Google employees. Derived from the propeller hats that say "Noogle" which they are given the first day on the job. Urban dictionary lists 6 additional definitions.
BTW, the word Google was invented in 1997 by the two founders of the now-ubiquitous company. It's a play on "googol," the number represented by a 1 with 100 zeros after it.
See www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=noogle.
“Kevork” (verb) – To kill or terminate something, like a video clip that goes on too long or an unsuccessful project. "They kevorked that idea last week." Taken from the name of the late Dr. Jack Kervorkian, who advocated legalizing assisted suicide for terminally ill people.
“Pingback” (noun) – A blogging technology that provides a way for a blog to be automatically notified when other Web sites link to it. In essence, pingback is reverse linking — a way of going back up a chain of links rather than merely drilling down. ???
Source: Ian Hixie, a delightfully quixotic specification writer @ ian.hixie.ch
“Extranet” (noun) – The extension of an intranet (private network) to select recipients via the Internet. Companies create extranets when they want to share specific information– analytics, say, or inventory updates – with authorized companies or individuals but not with the public.
"Moodle" (noun) – A popular “learning management” system that lets educators and trainers create online courses as part of a virtual classroom. The platform allows for interactive discussions and quizzes as well as rosters and assignments. ???Created in Australia in 1999, Moodle is now used worldwide and has been translated into 82 languages. Stands for "Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment.”
“Copyleft” (noun) – The opposite of copyright. A license that gives anyone who has a copy of a work (software, documents, artwork) the same rights to use it as the author – provided the person allows his/her new work to be passed just as freely to future users. For a full history follow the link:
See: en.wikipedia.org
“Twestival” (noun) – A worldwide initiative to raise charitable donations using Twitter. More than 175 cities had venues for the second annual Twestival on March 25, 2010, which raised more than $450,000 to help children around the globe get access to education. The participants are “citizen philanthropists” says Geoff Livingston, blogger and co-founder of Zoetica.
Source: mashable.com
“MiFi” (noun, trademarked in the USA) – A credit-card-sized modem that creates a personal Wi-Fi network using the Internet signal from a cell phone.
Source: www.wired.com
"Whitelist" (noun) – The opposite of blacklist. You specifically allow email from sources you like, trust or need to hear from.
Source: www.answers.com.
"Edutainment" (noun) – Today's students will tune out traditional learning, so it is said, unless it is packaged as edutainment. Disney has provided this for decades but the concept is exploding now that kids are growing up habituated to video games, YouTube, etc. Pencils and workbooks? Borrring.
"Crunchies" (noun, not to be confused w/ munchies) – These egalitarian awards are considered the Oscars or the Grammys (take your pick) of the startup industry. Held since 2007, the Crunchies honor the previous year’s top gadgets, apps, execs, etc. as voted upon by anyone who wants to.
See: techcrunch.com
“Reality mining” (noun) – The collection and analysis of data gleaned from wireless devices such as mobile phones and GPS systems. Used to predict human behaviors based on very accurate tracking of where people go, what they do and with whom they communicate. Makes George Orwell’s “1984” seem kind of quaint, doesn’t it?
Source: www.businessweek.com
Magalog. (noun) – The slick combination of a magazine and a catalog. Usually printed as a 12-16 page promotional item using ad-quality photos, design and copy. “A sales letter on steroids” says Mike Klassen, who blogs as The MagalogGuy. And guess who’s pushing this trend? The U.S. Postal Service, understandably trying to boost print mailing.
“Meme” (noun, pronounced meem) – An idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture much the same way physical traits are transmitted by genes. It’s commonly used to refer to an idea that is spread through blogs.
www.merriam-webster.com
“Relationship Economy” (noun) – Social media is moving us away from an economy based on transactions to an economy based on trust – hence the moniker “relationship economy.” Customers are increasingly turning to online conversations, not ads, to decide on what to buy. Ignore the change at your peril.
See: thechaosscenario.net
"Spider food" (noun) – A Web site created with many links to another site. It's an effort that may (or may not) raise the second site's appeal to search engine "spiders" – the all-important programs that constantly sweep the Web for new data.
See: www.dmoz.org
“Vitch” (noun) – A video press release. Used by ad and PR agencies.
“Crowdsourcing” (noun) – The online version of outsourcing, with two meanings: 1) Utilizing “crowds” of Internet users to accomplish a task, do research or create new ideas. Exam: Lego used fans' ideas to created its latest toys. 2) Posting images of events like disasters by people on the scene.
“Julian date” - (noun, example of Ellie’s pet peeves: unusual terms used without definition) – The FDA told the public in 2010 to check the “Julian date” on egg cartons to see if they were being recalled. Huh? Has the egg industry reverted to first century calendars?
No. “Julian date” refers to the number of the day, from 1 to 365, when something is created. Thus, eggs packaged on Julian dates 136 through 225 were produced between April 15 and July 18, 2010. (The term actually should be “ordinal date, according to Wikipedia; Julian dates are used in astronomy.)