Unit 17: Vocabulary

Please study the 18 vocabulary terms below. Then press the Mark Complete button to continue.
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barcode reader
a hardware peripheral designed to 'scan' products into an inventory tracking system
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Harry ran into trouble while taking inventory because he forgot to charge his barcode reader.
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click
to press and release the primary (left-side) mouse button
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The screen prompt read "Click the button to continue."
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double-click
to press and release the left mouse button twice in quick succession
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The Macintosh user did not know that in order to open a file in Windows you need to double-click it.
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fingerprint reader
a device which forms a digitised image of a human finger print for the purpose of biometric authentication
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The security firm was so tired of people choosing weak passwords that they installed fingerprint readers to increase the security of their systems.
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graphics tablet
an input device or mouse alternative using a sensitive rectangular surface and a stylus
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The graphic designer sometimes used a graphics tablet in addition to a mouse.
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input device
any peripheral used primarily to enter data into a compute
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The mouse and the keyboard are two examples of common input devices.
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joystick
an input device with a vertical rod mounted on a base used to control pointing devices or on-screen objects; normally with one or more buttons
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The man used a joystick to control the airplane in the flight simulation.
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light pen
an input device using a light-sensitive pen shaped handle which can be used to draw on the computer screen
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Before the mouse became available, some older computers used light pens to increase interactivity.
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microphone
a hardware device plugged into a computer's sound card optimized for voice commands or other audio recording
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The handicapped woman used a microphone to dictate her Word documents instead of typing.
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mouse
a handheld input device used to move an onscreen pointer by means of sliding on a flat surface
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Before the invention of the mouse, the 'tab key' or 'arrow keys' were often used to navigate the screen.
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mouse pointer
a special icon (normally an arrow) which indicates the current location of the mouse on the desktop screen
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The mouse pointer changes its shape at times, depending on the application being run and the task being performed.
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OCR (optical character recognition)
the ability of a computer to determine standard letters and numbers based on fuzzy logic
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Instead of retyping the stack of documents, the secretary decided to use OCR technology to scan them.
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right-click
to press the right-side mouse button
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Windows 95 was the first major operating system to popularize the right-click.
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speech recognition
the ability of a computer to convert spoken words from a user into usable data
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The new phone system used speech recognition to help reduce the number of customer service representatives.
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stylus
a part of an input device resembling a pen used to draw on the surface of a graphics tablet
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The man lost his stylus and thus could no longer enter text on his PDA until he replaced it.
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touchpad
an input device consisting of a sensitive rectangular area in which one uses a finger to move a cursor on a display
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Laptops commonly include a built-in touchpad in addition to supporting a mouse.
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touchscreen
a display that also acts as an input device by allowing a user to navigate a program by pressing specific locations of the screen
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Most information kiosks in airports make use of touchscreens instead of keyboards or mice.
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trackball
a pointing device consisting of a ball on top of a base that is rotated to move a cursor on the computer screen
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The injured person used a trackball instead of a mouse to move the cursor.
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