W WAIS See wide area information server. wait state Time interval between an initiation of a call for data and the actual transmission of the data. wallpaper In Windows, the pattern or image displayed on the desktop background. WAN See wide-area network. wand A hand-held scanner used for OCR or for reading bar codes. WARC World Administrative Radio Conference. Conference of countries which establish international frequencies. warm When referring to color, it means there is too much red in the image. warm start Restart that permits previously initialized input and output work queues to be reused. warning message Error detection indication. watchdog timer A timer set by a program to interrupt the processor after a given period of time. Ensures that a system does not lose track of buffers and communication lines because of a hardware error. WATS See wide area telephone service. waveform The visual representation of an analog signal, showing its amplitude (height) and its frequency (width). waveform monitor A specially designed oscilloscope display that graphically shows waveforms. waveguide A hollow conductor used to efficiently transmit high energy, high-frequency waves in the centimeter to micrometer range. Fiber-optic cables are one form of solid conductors for micrometric and smaller frequencies. WaveLAN AT&T GIS's high-speed wireless LAN interface card that transmits at 2M bps, offers compatibility with the Novell NetWare LAN operating system, and includes an optional DES (Data Encryption Standard) security feature. web offset A widely used means of printing large-run books, magazines and documents. Uses large rolls of paper (called webs) which move through the printing press or presses (in the case of multiple colors). The presses are of the offset lithography type, meaning they print by transferring the ink from a plate to a rubber sheet, then to the paper (hence, the image is "offset"). weight In typography, the relative thickness or blackness of the characters. white noise Noise that is equally distributed across all frequencies, (e.g., background noise heard over the telephone). Whois An Internet service that finds the user's e-mail address. wide area information server (WAIS) A document database format that stores and retrieves files archived on the Internet. It is similar to Gopher. wide area telephone service (WATS) An arrangement where calls are placed (out-WATS) at reduced rates within a prescribed area or received (in-WATS) with no charge to the caller. wide frequency tolerant power plant PBX power facilities that can operate on AC energy which is not as closely regulated as commercial AC energy. wide-area network (WAN) A generic term for any network that covers a large geographic area (50 miles, 80 km, or greater) and includes packet-switching, public data, and value-added networks. wideband See broadband. wideband channel Communications channel with more capacity (usually more that 19.2K bps) than the standard capacity of a dial-up or leased voicegrade line. wideband modem A modem whose modulated output signal can have an essential frequency spectrum that is broader than that which can be wholly contained within and transmitted through a voice channel with a nominal 4KHz bandwidth. WIIS Wang Integrated Image System. window A rectangular area on the screen in which an application or document can be viewed. windowing The ability to display simultaneously graphics or different parts of the text from the same document, on a computer screen. windowing A technique for reducing data processing requirements by electronically defining only a small portion of an image for analysis, ignoring the rest. WIPS Whetstone instructions per second. wire printer A matrix printer which uses a set of wire hammers to strike the page through a carbon ribbon, generating the matrix characters. wireframe modeling A CAD and 3D design techique. The first step in a design. The shape of the object is developed with many intersecting lines (it looks like it's made from chicken wire.) Later, surface colors and textures (called shaders) are applied to the wireframe models for a more realistic look. wireless LANs Local area networks that transmit data via infrared, spread spectrum, and microwave transmission techniques. wireline The local telephone company that uses cables, not radio frequencies. word In telegraphy, six operations or characters (five characters plus one space). Group is also used in place of word. word length Number of bits in a word. workstation A personal computer on a LAN that allows a user to access files and operations stored on the server. WORM Write Once, Read Many (optical disk technique). worm A destructive program injected onto a network to destroy or alter transmitted data.See also virus. write head A magnetic head capable of writing only. You ffind write heads on everything from tape recorders to computers. wrong reading Reversed, right-to-left image reproduction. WWW World Wide Web, an information space on the Internet service that links data in the same way an encyclopedia does. WYPIWYF Acronym for What You Print Is What You Fax, also The Way You Print Is the Way You Fax. WYSIWYG What You See Is What You Get; This usually refers to an editor that allows the editing, formatting, and viewing of a document or report on a screen exactly as it will appear when the system is run or when the document or screen is printed. (colloquial for display technique)