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Computers Terms

WORDS AND THEIR STORIES: COMPUTER TERMS

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

Computer technology has become a major part of people's lives. This technology has its own special words. One example is the wordmouse.  A computer mouse is not a small animal that lives in buildings and open fields.  It is a small device that you move around on a flat surface in front of a computer.  The mouse moves the pointer, or cursor, on the computer screen.

Computer expert Douglas Engelbart developed the idea for the mouse in the early nineteen-sixties.  The first computer mouse was a carved block of wood with two metal wheels. It was called a mouse because it had a tail at one end. The tail was the wire that connected it to the computer.

Using a computer takes some training.  People who are experts are sometimes called hackers.  A hacker is usually a person who writes software programs in a special computer language.  But the word hacker is also used to describe a person who tries to steal information from computer systems.

Another well known computer word is Google, spelled g-o-o-g-l-e.  It is the name of a popular "search engine" for the Internet.  People use the search engine to find information about almost any subject on the Internet.  The people who started the company named it Google because in mathematics, googol, spelled g-o-o-g-o-l, is an extremely large number.  It is the number one followed by one-hundred zeros.

When you "Google" a subject, you can get a large amount of information about it. Some people like to Google their friends or themselves to see how many times their name appears on the Internet.

If you Google someone, you might find that person's name on a blog.  A blog is the shortened name for a Web log.  A blog is a personal Web page.  It may contain stories, comments, pictures and links to other Web sites. Some people add information to their blogs every day. People who have blogs are called bloggers.

Blogs are not the same as spam.  Spam is unwanted sales messages sent to your electronic mailbox.  The name is based on a funny joke many years ago on a British television show, "Monty Python's Flying Circus."  Some friends are at an eating place that only serves a processed meat product from the United States called SPAM. Every time the friends try to speak, another group of people starts singing the word SPAM very loudly.  This interferes with the friends' discussion – just as unwanted sales messages interfere with communication over the Internet.

(MUSIC)

This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Jill Moss.  I'm Faith Lapidus

More Moon Hoax, part II

1056 More Moon Hoax

Jonathan continues his discussion about the Moon Hoax and what he believes.

Transcript

Source: www.elllo.org, problem with the audio? click on the  title, it'll redirect to Elllo Site.

Jonathan	Todd

Todd: Jonathan we are talking aboutconspiracy theories

. What about the one where the sound? That when the rocket lands, they have actually audio of the rocket landing and you can't hear the rocket engine, and the rocket engine should be making a really loud noise?

Jonathan: I don't remember if I've heard that one before. I would think that perhaps though the engine might be situated in such a location that the noise is beingdispersed

 out into open space.

Todd: So you're saying that because in space there's no pressure. There's nothing for the sounds to bounce off of so it would just be silent.

Jonathan: I mean, people have grown up watching movies like Star Wars and they think that when spaceships go through outer space that they go "vooooom" as they travel. The reality is that there is no sound in space. You know, there are no lasers that go "tchoo tchoo tchoo" as they go from one ship to another. It makes great entertainment. It doesn't make great science.

Todd: Fair enough

. What about the buggy? Some people say that they buggy is going slow-mo

. That maybe they filmed it in Area 51?

Jonathan: Yes, I've read about this. That apparently if you speed up the footage to a certain point that it looks as if they are walking around normally and such, but the think is that when you take into account the gravitational pull, they've sped it up too much for it to be realistic. I don't remember the exact figures

 but it's something like if you speed it up to and a half times instead of three and a half times as the conspiracy theorists did then it looks completely natural, that like they're on the surface of the moon.

Pod English, Business English, lesson 51

I just called to say I love you

Source: Aimee www.englishexercises.org

CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORD: (VERSE 1)

No New Yearbirthday's day
To celebrate
No chocolate covered sweetcandy hearts to give away
No first of springOctober

No song to playsing

In fact here’s just another specialordinary day.
No April sunrain

No treesflowers bloom
No wedding  SaturdayMonday within the month of June
But what it is
Is something funnytrue

Made up of these three bagswords that I must say to you.

 COMPLETE WITH THE CORRECT WORD: (CHORUS)

I just called to say I  you.
I just called to say how much I .

I just called to say I love you

And I mean it from the  of my heart.

CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORD: (VERSE 2)

No summer’s high
No coldwarm July
No harvest moon to light one tender  AugustDecember night
No winterautumn breeze
No falling leavessky

Not even time for catsbirds to fly to southern skies.
No Libra sun
No HalloweenSeptember

No giving thanks to all the HannukahChristmas joy you bring
But what it is
Though old so new
To fill your househeart like no three words could ever do.

The Remarkable legacy, Mahatma Gandhi.

Language Level: Intermediate

Standard: American Accent

WHAT WOULD GANDHI THINK?

2008 marks the 60^th anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the Indian Nation, but also of the movement for non-violent resistance. Every year on January 30^th, India stops for a two-minute silence in his memory and this year’s ceremony was particularly intense. Indian communities throughout the world also held silences. Indian has certainly changed in the 60 years since Gandhi’s death and today the country, like China, is seen as an economic powerhouse.

Speak Up asked the Indian Consul general Sarvajit Chakravarti, what Gandhi, who preached both independence and self-reliance, would make of the country’s current boom:

Servant Charkravarti

(Indian Accent)

I think he would have been quite proud, but not entirely so because he said, and his message to all of us, not only in India, but all over the world, it that our work of improvement of society is never done until we have succeeded in wiping every tear from every eye. So, as long as that does not happen, we haven’t fished. So we have to continue our efforts to improve the quality of life of our people, in a way that improves the life of the planet as a whole, as well.

INCLUSION

India’s annual economic growth rate is said to be in the region of 9 per cent, but how long will this last?

Servajit Chakravarti:

Well, we started our economic liberalization in 1991, more or less, and we expect to keep it going as long as is necessary, but to keep it going in a way that is socially inclusive, that doesn’t create even more disparities between our various economic classes. People who have should not have so much that they deny others the right to have anything at all, so the effort now of the government of India, and of the people, is to continue to move ahead, maintain the growth levels, if possible improve the growth levels, but in a socially inclusive manner which does not cause material harm to those who have not yet benefited fully from this process.

GLOBAL REFERENCE

In conclusion we asked the consul general to talk about Gandhi’s status as a global icon:

Sarvajit Chakravarti:

Well, he was, I think, a global citizen. All his idea about political change and social change evolved as a result of his experiences in India, in Britain and in South Africa. He spent 21 years of his life in Africa. And that is why he not only succeeded in creating a mass political movement that brought India her Independence, but also initiated a system, a force, a philosophy that brought freedom to much of the rest of the world, the latest example of which, politically, has been South Africa. So Gandhi to us, and in my personal belief, is a remains a global icon.

PART II American History: Foreign Events Begin to Shape Wilson’s Presidency

Source: http://www.voanews.com

Photo: loc.gov

Woodrow Wilson and his cabinet seated around table, 1913

 

Or download MP3 (Right-click or option-click and save link) 

BOB DOUGHTY:  Welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION -- American history in VOA Special English.

Woodrow Wilson's first year as president showed the American people that they had elected a strong and effective leader. Wilson took office in nineteen thirteen. He moved quickly to fulfill his campaign promises. He won congressional approval for lower import taxes, a new tax on earnings, and restrictions on the power of big companies.

These were some of the most important economic reforms the nation had seen in many years.

This week in our series, Larry West and Maurice Joyce continue the story of Wilson's administration.

LARRY WEST:   Most of Woodrow Wilson's political victories were on national issues. He had little experience with international issues. But foreign events soon began to demand more and more of his time. With all of his successes at home, it is a surprising fact of history that his presidency is remembered best for its foreign policy.

The story of Woodrow Wilson's foreign policy is full of high ideas and political bravery. But it also is a story of fierce struggle and lost hopes. It is a story that begins across America's southern border--in Mexico.

MAURICE JOYCE:   At that time, Mexico had been ruled for many years by Porfirio Diaz. As Diaz grew older, his power began to weaken. In nineteen eleven, a revolt broke out. It was led by Francisco Madero, the leader of a land reform movement. Diaz understood he could not win. He resigned and fled the country.

Madero declared himself president. However, powerful groups in Mexico opposed him. In a short time, one of his own generals, Victoriano Huerta, arrested him. Madero was murdered soon after Huerta seized power.

President Wilson refused to recognize Huerta's government. He believed other forces would rise up against him. Wilson was right. Another revolt began, led by General Venustiano Carranza.

LARRY WEST:  Wilson offered aid to Carranza. Carranza rejected the offer. He was afraid of American interference in Mexico. He told Wilson that Mexican troops would do all the fighting. He only wanted guns and ammunition.

American forces did, however, get involved in the conflict. President Wilson learned that a ship from Germany was bringing supplies to the Huerta government. The ship would land at the Mexican port of Vera Cruz. Wilson ordered the United States Navy to seize and occupy the port. The move started a storm of criticism in the United States and throughout Latin America.

(MUSIC)

MAURICE JOYCE:  Many people denounced President Wilson. They called him an imperialist and a fool. They asked: what right did the United States have to interfere in Mexico. Wilson finally stopped American military action in Mexico. He tried to settle the dispute at an international conference at Niagara Falls, Canada. The effort failed. The conference did not produce a settlement.

While the diplomats were talking, Carranza's revolutionary forces were fighting. They moved on Mexico City, the capital. President Huerta fled. Carranza formed a new government.

LARRY WEST:  The new government began to split apart almost immediately. Another general, Francisco "Pancho" Villa, tried to seize power. He forced Carranza out of Mexico City. Then he formed his own government. President Wilson recognized Villa and his government.

Carranza, however, refused to give up. Day by day, his army grew stronger. He forced Villa to retreat. Then President Wilson recognized Carranza's government. Like Carranza, Villa refused to give up. He decided to try to start a war between Mexico and the United States.

Pancho Villa wanted the United States to attack Carranza. Then he would step in to lead Mexican forces in battle. That would make him a hero. With this plan in mind, Pancho Villa attacked an American town across the border in Texas. He killed nineteen persons.

MAURICE JOYCE:  President Wilson immediately ordered a large American force to find and punish Villa. At first, Carranza welcomed the move. Villa was his enemy. He wanted him captured. Then Carranza began to fear that the American troops might threaten his government. He demanded the withdrawal of all American soldiers from Mexico.

Tensions increased between the two countries. Villa's forces attacked another town in Texas. President Wilson considered asking Congress to declare war. But the crisis cooled down before then. American forces were withdrawn. And the people of Mexico elected a new government. They chose Carranza as president.

(MUSIC)

LARRY WEST:  As President Wilson dealt with the situation in Mexico, trouble began to surface in another part of the world. The crisis was in Europe. Tensions were growing between several groups of nations. They were on the edge of what would become World War One.

The major powers in Europe had been threatening each other for years. But they had not fought for more than forty years. Most Americans believed there would never be another European war. Such a war would be unbelievably destructive. Millions would die. No nation would win.

MAURICE JOYCE:  Europe depended on a balance of power to keep the peace. On one side were the central powers -- Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. On the other side were the members of the triple entente -- Britain, France, and Russia.

Each side made every effort to win the support of Europe's smaller nations. A number of nations refused to join either side. The neutrals included Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the Scandinavian countries.

LARRY WEST:  This political balance did not prevent the major nations from competing with each other for colonies and economic power. They competed all over the world. In China, in the Middle East, in Africa -- everywhere money could be invested. Competition was especially sharp in the Balkans. This was the area of Europe between the Adriatic and Black Seas.

Many nations claimed special interests in the Balkans. And several Balkan countries were fighting each other. The whole continent seemed ready to explode.

MAURICE JOYCE:  The spark that set off the explosion came in the city of Sarajevo. The date was June twenty-eighth, nineteen fourteen. Sarajevo had been taken over by Austria. And the Archduke of Austria -- Ferdinand -- had come for a visit. Ferdinand was expected to become the next emperor of Austria.

Seven young extremists from the area decided to assassinate the Archduke to protest Austrian control. One of the extremists threw a bomb at the royal family. The bomb missed its target. But another extremist shot at the group. He killed both the Archduke and the Archduke's wife.

LARRY WEST:  The assassinations in Sarajevo started a series of events that quickly brought war to all of Europe. Soon the continent was covered with armies, battles, and death. The war in Europe forced President Wilson to face the greatest crisis of his presidency.

That will be our story next week.

(MUSIC)

BOB DOUGHTY:  Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. The narrators were Larry West and Maurice Joyce.

You can find our series online with transcripts, MP3s, podcasts and images at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- an American history series in VOA Special English.

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This is program #156 of THE MAKING OF A NATIO
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