So you still want to be a CIO?

CIO (chief information officer) and CTO (chief technical officer) are two of the sexier jobs around these days. With either title, not only do you get to hang out with the real players, your knowledge of computer-related esoterica puts you in a unique position. The CEO and CFO need to listen to what you say lest their initiatives fail because they havent implemented the right technology. The problem is you must be able to talk the talk. Despite the push for business acumen in IT, if you got your technology credentials only in business school and not in the trenches, you might be in big trouble. Thats where acronyms come in. If you throw acronyms around like you know what you are talking about, you probably can bluff your way through most situations. Then you can hire a consultant who really can solve your problem.

That brings us to this months little quiz. All the questions are about acronyms and their meanings. If you need help, try the TUCAA (The Ultimate Computer Acronyms Archive) at http://www.acronyms.ch.

Here goes:

1. What are the following?
a. RAM; b. DRAM; c. RDRAM;
d. NDRAM; e. SLDRAM; f. NVRAM

They stand for:
a. Random Access Memory. Fast memory available only when your computer is running.
b. Same as above. Dynamic RAM as opposed to SRAM (Static RAM).
c. A type of RAM developed by Rambus, Inc. Very fast when it was introduced.
d. An even faster type of DRAM as in New DRAM developed by Rambus and Intel.
e. Look it up yourself.
f. This is a bonus. Non-Volatile RAM that keeps its data without power.

2. Define EDO.
Extended Data Out. As in EDO DRAM. This is a fairly common spec for PC memory today.

3. Give it up: ECC.
Error Correcting Code. You can start stringing these together. Try this one: ECC EDO DRAM. This stuff actually works to try to find errors in the data it is handling.

4. How about these?
a. VGA; b. SVGA; c. XGA; d. SXGA;
e. UXGA; f. WUXGA

Drumroll, please
a. Video Graphics Arraythe old standard. It originally was a standard for displaying graphics on a video monitor that specified resolutions and color combinations. It now generally refers to a specific display resolution (640 horizontal pixels by 480 vertical pixels). The last time I checked it was 2004. We continually receive complaints from users who cant see everything on their computer screen. Most often these users have the resolution set to 640 x 480. If you really want to cause trouble, set your resolution to VGA and the font size in IE to large. Then complain to the Webmaster that nothing looks right!
b. Super VGA. This was the cats meow for some timescreen resolution of 800 pixels horizontal by 600 vertical.
c. eXtended Graphics Array: 1024 x 768.
d. Super eXtended Graphics Array:1280 x 1024.
e. Ultra eXtended Graphics Array:1600 x 1200.
f. Wide Ultra eXtended Graphics Array: 1920 x 1200.

5. DNAa brief explanation please.
a. Distributed Internet Architecture. A marketing gimmick from Microsoft used to describe n-tiered applications that utilized the Internet.
b. Digital Network Architecture. See above, only the marketer was DEC.
c. Deoxyribonucleic Acid. This is stuff Watson and Crick discovered back in 1953. It makes up our genetic code.
d. All the above.

They all sound good to me.

6. What is the difference between a SIMM and a DIMM?
A SIMM is a Single Inline Memory Module. A DIMM is a Dual Inline Memory Module. They first became available on Pentium PCs.

7. What does the insurance industry group ACORD stand for?
a. Association for Cooperative Operations Research & Development.
b. Association for Cooperative Organization Research & Development.
c. Agent-Company Organization for Research & Development.
d. All of the above.

It depends on how long youve been around the industry. For some of us the answer is d.

Thats it. I always have been partial to the TLA, but I think we went too far this time. Maybe we should learn to say what we mean and give up the acronyms.
CYA . . . MYOB . . . BYE

NOT FOR REPRINT

© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.