U is for Universal

The world of technology is awash with acronyms. I am often challenged when giving a talk and someone asks "What does that *** stand for? Sometimes I know the answer; soometimes I don't.

It seems as though a few of these acronyms start with B so, for my U post, I thought I'd share a few U acromyms with you.

UPS Uninterruptible Power Supply - or protection for your precious tech toys. All I know about these isthat they protect your gear from power surges and that your're crazy if you don't use them. The Webopedia definition starts:

Short for uninterruptible power supply, a power supply that includes a battery to maintain power in the event of a power outage. Typically, a UPS keeps acomputer running for several minutes after a power outage, enabling you tosave data that is in RAM and shut down the computer gracefully.

URL  Uniform Resource Locator - is the web address one types into the search box of a browser to access that website. The URL for this blog is http://geniaus.blogspot.com. Wikipedia says

"In computing, a uniform resource locator (URL) is a specific character string that constitutes a reference to an Internet resource.

A URL is technically a type of uniform resource identifier (URI) but in many technical documents and verbal discussions URL is often used as a synonym for URI.^[1]"

USB Universal Serial Bus - is one of the many slots on my computer. It enables me to connect peripheral devices like external hard drives, scanners, cameras and phones to my computer. Many devices like my new smartphone connect via a micro USB. Wikipedia says:

"Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and communications protocols used in a bus for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices.^[2]"


Do U have any favourite U acronyms?