Every month, it seems like the Internet brings a new word or phrase into the language. Tech writers typically try and explain the meanings of these terms the first few times they are used in an article. Nevertheless, it's not uncommon to find yourself reading a tech article and wondering just what the heck a blog, podcast, mash-up, or the word-of-the-month really is.

2004 has been an especially rich year for new techno-jargon. So, in the spirit of full disclosure, here's a guide to some of the terms that made it big this year.

If you already know all these strange words and phrases, do yourself a favor and pass this list onto the people you know and love. Then they'll have some idea just what the heck you're talking about!

10 Tech Terms from 2004

Bangalored - If your hot IT job is outsourced to India, you've been "Bangalored".

Blog - Amazingly enough, there are still people that don't know what a blog is. According to Merriam-Webster, "blog" topped the list of words that people looked up at its site in 2004, beating out tongue-twisters like defenestration and sovereignty.

So what is a blog? According to Merriam-Webster, "blog" is a noun that means "a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer".

While that's a pretty good definition, "blog" is also commonly used as a verb. "To blog or not to blog?" - that is the question.

In fact, bloggers (those who blog) have a habit of tacking "blog" onto other terms like a grade-schooler that has just learned his first 4-letter word. The world of blogs is known as the "blog-o-sphere", while "moblogs" are group online journals.

Gatesed - If you encounter one of the unfortunate side-effects of using Microsoft technology, you've been "Gatesed." In typical IT usage, "If it Gatesed (BSOD), you were SOL."

Hot spot - Some people think that hot spots have something to do with the origins of volcanoes, while others think they are just the preferred lounge locations for cats and dogs. In the world of IT, though, the term refers to places that have wireless Internet connections. Many national and local retailers, especially coffee shops, are adding wireless hot spots to provide the tech-savvy another reason to stop in and spend.

Mouselexia - The inability to use a mouse correctly. Some people are naturally mouselexic, while others are just struck with mouselexia when an IT guru is looking over their shoulder.

Offshored - Politically correct term for having your job outsourced to another country. See "Bangalored".

Netlag - The unfortunate physical side-effects of being online for an extended period of time. According to The chronicle of Higher Education, "the condition resembles jetlag, but can also entail eye and muscle strain". You knew there was a word for it!

Nigritude ultramarine - Google finds over 250,000 web pages that refer to "nigritude ultramarine", a phrase that translates roughly into "dark blue". The strange phrase appeared in many blogs and web sites in 2004 as the result of a search engine marketing challenge.

Phish - Email has a way of giving words new meaning. First it was "spam"; now it's "phishing".

Phishing is using email or other Internet technology to trick people into giving up their passwords, credit card numbers or other private information. The most common scams involve sending legitimate-looking e-mails to hundreds of thousands of email addresses. The emails are built with HTML and look like real messages from legitimate ebusinesses. Recipients that click on any of the email links are taken to bogus sites, though, that are designed to capture people's private info.

Podcasting - Give a geek an iPod, and what's he going to do? Write a script to automatically fill it with interesting content.

That, in a nutshell, is what podcasting is - a simple technology that lets users subscribe to a Internet audio broadcast, and have it automatically downloaded and synched to a portable media player (iPod). Podcasters create RSS XML feeds that contain links to MP3 files, along with a brief description of the file's contents. Many types of podcasts are already available, including music, sermons, talk shows and educational programming.

Tipping point - A phrase popularized by Malcom Gladwell's book "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference." In 2004, the phrase became a cliche applied to any technology that people were starting to become interested in. There are hundreds of thousands of blog entries about "The Tipping Point", which means that the term has probably reached some sort of tipping point in the blog-o-sphere.

That Was Really 11 Tech Terms from 2004

Sure, that was really 11 terms.....but "nigritude ultramarine" doesn't count because it's nearly impossible to work into conversation.

Now, if someone could just tell me what "crunk" means....

RESOURCES

Merriam-Webster's Words of the Year 2004

Podcast Directory

Journal of Higher Education: Jargon Monitor

The mystery of nigritude ultramarine

ITworld.com, Ecommerce in Action

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