According to a media report published in London [Images] not so long ago, three in four office workers are clueless about computer jargon. The report whet on to say that most workers waste about an hour daily just trying to figure out what technical terms like JavaScript meant.

Another poll, published at around the same time, showed that these seemingly difficult terms often lead to confusion and, inadvertently, mistakes. Some send huge files by email, promptly blocking systems. Others make mistakes while downloading data, or download the wrong files that tend to damage their machines.

Considering pretty much anything we do these days has something to do with this tech jargon, maybe it's time you got your head around some of the more commonly used terms. Understanding is, after all, the key to better productivity.

Let's begin with a few common terms. For anything else you would like us to talk about, feel free to email.

What does Jpeg mean?

You can't miss the term, especially if you look at the extensions for all picture files on the Internet. Most of them will have the .JPG.

It comes from the Joint Photographic Experts Group -- a standards committee that designed this particular format for the compression of images. The format deletes information from a picture that it considers unnecessary, making it very efficient for use online, simply because it is then much smaller in size. Thanks to the size, then, these images download on to users' computers quickly, which is why some Web sites appear on your monitor a lot faster than others. At the same time, however, this makes .jpg images unsuitable for printing.

What is HTML?

It stands for Hypertext Markup Language and is the authoring software language used on the World Wide Web. To cut a long story short, without it, creating Web pages would be impossible.

What is JavaScript?

The short answer: It is a script language. The longer answer: It is a system of programming codes that can be embedded into a Web page in order to add some functionality to it. It can be used to respond to user actions. For instance, when you click on a button, on a site, what it does may depend on the JavaScript used to code it.

What does an OS mean?

This is short for Operating System -- the software that drives your computer and makes it work. The most common examples of an OS are Windows or Macintosh. Other options include Unix and Linux.

What does GIF have to do with photographs?

GIF, or Graphic Interchange Format, is another kind of image format used by computers. As the resolution of these images is low, they are not preferred for printing. If you were to right-click on the rediff.com logo on this page, as an example, the Properties would list it logo as a file with a .GIF. See?

Why is the word RSS cropping up everywhere, online?

Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication is a format used to syndicate Web content. If a site wants to allow other sites or users to publish or read its content, without them having to visit the site, it can transfer its data to an RSS document that can be read by an RSS reader. You can use RSS to get breaking news feeds, entertainment, sports or updates on any topic you fancy. For more, try this.

What is a USB Port?

A Universal Serial Bus is used for connecting secondary devices such as scanners, printers, digital cameras or modems to a PC, with the help of a single port or interface through which data is sent and received. This data communications port now comes installed on most new computers. If you don't have one, call your hardware guy.

What does P2P mean?

Peer-to-Peer is a process that allows computers to trade information with each other directly, without the intervention of a third party network. It's what led to all those lawsuits about pirated music and movies. P2P allows users to directly access files from one another's hard drives. Napster was the first mainstream software of this kind that brought file sharing to the masses.

Is there other such jargon that confuses you? Mail us and we will help clarify your doubts.