The Computer Folks Glossary

LANtastic	A type of network operating system.
Laser printer	A printer that uses laser-based technology, similar to that used by photocopiers, to produce text and graphics.
LAT (local area transport)	A network communications protocol developed by Digital Equipment Corporation for use with its minicomputers.
LCD (light-emitting diode)	A miniature laser-like device that sends pulses of light through optical fibers.
Level 2 cache	In the Pentium Pro, memory circuity housed of the processor, on a seperate chip.
Line-of-sight communication	Communication in which the transmitter must have an unobstructed path to the receiver in order for transmission to take place.
Links	Underlined areas of text that allows users to jump between hypertext documents.
Liquid crystal display (LCD)	A type of flat panel computer screen, commonly found on notebook computers, in which light passes through a thin layer of liquid crystal cells, to produce an image.
LISP (LISt Processor)	A declarative language often used to develop expert systems.
Loading data	The process of retrieving data.
Local area network (LAN)	An interconnected group of computers and peripherals located within a relatively limited area, such as building or a campus.
Local communications	The process of sending electronic data over a short distance, such as from your computer to your printer.
Local resources	The peripherals attached to an indivual user's workstation on a network.
Localization	The modification of software for use in specific countries.
Locked files	When a locked file is being used by one user, it cannot be accessed by others.
Logic bomb	A computer program that is triggered by the appearance or disappearance of specific data.
Logic error	A run-time error in the logic or design of a computer program.
Logical data type	A data type specifying that a field in a data file is used to store true/false or yes/no data.
Logical storage	A conceptual model of the way data is stored on a user's disk.
Lossy compression	A graphics data compression method in which some of the data is sacrificed in order to obtain more compression.
Lost Data or Missing Data	Data that is inaccessible because it was accidentally removed from a computer system.
Low-eath orbit (LEO)	Type of orbit, used by many of the most recently launched communications satellites, about 1,000 miles above Earth.
Low-level language	A computer language that requires a programmer to write instructions for specific hardware elements such as the computer processor, register, and RAM locations.