Jargon Buster P

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P2P - Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer: One of the simplest network arrangements, involving linking a series of computers together without the use of a server.

PDA - Personal Digital Assistant
Personal Digital Assistant - a small hand-held computer that in the most basic form, allows you to store names and addresses, prepare to-do lists, schedule appointments, keep track of projects, track expenditures, take notes, and do calculations. Depending on the model, you also may be able to send or receive e-mail; do word processing; play MP3 music files; get news, entertainment and stock quotes from the Internet; play video games; and have an integrated digital camera or GPS receiver.

PDF - Portable Document Format
PDF: A popular document format, used mainly for online computer manuals, which retains the look of a printed book onscreen. PDFs are created using Adobe Acrobat, but can be read and displayed by many different programs including Internet Explorer.

POP - Point of Presence
Point of Presence: Where your Internet Service Provider physically connects to the main internet network. Also stands for Post Office Protocol, the agreed standard for downloading email messages.

PS/2
PS/2: The type of connector used to plug in mouse and keyboard on most modern PCs. PS/2 was originally the name of a PC from IBM with a number of innovative but non-standard features, including special connectors for mouse and keyboard. The PC didn't catch on particularly well, mainly because its unusual architecture meant that it could not accept standard expansion cards, but its mouse and keyboard connectors proved popular and were widely adopted. PS2 (without the /) is often used to refer to Sony's PlayStation 2, a popular games console.