THE WHATIS.COM WORD-OF-THE-DAY November 27, 2002 magnetic stripe reader ______________ TODAY'S SPONSOR: NetIQ WebTrends
Free White Paper: The Executive Pocket Guide to Smarter Marketing Myth: The Web will never be a significant piece of the media mix. Fact: Your Web site is already a critical part of the blend. Break down the myths and get smarter about how the Web changes the marketing principles you already know. You can't afford to lose on the Web. So get your free copy of "Winning on the Web: The Executive Pocket Guide to Smarter Marketing" from NetIQ WebTrends today! http://WhatIs.com/r/0,,7809,00.htm?freewhitepaper ______________ TODAY'S WORD: magnetic stripe reader See our definition with hyperlinks at http://searchcio.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid19_gci865139,00.html A magnetic stripe reader, also called a magstripe reader, is a hardware device that reads the information encoded in the magnetic stripe located on the back of a plastic badge. Magnetic stripe readers can be read by a computer program through a serial port, USB connection, or keyboard wedge, and are generally categorized by the way they read a badge. For instance, insertion readers require that the badge be inserted into the reader and then pulled out. Swipe readers require that the badge pass completely through the reader. The magnetic stripe on the back of a badge is composed of iron-based magnetic particles encased in plastic-like tape. Each magnetic particle in the stripe is a tiny bar magnet about 20-millionths of an inch long. When all the bar magnets are polarized in the same direction, the magnetic stripe is blank. Information is written on the stripe by magnetizing the tiny bars in either a north or south pole direction with a special electromagnetic writer, called an encoder. The writing process, called flux reversal, causes a change in the magnetic field that can be detected by the magnetic stripe reader. Since there can be two different flux reversals, N-N or S-S, there can be two different information states, much like the binary system used by computers. The magnetic stripe reader reads the information by detecting the changes in the magnetic field caused by the flux reversals on the badge's magnetic stripe. Dating back to the 1970s, magnetic stripe readers are widely used for access control and transaction processing. RELATED TERMS: flux http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci213442,00.html magnetic field http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci213446,00.html ______________________ SELECTED LINKS "A Day in the Life of a Flux Reversal" explains how a magstripe reader interprets information. http://www.rc3.org/archive/inform/2/5.html ______________________ QUIZ #32 | Securing Your Network How much do you know about network security? Take our latest quiz and find out. >> Take the quiz http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid14_gci857673,00.html ______________________ CROSSWORD PUZZLE #6 | Wireless Improve your flexible thinking skills. Print out the puzzle and keep it nearby to work on throughout your day! http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci861329,00.html ______________________ REAL-LIFE CHALLENGE #19 | XP Pro or Win2k Pro? It's upgrade time. The branch office manager at Company X would like his staff to have "the best", which he thinks is XP Pro. The head of IT thinks that Win2k Pro is a better choice, but admits he's never worked with XP. Can you advise? http://whatis.discussions.techtarget.com/WebX?[EMAIL PROTECTED]@.1dcfae0e/169 ______________________________ RECENT ADDITIONS AND UPDATES [1] matter http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci865252,00.html [2] core router http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid7_gci865184,00.html [3] vertical interval time code http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci865178,00.html [4] plasma http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci864603,00.html [5] instruction http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci212356,00.html ____________________________________________________________________ ::::::::::::::::::: WHATIS.COM CONTACTS ::::::::::::::::::: LOWELL THING, Site Editor ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) ____________________________________________________________________ MARGARET ROUSE, Associate Editor ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) ___________________________________________________________________ :::::::::::::::::::: ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER ::::::::::::::::::::: Published by TechTarget (http://www.techtarget.com) TechTarget - The Most Targeted IT Media Copyright 2002, All Rights Reserved. If you would like to sponsor this or any TechTarget newsletter, please contact Gabrielle DeRussy at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe from 'Word of the Day' - Simply Reply to this Email with REMOVE within the Body or Subject > or - Go to: http://WhatIs.techtarget.com/register - Log in to edit your profile. - Click on the link to Edit email subscriptions. - Uncheck the box next to the newsletter you wish to unsubscribe from. - When finished, click "Save Changes to My Profile."
