Glossary of Terms Used on This Site

Hex (for hexadecimal)

Refers to a numerical system based on 16 instead of 10. Used in computer codes, often to denote color values.

Hexadecimal systems use the numerals 0 through 9 plus the letters A through F, which stand for the numbers 10 through 15. Two characters in a row (from 00 to FF) can denote any number from 0 to 255.

In color values, the pound symbol (#) precedes a set of six hexadecimal characters (example: #ffd700). The first two symbols give a value for the red color component; the middle two symbols give a value for the green, and the final two give a value for the blue (hence the term RGB for red, green and blue).

Legacy browsers

This term is used in modern Web designer circles to denote browsers which have poor support (or none at all) for CSS. Included are Internet Explorer 6 and older, and Netscape 4.8 and older. Not included are newer browsers such as Netscape 6 or higher, Opera 6 or higher, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Google Chrome.

Mud room

A small room or entryway in a house where wet or muddy footwear and clothing can be removed. We have one at the back of our house, and it doubles as the laundry room. The term is used mainly in the USA and Canada.

Oo (pronounced in two syllables: OO-oo)

An old nickname that I (Charlie Petitt) had when I was a little boy. It was my imitation of the sound made by a cuckoo clock. I later used it as part of the name for this site.

Ummamum (pronounced UM-um-um)

A nonsense word spoken by saying three um’s with the upper teeth protruding over the lower lip. Also, a funny face (usually green) drawn with its upper teeth sticking out. See Ummamum’s World for lots of crazy Ummamum-related stuff.

UTC

Universal Time Coordinated is the international time standard. You may know it as Greenwich Mean Time. On this site, it was used in news posts made before September 30, 2004; posts made since then use Central Time, which is the local time for Janesville, Wisconsin, where we live. UTC is six hours ahead of our local time (five hours when Daylight Saving Time is in effect).

More detailed explanations of UTC are available at the following links:

What is UTC?
Universal Time — from the U.S. Naval Observatory