24/7 (read as “twenty-four, seven”) Jargon for something which is active twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. At our company, Operations was staffed 24/7; the machines of the Home Cluster and the Field were running 24/7. Note: It should come as no surprise that this is biblical in origin: “And you shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle for seven days, until the day wherein the time of your consecration shall be expired. For in seven days the consecration is finished ... Day and night shall you remain in the tabernacle observing the watches of the Lord...” [Lev. 8:33,35 emphasis added.]
Abusus non tollit usum (Latin; a Watcher slogan) “Abuse does not take away use.”
Ad Insertion the playing of commercials for regional or local clients: this playing overrides the “national” spot which is then being played by the network, so the viewers see the local spot, not the national one.
Ad Sales the department which handles customer requests to have a spot played, or changed, or cancelled. The only department to deal with customers seeking advertising on cable TV. Once a specific request has been made, Ad Sales passes the details on to the Traffic Department.
Afferent nerves which transmits sensory signals; their messages travel from a sense organ towards the brain or spinal cord.
Anastomosis the union or intercommunication of any system or network; in biology, such a union between hollow vessels such as blood vessels; also called inosculation. “...this communication is very free between the large as well as the smaller branches. The anastomosis between trunks of equal size is found where great activity of the circulation is requisite, as in the brain ... also found in the abdomen. In the limbs the anastomoses are most numerous and of largest size around the joints, the branches of an artery above inosculating with branches from the vessels below; these anastomoses are of considerable interest to the surgeon, as it is by their enlargement that a collateral circulation [italics in original] is established after the application of a ligature for the cure of aneurism. The smaller branches of arteries anastomose more frequently than the larger, and between the smallest twigs these inosculations become so numerous as to constitute a close network [my italics] that pervades nearly every tissue of the body. [Gray’s Anatomy, 474]
Aorta the great trunk artery which leaves the heart, the root of all other arteries.
Artery a blood vessel within which blood flows away from the heart.
Break Short for “commercial break” – that is, a break or interruption in a television program for the purpose of showing advertising. The breaks are typically one minute in duration, and occur around 28 minutes after the hour and two minutes before the hour. At these times, networks usually permit the insertion of a local or regional advertising spot.
Cable Television In our example, a company which supplies various nationally available (and other) television networks to home viewers by means of wires actually strung to individual houses in a given geographical area.
Capillary the tiniest blood vessels where blood supplies oxygen and nutrients to the adjacent tissues, and takes away waste.
Centesimus Annus an encyclical (1991) by John Paul II commemorating the hundredth anniversary of Rerum Novarum.
Control Room the room, staffed 24/7, where the Operations department does the monitoring and control of the machinery of both the Field and the Home Cluster, as well as encoding.
Cue-tone [from cue, a variant spelling of Q, from the Latin quando meaning “when”] A signal transmitted by a cable TV network, indicating that a local spot is now permitted to be played. (This signal is not normally available to a home viewer. It sounds like four touch-tone beeps, and occurs a fixed interval of time before the spots may play, usually about five seconds – this interval is called the “preroll” for that network.)
Development the department (together with the Tech Shop) which arranges, tests, and sets up the production machinery for the other departments.
Directory the information on a computer disk which acts as a card catalog indicating the location of the other information on that disk, such as files. If it is a hierarchial directory, the information may be be additional directories (called “subdirectories”) or files of various kinds.
Efferent nerves which transmit control signals; their messages travel from the brain or spinal cord towards a muscle, gland or other remote organ.
Encoding the conversion of a TV commercial from its analog form on a magnetic tape into a digitized form (typically MPEG).
Encyclical a document written by a pope intended for world-wide distribution.
Engine the computer program running on an inserter which actually accomplishes ad insertion: it controls the playback devices which play the spots out on the proper cable networks at times dictated according to the schedule, and records its work in a log.
Family [from a Latin root meaing servant] the body of persons living in one house, under one head, a household; those descending from a common ancestor; a group of closely related individuals.
Ferry the computer program running on an inserter which handles transport of information: if the inserter is a leaf, between that inserter and the portal of the subtree; if the inserter is a portal, between that inserter and Home, or between that inserter and any other in the subtree.
Field the collection of all machinery located distant from our Headquarters. The Field is divided into “headends” – the particular installations serving a given region of cable TV viewers, and “inserters” – the machinery at a given headend which do the work of ad insertion.
Field Services the department which handles installation or repair of our machinery in the Field.
File on a computer disk, the fundamental unit of useful information storage.
Geosynchronous orbit a satellite in geosynchronous orbit is revolving around the earth, completing its orbit in exactly one day. Hence, it does not move when viewed from the earth’s surface, and so we are able to aim a satellite dish at it for use in communicating with another dish.
Hard disk or hard drive the “permanent memory” of a computer, where information is stored under control of a program. Generally a disk can be considered to contain three things: (1) a number of files containing information of one kind or another; (2) a directory (often a hierarchical file system) which has information about the files such as their name, location, size, and so forth; (3) free space not in use by a file or directory. Unlike the “working memory,” the disk memory is preserved while the computer is off, but it is much slower to use.
Headend a collection of equipment at a particular location in the Field which serves a geographical region of cable TV viewers by providing them with various cable TV networks. One or more inserters may be assigned to a given headend in order to perform ad insertion for those networks.
Headquarters the central location of the company which accomplishes ad insertion for a cable TV provider. Besides the usual corporate offices, it consists of the Ad Sales department which handles customers, and a variety of internal departments such as Traffic, Field Services, and Operations. It also includes various electronic components which do the mechanical work, such as the computers handling the traffic and billing processes and the production machines of the Home Cluster (Home, the Master Library, the monitors for Operations, encoders and other equipment).
Hierarchy [Greek: sacred leadership] a scheme of ordering or arranging a collection of items by classes, each of which has a level or rank. As a general rule, a hierarchy can be represented as a diagram which looks like a tree with its root at the top, the branches extending downwards until they end in leaves.
Hierarchical File System a scheme of organizing files of information on the disks of a computer. It uses the idea of a directory which may contain any number of files, but may also contain other directories (usually referred to as “subdirectories”). The outermost directory is called the root directory, because the whole collection can be drawn as a tree with the files as leaves, the subdirectories as branches, and the root directory as the, uh, root.
Histology the branch of biology which studies the kinds of cells and tissues (groups of cells) in an organism, including its physical features and properties, and its relation to other such entities, as well as its origin, functions, and purpose in its anatomical site within the system of the living being.
Home the main computer of the Home Cluster, which manages all transport of information to or from the Field. The primary program running on Home is called Pump.
Home Cluster all the machinery located at Headquarters involved in accomplishing the work of our example.
Inserter a piece of electronic equipment built from a computer, large hard drive, from one to eight “playback” devices, and other components, all treated as a singular entity. It has a “name” which identifies the computer within the networks on which it communicates. The two programs which run on an inserter are Ferry (which does transport) and Engine (which does the actual insertion). An inserter is located at a specific headend in the Field.
Juvenal Delinquent one who (like your author) has neglected the reading of the classical writers, and is struggling to catch up.
Leaf in our example, an inserterwhich is not a portal; it can communicate only with the portal, which handles all communications with the Home Cluster for the machines of that headend.
Local Spot a commercial which is intended to be played only within a certain geographical area. It is inserted into the national feed, thereby suppressing the national spot which would otherwise be visible at that time. A typical network might permit one minute of such spots twice in each hour of the day, thus each day there are usually 96 opportunities to play a 30 second spot for local or regional businesses.
Log a record made by the inserter stating what spot it played, the network, the date and time, and the success or failure of the playback. The logs enable the billing of customers for the service of playing their spots as requested. (Obviously if a spot fails to play, they cannot be billed.)
Master Library At Headquarters, a computer with very large-capacity hard disks which stores the encoded spots until they are needed to be transported. It is just a large, fancy storage device for spots in their electronic form.
Mater et Magistra encyclical (1961) by Pope John XXIII; it uses the term “principle of subsidiary function” in referring to Pius XI’s Quadragesimo Anno.
Monitoring someone from the Operations Department periodically checks the state of the various machines, both those at Headquarters and those in the Field.
MPEG [acronym for Motion Picture Engineering Group] In our example, a synonym for a TV commercial, but one which is now encoded into a computerized form (called “MPEG-2”), and identified with a spot ID (its “file name”) for use throughout our equipment. A typical 30-second spot takes up about 20 megabytes in MPEG-2.
National Feed the actual programming – both shows and commercials – which come directly from a national cable TV network. No local or regional spots will ever be seen on such a feed, as these must be inserted locally, and the national feed is the same across the nation.
National Spot the commercials which play nationally on the various cable TV networks. These are usually for large businesses or organizations which are nationwide in their availability or coverage. Generally, a cable TV network permits local cable companies to override some national spots with local spots: thus local or regional businesses can buy advertising on such channels.
Nemo dat qui non habet (Latin; a Watcher slogan) “Nobody gives what he does not have.” This epigram of scholastic philosophy is the motto of the transport machinery: for example, Pump can only transport spots which are already in the Spot Library.
Nerve a pathway within a living body through which sensory information or muscular control is transported.
Network There are two uses of this term. When referring to television, a network means a “channel” or “station” which governs its own shows. When referring to computers, a network means a means by which two or more computers may communicate with each other. Loosely speaking, the Internet is a public form of a network, but computers can be linked by a network without having any association with the Internet.
Operating System a special kind of computer program which runs continuously; its purpose is to permit the computer to be useful by a user or by other programs; it simplifies complex duties such as control of memory, disks and other devices, and including the use of the computer itself.
Operations the department which performs encoding (conversion of tapes to MPEG) and monitoring of the machinery of both the Home Cluster and the Field. This department is a 24/7 operation, that is, someone is always on duty in the Control Room.
Pacem in Terris an encyclical (1963) by Pope John XXIII; it was the first to use the term “subsidiarity” (in paragraph 140).
Playback device in older inserters, the spots were played back by VTRs or VCRs under computer control, so the spots had to be storeed on magnetic media, and transport was by hand. In more recent inserters, the playback device is a special component within a computer which has inputs and outputs for both audio and video; the spots are delivered and played in a digital form such as MPEG.
Portal [Latin porta = door or gate] the single inserter in a headend which is able to communicate with the Home Cluster; it handles the communications for all the other inserters (leaves) in that headend.
Production Machinery this term distinguishes the machinery being actively used in the direct accomplishment of the company goals, rather than equipment which is being developed or tested, or other company machinery common to any business which is used in the normal activities of running business (calculators, computers used by accounting or finance, for secretarial or management tasks, and so forth).
Program A computer program is a series of special instructions which makes the computer work in a particular way, just as a music roll causes a player piano to perform a particular piece of music. Some of the instructions are “conditional”: they are to be performed only in certain circumstances or at certain times.
Pump A computer program running on the main transport computer (called Home) at Headquarters. It manages the transport of files going out to the Field, including schedules and MPEGs, and receives files coming from the Field, including logs and requests for needed spots.
Quadragesimo Anno The encyclical (1931) by Pope Pius XI commemorating the fortieth anniversary of Rerum Novarum; it contains the first (negative) formulation of the principle of subsidiarity.
Quidquid recipitur in modum recipientis recipitur (Latin; a Watcher slogan) “Whatever is received is received according to the mode of the receiver ” This is an aphorism from scholastic philosophy.
Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes? (Latin; a Watcher slogan) “Who Watches the Watchers Themselves?” This famous epigram from Juvenal’s Satire VI, written in the first century A.D., points out the dilemma of the monitoring function.
Rerum Novarum The encyclical (1891) by Pope Leo XIII, the first of the so-called modern social teaching documents of the Roman Catholic Church.
Sales Rep (for Sales Representative) a member of the Ad Sales department, who deals with customers wishing to have their TV commercials played.
Satellite a “man-made moon” which is a piece of electronic equipment placed into geosynchronous orbit to serve as a kind of high-tech mirror: it permits certain kinds of radio signals to reach a much wider area than would otherwise be possible.
Schedule a list of instructions given to the Engine running on an inserter. It specifies the following items:(a) what headend and date it is for; (b) what network it is for; (c) details which specify a time interval and the spots to be played when a cuetone is received during that interval.
Scholastic Philosophy The philosophy brought to a high level of development in Europe during the 12th-13th centuries, exemplified by the work of St. Thomas Aquinas. As Chesterton said, “I revert to the doctrinal methods of the thirteenth century, inspired by the general hope of getting something done.” [Heretics CW1:46] People were surprised to learn that this is how we got things done at work, and the results were quite satisfactory.
Society [from a Latin root meaning to follow] Loosely, any collection of human beings.
Spot a term referring to a particular TV commercial, usually in its “encoded” or computer form, and known by a “spot identifier” code, permitting that commercial to be referenced in a schedule or in a log. A typical spot is 30 seconds in length.
Spot ID a code name assigned by Traffic to a spot, permitting reference to that spot in schedules and logs. Once the spot has been encoded, the spot ID is used as the file name to enable storage, transport, and playback of that spot.
State in the encyclicals and other “social teaching” documents, the highest, comprehensive social organization of humans: at times it can mean a country, its government, or the collective power of its citizens, however it may be arranged or formulated.
Subsidiarity [from a Latin military term meaning the third line of soldiers, who assist and support the principal lines.] The common-sense principle of order and right relation between members and groups of a human social group, or, by extension, any system of cooperating entities.
Subtree the collection of inserters at a given location: one inserter, called the Portal, can communicate with Home by satellite; the others, called the leaves, can communicate with the portal by network.
System [from Greek roots meaning “placed together”] Broadly, any organised collection of entities, grouped together by some rational purpose or order; specifically, a collection of equipment, usually computers, working together to accomplish a task or solve a problem. Sometimes short for “Operating System.” In anatomy, a collection of related organs, or parts of a living being which work together to perform their function, such as the circulatory system.
Tell-tale A signal light (or an equivalent symbol on a computer screen), usually of different colors, which indicates the status of some component of machinery, often distant from the place where the display is located.
To-Be-Encoded List The list of spots needed somewhere in the Field which are not yet stored in the Master Library; it is generated by Pump and made visible to the Operations Department in the Control Room by Watcher.
To-Be-Sent List The list of spots needed in somewhere in the Field which are in the Master Library and are to be sent by Pump to the Portals requesting them; it is it is generated by Pump and made visible to the Operations Department in the Control Room by Watcher.
Traffic Department (also called Traffic) A department which performs the following tasks (1) receive tapes from customers and assign spot identifiers to them for scheduling (2) produce schedules which instruct the machinery as to what spots to play on what networks at what times and in what locations (3) process the logs returned from the Field which provide the information for billing of the customers.
Traffic & Billing (or T&B) A computer program used by the Traffic Department which (1) produces the schedules from requests made by customers, and (2) produces the bills from the logs returned from the Field.
Transport The delivery of files (primarily spots, schedules, and logs) between the equipment at Headquarters and the equipment in the Field.
Tree In the branch of mathematics called “graph theory,” a tree is an abstract object based on a collection of entities called nodes which are related to each other in pairs as parent and child, subject to the following restrictions: (1) no node has more than one parent (2) only one node, called the “root,” has no parent (3) there is no “cycle” – a path linking a node back to itself (4) there is a path leading from every node to the root (the graph is “connected”). In computer science, a tree is a representation of a mathematical tree, usually stored within memory; there are a large variety of specialized forms, each of which have its own special properties and uses. One common form is the “hierarchical file system” in use on various operating systems, which has a directory called the root (written as “c:\”); it can contain files or sub-directories; the sub-directories can also contain files or sub-directories, and so on.
Vein A blood vessel within which blood flows towards the heart. (Though there is also a large blood vessel going from the digestive system to the liver which is called the portal vein; no pun intended.)
VSAT [Very Small Aperture Terminal] A bi-directional (two-way) communications technique by which communications from one geographical location to a number of wide-spread locations is made by means of a satellite.
VTR [Video Tape Recorder] A device similar to the VCR (Video Cassette Recorder) which plays back or records video and audio by means of magnetic media (tape). Such tapes are frequently protected within a larger or smaller plastic package (a cassette), and the terms are often interchangable. For ad insertion, the major activity is playback, as this is an essential part of the encoding operation. In that operation, the VTR is actually controlled by a computer as the video and audio are converted to electronic forms.
Watcher The computer program used by the Operations Department to perform monitoring. Watcher is continuously visible in the Control Room and shows by colored dots (“tell-tales”) the status of the various machines in the Field, as well as those of the Home Cluster; it also shows the current “To-Be-Encoded” and “To-Be-Sent”lists produced by Pump.
Window In a schedule arranged by the Traffic department, an interval of time, typically an hour or more, which is specified for a given network, headend, and date, together with a list of spots for that window. If that network sends its triggering signal, or cue-tone, during that time on that date, the inserter at that headend will play those spots.
Ah. But you wonder, what is subsidiarity? And what does that big satellite transmitting dish have to do with it?
