Archiving:
	The act of moving immediately accessible data from a computer to a 
storage medium, because the data has reached the system's online capacity.  
The data is still obtainable, just not in a convenient or timely fashion.  
The need for archived data rises exponentially just after archiving occurs, 
mandating costly upgrades to the online computer storage capacity.  Then the 
need precipitously plummets.

Developer:
	A term referring to an individual who writes software.  Developers are 
responsible for converting user needs into computer actions.  They generally 
deliver systems that increase costs, decrease efficiency and add complexity 
to daily activities.

Fault tolerance:
	A term that refers to the ability of computer architecture to assure 
maximum performance without failure or downtime.  It also describes the 
developers' unrealistic expectations that users will "tolerate" aberrations. 

Help Desk:
	A support system that allows a frustrated, angry user to call a convenient 
phone number that is reliably busy.  In the event the caller makes human contact, 
the degree of help delivered is inversely proportional to the user's agitation, 
and always approximates the value of the help received had the user attained a 
busy signal.

Maintenance:
	Ongoing activities that support a deployed system.  This includes bug 
fixing, code updating, training and support, and equipment repair.  Maintenance 
costs are to the cost-benefit study as the iceberg was to the Titanic.

Prototype:
	From the Greek, prot, meaning first, or primitive, this term in software 
lingo refers to several entities:	
A set of computer screens meant to demonstrate what a user might see in the end 
product, conveying the idea that the observed manipulations will ultimately 
actually cause something to happen.
Same as above, marketed to unsuspecting buyers under its synonym, product.
The first incarnation of a full-fledged system, delivered in a futile attempt to 
meet a delivery date, accompanied by an astronomically high expectation of failure.

Router:
	A programmable device that receives and sends information from one system to 
another.  It really doesn't do anything but route the information where it's 
supposed to go.  This is an important failure point in complicated information 
systems, and should be blamed for any network problems.

Speech Recognition:
	A developing technology that allows computers to record utterances and 
automatically translate them into written language.  Generally if ... you ... 
talk ... like ... this ... it ... works ... pretty ... well.  Continuous speech 
is more challenging to this technology, with syntax, grammar, homonyms, and mis-
pronunciations confounding affairs.  In domains of varied speech and unique 
verbalizations, such as a James Joyce novel, the screenplay for Dumb and Dumber, 
or a management memo, it has little utility right now.

User error:
	The term applies to the situation in which an individual using a program 
performs the most intuitive and logical action and gets a completely unexpected 
result.

User services:
	A section of most information systems departments that sets up, maintains, 
and troubleshoots computers and applications for users.  Computer technicians 
handle the significant problems, and try to diagnose them remotely for several 
hours prior to working directly on the problem computer.  Individuals in this 
role must be skilled therapists who can soothe the savage user while explaining 
some obscure licensing agreement that prohibits them from upgrading the system so 
that it functions properly.

All credit to the author, Jeffrey S. Rose for these gems.