Tech soup: does technology terminology get you down? Here's a guide that will help you understand the latest in buzzwords, lingo and acronyms.

• Author: Stong-Michas, Jennifer

There is a program on E! called Talk Soup and it has something to do with being the reference point for talk shows. What follows can almost be considered Tech Soup-a guide to understanding some of the technology lingo that buzzes all around.

Even those who are not very technical, and those in non-technical positions, are inundated with buzzwords, lingo and acronyms.

Following are some of the common, not-so-common and up-and-coming terms you need to know (and understand) so that you can stay ahead.

3G. Third Generation. This refers to wireless technologies and 3G is the newest that is readily available in the marketplace. Products labeled as 3G are made to transmit voice and data at higher rates of speed than the other generations of wireless products and solutions.

802.11: The wireless standard that helps dictate how wireless devices operate. There are four versions, each with its own set of operational standards: 802.11,802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g.

802.16: One of the many IEEE standards for wireless technology. 802.16 allows for fixed broadband wireless access (BWA) at high rates of speed at long distances, up to 37 miles.

Blackberry: A common and popular type of wireless, portable e-mail device. Blackberries are always online since a subscription is required and they allow for users to send and receive e-mail anywhere, anytime.

Bluetooth: A type of wireless networking that operates off of a PAN. In Bluetooth, devices communicate via short-range transmissions, which means that the devices talking to one another need to be between 10 meters and 100 meters apart.

BPL: Broadband Over Power Lines. This is the newest way to receive broadband connectivity, by harnessing the power supplied by power lines.

Broadband: A high-speed transmission of voice, data and video. Cable modems and DSL are popular terms used to describe broadband and this is the next generation of dial-up access.

BWA: Broadband Wireless Access. High-speed Internet access achieved without wires. Last-mile access is also known as BWA.

Connectivity: Loosely used to describe how two devices communicate with one another. The term can be used to explain the interaction between essentially any two devices that move data back and forth.

Dial-Up: Dial-up is connectivity on demand. Using an analog modem, a user would need to manually connect to the Internet service provider by dialing into the provider via the modem, hence the term dial-up.

DSL: Digital Subscriber Line. DSL technology...