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Christmas Jargon

Hang around this place and at first you will think we speak some sort of foreign language. We kind of do... but below is a cheat sheet explaining what the terms mean.

Amp Unit of electrical measurement and is an abbreviation for amperage. Most light decorators constantly struggle with finding enough amps to power all their lights. See Power Needs
Blog Contraction for Web Log. Think of it as an electronic diary. See more at Talk!
Blowmold Three dimension plastic figures
Brickclip A special clip that grabs the brick between mortar joints. See http://www.brickclip.com/
CDB Christmas Done Bright (http://christmasdonebright.com)
Channel Typically refers to one electrical circuit controlled by a computer
Chatroom Where you go to get all your questions asked. Post your question and you'll get a response soon. Goto Talk!!
Clamp-On-Meter Special ammeter with a non-invasive jaw that clamps around a single electrical conductor and will display how much current is flowing.
Cross- Posting Someone that posts the same messages in several different conferences of the PlanetChristmas forums. Don't worry, you only have to post once and the right people will see it!
Coro Shorthand for Corrugated Plastic. Just like cardboard, but plastic and weatherproof
Cutters People that like making coro or plywood cutouts for their display.
DIY Do It Yourself
DLS Digital Light Show (preprogrammed boxes sold at retail stores)
DMX Digital Multiplexing (used in theatrical lighting industry)
ES Energy Saver Lights. See Power Needs
Forums Where you go to get all your questions asked. Post your question and you'll get a response soon. Goto Talk!
GFC or GFCI Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter
Grid method to synchronize light to music based on time durations and triggers
Edison Plug The typical 115 volt plug we're all used to in the United States
Indoor Only Christmas decorations that are certified by Underwriters Laboratory to be used in dry locations only
Inflatable Those bigger-than-life decorations made of fabric brought to life by a small fan in the base of the unit
IP-65 Ingress Protection code.  We typically want ratings IP-65 through IP-68.  See more details here.
LED Light Emitting Diode. See a good description at: http://www.theledlight.com/technical1.html
Light Flurries A device using a modified mirror ball and bright light source to project beams of light on your house simulating snowfall. See Light Flurries
Light Tester Shoots a very high voltage, low current "zot" through your string of lights and will many times fix or isolate the bulb causing the problems. For more details, try a version sold by CDB by clicking here.
LOL Commonly used abbreviation in the PlanetChristmas chatroom meaning Laughing Out Loud
LOR Light-O-Rama (http://www.lightorama.com)
Lori's Lori's Lighted D'Lights (http://www.lorislighteddlites.com)
Mega-Tree Large tree made out of lights. Megatrees
MIDI Stands for "Musical Instrument Digital Interface." It is a connectivity standard that musicians use to hook together musical instruments (such as keyboards and synthesizers) and computer equipment. Using MIDI, a musician can easily create and edit digital music tracks. The MIDI system records the notes played, the length of the notes, the dynamics (volume alterations), the tempo, the instrument being played, and hundreds of other parameters, called control changes.
Mini-PLUS Regional or local gathering to talk and share our love for the Christmas season
Mini-Tree Small tree made from a tomato cage or floral easel. See Minitrees
MP3 Audio compression method popular in the personal computer world. Typically it compresses one minute of high quality audio down to about 1 megabyte of data. For a detailed definition see http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/MP3
Newbie Someone new and eager to learn more
PC PlanetChristmas
PLUS Acronym for PlanetChristmas Lights Up Symposium held annually usually the last weekend in July. Find details at www.gotoPLUS.com
PPF Plastic Pink Flamingo. This has a really strange story attached to it.
Puffers Slang for people that love inflatables. See above.
RGB Red Green Blue.  Mix these three colors to get almost any color of the rainbow.  RGB LEDs are really three small LEDS (one red, one green and one blue) in one enclosure so it looks like the bulb is changing colors on command.  See more about RGB lights.
RiteTime Nice plastic boxes sold at Home Depot in 2004 for a cheap price. Excellent for mounting computer control boards.
Ropelight Miniature lights encased in a plastic rope that attempts to look like neon. See Rope Light
SPT-1 Stranded, Parallel, Thermoplastic (lamp cord) See Wire Size
Slide-On Plug Plugs with little "teeth" that clamp through a piece of lamp cord to make electrical contact.  They have a cover you "slide-on" to force the "teeth" to penetrate the wire. They are used to create extension cords.  Also known as vampire plugs. See Vampire Plugs.
SPT-2 Like SPT-1, but heavier construction See Wire Size
SPT-3 Like SPT-2, but heavier construction See Wire Size
SSR Solid State Relay
Streaming Radio Also known as web radio, net radio, Internet radio and e-radio.  It is an audio service transmitted via the Internet instead of over the airwaves like you can pick up on your car radio.  Streaming radio can be listened on almost any computer or smartphone device connected to the Internet.  Checkout PlanetChristmas radio!
Strobes Miniature strobe lights usually wired to one length of cable and put up in a tree. See Strobes
Triac An electrical device for switching voltage on and off. See a detailed definition at http://encyclopedia.laborlawtalk.com/Triac
UK United Kingdom
USD United States Dollar
Vampire Plug Plugs with little "teeth" that clamp through a piece of lamp cord to make electrical contact. They are used to create extension cords.  Also known as slide-on plugs. See Vampire Plugs.
Wireform Heavy gauge steel formed to make unique figure you can decorate
Wireframe Heavy gauge steel formed to make unique figure you can decorate
X-10 An older generation technology allowing you to send control signals over standard electrical wires. See X-10