Dongle

A device that attaches to a computer to control access to a particular application. Dongles provide the most effective means of copy protection. Typically, the dongle attaches to a PC's parallel port. On Macintoshes, the dongle sometimes attaches to the ADB port. The dongle passes through all data coming through the port so it does not prevent the port from being used for other purposes. In fact, it's possible to attach several dongles to the same port.

Not only does this computer term sound weird, it has two different meanings: One definition refers to a little hardware key that plugs into the serial port or parallel port of a computer. The purpose of it is to ensure that only authorized users can copy or use certain software applications. If you have never seen a dongle, don't be surprised. They're only used with ultra-expensive, high-end software programs that most people have never heard of, much less need to use. When the high-priced program runs, it checks the dongle for verification before continuing. If it doesn't find the dongle, the computer explodes. Well, not really -- the program usually just quits. If more than one application requires a dongle, multiple dongles using the same port can be daisy-chained together. Basically, if you ever find yourself daisy-chaining multiple dongles together, you know you must be doing pretty well in life. 2. The word "dongle" can also be used to describe the little connector that goes from a PC card in a laptop computer to an Ethernet cable. Since most PC (or PCMCIA) network interface cards are too small to connect directly to a standard RJ-45 Ethernet cable, they need to have a little adapter that connects the card to the cable. This adapter, which you probably use if you have an Ethernet card in your laptop, is called a dongle. (Some 3Com cards use an X-Jack connector, which allows the cable to connect directly to the card). As far as why the name dongle is used, I have no idea.