iPedia Free Information Center

Information about Ad Hoc

For the human rights organization, see .
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase which means "for this purpose". It generally signifies a solution that has been custom designed for a specific problem, is non-generalizable, and cannot be adapted to other purposes. Examples include a tailor-made suit, a handcrafted network protocol or a purpose-specific equation. Ad hoc can also have connotations of a makeshift solution, inadequate planning, or improvised events. In technical papers the orthography varies to AdHoc, adhoc, ad-hoc, and other derivates. Please consider when searching the term.

Ad hoc committee

One which is formed to deal with a particular issue, and disbanded after the issue is resolved. These committees provide stop gap or temporary measures to solve problems that are not resolved by ordinary processes of the organization to which the committee belongs. The GATT, for example, was controlled by an ad-hoc committee before the WTO was established.

Ad hoc computer network

Main article: Mobile ad-hoc network
ad hoc is a network connection method which is most often associated with wireless devices. The connection is established for the duration of one session and requires no base station. Instead, devices discover others within range to form a network for those computers. Devices may search for target nodes that are out of range by flooding the network with broadcasts that are forwarded by each node. Connections are possible over multiple nodes (multihop ad hoc network). Routing protocols then provide stable connections even if nodes are moving around. Sony's PlayStation Portable uses ad hoc connections for wireless multiplayer gaming, as so does the Nintendo DS (although Nintendo does not officially use the term). Technically, all of the Game Boys used this method for linking up to each other in a wired (Game Link Cable) or wireless (Game Boy Color IR Port) mode.

See IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, or ultra-wide band. The alternative is infrastructure, with a base station that manages the network for its range. The theory behind ad hoc networks falls within the Distributed Transient Network-paradigm.

The term ad hoc network can also refer to an independent basic service set (IBSS).

Ad hoc hypothesis

In philosophy and science, ad hoc often means the addition of corollary hypotheses or adjustment to a philosophical or scientific theory to save the theory from being falsified by compensating for anomalies not anticipated by the theory in its unmodified form. Philosophers and scientists are often suspicious or skeptical of theories that rely on continual, inelegant adjustments, and ad hoc hypotheses are often a characteristic of pseudoscientific subjects. See Skeptic's Dictionary: Ad hoc hypothesis. Much of scientific understanding relies on the modification of existing hypotheses or theories, but these are distinguished from ad hoc hypotheses in that the anomalies being explained propose a new means of being falsified.

Theories that have been empirically tested and rather than being confirmed they seem either to have been falsified or to require numerous ad hoc hypotheses to sustain them include applied kinesiology, astrology, biorhythms, creationism, facilitated communication, plant perception, and ESP.[1] Despite evidence contrary to the theories, adherents do not give them up. For example, ESP researchers have been known to blame the hostile thoughts of onlookers for unconsciously influencing pointer readings on sensitive instruments.

An interesting example of an ad hoc hypothesis is Albert Einstein's addition of the cosmological constant to relativity in order to allow a steady-state universe. Although he later referred to it as his "greatest blunder," it has been found to correspond quite well to the theories of dark energy.

Ad hoc pronunciation

Many reference works employ ad hoc pronunciation schemas as a way of indicating how words are pronounced. These are especially popular in U.S. published works, such as the Merriam-Webster dictionary. An example of an ad hoc pronunciation would be "DIK-shuh-nair-ee", where the capitalization shows which syllable is stressed. This is in contrast to systems such as the International Phonetic Alphabet, which attempt to put pronunciation schemes on a scientific footing, though at the cost of being indecipherable to laymen.

Critics of ad hoc schemes point out that such schemas are inherently self-referential, since they rely on the ability of the reader to already know how a large number of words are commonly pronounced. In addition, such schemas often assume a certain language, dialect or accent on the part of the reader, and due to its popularity in the US, this is very often a US accent.

As its name suggests, there is no "standard" ad hoc schema, and so examples will vary considerably according to the publication's whim. In contrast, the IPA seeks to base pronunciation solely on vocal tract configurations and on the phonemes produced, though very often neo-common simple words are used to illustrate how the IPA applies in a specific language.

Proponents of ad hoc claim that it is much easier to use than IPA, though will often concur that this is usually only because the pronunciation is already known.

Ad hoc querying

Ad hoc querying is a term in information science.

Many application software systems have an underlying database which can be accessed by only a limited number of queries and reports. Typically these are available via some sort of menu, and will have been carefully designed, pre-programmed and optimized for performance by expert programmers.

By contrast, "ad hoc" reporting systems allow the users themselves to create specific, customised queries. Typically this would be via a user-friendly GUI-based system without the need for the in-depth knowledge of SQL, or database schema that a programmer would have.

Because such reporting has the potential to severely degrade the performance of a live system, it is sometimes provided only on a regularly-refreshed copy of the "live" database. Depending on the context, such a copy might be referred to as a data warehouse and the querying as data mining.

See also

External links

This page lists direct English translations of common Latin phrases, such as veni vidi vici and et cetera. Some of the phrases are themselves translations of Greek phrases, as Greek rhetoric and literature were highly regarded in Ancient Rome when Latin rhetoric
..... Click the link for more information.
This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject.
Please help recruit one or [ improve this article] yourself. See the talk page for details.
..... Click the link for more information.
protocol is a convention or standard that controls or enables the connection, communication, and data transfer between two computing endpoints. In its simplest form, a protocol can be defined as the rules governing the syntax, semantics, and synchronization of communication.
..... Click the link for more information.
equation is a mathematical statement, in symbols, that two things are the same (or equivalent). Equations are written with an equal sign, as in
.


The equation above is an example of an equality: a proposition which states that two constants are equal.
..... Click the link for more information.
A committee is a type of small deliberative assembly that is usually subordinate to another, larger deliberative assembly. Committees often serve several different functions:

..... Click the link for more information.
World Trade Organization
Organización Mundial del Comercio
Organisation mondiale du commerce

Current members of the WTO (in green)

Formation 1 January 1995
Headquarters Geneva, Switzerland
Membership 151 member states
..... Click the link for more information.
A mobile ad-hoc network (MANet) is a kind of wireless ad-hoc network, and is a self-configuring network of mobile routers (and associated hosts) connected by wireless links – the union of which form an arbitrary topology.
..... Click the link for more information.
A mobile ad-hoc network (MANet) is a kind of wireless ad-hoc network, and is a self-configuring network of mobile routers (and associated hosts) connected by wireless links – the union of which form an arbitrary topology.
..... Click the link for more information.
JP December 12, 2004
NA March 24, 2005
KR May 2, 2005
EU September 1, 2005
AU September 1, 2005

System storage Memory Stick PRO Duo
Connectivity Wi-Fi (802.
..... Click the link for more information.
Nintendo DS (sometimes abbreviated NDS or DS) is a handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in 2004 in Canada, U.S., and Japan.
..... Click the link for more information.
IEEE 802.11 is a set of standards for wireless local area network (WLAN) computer communication, developed by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee (IEEE 802) in the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz public spectrum bands.

Although the terms 802.
..... Click the link for more information.
Bluetooth is an industrial specification for wireless personal area networks (PANs). Bluetooth provides a way to connect and exchange information between devices such as mobile phones, laptops, PCs, printers, digital cameras, and video game consoles over a secure, globally
..... Click the link for more information.
Ultra-wideband (UWB, ultra-wide band, ultraband, etc.) is a radio technology that can be used for short-range high-bandwidth communications by using a large portion of the radio spectrum in a way that doesn't interfere with other more traditional 'narrow band'
..... Click the link for more information.
Infrastructure is generally structural elements that provide the framework supporting an entire structure. The term has diverse meanings in different fields, but is perhaps most widely understood to refer to roads, airports, and utilities.
..... Click the link for more information.
Distributed Transient Network (DTN) is defined as: the type of network which is inherently decentralized by nature and consists mainly of nodes which are not per se constantly a part of the network and are able to join or leave at any time at any place in the network.
..... Click the link for more information.
IBSS can mean:
  • International Bibliography of the Social Sciences
  • Independent Basic Service Set, a peer-to-peer IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN configuration that does not use an access point infrastructure

..... Click the link for more information.
Philosophy is the discipline concerned with questions of how one should live (ethics); what sorts of things exist and what are their essential natures (metaphysics); what counts as genuine knowledge (epistemology); and what are the correct principles of reasoning (logic).
..... Click the link for more information.
Science (from the Latin scientia, 'knowledge'), in the broadest sense, refers to any systematic knowledge or practice.[1] Examples of the broader use included political science and computer science, which are not incorrectly named, but rather named according to
..... Click the link for more information.
Falsifiability (or refutability or testability) is the logical possibility that an assertion can be shown false by an observation or a physical experiment. That something is "falsifiable" does not mean it is false; rather, it means that it is capable of being
..... Click the link for more information.
Anomaly may refer to:

Astronomy

  • Eccentric anomaly, the angle between the direction of periapsis and the current position of an object on its orbit
  • Flyby anomaly, an unexpected energy increase during Earth flybys of satellites

..... Click the link for more information.
Pseudoscience is any body of knowledge, methodology, belief, or practice that claims to be scientific or is made to appear scientific, but does not adhere to the basic requirements of the scientific method.
..... Click the link for more information.
Applied Kinesiology (AK) is a controversial method of medical diagnosis. It purportedly gives feedback on the functional status of the body. Proponents say that when properly applied, the outcome of an AK test, such as a muscle strength test, will provide for a low risk diagnostic
..... Click the link for more information.
Astrology (from Greek: αστήρ, αστρός (astér, astrós), "star", and λόγος, λόγου (lógos, lógou), "word" or "speech" lit.
..... Click the link for more information.
A biorhythm is a hypothetical cyclic pattern of alterations in physiology, emotions, and/or intellect. "Bio" pertains to life and "rhythm" pertains to the flow with regular movement.
..... Click the link for more information.
Creationism is a religious belief that humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe were created in their original form by a deity or deities (often the Abrahamic God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam), whose existence is presupposed.
..... Click the link for more information.
This article or section reads like a and may need a .
Please help [ to improve this article] to make it in tone and meet Wikipedia's . (talk, , )
Facilitated communication (FC) is an augmentative communication strategy, that is, a communication strategy used by people
..... Click the link for more information.
Plant perception, or biocommunication in plant cells, has come to mean a belief that plants are sentient, that they experience pain, pleasure, or emotions such as fear and affection, and that they have the ability to communicate with humans and other forms of life in a
..... Click the link for more information.
Extra-Sensory Perception (ESP) is defined as ability to acquire information by paranormal means independent of any known physical senses or deduction from previous experience. The term was coined by Duke University researcher J. B.
..... Click the link for more information.
Editing of this page by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled due to vandalism.
If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or .
..... Click the link for more information.
In physical cosmology, the cosmological constant (usually denoted by the Greek capital letter lambda: Λ) was proposed by Albert Einstein as a modification of his original theory of general relativity to achieve a stationary universe.
..... Click the link for more information.


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
Herod_Archelaus


page counter