ROM is another type of memory, as I've mentioned before it is Read Only Memory, which means you cannot edit it and you can only read the already stored information. A CD (Compact Disc) ROM is a very common example of this.
CD ROM
A CD can store up to 700 MB of information in it's own unique form. As you know the computer can only understand the binary system made up of 0's and 1's so we need a way to identify these on the surface of a CD. First of all we need to know what a CD is made of. A CD is made up of 3 layers, the thin paper layer, the metallic layer and the plastic layer. The actual information is stored on the metallic layer, either as a bump or a pit on the surface. A bump or pit tells the difference between a 0 or a 1 and when this information is read by the laser inside the CD Drive, the computer can easily read the information stored on the CD.
Caution: Be careful not to scratch your CD or to use an acidic type marker while writing on the front, this could damage the information stored on the CD. If you do end up with some dents or scratches you can try rubbing across them from the middle outward using toothpaste, try this at your own risk!
Another way to store information is via floppy disk. Floppy disks are not as efficient or as common as CD's but are still perfectly fine to use today.
Lastly if you need to attach an CD Drive or Floppy Drive to your existing computer, you need a cable that will go from the drive to the motherboard.
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Moju-what did you say?
Recently we also learned about Modems, I found this to be separated from most of the things that we were talking about so I'm putting it in it's own entry.
Modem (Modulator- demodulator)
A modem is what connects you to the internet. In the past most modems were connected to a phone line and dial-up internet was the most common and convenient way to use internet. Nowadays, things have improved and we have high-speed internet, and many other options to choose from. A modem connects to your computer and in turn connects your computer to the internet.
Modem (Modulator- demodulator)
A modem is what connects you to the internet. In the past most modems were connected to a phone line and dial-up internet was the most common and convenient way to use internet. Nowadays, things have improved and we have high-speed internet, and many other options to choose from. A modem connects to your computer and in turn connects your computer to the internet.
Processor my slave, I bring you good news...
That poor processor....sitting inside, doing all that work. If there was only something to take the load off it, and there is! Sound cards and video cards do their share of work and take some work away from the processor. The sound card is made in charge of all the sounds a computer makes, and the video card takes care of any visual aspect of the computer.
Sound Cards
Sound cards are now sold built-in. They already come with your computer, however if you would like to purchase a new card you should keep in mind what your needs are. There's no point in spending a whole lot of money on a sound card that has lots of features you won't need/use. Sound cards process digital signals and turn them into sound.
Video Cards
Video cards, like sound cards, give the processor a bit of a break. The video card is in charge of any image that shows up on your screen, it is responsible for receiving digital signals and accurately painting the picture onto your screen for you to see. A good video card is very important if you're going to be playing a lot of video games, if you just want to use the computer for e-mail, then you don't really need a good video card. Just like a sound card, you have to make sure that the card fits your needs, if you choose to buy a new one.
Slots
If you do choose to buy a new Video Card or Sound Card, you need to make sure that you can fix it to your motherboard. There are 3 types of slots in which you need to pay attention to, the slot your card needs will vary with the manufacturer, and features of the card. The 3 main slots today are PCI(Peripheral Component Interconnect), PCI Express and AGP(Accelerated Graphics Port). Most computers today will have at least one of each of these slots on their motherboard.
Sound Cards
Sound cards are now sold built-in. They already come with your computer, however if you would like to purchase a new card you should keep in mind what your needs are. There's no point in spending a whole lot of money on a sound card that has lots of features you won't need/use. Sound cards process digital signals and turn them into sound.
Video Cards
Video cards, like sound cards, give the processor a bit of a break. The video card is in charge of any image that shows up on your screen, it is responsible for receiving digital signals and accurately painting the picture onto your screen for you to see. A good video card is very important if you're going to be playing a lot of video games, if you just want to use the computer for e-mail, then you don't really need a good video card. Just like a sound card, you have to make sure that the card fits your needs, if you choose to buy a new one.
Slots
If you do choose to buy a new Video Card or Sound Card, you need to make sure that you can fix it to your motherboard. There are 3 types of slots in which you need to pay attention to, the slot your card needs will vary with the manufacturer, and features of the card. The 3 main slots today are PCI(Peripheral Component Interconnect), PCI Express and AGP(Accelerated Graphics Port). Most computers today will have at least one of each of these slots on their motherboard.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
The Computer Parts Brigade
In my last entry I explained what system the computer uses to operate. Today I'd like to discuss the different aspects and parts of a computer that help it use this system and make it able to be useful to us today.
Motherboard
The motherboard is like the control base of the computer, it holds all the different parts of the computer on it. Everything connects to the motherboard and the motherboard is what enables the part to perform it's function.
Computer Processing Unit (CPU)
The CPU is one of the many parts connected to the Motherboard. It is the brain of the computer. All signals are sent to the CPU or the Processor in order to be analyzed by the computer and changed into binary (refer to previous entry). Every action goes through the CPU before it is carried out. The Processor, is really just a small chip, amazing how it can do so much!
BIOS
The BIOS is another tiny object on the motherboard. The BIOS is a very key part of your computer because the computer forgets everything once it's turned off. The BIOS reminds the computer about what to do when you start it up. Without your BIOS your computer can't start and therefore it can't do anything after that. The BIOS is a form of ROM (Read Only Memory), and you cannot write to the BIOS.
After that we have the ways to store and access information. To do this you need some place to save your data and something else to open it up again.
Hard Disk
The Hard Disk is what we save all our data to. So if you save a file it is saved onto your hard disk. The Hard Disk just stores information so you can access it later on, but you need something else in order to open up the file later on.
RAM (Random Access Memory)
RAM is what enables your computer to open files while the computer is functioning. To understand this better we looked at the Hard Disk as a bookshelf and the RAM as a table. The Hard Disk holds all the information but you cannot use the bookshelf to read any of the information. To use this data you bring it over to the table and look at it over there. So the RAM is your table. The bigger table you have the more books you can put on it, the RAM works the same way, the more you have of it, the more files and applications you can have running at the same time. The RAM forgets everything once you shut the computer off so it's important to save all your information, just like placing books back on a bookshelf. RAM has been growing since it was first invented, the average computer now has 1GB of RAM, and the possibilities ahead of this are endless.
Motherboard
The motherboard is like the control base of the computer, it holds all the different parts of the computer on it. Everything connects to the motherboard and the motherboard is what enables the part to perform it's function.
Computer Processing Unit (CPU)
The CPU is one of the many parts connected to the Motherboard. It is the brain of the computer. All signals are sent to the CPU or the Processor in order to be analyzed by the computer and changed into binary (refer to previous entry). Every action goes through the CPU before it is carried out. The Processor, is really just a small chip, amazing how it can do so much!
BIOS
The BIOS is another tiny object on the motherboard. The BIOS is a very key part of your computer because the computer forgets everything once it's turned off. The BIOS reminds the computer about what to do when you start it up. Without your BIOS your computer can't start and therefore it can't do anything after that. The BIOS is a form of ROM (Read Only Memory), and you cannot write to the BIOS.
After that we have the ways to store and access information. To do this you need some place to save your data and something else to open it up again.
Hard Disk
The Hard Disk is what we save all our data to. So if you save a file it is saved onto your hard disk. The Hard Disk just stores information so you can access it later on, but you need something else in order to open up the file later on.
RAM (Random Access Memory)
RAM is what enables your computer to open files while the computer is functioning. To understand this better we looked at the Hard Disk as a bookshelf and the RAM as a table. The Hard Disk holds all the information but you cannot use the bookshelf to read any of the information. To use this data you bring it over to the table and look at it over there. So the RAM is your table. The bigger table you have the more books you can put on it, the RAM works the same way, the more you have of it, the more files and applications you can have running at the same time. The RAM forgets everything once you shut the computer off so it's important to save all your information, just like placing books back on a bookshelf. RAM has been growing since it was first invented, the average computer now has 1GB of RAM, and the possibilities ahead of this are endless.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Computers? Those are ancient!
The first computer was invented in the 20th century right?...WRONG! Computers have been around for much longer than you'd guess, I realized that in today's class. To understand this better I first have to define a computer. A computer is any device that can take in information, process this information and give you back information in return. So basically, a lot of things can be a computer, but the term is more widely used for the digital computers we use today. We were given an example of an early computer; an abacus. Another example of a computer is the flight computer, which consists of wheels and sliders that help you come across an answer to a mathematical problem you arrange on the device.
The digital computers we use today consist of output and input devices. Input devices help us put information into the computer, and output devices that give us feedback/results from the data we put in.
Examples of Input Devices:
- Mouse
- Keyboard
- Graphic Tablet
- Camera
Examples of Output Devices:
- Monitor
- Printer
- Speakers
With the help of these devices you can send the computer data and receive some sort of feedback in the form of more information. But the computer can only understand and process to things, these are the numbers 0 and 1. How does it perform all those functions then?!
Binary Digit System and Base 10 System
The computer is based on a binary digit system, or a base 2 system. This means that there are only two digits in the system: 0 and 1. With 0 and 1, you can turn things on and off. Those, however, are still only 2 functions.
In everyday lives we use the base 10 system, which has 10 digits. These 10 digits were first chosen because we have 8 fingers and 2 thumbs on our hands, that makes up 10. The digits this system consists of are, you guessed it, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 0.
Both these systems are based on the same principle, and that is a place value system. In the base 10 system we have 10 digits, which is the reason why the place values grow by multiplying by 10.
This example shows the base 10 system and how it represents numbers. The number 20 is used as an example, to form 20 you would need 2 10's, which is why 2 is in the 10's place value column. There are 0 1's needed for this, thus the place value below 10 (1) has a 0 in it's column.
The Binary Digit System works in the same way, but the place values grow by multiplying by 2 since there are two digits. So there is an endless amount of possibilities of numbers that the computer can create to represent different things. Every action you take sends a stream of 0's and 1's to the processor and the information is returned to you as what the 0's and 1's represent. So when you press the "A" key or any other key, the computer is not recieving the letter "A", the computer recieves a number value that represents that key.
The example below shows how the number 20 would be represented by the binary digit system. Since the highest place value you can go to b efore going above 20 is 16 a 1 is placed there. Now we have 16 we need 4 more to make up 20. 8 is too much so a 0 is placed there. 4 is what we need so there's a 1 and the 2 before it is also not needed so a 0 is placed there as well
This is basically how the binary digit system works. The computer functions on this system.
The digital computers we use today consist of output and input devices. Input devices help us put information into the computer, and output devices that give us feedback/results from the data we put in.
Examples of Input Devices:
- Mouse
- Keyboard
- Graphic Tablet
- Camera
Examples of Output Devices:
- Monitor
- Printer
- Speakers
With the help of these devices you can send the computer data and receive some sort of feedback in the form of more information. But the computer can only understand and process to things, these are the numbers 0 and 1. How does it perform all those functions then?!
Binary Digit System and Base 10 System
The computer is based on a binary digit system, or a base 2 system. This means that there are only two digits in the system: 0 and 1. With 0 and 1, you can turn things on and off. Those, however, are still only 2 functions.
In everyday lives we use the base 10 system, which has 10 digits. These 10 digits were first chosen because we have 8 fingers and 2 thumbs on our hands, that makes up 10. The digits this system consists of are, you guessed it, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 0.
Both these systems are based on the same principle, and that is a place value system. In the base 10 system we have 10 digits, which is the reason why the place values grow by multiplying by 10.
This example shows the base 10 system and how it represents numbers. The number 20 is used as an example, to form 20 you would need 2 10's, which is why 2 is in the 10's place value column. There are 0 1's needed for this, thus the place value below 10 (1) has a 0 in it's column.
The Binary Digit System works in the same way, but the place values grow by multiplying by 2 since there are two digits. So there is an endless amount of possibilities of numbers that the computer can create to represent different things. Every action you take sends a stream of 0's and 1's to the processor and the information is returned to you as what the 0's and 1's represent. So when you press the "A" key or any other key, the computer is not recieving the letter "A", the computer recieves a number value that represents that key.
The example below shows how the number 20 would be represented by the binary digit system. Since the highest place value you can go to b efore going above 20 is 16 a 1 is placed there. Now we have 16 we need 4 more to make up 20. 8 is too much so a 0 is placed there. 4 is what we need so there's a 1 and the 2 before it is also not needed so a 0 is placed there as well
This is basically how the binary digit system works. The computer functions on this system.
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Hardware Gone Haywire
For the last few days we've all been working on our presentations on hardware (refer to last post). Today we finished up with everybody's presentations and I learned quite a few new things. Just to name a few, I didn't know that there was a keyboard called the "Dvorak". From my classmates' presentation I learned that this is another concept for a keyboard, and it is divided into keys that are often used and those that aren't. These groups of keys are placed on either side of the keyboard. I also learned about how an optical mouse works, I was always unsure about that and now I know!
Aside from that our lesson today was mainly about monitors, which weren't covered by any of the group projects that were assigned.
Aside from that our lesson today was mainly about monitors, which weren't covered by any of the group projects that were assigned.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
One door closes, three more open. [Assignment time!]
All good things come to an end, and our relaxing week is over. We got our first assignment and different people in the class will be researching a variety of hardware. We're set up to work in groups of two or three and my group will be preparing a presentation on the "Hard Drive". When you use a computer you access, use, edit and store a lot of information, but after you shut down the computer the computer forgets everything. So where does it all go? The Hard Drive of Hard Disk is where it ends up, saved on the many round platters that it consists of. The goal of our project is to convey the method in which this data transfer happens in a simple and easy to understand manner.
So far we've decided how we want to set up our project. We'll be using the following 6 categories:
-Introduction
- Computers are made of many different parts, one of them is the hard drive.
- Today we'll be helping you understand your hard drive and how it works.
-Purpose
- The hard drive is used to store and access information on the computer.
- The computer would be unable to hold any data without it.
-History
- Invented in 1950's
- Invented by Reynold Johnson
- Starting with a size of 20 inches and diameter
- Only able to store a few megabytes
- First called 'fixed disks' or 'Winchesters'
-How it functions
This part of our notes can be found at Eternix's Blog
-Conclusion
-Bibliography
- www.howstuffworks.com
- www.wikipedia.org
We've completed our project successfully, and hope that we'll get a good mark! (Psst, we worked really hard)
So far we've decided how we want to set up our project. We'll be using the following 6 categories:
-Introduction
- Computers are made of many different parts, one of them is the hard drive.
- Today we'll be helping you understand your hard drive and how it works.
-Purpose
- The hard drive is used to store and access information on the computer.
- The computer would be unable to hold any data without it.
-History
- Invented in 1950's
- Invented by Reynold Johnson
- Starting with a size of 20 inches and diameter
- Only able to store a few megabytes
- First called 'fixed disks' or 'Winchesters'
-How it functions
This part of our notes can be found at Eternix's Blog
-Conclusion
-Bibliography
- www.howstuffworks.com
- www.wikipedia.org
We've completed our project successfully, and hope that we'll get a good mark! (Psst, we worked really hard)
Friday, September 08, 2006
Communication Via E-mail
E-mail, we all use it. It's a very popular and growing form of communication for all people. Professionals, organizations and just average people all use e-mail to make their busy lives more convenient. However, misusing e-mail can be a problem and that's what we learned about today in class. These are a few things we talked about...
E-mail Accounts:
There are two types of e-mail accounts.
1) Web-mail -- Allows you to access your e-mail messages via internet (Example: Gmail www.gmail.com)
2) Pop3-- E-mail messages are downloaded to your computer and accessible from there (Example: Outlook Express)
How to send an e-mail:
After you have an e-mail account, you can start sending e-mails. In most cases you have to click the 'compose' button which will take you to a page where you may enter your message and further information. On this page you will find 4 fields at the top, these are:
1) To -- This is where you put the e-mail address of the person you wish to send the e-mail to.
2) CC (Carbon Copy) -- This is to enter addresses of the person or people you wish to send a copy of the e-mail to.
3) BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) -- This performs the same function as CC except it makes it so that the person who is initially recieving the mssage cannot see who a copy was sent to. This function should be used with caution.
4) Subject -- This is where you enter the subject or title of your e-mail. To use this efficiently, subjects should be clearly relevant to the message contained in the e-mail.
Lastly there is an empty field where you put in a message. After that you're ready to click send and off goes your e-mail! But wait...there is still more you can do, if you would like to send a file or a document to someone via e-mail it is sent as an attachment. To attach a file you simply click the 'attach' button and then find the file you want. It is very important to click attach file or a similar button, or else the file will not be attached. After you have performed this, you can send your e-mail, or attach another file.
There are a lot of e-mails that can end up in your inbox which you don't want. These e-mails are usually advertisements, viruses, chainletters or other forms of e-mail that are useless and maybe even harmful to you. These messages should be reported as spam, which is why it is very important to choose an e-mail service that has a spam filter. Once you mark an e-mail as spam, e-mails from the same address and/or subject line will be sent to a separate folder.
Of course there will still be e-mails that you do enjoy reading. If you recieve an e-mail that you find interesting or worth reading and would like to send it to a friend you can 'forward' it. Forwarding an e-mail means you're passing on the e-mail to someone else. You can do this by clicking the 'forward' command button (or something similiar) and putting in the address(es) of those who you wish to send it to. This too has a downside however, this is the reason why chainletters exist, thank goodness you know all about spam filters already! (If you don't it means you skimmed, go back and read it!)
That's all for today, I'll be back next time with more .
E-mail Accounts:
There are two types of e-mail accounts.
1) Web-mail -- Allows you to access your e-mail messages via internet (Example: Gmail www.gmail.com)
2) Pop3-- E-mail messages are downloaded to your computer and accessible from there (Example: Outlook Express)
How to send an e-mail:
After you have an e-mail account, you can start sending e-mails. In most cases you have to click the 'compose' button which will take you to a page where you may enter your message and further information. On this page you will find 4 fields at the top, these are:
1) To -- This is where you put the e-mail address of the person you wish to send the e-mail to.
2) CC (Carbon Copy) -- This is to enter addresses of the person or people you wish to send a copy of the e-mail to.
3) BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) -- This performs the same function as CC except it makes it so that the person who is initially recieving the mssage cannot see who a copy was sent to. This function should be used with caution.
4) Subject -- This is where you enter the subject or title of your e-mail. To use this efficiently, subjects should be clearly relevant to the message contained in the e-mail.
Lastly there is an empty field where you put in a message. After that you're ready to click send and off goes your e-mail! But wait...there is still more you can do, if you would like to send a file or a document to someone via e-mail it is sent as an attachment. To attach a file you simply click the 'attach' button and then find the file you want. It is very important to click attach file or a similar button, or else the file will not be attached. After you have performed this, you can send your e-mail, or attach another file.
There are a lot of e-mails that can end up in your inbox which you don't want. These e-mails are usually advertisements, viruses, chainletters or other forms of e-mail that are useless and maybe even harmful to you. These messages should be reported as spam, which is why it is very important to choose an e-mail service that has a spam filter. Once you mark an e-mail as spam, e-mails from the same address and/or subject line will be sent to a separate folder.
Of course there will still be e-mails that you do enjoy reading. If you recieve an e-mail that you find interesting or worth reading and would like to send it to a friend you can 'forward' it. Forwarding an e-mail means you're passing on the e-mail to someone else. You can do this by clicking the 'forward' command button (or something similiar) and putting in the address(es) of those who you wish to send it to. This too has a downside however, this is the reason why chainletters exist, thank goodness you know all about spam filters already! (If you don't it means you skimmed, go back and read it!)
That's all for today, I'll be back next time with more .
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Introductions...
Hi,
This is going to be my first post, in my blog. Mostly we're going to use this as a notebook for our Information Technology class. I think that's already saying a bit about me to start with. I like information (I think) and I like technology. Yay! I have the perfect course. Oh there's something else about me, even though I just used the word perfect, I don't believe in anything being perfect. Unless of course whoever's marking this would like me to call them that!
Anyway I like to do a few other things as well, I like to write...A LOT. Yeah that goes as a warning if you're planning on reading what I have to say, I suggest you set aside some time. I have a lot to say about most things, but not about myself. The only other things that I'd like you to know are my major likes and dislikes.
Likes: Chocolate Ice Cream
Dislikes: The Colour Pink
(Not much but I did say major.)
Well that's it for now, I'll be posting again soon.
This is going to be my first post, in my blog. Mostly we're going to use this as a notebook for our Information Technology class. I think that's already saying a bit about me to start with. I like information (I think) and I like technology. Yay! I have the perfect course. Oh there's something else about me, even though I just used the word perfect, I don't believe in anything being perfect. Unless of course whoever's marking this would like me to call them that!
Anyway I like to do a few other things as well, I like to write...A LOT. Yeah that goes as a warning if you're planning on reading what I have to say, I suggest you set aside some time. I have a lot to say about most things, but not about myself. The only other things that I'd like you to know are my major likes and dislikes.
Likes: Chocolate Ice Cream
Dislikes: The Colour Pink
(Not much but I did say major.)
Well that's it for now, I'll be posting again soon.
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