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Ch. 1: Terminology
[^] Chapter Outlines
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Ch. 2: User Interface>>
  1. Computer Terminology.
    1. Every field has specialized language.
      1. Not just computers: law, medicine, fine arts, sociology, sports, automotive mechanics, . . . Everyone has jargon!
      2. Distills the experts' thinking.
      3. Simplifies communication.
    2. Important for understanding.
      1. To listen to lectures and to read the book.
      2. To ask the questions you need to ask.
      3. To build the mental categories that created the terms in the first place.



  2. Computer Components and Organization
    1. Component v. Monolithic. Cables
    2. Monitor.
      1. Display types:
        1. Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT)
        2. Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD)
      2. Pixels: Picture Elements.
        1. Screen is an array of dots.
        2. Each dot has a color.
      3. Colors: Red, Green, Blue.
        1. Each pixel has these three components.
        2. Primary colors: Additive combination.
      4. Display Content.
        1. Buttons are displayed on the bitmap.
        2. When the mouse moves, the display is changed.
        3. The computer locates mouse clicks by row and column.
    3. Motherboard or Main board.
      1. Inside the box of a component system.
      2. Contains CPU, memory, expansion slots, and other devices.
        Printed Circuit Board
      3. Everything is connected to the motherboard.
      4. The pictured board is empty; a working computer will have many things mounted on the mainboard.
    4. Microprocessor CPU.
      1. The main brains: Controls everything.
      2. “Micro” is obsolete.
    5. Memory
      1. Stores programs being run and the data they are using.
      2. Random-Access Memory (RAM).
      3. Sequential access: VCR; Random access: DVD.
      4. Volatile: Forgets without power.
    6. Hard Disk:
      1. Longer-term storage of data and programs.
      2. Non-volatile: Can remember without power.
      3. Files reside on disk.
        1. Opening a document copies from disk to memory.
        2. Saving a document copies from memory to disk.
      4. Construction
        1. Disks of magnetic material. Constantly spin.
        2. Read/write head moves across the surface.
        3. Information recorded in concentric tracks.
      5. Flash Drives.
        1. Non-volatile electronic storage.
        2. No moving parts, but still wear out.
  3. Software
    1. Collective term for programs.
    2. A program is a series of instructions which cause the computer to perform some useful work.
    3. System and Application software.
    4. Algorithm: The order steps to accomplish something.
      1. Long division.
      2. Instructions to assemble that bookshelf.
      3. The solution to that triangle peg puzzle they have at Cracker Barrel.
    5. Program: The expression of an algorithm in a language which can be executed by a computer.
    6. Execution
      1. A computer executes a program.
      2. Only a program in memory can be run.
      3. Programs on disk must be copied in first.
    7. Booting.
      1. From “pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps.”
      2. When first turned on, there is no program in memory.
      3. Booting initially loads the O/S into memory.
      4. Starts with instructions in ROM.
  4. Words for Ideas
    1. Abstract: Extract the fundamental idea.
      1. The moral to the story: Does the Prodigal Son need a name?
      2. If something is a “hardware store” what do you know about it?
    2. Generalize: Find similarities to summarize multiple things.
      1. Bolts, faucets, jar lids, volume controls: Same directions.
      2. Spelling rules: I before E...
      3. Allows us to apply experience from one area in another.
    3. Operationally Attuned: If you know how something works, you can figure out how to use it.
    4. Mnemonic: A rule to remind you.
      1. Empty Garbage Before Dad Flips. (Notes)
      2. Gentiles Eat Pork Chops. (Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians)
      3. Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosy.
  5. Improvement
    1. Factor of Improvement: new ÷ old
    2. Percentage Improvement: 100 × (new - old) ÷ old
    3. Airplane speed: 2200/10 = 220; 100 × (2200-10) ÷ 10 = 21900% improvement.
    4. Computer speed: PC a factor of 10,000 over UNIVAC I.
      100,000 to a billion adds/sec.
    5. Super computers are faster. IBM BlueGene/L: 280.6 TFLOPS:
      1. At least 2.8 billion factor over UNIVAC.
      2. Really more: FLOP more work than an add.
    6. Top 500 List.
Ch. 2: User Interface>>