MISC 2223 FINAL
CRT disadvantages
1. CRT's e it a small amount of electromagnetic radiation, studies have been done and are still being done, most CRT's meet federal requirements regarding this emission but to be safe you should sit an arm's length away from your monitor, some scientists fear that too much exposure at close range could cause cancer but there is no proof so far 2. CRT's are notorious for high power consumption, the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency developed the Energy Star Program, if manufacturers of electronic equipment will build merchandise that uses less electricity they can display the Energy Star label on their goods, they also get some tax benefits for doing this so it is an incentive to adhere to the program standards
What we need to ask ourselves when we look up information on the Internet
1. who paid for this information 2. who is the source of the information 3. is it reliable
ENIAC
1946 the ENIAC computer was invented, first large-scale electronic general-purpose digital computer, weighed 30 tons had 18,000 vacuum tubes that could burn out and stop the whole computer, took up 1500 square feet of space and drew so much electricity that the first time they turned it on in Philadelphia, the lights dimmed in an entire section of the city
monitoring e-mail
75% of Fortune 500 companies monitor their employee's e-mail
Microsoft products
95% of personal computers run at least one Microsoft product
two common computer coding schemes
ASCII and EBCDIC, both 8 bit codes (means they can code 256 different characters)
CIPA Legislation
Children's Internet protection Act requires that K-12 schools and libraries in the US use Internet filters and implement other measures to protect children from harmful online content as a condition for federal funding
computer crime
Computer scamming is a huge issue now, it includes writing programs to steal credit card numbers, selling stuff online that doesn't exist, using equipment to steal bank numbers and PIN's, etc, the best safeguard against this kind of crime is awareness - just be aware of who is around you and what they are doing and keep track of your purchases and bank balance so you can report immediately if something doesn't make sense
license agreements
ECU has license agreements for the software they use, instead of purchasing individual MS Office packages, we subscribe to a license agreement with Microsoft, agreement allows us to add computers on and load the software onto them, but we have to make sure we notify Microsoft every time we extend the agreement to another machine, if the program is distributed without notifying Microsoft, it is a violation of copyright law and a federal crime
who coined the term PC or personal computer?
IBM, they wanted to distinguish their computers from others so they called theirs a PC, now the term PC means any computer compatible with IBM's original design so it has become a generic term
Halon systems at ECU
To protect our equipment from fire, ECU has Halon systems throughout campus, Halon is a substance that removes the oxygen from a room, if a fire detection system senses a fire Halon is released and the fire is extinguished without hosing the equipment with water
Casio Green Slim projector
USB port can have a jump drive inserted with your presentation and you don't need a computer to project it, small and lightweight, very sophisticated output device
file
a collection of data or information that is treated as a unit by the computer
vandalism
a computer crime that has many cases against school computers, shutting down a system is considered vandalism (can be done by overloading it with hits or other means)
E-commerce
a financial business transaction that occurs over an electronic network, used by many investors, bankers, and shoppers
cheap gas
a free app that compares prices at the nearest gas stations to your location, then gives you a map to the cheapest one
software suites
a group of individual programs that are sold as one package, Microsoft Office Suites come in many different forms and you need to be aware of this so that you get what you want
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
a multi-billion dollar organization devoted to immunizing all the children in the world, education, etc.
system clock
a small quartz crystal circuit that sets a beat for your computer to steadily work to, emits a pulse or tick to keep your computer on track, if the computer tries to go too fast- the heat will build up faster than the fan can keep it cooled off and the computer could be damaged from overheating, if it goes too slow we will throw it out the window, think of it like a metronome used with music-it sets a steady beat for you to play the piano piece
petabyte
about one quadrillion bytes
exabyte
about one quintillion bytes
yottabyte
about one septillion bytes
zettabyte
about one sextillion bytes
Discovery of the microchip
allowed scientists to place thousands of tiny electronic circuits on a sliver of silicon, revolutionized the products we could make
typo-squatting
also called URL hijacking, a form of cybersquatting (sitting on sites under someone else's brand or copyright) that targets Internet users who incorrectly type a website address into their web browser (e.g., "Gooogle.com" instead of "Google.com")
computer abuse amendments act of 1994
amended the 1984 act to make writing viruses illegal- until then it wasn't illegal to write a computer virus in the US
software piracy
another form of computer crime, copying programs illegally
word size
another measurement of how fast the machine can process data, bus width and word size usually match in a computer, otherwise the machine could process faster than it could transmit- or transmit faster than the computer can give you the data it has processed, number of consecutive bits a computer can process in one machine cycle, larger the word size, the more bits the machine can process at one time and therefore, the faster it is
input
any data or instructions you put into the computer
the 1st virus
appeared in 1987--until then we didn't have to deal with the nuisance and destruction of them
future bytes
as fast as computers are changing, you know we will need words for larger storage capacities
1999 Hurricane Floyd
caused major flooding in Greenville, ECU had a lot of their computer equipment located in basements of the buildings on campus, now learned that maybe we should keep our equipment safer and put it higher in the event of another flood
Steve Jobs
co-founded Apple in 1976, attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon but dropped out after 6 months, hung around campus and took classes he was interested in but did not receive credit, took calligraphy which he used to make fonts for Apple computers, left Apple in 1985 but returned in 1998, also associated with Pixar Animation and Disney, died on October 5, 2011 after battling cancer for many years, since his death Apple has had their ups and downs
computer viruses
code that is hidden in a program, it is written to alter or destroy data or programs, they are written so that when you open whatever has the virus in it, the virus activates the code and it copies itself onto other files, can spread like wildfire
Bill Gates
cofounded Microsoft in 1975, attended Harvard but dropped out his junior year to pursue computer programming, stepped down from running Microsoft on a daily basis in 2008, now devotes time running the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation with his wife
Computer-free Careers
computers have infiltrated every aspect of our lives and it is difficult to get away from them, there are seldom computer-free careers nowadays
how do we protect our systems from all these threats?
control access to the system (only let those who should get in have access to the system using badges, codes, PINs, signatures - or by physical traits - biometrics- according to your fingerprint, retina, voice pattern, etc.), make back ups of all your data- in case of disasters- keep back ups off site, UPS (uninterrupted Power supply) to protect hardware from power failures
privacy in the workplace
controversial topic because of the technology we now have, so many new threats to privacy in the workplace because of all the monitoring that can be done, some companies monitor their employees' e-mail, phone calls, and the number of keystrokes they type per hour, some use surveillance cameras to watch employees, many companies block their employees' internet usage at work and strictly monitor what their employees do
Internet Tax
current IRS forms ask you to fill in how much you spent on internet purchases so they can tax you, US government is upset over losing tax money so there is a strong possibility that within the next couple of years our online purchases will be tracked by the government
information
data that has been organized and given meaning
computer privacy
defined as the right to control your own personal information, it is so difficult to maintain privacy with so many databases out there
voice input
depends on your voice following a certain pattern that it expects, if you have a cold or laryngitis your computer system may have trouble recognizing your voice, regional accents can throw a voice input system off, different accents can cause trouble for a voice input system
Love Bug virus
destructive virus years ago that swept the world and caused billions of dollars in damage, written by a college student in the Philippines and the sad part is that he was not prosecuted because at that time his country had no law against writing viruses
supercomputers
developed in the 1970s, originally only the government could afford them-- NASA and IRS had them, used for weather forecasting to track hurricanes, ice storms, etc.
file name
each file has a unique name, a computer will not allow you to save two different collections of information under the same exact name, once you have named your file the computer adds an extension that describes its type or the program it was created in, in the past file names could not exceed 8 characters, the Windows operating system allows a file name of 256 characters
Internet users in the world
estimated at over 4 billion, probably has impacted us more than any other technology we have, usage of the internet has grown tremendously over the last few years, even reaching into countries that normally are considered cut off from the rest of the world, it is nearly impossible to know exactly how many people are really using the internet
parity bit
extra bit the computer attaches at the end of a byte, computer uses this for error checking, can detect if one of the bits in a byte has been changed accidentally, can happen because of a voltage fluctuation but it is very rare
floppy disk capacity
floppy disks had a 1.44M capacity, one day a 2.0M floppy appeared on the market but it held only 1.44M of data, the formatting procedure reduced the capacity down to the normal capacity, marketing ploy
keyboard dousing
for a minor spill, drip a cotton swab in 90% rubbing alcohol and dab it over the area to remove stickiness, for small laptop spills use the alcohol sparingly and only if the keys are sticking, for bigger spills unplug your keyboard turn it upside down and shake out the liquid, for large laptop spills turn the computer on its side and let the liquid trickle out
Zyrtec AllergyCast
free app where you enter your zip code and it will give you the daily pollen count for your area
Embedded Computers
have very limited abilities and are embedded in larger products like appliances, electronics, and cars
HIPPA
health insurance portability and accountability act, protects against wrongful disclosure of health information, such a huge privacy issue
Sales tax on internet purchases
hot topic regarding e-commerce right now--Supreme Court rules that we don't have to pay sales tax if the company isn't physically in our state, is there a negative impact on local businesses, is it unfair to low income families, is it hard on internet companies
ethical issues with technology
how we use technology is the issue, ethics statements at work are becoming so much more common in industries that you would not think of as having ethical situations
Natural disasters
hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and fires can wreak havoc on our systems
regionalisms and voice input
if a word is not in the voice recognition system's dictionary it may not recognize what you are trying to say, each of us has words we use that are from our family or region that are distinctly ours
fixing your computer
if you don't regularly back up your files then you could be in for a real shock if you suddenly lose your data, etc., as a last-ditch effort to retrieve data tech professionals put the hard drive in the freezer for 24 hours in a zip-top bag, the cold causes contraction so a jammed part may start working again temporarily when you reinsert it into your computer
thermal printers
images tend to fade over time but did not know about that when they first came on the market
Compaq
in 1982, they started building computers and decided to build the very first "portable" computer, slapped a handle on their 30 pound desktop machine and declared it portable, people carried it anyway and it showed them the want for technology to be available wherever they were and the willingness to pay extra, handle was the beginning of the notebook computer phenomenon
mainframe
in some instances, mainframe computers have been replaced by servers, but they are still out there, they are very large, expensive, powerful, and can handle thousands of users, years ago only large corporations had mainframes, still very common in lots of businesses, 1st category of computer developed, popular in the 1950s due to the banking industry which has fueled lots of technology
midnight rule
in the banking industry, means that any instrument or check that comes into a bank must be on its way to the next destination by midnight the next day, computers helped people keep up with the volume of checks they received
top level domain
internet addresses like .gov or .edu, new TLD's are constantly being added due to the internet becoming more crowded
DVORAK keyboard
introduced a bazillion years ago but didn't catch on, they keys are in a different order and nobody wants to switch
Invention of the Internet
invented by the U.S. Government, originally developed so that the military, academic, and industry people could share research ideas, began in 1969 as ARPAnet and then merged in 1986 with the National Science Foundation's network of supercomputers and was called the Internet, no advertising was allowed at the time
science of ergonomics
involves making the work environment fit the employee, rather than making the employee conform to the work environment, can rescue RSI, includes lighting in the work place, furniture, and computer equipment such as the keyboard
How do we estimate how much computer crime goes on?
it is tough because 1. usually the crime is stumbled upon accidentally-lots of crime must go undetected 2. companies don't want to admit that they have been the victim of a computer crime. it is often done by employees- employees account for 80% of computer crimes against a company 3. sometimes it is hard to put a value on what has been done- how do you put a value on a jump drive or CD of information
computer fraud and abuse act of 1984
it makes illegal to get into government computers if you are not authorized to do so
how do you prevent camjacking?
keep your laptop closed when you are not using it or put black tape over the camera lens
CAN-SPAM Act of 2003
legislation aimed at protecting us from e-mails we don't really want to get, stands for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act, went into effect on January 1, 2004 after being introduced by Senator Burns of Montana and Senator Wyden of Oregon, authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to establish a "do not e-mail" registry similar to the national "do not call" law for telemarketers, requires unsolicited commercial e-mail messages to be labeled and to include opt-out instructions if you don't want to get e-mails from that company anymore, message must include the sender's physical address and it prohibits the use of deceptive subject lines and false headers in messages
Zillow
lists information about housing, gives you estimates on what the homes are valued at, square footage, taxes, if the home is listed for sale, sometimes even provides photos
cell phone apps
many apps are free and the ones that are not, usually don't cost more than a few dollars
ergonomics of monitors
monitors have a tilt and swivel base to adapt the device to your needs rather than vice versa, most manufacturers are now building flat screen monitors instead of the old-fashioned curved screens, a flat screen monitor reduces glare, reflection, and distortion of images, they can cut down on eyestrain and fatigue
unicode
newer computer coding scheme, developed to handle Asian languages, which have thousands of characters in their alphabets, more than could be represented by the older coding schemes, a 16 bit coding scheme (means they can code 65,536 different characters), everything will eventually be converted to this coding scheme to keep up with the globalization of our economy but it will take time
secondary storage
one way a virus can be passed on cd, jump drive, duplicates onto your system once it is put in your computer, then duplicates onto any secondary storage you put in your machine
ECU's Mainframe Computers
originally had two Unisys mainframes, later sold them to a scrap metal company to buy IBM servers to handle all of the data, communication, and other needs, machines had cost millions dollars new and years later were worthless
what has been done about maintaining our privacy?
over the years, we have tried to pass laws that will protect our privacy but they have been reactive rather than proactive, responding to a problem that has already occurred instead of having the foresight to see what needs to be done ahead of time
Internet Regulation
probably the biggest issue that will ever face us regarding the internet, in 1996 Congress attempted to censor the internet by passing a piece of legislation called the Communications Decency Act that was so vague it died immediately--it stated that a person could be prosecuted if they put "indecent or patently offensive material" on the internet, indictment carried a fine of $250,000 and 2 years in jail, when it was passed people claimed it was violation agains their 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech, law was immediately struck down but there have been several attempts to get it passed over the years, no one has ever been prosecuted under the law
ant-virus programs
problem is that they are always a step behind, someone has to get hold of the virus to analyze it and write the "anti" for us, the virus is out there running amuck before we can tackle it and get rid of it
electronic communications privacy act (1986)
protects the privacy of e-mail messages sent thru public networks - public, not private, giving them the same protection that covers mail and telephone communication, does not cover private networks, ECU's email system is private so our e-mails can be monitored legally
RAM
random access memory, more RAM a computer has, the larger its desk space (the computer has room to open many files and work on many things at once), without adequate RAM you cannot run programs smoothly and efficiently, with too little RAM your computer will constantly be shuffling information in and out of its desk space causing the machine to run slower
data
raw material- unprocessed facts, numbers, etc.
RSI
repetitive strain injuries, can be caused by keyboards, caused by repetitive motions like keying in data all day long, account for 1/2 of all occupational injuries and cost employers billions of dollars a year
Information Age
some experts point to the start in 1957 since it was the first year in US history that white collar workers outnumbered blue collar workers, due to increased number of jobs that involved using information which classified as white collar work, came about because of the discovery of the microchip in the 1950s
formatting process for floppy disks
stamps the disk surface with tracks and sectors that the computer uses as an addressing system for keeping track of where it has saved stuff for you
QWERTY keyboard
standard keyboard, designed to slow typists down to have to reach for common keys like vowels and therefore you would not jam up the little spokes that had to hit the paper to make the print, we don't have to worry about typing too fast but we still have the QWERTY keyboard
what does wi-fi stand for?
textbook says it stands for wireless fidelity but it actually stands for NOTHING
knowledge
the ability to use the information you have created, without knowledge we would not need the data or the information, the ability to take that processed information and use it
even parity
the computer will add a bit that gives the byte an even number of 1's so if there are 2 ones in the byte, you would add zero as the parity bit, to keep it even, if there were 5 ones in the same byte, you would add a parity bit of 1, to keep it even
privacy act of 1974
the government regulates the collection and use of information on us, the only private industries regulated by this act: credit bureaus, banks, cable companies, video rental stores
privacy issues
the issue of privacy and how it relates to information technology is possibly the most important issue to confront us
point size
the lettering that you type into a document is measured in points, a point is 1/72 of an inch, goes way back to typewriters and the size of their characters
keyboard
the most common input device used with computers, yet it is the least user friendly and the most error prone, computer industry people have tried for years to come up with better ways to enter data into a computer- we have voice input, scanning, and other input technologies
license agreement
used at ECU, we can legally copy software onto machines as long as we notify the vendor, they extend our site license to that new equipment and charge a very small fee, ECU is very serious about not allowing illegal copying of software and it can lead to immediate dismissal from the university
floppy disks
we don't use floppy disks anymore, they were easily bent since there wasn't a hard plastic covering, prone to scratching since some of the mylar is showing and unprotected, and the surface was destroyed if you wrote on the label with anything but a soft tip pen
problems with computer monitors
we get so mesmerized looking at our monitor that we forget to blink our eyes, we end up with eye strain that we blame on the computer but it is our own fault, scientists call this CVS- computer vision syndrome, there are special eye drops for sale for this
camjacking
when someone hacks into your webcam on your computer and watches you--or takes pictures or videos of you without your knowledge
deleting a file
when you delete a file from your hard drive the computer does not actually remove the information from the storage device, the computer changes the first character in the file name so that it cannot recognize and retrieve that file anymore, the information is still there but the computer cannot find it for you, eventually the space that deleted the file is occupying will be copied over by the computer when you save something else but the information remains on the storage medium until the computer re-uses the storage area
through a network
you can get a virus through e-mail or on the internet
taxing online downloads
you pay a rental fee plus tax when you rent a movie from Red Box, the government is seeking ways to start taxing online downloads
odd parity
you want the opposite- an odd number of 1's in the coding, would add 1 as the parity bit instead of zero