BTA-digital_literacy

=Digital Literacy=

Index
Computer Hardware File Management Electronic Research

Computer Hardware
Unit 1: computer hardware Input devices, Memory(ROM, RAM), output devices and secondary are connected to the central processing unit. Input devices include keyboard, mouse, graphic tables, ports, modems, scanners and digital cameras Output devices include monitors, ports, modems, printers, plotters, disk drives and machine interfaces. Ports are divided into two categories parallel and serial Parallel are printers and SCSI Serial are modems and mouse, MIDI and USB Connectors are either male or female Male have one or more pins Female have locators that match the pins on the male Storage includes hard drive, floppy drives, CD-ROM, RW-CD-ROM, DVD, RW-DVD and flash memory Disk capability: 1 BYTE= 1 CHARATER 1 KILOBYTE=1000 BYTE 1 MEGABYTE=1000 KB or 1,000,000 KILOBYTES 1 GIGABYTE=1000 MB or 1,000,000,000 KILOBYTES Fragmented disk shows spaces where data has been removed Defragmenting has a place all files in contiguous spaces, increases the efficiency for file retrieval Bays are areas inside the computer base designed to facilitate the installation of additional equipment Internal bays completely enclosed inside the case for hard drives External bays open end for loading and unloading storage media such as a disklettes tapes and CD-ROMS ROM(read only memory)-programmed by the manufacturer containing system information this information can be overwritten without special software RAM(random access memory)-space available to a computer to use while performing operations. This space is emptied out when the computer turns off. Power supple-converts the AC power to a more useable form for the comuter Operating systems-acts like a interface between the application and the computer system Role is to perform common computer functions, provide a useful interface, manage system memory, manage processing tasks, provide a networking capability, control access to a system resources and file management. Network- two or more computers connected together Uses of LAN-shared storage, shared applications..etc 3 types of networks(star, ring and bus) conclusion: hardware devices work together to perform input, output, processing and data storage networks allow computers to share information and resorces two main categories of software system and application software. OS is a set of computer to support users computing needs.

File Management
Identify the difference between My Computer and Windows Explorer. They perform the same basic function, which is to let you explore the hard-drive(s) of the computer sitting on your desk. They even both allow you to look at hard-drives on remote computers, if correctly mounted (permissions set).

The main difference are A) the names; B) finding them; C) the colour scheme.

Otherwise, you can find most of the same options, viewing, file management, etc. eventually, in the menu bars  at the top of each one. Navigation is also "slightly" different.

1) the name difference you already figured out. Once upon a time we had "File manager" on Microsoft systems

, which was an even more sensible name for managing files on your local computer, but I guess that got "old".

2) My computer is on the Desktop (computer screen icon), Windows Explorer is in the menu bar from the start button. Confusing, but you get used to it.

3) I suppose the newer colour scheme is smarter. AT least, it's not confusing.

Electronic Research
=** __ ELECTRONIC RESEARCH PRIMER __ **= Encryption is a software tool that uses scrambling to make data unreadable to anyone other than the intended recipient. It is useful to ensure the privacy of data that you store on your computer, or that you want to email to someone else. Encryption software programs use [|algorithms], or complex mathematical processes, to scramble and unscramble (or "encrypt" and "decrypt") the data. Algorithms work through the creation of [|keys], which are specific strings of data used for encryption. These keys consist of long strings of bits, or binary numbers. The more bits in the key, the greater the number of possible combinations of binary numbers, making the code more difficult to break. You may have heard of "56-bit" or "128-bit" keys, for example. With more bits, the 128-bit key is more difficult to break than the 56-bit key. If you're curious, you can see what an algorithm looks like: [|IDEA] is one of the algorithms used in Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). An encryption algorithm scrambles data by combining the bits in the key with the data bits; in decryption, the algorithm unscrambles data by separating the data bits from the key bits. In [|symmetric key encryption], the same key is used to scramble and unscramble data. In [|asymmetric key encryption], two different keys are required: one to scramble and one to unscramble. With either method, a recipient cannot access the original data without the correct key.