Suggestions for studying: Do the self-test at the back of each chapter we have covered, they are quite good, also check out the review exercises. Note that some material was covered in lecture that is not in the book, make sure to get notes from a classmate if you missed any of the lectures. Outlines of lectures can be purchased for a nominal charge at Makin' Copies in the UB Commons. We will have a review session in class on Monday, December 14^th, come prepared with questions.

Input/Output (Long ch 5)

Keyboard, Point & Draw (mouse, joystick, trackball, mouse pen, digitizer tablet, track pads, track points), Source-Data Automation, Optical Character Recognition, Bar Codes, The advantages of bar codes over OCR, Scanners, Types of Scanners (handheld, stationary, document), Image Processing, Magnetic Stripe cards, Smart Cards, Speech Recognition (required components & steps in the speech recognition process), Vision-input systems (Uses & steps in vision recognition), Digital Cameras, Hand-held Data entry devices, Monitors & Graphics Adapters (Video RAM, Resolution, Dot pitch, refresh rate, interlaced), flat-panel monitors, Comparison between active matrix & passive matrix, Printers (dot matrix – 9 & 24 pin, inkjet, laser), Plotters, multifunction peripherals, presentation graphics, voice response systems, Types of terminals (dumb, smart X), Touch screens, Telephone terminals & Telephony, Special function terminals (ATM, POS).

Databases - (Grauer)

What is a database?, uses of a database, advantages of databases, database design, fields, records, tables, forms, queries, reports, macros, design view, datasheet view, bound controls, unbound controls, calculated controls.

Introduction (Long ch 1, Rawlins ch1)

Cyberphobia; fundamental capabilities of computers (processing, storage, input, output) difference between hardware and software components of computers; What is a computer? Is a toaster a computer (why/why not); History of computing -abacus, difference engine, analytical engine, Turing. (see Long pp 33-40 and Rawlins). Are computers today more powerful than older, slower machines? Have the fundamental capabilities of computers changed since their inception? How old are computers? What properties determine whether or not something might be classified as a computer?

Inside the Computer (Long ch 2, Rawlins ch 2)

Four (4) major parts of a computer and what they do: processor (control & ALU, registers), input (e.g. keyboard, mouse), output (e.g. screen, printer), memory; the memory hierarchy (secondary, RAM and ROM, cache, registers); kilo/mega/giga (about how big are they?); internal/primary vs external/secondary memory; volatile/nonvolatile memory; types of secondary memory (hard disk, floppy disk, tape, CD-ROM); ROM vs RAM; motherboard; bus; bit/byte/word -- representation of data inside computers; character encoding schemes -- ASCII/UNICODE; binary digits (bits) 0 and 1; what actually happens when a computer carries out an instruction -- the machine cycle (I-time (instruction) fetch and decode; E-time (execute) execute and store result); comparing computers (processor speed, size of RAM, word size); ports (serial vs parallel). If you had to buy a computer, what would you want? If you need to keep something

permanently, where would you store it? What happens if you are working on a computer and the power gets cut off, will anything be lost? Why would you lose any data in a power outage? Can you store sounds and pictures in a computer? What is the internal representation of data in a computer? What are the parts of the machine cycle and why is each important? If you increase the processor speed what is the effect on your computer? How about if you upgrade the RAM?

Software - (Long ch 3, handout on algorithms, lectures)

What is software; types of software (system, application, etc.); operating system -- what it does, examples; multi-user system; kernel; multitasking; interface (GUI, command line/command driven); programming languages; type of languages; high-level language examples (C, Java, BASIC); natural language; macro; program; source code; executable/machine code; algorithm; types of instructions in a program; types of control (sequence, branching, looping, subprogram); what is a platform?; why is it important?; examples of platforms; powering up and down a system. Would it be a problem if you bought software that runs on a different platform than the one your computer supports? Why? What are some advantages and disadvantages of a GUI versus a command line interface? What are some problems getting a computer to understand a natural language? Do computers understand English? What is the purpose of having a programming language? What is an algorithm? What is looping? Branching? Sequencing? What is a subprogram? When might you want to make something a subprogram?

Storage and Retrieval - (Long ch 4)

File; types of files; operations on files (create, retrieve, etc…); file organization (directory/folder); file protection; physical storage devices -- magnetic and optical; magnetic disks (floppy disk and hard disk); disk drive; formatting a disk; sector, track, cylinder; read/write head; write protect tab on floppy; basic operation of magnetic disk drive; disk access time; disk caching; storage capacity of different devices (floppy disk, hard disk, CD-ROM, zip disk); relative speed of access to different types of storage devices (fastest à slowest); computer virus. Why are computer viruses a problem? Where do they come from? If you want to archive data, what type of storage medium would you use and why? What is fragmentation and why is it a problem? What would happen if a disk drive stopped spinning?

Networks & Networking (Long ch 6)

Telecommunications: modem; analog; digital; message passing; protocol; bps (bits per second); network topologies (star, ring, bus); the Internet (a wide-area network); synchronous/asynchronous; client-server computing. What types of topologies are appropriate in situations where privacy is a key concern? Where speed is a key concern? Where messages are normally broadcast to all nodes? What is a protocol? Why is it important to have protocols? What is the difference between analog and digital? Are computers analog or digital? What do modems do?

The Internet (Long ch 7)

Telecommuting; Internet application programs (FTP; Telnet; Web Browsers); domain name; URL; WWW; Search Engines; Browsers; home page; HTML; social and ethical issues. What do YOU think of the internet? What is the problem with copyright and the internet? What privacy concerns are related to the internet? What about security (sending credit card numbers and personal info via web sites)? Is it safer than a phone line? How reliable is the information on the WWW? How do you know if something is true that you see on the web?

Spreadsheets (Grauer)

What is a spreadsheet?, uses of a spreadsheet, advantage of spreadsheet over paper ledger, history of spreadsheets, cell, value, label, formula, constant, column, row, function (AVERAGE, SUM), format, relative cell address, absolute cell address. Under what circumstances might you use a spreadsheet? Why is the graphing capability of Excel important?

Text Processing (Grauer)

What is a word processor? How does it differ from a typewriter? A text editor? pico vs MS Word; Word wrap; WYSIWYG; Editing: cut, paste, copy, search/find, search/find and replace, pattern matching, strings versus words; clipboard; formatting: justification, print preview, fonts; spell checker, grammar checker. When would you want to use a word processor?