Fall 1998 Computers and Society
Tuesdays 6 - 9:40 PM in 113 Rackham: GST 2710, Section 990 and AGS 3360, Section 983
Mondays 5:30 - 9:10 PM at NWAC: GST 2710, Section 984

Last updated: 9/29/98
Link back to course Welcome...

Fourth class: Agenda
Tuesday September 29 / Monday October 5

1. Quiz 3
2. Announcements:
   1. Please put the following information on each assignment for this course:
      1. First and last names
      2. Assignment description -- what assignment is this?
      3. Time or place that your class meets (e.g. Tuesday PM or Rackham)
      4. Clearly identify each question (e.g. "1.") and part. You do not need to copy the questions over from the book.
   2. Please Note: If you put down your Social Security Number for your Student ID, this is no longer your Student ID at Wayne State University.
   3. Will the following students please fill in the course information form on the course web site. To do this, start Netscape, go to the course web site at http://www.cll.wayne.edu.isp/drbowen/casf98/ and pick the "Course information form" link. Fill in the form on the screen. BE SURE TO CLICK THE "Done - Send it in" button at the bottom to actually send in your information. See me if you have questions about the on-line grade reports.
      1. Frazier Kimpson (Rackham)
      2. Pamela Shaw (Rackham)
      3. William Swazer (Rackham)
      4. Donna Jones (NWAC)
3. Handouts, sign-in sheet, pass backs
4. Introduction to computers
   1. More Windows basics
      1. Hierarchical file system -- Rackham, go to Windows
         1. Open Windows Explorer (Start / Programs) and change its options to show all information
            1. Choose menu item View / Options and then the "View" tab at the top of the Options dialog
            2. Above the list box, make sure that "Show all files" is clicked
            3. Below the list box, make sure that "Display the full MS-DOS path in the title bar" is checked. This refers to the title bar on the right pane of Windows Explorer. If this is unchecked, Explorer shows only the final (lowest) folder name
            4. Make sure that "Hide MS_DOS file extensions for file types that are registered" is unchecked. Otherwise, Explorer does not show the file extension for most file names.
            5. Make sure that "Include description bar for right and left panes" is checked. Otherwise, Explorer does not show you what drives and folders you are looking at.
            6. Click OK. This puts your choices into effect.
         2. Make a new directory, C:\myname, where myname is your first name or nickname
            1. Make sure that the root folder or directory c:\ is selected - this path should appear on top of the right pane.
            2. Choose the menu item File / New, and then Folder. A new folder appears at the bottom of the right pane. Note that its name is highlighted (shown in reverse video).
               
               NOTE: In Windows, whenever an object or group of objects is highlighted, you can take an action on it, such as drag, delete, copy. Also be aware -- the Windows default is "typing replaces selection." This can be very convenient, but can also blow your hard work away. So BEWARE: do not leave objects selected for longer than is necessary.
               
            3. Type in myname and tap <Enter>/<Return>. Notice that your typing replaces what was there.
         3. Use selection and Drag 'N Drop' to copy and delete files
            1. Put the test diskette in the floppy drive
            2. In Explorer, click on the a: drive icon
            3. In the right pane, click on the file "copy1.txt". Notice that it is selected (highlighted)
            4. While holding down <Shift>, click on "copy5.txt". Which files are selected now?
            5. While holding down <Ctrl>, click on "globwarm.txt". How did that change the selection?
            6. Experiment with selection with no keys down, with <Shift> down, and with <Ctrl> down. Then go back to iii-v above to select all of the "copy" files and "globwarm.txt". Add "globwarm.doc" to the selection.
            7. Hold down <Ctrl> and click on "globwarm.txt"  to remove it from the selection. Experiment with removing and adding other files from the selection. End up with all of the "copy" files and "globwarm.doc" selected.
            8. Read this step all the way through before executing it. Click anywhere on the selected files, hold the mouse button down, and drag the selected files to the new directory you just made on the c: drive. Notice the "+" sign on the mouse icon as you move the files over. The "+" sign tells you that you are copying the files, leaving the original files as is, ending up with the original and new copies of the files. Without the + sign, you would be moving the files, and removing the original copies. When copying from one drive to another, "copying" is the default. (Default = option you get with no further action.) When copying from one folder to another, on the same drive, "moving" is the default. You can select the other option by holding down the <Alt> key as you act.
            9. In the new folder, select all of the "copy" files. Tap the "del" key. (Rackham: The PowerMac keyboard has two keys labeled as "Delete". One is the key at the upper right of the main keyboard group. The other is the lower left key in the group of six keys to the top right of the main keyboard group. The first of these is called "Backspace" on the normal PC keyboard. It deletes the character to the left of the insertion point. The second is called "Delete" on the normal PC keyboard and deletes the character to the right of the insertion point. In class, I will refer to these keys by their PC keyboard names.) Hit the "Delete" key. What happens to the selected files? Why should you be careful if a large amount of work is selected?
            10. In the new folder, double-click on "globwarm.doc" to open it in Word. Drag over some text to select it. Click on the selection, hold the mouse down, and drag the selection to a new location within the file. Don't like the new location? Choose the menu item Edit / Undo.
            11. Make a new selection of text. Type a single letter. What happened? (Typing replaces selection.) Choose the menu item Edit / Undo. Notice the difference between the mouse cursor and the insertion point (I-beam). Type a letter or two. Where does the typing appear -- at the mouse cursor or the insertion point? Click the mouse somewhere away from the insertion point. What happens to the insertion point? Experiment with moving the insertion point with the arrow keys.
            12. Make a new text selection. Tap <Delete>. How can you reverse this deletion?
   2. The value of 2ⁿ compared to the minimum and maximum values of n bits -- review
   3. How many characters on a page of text?
      1. One character = 1 byte. ASCII code. Pg 2-4 in Computers in Your Future 98.
      2. Pages on a floppy diskette
      3. Pages on a 500 MB hard drive
   4. How many bytes for a page of graphics?
      1. Pixels, Pixels per Inch (resolution), Bytes per Pixel (color depth)
         
         Letters on a computer screen shown sixteen times larger, to show pixels. NOTE: the ASCII code does not get put on the screen directly!
      2. Pages on a floppy diskette
      3. Pages on a 4 GB hard drive
      4. Pixels in a 3" x 2" graphic @ 300 Pixels per Inch, 3 Bytes per Pixel, 3:1 compression
         1. Color is made up of mix red, green and blue
         2. formula (will be given on tests):
            File size in bytes = Height (in) × Width (in) × (Pixels per inch)² × (Bytes per Pixel) /
            (Compression factor)
         3. Black and white: one bit per pixel, so 1/8 byte
         4. Greyscale: 1 byte per pixel
         5. 8-bit color: 1 byte per pixel. 256 different colors.
         6. 16-bit color (sometimes called High Color): 2 bytes per pixel. 65536 colors.
         7. 24-bit color (True Color): 3 bytes per pixel. 16,777,216 colors.
      5. Compression
      6. Animation
   5. Examples of computers
      1. Embedded systems
   6. Types of information in computer files
5. Counting and adding in decimal and binary (and beyond)
   1. Decimal & Binary review
   2. Multiplying binary numbers
6. Computer systems and software
   1. Files
      1. What is a file? Review of filenames and directories or folders
         1. Collection of related information
         2. Exists in permanent storage
         3. Has a name - filename and extension: filename.ext
         4. Wildcards -- ? stands for any one character. * stands for any number of characters (including zero characters). As examples, *.exe stands for a file with any name and an extension of exe, while *.* stands for any file (any name, any extension). In Microsoft Works, there are several file types, whose extensions start with w. This can be indicated by *.w*
      2. Types of files
         1. Program, e.g. Word
         2. Data, e.g. a Word word processing file *.doc is a data file for Word.
7. Windows basics
   1. Active elements -- these are common elements that appear in all Windows applications.
   1. Icon - a small picture indicating a file that can be started or run with a double-click
   2. Button - a rectangular picture that looks like a button, often with a label, that takes an action when it is clicked.
      1. On the Startup dialog, click on the Cancel button in the upper right corner of the dialog.
   3. Menu - a list of options that drops down when you click on the text on the menu bar. Click on the option you you want to choose it.
      1. Click on the File menu item, release the mouse button, and then click on Open.
         (In the future, we will call this the File / Open menu item.)
         This opens up the Open dialog. Take a close look. You will be using it many times. In order, check to make sure you get the file you want:
         1. Drive (A:, C: or other)
         2. Directory on that drive
         3. File in that directory
   4. Pull-down list - a line of text with a down-pointing arrowhead to the right. When you click the arrowhead, a list of options drop down. Click on the option you want to choose it.
      1. On the Open dialog, use the pull-down drive list to choose drive a:
   5. List box - a list of choices inside a box, with the chosen item shown above the list.
      1. On the Open dialog, make sure that the root directory (a:\) is selected.
      2. On the Open dialog, make sure that the file "globwarm.doc" is selected. Click on this file name to select it; the selected filename shows in the small box above the list box.
   6. Dialog: a collection of active elements to accomplish a multipart task. Dialogs are windows, so they have title bars. We will identify dialogs by their title -- the text on the title bar. When you start Works, the first thing you see is the Startup dialog.
   7. Scroll bars - bars at the right side and/or bottom of the screen with up and down arrowheads and an "elevator box." These are for moving ("scrolling") through a long text or graphics file. The elevator box shows your location within the file. Click on the arrowheads for small movements. Click on the bar near the arrowhead to move one full screen at a time. Drag the elevator box for large movements.Try all three.
8. Lab 2. Read the following steps all the way through before starting.
   1. Register your name for the computer conference for this course.
      1. Go to the course web site (http://www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/drbowen/casf98). If you have a choice, u0se Netscape rather than Internet Explorer (this situation will be remedied in the near future).
      2. Choose the link "Computer conference."
      3. Make up a UserID and Password for yourself on this computer conferencing system. You can use your UserID and Password from another system, but they are separate from those on any other computer system. Remember this UserID and Password! Type these in the Login dialog and click OK.
         
         NOTE: If you have used the CLL computer conferencing system for any other course, DO NOT SET UP A NEW USERID AND PASSWORD, BUT USE YOUR OLD ONES.
         
      4. If you are new to this system, choose the new user link. Supply the information needed. YOU MUST SUPPLY ALL RED-BUTTON ITEMS. If you do not know your email address at this time, use drbowen@cll.wayne.edu until you find out yours. You should change the listed email address at that time.
      5. Click OK when the information form is filled out the way you want it.
      6. That completes the computer conferencing activity for this class session.
   2. Use Windows Explorer to see whether or not the "Step by Step" CD-ROM has been installed on your computer.
      1. Open Windows Explorer (NWAC: Windows NT Explorer). Use the Tools / Find -- Files or Folders menu item to search the C: drive for "02lesson.doc". If the search finds the file, the CD-ROM has been installed. Note the path (folders) to this file. Skip step 2 below and go to Step C.
      2. If the file is not found, install the CD-ROM using the instructions on Pp xxxv through xl.
   3. In Microsoft Office Professional Step by Step, do Part 2, Lesson 2, from Pg 151 through Pg 165. On Pg 153, after you open the file 02Lesson.doc (the extension "doc" may be hidden unless you have set up Windows Explorer as in IV.A.1.a above), immediately save it to your floppy disk before going any further. In this way, you will not change the contents of the copy of this file on the c: drive, so that people in other sections can start from a fresh copy.
   4. At the top of your document, put a line with:
      1. Your name
      2. This Assignment (Lab 2)
      3. Your location (Rackham or NWAC)
      4. The full path (drive, any folders, and filename) that you saved the file with.
   5. Skip a line (tap <Enter> or <Return>) after this information
   6. Save the file to your floppy diskette.
   7. Print out and turn in a copy of your file. This should include the top line with your name on it. You can print using either:
      1. The printer icon on the toolbar
      2. The menu item File / Print, then click OK on the "Print" dialog.

Assignment 4

1. Reading as assigned on the Assignment Schedule
2. In Computers In Your Future 98, answer the following questions:
   1. Pp 3-19: Completion (all)
   2. Pp 3-45 through 3-46: Matching (all), Review 5, 7, 9, 11 and 12.
3. Do the following binary multiplications:
   1. 1101 × 11
   2. 111 × 101
   3. 1011 × 1010
   4. 10 × 10
   5. 1000 × 10

Quiz 4

Quiz 4 at the start of class next week will cover:

1. Counting, adding and multiplying binary numbers, powers of two in binary and decimal notation, binary to decimal and decimal to binary conversions, values stored in n bits
2. Mouse actions: list and describe the mouse actions, and describe the active part of the mouse icon
3. Given an example of a full file path, identify its parts (drive, folders, file name, file extension)
4. For Microsoft Windows, list the three (or five) parts of a window that (almost) all windows share. Also list what actions you can take with them.
5. Given a picture of a window, identify its parts, list the active elements that can appear in windows and describe their use(s), given a picture with active elements, identify the elements.
6. Estimate text and graphic file sizes, and find how many files of a given size can fit on a given storage medium
7. Diagram the structure of a computer. List examples of what goes in each part. Given a list of components, say which part of the diagram they go in.
8. Describe the different types of storage, and the different types of disks.
9. Give five different examples of computers, including whether or not the computer is embedded in another system
10. List and give examples of the types of computer information
11. Describe the following terms, as they are used with respect to computers:
    • Programmable
    • Data
    • Information
    • Memory (or primary storage)
    • Storage (or secondary storage)
12. Compare the four computer generations with respect to:
    • Type of hardware
    • Type of software
    • Machine-independence of software
    • Type of communications
13. Translate back and forth from letters to ASCII codes, given the ASCII code table.