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: 10/19/98
Link back to course Welcome...

Sixth class: Agenda
Tuesday October 13 / Monday October 19

  1. Announcements:
    1. The people listed below need to go to the course web site and register their names for the computer conference. For directions, see the fifth agenda, item VII.A.
      1. Rackham (Tuesday)
        1. Melanie Brown
        2. Alex Eskra
        3. Nantambu Kohlbatz
        4. Nowana Rozzell
        5. Pamela Shaw
        6. William Swazer
        7. Carolyn Williams
      2. NWAC (Monday)
        1. Joyceline Blackmon
        2. Jason DeMeyer
        3. Gladys Karlin
        4. Precious Sampson
        5. Euan Singleton
        6. Jevon Woods
    2. Other computers that you can use for the labs
      1. The Dell computers at the Adamany Undergraduate Library run WindowsNT with Office97.   They will not have the lab document files; you will need to put these on your floppy disk if that is what you want to work on. NOTE: You cannot fit ALL of these files on your floppy disk. Just the one(s) you want to work on.
      2. The NWAC lab is open much of the time.
      3. The computer labs at the other CLL Centers are set up like the NWAC computers -- WindowsNT and Office97

      NOTE for Rackham: WindowsNT works almost exactly the same as Windows95. You will NOT have to switch back and forth between Mac and Windows in these labs.

    3. From now on, you should sign in on the course web site.
      1. Go to the course web site at http://www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/drbowen/casf98/
      2. Choose the sign in link
      3. Fill in your First Name, Middle Initial (if used) and Last Name.
      4. Click on the "Sign In" button at the bottom of the form to send in your information and complete the signin. NOTE: You have not completed the signin until you have clicked this button. Of course, you have to have filled in the information first.
    4. I have the forms for reactivating your WSU email account. If you are a new WSU student this semester, you have recently gotten your AccessID and Password on a postcard to your home address. So, this is not for you. For returning students, to reactivate your email account through this class, during a break you can apply for a new Password if you do not have your Access ID and Password.
    5. The class photo album is up and running on the course web site.
    6. 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. Pamela Shaw (Rackham)
      2. William Swazer (Rackham)
  2. Handouts, pass backs
  3. Basic computer skills. For the Midterm and later exams, you should be able to carry out the following tasks without the step-by-step instructions such as you get in Microsoft Office Profession 97 Step by Step, or in many of the Agendas and Labs here.
    1. Start a program. Example: Start Word. (NOTE: Microsoft is the manufacturer, Word is the product. "Microsoft Word" and "Word" mean the same thing.) Examples of programs that this can apply to:
      1. Word
      2. Netscape (NOTE: Netscape is the manufacturer. The products are Navigator and Communicator, but normally these are just called "Netscape". Netscape is a Web Browser -- a program that used to view web content. A competing Web Browser is Microsoft Internet Explorer. It works pretty much the same way that Netscape does. On the other hand, Internet Explorer is different from Windows Explorer.)
      3. Windows (NWAC: NT) Explorer
    2. With a program started, open a document on any drive, or open a web site
      1. In Word, open a file, given the path
      2. In Netscape, open a web site, given the URL.
        1. URL = "Universal Resource Locator", such as http://www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/drbowen/casf98
    3. In Netscape, follow a link by clicking on it. Links are colored blue or purple (if they have been followed already), and underlined. the active part of the link is the words themselves.
    4. Print an open file or web page.
    5. In Word, Save or Save As. Use Save As the first time you save a new file, or if you want to change the path of an existing file. If you open an existing file and Save, you will replace the original version with the current version. Otherwise, Save saves to the path you set in the last Save As.

      NOTE: You will also be responsible for normal word processing tasks in Word, such as entering text (typing), moving and deleting text, and formatting.
  4. Switches worksheet. Attached handout.
  5. The Internet, Part I. What is the Internet. How does it work?
    1. The story start with Local Area Networks -- LANs
      1. Computers in a lab, a large office or a building are wired together. Distances are restricted, say 1000 ft.
      2. There are many schemes -- some examples
        1. Macintosh AppleTalk
        2. IBM TokenRing
        3. Novell Netware
      3. The computers can share resources such as files, printers, a modem or a CD-ROM player.
      4. Each computer has a network card or board installed. The network card contains a numerical code (universal) that identifies the computer on the network -- the computer's network address. Other computers on the network can use this code to send information to that computer. Information is transported (sent) in packets. The first part of the packet is the address and other technical information, and the last part is the information being sent.
      5. Most networks are Client / Server
        1. The client is also called a workstation. It requests and displays information, under the command of the user. For example, it can request a shared file. The client initiates data exchange.
        2. The server sits and waits for a request and then services the request. It might seem that the server is simpler, but this is not the case. If a client fails, the user can reset it, but the server is supposed to run unattended. Also, a server must service several requests simultaneously, if they come in all at once.
    2. The Internet connects LANs together and transports data
      1. Each computer on the Internet is given a numerical IP Address, which is four one-byte fields separated by dots (periods). Examples:
        1. 142.217.142.125 is my desktop computer at ISP
        2. 141.217.142.149 is the CLL web server
      2. The first fields (3 fields in the examples above) identify the LAN, and the last field identifies the computer on the LAN.
      3. A Router finds the LAN Gateway, and then the LAN Gateway finds the specific computer. Routers and Gateways are both special types of computers. Routers send information from one to another to find the LAN Gateway.
      4. The information travels in packets. The TCP/IP protocol specifies the format of a packet.
        1. TCP - Transmission Control Protocol
        2. IP - Internet Protocol
        3. Protocol - a sequence that describes how computers communicate: which one goes first, what the reply is, what are the numbers and codes that are used. Example: ACK is "Acknowledge", meaning, "I got your last transmission and it makes sense to me."
      5. Domain Name System is used to give alphabetic codes to Internet servers. The Domain name ends in the "domain": gov, com, edu, org, net
        1. There are "Domain Name Servers" that will provide the numerical address in response to the domain name. Domain Name Servers are found the same way any computer is found on the Internet, by its numerical address.
        2. Example: "www.cll.wayne.edu" is the domain name of the CLL web server. So, in http://www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/drbowen/casf98, that middle part just identifies the computer that has the information being requested. It would work just as well -- faster, even -- to use http://141.217.142.149/isp/drbowen/casf98
      6. Communicating via the Internet involves involves first, translating the domain name into the numerical IP address, and then sending the data.
  6. Lab 4. Creating a personal web page. See the separate handout.

Assignment 5

  1. Reading as assigned on the Assignment Schedule
  2. In Computers In Your Future 98, answer the following questions:
    1. Pg 5-14, Multiple Choice 1 - 10
    2. Pg 5-15, Review 3 & 4
    3. Pg 5-30, Multiple Choice 1 - 10
    4. Pg 5-32 Review 1 & 4
    5. Pg 5-45 Multiple Choice 1 - 10
    6. Pg 5-47 Review #7 and Critical Thinking #1