Courses
Wayne State University
College of Lifelong Learning
Interdisciplinary Studies Program
Computers and Society courses, Winter 2001
    ( http://www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/drbowen/casw01)
Mondays, 6 - 9:40 PM in 113 Rackham
Bullet1.png (242 bytes)Computers and Society
    GST 2710, Section 988, Call Number 95241, 4 credits
Bullet1.png (242 bytes)Computers and Society
    AGS 3360, Section 983, Call Number 98319, 4 credits
Office hours: Mondays 4 - 6 PM in 113 Rackham


                         Instructor
David R. Bowen
2311 A/AB
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI 48202		 Daytime tel: (313) 577-1498
Evening tel: (248) 549-8518
FAX: (313) 577-8585
Home Page:
    http://www.cll.wayne.edu/isp/drbowen
Email: d.r.bowen@wayne.edu

CASicon.gif (1333 bytes)
Last updated: 2/5/01
Link back to course Welcome...

Fourth class: Agenda
Monday February 5

  1. Quiz 3
  2. Handouts
    1. Agenda
  3. Passbacks
    1. Quiz 2
    2. Assignment 2 (if ready). Some of the handwriting on these was very hard for me to read. In such cases, I can never be sure that I have read it correctly. If your handwriting is hard to read (for example, very loopy cursive), from now on answer the questions in Word and turn in a print-out.
  4. Reminders:
    1. Before you leave tonight, fill in the online Attendance (Signin) form on the course web site.
    2. If you miss a class, before the next class you should go to the course web site (the URL is in the upper left-hand corner of every handout) and review the Agenda for that class, then contact me if you have questions. Assignments and quiz topics are listed on the Agenda.
    3. If you need to make up a Quiz, or ask questions, or whatever, my office hours are time set aside for this. These times are Mondays and Wednesdays, 4 - 6 PM, in 113 Rackham (the classroom).

      If these times do not work for you, contact me to make other arrangements.
  5. Announcements:
    1. The following people have filled in the online Course Information form. If your name is NOT on this list, please fill in the form on the course web site.
      1. Susan Bjorklund (on AGS 3360 class list)
      2. Lorey Bray (on GST 2710 class list)
      3. Shonda Brown (not on either class list - are you registered?)
      4. Angelina Canty (on AGS 3360 class list)
      5. Duane Cooper (on GST 2710 class list)
      6. Angell Cyars (on GST 2710 class list)
      7. Rhonda Dalton (on GST 2710 class list)
      8. Michael Hyman (on GST 2710 class list)
      9. Satoya McCray (on GST 2710 class list)
      10. Wanda Mitchell (not on either class list - are you registered?)
      11. William Myles (on GST 2710 class list)
      12. Caprice Nathan (on GST 2710 class list)
      13. Vincent Parks (on GST 2710 class list)
      14. Sharon Patton (on GST 2710 class list)
      15. Alfonso Strong (not on either class list - are you registered?)
      16. Jackie Webster (on GST 2710 class list)
      17. Charlene Wise (on GST 2710 class list)
      18. Corey Wright (on GST 2710 class list)
    2. The following people on the GST 2710 class list have not yet filled in the online Course Information form on the course web site. Please do this before you leave tonight; ask if you need help. If you want online grade reports available for this course, be sure to check "Yes" in that section and enter a password for the online grade reports.
      1. Anthony Duncan (has not signed in previously)
      2. Corey Wright (signed in last week)
  6. Review of Quiz 2
    1. Still some problems with the parts of a path and a URL
    2. Binary problems done well
  7. User interfaces - the way the user controls what the computer does.
    1. The two major types (so far) are Command Line and GUI (Graphical User Interface). Many experts feel that the next type of user interface will be an Agent Interface. You will tell software "agents" what to do, and some may adjust themselves to how you work
      1. Command line usually has a prompt, at which the user types a command or other information on the keyboard. Usually only one way to get something done.
      2. GUI uses a mouse, trackball or other pointing device in addition to the keyboard. Usually has many alternatives for each action, such as use menus, use tool button or use keystroke. Example is Search or Find command:
        1. Menu item with mouse: Edit / Find
        2. Menu item with keyboard: <Alt>E then F (<Alt> gets to menu bar then select underlined letter on menu item)
        3. Keyboard: <Ctrl>F (shown on menu item as a reminder)  ShortCutOnMenu.gif (1095 bytes)
        4. Button on toolbar  FindToolButton.gif (937 bytes) (may also be shown on menu item as a reminder)
    2. Levels of the GUI:
      1. Active elements such as
        1. Button
          1. Clickable, with action or picture on its face (e.g. "Open")
            Buttons1.gif (1348 bytes)      Buttons2.gif (1313 bytes)
          2. Toolbutton - quick selection of a menu item (same as the menu item) - can save precious time on Quizzes and Exams. Experiment with these - point the mouse to a button to see a pop-up message about what it does
            Example 1: ToolBarButtons1.gif (1274 bytes) File/ New (document); File / Open (file); File / Save;
            File / Print; Tools / Spelling and Grammar
            Example 2: ToolBarButtons2.gif (1642 bytes) Format / Font / Font:
            Format / Font / Size (can also type in a number even if it is not on the list); Format / Font / Font Style / Bold, then Italic than Underline; Format / Paragraph / Alignment then Right (lighter color indicates button is pressed and that style is selected), Center, Left and Justify
          3. Check box - check as many as you want
            CheckBoxes.gif (1609 bytes)
          4. Radio button - check only one in a group
            RadioButtons.gif (1468 bytes)
        2. Spinner - can "spin" using up/down arrows, or click and type in number
          Spinner.gif (1231 bytes)
        3. Menu (and sub-menus and so forth). "..." at the end means that there is more to do after choosing
          the menu element - means it is "safe" to choose it, nothing will happen right away
          Menus.gif (1030 bytes)
        4. Drop-down list - click on down arrow, select from menu that drops down
          DropDown.gif (1172 bytes)
        5. Icon
          IconSelected.gif (1601 bytes)
        6. Text box - type in (default may be proposed by application)
          TextBox.gif (1488 bytes)
      2. Dialog - a collection of active elements to accomplish a specific task such as saving a file (drive, folder, name, type). A dialog can have several "Tabs" or pages. In Windows, some common dialogs are:
        1. Save As...
        2. File / Open
          Dialog.gif (4321 bytes)
      3. Wizard - a series of dialogs to accomplish a specific task
  8. Information
    1. How much information can be stored in n bits?
      1. Lowest number that can be stored is zero
      2. Highest number that can be stored is 2n - 1
      3. Number of different values (codes) is 2n
      4. 210 ~ 103 = 1,000
    2. A byte - 8 bits. Computers usually handle data in bytes. How much information is this, or how many different codes?
    3. Graphics information - pixels, pixels per inch. Color depth.
    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 - compression factor
    6. Animation - each frame is a separate graphic
  9. Overview of word processing using MS Word. Word Processing is for managing text.
    1. File menu handles files as a whole. Open, save, print
    2. Text creation or entry: making new text. Done with the keyboard in the document window
    3. Edit - change text. Cut, Copy, Paste, Find, Replace
    4. Select text by dragging over it, or click at one end of selection (beginning or end) then use arrow keys with <Shift> key down to move selection or click at other end (end or beginning) with <Shift> key down
    5. Format - change the appearance of text
      1. Font - applies to individual letters
        1. Serif Vs Sans Serif
        2. Monospacing Vs Proportional
        3. True Type - print is the same as the screen
      2. Paragraph - applies to whole paragraph. Line spacing, indent, outdent
        1. "Weaker" methods are Space Bar and Tab for centering, indenting, etc.
        2. Start a new line with <Enter> key, but start a new page with Insert / Break... / Page break, or better yet by grouping text to be kept together. to do this, start a new page if break will come in the middle. Select text that is to be kept on the same page, then use Format / Paragraph... / Line and Page Breaks then select both Keep lines together and Keep with next, then click "OK."
    6. Tools - automate actions, such as Spell Check and Grammar Check, Auto Correct - can be turned on and off item by item. Also configure Word for the way you want it to work - Tools / Customize... and Tools / Options...
    7. What will I expect you to be able to do in Word, on Quizzes and Exams (this means that you know what they mean by name, and can carry them out quickly and efficiently):
      1. Start and close Word
      2. File: New (document), Open (an existing file), Save, Save As... (including setting or changing name, drive, folder, type), Page Setup..., Print Preview, Print
        NOTE: Opening a file in Word and then using Save As... is one way of renaming a file, and for some people may be the only way they know. This is a slow and cumbersome method; also see how to rename using Windows (NT) Explorer
      3. Edit: Undo, Cut, Copy, Past, Select All, Find..., Replace...
      4. View: Header and Footer...
      5. Insert: Break (Page break), Picture (From Clipart and From File)
      6. Format: Font..., Paragraph..., Bullets and Numbering..., Borders and Shading...
      7. Tools / Spelling and Grammar...
  10. Introduction to computers - A fifth type of computer - the embedded computer. This is a computer that is part of something else, such as a watch, a toaster or an automobile, that does not have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, disk drive (although the new video recorders with embedded computers, such as "Tivo", do have disk drives) or any other peripheral device, except for perhaps an LCD display. these embedded computers are part of the product and often control the mechanical equipment. The microprocessor inside a car, for example, controls a sensor that measure the amount of air going into each cylinder, calculates the amount of fuel needed to balance that amount of air (close to "stoichiometry", so that each two hydrogen atoms in the injected fuel have an oxygen atom from the air to form water vapor, H2O, and each carbon atom in the injected fuel has two oxygen atoms from the air to form carbon dioxide, CO2) to minimize emissions or pollution, and the microprocessor also fires each spark plug at the right time ("spark angle") to get the most power out of the air-fuel mixture. Many appliances today are managed by such embedded computers. All of their programs are in Read Only Memory (ROM) that does not lose its contents when the power is removed.
  11. More Windows basics - Windows Explorer and the hierarchical file system. Windows Explorer is the Windows tool of choice for managing files
    1. Open Windows (NT) 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 absolutely necessary, and be careful when something valuable is selected. If you do delete or otherwise mess up a selection, do not panic - there is usually, but not always, an "Undo" feature.
      3. Type in myname and tap <Enter>/<Return>. Notice that your typing replaces what was there. This is a standard Windows feature that you can turn off. The feature is called "Typing replaces selection" - whatever you type directly replaces whatever was selected.
    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?
    4. What will I expect you to be able to do using Windows (NT) Explorer under test conditions (this means that you know what they mean by name, and can carry them out quickly and efficiently):
      1. File: New (folder), Rename (alternately by single-clicking twice on the name itself and then editing the name using arrow keys, Backspace and Delete keys, typing and Typing Replaces Selection
      2. Edit: Cut, Copy and Paste (alternately using Drag 'N Drop)
      3. View: Options... (use to display extensions -affects all file viewing, including File Open, Save and Save As... in Office applications including Word, Excel and Access)
      4. Tools: Find / Files or Folders including Name & Location - * (wildcard), drive, name and extension - and Date Modified
      5. Sort files by name or (date) Modified
  12. Lab 4. Read the following steps all the way through before starting.
    1. In New Perspectives On Microsoft Office 2000 Professional, do Word Tutorial 2 on pages WD 2.1 through WD2.38. The lab assignment is to edit and print out the file Annuity.doc according the the directions in the book.
    2. The file Annuity.doc which is the basis for this lab can be downloaded from the course web site using the link under Agenda 4. Alternately there are directions at the back of this book. If you are going to use the method in the back of the book, I recommend using the ISBN method, since I downloaded the wrong files using the title of the book. The ISBN can be found in the book on the page facing the Preface.
    3. I recommend saving the file to your floppy diskette, especially if you are going to work at another location.
    4. Before you turn in the edited document, at the top of your document, put a line with:
      1. Your name
      2. This Assignment (Lab 4)
      3. The course name (Computers and Society, GST 2710 or AGS 3360, Winter 2001
      4. The full path (drive, any folders, and filename) that you saved the edited file with.
    5. After this information, but before your letter, start a new page using the menu item Insert / Break... / Page break By starting a new page, the additional information will not interfere with the formatting you are asked to do during the editing.
    6. When you are done, print out a copy of your edited file, staple the pages together, and turn in this copy, by the start of the next class. This is you lab report. The printout 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 3. Please write or type "Assignment 3" on the work you turn in for this assignment.

  1. If a file containing a page of text is about 5,000 bytes, how many pages can fit onto a floppy diskette? (Capacity = 1.44 MB)
  2. A typical graphic file format for the World Wide web (*.gif) has 75 pixels per inch and a color depth of one byte per pixel. Find the file size for a 1" x 2" graphic in this format, with a compression ratio of 10 to 1.
  3. When printing a graphic file, there are about 300 pixels per inch for a laser printer, either color or black/white. For a 4" by 6" photo in True Color, how many bytes must be sent to the printer?
  4. In Computers, Technology, and Society, answer the following Review questions on Pp 4-37 and following: 4, 5, 6 and 7.

Quiz 4

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