Secondary Storage

• File Compression

File compression is used when sending a file from one computer to another over a connection that has limited bandwidth. It makes the file smaller and, therefore, the sending of the file is faster. It includes software programs that will archive your files and extract archived files such as ZIP and RAR files.

• Head Crash

A serious disk drive malfunction. A head crash means that the head has scratched or burned the disk. If the head becomes misaligned or if dust particles come between it and the disk, it can touch the disk. When this happens, you usually lose much of the data on the hard disk and will need to replace both the head and the disk.

• Internet Hard Drive

Internet hard drives have served to meet this need, offering a creative new solution to the issue of data storage. The purpose of an Internet hard drive is to offer a means of accessing your computer files from any computer, as long as that computer has access to the Internet.

• Optical Disc Drive

Optical disk is an electronic data storage medium from which data is read and written to by using a low-powered laser beam. It  retrieve or store data on optical discs like CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs. They hold much more information than the floppy disk. Most optical drives can play or record onto a large number of different disc formats.

• Solid-State Storage

Solid-state storage is a nonvolatile, removable storage medium that employs integrated circuits rather than magnetic or optical media. The advantage of solid-state storage is it contains no mechanical parts. Data transfer to and from solid-state storage media takes place at a much higher speed than is possible with electromechanical disk drives. The example of solid-state storage is flash memory Universal Serial Bus (USB) devices.

Input and Output

• Ergonomic keyboard

An ergonomic keyboard is a keyboard designed to minimize muscle strain and a host of related problems. There is no precise definition an ergonomic keyboard, it is more comfortable than a standard flat keyboard.

• Ink-jet Printer

A type of printer that works by spraying ionized ink at a sheet of paper. It can produce copy with a resolution of at least 300 dots per inch ( dpi ). Some inkjet printers can make full color hard copies at 600 dpi or more. The price of ink-jet printers is lower than laser printers.

• Laser Printer

A type of printer that uses a laser beam to produce an image on a drum. The light creating an electrostatic image of the page onto a charged photoreceptor, which in turn attracts toner in the shape of an electrostatic charge. It produce better quality black text documents than ink-jets.

• Magnetic-ink character reader (MICR)

Magnetic Ink Character Reader (MICR) is an input device widely used by banks to process large volume of checks and deposit forms written everyday. It consists of special ink called magnetic ink. It is used to write characters on the check and deposit forms to be processed by an MICR.

• Optical-character Recognition (OCR)

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is a process of converting printed materials into text or word processing files that can be edited and stored. It requires both hardware and software. The technology has enabled such materials to be stored using much less storage space than the hard copy materials.

• Optical-mark Recognition (OMR)

OMR technology scans a printed form and reads predefined positions and records where marks are made on the form. It is useful for applications in which large numbers of hand-filled forms need to be processed quickly and with great accuracy.

The System Unit

• Flash Memory

Flash memory refers to electronically erasable programmable read only memory. It is a memory chip that maintains stored information without requiring a power source. It is often used in portable electronics, like MP3 players, and in removable storage devices.

• Graphic card

The graphics components control and enhance how graphics  are displayed on your computer screen. The graphics components are on a separate card that plugs into a slot on the motherboard, which is the main part of the computer.

• Sound Card

A sound card  processes audio files in order to provide high-quality playback through computer speakers. It plays voice as well as music files, and can handle various audio file formats including .wav, .mp3 and .cda to name but a few.

•          Network interface card (NIC)

A network interface card referred to as a NIC, it is a device that allows computers to be joined together in a LAN, or local area network. The network interface card acts as the liaison for the machine to both send and receive data on the LAN.

•           Plug & Play

Plug and Play (PnP) is a capability developed by Microsoft for its Windows 95 and later operating systems that gives users the ability to plug a device into a computer and have the computer recognize that the device is there. The user doesn't have to tell the computer.

•     Bus line

The bus lines are the communicating electronic lines that connect different parts of the CPU to various other parts. In addition, the bus lines also link the CPU to different parts on the system board of your computer. The data flows in the form of bits along the bus lines.

•   HDMI

HDMI supports both audio and video data components. It supports standard, enhanced, or high-definition video as well as multi-channel digital audio on a single industry standard cable. It is capable of carrying any type of compressed audio data. It can carry a bandwidth of 5 Gbps (gigabits per second) too.

•           Cache memory

Cache memory is extremely fast memory that is built into a computer’s central processing unit (CPU).  The CPU uses cache memory to store instructions that are repeatedly required to run programs, improving overall system speed.

Specialized Application Software

• Audio Editing Software

-It is used to edit music, audio, voice and other sound recordings. The sound editing functions include cut, copy, paste, delete, insert, silence, and more. The audio effects include, amplify, normalize, equaliser, envelope, reverb, echo, reverse and many more.

 

• Bitmap Image

A bitmap is a file formats for images stored in a computerized form. It carries the extension .BMP. Computers use bits of 1 and 0 to store data. It is made up of rows and columns of tiny blocks, or pixels. In a bitmap image, each pixel is assigned at least one bit to indicate whether the pixel should reflect the background color, the foreground color, or some other color. 

• HTML Editor

A HTML editor is used to create content for web sites. It is easy to use since it has a feature that is known as WYSIWYG. HTML editors are also great for creating tables, building borders around images and changing background color in no time at all.

• Multimedia

Multimedia is simply multiple forms of media integrated together. Media can be text, graphics, audio, animation, video, data and etc. Today, the word multimedia is used quite frequently, from DVD’s to CD ROMs to even a magazine that includes text and pictures.

• Vector Image

A vector image can be composed of points connected by lines, or nodes connected by Bezier curves. There are various file formats for saving vector images. One of the widely used vector image file format is PDF or Portable Document Format that was developed by Adobe.

• Web Authoring

It enables the user to develop a web site in a desktop publishing format. It will generate the required HTML coding for the layout of the web pages based on what the user designs. It also use to design and create a web site.

Basic Application Software

• Graphical User Interface (GUI)

A graphical user interface (GUI) is a human-computer interface that uses windows, icon and menus which can be manipulated by a mouse. The advantage of GUI is that they make computer operation more intuitive, thus easier to learn and use. 

• Word Processor

A word processor is a software program use to create, store, and print documents.The word processors have the ability of creating a document and making any type of changes anywhere in the document. The document can also be saved for modification at a later time or to be opened on any other computer using the same word processor.

• Spreadsheet

A spreadsheet, also known as a worksheet. It contains rows and columns and is used to record and compare numerical or financial data. It can be used in any area or field that works with numbers .

• Database Management System (DBMS)

The database management system, or DBMS, is a program that is designed to manage all databases that are currently installed on a system hard drive or network. Some of the DBMS designed for the oversight and proper control of databases that are configured for specific purposes. 

• Utility Suites

Utility software is  designed to help analyze, configure, optimize and maintain the computer. They  also include a simple one-button function for the new user that does a full system check or repair.

 

The Internet and The Web

• File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

FTP is responsible for transferring files from one computer to another over a TCP computer network or the Internet. It enables users to upload web page files from their personal computers to the server where their websites are located and vice versa. The common usage of FTP is for data transfer purposes. This service is provided through a TCP network protocol.



• Plug-ins

Plug-ins are software modules that add to the functionality of an application. Plug-ins have many different functions. A plug-in can launch its own viewer, appear within a browser window, appear in an embedded frame, or run in the background. Plug-ins work in similar ways with other kinds of programs.

• Filters

A program that accepts a certain type of data as input, transforms it in some manner, and then outputs the transformed data. Only data that matches the pattern is allowed to pass through the filter.

• Internet Security Suite

Suites combine multiple features into a single product. It is convenient to have several features bundled together. On the other hand, suites may have strong features mixed with weaker ones. They may not have every security and privacy feature that you need or want.

• Wiki

A wiki allows anyone to edit, delete or modify content that has been placed on the Web site using a browser interface, including the work of previous authors. The term wiki refers to either the Web site or the software used to create the site. 



• JavaScript

JavaScript is the most popular scripting language on the internet. It works in all major browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari. JavaScript's official name is ECMAScript. Java and JavaScript are two different languages in both concept and design. It is widely use now.

 

• Applets

An applet is a program written in the Java programming language that can be included in an HTML page. Some applets are able to function as other normal software application, but are small in size and perform only a small set of tasks. Applets are not full-featured application programs.

 

• HTML

The definition of HTML is Hyper Text Markup Language. It consists of a series of short codes typed into a text-file by the site author. The text is then saved as a HTML file, and viewed through a browser, like Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator.

• URL

URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator, which means it is a uniform way to locate a resource on the Internet. It specifies the address of a file on the Internet that has a unique address. The actual URL is a set of four numbers separated by periods.

Format of a URL:

Protocol://site address/path/filename



Careers In IT

• Webmaster

 A webmaster is a person responsible for designing and maintaining the coding and proper function of a website. The webmaster is the person who owns the domain. A good webmaster has knowledge of at least Perl, UNIX, HTML, CGI, JavaScript and so on.


• Computer Support Specialist

Computer support specialists help people use computers. They support specialists figure out why and then try to fix it. They provide technical assistance to computer system users, answer their questions or resolve computer problems for them. Besides that, they also provide assistance concerning the use of computer hardware and software.

• Technical Writer

A technical writer is a professional writer who designs, creates and maintains technical documentation. This documentation includes online help, user guide, system manuals, and other documents. It is the presentation of information that helps the reader solve a particular problem.

• Software Engineer

A software engineer is in charge of assembling extensive amounts of code into working applications, updating and fixing problems in existing software. They are same with the programmer because the main duties of a software engineer involve programming computers.  It is important because of the impact of large, expensive software systems and the role of software in safety-critical applications.

• Network Administrator 

Network administrators are in charged with the responsibility of maintaining a computer network. They will oversee the installation and updates to any software as well as install and maintain any hardware needed to operate the network.

• Data Administrator

A data administrator develops, implements policies and procedures of how data shall be coordinated for a given system. They test how data is to be stored in the way of location, physical characteristics and amount of space needed and access methods. Data administrators develop and publish policies and procedures for data collection.

• System Analyst

The system analyst guides through the development of an information system. Their jobs typically begin with determining the intended purpose of the computers. They must understand the general objectives of the business, as well as what each individual user's job requires.

 

• Programmer 

A programmer writes programs or computer softwares. Programmers usually have an extensive background in some form of computer coding language, include XML, PHP,Perl, HTML, or SQL. Programmers may specialize in one area or may write instructions for a wide range of systems or programs.