Professional Documents
Culture Documents
WHAT IS A COMPUTER
A computer may be defined as an electronic device that has the capability of accepting and
processing data under the control of a stored program and producing output in the form of
information. This information may be in the form of sound, images, electronic signals, etc. and
may be stored within the computer or on an external storage device. Computers are not very
intelligent but they handle instructions flawlessly and fast. They must follow explicit directions
from both the user and the computer programmer. Computers are really nothing more than a very
powerful calculator with some great accessories. Applications like word processing and games are
just very complex mathematical problems.
SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE
The computer is made up of two basic components; software and hardware. The software
component consists of all the intangible parts of the computer, parts you cannot see or touch.
Whilst the hardware component consists of all parts that can be seen and touched. In other words
the hardware sits on your desk and executes the software instructions (programs). Without the
software the computer would be nothing more than a metal box.
HARDWARE COMPONENTS
The main hardware components that make the computer are:
System unit
Monitor
Keyboard
Mouse
There are also optional components that are used to enhance the performance of the computer but are
however not necessary for basic computer use. These components are called peripherals and are usually
attached to computers via interfaces. Among these, there are;
Multi-media speakers
Printers
Scanners
Webcams etc.
Generally the hardware components (main and peripheral) that make up a computer are grouped into
two basic categories based on the functions that they perform in relation to receiving and displaying
data/information.
Devices that aid in feeding data/information into the computer are called; input devices
Examples include; keyboard, mouse, scanners, webcams, etc.
Those that the computer uses to make data/information available to the user are called output devices.
Examples include; monitor multi-media speakers, printers, etc.
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE MAIN HARDWARE COMPONENTS THAT MAKE UP THE COMPUTER
The system unit is the relatively big, mostly box-like object that usually sits on the desk aside the monitor.
The system unit houses the micro-processor which is the brain of the computer. It is the part that
receives all the instructions that are contained in a program and uses them to transform data into
information. Aside the micro-processor, another very important component that is housed in the system
unit is the memory chip. The memory chip serves as the working area of the computer. Theoretically this
is the area where the data is held prior to being processed. It is also the area where information is stored
after processing.
The monitor is a display device. Before we had only Cathode Ray Tube monitors which were bulky and
produced a substantial amount of radiation which was harmful to human health. However with the recent
advancement in technology they were replaced by the plasma screen monitors. These are smaller and do
not operate using the cathode ray tube technology.
The keyboard is the flatter rectangular device which uses an arrangement of buttons/keys to feed data
into the computer. Initially, prior to the introduction of the graphical user interface (GUI) it was the major
input device. However some of its functions can now be carried out using the mouse.
The mouse is more of a pointing device that uses either a track ball or a laser beam to move a pointer
across the screen of the monitor and perform various functions such as selecting and editing the contents
of objects.
OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE AND SOFTWARE APPLICATINS
Similar to the hardware the software is also divided into two broad categories. These are the operating
system software and the application software.
OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE
The operating system is an interface between the computer hardware, the user, and any other applications
software. It provides a platform on which smaller pieces of software (applications) can be executed. At first sight it
might seem that the operating system does very little, however, behind the scenes, the operating system is the one
in charge of monitoring the file systems, usage of resources, security, and other very important functions of the
computer. Examples of operating systems include; Windows XP, Windows 7, Ubuntu, Linux, etc.
APPLICATION SOFTWARE
Application software is used to refer to smaller computer programs that are designed to perform specific
tasks. These are user and platform specific. Examples of application software would include; Microsoft
word, VLC media player, Windows explorer, Need for speed most wanted, etc.
WORD PROCESSING
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Right click on the Microsoft Word icon. This may be found either as a shortcut on the desktop or
in the Microsoft Office file in the start menu.
in the home screen, click on the Microsoft Office button and select New from the context menu
that is displayed.
In the window that is displayed, select, Blank document and click the create button that is located
at the bottom right corner of the window.
The next best thing to do would be to save the newly created document. This can be done at any time but
it is advisable that users who do not use un-interrupted power supplies (UPS) perform this process once
in every five minutes to prevent loss of data during a power outage. Another point worth noting is that
there are two types of saves. If you right click on the Office button in the home screen of Microsoft Word,
in the context menu that is displayed there are two saving options, these are ; Save and Save As.
The Save As option is used to either save a document for the first time or, create a new copy of an
existing document.
The save option is used to update or save changes to an already existing document.
Below are the steps to be followed when performing the save as and then the save operations.
SAVE AS
Left click on the Office button and select the Save as button from the context menu.
In the resulting window select the location on the computer where you would like to save your file
and enter the file name and select the format in which you would like to save your file.
Type a new file name for your file in the file name text box
Right click the Save button which is as usual at the bottom of the screen to save the document.
SAVE
Right click on the Office button to open the office context menu
Click on the Save button to add changes to the already existing document
In the dialogue box displayed navigate to the word file that you would like to open Click the Open
button which is at the bottom right corner of the screen.
TEXT ALIGNMENT
By default the text in word is left aligned. In other words each new line of text begins at the left margin of
your page. Anther way of saying this is; the text is left justified. This however is not static and can be
changed. The alignment buttons in the paragraph group of the home tab allow us to make changes to the
way that the text is alligned.
The images on each button give a good idea of the type of allignment that is.
The first button is the left align button. It alligns all the typed text to the left margin of the sheet
The second button is the center align button that is used to centre each line of text in the middle
+of the sheet
The third button is the right align button and is the exact opposite of the left allign button. This
button alligns each line of text to the right margin of the sheet.
The last button in the collection is the justification button and is used to justify the text in such a
way that not only is it placed in the middle of the screen but also adjust the spaces between
words.
In order to change the alignment of text in your document, all that you have to do is select the text that
you want to justify and click on any of the align buttons that best suit your purpose.
landscape layout
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From the drop down menu select the most desirable thumbnail margin
NB: Changes would be applied to all pages.
If however none of the preset margin types fit your purpose then;
Click on the customs margin text at the bottom of the margins layout drop down menu.
Make the necessary adjustments
Click the OK button to apply changes
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The top area of the window allows us to adjust the margin size for top, bottom, left and right of the page.
There are also input boxes for you to specify a gutter margin. You would use a gutter margin to add extra
space to the side or top margin of a document you plan to bind. A gutter margin ensures that text isnt
obscured by the binding.
In a case where the changes you made do not seem to suit your purposes, click on the default button to
set all the parameters to default.
GRAPHICS IN WORD
INSERTING IMAGE FILES
The types of images that you can insert into you Microsoft Word document are numerous. You can insert
Clip Art from Microsofts Clip gallery, you can insert images crated from graphic applications like adobe
Photoshop, photos you take with your digital camera, scanned images and images obtained from the
internet. If you are using images from the internet make sure that you have permission to use them first.
To insert images and pictures stored on your computer
Click the insert tab
Select picture from the thumbnails displayed
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In the insert picture dialogue box that appears, navigate to the location of the picture file that you
want to insert.
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If you followed the procedure above correctly, a context menu would be displayed showing the line and
shape alternatives that can be inserted into your document. To insert a line;
Click on any of the line options in the context menu to select it.
Move over to the position in your document where you would like to place the line.
Move the pointer( which is supposed to change to a plus sign) to the position where you would
like your line to begin
left clik once at that position
Now move the cursor to the position where you would like your line to end
Right click once at that position
To adjust the positon of the line
left click once on the line
left click on the green circle that is at the end of the line that you would like to adjust
Whilst holding down the right click button drag the end of the line to the required length
Leave the mouse button
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In the window that is displayed, type your text in the section that says type text here
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Left click on the left, topmost box and drag the cursor to select the required number of rows and
columns
You should see a corresponding table being created on the active page of your document
alongside.
When you have selected the required numberof rows and columns, click on the box over which
your curses is to finalize the creation of the table.
Text is inserted into the cells of the table by left clicking on the cells. The text in each cell can also be
formatted just as the text in an ordinary document, page where the cell borders serve as the page
margins.
The rows and columns of the table can also be resized to suit the requirements of the user. To do that;
Move the cursor to the cell border that you would like to move untill it changes into two sided
arrows.
Hold down the left mousebutton and drag the dotted line to the position where you would like the
border to end.
Leave the button to effect the changes
PRINTING IN WORD
After the document is ready it might be nessesary to create a hard (printed ) copy of it. Printing is another
option that is available in Microsoft word. To print out a document in word;
Left click on the office button
Place the pointer over the print thumbnail
Select the print preview thumbnail in the context menu that is displayed on the right
In the print preview you are shown what the document would look like after it has been printed. Here
from the menu tab you can make changes to the margins and orientation of the page to suit your
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purposes. When you have edited the page layout click on the print tab to display the print window and
then left click the print button to begin printing the document.
Occasionally there might be times when you would want to print only a page out of the entire document.
To do this;
Find that page in the document and make it the active page by left clicking on it
Go to the print menu through the office button and select the print option
In the print window, go the page range and select the current page option
Left click the print button to begin printing
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whether a percentage or dollar sign should be included. You also can apply a date format to
determine how a date appears.
Charts. Translate your data into a meaningful image by creating a chart in Excel. Excel offers
dozens of chart types, layouts, and formats to help you present your results in the clearest way.
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The borders of a cell or a range of cells refers to the the border lines that envelope it/them from the top,
bottom, left and right directions. To change the border lines;
Select the cells whose border line you would like to change.
Left click on the border format bordres thumb which can be found in the font collection of the
home thub.
From the drop down menu select and apply the type of border format that suits you most by left
clicking on it.
MERGING CELLS
Sometimes, when creating reports for printing it might be necessary (for aesthetic purposes) to
transform a few cells into one cell. this process is called merging. It is worth noting that merging of
cells can only be carried out on several cells and not just one cell.
To merge cells
Select the range of cells that you would like to merge
From the alignment tools collection click on the merge and centre thumb.
In case an error has been made, the process can be undone by clicking on the merged cells and clicking on
the merge and center thumb once again.
TEXT ALIGNMENT
The text in each cell can be aligned to suit the users choice. Available options are left, right, centre justify.
To align the text in a cell or a range of cells;
Select the range of cells (where applicable).
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In the allignment collection select and apply the required allignment format by left clicking on the
appropriate tab
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Left click on the order in which you would like your data to be sorted. These may be ascending ( AZ ) or descending (Z-A ).
A message box pops up asking you if you would like to expand the sorting to neighbouring cells.
NB: if you choose to expand your selection then all neighbouring columns in your data base that
hold data would be sorted alongside the selected column based on the data entries in the selected
column. However if you choose to continue sorting with the current selection then only the data
entries in the selected column would be sorted in the order selected.
Select the desired option from the message box and click the sort button.
FILTERING DATA
Sometimes it may become necessary to display some rows or hide others based on some entries made
into a column. For example, this feature would come very handy if we are trying to generate a list of all
the studnts in the class who have second class upper from the general class list. To filter data;
Select the column based on which you would like to perform the sorting
From the editing tools collection in the home tab select the sort and search thumb
From the drop down options menu select the filter thumb by left clicking on it.
This action places a show all button on the first record in the column you selected
By left clicking on that button, the following message box is shown
In this box you are given the option of selecting the records that you would want to be shown
based on the whether they contain any of the ticked values or not.
Select the desired values and left click ok to effect the change
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MICROSOFT POWERPOINT
INTRODUCTION
PowerPoint is the powerful and ubiquitous presentation program from Microsoft. It gives you the facility
to create stunning presentations that incorporate video and PowerPoint animations. The image editing
capabilities that PowerPoint offers get better and better with every new version. Starting to learn
Microsoft PowerPoint can seem like a daunting task if you are not familiar with its environment. The
tutorials you would go through would take you by the hand and teach you the basics of using this
application.
CREATING A NEW PRESENTATION
There are a variety of ways of creating your PowerPoint presentations and one of them is to start from
scratch, in doing so you are creating your presentation from a blank presentation and you have much
more flexibility over how it looks.
The first step as usual is to open the PowerPoint application by clicking on its icon. The power point icon
looks something like this and can be found in the Microsoft office suite.
In the window that appears click on the office button and select the new thumb
Ensure that blank presentation is selected. You can click on the thumbnail image to select it if it
isnt and then click create. A new presentation based on a blank presentation opens for you to
start work on. As soon as you can, save the presentation so you dont lose any changes
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NB: Remember that the save procedure is the same for all applications that form the Microsoft office
suite.
You will notice that the new slides button is in two halves, if you click on the new slide button, the default
title and content type slide will be added. If, instead, you click the bottom half of the button, you will be
able to select what type of slide is added.
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Once the new slide has been added, you can click into one of the editable content boxes to make your
changes.
The keyboard shortcut for adding a new slide is ctrl + m.
DELETING SLIDES
You have learned how to add slides to a presentation; the time has come to learn how to delete
unwanted slides. Deleting slides can be performed in three ways. Select the slide and then
Press the delete key on the keyboard
Press the backspace key on the keyboard
Right click on the slide and select Delete Slide
Also, there are a variety of places that you can delete the slide in question. The easiest way is to work in
normal view (on the view tab, in the presentations views group, click normal). You can then work on
either slides or outline tab: find and select the slide you want to delete and then press the delete key, you
can select multiple slides by holding down the control key as you click on additional slides. If you press the
delete key now, you will delete all the selected slides. If you have a group of slides that run in sequence,
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you can select them all by selecting the first one and then holding down the shift key whilst you click on
the last slide.
If you have many slides to delete, you may find it easier from an organizational point of view to work in
slide sorter view. The same process applies: select single or multiple slides and then press the delete key.
MOVING SLIDES
You have spent time planning how you want your presentation to look and you have painstakingly
designed its look and feel. You have taken great care with every stylish slide you have added, but at the
last moment you realize that slide six actually belongs before slide five! What do you do, start from
scratch??? There is no need. All you have to do is move the slide. You can change the sequence of your
slides by moving them around your presentation.
To move a slide in your presentation, all you have to do is drag and drop it where you need it. As you drag
the slide, you should see an insertion point that looks like either a horizontal or vertical line, depending
on which PowerPoint view you are using, that tells you where your slide will appear.
You can move several slides around as a group by selecting them all first and then dragging and dropping
them. To select multiple slides, hold down the control key and the keyboard as you click on additional
slides. Alternatively if the slides you need to select occur in an unbroken sequence, you can select the first
slide and then hold down the shift key as you click on the last slide.
MOVING SLIDES WITH KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
Another way to move slides around is to cut and paste them. Select the slide(s) you want to move, right
click on the selection and select cut. Select the slide that is positioned before where you want the slide to
go and then right click and select paste. The slide(s) will appear after the selected slide. If you want to
speed things up you can use keyboard shortcuts; select the side you want to move, press ctrl + x to cut
and then ctrl + v to paste it.
POWERPOINT VIEWS
There are six different views you can use to look at your PowerPoint presentation and each one has its
advantages over the others. The default view in PowerPoint is normal view. This means that when you
start PowerPoint, and as long as you dont change the view, you will be working in normal view. There are
two places to change to a different view; at the top of the left side panel and at the bottom of the
workspace to the right (next to the zoom slider). OK, make that three, since you can also see the
presentation views on the view tab.
To change the slides views view or outline view, click the corresponding tab at the top of the left side
panel.
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Outline view
Normal view
Slide sorter view
Reading view
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DESCRIPTION
This is a great place to view the slides in your presentation as
thumbnail-sized images while you edit l the thumbnails make it
easy for you to navigate through your presentations and to see
the effect of any design changes. You can also easily rearrange,
add, or delete slides here
This is a great place to start writing your content, to capture
your ideas , plan how you want to present them and move
slides and text around. The outline tab shows your slide text in
outline form
Normal vies is the main editing view, where you write and
design your presentations
Slide sorter view gives you a view of your slides in thumbnail
form. This view makes it easy for you to sort and organize the
sequence of your slides as you create your presentation and
then also as you prepare your presentation for printing.
Use reading view to deliver your presentations not to an
audience but instead to someone viewing your presentation on
their own computer. Or use reading view on your own
computer when you want to view a presentation not in a fullscreen slide show view, but in a window with simple controls
that make the presentation easy to review. You can always
switch from reading view to one of the other views if you want
to change the presentation.
Use the slide show view to deliver your presentation to your
audience. Slide show view occupies the full computer screen,
exactly like an actual presentation. In this view, you see your
presentation the way your audience will/ you can see how your
graphics, timings, movies, animated effects, and transition
effects will look during the actual presentation.
MODIFYING BCKGROUNDS
For the background to your PowerPoint presentation, you can specify the following;
A solid fill
A gradient fill
A picture texture fill
To change your presentation background
Click on format background
Click on background styles
Select background
And then click on design
Alternatively, you can right click on a free area on a slide (and area that does not contain an object) and
then select format background from there.
You should now see the format background window
Ensure that the fill tab is selected (as in the image above) and then make the changes according to what
kind of background you want for your presentation.
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SOLID FILL
To specify a solid fill color, ensure that the appropriate radio button is selected and then click on the fill
color swatch, a panel is displayed for you select a color.
The colors in the main part of the grid are all theme colors, so if you select one you can be pretty
confident that the background will blend in well with the rest of the presentations colors. At the bottom
of the color selection panel are standard colors and if you want even more colors to choose from, you can
click more colors at the bottom.
GRADIENT FILL
A gradient is the smooth transition of one color into another
When this option is selected, you can choose from a selection of readymade gradients by clicking on the
preset colors button. Alternatively, you can exercise more control by defining the gradient yourself. If you
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do this, you will need to tell PowerPoint whether the gradient is linear, radial, rectangular, path or shade
from title. Additionally you will need to specify the gradient (with the gradient stops) and the properties
of each color in the gradient, these properties include what the color is, how bright and how transparent
it is.
PICTURE OR TEXTURE FILL
When specifying a picture or texture fill for your PowerPoint background, you are actually using a picture
as the background.
PowerPoint comes with some built in textures you can use, or you can select an image that is stored on
your hard drive. When you select an image in this way, you can choose to have the image appearing just
once in the background or to have it repeating like a texture. As you can see from the screenshot, there
are many outer attributes you can use to set that control the pictures appearance.
RESETTING THE POWERPOINT BACKGROUND
If you decide to reset your background, but you have made so many changes that it would take too long
to reverse each one. Or you can use the reset background button at the bottom of the format background
window. You can also tell PowerPoint to apply the background you just designed to all slides in the
presentation using the apply to all button. If you dont apply the background to all slides, then only the
currently selected slide is affected.
POWERPOINT TEXT
ADDING A TEXTBOX
When adding text to their PowerPoint presentations, many people limit themselves to using only the
placeholder boxes that are present by default when you add a new slide. For example when you add a
title and a content slide, there is always a title placeholder in which you will see the words Click to add
text. It is then a simple case of clicking into each of those boxes and then typing your content
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However, another way of adding text that gives you more flexibility over positioning is to add a textbox.
To add a textbox simply click on the textbox thumb in the in the text tools collection which can be found
under the insert tab. The cursor is supposed to change to;
Left click with the mouse and drag out the textbox. Once the text box has been drawn, you can start
typing in it. When you drag out you initial text box, it retains its width. But the height contracts
temporarily to be the height of one line of text. When you type multiple lines, the height will adjust to fit
but the width of the textbox will remain the same.
This is what the textbox looks like.
You can see the resizing handles at each corner and also halfway along each edge, you can resize the
textbox by clicking and dragging on any of those handles.
You can actually move the textbox to any position on the slide by simply moving the cursor over it until it
turn into something like this;
And then whilst holding the left mouse button down, dragging it to the desired position.
CONTENT PLACEHOLDERS
Microsoft PowerPoint placeholders are boxes with dotted borders that contain content and reside within
a slide layout. All built-in slide layouts that come with the application contain content placeholders. If you
click on the bottom half of the new slide button, PowerPoint displays all the slide layouts you can insert
and on each you can see content placeholders
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If you insert a two content slide layout, for example, you will get three placeholders; one for the slides
title and two for the content. To add your own text, click in a placeholder and start typing. You can style
the text however you please using the usual formatting options.
But how does PowerPoint know what placeholders should appear on each slide? This is determined by
the slide master. If you click on the slide master which can be found under the master view in the views
collection, you will see all the slide layouts available for use in your presentation. The layout in each is
controlled by, among other things, the content placeholders on them.
Click on any slide layout to select it and you will see the placeholders already present. You can add new
placeholders by clicking Insert Placeholder in the master layout group of the slide master tab. If you click
the top half of the button you will add the same placeholders as you added last time, whereas if you click
the bottom half; you get a choice of placeholders to add. Usually you will not add content placeholders to
exiting slide layouts (though you might). Placeholders are more useful when you create a new slide
layout.
FORMATTING TEXT
Most of the time, you will probably leave the text you type in your PowerPoint presentation as its without
formatting it. However, sometimes you might like to style certain pieces of text so that it stands out.
To format some text first of all select it as you move the cursor, the mini toolbar appears as if by magic.
The mini toolbar contains some of the more commonly used formatting commands that PowerPoint
guesses you are likely to use. Using it you can bold text, italicize it and do various other text formatting
tasks, all at the click of a button. You will probably be familiar with all of the commands available on the
mini toolbar.
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If you want to apply more adventurous formatting head over to the ribbon. When you select text, the
format contextual tab appears. On this tab are many different formatting functions. Let us get to grips
with formatting text by running through a quick example.
GRAPHICS
INSERT POWERPOINT I IMAGE
To insert an image in PowerPoint, click on the images thumb in the insert collection. you can see that
there are four different types of images you can insert here, and we will explore each one now.
INSERT IMAGE
If you have an image, for example a photo you have taken, on your PCs hard drive, you would click on the
picture button. Then you would navigate to the place in your hard drive where the picture was located
and either double click on it or select it and then click insert.
INSERT CLIP ART
When you click the clip art button, the clip art panel opens on the right of the workspace.
We can use this panel to search for clip art images of certain things. In the image above I searched for
telephone and found four related images. To narrow down the search, you can click on the results
should be drop down list and select one of the categories of;
Illustrations
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Photograph
Videos
Audios
To insert any of the images just click on it.
ADDING TRANSITIONS TO POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS
In Microsoft PowerPoint, slide transitions are motion effects that occur in slide show view when you
move from one slide to the next during a presentation. You can control the speed, add sound and even
customize the properties of transitions effects. To add a transition first of all select a slide in the left hand
panel that contains the slides and outline tabs. The transition will occur immediately before the selected
slide is displayed. To select a transition just click on the transition thumb under the transitions, under the
animations tab.
When you hover over a thumbnail image of a transition, you can see a live preview of it applied to your
slide. When you move the cursor away, the preview is removed.
If, after having applied a transition to the selected slide, you decide that you want the transition applied
to all slides, click on the Apply To All button in the timing group on the same tab.
POWERPOINT ANIMATIONS
To add an animation to an object in Microsoft PowerPoint, first of all select the object, then click
animation in the ribbon to see all the animation options that you have at your disposal. We can see a few
thumbnail images representing entrance effects in the animation group.
To preview any of the animations above all you have to do is to hover your mouse over the option. You
can see a preview of what that animation would look like, if applied. The animation plays once. You also
get to see what the animation looks like when you actually apply it to the object. If you want to see a
preview of the animation at any other time, click the preview button to the far left of the animations tab.
All slides that include an animation display a wooshing star next to the slide in slide view and slide sorter
view.
To remove an animation from an object, click on the dialogue box launcher and select none at the top.
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MULTIMEDIA
INTRODUCTION
With the introduction of the graphical user interface (GUI), the possible uses of computers increased
rapidly. One of the areas that benefitted most from this was the area of multimedia applications.
Multimedia refers to a combination of text, audio, still images, animation, video, and interactivity content
forms. Initially access to these media types were restricted to dedicated devices however with time these
functionalities were incorporated into personal computers. Today it is almost impossible to find a
computer that would not have a media player or a picture viewer.
Since this is a basic introduction we would only consider the use of the windows medial player in playing
media (sound and video) files. The windows media player is a very powerful media tool that was designed
by Microsoft and is shipped in with all of their operating systems. In fact it is the default media player for
all windows operating systems.
To begin with, let us open the media player by left clicking on the icon. By default you can locate this icon
in the start menu.
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Doing this opens up one of the two windows medial player views, either the now playing view;
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The now playing view is used to show the current files that have been loaded and are currently being
played. In the library view you have access to the various storage locations on the computer as well as
various categories of multimedia data that can be found on them. To toggle between the views you would
simply have to left click on the toggle view in either of the windows. This buttons look something like;
or
As stated before the windows media player is used to play audio and video files. To play an audio or a
video file you can follow any of the following procedures.
Drag and drop the audio/video file into the now playing window and press play
Drag and drop the files to be played into the portion of the library window where you have the
Drag items here to create a playlist text.
Please note that even though we drag and drop the actual media files in the media player. We do not
actually move them from their storage locations. What we do is pass a shortcut string to the media
player. The player uses this shortcut strings as a path to locate the media files where ever they are really
stored and plays them from there. These shortcuts can then be organized and played in a predefined
pattern. A collection of such shortcuts is referred to as a playlist.
Now let us have a look at the player controls.
The player controls consist of a set of standardized buttons that are displayed on the screen and used to
control the playback of media files. These controls are;
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Shuffle on/off; this button is used to turn the shuffle on(files are played in a random manner) or
off (files are played in the order in which they appear in the playlist.
Repeat on/off; this button is used to determine if the playlist or single media file should be played
just once or over and over again.
Stop; this button is used to stop playback
Previous; if this button is clicked once during playback, it starts playing the current file from the
beginning. If it is clicked on twice then it plays the media file that is found right before the file that
is currently playing.
Play; this button is used to either pause or resume playback
Next; this button is used to skip to the next file in the playlist. If the mouse button is held down on
this key, it forwards the file.
Mute; the mute button is used to completely eliminate all the audio output of the file that was
currently playing.
Volume; the volume slide bar is used to either increase or decrease the volume.
Another very useful feature of the windows media player is its ability to synchronize the playlists in the
library with any portable storage device. This feature can be accessed through the media library view and
is in the form of a tab with a Sync label. When an external storage device is connected to the computer,
aside being visible in the windows explorer, it is also shown in the media player under the Sync tab. To
copy media files to that device all you have to do is to click on the sync tab and drag the media items that
you want to synchronize then to complete the process you have to click on the start sync button.
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This feature becomes very useful when we want transfer media files onto portable media players.
The media player can also be used to burn media files to discs. Burning is a term that is used to refer to
the process of permanently saving files to optical discs. To access this feature, click on the burn tab. Then
drag the media files to the burn list and click on the start burn thumbnail.
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The image above the home screen of the windows explorer. This window is split into two. The left portion
of it is used to show the file system of the entire computer, including any external storage devices. The
right collection shows the files and folders that can be found in the selected storage location on the right.
For example in the window above the files, folders and icons shown in the left portion of the window are
all found on the desktop.
You can use the windows explorer to add and delete files and folders. To add a file or a folder simply right
clicks on an empty space in the right window and from the drop down menu select new. Then select
folder by clicking on it.
As soon as your new file/folder is created you would be asked to enter a name for it n the text box below
the folder icon. Push the enter or return key to save the changes. In a case where you made a mistake
whilst entering the file name, it is actually possible to change it. To change the file name, select the file by
clicking on it and then right click on it to reveal the drop down menu. In the menu select the rename
option. Edit the file name and push the enter key to save changes.
NB: a folder is a collection of files.
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VIRUSES
INTRODUCTION
A computer virus like any other application is a computer program. But unlike other applications
computer viruses do not perform any task that is of benefit to the user, instead they are harmful
programs that interfere with the normal functioning of other useful programs. At this point I would
expect you to be wondering. Why create programs that would interfere with the proper operation of
other useful programs. The answer is simple; to cause damage, the reasons however may be diverse.
Some viruses are created by newbie programmers that want to make a name for themselves, other
viruses are created as a result of a strategic attack on corporate data, again viruses have been created to
destroy the market demand for monopolistic software applications and hardware components.
In 1949 Hungarian American mathematician John von Neumann, at the Institute for Advanced Study in
Princeton, New Jersey, proposed that it was theoretically possible for a computer program to replicate. This
theory was tested in the 1950s at Bell Laboratories when a game called Core Wars was developed, in which
players created tiny computer programs that attacked, erased, and tried to propagate on an opponent's
system.
In 1983 American electrical engineer Fred Cohen, at the time a graduate student, coined the term virus to
describe a self-replicating computer program. In 1985 the first Trojan horses appeared, posing as a
graphics-enhancing program called EGABTR and as a game called NUKE-LA. A host of increasingly
complex viruses followed.
The so-called Brain virus appeared in 1986 and spread worldwide by 1987. In 1988 two new viruses
appeared: Stone, the first bootstrap-sector virus, and the Internet worm, which crossed the United States
overnight via computer network. The Dark Avenger virus, the first fast infector, appeared in 1989,
followed by the first polymorphic virus in 1990.
Computer viruses grew more sophisticated in the 1990s. In 1995 the first macro language virus, WinWord
Concept, was created. In 1999 the Melissa macro virus, spread by e-mail, disabled e-mail servers around
the world for several hours, and in some cases several days. Regarded by some as the most prolific virus
ever, Melissa cost corporations millions of dollars due to computer downtime and lost productivity.
The VBS_LOVELETTER script virus, also known as the Love Bug and the ILOVEYOU virus, unseated
Melissa as the world's most prevalent and costly virus when it struck in May 2000. By the time the
outbreak was finally brought under control, losses were estimated at U.S.$10 billion, and the Love Bug is
said to have infected 1 in every 5 PCs worldwide.
The year 2003 was a particularly bad year for computer viruses and worms. First, the Blaster worm
infected more than 10 million machines worldwide by exploiting a flaw in Microsofts Windows operating
system. A machine that lacked the appropriate patch could be infected simply by connecting to the Internet.
Then, the SoBig worm infected millions more machines in an attempt to convert systems into networking
relays capable of sending massive amounts of junk e-mail known as spam. SoBig spread via e-mail, and
before the outbreak was 24 hours old, MessageLabs, a popular e-mail filtering company, captured more
than a million SoBig messages and called it the fastest-spreading virus in history. In January 2004,
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however, the MyDoom virus set a new record, spreading even faster than SoBig, and, by most accounts,
causing even more damage.
TYPES OF VIRUSES
There are many categories of viruses, including parasitic or file viruses, bootstrap-sector, multipartite,
macro, and script viruses. Then there are so-called computer worms, which have become particularly
prevalent. A computer worm is a type of virus. However, instead of infecting files or operating systems, a
worm replicates from computer to computer by spreading entire copies of itself.
Parasitic or file viruses infect executable files or programs in the computer. These files are often identified
by the extension .exe in the name of the computer file. File viruses leave the contents of the host program
unchanged but attach to the host in such a way that the virus code is run first. These viruses can be either
direct-action or resident. A direct-action virus selects one or more programs to infect each time it is
executed. A resident virus hides in the computer's memory and infects a particular program when that
program is executed.
Bootstrap-sector viruses reside on the first portion of the hard disk or floppy disk, known as the boot sector.
These viruses replace either the programs that store information about the disk's contents or the programs
that start the computer. Typically, these viruses spread by means of the physical exchange of floppy disks.
Multipartite viruses combine the abilities of the parasitic and the bootstrap-sector viruses, and so are able to
infect either files or boot sectors. These types of viruses can spread if a computer user boots from an
infected diskette or accesses infected files.
Other viruses infect programs that contain powerful macro languages (programming languages that let the
user create new features and utilities). These viruses, called macro viruses, are written in macro languages
and automatically execute when the legitimate program is opened.
Script viruses are written in script programming languages, such as VBScript (Visual Basic Script) and
JavaScript. These script languages can be seen as a special kind of macro language and are even more
powerful because most are closely related to the operating system environment. The 'ILOVEYOU' virus,
which appeared in 2000 and infected an estimated 1 in 5 personal computers, is a famous example of a
script virus.
Strictly speaking, a computer virus is always a program that attaches itself to some other program. But
computer virus has become a blanket term that also refers to computer worms. A worm operates entirely on
its own, without ever attaching itself to another program. Typically, a worm spreads over e-mail and
through other ways that computers exchange information over a network. In this way, a worm not only
wreaks havoc on machines, but also clogs network connections and slows network traffic, so that it takes
an excessively long time to load a Web page or send an e-mail.
however not all programs that interfere with the normal functioning of other computer programs are
viruses. Some of these are described below.
There are other harmful computer programs that can be part of a virus but are not considered viruses
because they do not have the ability to replicate. These programs fall into three categories: Trojan horses,
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logic bombs, and deliberately harmful or malicious software programs that run within a Web browser, an
application program such as Internet Explorer and Netscape that displays Web sites.
A Trojan horse is a program that pretends to be something else. A Trojan horse may appear to be
something interesting and harmless, such as a game, but when it runs it may have harmful effects. The term
comes from the classic Greek story of the Trojan horse found in Homers Iliad.
A logic bomb infects a computers memory, but unlike a virus, it does not replicate itself. A logic bomb
delivers its instructions when it is triggered by a specific condition, such as when a particular date or time
is reached or when a combination of letters is typed on a keyboard. A logic bomb has the ability to erase a
hard drive or delete certain files.
Malicious software programs that run within a Web browser often appear in Java applets and ActiveX
controls. Although these applets and controls improve the usefulness of Web sites, they also increase a
vandals ability to interfere with unprotected systems. Because those controls and applets require that
certain components be downloaded to a users personal computer (PC), activating an applet or control
might actually download malicious code.
VIRAL CURE, PREVENTION AND DATA PROTECTION
Computer users can prepare for a viral infection by creating backups of legitimate original software and
data files regularly so that the computer system can be restored if necessary. Viral infection can be
prevented by obtaining software from legitimate sources or by using a quarantined computerthat is, a
computer not connected to any networkto test new software. Plus, users should regularly install
operating system (OS) patches, software updates that mend the sort of flaws, or holes, in the OS often
exploited by viruses. Patches can be downloaded from the Web site of the operating systems developer.
However, the best prevention may be the installation of current and well-designed antiviral software.
Such software can prevent a viral infection and thereby help stop its spread.
Several types of antiviral software can be used to detect the presence of a virus. Scanning software can
recognize the characteristics of a virus's computer code and look for these characteristics in the computer's
files. Because new viruses must be analyzed as they appear, scanning software must be updated
periodically to be effective. Other scanners search for common features of viral programs and are usually
less reliable. Most antiviral software uses both on-demand and on-access scanners. On-demand scanners
are launched only when the user activates them. On-access scanners, on the other hand, are constantly
monitoring the computer for viruses but are always in the background and are not visible to the user. The
on-access scanners are seen as the proactive part of an antivirus package and the on-demand scanners are
seen as reactive. On-demand scanners usually detect a virus only after the infection has occurred and that is
why they are considered reactive.
Antivirus software is usually sold as packages containing many different software programs that are
independent of one another and perform different functions. When installed or packaged together, antiviral
packages provide complete protection against viruses. Within most antiviral packages, several methods are
used to detect viruses. Check summing, for example, uses mathematical calculations to compare the state
of executable programs before and after they are run. If the checksum has not changed, then the system is
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uninfected. Check summing software can detect an infection only after it has occurred, however. As this
technology is dated and some viruses can evade it, check summing is rarely used today.
Most antivirus packages also use heuristics (problem-solving by trial and error) to detect new viruses. This
technology observes a programs behavior and evaluates how closely it resembles a virus. It relies on
experience with previous viruses to predict the likelihood that a suspicious file is an as-yet unidentified or
unclassified new virus.
Other types of antiviral software include monitoring software and integrity-shell software. Monitoring
software is different from scanning software. It detects illegal or potentially damaging viral activities such
as overwriting computer files or reformatting the computer's hard drive. Integrity-shell software establishes
layers through which any command to run a program must pass. Check summing is performed
automatically within the integrity shell, and infected programs, if detected, are not allowed to run.
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