Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Theory Notes
Data, Information and Knowledge
Data is unprocessed facts and figures without any added interpretation or analysis. "The price of
crude oil is $80 per barrel."
Information is data that has been interpreted so that it has meaning for the user. "The price of crude
oil has risen from $70 to $80 per barrel" gives meaning to the data and so is said to be information
to someone who tracks oil prices.
Knowledge is a combination of information, experience and insight that may benefit the individual
or the organization. "When crude oil prices go up by $10 per barrel, it's likely that petrol prices will
rise by 2p per liter" is knowledge.
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Theory Notes
Sources of Data
Static and dynamic data
Difference between static and dynamic data is that once static data is created, the data that it
contains doesn't change, whereas the data can change and update in dynamic data. An example
of static data, is a newspaper, as once it has been printed, the information on it cannot be
updated, whereas an example of dynamic data, would be a website, as that can be updated as
and when needed.
Websites are classified as dynamic sources of data, because the information on the website can
be constantly updated, for example if a sports website shows live football scores, it can be
updated as and when goals have been scored therefore providing almost real‐time information.
Another reason why websites are classed as dynamic sources of data, is because users can
interact with the site, e.g. If a website is that of football clubs, then a user can request new
information about ticket availability for an upcoming game.
Situations where the use of static data would be preferable would be for a student trying to do
homework, as the information needed for the work could be gained from a book, as that
information would be reliable, and wouldn't change as it may have done if it were on a website.
Another situation where static would be more preferable to dynamic data, would be if
somebody wanted to gain information from a CD, or book, as it would be accurate, as that
would've gone through a lot of editing before being released.
Problems with using dynamic data are that sometimes it may not be as accurate as static data.
For example, information on a website isn't necessarily accurate as anybody can create a
website. Another problem with dynamic data is that if somebody needed to reference
something for example on a website, the information on that website could've changed, or been
deleted since they last checked.
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Direct and indirect data sources
Direct data:
Data that has been collected from an original source.
Indirect data:
Data that has been used for a purpose different to the purpose as to why it was collected in the
first place. People/companies involved in collecting the data are different to those using the
data, e.g, market surveys that sell the results to other companies.
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Theory Notes
Factors that effect the quality of information
ACCURACY:
The data that has been collected must be accurate, otherwise the information it will produce
will be inaccurate.
RELEVANCE:
In order for information to be useful, data must be relevant.
AGE:
In order for the information to be useful, the data needs to be up to date. Information changes
over time, so old, out‐of‐date information can be misleading.
COMPLETENESS:
In order for information to be useful it needs to be complete. If parts of information are missing
then you will not be able to make use of it or make accurate decisions.
PRESENTATION:
Information that is presented in a disorganized way or manner that is hard to understand will be
less useful to you and of little value. Sorting or organizing data before you present it can make it
easier to understand and be more useful.
LEVEL OF DETAIL:
Giving too much information will make it difficult to find what you require. Whereas, too little
information will make it hard for you to understand or make use of the information provided.
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Theory Notes
Encoding data
Encoding is the process of converting data from one form to another. While "encoding" can be
used as a verb, it is often used as a noun, and refers to a specific type of encoded data. There
are several types of encoding, including image encoding, audio and video encoding, and
character encoding.
Media files are often encoded to save disk space. By encoding digital audio, video, and image
files, they can be saved in a more efficient, compressed format. Encoded media files are
typically similar in quality to their original uncompressed counterparts, but have much smaller
file sizes. For example, a WAVE (.WAV) audio file that is converted to an MP3 (.MP3) file may be
1/10 the size of the original WAVE file. Similarly, an MPEG (.MPG) compressed video file may
only require a fraction of the disk space as the original digital video (.DV) file.
Character encoding is another type of encoding that encodes characters as bytes. Since
computers only recognize binary data, text must be represented in a binary form. This is
accomplished by converting each character (which includes letters, numbers, symbols, and
spaces) into a binary code. Common types of text encoding include ASCII and Unicode.
Whenever data is encoded, it can only be read by a program that supports the correct type of
encoding. For audio and video files, this is often accomplished by a codec, which decodes the
data in real‐time.
Codec
The name "codec" is short for "coder‐decoder," which is pretty much what a codec does. Most
audio and video formats use some sort of compression so that they don't take up a ridiculous
amount of disk space. Audio and video files are compressed with a certain codec when they are
saved and then decompressed by the codec when they are played back. Common codecs
include MPEG and AVI for video files and WAV and AIFF for audio files. Codecs can also be used
to compress streaming media (live audio and video) which makes it possible to broadcast a live
audio or video clip over a broadband Internet connection.
.WAV files
Standard digital audio file format used for storing waveform data; allows audio recordings to be
saved with different sampling rates and bitrates; often saved in a 44.1 KHz, 16‐bit, stereo
format, which is the standard format used for CD audio.
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.MP3 files
Compressed audio format developed by the Moving Picture Experts Group; uses "Layer 3" audio
compression; commonly used to store music files and audiobooks on a hard drive; may provide
near‐CD quality sound (stereo, 16‐bit) in a file roughly 1/10 the size of a .WAV or .AIF file.
The quality of an MP3 file depends largely on the bit rate used for compression. Common bit
rates are 128, 160, 192, and 256 kbps. Higher bit rates result in higher quality files that also
require more disk space.
.MPEG
Common digital video format standardized by the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG);
typically incorporates MPEG‐1 or MPEG‐2 audio and video compression; often used for creating
movies that are distributed on the Internet.
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Theory Notes
Coding Data
What is coding of data?
Any system will need to have data collected, entered and stored. One method of storing data is
to assign codes to it. This usually means shortening the original data in an agreed manner.
Example 1
Original data: Monday; Tuesday; Wednesday; Thursday; Friday
Coded data: Mon; Tues; Wed; Thurs; Fri
Example 2
Original data: Xtra Large; Large; Medium; Small
Coded data: XL; L; M; S
Reasons to code data:
It is common for much of the data collected and entered into a system to have some degree of
repetition and redundancy i.e. extra information that does not add anything. And this pattern or
repetition is why it is efficient to code the data in some way.
Speeding up data entry
Let's take the example of collecting data about a person's gender. People can be either
'Male' or 'Female'.
Whilst these two options are easily understood by all, imagine having to enter the word
'Male' and 'Female' into a system many hundreds of times. It is a waste of time and effort
because no extra information is contained in the full words compared to a single letter.
Increase accuracy of data entry
The other issue is that no matter how accurate a person is at data entry, at some stage
they are likely to make a mistake and might spell 'Male' as 'Mail' or 'Female' as 'Femal'.
This type of mistake will make any results from your database queries unreliable.
Instead of entering 'Male' or 'Female' you could code the data and instead enter it as 'M'
or 'F'.
Simply having to enter one letter instead of a possible six will speed up data entry. It will
also cut down on the risk of mistakes being made with spelling.
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Theory Notes
Use of validation
When data has been coded it makes it easier to use validation to check if the data
entered is sensible. With the example above, the person entering the data could still
make a mistake and enter 'S' instead of 'M' or 'F'.
But if you set up validation so that the field will only accept the letters 'M' or 'F' and
absolutely nothing else then that should further cut down on possible mistakes.
Less storage space required
Every letter that you store in your database system will take at least one byte of storage.
If you store 'Female' as 'F' then you will save five bytes of storage space. If the system
belongs to a large organization, there might be many thousands or millions of records
stored ‐ simply by coding one field, a huge amount of hard disk storage can be saved.
Faster searching for data
The smaller the size of your database, the faster it will be to search and produce results.
Thus by coding data and keeping the size of the system to a minimum the more time you
can save in the long run when running queries.
Problems caused by coding data:
Whilst coding data can bring many benefits it can also lead to some problems.
Coarsening of data
This means that during the coding process some of the subtle details in the data are lost.
The colours could be classed as:
Light pink, pale blue, black and mid blue
However, when these colours are coded they may become:
PK (pink), B (blue), BK (black), BE (blue)
In this case, no allowance has been made for shades of colours. The fine detail has been
lost. This is what is meant by 'coarsening of data'.
Coding can obscure the meaning of the data
A reader seeing the 'gender' data as M/ F is pretty likely to know that it means Male/
Female.
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Theory Notes
But some codes are more obscure, for example the country code for Switzerland is CHE.
Many people might not recognize what this code represents.
Coding of Value Judgments
When you are collecting data about people's opinions it might be difficult to code their
answers with accuracy. The code they give will depend on their individual opinion. Coding
of value judgments will inevitably lead to coarsening of the data since there will be a wide
range of opinions that could be held and only a limited number of codes available.
Further examples of data coding:
In our everyday lives we come across many examples of how coding is used to represent data.
Here are just a few more ideas:
Country names
The name of a country can be represented by two letters. For example:
Great Britain ‐ GB
France ‐ FR
Canada – CA
Airline flight codes
When you fly you may have noticed that your flight is given a code.
This code consists of two letters to identify the airline that you are flying with. The letters
are usually followed by numbers to represent a particular route.
Examples:
So for example, a British Airways flight from Heathrow to Oslo might be coded as BA766.
A flight operated by the airline company Emirates which depart from Dubai and arrives at
Heathrow might be coded as EK029.
Advantages of coding:
‐ Data entry can be faster
‐ Data entry can be more accurate
‐ Validation can further improve accuracy
‐ Less storage space required
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Theory Notes
‐ Faster searching for data
‐ Coded data can be more secure if people don’t know what it means
Disadvantages of coding:
‐ Coarsening of data
‐ Meaning of data can be obscured
‐ Value judgments are difficult to code
‐ If people don’t know the code it can slow down data entry
‐ If codes are complicated they might be entered incorrectly
‐ Might run out of code combinations
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Theory Notes
Data Validation and Verification
Validation:
Validation is one way of trying to reduce the number of errors in the data being entered into
your system. Validation is performed by the computer at the point when you enter data. It is the
process of checking the data against the set of validation rules.
Validation aims to make sure that data is sensible, reasonable, complete and within acceptable
boundaries.
Data validation can be performed by using a number of validation checks.
Range Check
A range check is commonly used when you are working with data which consists of numbers,
currency or dates/times.
A range check allows you to set suitable boundaries:
The maximum price of any item in a shop is
Upper limit <=100
£100
In a shop, you cannot sell a negative number
Lower limit >=0
of items, however you can sell no items
to achieve a B grade you must score between
A range >=75 AND <=84
75% ‐ 84%
Type Check
When you begin to set up your new system you will choose the most appropriate data type for
each field.
A type check will ensure that the correct type of data is entered into that field. For example, in a
clothes shop, dress sizes may range from 8 to 18. A number data type would be a suitable
choice for this data. By setting the data type as number, only numbers could be entered e.g. 10,
12, 14 and you would prevent anyone trying to enter text such as ‘ten’ or ‘ten and a half’.
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Theory Notes
Check Digit
This is used when you want to be sure that a range of numbers has been entered correctly.
There are many different schemes (algorithms) for creating check digits.
For example, the ISBN‐10 numbering system for books makes use of 'Modulo‐11' division. In
modulo division, the answer is the remainder of the division. For example
8 Mod 3 = 2 i.e. the remainder of dividing 8 by 3 is 2.
Consider the ISBN number:
ISBN 1 84146 201 2
The check digit is the final number in the sequence, so in this example it is the final ‘2’.
The computer will perform a complex calculation on all of the numbers and then compare the
answer to the check digit. If both match, it means the data was entered correctly.
Length Check
Sometimes you may have a set of data which always has the same number of characters.
For example a UK landline telephone number has 11 characters.
A length check could be set up to ensure that exactly 11 numbers are entered into the field. This
type of validation cannot check that the 11 numbers are correct but it can ensure that 10 or 12
numbers aren't entered.
A length check can also be set up to allow characters to be entered within a certain range.
For example, postcodes can be in the form of:
CV45 2RE (7 without a space or 8 with a space) or
B9 3TF (5 without a space or 6 with a space).
So you could set a length check for postcode to accept data which has a minimum number of 5
characters and a maximum number of 8.
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Theory Notes
Lookup Check
Where you have a field which only allows a limited list of
items to be entered then a lookup list can help to reduce
errors.
For instance, the image opposite shows a 'look‐up' list being
used in a spreadsheet that only allows 8, 10, 11 or 12 to be
entered.
For example:
‐ a shop might put the dress sizes into a lookup list
‐ a car showroom might put the car models into a lookup list
‐ a vet might list the most popular types of animals that they deal with
Picture/Format Check
You may see this validation technique referred to as either a picture or a format check, they are
the same thing.
Some types of data will always consist of the same pattern.
Example 1
Think about a postcode. The majority of postcodes look something like this:
CV36 7TP
WR14 5WB
Replace either of those examples with L for any letter which appears and N for any number that
appears and you will end up with:
LLNN NLL
This means that you can set up a picture/format check for something like a postcode field to
ensure that a letter isn't entered where a number should be or a number in place of a letter.
Example 2
A National Insurance number must be in the form of XX 99 99 99 X. The first two and the last
characters must be letters. The other six characters are numbers. Any format entered
differently to this will be rejected.
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Theory Notes
Presence Check
There might be an important piece of data that you want to make sure is always stored.
For example, a school will always want to know an emergency contact number, a video rental
store might always want to know a customer's address.
A presence check makes sure that a critical field cannot be left blank, it must be filled in. If
someone tries to leave the field blank then an error message will appear and you won't be able
to progress to another record or save any other data which you have entered.
Verification:
Verification means to check that the data on the original source document is identical to the
data that you have entered into the system. Verification can be performed in two ways; double
entry method, visual check.
Double entry
Think about when you choose a new password, you often have to type it in twice. This lets the
computer check if you have typed it exactly the same both times and not made a mistake. It
verifies that the first version is correct by matching it against the second version.
Whilst this can help to identify many mistakes, it is not ideal for large amounts of data.
It could take a person a lot of time to enter the data twice.
They could enter the same mistake twice and so it wouldn't get picked up.
You would end up with two copies of the data.
Visual check
This saves having to enter the data twice. It can help pick up errors where data has been
entered incorrectly or transposed.
However, it isn’t always that easy to keep moving your eyes back and forth between a monitor
and a paper copy. Also, if you are tired or your eyes feel 'blurry' then you might miss errors.
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Theory Notes
Data Encryption
What is Encryption?
Encryption means to scramble data in such a way that only someone with the secret code or key
can read it.
Why is it important?
Today, encryption is far more sophisticated, but it serves the same purpose ‐ to pass a secret
message from one place to another without anyone else being able to read it.
Encryption is extremely important for e‐commerce as it allows confidential information such as
your credit card details to be sent safely to the online shop you are visiting.
Web browsers are able to encrypt your purchase details using an encryption method called 'SSL'
(Secure Socket Layer). You know this is switched on when a small padlock appears in the bottom
right of the browser. SSL gets switched on when you visit a 'secure server' that has an address
that starts with HTTPS:// (note the 'S').
How does it work?
Encryption works by scrambling the original message with a very large digital number (key). This
is done using advanced mathematics. Commercial‐level encryption uses 128 bit key that is very,
very hard to crack. The computer receiving the message knows the digital key and so is able to
work out the original message.
Problems with encryption
There are three problems;
a) It is slower than normal browsing. It takes a while for the browser to do the maths required to
scramble the message and another delay on the server that has to unscramble the data.
b) Online shops have to have a digital certificate that contains part of the key. This is not free
and has to be supplied by a 'certificate authority'.
c) It can be a complicated business running a secure server, so very often, ordinary online shops
will hire a specialist 'Payment Gateway' such as WorldPay or Paypal to handle payments for
them.
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Theory Notes
Symmetric vs Asymmetric encryption
Symmetric Encryption
Symmetric encryption’s job is to take readable data, scramble it to make it unreadable
(protecting it from prying eyes while it’s being stored on a disk or transmitted over a network),
then unscramble it again when it’s needed. It’s generally fast, and there are lots of good
encryption methods to choose from. The most important thing to remember about symmetric
encryption is that both sides—the encrypter, and the decrypter—need access to the same key.
Asymmetric Encryption
Asymmetric encryption also takes readable data, scrambles it, and unscrambles it again at the
other end, but a different key is used for each end. Encrypters use a public key to scramble the
data, and decrypters use the matching private (secret) key on the other end to unscramble it
again.
The public key means that it can and should be published. (This is why asymmetric encryption is
also often referred to as public‐key encryption), but the private key must be kept private,
protected much like the key for symmetric encryption.
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Theory Notes
Internal hardware devices
Internal hardware devices consist of four key components:
● the central processing unit (CPU), contained on the motherboard
● internal hard disk drive
● random access memory (RAM)
● read‐only memory (ROM).
The central processing unit (CPU) is the part of the computer that interprets and executes the
commands from the computer hardware and software. It is normally part of the computer
motherboard. CPUs used to be made up of discrete components and numerous small integrated
circuits; these were combined together on one or more circuit board(s). However, due to
modern manufacturing techniques, the CPU is now referred to as a microprocessor. This is a
single integrated circuit which is at the heart of most PCs and is also found in many household
devices and equipment where some control or monitoring is needed (for example, the engine
management system in a car).
The CPU is made up of a control unit, which controls the input and output devices; an arithmetic
and logic unit (ALU), which carries out calculations and makes logical decisions; and the
immediate access store (RAM).
The internal hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD) is the computer’s main internal
storage; this is where the applications software, disk operating system and files (for example,
text, photos or music) are stored. The main advantage of these storage devices is the fast data
transfer/access times and their large capacity to store data.
Random access memory (RAM) is an internal chip where data is temporarily stored when
running applications. This memory can be written to and read from. Since its contents are lost
when power to the computer is turned off, it is often referred to as a volatile or temporary
memory.
Read‐only memory (ROM) is a memory used to store information that needs to be permanent.
It is often used to contain, for example, configuration data for a computer system. These chips
cannot be altered and can only be read from (hence their name). One of the main advantages is
that the information stored on the ROM chip is not lost even when power to the computer is
turned off. They are often referred to as non‐volatile memories. It is worth noting that ROM also
contains some coding known as the boot file. This code tells the computer what to do when it
first starts up; it is often referred to as the BIOS (basic input/output system). When the
computer is turned on, the BIOS carries out a hardware check to find out if all the devices are
present and whether they are functional. Then it loads the operating system into the RAM. The
BIOS stores the date, time and system configuration in a non‐volatile chip called a CMOS
(complementary metal oxide semiconductor) – this is usually battery powered.
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Input and output devices
Input Devices
Keyboards
Alphanumeric Keyboard
A very common, general purpose, input device that allows text (abc…), numbers (123…)
and symbols (%$@...) to be entered into a computer.
A keyboard is simply a set of buttons. Each button has a symbol assigned.
Numeric Keypad
A small keyboard that only has numbers.
Used to enter numeric data into computers such as those in ATMs.
Most computer keyboards have a numeric keypad on the right side, and most mobile phones
(there are also computers) have a one for entering phone numbers, etc.
PIN Pad
This is a device with a numeric keypad used to enter a person’s Personal Identity Number (PIN)
e.g. when paying with a credit card.
PIN pads are also found on electronic door locks – you enter a PIN to unlock the door.
Pointing Devices
These devices are used to move an on‐screen pointer or cursor (usually an arrow). They are
commonly used with Graphical User Interfaces (GUI).
Mouse
A pointing device found on most PCs. Sensors on the bottom of the mouse detect when the
mouse is moved. Data about this movement is sent to the computer.
Often used to control the pointer in a GUI.
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Touchpad / Trackpad
A pointing device found on most laptops. Used instead of a mouse since it takes up less space.
The user moves a finger across the touch pad and this movement data is sent to the computer.
Usually used to control the pointer in a GUI.
Trackball / Tracker Ball
This pointing device is not moved about like a mouse, instead it has a large ball that the user
spins. Data about which direction the ball is spun is passed to the computer.
It can be used to control a GUI pointer.
Tracker balls are often used by people with limited movement (disabled) or by the very
young since they are easier to use than a mouse.
Touch Screen
A touch screen is an alternative to a separate pointing device. With a touch screen the user
selects items on the screen by touching the surface. This makes touch screen systems
very intuitive and simple to use.
Often used for information terminals in public places e.g. libraries or museums where mice or
keyboards may be stolen or damaged.
Graphics Tablet
A pointing device often used by designers and artists to allow natural hand movements to be
input to graphics applications.
A stylus is held like a pen and moved over the surface of the tablet. Data about the stylus
movements are sent to the computer.
Since it is so like using a pen, it is very easy to create ‘hand‐drawn’ sketches.
Joystick / Joypad
Used mainly for playing games. The user moves the joystick left/right, forward/back and data
about these movements are sent to the computer.
Small joysticks can also be found on some mobile phones.
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Theory Notes
Light Pen
A light pen is a device used as a pointing device or to ‘write’ on the screen of a computer.
Light pens are rarely used today since graphics tablets and high‐quality touch screens provide
similar functionality.
Audio/Visual Devices
Scanner
A device that ‘scans’ images, book pages, etc.
Scanning is basically taking a close‐up photograph (just very slowly and with great detail). The
scanned image data is passed to the computer.
The most common type of scanner is the flat‐bed scanner which has a glass plate on which the
item to be scanned is placed. The item is illuminated and an image of it is captured by a moving
scan ‘head’.
Scanned images can be further processed once inside the computer, e.g. OCR of printed text.
Digital Camera
A device that captures digital photographs.
Most digital cameras do not directly input data into a computer ‐ they store photographs
on memory cards. The photographs can later be transferred to a computer.
A modern digital camera can capture 10 Megapixels or more per photograph ‐ that’s 10,000,000
coloured dots (pixels) in every photo!
Video Camera
A device that captures moving images, or video.
Like a digital camera, most video cameras do not directly input data into a computer – the
captured movies are stored on video‐tape or memory cards and later transferred to a
computer.
However, there are some situations where video cameras do feed video data directly into a
computer: television production and video‐conferencing. In these situations the video data is
required in real‐time.
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Web Cam
This is a very basic video camera used to feed live video into a computer.
The video data from a web cam is low quality compared to a full video camera. However it is
good enough for web chats (e.g. using a messenger application such as MSN Messenger or
Skype).
Usually a web cam is clipped to the top of a monitor, but many laptops now have web cams
built into the edge of the screen.
Microphone
An input device that converts sound into a signal that can be fed into a computer.
The signal from a microphone is usually analogue so, before it can be processed by a computer,
it must be converted into digital data. An Analogue‐to‐Digital Convertor (ADC) is used for this
(usually built into the computer’s sound card)
Many headphones now come with microphones to allow them to be used with chat and phone
applications.
Card Readers
Magnetic Strip Reader
Many plastic cards, such as credit cards, have a strip of material that can be magnetized on the
back. Data can be stored here in the form of magnetized dots.
Usually the data stored on this strip in the same data shown on the front of the card (e.g. the
credit card number, expiry date and customer name).
The stripe allows this data to be input to a computer system faster and more accurately than by
typing it in.
A magnetic strip/stripe reader is used to read the data from the stripe. This is usually done by
‘swiping’ the card through a slot on the reader.
Smart Card / 'Chip' Reader
Modern credit cards and ID cards don’t use a magnetic strip. Instead they have a tiny ‘chip’ of
computer memory embedded inside them. (These cards are often referred to as smart cards.)
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Theory Notes
Data can be stored in this memory and read back using a ‘chip’ reader.
A card is inserted into the reader where metal contacts connect to the metal pads on the front
face of the card. The reader can then access the memory chip and the data stored on it.
Smart cards can store much more data than magnetic strip cards, e.g. an ID smart card would
store not only the owner’s name and card number, but might also have a digital image of the
person.
Satellite TV decoders use smart cards to store which channels a user has paid for. The data
is encrypted so that it is not easy to alter (you can’t add new channels without paying!)
Many types of card use this system: id cards, phone cards, credit cards, door security cards, etc.
Reading Text/Codes
All data can be input to a computer using a keyboard, but this would often be a slow process,
and mistakes would be made. Sometimes speed and accuracy is required.
MICR Reader
Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR) is a technology that allows details from bank
cheques to be read into a computer quickly and accurately.
The cheque number and bank account number are printed at the bottom of each bank cheque
in special magnetic ink using a special font. These numbers can be detected by an MICR reader.
OMR Scanner
Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) is a technology that allows the data from a multiple‐
choice type form to be read quickly and accurately into a computer.
Special OMR forms are used which have spaces that can be coloured in (usually using a pencil).
These marks can then be detected by an OMR scanner.
Common uses of OMR are multiple‐choice exam answer sheets and lottery number forms.
OCR Scanner
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is a software technology that can convert images of text
into an actual text file that can then be edited, e.g. using word‐processing software). The result
is just as if the text had been typed in by hand.
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Theory Notes
OCR is typically used after a page of a book has been scanned. The scanned image of the page is
then analyzed by the OCR software which looks for recognizable letter shapes and generates a
matching text file.
Advanced OCR software can recognize normal handwriting as well as printed text ‐ this is
usually called handwriting recognition.
Barcode Reader / Scanner
A barcode is simply a numeric code represented as a series of lines.
These lines can be read by a barcode reader/scanner.
The most common use of barcode readers is at Point‐of‐Sale (POS) in a shop. The code for each
item to be purchased needs to be entered into the computer. Reading the barcode is
far quicker and more accurate than typing in each code using a keypad.
Barcode can be found on many other items that have numeric codes which have to be read
quickly and accurately ‐ for example ID cards.
Sensors
A normal PC has no way of knowing what is happening in the real world around it. It doesn’t
know if it is light or dark, hot or cold, quiet or noisy. How do we know what is happening around
us? We use our eyes, our ears, our mouth, our nose and our skin ‐ our senses. A normal PC has
no senses, but we can give it some: We can connect sensors to it...
A sensor is a device that converts a real‐world property (e.g. temperature) into data that a
computer can process.
Examples of sensors and the properties they detect are...
Sensor What it Detects
Temperature Temperature
Light Light / dark
Pressure Pressure (e.g. someone standing on it)
Moisture Dampness / dryness
Water‐level How full / empty a container is
Movement Movement nearby
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Theory Notes
Proximity How close / far something is
Switch or button If something is touching / pressing it
A sensor measures a specific property data and sends a signal to the computer. Usually this is
an analogue signal so it needs to be converted into digital data for the computer to process.
This is done using by an Analogue‐to‐Digital Converter (ADC).
Sensors are used extensively in monitoring / measuring / data logging systems, and also
in computer control systems.
Remote Control
These devices are very common. They send data signals each time a button is pressed using
infrared or radio signals.
The signals can control a computer from some distance. They are often used to control a
presentation slideshow.
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Theory Notes
Output Devices
Audio/Visual Devices
CRT Monitor
A monitor displays text and image data passed to it by the computer.
A cathode‐ray tube (CRT) monitor is the type that has been around for years and
is large and boxy.
CRT monitors are heavy and they take up a lot of desk space. They have largely been replaced by
flat‐screen monitors. However some are still used in the design industry since the colour
accuracy and brightness of CRT monitors is excellent, and designers need to see true‐to‐life
colours.
Also, CRT monitors are generally cheaper than flat‐screen monitors.
Flat‐Screen Monitor (TFT or LCD)
Over the past few years, as they have come down in price, flat‐screen displays have replaced
CRT monitors.
Flat‐screen monitors are light in weight and they take up very little desk space.
Modern flat‐screen monitors have a picture quality that is as good as CRT monitors.
Digital / Multimedia Projector
Digital projectors are used in situations when a very large viewing area is required, for example
during presentations, for advertising, or in your home for watching movies.
A projector connects to a computer, a DVD player or a satellite receiver just like an ordinary
monitor. The image is produced inside the device and then projected out through a large lens,
using a powerful light source.
Speakers
If you want to hear music or sounds from your computer, you will have to attach speakers.
They convert electrical signals into sound waves.
Speakers are essential for applications such as music editing, video conferencing,
watching movies, etc.
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Theory Notes
Printing/Plotting Devices
Dot Matrix Printer
A dot‐matrix printer is named after the pattern (a grid or ‘matrix’) of dots used when creating
the paper printout.
These dots are formed by tiny pins in the printer’s print head that hit an inked ribbon against
the paper leaving marks. As the print head moves along it leaves a pattern of dots behind it
which can form letters, images, etc.
Dot matrix printers often use continuous stationary: long, continuous strips of paper (rather
than separate sheets of A4 like ink‐jet and laser printers use).
After printing, the printout is torn off from the long strip.
Dot‐matrix print quality is poor, the printers are noisy, and there are much better printing
systems available today. However, the dot‐matrix printers are still used in certain situations:
Since the pins actually hit the paper, several ‘carbon‐copies’ can be printed in one go. An
example of this is airline tickets which have several duplicate pages, all printed in one go.
The print mechanism is very cheap, and the inked ribbons last for a long time. So, where cheap,
low‐quality printouts are required, dot‐matrix printers are used. An example is shop receipts.
InkJet Printer
Cheap, high‐quality, full‐colour printing became available during the 1980s due to the
development of ink‐jet printers.
These printers have a similar print‐head mechanism to a dot‐matrix printer. The print‐head
passes left and right across the paper. However, instead of using pins to hit inky marks onto the
paper, the ink‐jet squirts tiny droplets of ink onto the surface of the paper. Several coloured inks
can be used to produce full‐colour printouts.
The droplets of ink come from tiny holes (the jets) which are less than the width of a human hair
in size. Each droplet creates a tiny dot on the paper. Since the dots are so small, the quality of
the printout is excellent (1200 dots‐per‐inch are possible). This is perfect for photographs.
Ink‐jet printers are very quiet in use. Since they have so few moving parts they are also cheap to
manufacture and thus cheap to purchase. However, the ink is very expensive to buy (this is how
the printer companies make their profits!) so the printers are expensive to use.
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Theory Notes
Laser Printer
Laser printers are very complex devices, and thus expensive to buy. However they are
very cheap to use. This is because they produce marks on paper using a fine dust
called toner which is relatively cheap to buy. A single toner cartridge will often last for 5,000‐
10,000 pages of printing.
The laser printer uses a complex system, involving a laser, to make the toner stick to the
required parts of the paper. (This system is very different to a dot‐matrix or ink‐jet, and you
don’t need to know the details.)
The laser and toner system allows very fast printing compared to other printers (just a few
seconds per page).
Laser printers are very common in offices since they print very quickly, are cheap to use and are
reasonably quiet.
Plotter
Plotters create hard‐copy in a very different way to printers. Instead of building up text and
images from tiny dots, plotters draw on the paper using a pen.
The pens are held in an arm which can lift the pen up or down, and which can move across the
paper. The arm and pen create a drawing just like a human could, but much
more accurately and more quickly.
Different coloured pens can be used to produce coloured line drawings.
Plotters are often used by designers and architects since they work with huge pieces of paper,
far bigger than anything a normal printer could work with.
Control Actuators
A normal PC has no way of affecting what is happening around it. It can’t turn on the lights, or
make the room hotter. How do we change what is happening around us? We use our muscles to
move things, press things, lift things, etc. (and we can also make sound using our voice).
A normal PC has no muscles, but we can give it some. In fact we can give it the ability to do lots
of things by connecting a range of actuators to it.
An actuator is a device, controlled by a computer, that can affect the real‐world.
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Theory Notes
Examples of actuators, and what they can do are...
Actuator What it Can Do
Light bulb or LED Creates light
Heater Increases temperature
Cooling Unit Decreases temperature
Motor Spins things around
Pump Pushes water / air through pipes
Buzzer / Bell / Siren Creates noise
Actuators are used extensively in computer control systems.
Motor
Motors can provide movement.
For example, the motor in a washing machine can be controlled by a computer ‐ it is switched
on when the clothes are loaded for washing and switched off at the end of the wash.
Computer‐controlled motors are also found in microwave ovens (to turn the food around)
and air‐conditioning units (to drive the fan)
Pumps
A pump is basically a motor attached to a device that can push water or air along pipes. When
the motor is switched on, water or air flows along the pipes to places it is needed.
Pumps are used in many places: as part of watering systems in greenhouses, in factories, etc.
Buzzer
Buzzers can provide noise.
For example, the buzzer in a microwave oven can be switched on by the controlling computer
when the food is cooked.
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Theory Notes
Louder noises can be made using a siren or an electric bell, for example in a burglar alarm
system.
Lights
Light bulbs and LEDs can be used to provide light, or to indicate something.
For example, computer‐controlled lights are used in traffic lights, at music concerts. Lights are
used in car dashboards to show if any of the systems in the car have problems.
Heaters / Coolers
Heaters can provide heat, and coolers can cool things down.
A computer can switch a heater on or off when needed to keep a room or a greenhouse at the
correct temperature during winter.
A computer can switch a cooling unit on or off to keep a room at the correct temperature during
hot weather, or to keep food fresh.
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Theory Notes
Data Storage
When we talk about ‘storing’ data, we mean putting the data in a known place. We can later
come back to that place and get our data back again.
‘Writing’ data or ‘saving’ data are other ways of saying ‘storing’ data.
‘Reading’ data, ‘retrieving’ data or ‘opening’ a file are ways of saying that we are getting our
data back from its storage location.
Main Memory
Main memory (sometimes known as internal memory or primary storage) is another name
for RAM (and ROM).
Main memory is usually used to store data temporarily. In the case of RAM, it is volatile (this
means that when power is switched off all of the data in the memory disappears).
Main memory is used to store data whilst it is being processed by the CPU. Data can be put into
memory, and read back from it, very quickly.
Backing Storage
Backing storage (sometimes known as secondary storage) is the name for all other data storage
devices in a computer, hard‐drive etc.
Backing storage is usually non‐volatile, so it is generally used to store data for a long time.
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Theory Notes
Storage Media and Devices
The device that actually holds the data is known as the storage medium (‘media’ is the plural).
The device that saves data onto the storage medium, or reads data from it, is known as
the storage device.
Sometimes the storage medium is a fixed (permanent) part of the storage device, e.g. the
magnetic coated discs built into a hard drive
Sometimes the storage medium is removable from the device, e.g. a CD‐ROM can be taken out
of a CD drive.
Serial / Sequential Access
A serial (or sequential) access storage device is one that stores files one‐by‐one in a sequence.
A non‐computer serial access device that will be familiar to you is a VHS videotape. Because
video is stored on a long piece of tape, when TV shows are recorded onto the tape, they go
on one‐by‐one, in order.
If you want to watch a show that you recorded earlier, you have to rewind / fast‐
forward through all other shows until you find it.
The shows are only accessible in the same order that you recorded them. This type of one‐by‐
one storage and access is called serial access.
Direct / Random Access
A direct (or ‘random’) access storage device is one that stores files so that they can be instantly
accessed ‐ there is no need to search through other files to get to the one you want.
An example of a direct access device would be a DVD movie. Unlike the VHS videotape movie,
you can jump to any scene on a DVD.
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All parts of the DVD are directly accessible. This type of file storage is called direct access.
Data Storage Capacity
Some storage media can only store a very limited amount of data, whilst others can store vast
amounts.
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Theory Notes
Data Access Speeds
Some storage devices can access data very quickly, whilst others are extremely slow.
Magnetic Storage Media/Devices
Why Magnetic?
Magnetic storage media and devices store data in the form of tiny magnetised dots. These dots are
created, read and erased using magnetic fields created by very tiny electromagnets.
In the case of magnetic tape the dots are arranged along the length of a long plastic strip which has
been coated with a magnetisable layer (audio and video tapes use a similar technology).
In the case of magnetic discs (e.g. floppy disc or hard‐drive), the dots are arranged in circles on the
surface of a plastic, metal or glass disc that has a magnetisable coating.
Hard Drives
Hard‐drives have a very large storage capacity (up to 4TB). They can be used to store vast
amounts of data. Hard‐drives are random access devices and can be used to store all types of
files, including huge files such as movies. Data access speeds are very fast.
Data is stored inside a hard‐drive on rotating metal or glass discs (called ‘platters’).
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Theory Notes
Fixed Hard Drive
A hard‐drive built into the case of a computer is known as ‘fixed’. Almost every computer has a
fixed hard‐drive.
Fixed hard‐drives act as the main backing storage device for almost all computers since they
provide almost instant access to files (random access and high access speeds).
Portable Hard Drive
A portable hard‐drive is one that is placed into a small case along with some electronics that
allow the hard‐drive to be accessed using a USB or similar connection.
Portable hard‐drives allow very large amounts of data to be transported from computer to
computer.
Magnetic Tape
Magnetic tape is a large capacity, serial access medium. Because it is a serial access medium,
accessing individual files on a tape is slow.
Tapes are used where large amounts of data need to be stored, but where quick access to
individual files is not required. A typical use is for data back‐up (lots of data, but rarely only
accessed in an emergency)
Tapes are also used in some batch‐processing applications (e.g. to hold the list of data that will
be processed).
Removable Media Magnetic Discs
Floppy Disc
A removable, portable, cheap, low‐capacity (1.44MB) storage medium. Floppy discs
are random access devices used for transfer small amounts of data between computers, or to
back‐up small files, etc. Access times are slow.
Almost every PC used to have a floppy disc drive. These are obsolete now, having been replaced
by higher capacity technology such as CD‐ROMs, DVDs and USB memory sticks.
Zip Disc
A removable and portable storage medium, similar in appearance to a floppy disk, but with a
much higher capacity (100MB, 250MB or 750MB).
Zip discs are random access devices which were used for data back‐up or
moving large files between computers.
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Theory Notes
Another obsolete storage device, zip discs were a popular replacement for floppy discs for a few
years, but they never caught on fully before being superseded by cheaper media like CD‐ROMs
and CD‐Rs.
Jazz Disc
A removable and portable storage medium based on hard‐drive technology, with a large
capacity (1GB or 2GB).
Jazz discs are random access devices which were used for data back‐up or moving large
files between computers.
Discs were expensive to buy and not very reliable.
Like the Zip disc, this system never really caught on and was superseded by far cheaper and
more reliable and cheaper technology.
Optical Storage Media/Devices
Why 'Optical'?
Optical storage devices save data as patterns of dots that can be read using light. A laser
beam is the usual light source.
The data on the storage medium is read by bouncing the laser beam off the surface of the
medium. If the beam hits a dot it is reflected back differently to how it would be if there were
no dots. This difference can be detected, so the data can be read.
Dots can be created using the laser beam (for media that is writable such as CD‐Rs). The beam is
used in a high‐power mode to actually mark the surface of the medium, making a dot. This
process is known as ‘burning’ data onto a disc.
Read‐Only Optical Discs
Read‐only optical discs have data written onto them when they are manufactured. This
data cannot be changed.
CD‐ROM
Compact Disc ‐ Read‐Only Memory (CD‐ROM) discs can hold around800MB of data. The data
cannot be altered (non‐volatile), so cannot be accidently deleted. CD‐ROMs are random‐
access devices.
CD‐ROMs are used to distribute all sorts of data: software (e.g. office applications or
games), music, electronic books (e.g. an encyclopedia with sound and video.)
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Theory Notes
DVD‐ROM
Digital Versatile Disc ‐ Read‐Only Memory (DVD‐ROM) discs can hold around 4.7GB of data (a
dual‐layer DVD can hold twice that). DVD‐ROMs are random‐access devices.
DVD‐ROMs are used in the same way as CD‐ROMs (see above) but, since they can hold more
data, they are also used to store high‐quality video.
High Capacity Optical Discs
Blu‐Ray
Blu‐Ray disks are a recent replacement for DVDs. A Blu‐Ray disc can hold 25 ‐ 50GB of data (a
dual‐layer Blu‐Ray disc can hold twice that). Blu‐Ray discs are random‐access devices.
Blu‐Ray discs are used in the same way as DVD‐ROMs (see above) but, since they can hold more
data, they are also used to store very high‐quality, high‐definition (HD) video.
HD DVD
High‐density DVD (HD‐DVD) discs can hold around 15GB of data (a dual‐layer HD‐DVD can hold
twice that). HD‐DVDs are random‐access devices.
HD‐DVD discs are used in the same way as DVD‐ROMs (see above) but, since they can hold more
data, they are also used to store very high‐quality, high‐definition (HD) video.
Recordable Optical Discs
Recordable optical discs can have data written onto them (‘burnt’) by a computer user using a
special disc drive (a disc ‘burner’).
CD‐R and DVD‐R
CD‐Recordable (CD‐R) and DVD‐recordable (DVD‐R) discs can have data burnt onto them,
but not erased. You can keep adding data until the disc is full, but you cannot remove any data
or re‐use a full disc.
CD‐RW and DVD‐RW
CD‐ReWritable (CD‐RW) and DVD‐ReWritable (DVD‐RW) discs, unlike CD‐Rs and DVD‐Rs, can
have data burnt onto them and also erased so that the discs can be re‐used.
DVD‐RAM
DVD‐Random Access Memory (DVD‐RAM) discs are a type of re‐writable DVD. They often come
in a floppy‐disc style case (to protect the disc).
DVD‐RAM discs have a similar capacity to a normal DVD, holding4.7GB of data. DVD‐RAM discs
are random‐access devices.
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Theory Notes
DVD‐RAM discs are used in many camcorders (video recording cameras).
The discs are much higher quality than normal DVD‐RWs and can reliably store data for up to 30
years. This means that they are often used for video and data back‐up and archiving.
Solid‐State Storage Devices
'Solid‐State'?
The term ‘solid‐state’ essentially means ‘no moving parts’.
Solid‐state storage devices are based on electronic circuits with no moving parts (no reels of
tape, no spinning discs, no laser beams, etc.)
Solid‐state storage devices store data using a special type of memory called flash memory...
Flash Memory
Flash memory is a type of Electronically‐Erasable Programmable Read‐Only Memory (EEPROM).
Flash memory is non‐volatile (like ROM) but the data stored in it can also
be erased or changed (like RAM).
Flash memory can be found in many data storage devices...
USB Memory Sticks
Memory sticks (or ‘thumb‐drives’) have made many other forms of portable storage almost
obsolete (why burn a CD or DVD when you can more easily copy your files onto a memory
stick?).
Memory sticks are non‐volatile, random‐access storage devices.
Each of these small devices has some flash memory connected to a USB interface. Plug it into
your computer and it appears as a drive. You can then add files, erase files, etc. You can use it
to move any type of file between computers.
Flash memory used to be very expensive, but in recent years it has become much cheaper and
you can now buy a 16GB memory stick for just a few dollars.
Memory Cards
Many of our digital devices (cameras, mobile phones, MP3 players, etc.) require compact, non‐
volatile data storage. Flash memory cards provide this and come in a variety of shapes and sizes.
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Theory Notes
One of the most common formats used by digital cameras is the SD Card. The cards store the
digital images taken by the camera.
Mobile phones contain a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card that contains the phone’s
number, the phonebook numbers, text messages, etc.
Many phones also have extra memory cards to store music, video, photos, etc. (e.g Tiny Micro‐
SD cards).
Smart Cards
Many credit cards (e.g. ‘chip‐and‐pin’ cards), door entry cards, satellite TV cards, etc. have
replaced the very limited storage of the magnetic strip (the dark strip on the back of older cards)
with flash memory. This is more reliable and has a much larger storage capacity.
Cards with flash memory are called smart cards.
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Theory Notes
Types of Software
Application software:
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Theory Notes
System software:
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Utility software:
Disk compression utilities
Disk compression tools do the job of compressing or decompressing data on the drive, so that
there is more space for additional data to be stored.
Disk checkers and cleaners
These utilities check the hard drive for any damaged or unnecessary files and delete them for
efficient hard disk functioning. These tools are good for increasing the speed of a slow
computer.
Antivirus software
There are many different antivirus software available to purchase on the market and even some
free versions for download. They protect your computer against any viruses which may attempt
to get on your computer.
Backup utilities
As the name suggests, these data backup tools are used to copy all information and provide it,
when required, such as in case of disk failure or file corruption.
Operating systems:
To enable computer systems to function and to allow users to communicate with computer
systems, special software known as operating systems (OS) have been developed. The general
tasks for a typical operating system include:
control the operation of the input, output and backing storage devices
supervise loading, running and storage of applications programs
deal with errors that occur in application programs
maintain security of the whole computer system
maintain a computer log (which details computer usage)
allow communication between the user and the computer system (user interface).
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Theory Notes
User interfaces
Command line interface (CLI)
Command line interface (CLI) requires a user to type in instructions to choose options from
menus, open software and so on. There are often a number of commands that need to be typed
in, for example, to save or load a file. The user therefore has to learn a number of commands
just to carry out basic operations. Having to key in these commands every time an operation has
to be carried out is also slow. However, the advantage of CLI is that the user is in direct
communication with the computer and is not restricted to a number of predetermined options.
Graphical user interface (GUI)
Graphical user interface (GUI) allows the user to interact with a computer (or MP3 player,
gaming device, mobile phone, and so on) using pictures or icons (symbols) rather than having to
type in a number of commands.
GUIs use various technologies and devices to provide the user interface. One of the most
common is WIMP (windows icons menu and pointing device), which was developed for use on
personal computers (PCs). Here a mouse is used to control a cursor and icons are selected to
open/run windows. Each window contains an application, and modern computer systems allow
several windows to be open at the same time. A windows manager looks after the interaction
between windows, the applications and windowing system (which handles the pointing devices
and the cursor’s position).
In recent years, devices such as touch‐screen phones use post‐WIMP interaction, where fingers
are in contact with the screen allowing actions such as pinching and rotating, which would be
difficult to do using a single pointer and device such as a mouse.
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Theory Notes
Summary of the main differences between CLI and GUI
Dialogue interface
This is a way of interacting with your environment by means of the spoken word.
For example; many modern cars have a dialogue interface to allow control of the radio and
mobile phone whilst driving. The driver simply says a certain command word such as 'Radio 2'
whilst the car is in 'listening mode'. The computer controlling the interface will make sense of
the command and take action, switching the radio to radio 2.
Another example might be in a 'smart home' where the user can control the temperature, light
intensity, sound systems or curtains being closed by the use of spoken commands.
In order for these interfaces to work effectively they need to be 'trained' with the user. This
involves the user speaking the commands until the system accepts the command and reacts
appropriately.
Once training is complete the system becomes quite reliable in understanding the user
commands. However, noise in the background can be a problem and may interfere with the
interface understanding the command. Dialogue interfaces often have a limited vocabulary.
Gesture based interface
Gestural UI refers to using specific gestures, like scrolling, pinching, and tapping to operate an
interface. Gestural user interface and gesture recognition technology has evolved from very
basic motions and applications to the complex, and it is now part of everyday life for a huge
number of people. As this technology continues to evolve, the future possibilities are also
incredibly exciting.
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Theory Notes
Smartphones and Tablets
Currently, smartphones and tablets are the most common place everyday consumers can find
gestural UI. From Apple iPhones to the Samsung Galaxy, the vast majority of contemporary
phones incorporate some elements of gesture UI, from swiping and scrolling, which is common
to most phones and tablets, to orientation recognition.
The Samsung Galaxy S4 is an example of one smartphone that has taken gesture UI a step
further. The phone tracks and recognizes your eye movement and automatically scrolls down as
your eyes reach the bottom of the page.
Gaming
Gaming is another area where gesture UI is already commonplace. The Xbox 360 and Xbox One
consoles, for example, use the Kinect system to track player movements via cameras and
sensors. The PlayStation 3 and 4 consoles use PlayStation Play in a similar manner, while the
Nintendo Wii and Wii U use motion sensors and remote controls to track player gestures and
movement.
Medicine
In the world of medicine, the future of the gestural user interface is very promising. One of the
most notable innovations is the introduction of gestural UI in surgery. Plans include a hand
gesture recognition system that enables surgeons to review images and patient records during
surgery. The ability to manipulate the interface via non‐touch gestures reduces surgery time, as
surgeons won’t be forced to exit the operating theater to access traditional computer terminals.
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Theory Notes
Compiler and Interpreter
What is a Compiler?
A compiler is a software program that transforms high‐level source code that is written by a
developer in a high‐level programming language into a low level object code (binary code) in
machine language, which can be understood by the processor. The process of converting high‐
level programming into machine language is known as compilation.
What is an Interpreter?
An interpreter transforms or interprets a high‐level programming code into code that can be
understood by the machine (machine code) or into an intermediate language that can be easily
executed as well. The interpreter reads each statement of code and then converts or executes it
directly.
Difference between Compiler and Interpreter
COMPILER INTERPRETER
Compiler works on the complete program at Interpreter program works line‐by‐line. It
1
once. It takes the entire program as input. takes one statement at a time as input.
Compiler generates intermediate code, Interpreter does not generate intermediate
2
called the object code or machine code. object code or machine code.
Compiler executes conditional control
Interpreter execute conditional control
3 statements (like if‐else and switch‐case) and
statements at a much slower speed.
logical constructs faster than interpreter.
Compiled programs take more memory Interpreter does not generate intermediate
4 because the entire object code has to reside object code. As a result, interpreted programs
in memory. are more memory efficient.
Compile once and run anytime. Compiled
Interpreted programs are interpreted line‐by‐
5 program does not need to be compiled every
line every time they are run.
time.
Error is reported as soon as the first error is
Errors are reported after the entire program
6 encountered. Rest of the program will not be
is checked for syntactical and other errors.
checked until the existing error is removed.
A compiled language is more difficult to Debugging is easy because interpreter stops
7
debug. and reports errors as it encounters them.
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Theory Notes
Interpreter runs the program from first line
Compiler does not allow a program to run
8 and stops execution only if it encounters an
until it is completely error‐free.
error.
Interpreted languages are less efficient but
Compiled languages are more efficient but
9 easier to debug. This makes such languages an
difficult to debug.
ideal choice for new students.
Examples of programming languages that use
Examples of programming languages that
10 interpreters: BASIC, Visual Basic, Python,
use compilers: C, C++, COBOL
Ruby, PHP, Perl, MATLAB, Lisp
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Theory Notes
Monitoring, Measurement and Control
How Can Computers Measure Things?
A sensor, such as a temperature sensor, can be connected to a computer. The computer can
then monitor the signal from the sensor, reacting to changes, or it can record the data from the
sensor at predefined time intervals.
Note: If the sensor is an analogue one then an analogue‐to‐digital convertor (ADC) will be
required.
Where is Computer Measurement Used?
Anywhere that data needs to be gathered regularly, a computerized data‐logging system can be
used. Some examples are shown below…
Scientific experiments
Many experiments can be set‐up and left to run with a data‐logging system measuring things
like the temperature of a liquid, etc.
Weather stations
Often these are placed in very remote areas to collect data about rainfall, temperature, wind‐
speed, wind‐direction, etc. Data needs to be gathered all day, every day. This data can then be
used by weather forecasters to help predict the weather over the coming days.
Environmental monitoring
Scientists are very concerned about the effect that humans are having on the environment.
Computer‐based data‐logging is often used to help gather evidence of these effects: the level of
water in a dam, the speed of water flowing down a river, the amount of pollution in the air, etc.
Why Use Computers to Measure Things?
The main reasons that you would want to use a computer‐based data‐logging system, instead of
a person taking measurements are...
Computers do not need to take breaks ‐ they can log data all day, every day, without
stopping
Computers take much more accurate readings than humans can
Computers can take data readings more frequently (1000s of times a second if
necessary)
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Theory Notes
Since the logged data is already in a computer, the data can be analyzed more quickly
and easily (graphs drawn instantly, etc.)
Data logging systems can operate in difficult environments (e.g. in the Arctic, or on top
of a mountain)
People are free to do other more useful tasks (rather than watching a thermometer)
How Can Computers Control Things?
A computer control system, like any system, is made up of three parts...
1. Input devices called sensors feed data into the computer
2. The computer then processes the input data (by following a set of instructions)
3. As a result of the processing, the computer can turn on or off output devices called
actuators.
Sensors
A normal PC has no way of knowing what is happening in the real world around it. It doesn’t
know if it is light or dark, hot or cold, quiet or noisy. How do we know what is happening around
us? We use our eyes, our ears, our mouth, our nose and our skin ‐ our senses.
A normal PC has no senses, but we can give it some: We can connect sensors to it...
A sensor is a device that converts a real‐world property (e.g. temperature) into data that a
computer can process.
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Examples of sensors and the properties they detect are...
Sensor What it Detects
Temperature Temperature
Light Light / dark
Pressure Pressure (e.g. someone standing on it)
Moisture Dampness / dryness
Water‐level How full / empty a container is
Movement Movement nearby
Proximity How close / far something is
Switch or button If something is touching / pressing it
Note: many sensors are analogue devices and so need to be connected to the computer using an
analogue‐to‐digital convertor.
Actuators
A normal PC has no way of affecting what is happening around it. It can’t turn on the lights, or
make the room hotter. How do we change what is happening around us? We use our muscles to
move things, press things, lift things, etc. (and we can also make sound using our voice).
A normal PC has no muscles, but we can give it some. In fact we can give it the ability to do lots
of things by connecting a range of actuators to it…
An actuator is a device, controlled by a computer that can affect the real‐world.
Examples of actuators, and what they can do are...
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Actuator What it Can Do
Light bulb or LED Creates light
Heater Increases temperature
Cooling Unit Decreases temperature
Motor Spins things around
Pump Pushes water / air through pipes
Buzzer / Bell / Siren Creates noise
Note: some of these devices require an analogue signal to operate them. This means that they
need to be connected to the computer using a digital‐to‐analogue convertor.
Where is Computer Control Used?
Many of the devices that we use in our everyday lives are controlled by small computers...
Washing machines
Air‐conditioning systems
Programmable microwave ovens
If we look beyond our homes, we come across even more systems that operate automatically
under the control of a computer...
Modern cars have engines, brakes, etc. that are managed and controlled by a computer
Most factory production lines are computer‐controlled, manufacturing products with
little or no human input
Traffic lights are switched on and off according to programs running on computers which
manage traffic flow through cities
Of course, car engines, factories and traffic lights were not always computer‐controlled. Before
microprocessors even existed, car engines ran, factories produced goods and traffic lights
changed.
However, using computers to manage these systems has brought many benefits...
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Why Use Computers to Control Things?
It is often far better to have a system that is managed and controlled by a computer rather a
human because...
Computers never need breaks ‐ they can control a system without stopping, all day,
every day
Computers don’t need to be paid. To buy and install a computerized control system can
be very expensive, but, in the long‐term, money is saved by not having to employee staff
to do the work
Computers can operate in conditions that would be very hazardous to human health,
e.g. nuclear power stations, chemical factories, paint‐spraying areas
Computers can control systems far more accurately, and respond to changes far more
quickly than a human could
An Example Control System ‐ An Automated Greenhouse
A computer‐controlled greenhouse might have a number of sensors and actuators:
A light sensor to detect how much light the plants are getting
A temperature sensor to see how cold/hot the greenhouse is
A moisture sensor to see how wet/dry the soil is
Lights to illuminate the plants if it gets too dark
A heater to warm up the greenhouse if it gets too cold
A water pump for the watering system
A motor to open the window if it gets too warm inside
The process for this system would be...
1. Check light sensor
o If it is dark, turn on the lights
o If it is not dark, turn off the lights
2. Check temperature sensor
o If it is too cold, turn on heater and use motor to close window
o If it is too warm, turn off heater and use motor to open window
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3. Check the moisture sensor
o If soil is too dry, turn on the water pump
o If soil is too wet, turn off the water pump
4. Go back to step 1 and repeat
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Safety and Security When Using Computers
Why personal data should be kept confidential?
As the use of computers continues to expand, the health risks and security risks continue to
increase. Many of these risks are associated with the internet which poses a great risk to
younger people unless they are vigilant at all times. But large businesses are also at risk from
hackers, pharming attacks and viruses, for example. Many of the precautions people and
business can take are common sense but, it also requires additional knowledge to know how to
protect yourself from these external attacks.
E‐safety
E‐safety refers to safety when using the internet, i.e. keeping personal data safe and applies to
any of the following devices:
Mobile phones
Computer or tablet
Games console
Wireless technology
Personal data refers to any data concerning a living person who can be identified either from
the data itself from the data in conjunction with other information. Examples of personal data
include:
Name
Address
Date of birth
Medical history
Banking details
Some personal data is often referred to as sensitive personal data and includes:
Ethnic origin
Political views
Religion
Criminal activity
E‐safety also refers to the benefits, risks and responsibilities when using ICT. The following list
gives some idea of the e‐safety issues that can be encountered by users of ICT hardware:
Don’t give out any personal information to people who are unknown to you.
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Don’t send people photos of yourself, either online or via a mobile phone.
Always maintain your privacy settings on whatever device is being used online or during
communications.
When accessing the internet make sure the websites being visited can be trusted.
Only open emails from known sources.
Only email people you know. Think carefully before opening an email.
It is extremely important to be vigilant when using social networking sites, instant
messaging or chat rooms.
Security of data
There are a number of security risks associated with any electronic device that connects to a
network. The following covers a range of security risks to data:
Hacking
Phishing
Pharming
Smishing
Vishing
Spyware
Viruses
Spam
Hacking
Description
This is the act of gaining unauthorized access to a computer system.
Possible effects
This can lead to identity theft or misuse of personal information
Data can be deleted, changed or corrupted on a user’s computer
Methods to help prevent the security risk
Use of firewalls
Use of strong passwords and user IDs
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Phishing
Description
The creator sends a legitimate‐looking email to target users. As soon as the recipient
clicks on a link in the email or attachment, they are sent to a fake website or they are
fooled into giving personal data in replying to the email. The email often appears to come
from a trusted source, such as a bank or a well‐known service provider.
Possible effects
The creator of the email can gain personal data, such as bank account data or
credit card numbers, from the user.
This can lead to fraud or identity theft.
Methods to help prevent the security risk
Many ISPs or web browsers filter out phishing emails.
Users should always be cautious when opening emails or attachments.
Don’t click on executable attachments that end in .exe, .bat, .com or .php for
example.
Pharming
Description
This a malicious code installed on a user’s computer or on a web server, the code will
redirect the user to a fake website without their knowledge.
Possible effects
The creator of the malicious code can gain personal data such as credit/debit card
details from users when they visit the fake website, usually the website appears to
be that of a well‐known trusted company.
Pharming can lead to fraud or identity theft.
Methods to help prevent the security risk
Some anti‐spyware can identify and remove pharming code from a user’s
computer.
The user should always be alert and look out for clues that they are being
redirected to another website.
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Smishing
Description
Short for SMS phishing, uses the SMS system of mobile phones to send out fake text
messages. It is very similar to phishing.
Possible effects
These scams often contain a URL or telephone number embedded in the text
message. The recipient will be asked to log on to the website or make a telephone
call. If they do, they will be asked to supply personal details such as credit/debit
card numbers or passwords. As with phishing attacks, the text message will appear
to come from a legitimate source and will make a claim, for example, that they
have won a prize or that they need to contact their bank urgently.
Vishing
Description
Vishing (voice mail phishing) is another variation of phishing.
Possible effects
This uses a voice mail message to trick the user into calling the telephone number
contained in the message. As will all phishing attacks, the user will be asked to
supply personal data thinking they are talking to a legitimate company.
Spyware
Description
This is software that gathers data by monitoring key presses on the user’s keyboard. The
generated data is then sent back to the person who sent the software.
Possible effects
Spyware gives the originator access to all data entered using a keyboard on the
user’s computer.
The software is able to install other spyware, read cookie data and also change a
user’s default browser.
Methods to help prevent the security risk
Use anti‐spyware software to reduce the risk.
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The user should always be alert and check for clues that their keyboard activity is being
monitored.
Viruses
Description
This is a program code or software that can replicate/copy itself with the intention of
deleting or corrupting files on a computer. They often cause the computer to
malfunction, for example, by filling in the hard drive with data.
Possible effects
Viruses can cause the computer to crash, stop functioning normally or become
unresponsive.
The virus can delete files or data stored on a computer.
It can corrupt operating system files, making the computer run slowly or even
crash.
Methods to help prevent the security risk
Install anti‐virus software and update it regularly.
Don’t use software from unknown sources.
Be careful when opening emails or attachments from unknown senders.
Spam
Description
Spam, often referred to as junk email, is usually sent out to a recipient who is on a
mailing list or mailing group.
Possible effects
Spammers obtain these email addresses from chat rooms, websites, newsgroups
and even certain viruses that have been set up to harvest a user’s contact list.
While spam is rarely a security risk, it can lead to denial of services, for example,
by clogging up the bandwidth on the internet. However, spam can be linked to
phishing attacks or even the spread of computer viruses, so it should be treated
with some caution.
Methods to help prevent the security risk
Many ISPs filter out spam or junk mail.
When using the junk email filter, set the protection level to high.
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Look out for check boxes that are already selected when items are bought online.
Do not reply to an email that seems to have come from an unknown source.
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Health and Safety Issues
Health Issues
If we use a computer for many hours (as people often do at work), there are some health issues
that might affect us.
Eye‐Strain
One health issue that can occur after using computers for a long time is eye‐strain
(tiredness of the eyes).
This is caused by looking at a monitor which is a constant distance away. The muscles
that focus your eyes do not move, and so get tired and painful. Eye‐strain can also cause
headaches.
Solution:
Look away from the monitor at regular intervals – re‐focus on distant or close objects to
exercise the muscles in the eye.
Take regular breaks.
Use an anti‐glare filter in front of the monitor to cut down on screen reflections that can
also tire the eyes.
Back and Neck Ache
Many people suffer from back and neck pain after working at a computer for a long time.
This is usually due to them having a bad sitting posture.
Solution:
Use an adjustable, ergonomic chair, and take the time to set it up properly.
The computer keyboard and monitor should be at the correct height for the seated
person (keyboard lower than the elbow, top of monitor at eye level).
Take regular breaks: get up, walk around, stretch your muscles
Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) in Wrists and Hands
Any repetitive movement (same movement over and over again) can result in a health
problem called repetitive strain injury (RSI).
In particular, typing and using a mouse for long periods are common causes of RSI in the
wrist (it is often called carpal‐tunnel syndrome).
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Solution:
Use a wrist‐rest to support the wrists while typing and when using the mouse.
Take regular breaks from typing or using the mouse.
Safety Issues
You wouldn't imagine that using computers could be dangerous, but there are a few situations
that can result in accidents.
Trailing Cables
Computer equipment is often connected to lots of cables: power, network, etc.
If these cables are lying on the floor, they can cause people to trip over them.
Solution: Place cables inside cable ducts, or under the carpet / flooring.
Spilt Drinks or Food
If any liquids are spilt on electrical equipment, such as a computer, it can result in
damage to the equipment, or an electric shock to the user.
Solution: Keep drinks and food away from computers.
Overloaded Power Sockets
Plugging too many power cables into a socket can result in the socket being overloaded,
overheating, and a fire starting.
Solution: Never plug too many cables into a socket. Always make sure there are fire
extinguishers nearby.
Heavy Objects Falling
Many items of computer equipment are very heavy: CRT monitors, laser printers, etc.
Heavy items can cause serious injury if they fall on people.
Solution: Make sure equipment is placed on strong tables / shelves.
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Malware Issues
Trojan Horse
Trojans are a class of malware that take their name from the way they infect computers. Trojans
hide themselves within seemingly harmless programs or try to trick you into installing them.
Trojans do not replicate by infecting other files or computers. Instead, Trojans survive by going
unnoticed: they may sit quietly in your computer, collecting information or setting up holes in
your security, or they may just take over your computer and lock you out.
Some of the more common actions that Trojans take are:
Creating backdoors: some Trojans will make changes to your security system so that your data
and device can be accessed by their controller.
Spying: some Trojans are designed to wait until you access your online accounts or enter your
credit card details, and then send your data back to whoever is in control.
Steal you passwords: some Trojans are made to steal your passwords for your most important
online accounts.
Worms
Computer worms are similar to viruses in that they replicate functional copies of themselves and
can cause the same type of damage. In contrast to viruses, which require the spreading of an
infected host file, worms are standalone software and do not require a host program or human
help to propagate. To spread, worms either exploit a vulnerability on the target system or use
some kind of social engineering to trick users into executing them. A worm enters a computer
through a vulnerability in the system and takes advantage of file‐transport or information‐
transport features on the system, allowing it to travel unaided.
Malicious Bots
"Bot" is derived from the word "robot" and is an automated process that interacts with other
network services. Bots often automate tasks and provide information or services that would
otherwise be conducted by a human being. A typical use of bots is to gather information (such
as web crawlers), or interact automatically with instant messaging (IM), Internet Relay
Chat (IRC), or other web interfaces. They may also be used to interact dynamically with
websites.
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Bots can be used for either good or malicious intent. A malicious bot is self‐propagating
malware designed to infect a host and connect back to a central server or servers. In addition to
the worm‐like ability to self‐propagate, bots can include the ability to log keystrokes, gather
passwords, capture and analyze packets, gather financial information etc.
Adware
Adware software can display and/or download advertisements and may be considered privacy‐
invasive. Adware tracks your computer's web usage to feed you undesired ad pop ups or
redirect you to unwanted pages.
Adware can hijack your home page and take you to sites you aren’t interested in, allow pop up
ads that are disruptive to your system. Since they run every time you turn on your computer,
they can cause slowdowns and software conflicts that can make your computer unstable.
Rootkit
Rootkit is an application (or set of applications), that hides its presence or presence of another
application (virus, spyware, etc.) on the computer, using some of the lower layers of the
operating system, which makes them almost undetectable by common anti‐malware software.
Rootkit can get to a computer using various ways. The most common way is through some
trojan horse or some suspicious email attachment. Also surfing the web may result in
installation of a rootkit, for example when "special" plugin (pretending to be legitimate) is
needed to correctly view some webpage, to launch some file, etc.
Ransomware
Ransomware stops you from using your PC. It holds your PC or files for ransom. There are
different types of ransomware. However, all of them will prevent you from using your PC
normally, and they will all ask you to do something before you can use your PC.
They can:
Prevent you from accessing Windows.
Encrypt files so you can't use them.
Stop certain apps from running (like your web browser).
Often the ransomware will claim you have done something illegal with your PC, and that you are
being fined by a police force or government agency.
These claims are false. It is a scare tactic designed to make you pay the money without telling
anyone who might be able to restore your PC.
There is no guarantee that paying the fine or doing what the ransomware tells you will give
access to your PC or files again.
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The Digital Divide
Digital Divide refers to the gap between those who benefit from digital technology and those
who do not. It is the gap between those people with effective access to digital and information
technology, and those without or limited access to it. It includes the imbalances in physical
access to technology, as well as the imbalances in resources and skills needed to effectively
participate as a digital citizen in this so called e‐world. The digital divide refers to that disparity
between individuals and/or communities who can use electronic information and
communication tools, such as the internet, to better the quality of their lives and those who
cannot.
Several factors must be addressed when one evaluates digital divide whether globally or locally.
Being digitally connected is critical to economic, educational, and social advancement. Those
without the appropriate tools, in terms of personal computers (PCs) and Internet connectivity,
and applicable skills will become increasingly disadvantaged.
Factors that contribute towards widening the digital divide gap:
Poverty
One of the crucial factors that affect the digital divide of countries is poverty. Developing
countries suffer greatly from high levels of poverty. Consequently, they are greatly affected by
digital divide internally and externally. Residents of such countries do not have the necessary
finances to afford computers and internet connection. Digitalization is not important to them
when compared to the basic needs of food, shelter and clothing which they hardly fulfill to the
maximum. It is therefore logical that a huge proportion of the population is not able to access
internet services due to increasing levels of poverty. A closely associated factor with this
phenomenon is the variance of minimum wages in different countries. Many third world
countries have people working below the internationally stipulated minimum wages. Workers in
these countries are exploited, working for long hours for little pay. The process can have dire
consequences to the growth of the gap in utility of the internet connections such that people
are always busy working with little time and money to explore and discover new methods or the
importance of internet connections. There are wide disparities amongst income groups. The
better off are far more likely to have PCs and Internet connections than others.
Education
A society that needs information for its growth and development realizes that education is an
important aspect when it comes to basic culture and technical preparation. Internet and the
ability to know and understand computer applications has become a necessary advantage for
many job seekers internationally. Every individual or child has the right to education. The
internet is the domain of the literate. A person who cannot both read and write cannot have any
reasonable expectation of making practical use of either a computer or the Internet with any
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facility. Information and technology has helped to increase literacy rates all over the world.
Internet has become an important aspect of the learning process especially in tertiary learning
institutions such as colleges, technical institutes and universities. ICT has become a major
subject taught in most schools but many adults did not have the opportunity to learn how to use
computers when they were in school. The gap in the utilization of internet and other electronic
sources has been greatly influenced by the quality of education a person has or inspires to
achieve. For example, students in colleges tend to use the surf engines more than high school
students. Furthermore, as an individual is able to acquire more knowledge and education, digital
communication becomes a necessity. However, for third world countries the problem of
internet and education is determined by greater forces. The fact these nations are poor means
that many public institutions cannot afford internet connections as a tool for learning. Most
luxuries are left for the rich who are able to afford the best quality education that money can
buy. The inclusion of the internet in most learning programs requires a personal initiative from
an individual rather than the society at large.
Gender
Access and use of ICTs are known to have the potential to influence social and economic well
being. However, a range of other factors contribute to inequality among those with access to
ICT and those marginalized from them. Though the digital divide in many countries is being
bridged slowly but surely, the aspects of gender cannot be ignored in terms of its utility. The
division between women and men is not only in terms of economics but in dimensions of
technology as well. The inability of women to access information and technology in general is
attributed to many factors be it political, economical and cultural. The variety of information
technologies in the competitive markets does not bridge the gap of accessibility when it comes
to gender issues. In many developing countries poor infrastructure is weaker in rural areas when
compared to urban areas. Most women live in rural areas where accessibility to information and
technology is limited. Hence women become deprived in terms of
information and technology. Women in poor countries especially the rural areas do not have
access to education and technological skills to utilize ICT’s efficiently. This is likely due to the fact
that they are constrained by language barriers since women who are deprived educationally
lack the opportunities to learn the international languages that are utilized by the internet.
Dependency
Dependency on technology happens when technology is widely used without regarding the
consequences of the increased utilization of technology. There is an increase in concern about
the rate at which people who can afford advanced technology are consuming it. In the
developed world, the dependence on technology has spread in almost all the systems that are
important to the survival of the economy and society. For example, in the banking system the
use of automated teller machines in banks has reduced the need for human service delivery and
movement in the banks also in the health sectors and education system. Dependency
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on technology hence automatically requires that members of societies become literate in
matters of technology in order to survive. Urban people have access to services facilitated by
technology and hence they become dependent on it when compared to rural folk.
Technology for third world countries is costly. However due to the increase of technology in the
international arena, these countries are forced to put more effort in order to be at parity in the
competitive global economy. The digital divide between the North and the South is greatly felt
especially when the third world countries continuously depend on finances from the North.
These finances come with conditions that are mainly agreeable to the North.
Rural and Urban Perspective
For many rural dwellers in developed countries, the abundance of information and technology is
a blessing that creates conveniences in the daily lives of the people. The automation of service
deliveries in institutions such as banks eliminates the travelling necessities to the metropolis in
order to access finances. Frequent communication to investors and families through video
phones and conferences helps to save time and money.
Generally, in developed countries, the internet services are cheaper hence individuals in the
rural areas can afford these services despite their geographical location. The major difference
between the urban and rural areas in developed countries is the adequacy of internet service
and geographical distance. The rate of internet use is higher in urban areas than in rural areas.
The geographical coverage determines the capability of how fast or slow one is able to be
connected to the internet. However, this is not the case with developing countries, information
technology in developing urban areas is still limited due to costs, education and income
variations of the city dwellers. The internet services are available but are restricted to certain
areas such as high learning institutions and government offices. Rural areas are by conventional
wisdom, held to be unattractive for any telephone or internet service provider. The capital cost
involved is high and the revenues are poor. The poor power supply on which internet services
are predicated especially in the rural areas makes the use of the internet less cost effective.
Thus, the rural areas in developing countries lack internet facilities due to poor infrastructure,
education and poverty. In a nut shell, the utility of internet services globally vary between rural
and urban dwellers. Upon further analysis, the digital divide in rural developing areas is greater
than in rural developed areas. Consequently, the urban dwellers in developed cities use more
internet services when compared to urban dwellers in developing countries.
Cultural Dimensions
There are certain cultures that hinder the possibilities of progress especially when it comes to
evolution of information, technology and communication. There are people, or cultures, that, as
a matter of fact, can use new information and communication tools, such as the internet, but
choose not to do so. The growth in information technology holds the promise in the growth of
sustainable economic growth that is beneficial to everyone on the planet. However, cultural and
behavioral attitudes create barriers that inhibit technological process, adaptation and utility by
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many in the world. Thus, even though, the country might try to promote the utilization of ICT’s
in the country, behavioral attitudes of individuals might contribute to digital divide.
Behavioral and attitudinal barriers are mainly enhanced by myths and stereotypes about the
internet. Studies have shown even in developed countries, people have resisted adaptation of
advance technology based on misconceptions such as: computers are for clever people, for
men, and for younger people. A huge number of the older generation believed that they are
unsafe and they lack security for personal information. This is a pattern most common in rural
areas. Most families also believed that internet caused increase in immorality due to the variety
of content that was accessible.
Age
The digital divide is also influenced by age. There is an existence of digital divide between the
young and old which is also closely linked to accessibility. Children and teenagers use computers
and the internet more than any other age group and that computers at schools substantially
narrow the gap in computer usage rates for children from high and low income families. It
seems that young people feel more comfortable with new technology and are able to benefit
from it more than older people. Older people are less likely to have a computer and are less
likely to be interested in using the Internet In order to benefit from the digital technology
people must know how to use it.
Economic Development and Distribution
The unequal access to information technology and communication increase the developmental
gap between rich developed countries and poor developing countries. Economic power is vital
to the accessibility. Many developing countries have become trapped in technologies that are
obsolete. Therefore, it can take any economic sector a very long period of time to evolve and
overcome the impact of intense investments in analogue communication system and landlines.
Thus, the rise of digital divide and its utility lies in ability of the communications sector to
survive such unavoided circumstances. The digital divide in developing countries is closely tied
to the contextual economic environment of the respective countries. Countries with thriving
economies are largely associated with increased access to ICTs compared to those whose
economies are doing badly. In addition, the economic development is increasingly being tied to
the breadth and depth of digital gaps within and between nations. Countries with low digital
gaps are more developed (developed world) than countries with high digital gaps (developing
countries).
Conclusion
Digital Divide is defined as the growing gap between those who have access to and the skills to
use ICT and those who, due to economic or/and geographical reasons, have limited or no
access. The digital divide can be identified at both the domestic level and at the international
level. The gap varies with the utilization of technology from one country to the next depending
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on variables like education, gender, governance, age, economy and distribution. There is
significant divide in the utility of the internet which varies from rural to urban centers all over
the world. Many developed countries attribute the widening gap of lack of utilization of
computers and the internet to stereotypes, myths and misconceptions about ICT’s. Through the
practical use of the leap frog theory, some developing countries have been able to afford and
access technology and communication systems and therefore bridging the gap of digital divide
as well as promoted its use. Political instability and corruption in main institutions have led to a
decrease in development consequently leading to stagnation of the growth in ICT’s in a country.
The utilization of internet services vary with the level of interconnectedness an individual has.
Furthermore, many people in the world live below the minimum wage and find internet costly
and unaffordable.
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Computer Networks
What is a Network?
A network is two or more computers, or other electronic devices, connected together so that
they can exchange data.
For example; a network allows computers to share files, users to message each other, a whole
room of computers to share a single printer, etc.
Network connections between computers are typically created using cables (wires). However,
connections can be created using radio signals (wireless / wi‐fi), telephone lines (and modems)
or even, for very long distances, via satellite links.
Why Use Networks?
Using a computer connected to a network allows us to…
Easily share files and data
Share resources such as printers and Internet connections
Communicate with other network users (e‐mail, instant messaging, video‐conferencing,
etc.)
Store data centrally (using a file server) for ease of access and back‐up
Keep all of our settings centrally so we can use any workstation
In particular, if we use a computer connected to The Internet, we can…
Make use of on‐line services such as shopping (e‐commerce) or banking
Get access to a huge range of information for research
Access different forms of entertainment (games, video, etc.)
Join on‐line communities (e.g. MySpace, Facebook, etc.)
Why Not Use Networks?
Using a computer connected to a network means that…
The computer is vulnerable to hackers
If the network breaks, many tasks become very difficult
Your computer can more easily be attacked by a virus
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In particular, if we use a computer connected to The Internet…
We have to be careful about revealing personal information
We have to be careful to avoid suspect websites that might contain malware
We have to be aware that information found on The Internet is not always accurate or
reliable
Computers in a Network
Computers connected together to create a network fall into two
categories: servers and clients (workstations).
Clients
Client computers, or workstations, are the normal computers that people sit at to get
their work done.
Servers
Servers are special, powerful computers that provide ‘services’ to the client computers on the
network.
These services might include:
Providing a central, common file storage area
Sharing hardware such as printers
Controlling who can or can’t have access the network
Sharing Internet connections
Servers are built to be very reliable. This means that they are much more expensive that normal
computers.
In a small network one server might provide all of these services. In a larger network there
might be many servers sharing the work.
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Theory Notes
Types of Networks?
Local Area Network (LAN)
A Local Area Network is a network confined to one building or site.
Often a LAN is a private network belonging to an organization or business.
Because LANs are geographically small, they usually use cables or low‐power radio (wireless) for
the connections.
Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN)
A wireless LAN (WLAN) is a LAN that uses radio signals (WiFi) to connect computers instead of
cables.
At the centre of the WLAN is a wireless switch or router ‐ a small box with one or two antennas
sticking out the back ‐ used for sending and receiving data to the computers. (Most laptops have
a wireless antenna built into the case.)
It is much more convenient to use wireless connections instead of running long wires all over a
building.
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Theory Notes
However, WLANs are more difficult to make secure since other people can also try to connect to
the wireless network. So, it is very important to have a good, hard‐to‐guess password for the
WLAN connections.
Wide Area Network (WAN)
A Wide Area Network is a network that extends over a large area.
A WAN is often created by joining several LANs together, such as when a business that has
offices in different countries links the office LANs together.
Because WANs are often geographically spread over large areas and links between computers
are over long distances, they often use quite exotic connections technologies: optical
fibre (glass) cables, satellite radio links, microwave radio links, etc.
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Theory Notes
Bluetooth (Personal Area Network)
Bluetooth is a wireless networking technology designed for very short‐range connections
(typically just a few metres).
The idea of Bluetooth is to get rid of the need for all of those cables (e.g. USB cables) that
connect our computer to peripheral devices such as printers, mice, keyboards, etc.
Bluetooth devices contain small, low‐power radio transmitters and receivers. When devices are
in range of other Bluetooth devices, they detect each other and can be 'paired' (connected)
Typical uses of Bluetooth:
Connecting a wireless keyboard to a computer
Connecting a wireless mouse to a computer
Using a wireless headset with a mobile phone
Printing wirelessly from a computer or PDA
Transferring data / music from a computer to an MP3 player
Transferring photos from a phone / camera to another device
Synchronizing calendars on a PDA and a computer
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Theory Notes
Advantages and Disadvantages of Networking Computers
Advantages:
Sharing devices such as printers saves money.
Site (software) licenses are likely to be cheaper than buying several standalone licenses.
Files can easily be shared between users.
Network users can communicate by email and instant messenger.
Security is good ‐ users cannot see other users' files unlike on stand‐alone machines.
Data is easy to backup as all the data is stored on the file server.
Disadvantages:
Purchasing the network cabling and file servers can be expensive.
Managing a large network is complicated, requires training and a network manager usually
needs to be employed.
If the file server breaks down the files on the file server become inaccessible. Email might still
work if it is on a separate server. The computers can still be used but are isolated.
Viruses can spread to other computers throughout a computer network.
There is a danger of hacking, particularly with wide area networks. Security procedures are
needed to prevent such abuse, e.g. a firewall.
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Theory Notes
Client‐Server and Peer‐to‐Peer Networks
Client‐Server Network
With a client server network the files will not be stored on the hard drive of each workstation.
Instead they will be stored on a computer which is known as a server.
If you are using a client server network then you will have a user account and you will have to
log on with a user name and password.
There are a number of reasons why you do this. The first is to identify you to the server so that it
knows which files belong to you and it can fetch them for you. The second is so that the security
systems can check that you are actually who you say you are and that the account belongs to
you.
On a large network there may be more than just the file server. There might also be an email
server which deals with the internal email system. A web server controls access to the Internet
and blocks access to any unsuitable sites and a print server which deals with all of the printing
requests.
So that is the 'server' part of the client server network. The 'client' part is the workstations that
are connected to the network. The 'clients' rely on servers to
store and fetch networked files
provide services that the users require
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Theory Notes
manage network peripherals that the user wants to access.
Client‐Server Networks
Advantages Disadvantages
Files can be are stored in a central
A specialist network operating system
location (although each workstation can
is needed
have its own files as well)
Network peripherals are controlled
The server is expensive to purchase
centrally
Backups and network security is Specialist staff such as a network
controlled centrally manager is often needed
If key parts of the network fail such as
Users can access shared data which is
the server or the switch, a lot of
centrally controlled
disruption can occur
Software licenses and installation for
each workstation can be controlled
centrally
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Theory Notes
Peer‐to‐Peer Network
This type of network is where two or more computers are connected together without needing
a file server to be part of the network.
A peer to peer network can be as simple as two people in the same room temporarily
connecting their computers via a Universal Serial Bus to enable them to transfer or share files
directly with one another.
It can also include a more permanent network where say half‐a‐dozen computers in a small
office are connected together via a hub or switch.
This type of network means that every PC, once connected to the network is acting both as a
server and a client. There is no need for a special network operating system. Access rights to
files, folders and data is controlled by setting the sharing permissions on individual machines. So
for example, if User A wants to access some files from User B's computer, User B must set their
permissions to allow this. Otherwise, User A won't be able to see or access any of User B's work.
Permissions can be set to allow complete access to every file, folder and document stored on
your system or just for particular things ‐ perhaps a music library if at home.
This also works with a Wi‐Fi connected laptop as long as the Wireless Access Point is also
connected to the hub. In home networking systems, the hub / switch / WAP / ADSL modem are
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Theory Notes
all built into one unit that an ISP (Internet Service Provider) supplies. For example; BT supplies a
'Home Hub' unit for its customers that acts as a switch, WAP and a modem.
Peer‐to‐Peer Networks
Advantages Disadvantages
Because each computer might be being
No need for a network operating
accessed by others it can slow down the
system
performance for the user
Does not need an expensive server
because individual workstations Files and folders cannot be centrally backed up
are used to access the files
No need for specialist staff such as Files and resources are not centrally organized
network technicians because each into a specific 'shared area'. They are stored on
user sets their own permissions as individual computers and might be difficult to
to which files they are willing to locate if the computer's owner doesn't have a
share. logical filing system.
Much easier to set up than a Ensuring that viruses are not introduced to the
client‐server network ‐ does not network is the responsibility of each individual
need specialist knowledge user
If one computer fails it will not Although it is often the case that a password
disrupt any other part of the protected user account is set up on a machine,
network. It just means that those this does not have to be the case and so
files aren't available to other users security is not as robust as a client server
at that time. model.
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
A VPN or Virtual Private Network is a network connection that enables you to create a secure
connection over the public Internet to private networks at a remote location. With a VPN, all
network traffic (data, voice, and video) goes through a secure virtual tunnel between the host
device (client) and the VPN provider’s servers, and is encrypted. VPN technology uses a
combination of features such as encryption, tunneling protocols, data encapsulation, and
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Theory Notes
certified connections to provide you with a secure connection to private networks and to
protect your identity.
Early VPNs were often set up to give individual employees secure remote access to their
company networks, hence the name “virtual private network”. By connecting to the company’s
network, an individual employee can access all the company’s resources and services as if the
employee were inside the company.
Since then, VPNs have evolved to provide the same level of secure communication between any
device on the internet. Today, using VPN is increasingly popular among consumers as a means
to protect their privacy online, secure their browsing sessions, and get unrestricted access to
content or websites that are otherwise blocked or censored
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Theory Notes
Difference between the Internet and the World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW) is one set of software services running on the Internet.
The Internet itself is a global, interconnected network of computing devices. This network
supports a wide variety of interactions and communications between its devices. The World
Wide Web is a subset of these interactions and supports websites and URIs.
The Internet
The Internet is actually a huge network that is accessible to everyone & everywhere across the
world. The network is composed of sub‐networks comprising of a number of computers that
are enabled to transmit data in packets. The internet is governed by a set of rules, laws &
regulations, collectively known as the Internet Protocol (IP). The sub‐networks may range
from defense networks to academic networks to commercial networks to individual PCs.
Internet, essentially provides information & services in the form of E‐Mail, chat & file
transfers. It also provides access to the World Wide Web & other interlinked web pages.
The World Wide Web
The Internet & the World Wide Web (the Web), though used interchangeably, are not
synonymous. Internet is the hardware part ‐ it is a collection of computer networks connected
through either copper wires, fiber‐optic cables or wireless connections whereas, the World
Wide Web can be termed as the software part – it is a collection of web pages connected
through hyperlinks and URLs. In short, the World Wide Web is one of the services provided by
the Internet. Other services over the Internet include e‐mail, chat and file transfer services. All
of these services can be provided to consumers for use by businesses or government or by
individuals creating their own networks or platforms.
Another method to differentiate between both is using the Protocol Suite – a collection of laws
& regulations that govern the Internet. While internet is governed by the Internet Protocol –
specifically dealing with data as whole and their transmission in packets, the World Wide Web is
governed by the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP) that deals with the linking of files,
documents and other resources of the World Wide Web.
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Theory Notes
Advantages and Disadvantages of The Internet
Advantages:
1. Information on almost every subject imaginable.
2. Powerful search engines.
3. Ability to do research from your home versus research libraries.
4. Information at various levels of study. Everything from scholarly articles to ones directed
at children.
5. Message boards where people can discuss ideas on any topic. Ability to get wide range of
opinions. People can find others that have a similar interest in whatever they are
interested in.
6. The internet provides the ability of emails. Free mail service to anyone in the country.
7. Platform for products like SKYPE, which allow for holding a video conference with anyone
in the world who also has access.
8. Things such as Yahoo Answers and other sites where kids can have readily available help
for homework.
Disadvantages:
1. There is a lot of wrong information on the internet. Anyone can post anything, and much
of it is garbage.
2. There are predators that hang out on the internet waiting to get unsuspecting people in
dangerous situations.
3. Easy to waste a lot of time on the internet. You can start surfing, and then realize far
more time has passed than you realized.
4. Internet has a lot of "cheater" sites. People can buy essays and pass them off as their own
far more easily than they used to be able to do.
5. Hackers can create viruses that can get into your personal computer and ruin valuable
data.
6. Hackers can use the internet for identity theft.
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Theory Notes
How to set up a Video Conference
Video conferencing is making it easier than it has ever been to do business all around the globe.
By setting up video conferencing in your office, it is possible to have meetings with people from
anywhere on the planet. Video conferences mean that you can talk to anyone around the world
without worrying about traveling or accommodation costs.
Setting video conferencing up isn't actually that difficult. Once it's set up, it can then be used
over and over again to host many meetings. Video conferencing uses the Internet, which means
that it's much cheaper and more convenient than a telephone call. It's also much cheaper than
video phone calls.
Step 1: Choosing Software
The first thing that you should do is choose the video conferencing software that you want to
use for your business. There are many different pieces of software which can be used for video
conferencing. If you are a small business, then you can make do with a free instant messenger
application such as MSN. Alternatively, there are many more advanced applications. It is also
possible to choose dedicated hardware for teleconferencing, which means you don't need to
worry about using PCs for everything.
Step 2: Choosing Equipment
If you are using computers for your video conference, then you will need to purchase web
cameras and microphones. These are two very important pieces of equipment. If you don't have
these, then a video conference isn't possible. Choose a high quality camera which will offer auto
focus for good quality meetings. You will also need to choose the microphones you want to use.
You can either use microphones which are suitable for the whole room to talk into, or ones for
just the person sitting in front of the camera. In this case, you could use headset microphones.
Step 3: Additional Equipment
If you want to create a more professional video conferencing set up, then you will need to
purchase additional equipment. Not everyone will like the idea of crowding around a computer
monitor. You could purchase a larger monitor so that more people can see it. You can also add
multiple screens to the computer to see different members of the video.
Step 4: Installing
Now you need to install the software on your computer or alternatively set up any dedicated
hardware. You will only need to install the software on the computers which are going to be
used for video conferencing.
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Theory Notes
Step 5: Testing
With everything set up and installed, you will now need to test out the system. Try to host a
video conference between two computers within your company. You can then test it online
from outside your private network. By testing the conference, you can check the quality of
audio and video.
You can then add to your video conferencing system whenever you want to add additional
features.
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Theory Notes
How to set up a web conference
Step 1: Setting up a computer
You can use either a laptop, PC, tablet or smartphone for your web conferencing. Whatever
device you choose, it needs to be configured to support your chosen web conferencing system.
Step 2: An internet connection
The faster your internet connection, the better your web conference experience will be. Ideally
you should use high‐speed broadband.
Step 3: Setting up Audio
This can be delivered either through your phone line or over the internet. If you are using
internet audio, you will need speakers or headphones and a microphone.
Step 4: Setting up a web camera
Most people now require visuals in a web conference. In this case, you will need a web camera
to provide a visual experience.
Step 5: Choosing software
You will need a subscription to a cloud‐based web conferencing provider or access to cloud‐
based conferencing freeware; alternatively, you will need conferencing software that’s been
downloaded onto your device. Before you make a decision, check the specifications of the
application or software to make sure your device can support it.
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Theory Notes
How Data is Transmitted and Converted in a Video Conference
The core of a video conferencing system consists of elements that enable the capture and
transfer of video images and audio sounds. These elements are:
Video input – 2 or more video cameras or web cams; possibly digital projectors /
whiteboards.
Audio input – microphones either centrally located or on individuals.
Video output – monitor, computer screen, television and/or projector.
Audio output – professional speakers, headphones or laptop computer speakers.
Codec – hardware or software‐based coder‐decoder technology that compresses analog
video and audio data into digital packets and decompresses the data on the receiving end.
Echo cancellation software – diminishes audio delays to enable real‐time conversation.
Network for data transfer – today most video conferencing is transmitted over a high‐speed
broadband Internet connection, using similar technology as VoIP (Voice over Internet
Protocol) but LAN and occasionally ISDN connections are used.
How Does Data Compression Work?
The camera and microphone capture analog video and audio signals from a video conference.
These data are a continuous wave of amplitudes and frequencies representing sounds, color
shades, depth and brightness.
Enormous bandwidth would be required to transmit this data without compression, so codecs
(hardware/software technology) compress and decompress the data into digital packets.
How Does the Data Transfer Work?
Once digitally compressed, the video and audio data can be transmitted over a digital network.
In most cases, a broadband Internet connection is the preferred network.
Data is sent to the other participant’s video conferencing system and then decompressed and
translated back into analog video images and audio sounds.
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Theory Notes
Introduction
Data is stored in files on storage devices, for example, on floppy disks, hard drives and magnetic
tape. There is a choice of storage devices and there is also a choice in the way that files are
organized on the storage device.
Files can be organized so that a piece of data in the file can be accessed directly, without going
through other pieces of data to get to it. This is a fast method of data access.
Files could also be organized so that they are accessed serially or sequentially. This means that
to find a file, you start at the beginning of the file and go through all the records in turn until you
get to the one you want. This is a slow method of data access but has other benefits. When
deciding what file organization to use and what storage device to use, the key questions to ask
are:
How quickly do I need to get back a particular piece of data?
What do I want to do with the data?
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Theory Notes
Serial files
Data stored in a serial file is stored in time order only. When a new piece of data is added to the
file, it is simply added on to the end of the file. If you had a serial file with 10000 items in it, they
would be in the order that they were received on the storage device. This makes getting back
any individual piece of data a rather slow process. The only way you can retrieve a particular
record in a serial file is to:
Check the file is not empty.
If it is empty, report 'Empty' and stop.
If it is not empty, start at the first record in the file
Check if it is the record you want.
If it is, report 'Record found' and stop.
If it is not, get the next record and repeat, until you either find the record you want or
you get to the end of the file.
If you get to the end of the file, report 'File not found'.
Data access with serial files is slow and is therefore not suitable for applications that require fast
access to data. You wouldn't want to use this system of organization, for example, for a driving
license database used to deal with customer enquiries. If a driver rang up DVLC (the driving
license center) and wanted to query their details, it would take a very long time to search
serially the whole database! Some applications, however, don't require fast access to data. Here
are some examples.
Back‐ups
Most networks back‐up the users' data onto magnetic tape during the night. The data will
generally not be needed although occasionally a user will need to get back a copy of a file that
they have accidentally deleted and very occasionally the whole network will need to be
recovered after a system crash.
A shop
A shopkeeper might keep a record of each transaction made in the shop in time order (a serial
file) over a 24‐hour period. This file will hold details of each sale; what was sold and how many
of each item. This file (also known as a ‘transaction file’) can then be used at the end of the 24‐
hour period to update the ‘master file’ of products. The master file is a record of the products
and what is in stock. It doesn't change except when it is updated using the transaction file. Once
updated, the stock control system can then be used to automatically re‐order items.
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Theory Notes
It is also worth noting that updating the master file using the transaction file is done using
batch processing. In batch processing systems, all the data is collected together in one place (in
the transaction file) before being processed. Once a transaction file has been used to update the
master file, the transaction file can be cleared out. It will then be ready for a new transaction
period. Master files are permanent. Transaction files exist only for the transaction period, and
then they are cleared. It is also worth noting here that while a serial file can be used for this
application, a more efficient way to process the transaction file would be to re‐organize it into a
sequential file first.
A payroll system
When a company's employees 'clock‐on' or ‘clock off’, a record of this event is stored in a serial
file set up for this purpose. The entry in the file will record the employee number and the time
and date they clocked on or off. At the end of the week this serial file (take note that it is also
known as a 'transaction file') is sorted into a sequential file ‐ sorting the serial file into a
sequential file would collect together each employee's entries, which are scattered throughout
the serial file, and put them together and into the order that the employee records are stored
on the master file, probably by employee number. The sequential file is then batch processed
with the master file (the master file contains an up‐to‐date record of each employee, what their
hourly rate is and a running total of their pay and deductions for the current tax year). The
processing in this example means that the number of hours each employee has worked in total
for the last week is calculated. The pay due is then worked out and the deductions (tax, NI,
pension contributions and so on) made. Pay slips are printed out. The serial file is then cleared,
ready for the next period of record collection.
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Theory Notes
Sequential files
Serial files are organized by time. There are situations where this may not be the best way to
organize data. Consider the above example involving a shopkeeper. Over a 24‐hour period, the
same products will be bought many times yet the details of each transaction involving the same
product will be scattered throughout the serial file. When the serial file is processed, it will
clearly need to return time after time to one product's details in the master file every time it
comes across a transaction for that product. Having to constantly re‐visit master file entries isn't
very efficient! It would be better if the serial file, before the master file was updated, were
processed to put all of the transactions for each of the products together. Not only that,
however, it would be useful if the records were in the same order as the records in the master
file. Then a product could be accessed once on the master file and all of the transactions that
have taken place involving that product could be processed in one go. And since the sequential
file and the master file records are in the same order, the records will be processed together in
the most efficient way. You won’t get a record from the master file and then have to hunt
through the sequential file.
A file that is in some kind of order other than time order is known as a sequential file. In the
above example, the master file might be a file of product details held in product ID order. We
should therefore create a sequential file organized by product ID by processing the serial file,
ensuring that all the product transactions for each product are together. We would then batch
process the sequential file to update the master file.
If you store files on a magnetic tape, for example, to back‐up a hard drive then the files on the
tape will be either in serial or sequential order. You cannot go directly to a data item but have to
go through all the other data items to get to it. This means data access can be slow, especially if
there are lots of records. There are many occasions when you need fast access to some data.
You first of all need to select a storage medium that allows you to access directly areas of data
such as a floppy disk, hard disk or CD R/W (but not magnetic tape) and then you need a file
structure that allows you to go straight to some data.
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Theory Notes
An enquiry system
Index sequential is a method that speeds up access to data. It does this by taking a sequential
file and splitting it up into areas. Each block of data is stored in its own area. An index is then
provided that points to each area. For example, suppose you had to design a database that
allowed you to retrieve details about authors. You would get your file of authors and put them
in a sequential order. At the beginning of the file, you would create an index, like this:
For authors beginning with A go to address 23000.
For authors beginning with B go to address 24000.
For authors beginning with C go to address 25000 and so on.
When someone wants to get back details of an author, they:
Type in the author's surname.
The first letter of the author is stripped out.
The letter is looked up in the index.
The computer jumps to the address that corresponds to the letter.
A sequential search begins from that address, until the author is found or the end of the
file is reached.
Acknowledgements:
Resource by: theteacher/info
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Theory Notes
Expert Systems
What is an Expert System?
An Expert System is defined as an interactive and reliable computer‐based decision‐making
system which uses both facts and heuristics to solve complex decision‐making problems. It is
considered at the highest level of human intelligence and expertise. It is a computer application
which solves the most complex issues in a specific domain.
The expert system can resolve many issues which generally would require a human expert. It is
based on knowledge acquired from an expert. It is also capable of expressing and reasoning
about some domain of knowledge.
Capabilities of Expert Systems
The expert systems are capable of −
Advising
Instructing and assisting human in decision making
Demonstrating
Deriving a solution
Diagnosing
Explaining
Interpreting input
Predicting results
Justifying the conclusion
Suggesting alternative options to a problem
They are incapable of −
Substituting human decision makers
Possessing human capabilities
Producing accurate output for inadequate knowledge base
Refining their own knowledge
Components of Expert Systems
The components of ES include −
Knowledge Base
Inference Engine
User Interface
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Theory Notes
Knowledge Base
It contains domain‐specific and high‐quality knowledge.
Knowledge is required to exhibit intelligence. The success of any ES majorly depends upon the
collection of highly accurate and precise knowledge.
What is Knowledge?
The data is collection of facts. The information is organized as data and facts about the task
domain. Data, information, and past experience combined together are termed as knowledge.
Components of Knowledge Base
The knowledge base of an ES is a store of both, factual and heuristic knowledge.
Factual Knowledge − It is the informa on widely accepted by the Knowledge Engineers
and scholars in the task domain.
Heuristic Knowledge − It is about prac ce, accurate judgement, one’s ability of
evaluation, and guessing.
Knowledge representation
It is the method used to organize and formalize the knowledge in the knowledge base. It is in
the form of IF‐THEN‐ELSE rules.
Knowledge Acquisition
The success of any expert system majorly depends on the quality, completeness, and accuracy
of the information stored in the knowledge base.
The knowledge base is formed by readings from various experts, scholars, and the Knowledge
Engineers. He acquires information from subject expert by recording, interviewing, and
observing him at work, etc. He then categorizes and organizes the information in a meaningful
way, in the form of IF‐THEN‐ELSE rules, to be used by interference machine. The knowledge
engineer also monitors the development of the ES.
Inference Engine
Use of efficient procedures and rules by the Inference Engine is essential in deducing a correct,
flawless solution.
To recommend a solution, the Inference Engine uses the following strategies −
Forward Chaining
Backward Chaining
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Theory Notes
Forward Chaining
It is a strategy of an expert system to answer the question, “What can happen next?”
Here, the Inference Engine follows the chain of conditions and derivations and finally deduces
the outcome. It considers all the facts and rules, and sorts them before concluding to a solution.
This strategy is followed for working on conclusion, result, or effect.
Backward Chaining
With this strategy, an expert system finds out the answer to the question, “Why this
happened?”
On the basis of what has already happened, the Inference Engine tries to find out which
conditions could have happened in the past for this result. This strategy is followed for finding
out cause or reason.
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Theory Notes
User Interface
User interface provides interaction between user of the ES and the ES itself. It is generally
Natural Language Processing so as to be used by the user who is well‐versed in the task domain.
The user of the ES need not be necessarily an expert in Artificial Intelligence.
It explains how the ES has arrived at a particular recommendation. The explanation may appear
in the following forms −
Natural language displayed on screen.
Verbal narrations in natural language.
Listing of rule numbers displayed on the screen.
Development of Expert Systems
The process of ES development is iterative. Steps in developing the ES include −
Identify Problem Domain
The problem must be suitable for an expert system to solve it.
Find the experts in task domain for the ES project.
Establish cost‐effectiveness of the system.
Design the System
Identify the ES Technology
Know and establish the degree of integration with the other systems and databases.
Realize how the concepts can represent the domain knowledge best.
Develop the Prototype
From Knowledge Base: The knowledge engineer works to −
Acquire domain knowledge from the expert.
Represent it in the form of If‐THEN‐ELSE rules.
Test and Refine the Prototype
The knowledge engineer uses sample cases to test the prototype for any deficiencies in
performance.
End users test the prototypes of the ES.
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Theory Notes
Develop and Complete the ES
Test and ensure the interaction of the ES with all elements of its environment, including
end users, databases, and other information systems.
Document the ES project well.
Train the user to use ES.
Maintain the System
Keep the knowledge base up‐to‐date by regular review and update.
Cater for new interfaces with other information systems, as those systems evolve.
Benefits of expert systems
It improves the decision quality
Cuts the expense of consulting experts for problem‐solving
It provides fast and efficient solutions to problems in a narrow area of specialization.
It can gather scarce expertise and used it efficiently.
Offers consistent answer for the repetitive problem
Maintains a significant level of information
Helps you to get fast and accurate answers
A proper explanation of decision making
Ability to solve complex and challenging issues
Expert Systems can work steadily work without getting emotional, tensed or fatigued.
Limitations of the expert system
Unable to make a creative response in an extraordinary situation
Errors in the knowledge base can lead to wrong decision
The maintenance cost of an expert system is too expensive
Each problem is different therefore the solution from a human expert can also be
different and more creative
Applications of expert systems
Some popular application where expert systems user:
Information management
Hospitals and medical facilities
Help desks management
Employee performance evaluation
Loan analysis
info.sirfaisal@gmail.com
IT (9626)
Theory Notes
Virus detection
Useful for repair and maintenance projects
Warehouse optimization
Planning and scheduling
Financial decision making
Process monitoring and control
Stock market trading
Airline scheduling & cargo schedules
info.sirfaisal@gmail.com