Computer Architecture CEdu581 Week 4

Describe what actions a computer takes from power-on to Log-in screen.

Source: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/pc3.htm

As soon as power is fed to the computer with the On button being pushed the Basic Input Output System (BIOS) is started. On older model computers the BIOS information is displayed on the screen in text. New computers have sped up the process and eliminated the text. The BIOS will check the viability of various components of the computer in what is called the power-on self test (POST) This starts at the the video card.

The BIOS will also check if the computer is restarting or cold booting. If it is a restart the BIOS will skip many of the next processes. If it is a cold startup the computer will check the RAM, to ensure viability. It will also check the mouse, keyboard and any other peripherals that may be connected.

The next step is the hard drive. The BIOS will look for the boot drive where the operating system is located. The boot drive loads the OS and operations are handed over to the OS.

What are the essential "big picture" hardware pieces a computer must have to be a computer. Explain why each piece is essential.

A computer needs:

Central Process Unit: Makes all the decisions for the computer using arithmetic/logic decisions. Instructions are brought to the CPU from the memory, interpreted and executed.

Memory: There are two kinds of memory in the computer. RAM or Random Access Memory and Hard Drive Memory. The RAM is used to store short term information for the CPU. The more RAM that is available the quicker the CPU can work. The HD Memory stores programs and the operating system. These are collections of instructions that the CPU executes to perform the functions of the computer. Without HD memory when the computer is shut off the RAM is wiped clean and everything will be forgotten.

Input: Inputs are ways of getting instruction and data into the computer. This includes but is not limited to keyboards, mice and disk drives.

Output: The computer will perform actions based on instructions executed. The output displays the results. Outputs most notably include monitors that display a graphical user interface but outputs are also speakers and other devices.

Computer Architecture CEdu581 Week 3

DONE.

I just burned a compact disk (CD) with my portfolio for the completion of my Masters degree. After a little less than two years I have accumulated quite the folder full of documents and it took a good bit of wading, several text messages to Kristine, emails to Paul and watching Louis' video on the file structure six times to get it all done.

There is now only a month between myself and the degree. I have a few projects to wrap up for Computer Architecture class but compared to the Action Research and the Portfolio any in-class straightforward assignment is a picnic.

Don't worry about me though. I'll still keep myself stressed out in the spring even without having graduate classes. I still have to transition my lacrosse club from Junior Varsity to Varsity, recruit ten to fifteen players, play on Madcow lacrosse, get MARRIED, and grade some six to seven hundred papers before the end of the school year. Oh and did I mention we're going to Los Angeles for a cousin's wedding in April. Sigh, and you thought I'd relax... ... ... ...

Computer Architecture CEdu581 Week 2

1pt Install an OS

I've installed an OS... maybe two dozen times. Unfortunately there isn't much of a story to it. With the exception of the transition from MacOS 9 to X they've all been much the same. I suppose there was a bit of a difference between System 7 and 8 but anymore it is extremely easy on the latest Apple Computers.

1pt Upgrade or install a OS patch, Service Pack or Upgrade for your OS

As for patches, those come out so frequently I couldn't even tell you how many I've "installed". Of course by install I mean, click the button that says download.

1pt Use an alternative OS for regular daily tasks (stretch your comfort zone)

I have been a Mac Evangelist since Pre-Web era so I consider the use of an alternative OS as a pretty regular occurrence. I've never worked in a Mac environment and I've never had a roommate that owned a Mac so I've been in their world the whole of my adult life. My reflections on using Windows is and always has been that the the user experience is always slightly clumsy. It is almost trite to say it but I always say that Windows is fine as long as the user has an IT department. Unfortunately, the average user lacks this. For most computer companies tech support is a money drain so users are left to help each other.

2pts Watch "Pirates of the Silicon Valley"

I NetFlixed Pirates of Silicon Valley when this assignment was mentioned in class. I had wanted to see it but never gotten around to it for some reason. After I watched it I knew why. The movie is ok. I Like the story but it certainly could have been done better. For instance I would have liked for the movie to have explained Woz's memory loss more. Also while Jobs is clearly the more interesting story of the two because of his estranged daughter and explosive temperment, Balmer mentions that Gates yelled at everyone but Jobs. I'd like to have seen maybe more of the culture of his office. The movie never even mentioned Redmond Washington. Anyway. I'd like to have seen more of this. I read an interesting novel in college titled Microserfs by Douglas Coupland and while fictional it was extremely interesting.

Computer Architecture CEdu581 Week 1

Describe your previous knowledge of the concepts presented in class 1.
Our first Computer Architecture CEdu 581 class dealt with material that I have knowledge but no expertise of. I would say that I have very little first hand knowledge of it but I was in college during a time where there was talk of the inner workings of computers and I have thus been exposed to countless conversation with two of my best friends on these topics. Looking back it is actually very interesting to note that I had no intentions of pursuing technology at a younger age but the influence of friends who are geeks like me has helped push me forward. Also I listen to a variety of San Francisco technology podcasts that often delve into the more geeky end of computer technology. In fact, I was just getting into that right before I becamse aware of this CSU program and I attribute much of my interest in the field to these podcasts.

What did you learn through the activities (including links and resources) in class 1?
It is hard to quantify what I've learned from just the first class because I feel as if I knew a lot of it on a casual level. In effect, the first class was a fleshing out of those concepts that I already felt able to discuss somewhat ineptly even though I am far from experienced in the field.

I felt the activity of the simple computer was the most interesting since I have never considered the computer at that basic of a level. In fact it made me think about how I had a friend who dropped out of computer programming in college and now I know why it might have frustrated him.

What questions do you have about the material from class 1?
So far as yet there are no questions.

What I'll take with me

CEdu 534 as a class almost encourages ADD. There are just too many great services, sites, and tools out there. Prior to the class I was aware of most all of these in a general sense. That doesn't mean that I didn't take anything from this class. Far from it. I actually am taking a bit of frustration and angst that my place of business has a technology structure in transition to put it nicely. In order to implement around this barrier I have to think about what is viable.

For me that is screencasting in the immediate future and podcasting of a sort in the next year. As for screencasting, I can immediately see the uses for implementation and I can start to develop a library for the my coming semester. I can embed these casts into my class moodles as well as into my class website. For podcasting, I am holding off on my implementation because I am hesitant to add to my work load but also because I do not relish the task of explaining and implementing some new system of information dissemination in the middle of a school year. This is the sort of mid stream jump that jeopardizes my ultimate goal of creating a comfortable work environment that is about learning communication skills rather than learning new technologies every week.

That then is what I am setting my sites on in the coming months.

The Power of Video

My senior year in high school I had first hour AP Calculus. Apparently a smaller school district near my own rural hometown wasn't offering AP Calc for the one student who qualified. In 1998-99 distance learning was... well... I don't know, bizarre but my school and her school were capable of it so it was arranged. It did not go well.

My teacher wasn't a bad guy but I'm fairly sure he was completely untrained for the task. For the first week of school he started the class ten minutes early because the video announcements never started. What he didn't take into account was that the student from the other student didn't know he was starting early. Within two weeks she had dropped the class.

I relate this because over the past two classes I have been involved in what I guess could be considered distance learning. I experienced an Internet outage and other students have had their issues as well but ten years after my first experience things have changed. The advent of Amazon's S3, YouTube, and a host of other services has transformed the teacher's ability to conduct a class despite difficulties. I myself was able to watch the class that I had missed after it had been retained and then posted by my professor. Later in the week, my group conducted an assigned web conference call and one of the group members recorded a section of it as proof of concept.

With storage and hosting coming at such bargains schools should be reevaluating the use of distance learning and digital recording of class as a means of teaching. It is not hard to imagine a nationwide school district that employs certified tutors as primary contacts and a host of specialty experts contracted for specific topics. My head has just begun spinning at a rate heretofore reserved for the Bears in the Superbowl. The possibilities are limitless for this sort of infrastructure - unfortunately not so for the Bears...

Podcasting

Podcasting, how might I use thee?

Shall I... kidding, I'm not going to write poetry. I have little to no love for the subject despite being an English teacher.

Seriosuly, though. I'd love to have a system set up where I might record the meanderings I call lectures as podcast and them make them available to my students. The reality may be a few years away though. The digital divide makes this a difficult if not impossible task because while I can require tasks which might require internet use, I would be hard pressed to require tasks that require heavy daily internet use. There are a few of my students that have to use the school's library or a public library for their internet use and I can't rightly demand they do this nightly.

In fact, the worst of it is that they are so shy or reticent to admit this that I can't even say a precise number of students whom this effects. Similar to this, I had a student tell me that she had no way of getting her paper typed at an uncle's house to school because she had to borrow a friends' usb drive to do it. After she told me that I immediately contacted the tech department to see what we could do about identifying these students and getting them a cheap jump drive. I mean, if I've got students suffering this much from a lack of tech, how can I expect them to be online listening to a lecture? Not to mention we have less than adequate facilities for doing it as a class in the building. /sigh

In 3-5 years I bet I won't have this problem, but I guess a man an only play the hand he is dealt.