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Chart of Topics
Essential Question:
What is the best way for me to NTES Standard: 1. Basic Operations and Concepts b. Students are proficient in the use of technology. (information management) By the End of Grade 7-Students know how to organize materials in files and folders, sort files and e-mail lists (by file name and date), and sort data within application programs (e.g., word-processing tables, spreadsheets, and databases). By the End of Grade 8- Students identify strategies and procedures for efficient and effective management and maintenance of computer files in a variety of different media and formats on a hard drive and network. 2. Social, Ethical, and Human Issues a. Students understand the ethical, cutural, and societal issues related to technology. By the End of Grade 7-Students recognize, discuss, and visually represent current changes in information technologies and the effect those changes have on the workplace and society. By the End of Grade 8- tudents identify legal and ethical issues related to use of information and communication technology, recognize consequences of its misuse, and predict possible long-range effects of ethical and unethical use of technology on culture and society. 2. Social, Ethical, and Human Issues b. Students practice responsible use of technology systems, information, and software. By the End of Grade 7-Students identify and develop scenarios or examples that illustrate ethical behaviors for use of personal copyrighted media (e.g., images, music, video, content, language, correctly formatted citations for the copyrighted materials). By the End of Grade 8- Students discuss issues related to acceptable and responsible use of information and communication technology (e.g., privacy, security, copyright, file sharing, plagiarism), analyze the consequences and costs of unethical use of information and computer technology (e.g., hacking, spamming, consumer fraud, virus setting, intrusion), and identify methods for addressing these risks.
Introducing Desktop Publishing In 1985, a quiet revolution began in the publishing industry… Desktop publishing was introduced. Until then, books, brochures, newspapers, magazines, and other publications were created by teams of professionals, using very specialized equipment. Desktop publishing software made it possible for anybody with a computer to create a professional-looking publication for commercial or personal use. How Did Desktop Publishing Get Started? Desktop publishing was the innovation of Paul Brainerd, an executive in a publishing company. He saw that computers were becoming widely used, and that there was potential for a new type of software that would combine text and graphics together on a page— layout software. With a team of specialists, he created PageMaker, the first desktop publishing application. PageMaker used a system known as WYSIWYG (pronounced "wizzy-wig"), which is an acronym that means "What You See Is What You Get." What you see on the monitor screen is the same as what you see on the printed page. Desktop publishing would not be possible without this ability to see and edit text and graphics together on a page. What Is Desktop Publishing? The basic definition for desktop publishing, or DTP, is the use of a computer to combine text and graphics together on a page. Today’s powerful computers and software make it fairly easy to combine text and graphics together on a page. These skills alone, however, are not enough to make a publication look good or achieve the purpose for which it was created. To be truly effective, desktop publishing requires planning and design. Microsoft Publisher is layout software, a desktop publishing application that allows you to place images and text exactly where and how you want them on the page. Although Word is a very sophisticated word processor that can do many desktop publishing tasks, it is difficult to use when projects involve complicated layouts and printing requirements, numerous pages, or a lot of graphics. How Is Publisher Different from Word? Programs like Microsoft Publisher, Adobe In‑Design, or Quark X-press are designed to handle complex layouts and printing needs. They combine lots of text and pictures without unexpected problems. Pictures stay where they are placed and pages always print the way they look onscreen. These programs also make it easier to send files to a professional print shop. Features such as Publisher’s Pack and Go store fonts in a special file with the document. When files are sent to a print shop, the fonts and specific instructions are available for the pre‑press technician.
Copyright Laws A copyright protects someone who creates something such as a book, song, art, or even a font. The individual’s work cannot be copied or used without their permission. Many people think that it is okay to copy music, information, or images from the Internet. This is not true. Most of the material on the Internet is copyrighted and using it without permission is a serious breach of copyright law that can result in prosecution.
The Internet is a relatively new frontier; the World Wide Web even newer. Because of the unique nature of digital media, some of the copyright laws that apply to printed material in the physical world don't work as well in cyberspace. As a result, there are gray areas that are hotly debated. However, some general principles apply. If you think of a web page as an original creation, then it follows that you can't reproduce it in whole or in part without the permission of the copyright holder. Even if you are not reproducing part of someone else's work for commercial purposes, you must still get permission. Let's say you find a website you like and you want to provide this information to your visitors. You can do this by linking to the site from yours. Do you need permission? The way things stand right now, the answer is no. In fact the culture of the Web encourages the free exchange of information; many websites, such as Learn the Net, actively encourage links. After all, why publish on the Internet if you don't want to make your content publicly available? Still, netiquette dictates that you notify the webmaster of the site that you are linking to a page. You might even ask them to reciprocate, a good way to increase traffic to your site. In general, text, graphics, animation and other intellectual property that is published on the Internet is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. You cannot use someone else's work unless you first get permission from the copyright owner. In many cases it may be difficult to determine who holds the copyright. See if there is a list of credits or a copyright notice on the site. If not, try e-mailing the technical contact for the website. In many cases, this is the webmaster, who usually doesn't deal with content-related issues. But he or she should be able to refer you to the right person. To protect yourself, be sure to obtain permission in writing. The Copyright Website has a summary of the issues raised here, as well as many others. For legal opinions on Internet related issues, visit the The UCLA Online Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy. Coming Up With Ideas for Design Keep your eyes open for good design. Keep copies of brochures, newsletters, flyers, or other publications that you think are well-designed. Determine the tone of a publication’s message, the intended audience, the budget, and the way the material will be distributed. These things will determine the graphics you will need and the best software to use. Sketch a few ideas on paper. On paper, you have unlimited fonts and graphics, and you are not limited to what the software can easily do. Use your sketches to create your ideas on the computer. Depending on the budget and timeframe, you may develop several ideas to present to a client or team. Seek input from others. Does this font work in this situation? Is it readable? Is the message clear? Keep your design simple. Remove any unnecessary elements. After you have finished your document, proofread it, then edit and revise it. Remember, though, that good design is never finished. At some point, however, you will be out of time or money for your project. Recognize when you have done all that you can. Desktop publishing blends text and images, and both are equally important for conveying your message to your chosen audience. It is easy to see how graphics catch a reader’s attention. Choosing the right text, however, is crucial for making a document attractive and easy to read. Determining the appearance of text, or type, on a page is called typography. What Is a Font? A font is a specific character design, or typeface, combined with features such as size, style, and spacing. Fonts and Readability Sometimes DTP design principles can be intentionally misused and misapplied to keep people from reading and understanding. You will see this practice most commonly used in legal contracts. In these cases, you will often find Sans Serif fonts combined with all caps and tight spacing, which keeps people from reading the contract and understanding their rights. Think about why would someone intentionally misapply DTP design principles? Categorizing Fonts Professionals categorize fonts in order to better describe them, to explain their usage and to show how different fonts relate to one another. Serif fonts are usually easier to read than sans serif fonts. Font Size Technology has made it very easy to display a font in any size, without any distortion of the typeface. Fonts that can be resized this way are called scalable fonts. Rather than storing each size of a font, the computer stores the geometric description of a letter’s shape, which can then be reproduced in any proportion. Font size is measured in points. A point is 1/72 of an inch. Body text is usually between 9 to 12 points in size. Free Fonts Fonts may come free as part of a software package, or you can find many free fonts on the Internet. However, many fonts are created by professional font designers who work for a company. These fonts cannot be used without buying the rights to use them. Like songs, artwork, or books, typeface designs are protected by copyright laws. They cannot be copied or produced without the permission of the copyright owner. Evaluate Do you agree that typeface designs should be protected by a copyright? Why or why not?
While good and visually appealing documents can be created using only text, the world would be a dull place without graphics and color. These things add spice to your documents. A well written document that is largely ignored by its audience is virtually useless. Like spices in cooking, desktop publishing adds flavor and varies the temperature, texture, and color.
Maps, charts, graphs, and other illustrations can relay complex information in easily understandable terms. Skillfully created illustrations can defy the limitations of time, space, and imagination to communicate effectively. Without graphics, desktop publishing is merely word processing.
What Are Vector and Raster Graphics? There are two kinds of graphics: vector graphics and raster graphics. The difference between these images is in the way that computers store the information. Each is a distinct type of graphic file and this affects they way they can be used. [Insert Figure C02-01A,Caption 1 under Vector image) [Caption 1]Vector graphics can be resized to any size without loss of definition. They look good whether they are as small as a postage stamp or as large as a billboard. [Insert Figure C02-02A Caption 2 under Raster image) [Caption 2] The same image using raster graphics shows the pixels when the image is enlarged to the same size as the vector graphic above. [end caption]
Vector graphics are simple line drawings, such as clip art. Raster graphics are complex pictures, created with software such as Adobe Photoshop or Corel Paint Shop. With raster graphics, the computer stores information in pixels (small squares of color) during a process called bitmapping. Bitmap and raster are interchangeable terms. As you can see from the illustration, raster images may not look as good as vector graphics when they are resized; but they can also look as realistic as a photograph.
What Is a Pixel?The word pixel is a combination of the words Picture Element. Pixels are tiny squares that are combined to create a much larger image. Although pixels only contain three colors (red, blue, and yellow), they are so close that the colors blend together to form many shades. Your monitor’s screen is capable of displaying millions of pixels. Identify What is the word pixel short for? How are Vector Graphics Created?
Computers create vector graphic by using math calculations. For example, if you draw a circle, the computer does not “remember” exactly what the circle looked like. Instead, it remembers the center point and area of the circle so that it may redraw the object again.
Every time you zoom in, move the window, or move the object, the computer redraws the entire image. This seems laborious, but calculating is easy for the computer. It is, in fact, the computer’s primary function. Eventually, all images must be converted to raster images by a computer, so they can be sent to a monitor or printer, where they are rendered in pixels.
Which Type of Image Should I Use?
You cannot say that one type of image is better than the other. Vector and raster images have both positive and negative qualities, and each serves different purposes, as you can see in the table below.
[Insert Table 2-01]]
You need to determine the qualities you need in an image before choosing a format.
A computer storage device
is any type of hardware that stores data. The most common type of
storage device, which nearly all computers have, is a hard drive.
The computer's primary hard drive stores the operating system,
applications, and files and folders for users of the computer.
What does burning a CD mean?Compact Disc (CD)
technology has become possible because the miniaturization of computer
chips has greatly improved the speed at which computers can process
Your CD player rotates the disc at an average of about 500 revolutions per a minute. The code lies in a spiral trail of over three miles in length and is read by a laser beam of diameter 1.7 microns - just 0.000068 inches! The diagram shows the surface of a CD as seen from the side. The higher portions of the disk (called lands) reflect the laser light differently than the burnt away portions (called pits) of the disk. The CD player compares the amount of light reflected from the disc to the amount sent to the disc and uses this information to determine if that portion of the disc contains a land or pit. A land-to-pit or pit-to land transition is read as a `1',while areas with no transition produce a string of 0's. The computer language is thus recovered and sent to the rest of your audio system to be converted back into music. To understand why compact disc players are replacing record players, we have to understand how a record player works. In a record player, a small piece of crystal called a stylus rides along the grooves of a vinyl record. The vibrations of the stylus recover the music from the record. This procedure leaves a lot of problems. Unlike a CD, a record rotates at a constant rate, so the stylus travels further during the same time if it is on the inner part of the record than the outer part. This means that the information the stylus reads has to be more densely packed toward the inside of the record, resulting in a loss of treble (high) frequency information. Strong bass (low) frequencies can cause the needle to jump right out of the groove. Surface noise - the hisses and pops you hear due to the tiny imperfections or dust on the record - is totally absent in CDs. Finally, the vinyl record itself can be warped or melted due to heat, ruined if something is spilled on it, and worn our with repeated playing. These problems limit the quality of sound which can be produced on a record. The main advantage of CDs over record players is that no mechanical component, such as a stylus, ever touches the surface of the disk, so the pattern remains intact. There is no wear on the disk and no degradation in the sound after repeated playing. Computer processing can be used to detect and remove imperfections and noise. Even though you can't record directly onto a CD, the duplication of the music is exact from one reproduction to the next. Compact disks thus produce better sounding music due to the use of non-mechanical means to recover music from the disk and the resistance of the disk to damage over time. What is the difference between CD-R & CD-RW ?CD-R stands for Compact Disc-Recordable and can be recorded only once. You may continue to add files until the CD is full as long as the disc is not closed (write-protected). You cannot delete, rename, rearrange, or alter the files or file structure on the CD after recording. CD-RW stands for Compact Disc-Rewritable. It allows you to record the disc and then erase the entire disc and start over. You cannot select certain files to delete; you must erase the entire disc. Unless you erase the disc, you cannot delete, rename, rearrange, or alter the files or file structure on the CD after recording. Copy Music From CD to PC, or PC to CD
Hardware for CD BurningBurning a CD is a term used for putting data onto a writable CD-ROM disc. When a blank CD-R (Compact Disk - Recordable) is put into a special type of CD-ROM drive, the laser in the drive will burn the inside silver disk that stores information on the CD. If you want to burn CDs, you'll need a drive that says "Compact Disc Recordable" or even better "Compact Disc Rewritable" on it. Your computer might already have a CD-ROM drive capable of burning discs if it was made in the last few years. If not, you can find an internal or external drive at most computer and electronics stores for around $50. External drives are easier to install because you don't have to open the system unit and mess with wires, but they cost a little more. You will also need blank CDs, which can be purchased at office supply stores or any place that sell computers. You will see two different kinds of blank CDs. One is the CD-R and the other is CD-RW. CD-R means that you can record on the CD just once. A CD-RW (Compact Disk - Rewriteable) allows you to add to or record over music on the disc. Either one will work, though CD-RW are suggested for people who need to record over and over again on a CD, for storing data like documents. You may not want to do this with your music files. Most people burn a music CD once and leave it alone, so it's probably better to go with the cheaper CD-R's if all you plan to do is to burn music onto CDs. Next, we'll look at the software you'll need to make your first music CD... Rip and Burn
Don't worry, it won't actually rip the songs off your original CD. If you like, you can copy all of your music onto your hard drive, to make backup copies of your CD collection. Burning copies of your CDs will let you enjoy your music longer -- you won't have to worry about scratching up the original CD.
For other software to rip, burn and manage your music library, check out Apple's iTunes, or Napster. Both iTunes and Napster are free, and allow you to buy additional music online. If you want more control over the CD burning process, consider Nero, or Roxio. A valuable resource for information on CD burning can be found at BurnWorld. Check it out for articles and reviews. How to I burn files that are on my computer to the CD?
As more and more computers come standard with a CD-ROM drive, burning your data onto a CD makes sense and is replacing floppy disks as the removable media people use to create backup copies and to share files with other people. For example, you might want to burn a CD to preserve the digital photographs you took on vacation instead of taking up precious space on your hard drive. Or you might want to keep a digital record of your house inventory on a CD and store that CD in a safety deposit box. The reasons for putting your data on a CD are endless. Important Microsoft Windows 2000 does not have built-in CD-burning capability. This procedure applies only to Microsoft Windows® XP, which provides basic CD-burning capability. For additional functionality, you can use CD-burning programs available from third-party software vendors. For more information on these products, visit the Windows XP Catalog, click the Software tab, point to Utilities, and then click CD-ROM. Copy files and folders to a CD
Notes
Did you know you can burn video to a VCD?IfIf you are looking for an alternative to burning video on a DVD, one of the easiest and most affordable forms of media, you can choose to burn is called a VCD (Video Compact Disc). While DVD's is a great way to store large files, especially video and sound, VCD's, while smaller in size can easily store video as well. A VCD stands for Video Compact Disc and while it is the same media as a compact disc, the only difference is that it includes both video and audio files. Most CD's only include audio files. VCD's offer the same amount of storage space as CD's, usually about 650 to 700 MB's of space. Depending on the storage space, a VCD can store up to 74 minutes (650 MB) or 80 minutes (700 MB). Disadvantages of VCD While VCD's are on the whole more compatible than DVD and cost less, the trade off is that VCD picture and sound quality are usually inferior to that of DVD. The reason that video and sound quality are in most cases inferior is due to the amount of storage space. If you are looking to record a video file that is larger than 650 -700 MB's, you must first compress it. Compressing it reduces the resolution of the video, usually from a DVD's normal resolution of 720 X 480 to a VCD resolution of 352 X 240. It should be noted that in most cases audio files will play normally and will not experience any loss of quality, except in the cases of specialized sound formats such as surround sound. You should be able to enjoy full stereo sound at normal CD quality bit rates on a VCD. Viewing your VCD Your VCD is viewable in practically all computer drives, as well as the vast majority of DVD drives. Please note that from time to time some DVD players are finicky with VCD's, just as they are with recordable DVD's. Sometimes it might take a few tries to play on a specific DVD player, or you might want to try different brand of media. What Is Voice Recognition Software?
How Does Voice Recognition Work?
In situations where the only options are "Yes" and "No" it's a lot easier for a computer to figure out which word you said, because they sound quite different. It obviously gets trickier when the voice recognition software has to figure out what you said in a larger context. And because human vocal patterns are as varied as humans, with individuals having different accents and inflections, voice recognition software must typically be trained to identify the way words are spoken by a particular user. Want to Try Voice Recognition Software?You can buy software available that will allow you to speak commands to your PC. Perhaps the most common reason to use voice recognition, with all apologies to Mavis Beacon, is to eliminate the need for typing by dictating. No more two-finger pecking at a keyboard to create letters, e-mails, school reports, and such; just sit back and talk at your PC. And of course it's a boon to those with physical disabilities. The most popular voice recognition software currently available to accomplish this is Dragon Naturally Speaking created by a company called Nuance. With this software, you can dictate text in a word processor such as MS Word, navigate through the Windows desktop or surf with Internet Explorer. The latest version, 9.0 Professional comes with a microphone, and the program comes with support for Bluetooth wireless headsets. How do I recover data if my hard drive crashes? Hard drive data recovery is the process of recovering lost data from a hard drive when the data cannot be readily accessed through normal retrieval methods. Whether your hard drive has locked up or has completely crashed there is a good chance the data can be recovered by using a variety of hard drive data recovering techniques. Hard drive data recovery software programs play a major role in recovering hard drive data. You will find several companies that offer these types of programs. Most will automatically create backup copies of all your files and folders reducing the worry of potential data loss. A good hard drive data recovery program can recover all the important files or folders which vanish after partition loss, accidental format, file or directory deletion, software malfunction or even a virus attack. Whether you accidentally delete the files or your computer crashes, data recovery software can locate the lost files and recover them from your hard drive. The main contexts where hard drive data recovery software is found useful include:
The majority of hard drive data recovery software programs currently available is easy to install, user friendly, and is virtually self maintaining. However, it's a good idea to purchase these programs from a trusted software supplier. Most software companies understand the consumer's need to be assured of value and ease of use, so if the data recovery software you selected has a trail offer, it may be a good idea to give it a test drive before you make a purchase. Defragmenting a hard drive rearranges the files so that each file is stored in a contiguous collection of disk sectors. This makes reading and writing files much faster. Over time, Microsoft Windows will slowly fragment your files, storing parts of each file in seemingly random physical locations on the hard drive. As this happens, your files will take longer and longer to access. The solution is to defrag your hard drive. This is only something to try if your computer is running slow. Luckily, starting the process of defragmenting the drive is not a hard one. To start out, simply open up the "My Computer" window and then right click on the hard drive you would like to defrag (if you only have one hard drive then it is most likely the "C" drive). From that window, go down to the very bottom and select the "Properties" button. When the properties window is displayed, click the "Tools" tab near the top of the window. Here there will be a button labeled "Defragment Now..." which you should now select. The Disk Defragmenter screen allows you two options to begin with, Analyze and Defragment. Analyze will let you know whether the computer thinks it is time to defrag the hard drive, but if you haven't done it in a while then it is definitely time to do so. Once you start the defrag process, you should basically leave the computer alone. This process uses up a lot of system resources and will slow the computer quite a bit. Although the defrag process can be paused or stopped, it is usually good to just leave the computer be for however long it takes (it can take up to a few hours depending on how much information is on the drive). Defragmenting the hard drive will keep your hard drive running efficiently. This will help to speed up the computer as a whole and this process should be done at least once a month to keep the computer working at maximum efficiency.
DMS Comp App Home ~ MSD Decatur Home Page ~ Decatur Middle School Home Page
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information.
The huge quantities of information computers are capable of handling are
reduced to a computer language consisting of patterns of 0's and 1's
called `bits'. In the studio, music is electronically translated into
computer language and saved. The bits are transformed onto five inch
silvery pieces of metal called compact discs (CD's) by burning a series
of pits into the surface of the disk. The length of the pits and the
spacing between them represents the computer code of 1's and 0's. these
pits are much too small to be seen individually with the naked eye;
however, the rainbow patterns you see is due to the reflection from the
irregular surface. After the code has been burnt into the metal, the
disc is encased in a layer of protective plastic. 
Is your downloaded music piling up on your hard
drive? Maybe you'd like to free
some space on your hard drive space while still enjoying your favorite
tunes. Or perhaps you've got a bunch of CDs with only one or two songs
on each that you really like. Here's how to enjoy your favorite
selections on a CD you create yourself. It takes just a few minutes to
learn how to "rip" songs from a CD, and "burn" your own mix to a new
disc. Read on and you'll soon have a clean hard drive and shiny new CDs
with all your favorite music.
You
may already have all the software you need, if you have the latest
version of
To burn a new CD, first click on the Burn button, then click Edit
Playlist. You'll see a list of all the music you have on your computer,
so you can drag and drop songs from your Library to the Burn List. When
you have all the songs you want for the new CD, put a blank CD into the
drive and hit Start Burn. Once the process is done, the CD pops out and
there you have your own music CD, ready to play in your CD player.
Simply put, voice recognition software allows you to speak commands to a
computer rather than use a mouse or keyboard. Though it may seem like a
futuristic notion, voice computing or speech recognition has been around
for over a decade, and is still a rapidly evolving technology. Even
though it's not used by many on their home PCs, you probably have
already encountered this type of data input. A lot of companies,
especially telecom providers, are already using voice-recognition when
you call their customer service centers. You can answer "Yes" or "No" or
other specific phrases to questions that the voice-activated system
asks, rather than pressing "1" for "Yes" or "2" for "No". Also, more and
more vehicles are now coming equipped with voice recognition computers
that let the driver operate the radio, CD player, or a cell phone.
Without getting too terribly geeky, a person's voice is translated into
a digital format that a computer can read. Sound travels in waves, and
the range of sounds we can hear are created by changing the height
(amplitude) and frequency of those waves. So by examining the
"voiceprint" of a spoken word or phrase, and comparing it to the sound
waves created by speaking specific utterances, the computer can make a
pretty good guess at what you said. In a nutshell, it's pattern
matching.