Project 2A: Technology History and Information; Creating Directories on the SWS

Available Points:

  30% Part 1. Computer History
  20% Part 2. Computer Hardware
  50% Part 3. Directory Structures on SWS (Student Web Server)
100% TOTAL

Due:
Cascade: Monday, October 19, 2009
Sylvania: Thursday, October 22, 2009

Related Readings:

Text: Chapters 5 (Input), 6 (Output), 7 (Storage)

Project 2 weekly notes

Hardware: Storage and Interface

eTutorials for PCs

Project Basics

This project covers computer history, computer hardware and directory structures.

You will use M.S. Word to create 3 pages. One will be a computer history page, named lastname_comphist.doc, one will be a computer hardware page named lastname_comphard.doc and one will be a directory page called lastname_SWS_directory.doc with a screen shot of your SWS directory structure in it.

Part 1. Computer History (30% of Project Grade)

Save this page in your project_2 folder on your USB drive as: lastname_comphist.doc but replace the "lastname" with your lastname.

There are 24 people associated with computer technology below. Research 10 of these people and for each, list their birth (and death) years and list one of their major contributions to computing (not everything they did!).

  • Charles Babbage
  • Grace Hopper
  • George Boole
  • Jean E. Sammet
  • Claude Shannon
  • Ida Rhodes
  • Alan Turing
  • Ada Lovelace
  • John von Neumann
  • Kay McNulty Mauchly Antonelli
  • Doug Engelbart
  • Mina Rees
  • Donald Knuth
  • Sandra Kurtzig
  • Steve Jobs
  • Carly Fiorina
  • Seymour Cray
  • Edith Clarke
  • Tim Berners-Lee
  • Evelyn Boyd Granville
  • Linus Torvalds
  • Rosa Peter
  • Bill Gates
  • Meg Whitman
  • Richard Stallman
  • Steve Wozniak
  • Gordon Moore
  • Ray Tomlinson
  • Robert Metcalfe
  • Gilbert Hyatt
  • John Atanasoff
  • Douglas Engelbart
  • Steve Russell
  • William Bradford Shockley

Part 2. Computer Hardware (20% of Project Grade)

Save this page in your project_2 folder on your USB drive as: lastname_comphard.doc, but replace the "lastname" with your lastname.

NOTE: For this page, you need to do only ONE of the following (A, B, C or D):

 

A. Computer Device

Pick an input/output device and find the website that has the latest drivers for download.

Describe the device and its purpose, and the version, size and location of the driver. Adding an image is optional and not part of the assignment. (Remember how to insert an image from the File Management homework.) Include the URL (web address of where you found your information).

Example-

Logitech MOMO Racing Force Feedback Wheel

Logitech MOMO Racing Wheel

Driver version 4.30 at

Driver for MOMO Racing Wheel

 

B. Computer Comparison Table

Find ads for 2 or 3 different computer systems and create a table or list that compares them. This should look something like:

Component Computer 1 Computer 2
CPU P4 2.8GHz P4 3.0 GHz
Memory 256M 512M
Hard Disk 40G 120G
DVD No RW
CD RW RW
Video Card NVidia 5600 ATI 9800
Monitor 15" CRT 17" LCD
Cost $599 $1599

The above is made-up. Please use real data and provide links to websites where you found the information.

C. Measuring Information

For each of these, be sure to include the information about the item as shown in my examples below.

1. Pick a music CD and note the total length in minutes and seconds. Assuming the standard 176,400 Bytes for each second, calculate the total storage used (in MegaBytes)

I did this for J.S.Bach Goldberg Variations - Andras Schiff. The total time is 72:15

The number of seconds is 72*60+15=4335. The total Bytes 4335*176,400=764,694,000 Bytes which is approximately 765M

2. Pick a novel (or other book without pictures) of your choice, and calculate the storage requirements..

I did Neal Stephenson's classic 1992 cyberfiction book "Snow Crash" in the paperback I have, has 468 pages, each of which has about 40 lines of text, and each line has about 50 characters. Assuming ASCII code so one character is one Byte, this is 468*40*50 = 936,000 Bytes = 936KB or just a little less than 1M.

3. Go to The Daily WAV (http://www.dailywav.com/) and download a quote of your choice. Open it in Windows Sound Recorder (to access, click your Windows Start button, select Programs, select Accessories, select Entertainment, then click on Sound Recorder) and check File Properties to see the length, data size and audio format. Include these with the quote.

I did "Look, Bullwinkle, a message in a bottle! -Fan mail from some flounder?" - [Rocket J. Squirrel and Bullwinkle J. Moose (June Foray and Bill Scott) from The Bullwinkle Show ] and found

Length: 5.94 sec.

Data Size: 23760 Bytes

Audio Format: MPEG Layer-3 32 kBit/s, 16,000 Hz, Mon

D. Number Systems

For this step, you should fill in the table below to show the corresponding values; yes, you DO NEED to submit this information within a table. The first row has been completed for you (for assistance, you may want to review the project 2 weekly notes).

Decimal Binary Hex Octal
2005 11111010101 7D5 3725
  101111100001    
    2B7F  
      473
1548333162      
  1111111111111111    
    AAAAAAAA  
    Spell a word*  
Your current age in seconds**      

* This should be a word of 4 to 8 characters using only the valid hex letters A,B,C,D,E,F. For example the word could be BEEF (sorry, you can't use that now) which by the way is 48,879 in Decimal.

**Aproximately - Just do age in years * 365 days/year * 24 hours/day * 60 minutes/hour * 60 seconds/minute. For example, if you are 30 years old, the decimal number would be:

30 * 365/days/year * 24 hours/day * 60 minutes/hour * 60 seconds/minute =

30 * 365 * 24 * 60 * 60 = 946,080,000 seconds. You would want to convert this to binary, hex and octal and enter the results into your table.

Save this page as: lastname_comphard.doc, but replace the "lastname" with your lastname.

Part 3. Directory Structure on the Student Web Server (50% of Project Grade)

Save this page in your project_2 folder on your USB drive as: lastname_SWS_directory.doc but replace the "lastname" with your lastname.

Directory Structures

Previously, in the file management homework, you created an extensive directory (folder) structure on your USB or other storage disk to help organize your class work and assignments.

Now you will create a portion of that file structure in your student folder on the sws.pcc.edu student web server. Open the student web server CASCADE Class or SYLVANIA Class and open your directory by clicking on your login name. Your directory will open. However, you will only be viewing it from the Internet.

Go to the browser address bar and replace the http: in the address with ftp: and hit enter. A login dialog box will appear. Be sure you type your login name where it says user name, if it doesn't already show, and enter your password (your entire PCC G# ID including the capital G). Hit enter to complete logging-in. Go to Page on the icon bar at the top of the browser and choose Open FTP site in Windows Explorer. You will have to login again. Click on the folders icon to see the structure in the left pane of Windows Explorer.
You did this login process in Project 1. You will repeat this process each time you post work to the Student Web Server. Remember how to do it!

You will now be at the root level of your student directory on the student web server. You will see the private folder that was created for you.

NOTE: DO NOT transfer your files to your Private folder. Since we will not use this folder do not open it or ftp anything into it.

NOTE: Be sure to follow the instructions correctly. You will not receive credit if your directory structure is incorrect. It should look like the example image below.

Create the following directory structure at the root level of your student directory on the student web server. REMEMBER: DO NOT put spaces or use capital letters in any of your folder or file names.

  • your_student_name_folder (already created for you)
    • private (already created for you)
    • project_2b
      • lastname_webproject
        • images
        • project
      • test_page
    • project_3
    • project_4
    • project_5
    • project_6

    Take a screenshot of your directory structure. If you are unfamiliar with Screen Shots, click on the following link: Print Screen information. Your picture should look something like the image below:   Please note the path in the address bar should show you in the lastname_webproject folder. Resize the Windows Explorer window as needed to be sure the entire path shows in the address bar and the entire expanded directory structure is in the left pane.

    Open Paint and paste your screen shot into it. Save the image as a .gif or .jpg file. For your file name use "direct.gif or direct.jpg", select the project_2 folder on your USB disk that you made in the file management homework to save your GIF or JPG image in and click SAVE.

    Open Word and Insert your direct.gif or direct.jpg image, select the project_2 folder on your USB disk that you made in the file management homework. Name your Word document file: lastname_SWS_directory.doc but replace the "lastname" with your lastname and click SAVE.

Project 2A Turn-in:

  • Print out your files:
    • lastname_comphist.doc
    • lastname_comphard.doc
    • lastname_SWS_directory.doc
  • Turn-in the printed pages inside your turn-in folder that has your name, class and campus on the front cover, upper right corner.
Revised: 09-08-2009 Russ Erdman