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Links to Computer Resources & Web
Development
People use the web to find computer resources and related information. Are they finding you?
Contact KO-Websites for more information: www.ko-websites.com
Add your Co. to this page here:
sales@mycastrovalley.com
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Tech Terminology
ASCII (pronounced ask-key ) - American Standard Code for Information
Interchange. a commonly used data format for exchanging information between
computers or programs.
boot - to start up a computer.
CPU - the Central Processing Unit. The processing chip that is the
"brains" of a computer.
CD-ROM - an acronym for Compact Disc Read-Only Memory.
Clock Rate (MHz) - The instruction processing speed of a computer
measured in millions of cycles per second (i.e., 200 MHz).
download - to transfer data from one computer to another. (If you are on
the receiving end, you are downloading. If you are on the sending end, you are
uploading ).
driver - a file on a computer which tells it how to communicate with an
add-on piece of equipment.
Ethernet - a protocol for fast communication and file transfer across a
network.
hard drive - a large capacity storage device made of multiple disks
housed in a rigid case.
keyboard shortcut - a combination of keystrokes that performs some
function otherwise found in a menu.
Measurements (summary) -
*a bit = one binary digit (1 or 0) 8 bits = one byte
*1024 bytes = one kilobyte
*K = kilobyte
*Kb = kilobit
*MB = megabyte
*Mb = megabit
*MB/s = megabytes per second
*Mb/s = megabits per second
*bps = bits per second
MB - short for megabyte.
megabyte - 1024 kilobytes.
memory - the temporary holding area where data is stored while it is
being used or changed; the amount of RAM a computer has installed.
operating system - the system software that controls the computer.
(Windows XP, MAC OS)
PC - acronym for personal computer
RAM - acronym for Random-Access Memory.
server - a central computer dedicated to sending and receiving data from
other computers (on a network).
software - files on disk that contain instructions for a computer.
upload - to send a file from one computer to another through a network.
virtual memory - using part of your hard drive as though it were "RAM".
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Computer Viruses 
A computer virus is very similar
to a biological virus that you and I can contract. This virus self-replicates in
the form of a computer program and spreads (infects) documents, executables and
other computer codes. In common terminology, viruses are also known as worms, trojan horses and other sorts of malware (malicious software). There are a
wide range of viruses ranging from fairly benign ones that are merely annoying
to viruses that are intentionally destructive for example destroying data or
making not useable.
What are some of the more
typical viruses you may encounter? To name a few, you may run into trojan
horses, worms and email viruses. A trojan horse is a computer program that
pretends to do one thing (claims to be a picture), but actually does damage when
one starts it. A worm is a piece of software that uses computer networks and
security flaws to create copies of itself. A copy of the worm will scan the
network for any other machine that has a specific security flaw. It replicates
itself to the new machine using the security flaw, and then begins scanning and
replicating again. Finally, an email virus will use an email message as a mode
to transfer the virus, and will copy itself by automatically mailing itself to
hundreds of people in the victim's address book.
Top Viruses
1.WORM WOOTBOT.DV
2. WORM NYXEM.E
3. HTML NETSKY.P
4. WORM NETSKY.DAM
5. EXPL WMF.GEN
Virus Advisories
TROJ MDROPPER.BP
TROJ MDROPPER.AZ
TROJ GOBRENA.V
WORM WOMBLE.A
BKDR HAXDOOR.IL
Virus Help and Information Resources
www.csrc.nist.gov/virus -
a government site on
computer security and resources.
www.GeekSquad.com
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What is Identity Theft?
Take Charge: Fighting Back Against
Identity Theft (PDF 4.9 MP)
Have you ever been in a situation where you get
a call from a department store in a nearby town and the salesperson tells you
that she is very sorry but she can't process your purchase request? "What
purchase request????", you asked in disbelief. "What store is this and how did
you get my credit card info and my address??". Believe it or not, this happens a
lot more than you think. Identity theft is one of the more prevalent crimes of
the computer age. Identity theft is when someone steals your name and other
personal information for fraudulent purposes, to gain access to your finances.
In case this unfortunate event happens to you,
the first thing to do is to alert your credit card companies, bank, credit
unions, etc. Then call one of the credit reporting services such as Equifax.com.
You can get a free credit report and a fraud alert on your credit for up to 3
months. Equifax will then notify the other two credit reporting companies (Experian
and TransUnion).
Here are some resources in case this ever
happens to you.
Federal Trade
Commission - Identity Theft. - A US government's central website for
information about identity theft.
Identity Theft & Identity Fraud - US got. site on programs,
prevention, and remedial steps after the crime.
Identity
Theft Resource Center - a non-profit organization that features detailed
guide for victims, current laws, media resources and reference library.
Identity Theft Resources
- articles and related links on what to do if you are a victim of identity
theft.
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Q
& A
Q. What is a firewire
card? from John
A. Thanks for the question John, a firewire card is a
card that usually
plugs into your motherboard. It has ports
on the back to connect different
equipment. Camcorders,
IPODS and other electronics so you can edit, store
and transfer data, pictures, video...etc.
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At a recent computer
expo (COMDEX) Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with
the auto industry and stated:
"If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we
would all be driving twenty-five dollar cars that got 1000 miles to the
gallon".
In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release
statement: cars made by Microsoft would have the following
characteristics:
1. For no
reason whatsoever your car would crash twice a day.
2. Every time
they repainted the lines on the road you would have to but a new car.
3.
Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason,
and you
would just accept this, restart and drive on.
4.
Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your
car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case
you would have to reinstall the engine.
5. Only one
person at a time could use the car, unless you bought "Car95" or "CarNT".
But then you would have to buy more seats.
6. Macintosh
would make a car that was powered by the sun, reliable, ive times as fast,
be twice as easy to drive, but would only
run on five percent of the roads. |
It's my belief that computers aren't
something you use
like you would a Stairmaster. You can't get a workout
on it in a half-hour. You need to have it as part of your life.
--Elisabeth Stock Computers for Youth, as quoted by The New York
Times.
To err is human--and to blame it on a computer is even more so.
--Robert Orben
Man is the best computer we can put aboard a spacecraft ...
and the only one that can be mass produced with unskilled labor.
--Wernher von Braun
I think computer viruses should count as life.
I think it says something about human nature that
the only form of life we have created so far is
purely destructive. We've created life in our own image.
--Stephen Hawking
HELP: The feature that assists in generating more questions. When the
Help feature is used correctly, users are able to navigate through a
series of Help screens and end up where they started from without
learning a damn thing.
--Computer Definitions
Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.
--Pablo Picasso |
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