2. Computers in Principle and Practice Lecture 1: administrative details and an introduction to computers Professor: Evan Korth New York University

3. Road Map for Today Welcome to Computers in Principle and Practice! Course Description –What material will we cover? Goals Preview of applications Books Administrative Issues –Course Web Page, Exams, Office Hours, Homework, Grading, Cheating Policy, Unix accounts, Computer Labs Syllabus Introduction to Computers 2

4. 3 Course Description Official Description: The principles part of the course introduces basic design principles underlying a computer, including topics in hardware and software for a variety of systems. The practical component of the course seeks to enable students to use computers as a tool, no matter what discipline they study, introducing them to HTML, word processing, graphics, spreadsheets, and the World Wide Web. 3

5. 4 Course goals There are two important elements to the course: –Principles (20%- 30% of the course): Understanding the concepts behind computers –Practice (70%- 80% of the course): Learning how to use computers and applications

6. 5 “Practice” specifics We will discuss the following applications: –Word processing –Spreadsheets and databases –Web authoring tools –Presentation software –Multimedia: animation and imaging applications Plus: –Basic operating system skills You will be encouraged to use the computer as much as possible, because this will be useful for you in your college career and beyond.

7. 6 “Principles” specifics We will also discuss the concepts behind computers, Networking, and Internet and the web: –Computing Hardware –History of computing, the Internet and the web –Networking –How the Internet and the web work –Copyright, privacy, security, etc.. –Current developments in the world of computers and the Internet

8. Course Prerequisites Prerequisites: –No prior computing experience required (Really) Students with computing experience should ask me if they should be here.. –Three years of high school mathematics or equivalent. Who should be taking this course: –Students who want a computer applications minor –Students who are not fully comfortable with computer applications –Students that want practical computer knowledge before they graduate Who should NOT be taking this course –Students who know computers well and are trying to get an easy A. You must get a C or better in this class to take further computer science classes. 7

9. Administrative Matters 8

10. Course Web Site Course web site is available at: http://www.cs.nyu.edu/courses/spring07/V22.0004- 005/index.html Web site contains the following information: –Administrative information –Course Syllabus –Homework assignments –Readings –Class notes –Class resources –Tutoring information –Link to the class mailing list –The webpages you will build 9

11. Class mailing list First assignment is to join it. Do it today! Go to: http://cs.nyu.edu/mailman/listinfo/v22_0004_005_sp07 and follow the instructions All assignments and news will be sent to the class list Homework questions should be sent to the list and answered by students when possible. 10

12. 11 Software Microsoft Office –Microsoft Word (word processing: newsletters, reports, etc..) –Power Point used for presentations –Excel used for Spreadsheets and Simple databases Web browsers: –Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Netscape Multimedia, Imaging and Animation –Adobe Photoshop and Image Ready HTML editor: –Macromedia Dreamweaver Operating systems: –Unix, Mac OX, Windows

13. 12 Books (1) Photoshop - CS2 Photoshop CS2 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide By Elaine Weinmann, Peter Lourekas. Published by Peachpit Press. Series: Visual QuickStart Guide. ISBN: 0321336550; Published: Jun 7, 2005; Copyright 2005 (2) Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide By Tom Negrino, Dori Smith Published by Peachpit Press. Series: Visual QuickStart Guide. ISBN-10: 0-321-35027-8; Published: Dec 16, 2005; Copyright 2006 (3) MS Office: Excel Excel X for Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide By Maria Langer. Published by Peachpit Press. Series: Visual QuickStart Guide. ISBN: 0201758423; Published: Feb 21, 2002; Copyright 2002

14. 13 Books, cont (4) MS Office: Word 2004 Microsoft Word 2004 for Mac OS X: Visual QuickStart Guide By Maria Langer. Published by Peachpit Press. Series: Visual QuickStart Guide. ISBN: 0321304578; Published: Dec 10, 2004; Copyright 2005 (5) Mac OS X: 10.4 Tiger Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger: Visual QuickStart Guide By Maria Langer. Published by Peachpit Press. Series: Visual QuickStart Guide ISBN: 0321305264; Published: Apr 26, 2005; Copyright 2005 (6) "Principles": Computers In Your Future 2004, Brief, 6/E Bryan Pfaffenberger, University of Virginia Bill Daley Publisher: Prentice Hall ISBN: 0-13-140452-0

15. 14 A Note about book selection There are many other books that cover the same topics, and you are welcome to explore other computer books. In addition, there are many tutorials and resources on-line for learning about computers and software. We will post links to many on-line resources during the semester. Please feel free to let us know of sites that contain information and examples which you think would be of benefit to all of the students.

16. 15 Computer labs The labs will have all software needed for this class. You need to use your ID card to gain access. The main computer labs that you will use are (Apple Computers): –Multimedia lab Education Building 35 W. 4th Street (second floor) –Third North Dorm 3 rd Avenue and 12 th street. Tutors will be present at Third North lab 20 hours a week. Tutor hours will posted on course homepage There are other labs, although those are the main two with Apple computers.

17. 16 NYU network accounts All NYU students are eligible for an NYUHome: –Web based email –PPP account: Allows you to connect from home if you do not already have an internet connection –You need to activate this account from this page: –http://start.nyu.edu For this course you have been assigned a special UNIX Account called “I5”: –used for developing your web site –If you are a high school student, please speak to me today to set you up with an account. You will not be able to do it on your own.

18. Grading Your grade will be determined as follows: –Midterm (20%) –Homework (possible quizzes) (50%) –Final Exam (30%) Class participation will help your grade! 17

19. 18 Homework There will be nine assignments. Homework is 50% of your grade Be prepared to spend 10-20 hrs per week to work on assignments. It is important not to get behind in turning in assignments. If you do get behind, we still want you to do the assignment, so it is better to turn in a late assignment than to skip it. However, late assignments will be severely penalized, and may not be graded except to note that the assignment was turned in. Assignments that you turn in MUST be your own work. It is fine to talk to other students about the assignments, but you MUST hand in your own work. Cheating will NOT be tolerated!

20. A Word About Cheating For the purposes of this class, cheating is defined as by the CS Department’s academic integrity policy academic integrity policy –Discussing homework concepts is fine, but you must submit your own work. If you are caught cheating, you will receive an immediate FAILURE for the course. 19

21. Student Civility In an effort to make this class enjoyable for everybody… –Please be on time to class! –Please do not talk to your friends and neighbors in class! It disturbs everyone, and makes it hard to concentrate. If you have a question, just ask me! –Please turn your pagers and cell-phones off! 20

22. Getting Help Help is always available! Option 1: Come to my Office Hours –Tuesday 2:00 - 3:00; Wednesday, 5:00 – 6:00; Thursday, 2:00 – 3:00 (I may change the time of my office hours) –Location: Room 419 Warren Weaver Hall –I get bored when nobody visits! –If you cannot make my office hours, I will be happy to make an appointment with you. Option 2: Write to the class mailing list. Please do not send homework code to the list. Option 3: Tutors –Available at the ITS Third North Lab (20 hours a week. Hours will be posted on the class website) Option 4: Search the web –You can find many tutorials and helpful tips 21

23. 22 What Is a Computer? Computer –Performs computations and makes logical decisions –Millions / billions times faster than human beings Computer programs –Sets of instructions by which a computer processes data Hardware –Physical devices of computer system Software –Programs that run on computers  2003 Prentice Hall, Inc. All rights reserved. (modified by Evan Korth)

24. 23 Computer Organization Six logical units of computer system –Input unit Mouse, keyboard –Output unit Printer, monitor, audio speakers –Memory unit Retains input and processed information –Arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) Performs calculations –Central processing unit (CPU) Supervises operation of other devices –Secondary storage unit Hard drives, floppy drives  2003 Prentice Hall, Inc. All rights reserved.

25. The boot process The process by which a machine comes up from rest state to the state that is usable is known as booting When the power is turned on –The CPU runs the BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) Usually located on a chip on the motherboard Runs POST (Power On Self Test) of various hardware components Loads the boot sector program 24

26. The boot process (continued) –Boot Sector Program Located in the first sector of the hard disk or floppy disk Is responsible for loading the rest of the operation system into the RAM –Operating System Once it is loaded, it configures the various hardware components Then it waits for the user to issue commands Then you can run your applications 25

27. Hardware Trends Every year or two the following approximately double: –Amount of memory in which to execute programs –Amount of secondary storage (such as disk storage) Used to hold programs and data over the longer term –Processor speeds The speeds at which computers execute their programs  2003 Prentice Hall, Inc. All rights reserved. 26

28. 27 History of the Internet In the 1969, the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense (ARPANet) funded research to network its researching facilities and universities The Internet enables –Quick and easy communication via e-mail –International networking of computers Packet switching –The transfer of digital data via small packets –Allows multiple users to send and receive data simultaneously No centralized control –If one part of the Internet fails, other parts can still operate Bandwidth –Information carrying capacity of communications lines  2003 Prentice Hall, Inc. All rights reserved.

29. 28 World Wide Web Locate and view multimedia-based documents on almost any subject Makes information instantly and conveniently accessible worldwide Possible for individuals and small businesses to get worldwide exposure Changing the way business is done  2003 Prentice Hall, Inc. All rights reserved.