Computer Technology

Wi-Fi Recognition

2009-10-10T22:41:00.000-07:00

The term Wi-Fi, first used commercially in August 1999, coined by Interbrand Corporation that was hired by the The Wi-Fi Alliance to determine a name that was somewhat catchier than IEEE 802.11b Direct Sequence. Interbrand Corporation invented Wi-Fi as a play on words with Hi-Fi, and also created the yin yang-style Wi-Fi logo.

The original patents behind 802.11 Wi-Fi technology, filed in 1996, are held by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), an Australian research body. The patents have been the subject of extended and ongoing legal battles between the CSIRO and major IT corporations over the non-payment of royalties. In 2009 the CSIRO reached a settlement with 14 companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Dell, Toshiba, ASUS, Microsoft and Nintendo, on the condition that the CSIRO did not broadcast the resolution.

Apple Lisa

2007-01-21T19:41:00.000-08:00

The Apple Lisa was a revolutionary personal computer designed at Apple Computer during the early 1980s.

The Lisa project was started at Apple in 1978 and evolved into a project to design a powerful personal computer with a graphical user interface (GUI) that would be targeted toward business customers.

Around 1982, Steve Jobs was forced out of the Lisa project, so he joined the Macintosh project instead. Contrary to popular belief, the Macintosh is not a direct descendant of Lisa, although there are obvious similarities between the systems and a later version was sold as the Macintosh XL.

Back in 1996 the base price of a Lisa was $9 995US ($20,600 in Nov. 2006 dollars). It was one of the first commercial personal computers to have a GUI and a mouse. It used a Motorola 68000 CPU at a 5 MHz clock rate and had the total of 1 MB RAM. The first Lisa had two custom 5¼ inch floppy disk drives designed with two head assemblies, one per side, which could seek independently. These drives required custom media with two head openings. They were nicknamed "Twiggy" drives. An optional external 5 MB Apple ProFile hard drive (originally designed for the Apple III) was also offered on purchace. The later Lisa 2 models used a single 3½ inch floppy disk drive and optional 5 or 10 MB internal hard disks. In 1984, at the same time the Macintosh was officially announced, Apple announced that it was providing free 5 MB hard drive upgrades to all Lisa 1 owners.

Lisa had recently (3 days ago) celebrated its 23rd birthday (in a dump or a computer collectors home) after being discontinues during August of 1986 where 2 700 were buried in a landfill in Logan, Utah. Though Apple had acheived a large tax write off on the Lisas. Though like most GUI computers Lisas are a fairly valuable collectable item and are worth a hundreds or even thousands of dollars now.

Hard Disk

2007-01-14T19:46:00.000-08:00

A hard disk ,commonly known as a HDD (hard disk drive) or hard drive and formerly known as a fixed disk, is a digitally encoded non-volatile storage device which stores data on rapidly rotating platters with magnetic surfaces. Strictly speaking, "drive" refers to an entire unit containing multiple platters, a read/write head assembly, driver electronics, and motor while "hard disk" (sometimes "platter") refers to the storage medium itself.

Hard disks were originally developed for use only with computers. Though in the 21st century, applications for hard disks have expanded beyond computers to include digital video recorders, digital audio players, personal digital assistants and digital cameras. In 2005 the first mobile phones to include hard disks were introduced by Samsung Group and Nokia. The need for large-scale, reliable storage, independent of a particular device, led to the introduction of configurations such as RAID, hardware such as network attached storage (NAS) devices, and systems such as storage area networks (SANs) for efficient access to large volumes of data.

NeXTcube Workstation

2006-08-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

A NeXTcube was used by Tim Berners-Lee as the world's first web server, and also to write the first web browser. The NeXTcube was a high-end workstation computer developed, manufactured and sold by the NeXT computer company from 1988 until 1993. It ran the NeXTSTEP operating system. The NeXTcube was released as a modern, futuristic computer for the 1990s that would change the way computers were used. Several models were produced, including the NeXTcube 030 (25 MHz), 040 (25 MHz) and Turbo (33 MHz). It costed around US$6500. The NeXTcube came with a NeXT MegaPixel 17" monitor (with built-in speakers), a keyboard and mouse.

NeXT later released the NeXTdimension for the Cube, a board based on an intel860, which offers 32-bit PostScript color display and video sampling features. The Cube was commercially unsuccessful, due to its high price. However, some are still used around the world as servers.

ADSL

2006-07-21T22:11:00.000-07:00

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) is a form of DSL, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission over copper telephone lines than a conventional modem can provide.

For conventional ADSL, downstream rates start at 128 kbit/s (though a minimum offering of 512 kbit/s is more common) and typically reach 8 Mbit/s within 1.5 km (5000 ft) of the DSLAM equipped central office or remote terminal. Upstream rates start at 64 kbit/s and typically reach 128 kbit/s or 256 kbit/s but can go as high as 1024 kbit/s. The name ADSL Lite is sometimes used for the slower versions.

A newer variant called ADSL2 provides higher downstream rates of up to 12 Mbit/s for spans of less than 2.5 km (8000 ft). More flexible framing and error correction configurations are responsible for these increased speeds. ADSL2+, also referred to as ITU G.992.5, boosts these rates to up to 24 Mbit/s for spans of less than 1.5 km (5000 feet) by doubling the downstream spectrum upper limit to 2.2MHz. ADSL2/2+ also offer seamless bonding options, allowing lines with higher attenuation or lower signal to noise (SNR) ratios to be bonded together to achieve theoretically the sum total of the number of lines (i.e., up to 50 Mbit/s for two lines, etc.), as well as options in power management and seamless rate adaptation — changing the data rate used without requiring to resynchronize.

ADSL service providers may offer either public or static IP addressing. Public addressing is preferable for people who may wish to connect to their office via a virtual private network, for some Internet gaming, and for those wishing to use ADSL to host a Web server.

Centrino Carmel Platform

2006-07-16T20:12:00.000-07:00

Carmel was the code name for the first generation Centrino platform launched in March 2003. Carmel consisted of a Pentium M processor, an Intel 855 series chipset, and an Intel PRO/Wireless 2100 (IEEE 802.11b) or PRO/Wireless 2100AB (IEEE 802.11ab) WiFi adapter.

Industry watchers initially criticized the Carmel platform for its lack of an (IEEE 802.11g) solution because many independent WiFi chip makers like Broadcom and Atheros were already shipping 802.11g products. Intel responded that the IEEE had not finalized the 802.11g standard at the time of Carmel's launch, and that it did not want to launch products not based on a finalized standard.

Despite criticisms, the Carmel platform won quick acceptance among OEMs and consumers. Carmel was able to attain or exceed the performance of older Pentium 4-M platforms, while allowing for notebooks to operate 4-5 hours on a 48 Wh battery. Carmel also allowed notebook manufacturers to create thinner and lighter notebooks because its components did not dissipate much heat, and thus did not require large cooling systems.

In early 2004, after the finalization of the 802.11g standard, Intel added the option of a PRO/Wireless 2200BG (IEEE 802.11bg) to the Centrino lineup.

CD-ROM

2006-05-14T17:05:00.000-07:00

CD-ROM (an abbreviation of "Compact Disc Read-Only Memory") is a compact disc that contains data accessible by a computer with a CD-ROM drive. While the compact disc format was originally designed for music storage and playback, the format was later adapted to hold any form of binary data. CD-ROMs are popularly used to distribute computer software, including games and multimedia applications, though any data can be stored (though only up to the capacity limit of a disc). Some CDs hold both computer data and audio with the latter capable of being played on a CD player, whilst data (such as software or digital video) is only usable on a computer. These are called Enhanced CDs.

Although many people use lowercase letters in this acronym, the proper presentation is in all capital letters with a hyphen between CD and ROM (CD-ROM).

Mouse

2005-12-09T19:05:00.000-08:00

A mouse is a handheld pointing device for computers, being a small object fitted with one or more buttons and shaped to sit naturally under the hand. The underside of the mouse houses a device that detects the mouse's motion relative to the flat surface on which it moves. The mouse's 2D motion is typically translated into the motion of a pointer on the display.

It is called a mouse primarily because the cord on early models resembled the rodent's tail, and also because the motion of the pointer on the screen can be mouse-like.

Pentium M

2005-10-21T18:20:00.000-07:00

The first Pentium M computer was introduced in March 2003 and is based on x86 microprocessor architecture. During later modification the Pentium M is not a low-power version of the desktop-oriented Pentium 4, but instead a heavily modified version of the Pentium III design. It is optimised for power efficiency with the purpose of extending notebook computer battery life. Running with very low average power consumption and much lower heat output than desktop processors, the Pentium M runs at a lower clock speed than the contemporary Pentium 4 desktop processor series, but with similar performance (e.g. a 1.6 GHz Pentium M can typically attain the performance of a 2.4 GHz Northwood Pentium 4 (400 MHz FSB, 100 MHz quad-pumped) with no Hyper-Threading Technology).

Central Processing Unit

2005-10-18T21:57:00.000-07:00

Also Known as CPU.

A central processing unit refers to part of a computer that interprets and carries out, or processes, instructions and data contained in the software. The more generic term processor can be used to refer to a CPU as well. Microprocessors are CPUs that are manufactured on integrated circuits, often as a single-chip package. Since the mid-1970s, these single-chip microprocessors have become the most common and prominent implementations of CPUs, and today the term is almost always applied to this form.

The term "Central processing unit" is, in general terms, a functional description of a certain class of programmable logic machines. This broad definition can easily be applied to many early computers that existed long before the term "CPU" ever came into widespread usage, yet the term and its acronym have been in use at least since the early 1960s.

Flash memory

2005-10-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

Flash memory, or more precisely, NAND flash memory chips, stores data on a semiconductor. It is mostly used in the form of USB flash drives to transfer data from one PC to another, or as memory cards that record hundreds of photos in digital cameras. Apple uses flash memory as a substitute for a hard disk drive so it can make its music player only a quarter-inch thick.
Manufacturer prices are starting to rise even though historically the price of flash memory has fallen about 40 percent a year.

The Portable Hard Drive

2005-10-04T23:25:00.000-07:00

The portable hard drive is a higher capacity variant of the flash drive. Although this device is somewhat larger than the flash drive, this device is still convenient to take to businesses and to transfer large amounts of data. Shape vary and are based on USB; the USB cord is retractable in some for increased portability. The most common are those based on MicroDrives. They aren't much larger than the drive they contain, and often have retractable USB plugs. They are meant to have the same practicality and ease of use of flash drives (Mass Storage Class drivers and portability), but they are still based on an actual (albeit micro-sized) hard disk with moving heads and spinning platters, so they are much less tolerant of abuse.

Monitor

2005-10-04T20:53:00.000-07:00

What is it?

A computer display, monitor or screen is a computer peripheral device capable of showing still or moving images generated by a computer and processed by a graphics card. Monitors generally conform to one or more display standards. Sometimes the name "display" is preferred to the word "monitor". Computer displays are sometimes called heads, especially when talking about how many are connected to a computer. Once an essential component of a computer terminal, computer displays have long since become standardized peripherals in their own right.

Keyboard

2005-10-02T20:05:00.000-07:00

A keyboard is a peripheral modelled after the typewriter keyboard. Keyboards are designed for the input of text and characters, and also to control the operation of the computer. Physically, computer keyboards are an arrangement of rectangular or near-rectangular buttons, or "keys". Keyboards typically have characters engraved or printed on the keys; in most cases, each press of a key corresponds to a single written symbol. However, to produce some symbols requires pressing and holding several keys simultaneously, or in sequence; other keys do not produce any symbol, but instead affect the operation of the computer, or the keyboard itself.

Roughly 50% of all keyboard keys produce letters, numbers or signs (characters). Other keys can produce actions when pressed, and other actions are available by simultaneously pressing more than one action key.