Mumbai, June 25 (IANS) Director Priyadarshan admits he had written the female lead of his forthcoming 'Billo Barber' with favourite actress Tabu in mind but had to settle for Lara Dutta instead due to date problems.
Priyadarshan and Tabu have done great work together in films like 'Viraasat' and 'Kala Pani'. The versatile actress even agreed to do an inconsequential role in 'Hera Pheri' only for Priyadarshan's sake.
'Billo Barber' is being produced by superstar Shah Rukh Khan and Priyadarshan wanted Tabu to star in it. But after she opted out, Lara bagged the role.
Said Priyadarshan: 'It's a role of a full-on firebrand village girl. And it's patterned on Tabu's role in my 'Viraasat'. I've to admit I think of Tabu for every female lead. But Lara is sensitive and strong enough to carry this role off with elan.'
He said that Lara plays the wife of a barber, portrayed by Irrfan Khan.
'Though the character belongs to a higher caste, she defies social norms and the diktats of the village to marry a barber. Lara's sophisticated image hasn't come in the way of her performance at all. She'll shock you,' said Priyadarshan.
Shah Rukh also stars in 'Billo Barber', but not opposite Lara.
Said a source close to the project: 'There was a certain amount of reservation about the part when Lara heard it was opposite Irrfan. Lara is extremely conscious of her co-stars' status. Earlier she had refused Anil Kapoor's 'Short Cut' with Arshad Warsi.
'But the temptation of being in the same film with Shah Rukh prevailed. She had never been in any film with him and he's producing 'Billo Barbar'. She sees this as stepping stone to a film with Shah Rukh.'
Earlier Lara had done a walk-on part in 'Fanaa' and admitted she had done it to work with Aamir Khan and to gain an entry into Yash Raj Films. And very soon she got a full-fledged role in 'Jhoom Baraabar Jhoom' with the illustrious banner.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Relationship between plant layout and material handling
There is a close connection between the concepts of plant layout and material handling. A good plant structure can ascertain the least material handling process and inexpensive material handling equipment. The material handling factors to be considered while designing the plant layout are:
1) Excessive material movement damages the materials and causes loss of valuable man-hours in shifting materials. A layout should be designed such that it suits the manufacturing requirement of the products and reduces the material handling to minimum.
2) If the workers are compelled to search through the entire workshop for a particular material, their productive time is bound to go wasted. For maximum utilization of their time the plant should be equipped with:
a) Clearly identified and well-named functional areas.
b) Distinct areas for raw materials, tools, work-in-process, inspection and finished goods.
3) For an effective and speedy movement of materials there should be an effective use of:
a) Bins, trolleys, racks and trays to keep materials instead of placing them on floors
b) Proper packaging techniques before dispatching
c) Conveyors, chutes, inclined planes and gravity feed bins to automate, materials
movement.
4) Public utilities should be located at easily accessible distances and should not
require distant walks on part of the workers
5) Economical use of space should be aimed. Machines and equipments should be
placed in such a way that there is a minimal or no wastage of space and yet there
should be optimum choice for expansion.
6) Maximum opportunity for greater width of aisles, heights of ceilings and other
areas of storage so the need of later alterations will be reduced
A good plant layout thus facilitates an efficient material handling system. It offers minimum material handling by making material movements shorter, faster and economical. Overcrowding is prevented. Delays in supplying are avoided due smooth manufacturing activity and hence it is generally desirable to adopt a good plant layout that facilities minimum handling.
1) Excessive material movement damages the materials and causes loss of valuable man-hours in shifting materials. A layout should be designed such that it suits the manufacturing requirement of the products and reduces the material handling to minimum.
2) If the workers are compelled to search through the entire workshop for a particular material, their productive time is bound to go wasted. For maximum utilization of their time the plant should be equipped with:
a) Clearly identified and well-named functional areas.
b) Distinct areas for raw materials, tools, work-in-process, inspection and finished goods.
3) For an effective and speedy movement of materials there should be an effective use of:
a) Bins, trolleys, racks and trays to keep materials instead of placing them on floors
b) Proper packaging techniques before dispatching
c) Conveyors, chutes, inclined planes and gravity feed bins to automate, materials
movement.
4) Public utilities should be located at easily accessible distances and should not
require distant walks on part of the workers
5) Economical use of space should be aimed. Machines and equipments should be
placed in such a way that there is a minimal or no wastage of space and yet there
should be optimum choice for expansion.
6) Maximum opportunity for greater width of aisles, heights of ceilings and other
areas of storage so the need of later alterations will be reduced
A good plant layout thus facilitates an efficient material handling system. It offers minimum material handling by making material movements shorter, faster and economical. Overcrowding is prevented. Delays in supplying are avoided due smooth manufacturing activity and hence it is generally desirable to adopt a good plant layout that facilities minimum handling.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Defination :
Section 2(d) of the Indian Contract Act defines consideration as follows, “When at the desire of the promiser, the promisee or any other person has done or abstained from doing, or does or abstains from doing, or promises to do or to abstain from doing, something, such act or abstinences or promise is called a consideration for the promise.”
A stranger to a contract cannot sue:
A person may be a stranger to the consideration but he should not be a stranger to the contract because 'privity of contract' is essential for enforcing any of the rights arising out of the contract. It being a fundamental principle of the law of contracts that' a stranger to a contract cannot sue, only a person who is a party to a contract can sue on it. Thus, where A mortgages his property to B in consideration of B's promise to A to pay A's debt to C, C cannot file a suit against B to enforce his promise, C being no party to the contract between A and B (Iswaram Pillai vs Sonnivaveru7)
Exceptions: The above rule that 'a stranger to a contract cannot sue' is subject to the following exceptions:
(i) Where an express or implied trust is created. In case of a trust, the beneficiary can sue in his own right to enforce his rights under the trust, though he was not a party to the contract between the settler and the trustees.
Illustrations. (a) A transfers certain properties to B to be held by B in trust for the benefit of M. M can enforce the agreement i.e., trust (At. K. Rapai vs John8).
(h) An addressee of an insured article is entitled to sue the Post Office in case of loss, as on receipt of such article, the Post Office becomes in Jaw a constructive trustee for the addressee (Ami" Ullah vs Central Govt.9).
(ii) Family settlement. Where a provision is made in a pal1ition or family arrangement for maintenance or marriage expenses of female members; such members, though not parties to the agreement, can sue on the footing of the arrangement.
Illustration. A daughter along with her husband entered into a contract with her father whereby it was agreed that she will maintain her mother and the property of the father will be conveyed to them. The daughter subsequently refused to maintain the mother. On a suit it was held that the mother was entitled to require her daughter to maintain her, though she was a stranger to the contract (Veeramma vs Appayya).10
(iii) When the defendant constitutes himself, as the agent of the third party. Thus if A receives some money from B to be paid over to C and he admits of this receipt to C, then C can recover this amount from A who shall be regarded as the agent of C (Surjan vs Nanat). II.
(iv) In case of agency. Where a contract is entered into by an agent, the principal can sue on it.
(v) In case of assignment of rights under a contract in favour of a third party either voluntarily or by operation of law, the assignee can enforce the benefits of the contract, e.g., the assignee of an insurance policy or the official assignee on the insolvency of a person can. sue on the contract even though originally they were not parties to it.
Section 2(d) of the Indian Contract Act defines consideration as follows, “When at the desire of the promiser, the promisee or any other person has done or abstained from doing, or does or abstains from doing, or promises to do or to abstain from doing, something, such act or abstinences or promise is called a consideration for the promise.”
A stranger to a contract cannot sue:
A person may be a stranger to the consideration but he should not be a stranger to the contract because 'privity of contract' is essential for enforcing any of the rights arising out of the contract. It being a fundamental principle of the law of contracts that' a stranger to a contract cannot sue, only a person who is a party to a contract can sue on it. Thus, where A mortgages his property to B in consideration of B's promise to A to pay A's debt to C, C cannot file a suit against B to enforce his promise, C being no party to the contract between A and B (Iswaram Pillai vs Sonnivaveru7)
Exceptions: The above rule that 'a stranger to a contract cannot sue' is subject to the following exceptions:
(i) Where an express or implied trust is created. In case of a trust, the beneficiary can sue in his own right to enforce his rights under the trust, though he was not a party to the contract between the settler and the trustees.
Illustrations. (a) A transfers certain properties to B to be held by B in trust for the benefit of M. M can enforce the agreement i.e., trust (At. K. Rapai vs John8).
(h) An addressee of an insured article is entitled to sue the Post Office in case of loss, as on receipt of such article, the Post Office becomes in Jaw a constructive trustee for the addressee (Ami" Ullah vs Central Govt.9).
(ii) Family settlement. Where a provision is made in a pal1ition or family arrangement for maintenance or marriage expenses of female members; such members, though not parties to the agreement, can sue on the footing of the arrangement.
Illustration. A daughter along with her husband entered into a contract with her father whereby it was agreed that she will maintain her mother and the property of the father will be conveyed to them. The daughter subsequently refused to maintain the mother. On a suit it was held that the mother was entitled to require her daughter to maintain her, though she was a stranger to the contract (Veeramma vs Appayya).10
(iii) When the defendant constitutes himself, as the agent of the third party. Thus if A receives some money from B to be paid over to C and he admits of this receipt to C, then C can recover this amount from A who shall be regarded as the agent of C (Surjan vs Nanat). II.
(iv) In case of agency. Where a contract is entered into by an agent, the principal can sue on it.
(v) In case of assignment of rights under a contract in favour of a third party either voluntarily or by operation of law, the assignee can enforce the benefits of the contract, e.g., the assignee of an insurance policy or the official assignee on the insolvency of a person can. sue on the contract even though originally they were not parties to it.
“Management and Administration”
The late President of United States highlighted management; John F. Kennedy when he said that, .the role of management in our society is critical in human progress. It serves to identify a great need of our time: to improve standards of living for all people through effective utilisation of human and material sources. Similarly, Peter F. Drucker, a noted management authority has emphasised the importance of management to social living. He proclaimed nearly 25 years ago that, "effective management was becoming the main resource, of developed nations and that it was the most needed' resource for developing nations."
A manager's job is "highly crucial to the success of any organisation. the more complex the organisation, the more crucial is the manager's role in it. A good manager makes things happen. The importance of management in any organisation was emphasised byProfessor Leonard R. Sayles in his address to a group of management development specialists, as follows:
"We must find ways of convincing society as a whole, and those who train managers in particular, that the real leadership problems of our institutions-the getting things done, the implementation, the evolving of a consensus, the making of the right decisions at the right time with the right people-are where the action is. Although we as a society haven't learned to give much credit to managers, I hope we can move toward recognising that managerial and leadership jobs are among the most critical tasks of our society. As such, they deserve the professional status that we give to more traditional fields of knowledge."
MANAGEMENT DEFINED:-
Many management thinkers have defined management in their own ways. For example, Van Fleet and Peterson define management, "as a set of activities directed at the efficient and effective utilisation of resources 'in the pursuit of one or more goals.
Managerial
Activities
Financial
Resources
Effective and
Efficient
Utilisation
Human
Resources
Physical
Resources
Goals
Informational
Resources
THE COMPONENTS OF MANAGEMENT
Megginson, Mosley and pietri define management as “working with human, financial and physical resource to achieve organizational objectives by performing the planning, organizing, leading and controlling functions.” Shows the megginson, monsley and pietri definition of management.
Planning
Organising
Leading
Controlling
Human Financial
And physical
Recourses
Goals
Management
MEGGINSON, MOSLEY AND PIETRI MANAGEMENT DEFINITION
Kreitner considers management as a Problem solving process. He defines management as follow:-
"Management is a problem' solving process of effectively achieving Organizational objective’s through the efficient use of scarce resources in a changing environment."
Some of the integral elements of this definition can be separated and briefly explained as follows:
PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS: -
One of the most important functions of a manager is to make decisions and solve problem Some- of the major problems that management must continually face "include unpredictable economic trend's 'changing governmental regulations, resource shortage and a severe competition for these resources, employee demands technical problems, technological developments and so on, There are other problems that are comparatively routine in-nature and can be solved by some tried and tested mechanisms. For example, a change in production quality can be easily looked into and the process corrected or modified or changed if necessary. On the other hand, an increase in employee grievances or employee absenteeism or turnover may require carefully studied unique solutions.
ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES:-
All organizational have a mission that is very basic reason for their existence' and certain goals and objective while goals are 'long' range and 'more general in nature, objectives are more specific, tangible and most often quantifiable. For example, the mission of a college may be high quality education, its goal may be to primarily serve the educational needs of the surrounding community and its objective may be to increase the number of new students entering the college by ten per cent in two years. The primary objective of most organizational is "to provide a service .for the public. Of course such service has to be- profitable for the organization in monetary terms; 'for that is the essence of a capitalist economy. Accordingly, management must plan its activities along these lines, additionally; it is also the management’s responsibility to integrate the personal objective of employee into organizational objectives. The personal objective of the employee may include higher remuneration, more challenging tasks and responsibilities and participation in the decision making process.
EFFICIENCY:-
Efficiency along with most common way of measuring organizational performance. Efficiency is ability to get thing done correct. An efficiency manager achieve a higher out put with given resource of time, talent and capital. So that this resource are fully utilized without waste. Similarly effectiveness means” doing the right thing in a right way at the right time. Accordingly successful managers would not only be effective in terms of selecting the right things to do and the right method for getting them done, buy they would be efficient in fully utilizing resources.
6. SCARE RESOURCE :-
The resource of people time capital and raw material all finite and limited. They are all scare in nature and are not expandable additionally, they are in fierce competition for acquiring these recourse.
7. CHANGING ENVIRONMENT:-
the dynamic of the environment is evidenced by the changing that have taken place in all areas in last few years. The advent of computer and telecommunication technology had change the way in which assessment of the environment in carried out for discussion making purpose, Accordingly, management must be prepared to predict accurately these changes and formulate ways to meet these new challenges more effectively.
MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION:-
The terms 'management' and 'administration' are often used synonymously. According to Dalton E. McFarland "In business firms, administration refers to higher, policy determining level. One seldom regards the first-line supervisor as an administrator, instead he is a manager. In the health care fields and in many service organization, problems (such as individual's chronic disease) are managed but programmers (such as flu vaccine distribution) are administered".
Administration may be defined as "the guidance, leadership and control of the efforts" of a group of individuals towards some common goals'. Often the terms administration and management are used together as administrative management. Administrative Management is different from 'operative management', which is concerned with the operational aspects of a business. Some experts like Oliver and Sheldon distinguished administration from management by suggesting definition of their own.
THE DEFINITION
Administration is defined as a function of an organisation that is concerned with policy determination, co-ordination of finances, production, distribution and control of the executives that are required for establishing an organisation. Contrary to this, management is the process that is concerned with the execution of the policies within certain limits set by the administration and employment of the organizationfor the purpose of accomplishing objectives laid down by the administration.
ESSENCE OF ADMINISTRATION:-
Ordway Tead has analysed the process of administration into distinct elements, which are:
Establishing the objectives of an organisation
Formulating broad policies for an organisation
Stimulating the organization.
Evaluating the performance of an organization
Looking head
Thus management action is directed towards attainting aims and objectives that are laid down by administration. It is there fore; clear that administration is more important at higher levels whereas management is more important at lower levels in the firm’s organizational pyramid.
The administration is a top-level wile management is a bottom level function. The fundamental point of distention between these two aspects is that former is the process of formulating policies and goals of the organization while the latter directs and guides of operation and functional aspect of the organization toward achieve the objectives set former.
A closer look reveals that the scope of management is broader than that of administration it is true that planning valid that every level of management, irrespective of its hierarchy is the organizational set up has to do some sort of planning and policy making along with their execution, therefore management includes both administrative and management and operative management.
A manager's job is "highly crucial to the success of any organisation. the more complex the organisation, the more crucial is the manager's role in it. A good manager makes things happen. The importance of management in any organisation was emphasised byProfessor Leonard R. Sayles in his address to a group of management development specialists, as follows:
"We must find ways of convincing society as a whole, and those who train managers in particular, that the real leadership problems of our institutions-the getting things done, the implementation, the evolving of a consensus, the making of the right decisions at the right time with the right people-are where the action is. Although we as a society haven't learned to give much credit to managers, I hope we can move toward recognising that managerial and leadership jobs are among the most critical tasks of our society. As such, they deserve the professional status that we give to more traditional fields of knowledge."
MANAGEMENT DEFINED:-
Many management thinkers have defined management in their own ways. For example, Van Fleet and Peterson define management, "as a set of activities directed at the efficient and effective utilisation of resources 'in the pursuit of one or more goals.
Managerial
Activities
Financial
Resources
Effective and
Efficient
Utilisation
Human
Resources
Physical
Resources
Goals
Informational
Resources
THE COMPONENTS OF MANAGEMENT
Megginson, Mosley and pietri define management as “working with human, financial and physical resource to achieve organizational objectives by performing the planning, organizing, leading and controlling functions.” Shows the megginson, monsley and pietri definition of management.
Planning
Organising
Leading
Controlling
Human Financial
And physical
Recourses
Goals
Management
MEGGINSON, MOSLEY AND PIETRI MANAGEMENT DEFINITION
Kreitner considers management as a Problem solving process. He defines management as follow:-
"Management is a problem' solving process of effectively achieving Organizational objective’s through the efficient use of scarce resources in a changing environment."
Some of the integral elements of this definition can be separated and briefly explained as follows:
PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS: -
One of the most important functions of a manager is to make decisions and solve problem Some- of the major problems that management must continually face "include unpredictable economic trend's 'changing governmental regulations, resource shortage and a severe competition for these resources, employee demands technical problems, technological developments and so on, There are other problems that are comparatively routine in-nature and can be solved by some tried and tested mechanisms. For example, a change in production quality can be easily looked into and the process corrected or modified or changed if necessary. On the other hand, an increase in employee grievances or employee absenteeism or turnover may require carefully studied unique solutions.
ORGANIZATIONAL OBJECTIVES:-
All organizational have a mission that is very basic reason for their existence' and certain goals and objective while goals are 'long' range and 'more general in nature, objectives are more specific, tangible and most often quantifiable. For example, the mission of a college may be high quality education, its goal may be to primarily serve the educational needs of the surrounding community and its objective may be to increase the number of new students entering the college by ten per cent in two years. The primary objective of most organizational is "to provide a service .for the public. Of course such service has to be- profitable for the organization in monetary terms; 'for that is the essence of a capitalist economy. Accordingly, management must plan its activities along these lines, additionally; it is also the management’s responsibility to integrate the personal objective of employee into organizational objectives. The personal objective of the employee may include higher remuneration, more challenging tasks and responsibilities and participation in the decision making process.
EFFICIENCY:-
Efficiency along with most common way of measuring organizational performance. Efficiency is ability to get thing done correct. An efficiency manager achieve a higher out put with given resource of time, talent and capital. So that this resource are fully utilized without waste. Similarly effectiveness means” doing the right thing in a right way at the right time. Accordingly successful managers would not only be effective in terms of selecting the right things to do and the right method for getting them done, buy they would be efficient in fully utilizing resources.
6. SCARE RESOURCE :-
The resource of people time capital and raw material all finite and limited. They are all scare in nature and are not expandable additionally, they are in fierce competition for acquiring these recourse.
7. CHANGING ENVIRONMENT:-
the dynamic of the environment is evidenced by the changing that have taken place in all areas in last few years. The advent of computer and telecommunication technology had change the way in which assessment of the environment in carried out for discussion making purpose, Accordingly, management must be prepared to predict accurately these changes and formulate ways to meet these new challenges more effectively.
MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION:-
The terms 'management' and 'administration' are often used synonymously. According to Dalton E. McFarland "In business firms, administration refers to higher, policy determining level. One seldom regards the first-line supervisor as an administrator, instead he is a manager. In the health care fields and in many service organization, problems (such as individual's chronic disease) are managed but programmers (such as flu vaccine distribution) are administered".
Administration may be defined as "the guidance, leadership and control of the efforts" of a group of individuals towards some common goals'. Often the terms administration and management are used together as administrative management. Administrative Management is different from 'operative management', which is concerned with the operational aspects of a business. Some experts like Oliver and Sheldon distinguished administration from management by suggesting definition of their own.
THE DEFINITION
Administration is defined as a function of an organisation that is concerned with policy determination, co-ordination of finances, production, distribution and control of the executives that are required for establishing an organisation. Contrary to this, management is the process that is concerned with the execution of the policies within certain limits set by the administration and employment of the organizationfor the purpose of accomplishing objectives laid down by the administration.
ESSENCE OF ADMINISTRATION:-
Ordway Tead has analysed the process of administration into distinct elements, which are:
Establishing the objectives of an organisation
Formulating broad policies for an organisation
Stimulating the organization.
Evaluating the performance of an organization
Looking head
Thus management action is directed towards attainting aims and objectives that are laid down by administration. It is there fore; clear that administration is more important at higher levels whereas management is more important at lower levels in the firm’s organizational pyramid.
The administration is a top-level wile management is a bottom level function. The fundamental point of distention between these two aspects is that former is the process of formulating policies and goals of the organization while the latter directs and guides of operation and functional aspect of the organization toward achieve the objectives set former.
A closer look reveals that the scope of management is broader than that of administration it is true that planning valid that every level of management, irrespective of its hierarchy is the organizational set up has to do some sort of planning and policy making along with their execution, therefore management includes both administrative and management and operative management.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN BANKING SECTOR
In today’s banking word there is increasing demand and importance for Information Technology (IT) due to many features, which ultimately helps banks to reduce its heavy costs for providing maximum number of transactions and services to customer for maximum time. To survive in healthy banking competition, no one can bring their bank upward without having IT in their system. IT is necessity of any bank to serve their customers & to reduce unwanted cost. Many programmers are available to provide customer satisfaction. It not only provides quick and fast service but also reduce transaction cost and large paper work.
In the sixties and seventies the banking industry was fiercely competitive as ever was losing the battle of providing good customer services due to impossibly heavy workloads. All major banks already had branches in most major locations and they simply had to recruit more and more staff to cope with the increasing number of customers. The accepted wisdom was that cost was the main basis for competition and so the banks were making strenuous efforts to reduce operational costs, kicking off the process by computerizing customer accounts. ATMs made it easy to deposit and withdraw money, check balances, request statements etc. and coupled with the added advantage of round the clock availability, they not only reduced staff workloads but save customers a new experience of hassle-free banking.
The banking sector has come a long way since then. Now almost all banks are using services from IT to reduce it’s cost It is now one of the largest users of information technology. Some of the areas where banks typically use IT to reduce cost of operations & heavy workload are mentioned below:
1) Back office computerization: Nowadays, almost all Indian and international banks run on fully integrated and online systems where all back office operations like accounts posting, reconciliation, clearing house operations, etc., are completely automated.
2) Front office computerization: All banks provide facilities like instant account statement, making fixed deposits, electronic funds transfer, direct debit facility, etc. to their customers.
3) Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs): These computerised machines enable customers to do their regular bank transactions (like depositing and withdrawing money, ascertaining current account balance, etc.) without visiting a bank branch. ATMs considerably reduce costs for banks (employee cost, space cost, etc.) and provide better level of service to customers (by enabling 24 hour banking access at numerous locations).
4) Net Banking: Most banks like HSBC, Standard Chartered, HDFC, ICICI etc., have extremely user friendly websites where the typical banking transaction (like cash delivery, generating account statements, requests for cheque books and drafts etc.) can be carried out online without visiting the bank. This innovative use of IT has meant that effectively, customers have no need to personally visit the bank for routine banking transactions, which reduce time consumption, inconvenience for customers as well as reduce employee welfare cost in bank.
In the sixties and seventies the banking industry was fiercely competitive as ever was losing the battle of providing good customer services due to impossibly heavy workloads. All major banks already had branches in most major locations and they simply had to recruit more and more staff to cope with the increasing number of customers. The accepted wisdom was that cost was the main basis for competition and so the banks were making strenuous efforts to reduce operational costs, kicking off the process by computerizing customer accounts. ATMs made it easy to deposit and withdraw money, check balances, request statements etc. and coupled with the added advantage of round the clock availability, they not only reduced staff workloads but save customers a new experience of hassle-free banking.
The banking sector has come a long way since then. Now almost all banks are using services from IT to reduce it’s cost It is now one of the largest users of information technology. Some of the areas where banks typically use IT to reduce cost of operations & heavy workload are mentioned below:
1) Back office computerization: Nowadays, almost all Indian and international banks run on fully integrated and online systems where all back office operations like accounts posting, reconciliation, clearing house operations, etc., are completely automated.
2) Front office computerization: All banks provide facilities like instant account statement, making fixed deposits, electronic funds transfer, direct debit facility, etc. to their customers.
3) Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs): These computerised machines enable customers to do their regular bank transactions (like depositing and withdrawing money, ascertaining current account balance, etc.) without visiting a bank branch. ATMs considerably reduce costs for banks (employee cost, space cost, etc.) and provide better level of service to customers (by enabling 24 hour banking access at numerous locations).
4) Net Banking: Most banks like HSBC, Standard Chartered, HDFC, ICICI etc., have extremely user friendly websites where the typical banking transaction (like cash delivery, generating account statements, requests for cheque books and drafts etc.) can be carried out online without visiting the bank. This innovative use of IT has meant that effectively, customers have no need to personally visit the bank for routine banking transactions, which reduce time consumption, inconvenience for customers as well as reduce employee welfare cost in bank.
Friday, July 18, 2008
REQUIREMENTS OF DATABASE
Requirements of database help in determining the prerequisites before storing the data in
the database. Following are the requirements for database management.
1) Non-redundancy
As already suggested, non-redundancy is beneficial in eliminating the contradictions and in saving storage space. Occasionally, amount of redundancy is acceptable such as when the need for data security or rapid access is paramount.
2) Data independence
This means that the data and the programs are independent, which means that the data can be moved or restructured without the need to make alterations to the programs. Similarly an enforced program change does not call for rearrangement of the data layout. If there is no data independency, then a program requiring more data items from a file necessitates rearranging it, and consequently other programs have to be modified to cope with the rearrangement of the file.
3) Program usage
A database needs to be usable by not only all the existing applications but also by all foreseeable applications. These are ambitious aims, but nonetheless a database must be open-ended so as to accept new sets of data items and change to the existing data item sets.
4) Data Inter-relationships
Data inter-relationships are necessary because of the fact that various applications use data in different ways. For example, one application may demand a link between an employee's name and his pension contribution, another between his tax payment and his previous employer. Requirements such as these impose stringent demands upon the database's accuracy, security and flexibility.
5) Common approach
Common approach is based on simplicity and understanding of data and programs. Although application programmers are not concerned with .the database's structure and techniques, a common approach simplifies the database control programs and facilitates the database administrator's work.
the database. Following are the requirements for database management.
1) Non-redundancy
As already suggested, non-redundancy is beneficial in eliminating the contradictions and in saving storage space. Occasionally, amount of redundancy is acceptable such as when the need for data security or rapid access is paramount.
2) Data independence
This means that the data and the programs are independent, which means that the data can be moved or restructured without the need to make alterations to the programs. Similarly an enforced program change does not call for rearrangement of the data layout. If there is no data independency, then a program requiring more data items from a file necessitates rearranging it, and consequently other programs have to be modified to cope with the rearrangement of the file.
3) Program usage
A database needs to be usable by not only all the existing applications but also by all foreseeable applications. These are ambitious aims, but nonetheless a database must be open-ended so as to accept new sets of data items and change to the existing data item sets.
4) Data Inter-relationships
Data inter-relationships are necessary because of the fact that various applications use data in different ways. For example, one application may demand a link between an employee's name and his pension contribution, another between his tax payment and his previous employer. Requirements such as these impose stringent demands upon the database's accuracy, security and flexibility.
5) Common approach
Common approach is based on simplicity and understanding of data and programs. Although application programmers are not concerned with .the database's structure and techniques, a common approach simplifies the database control programs and facilitates the database administrator's work.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
The objectives and requirements of the Database
DATABASE CONCEPT
A database is an organized collection of data. The term originated within the computer industry. In other words, a database is a collection of records stored on a computer in a systematic way. The computer program used to manage and query a database is known as a Database Management System (DBMS). The central concept of a database is that of a collection of records or pieces of knowledge. A great deal of the internal engineering of a DBMS, however, is independent of the data model and is concerned with managing factors such as performance, concurrency, integrity and recovery from hardware failures.
OBJECTIVES OF DATABASE
Below mentioned are some objectives of Database.
1) Database should permit the establishment of a single area for common information that is used by all authorized users.
2) It should allow important information to be recorded on floppy disk, magnetic disk, or mass storage, while secondary records are maintained on magnetic tape or other low-cost storage medium.
3) It should guarantee accuracy of updating by an automatic maintenance feature for all segments of the data file.
4) It should allow variable-length records in order to conserve space.
5) It should have provision for expanding or reducing files, both the number of records in the file and the data elements in each record.
6) It should allow security of files or segments of files.
7) There must be a provision for some types of lockout feature so that certain files or areas of files or even individual records cannot be accessed during updating.
A database is an organized collection of data. The term originated within the computer industry. In other words, a database is a collection of records stored on a computer in a systematic way. The computer program used to manage and query a database is known as a Database Management System (DBMS). The central concept of a database is that of a collection of records or pieces of knowledge. A great deal of the internal engineering of a DBMS, however, is independent of the data model and is concerned with managing factors such as performance, concurrency, integrity and recovery from hardware failures.
OBJECTIVES OF DATABASE
Below mentioned are some objectives of Database.
1) Database should permit the establishment of a single area for common information that is used by all authorized users.
2) It should allow important information to be recorded on floppy disk, magnetic disk, or mass storage, while secondary records are maintained on magnetic tape or other low-cost storage medium.
3) It should guarantee accuracy of updating by an automatic maintenance feature for all segments of the data file.
4) It should allow variable-length records in order to conserve space.
5) It should have provision for expanding or reducing files, both the number of records in the file and the data elements in each record.
6) It should allow security of files or segments of files.
7) There must be a provision for some types of lockout feature so that certain files or areas of files or even individual records cannot be accessed during updating.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Data and Information
INFORMATION AND DATA
The words, information and data, are used interchangeably in many contexts. However, they are not synonyms. It is necessary to make distinction between the two terms namely, data and information that are usually used interchangeably.
The interchange of the words data and information is widespread; following explanation should help to develop a clearer understanding of the differences between the two.
Data
Ø Facts, statistics used for reference or analysis.
Ø Numbers, characters, symbols, images etc., which can be processed by a computer.
Ø Data must be interpreted, by a human or machine, to derive meaning
Ø Data is a representation of information
Information
Ø Knowledge derived from study, experience (by the senses), or instruction.
Ø Communication of intelligence.
Ø Information is any kind of knowledge that is exchangeable amongst people, about
things, facts, concepts, etc., in some context."
Ø Information is interpreted data”
Data is the material on which computer programs work upon. It can be numbers, letters of the alphabet, words, special symbols but they themselves have no meaning. For example, the following sequence of digits 240343 is meaningless by itself since it could refer to date of birth, part number for a automobile, number of rupees spent on a project, population of a town, number of people employed in a large organisation etc. Once we know what the sequence refers to, then it becomes meaningful and can be called information. For example, when we write 24-03-43, it may mean date of birth as 24th March 1943.
In general terms, Data is any fact or number. It may have some meaning or not.
But Information is a data, which cannot be predicted with a probability of 1. It is always meaningful.
The words, information and data, are used interchangeably in many contexts. However, they are not synonyms. It is necessary to make distinction between the two terms namely, data and information that are usually used interchangeably.
The interchange of the words data and information is widespread; following explanation should help to develop a clearer understanding of the differences between the two.
Data
Ø Facts, statistics used for reference or analysis.
Ø Numbers, characters, symbols, images etc., which can be processed by a computer.
Ø Data must be interpreted, by a human or machine, to derive meaning
Ø Data is a representation of information
Information
Ø Knowledge derived from study, experience (by the senses), or instruction.
Ø Communication of intelligence.
Ø Information is any kind of knowledge that is exchangeable amongst people, about
things, facts, concepts, etc., in some context."
Ø Information is interpreted data”
Data is the material on which computer programs work upon. It can be numbers, letters of the alphabet, words, special symbols but they themselves have no meaning. For example, the following sequence of digits 240343 is meaningless by itself since it could refer to date of birth, part number for a automobile, number of rupees spent on a project, population of a town, number of people employed in a large organisation etc. Once we know what the sequence refers to, then it becomes meaningful and can be called information. For example, when we write 24-03-43, it may mean date of birth as 24th March 1943.
In general terms, Data is any fact or number. It may have some meaning or not.
But Information is a data, which cannot be predicted with a probability of 1. It is always meaningful.
The editing and proofing tolls available in MS Word
EDITING TOOLS:
Following are the some common editing tools available in Ms Word
Spelling Check
This tool underlines words having spelling errors in red. Just Right click the red underlined word & Select proper corrective word
OR Click anywhere in the red, underlined word,
Grammar Check
Word underlines grammar errors in green. To correct it Right click the green, underlined error and Select correction
OR Click anywhere in the green ð underlined error ð Click Tools ð Spelling and Grammar ð Select corrective word, grammar and style.
Highlighter
Highlighter is the one of the editing tool which includes tools to select font type, size, color, alignment, etc.
We can change the color of the highlighted word by clicking the down arrow to the right of the Highlighter icon and selecting a new color.
Tracking Changes
If you are an editor, you now can add, delete, change words, etc. The changes will be marked in red. If you are a writer, you can see the changes made by the editor, and accept or reject those changes by clicking the appropriate icon. Click the arrows to move to the next or previous change, etc.
Inserting Comments
Comments tool help to insert the words, phrase, or section in a document where you want to add a comment
¯ PROOFING TOOLS
The Microsoft Proofing Tools for Ms Word are a collection of editing technologies that enable users to proof Office documents in more than 50 different languages.
The spelling checker identifies possible misspellings in a text file by comparing the contents of the file with a database of accepted spellings, and is one of the most frequently used features of Microsoft Word. But spellers can perform more sophisticated tasks than simply comparing terms from a database.
Grammar and Style Checker
The grammar checker corrects sentences using a system of rules that defines the grammatical structure of a language. Microsoft Word integrates this tool and runs it in the background, making corrections automatically.
Thesaurus
The basic function of a thesaurus is to look up synonyms for a particular word. But the thesauri in Proofing Tools perform more sophisticated tasks than simply retrieving direct synonyms for a given term from a database. Special algorithms in thesauri extract inflectional information (i.e. variations of a word) from a stem word (i.e. base word) to
provide a series of synonyms with the same inflection. For example, looking up the word running would yield the possible synonym jogging.
AutoCorrect
AutoCorrect automatically detects and corrects typos, misspelled words, grammatical errors, and incorrect capitalization. For example, if you type teh plus a space, then AutoCorrect replaces what you have typed with "the." You can also use AutoCorrect to quickly insert text, graphics, or symbols. For example, type (c) to insert "©", or type ac to insert "Acme Corporation."
Hyphenation
Hyphenation helps eliminate gaps or in justified text, and helps maintain even line lengths in narrow columns. The hyphenation tool allows a user to connect (as two words) or divide (as a word at the end of a line of print) two or more terms with a hyphen. Languages vary in their flexibility on hyphenation rules.
AutoSummarize
AutoSummarize identifies the key points in a document for you to share with others or quickly scan. The tool determines key points by analyzing a document and assigning a score to each sentence. Sentences that contain words used frequently in the document are given a higher score. You can then choose a percentage of the highest-scoring sentences to display in the summary.
Input Method EditorsAn Input Method Editor (IME) works with the operating system to allow you to enter Asian text in Windows and enabled applications - including Office 2003 - by converting your keystrokes into Asian characters.
Following are the some common editing tools available in Ms Word
Spelling Check
This tool underlines words having spelling errors in red. Just Right click the red underlined word & Select proper corrective word
OR Click anywhere in the red, underlined word,
Grammar Check
Word underlines grammar errors in green. To correct it Right click the green, underlined error and Select correction
OR Click anywhere in the green ð underlined error ð Click Tools ð Spelling and Grammar ð Select corrective word, grammar and style.
Highlighter
Highlighter is the one of the editing tool which includes tools to select font type, size, color, alignment, etc.
We can change the color of the highlighted word by clicking the down arrow to the right of the Highlighter icon and selecting a new color.
Tracking Changes
If you are an editor, you now can add, delete, change words, etc. The changes will be marked in red. If you are a writer, you can see the changes made by the editor, and accept or reject those changes by clicking the appropriate icon. Click the arrows to move to the next or previous change, etc.
Inserting Comments
Comments tool help to insert the words, phrase, or section in a document where you want to add a comment
¯ PROOFING TOOLS
The Microsoft Proofing Tools for Ms Word are a collection of editing technologies that enable users to proof Office documents in more than 50 different languages.
The spelling checker identifies possible misspellings in a text file by comparing the contents of the file with a database of accepted spellings, and is one of the most frequently used features of Microsoft Word. But spellers can perform more sophisticated tasks than simply comparing terms from a database.
Grammar and Style Checker
The grammar checker corrects sentences using a system of rules that defines the grammatical structure of a language. Microsoft Word integrates this tool and runs it in the background, making corrections automatically.
Thesaurus
The basic function of a thesaurus is to look up synonyms for a particular word. But the thesauri in Proofing Tools perform more sophisticated tasks than simply retrieving direct synonyms for a given term from a database. Special algorithms in thesauri extract inflectional information (i.e. variations of a word) from a stem word (i.e. base word) to
provide a series of synonyms with the same inflection. For example, looking up the word running would yield the possible synonym jogging.
AutoCorrect
AutoCorrect automatically detects and corrects typos, misspelled words, grammatical errors, and incorrect capitalization. For example, if you type teh plus a space, then AutoCorrect replaces what you have typed with "the." You can also use AutoCorrect to quickly insert text, graphics, or symbols. For example, type (c) to insert "©", or type ac to insert "Acme Corporation."
Hyphenation
Hyphenation helps eliminate gaps or in justified text, and helps maintain even line lengths in narrow columns. The hyphenation tool allows a user to connect (as two words) or divide (as a word at the end of a line of print) two or more terms with a hyphen. Languages vary in their flexibility on hyphenation rules.
AutoSummarize
AutoSummarize identifies the key points in a document for you to share with others or quickly scan. The tool determines key points by analyzing a document and assigning a score to each sentence. Sentences that contain words used frequently in the document are given a higher score. You can then choose a percentage of the highest-scoring sentences to display in the summary.
Input Method EditorsAn Input Method Editor (IME) works with the operating system to allow you to enter Asian text in Windows and enabled applications - including Office 2003 - by converting your keystrokes into Asian characters.
Monday, July 14, 2008
( a) THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF WINDOWS DESKTOP, (b)Windows Explorer & (c) Main Features of Word Pad
( a) THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF WINDOWS DESKTOP
Once Windows is loaded into the memory of the computer, the focus is placed on the desktop. The desktop is designed to act just like an actual desktop. The desktop is a window that covers your entire computer screen. It is the interface through which all of the programs are accessed. All other programs run on the top of the Windows desktop.
The Windows desktop is comprised of three key elements:
1) Icons 2) Start menu & 3) Taskbar
1) Icons:
Icons can be further classified into five categories:
Ø Folder Icons: When a folder icon is double clicked, a folder window is opened displaying the contents of the folder.
Ø Program Icons: When a Program icon is double clicked, the corresponding program is loaded into the memory of the computer and the application starts running in a Window.
Ø Document Icons: When a document icon is double clicked, the document itself is opened. For e.g., (Word processing program, spreadsheet, database etc.
Ø Shortcut Icons: Shortcut icons provide an alternate way to open programs, documents, and folders
Ø System Icons: System icons are mandatory programs or files that are located on your desktop. User is not allowed to delete the system icon, since deleting the system icon would mean deleting the actual program from the hard drive of the computer. Examples of System Icons are Recycle Bin, My Computer, and Network Neighborhood etc.
? Recycle Bin: Any file that is deleted from the hard disk of the computer is moved to a separate folder called Recycle Bin. The files stored in the bin can be restored to their original location by using the 'Restore' option of Recycle Bin. To empty the Recycle Bin, simply right click on this icon and-select 'Empty Recycle Bin' option.
? My Computer: Double clicking the "My Computer" icon will open a window that displays the contents of the computer. All the files and folders available in the computer can be viewed here. It also allows you to display the system and hardware information.
? Network Neighborhood: "Network Neighborhood" icon displays windows from other computers and resources, like printer, connected to the network.
( b) WINDOWS EXPLORER
Windows Explorer is a utility that represents the contents of the computer in a graphical form. It allows you to do various file and disk management tasks like copy, rename, move and delete file(s) and create folder(s) and sub-folder(s), format floppies etc. It is the quickest way to get a complete view of the contents of computer.
Windows Explorer can be accessed:
Start -+ Programs -+ Windows Explorer
Ø Elements of window explorer:
Standard Toolbar: Gives access to the commonly used functions.
Address Bar: Displays the path of the selected document. Document could be a file, folder, sub-folder or a drive itself. The selected item is usually displayed in blue colour.
Tree View: Windows Explorer displays all the items in a tree view structure. Items can be expanded and contracted by clicking on the plus and minus signs that appear next to some of the icons. 'Plus' sign indicates that there are more items within the folder. 'Minus' sign represents the expanded view. Icons that have neither a plus sign nor a minus sign indicate that there are no additional items inside them.
Left/Right Pane: The left pane of the Windows Explorer is used to select a folder or drive so that its contents can be displayed in the right pane. The name of the selected folder is displayed in the window's title bar. As soon as you select a different folder in the left pane, the contents of the right pane change to reflect that folder's contents.
Ø Features of Windows Explorer
Following are the few features of Window Explorer
1) Creating Folders and Files: We can create various folders & files in the same explorer
2) Creating Sub-folders: Sub folders can be created within original folder.
3) Opening Folder: From the left pane, we can select any folder to explore further for sub-folders, files etc.
4) Opening files: Desired double clicking on that particular folder and files can open file of any application.
5) Copying files: We can copy folders files into the other folder by selecting & pasting it to the desires place. Copying can be done using various methods in Window explorer e.g. Click & Drag method, Copy & Paste method, Selecting range of files & pasting method, selecting selected files with the help of control key & pasting
6) Renaming files/Folders: Files and folders can be renamed using window explorer
7) Deleting files/Folders: Selected files & folders can be deleted.
8) Changing folder views: Folders in Windows Explorer can be viewed in different views. E.g. Large Icon View, Small Icon View, List View, Details View. Details view displays information like item name, size, type and the date item was last created or modified. We can sort all files and folders by date wise, type wise and name wise.
(C)MAIN FEATURES OF WORDPAD
WordPad is a simple word processor that is included with almost all versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows 95 upwards. It is more advanced than Notepad, but not as advanced as Microsoft Word.
WordPad is the one of the commonly used accessory. It is a the text based editor that supports more features than Notepad. WordPad can be for files larger than 64 KB. It supports all the features than Notepad. Some of the features of the WordPad are as under.
1) Allows formatting of text using different font style, colours and bullets.
2) Different alignment options (Left, Right, and Centre) are provided for the paragraphs.
3) Allows to set page margins and a preview of the page can be seen of how document would appear in print.
4) Toolbars are provided that provide quick access to commonly used functions. User has option to View/hide the toolbars.
5) Allows to embed/link an object into a WordPad document from the another file.
6) Find and replace can be used to locate a particular piece of text within a document.
7) It can be used to automatically replace a particular piece of text with something else.
WordPad can be accessed from:
Start Programs Accessories WordPad
Once Windows is loaded into the memory of the computer, the focus is placed on the desktop. The desktop is designed to act just like an actual desktop. The desktop is a window that covers your entire computer screen. It is the interface through which all of the programs are accessed. All other programs run on the top of the Windows desktop.
The Windows desktop is comprised of three key elements:
1) Icons 2) Start menu & 3) Taskbar
1) Icons:
Icons can be further classified into five categories:
Ø Folder Icons: When a folder icon is double clicked, a folder window is opened displaying the contents of the folder.
Ø Program Icons: When a Program icon is double clicked, the corresponding program is loaded into the memory of the computer and the application starts running in a Window.
Ø Document Icons: When a document icon is double clicked, the document itself is opened. For e.g., (Word processing program, spreadsheet, database etc.
Ø Shortcut Icons: Shortcut icons provide an alternate way to open programs, documents, and folders
Ø System Icons: System icons are mandatory programs or files that are located on your desktop. User is not allowed to delete the system icon, since deleting the system icon would mean deleting the actual program from the hard drive of the computer. Examples of System Icons are Recycle Bin, My Computer, and Network Neighborhood etc.
? Recycle Bin: Any file that is deleted from the hard disk of the computer is moved to a separate folder called Recycle Bin. The files stored in the bin can be restored to their original location by using the 'Restore' option of Recycle Bin. To empty the Recycle Bin, simply right click on this icon and-select 'Empty Recycle Bin' option.
? My Computer: Double clicking the "My Computer" icon will open a window that displays the contents of the computer. All the files and folders available in the computer can be viewed here. It also allows you to display the system and hardware information.
? Network Neighborhood: "Network Neighborhood" icon displays windows from other computers and resources, like printer, connected to the network.
( b) WINDOWS EXPLORER
Windows Explorer is a utility that represents the contents of the computer in a graphical form. It allows you to do various file and disk management tasks like copy, rename, move and delete file(s) and create folder(s) and sub-folder(s), format floppies etc. It is the quickest way to get a complete view of the contents of computer.
Windows Explorer can be accessed:
Start -+ Programs -+ Windows Explorer
Ø Elements of window explorer:
Standard Toolbar: Gives access to the commonly used functions.
Address Bar: Displays the path of the selected document. Document could be a file, folder, sub-folder or a drive itself. The selected item is usually displayed in blue colour.
Tree View: Windows Explorer displays all the items in a tree view structure. Items can be expanded and contracted by clicking on the plus and minus signs that appear next to some of the icons. 'Plus' sign indicates that there are more items within the folder. 'Minus' sign represents the expanded view. Icons that have neither a plus sign nor a minus sign indicate that there are no additional items inside them.
Left/Right Pane: The left pane of the Windows Explorer is used to select a folder or drive so that its contents can be displayed in the right pane. The name of the selected folder is displayed in the window's title bar. As soon as you select a different folder in the left pane, the contents of the right pane change to reflect that folder's contents.
Ø Features of Windows Explorer
Following are the few features of Window Explorer
1) Creating Folders and Files: We can create various folders & files in the same explorer
2) Creating Sub-folders: Sub folders can be created within original folder.
3) Opening Folder: From the left pane, we can select any folder to explore further for sub-folders, files etc.
4) Opening files: Desired double clicking on that particular folder and files can open file of any application.
5) Copying files: We can copy folders files into the other folder by selecting & pasting it to the desires place. Copying can be done using various methods in Window explorer e.g. Click & Drag method, Copy & Paste method, Selecting range of files & pasting method, selecting selected files with the help of control key & pasting
6) Renaming files/Folders: Files and folders can be renamed using window explorer
7) Deleting files/Folders: Selected files & folders can be deleted.
8) Changing folder views: Folders in Windows Explorer can be viewed in different views. E.g. Large Icon View, Small Icon View, List View, Details View. Details view displays information like item name, size, type and the date item was last created or modified. We can sort all files and folders by date wise, type wise and name wise.
(C)MAIN FEATURES OF WORDPAD
WordPad is a simple word processor that is included with almost all versions of Microsoft Windows from Windows 95 upwards. It is more advanced than Notepad, but not as advanced as Microsoft Word.
WordPad is the one of the commonly used accessory. It is a the text based editor that supports more features than Notepad. WordPad can be for files larger than 64 KB. It supports all the features than Notepad. Some of the features of the WordPad are as under.
1) Allows formatting of text using different font style, colours and bullets.
2) Different alignment options (Left, Right, and Centre) are provided for the paragraphs.
3) Allows to set page margins and a preview of the page can be seen of how document would appear in print.
4) Toolbars are provided that provide quick access to commonly used functions. User has option to View/hide the toolbars.
5) Allows to embed/link an object into a WordPad document from the another file.
6) Find and replace can be used to locate a particular piece of text within a document.
7) It can be used to automatically replace a particular piece of text with something else.
WordPad can be accessed from:
Start Programs Accessories WordPad
Friday, July 11, 2008
STEPS FOR INSTALLING LINUX
To explain the steps involved in the installation of Linux, RED HAT LINUX 8.0 has been chosen. The following information represents the minimum hardware requirements necessary to successfully install Red Hat Linux:
CPU:
(1) Minimum: Pentium-class, (2) Recommended for text-mode: 200 MHz Pentium-class or better (3) Recommended for graphical: 400 MHz Pentium II or better
Hard Disk Space :
1) Custom Installation (minimum): 475MB, 2) Server (minimum): 850MB 3) Personal Desktop: 1.7GB, 4) Workstation: 2.1GB, 5) Custom Installation (everything): 5.0GB
Memory:
1) Minimum for text-mode: 64MB, 2) Minimum for graphical: 128MB, 3)Recommended for graphical: 192MB
Ø INSTALLATION STEPS:
1. Insert the Linux install CD into the CD-ROM drive and reboot your system. The computer will automatically boot from the CD and a text-based menu will be displayed.
2. You will then need to choose an installation environment. The default is the graphical installation (GUI). If you prefer a text-based install, type "text" at the prompt and hit the Enter key.
3. Next step is to select the Language for installation programmer. Default language is English.
4. Select your keyboard layout and Mouse type. Accepting the default (US English) should work in most cases.
5. Select the type of installation (Workstation /Server/Custom). If you have a previous installation, the option of updating it will also be provided.
6. Choose Disk Druid or fdisk. Partition sizes and numbers may vary with your set up, but as a bare minimum, you will need to create a ‘/’ (root) and a swap partition.
7. Enter the details of configuration of your network interfaces.
8. The firewall configuration screen offers a choice of firewall configurations. Choose 'Medium Firewall' for the time being without worrying too much as this stage about the concept of a firewall.
9. For time zone selection for India, choose "Asia/Calcutta". There is also option of setting the UTC to +5.
10. Enter a root password when prompted. Do not forget it. You should create a user account here, which you will be using to work on your machine. It is not advisable to work as root at all times.
11. Select the packages that you want to install. You get to choose from installing KDE, GNOME and a collection of other utilities.
12. Select the video card that you have, the installer would try to auto detect the card for you, failing which you can select it manually.
13. If your monitor type is not listed, select custom and enter your monitor specifications manually. Select the colour depth and the screen resolution that you wish to run the X Window system in, after installation. Choose your default desktop environment and whether you want a graphical or a text-based login. You can test the X Window configuration after installation and then switch to graphics based login.
14. The installer will now format the Linux partitions and will install the required packages. You can watch the progress of the formatting by switching to the virtual terminals using Alt+ 1 to Alt+5 (if you are doing a text based install) or by using Ctrl+Alt+2 to Ctrl+Alt+5 (for graphics based install).
15. After some time you would be prompted to insert other CD’s one - by - one. Insert this as prompted by the installation.
16. Once all the packages are installed, you will be given the opportunity create a book disk. It is strongly recommended that you create one at this stage.
17. At this point, the installation is completed. Remove the CD – ROM from drive and reboot using the Linux system that you have just installed.
CPU:
(1) Minimum: Pentium-class, (2) Recommended for text-mode: 200 MHz Pentium-class or better (3) Recommended for graphical: 400 MHz Pentium II or better
Hard Disk Space :
1) Custom Installation (minimum): 475MB, 2) Server (minimum): 850MB 3) Personal Desktop: 1.7GB, 4) Workstation: 2.1GB, 5) Custom Installation (everything): 5.0GB
Memory:
1) Minimum for text-mode: 64MB, 2) Minimum for graphical: 128MB, 3)Recommended for graphical: 192MB
Ø INSTALLATION STEPS:
1. Insert the Linux install CD into the CD-ROM drive and reboot your system. The computer will automatically boot from the CD and a text-based menu will be displayed.
2. You will then need to choose an installation environment. The default is the graphical installation (GUI). If you prefer a text-based install, type "text" at the prompt and hit the Enter key.
3. Next step is to select the Language for installation programmer. Default language is English.
4. Select your keyboard layout and Mouse type. Accepting the default (US English) should work in most cases.
5. Select the type of installation (Workstation /Server/Custom). If you have a previous installation, the option of updating it will also be provided.
6. Choose Disk Druid or fdisk. Partition sizes and numbers may vary with your set up, but as a bare minimum, you will need to create a ‘/’ (root) and a swap partition.
7. Enter the details of configuration of your network interfaces.
8. The firewall configuration screen offers a choice of firewall configurations. Choose 'Medium Firewall' for the time being without worrying too much as this stage about the concept of a firewall.
9. For time zone selection for India, choose "Asia/Calcutta". There is also option of setting the UTC to +5.
10. Enter a root password when prompted. Do not forget it. You should create a user account here, which you will be using to work on your machine. It is not advisable to work as root at all times.
11. Select the packages that you want to install. You get to choose from installing KDE, GNOME and a collection of other utilities.
12. Select the video card that you have, the installer would try to auto detect the card for you, failing which you can select it manually.
13. If your monitor type is not listed, select custom and enter your monitor specifications manually. Select the colour depth and the screen resolution that you wish to run the X Window system in, after installation. Choose your default desktop environment and whether you want a graphical or a text-based login. You can test the X Window configuration after installation and then switch to graphics based login.
14. The installer will now format the Linux partitions and will install the required packages. You can watch the progress of the formatting by switching to the virtual terminals using Alt+ 1 to Alt+5 (if you are doing a text based install) or by using Ctrl+Alt+2 to Ctrl+Alt+5 (for graphics based install).
15. After some time you would be prompted to insert other CD’s one - by - one. Insert this as prompted by the installation.
16. Once all the packages are installed, you will be given the opportunity create a book disk. It is strongly recommended that you create one at this stage.
17. At this point, the installation is completed. Remove the CD – ROM from drive and reboot using the Linux system that you have just installed.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The various features of Linux. What are the steps for installing Linux
¯ FEATURES OF LINUX:
Linux is a UNIX like operating system originally developed by Linus Torvalds, a student of University of Helsinki. Linux was developed by thousands of developers and is available for free on the Internet. Linux is written and distributed under the GNU General Public License. Technically Linux is strictly an OS kernel (Kernel is the core of an Operating System.). Linux come with a collection of software including desktop, server programs, networking suites, compilers, and many more utilities make it a complete operating system. For example, the recent version of Linux includes the XFree86 version of the X Window System, the GNU C compiler GCC and code from quite a lot of other sources.
Following are the various features of Linux
1) Multi tasking: Linux is a multi-tasking system, allowing multiple users to run multiple programs on the same system at the same time.
2) Multi-user: It is multi-user operating system, allowing multiple users to use the computer and run programs at the same time.
3) Hardware support: Runs on a variety of computer architectures, including ARM, SP ARC, Alpha, PowerPC, M68k, MIPS and Intel.
4) Reliable: Highly reliable and stable operating system, it can run for months, even years, without having to be rebooted.
5) Multiple processor support: Supports the use of multiple processors. More processors can be added without disturbing the existing hardware set up. Software dependencies: Implements shared libraries. For example, if Program A and Program B share a common piece of code then the common code is placed in a separate file so that any program requiring this common routine can refer to this file rather than including the code in each program. This saves a large amount of space on your system.
6) Graphical User Interface (GUI): Linux provides the freedom to use any user interface-programming library you choose. KDE (K Desktop Environment, K does not have an expansion) and GNOME are the two main graphical user interfaces aiming to make Linux easy for computer users to operate. They are free softwares coming under the GNU General Public License.
7) KDE: is a powerful Open Source graphical desktop environment that combines ease of use, contemporary functionality and outstanding graphical design. KDE desktop is very similar to the Windows 98/NT environment. It provides a complete desktop environment by including:
(i) Standardised menus and toolbars, key bindings, colour-schemes and many more. (ii)Dialog driven desktop configuration. (iii) File Manager for easy management of files and directories. (iv) KDEPrint for administration of various printing engines and management of enterprise networked printing systems. (v) An integrated help system allowing for convenient, consistent access to help on the use of the KDE desktop and its applications. (vi) Browser Support including support for Java Script and DHTML. (vii) Innumerable utilities and applications like:
8) KDE-Network: KMail, KNode, Knewsticker etc.
9) KDE-Graphics: Graphics applications such as KDVI, KGhostview, KPaint, Kfax
10) KDE-Utilities: KEdit, KCalc, KHexEdit, Knotes
11) KDE-Edu: Edutainment related programs
12) KDE-Games: KAsteroids, KPat, KTetris
13) KDE-Admin: Various tools to aid system administration
14) KOffice: Integrated office suite
15) TCP/IP networking support: Linux supports most Internet protocols. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is built into the kernel itself. TCPIIP is the communication protocol that binds the Internet.
16) High level security: It has many built in security features to protect your system from unauthorised users. It stores the passwords in encrypted form which cannot be decrypted.
17) Web server: It can be used to run web servers like Apache, serving various application protocols such as HTTP, FTP, SMTP and many more. It can also be used as an email server or a file server.
18) Database support: All major brands like Sybase, Informix and Oracle run well on Linux.
19) Programming support: It provides programming support for various languages like Fortan, Pascal, C, C++ and many web technologies.
20) Free: It can be downloaded for free from the Internet and its source code is freely available to everyone. Since the source code is open, bugs can be fixed easily without having to wait for proprietary vendors to fix the encountered problems.
21) GNU software support: Linux supports a wide range of free software written by the GNU Project, including utilities such as the GNU C and C++ compiler, and so on. Many of the essential system utilities used by Linux are GNU software.
22) The X Window system: X Windows is the de facto industry standard graphics system for UNIX machines. A free version of The X Window System, known as 'Xfree86' is available for Linux. The X Window System is a very powerful graphics interface that allows multiple login sessions in different windows on the screen at the same time.
Linux is a UNIX like operating system originally developed by Linus Torvalds, a student of University of Helsinki. Linux was developed by thousands of developers and is available for free on the Internet. Linux is written and distributed under the GNU General Public License. Technically Linux is strictly an OS kernel (Kernel is the core of an Operating System.). Linux come with a collection of software including desktop, server programs, networking suites, compilers, and many more utilities make it a complete operating system. For example, the recent version of Linux includes the XFree86 version of the X Window System, the GNU C compiler GCC and code from quite a lot of other sources.
Following are the various features of Linux
1) Multi tasking: Linux is a multi-tasking system, allowing multiple users to run multiple programs on the same system at the same time.
2) Multi-user: It is multi-user operating system, allowing multiple users to use the computer and run programs at the same time.
3) Hardware support: Runs on a variety of computer architectures, including ARM, SP ARC, Alpha, PowerPC, M68k, MIPS and Intel.
4) Reliable: Highly reliable and stable operating system, it can run for months, even years, without having to be rebooted.
5) Multiple processor support: Supports the use of multiple processors. More processors can be added without disturbing the existing hardware set up. Software dependencies: Implements shared libraries. For example, if Program A and Program B share a common piece of code then the common code is placed in a separate file so that any program requiring this common routine can refer to this file rather than including the code in each program. This saves a large amount of space on your system.
6) Graphical User Interface (GUI): Linux provides the freedom to use any user interface-programming library you choose. KDE (K Desktop Environment, K does not have an expansion) and GNOME are the two main graphical user interfaces aiming to make Linux easy for computer users to operate. They are free softwares coming under the GNU General Public License.
7) KDE: is a powerful Open Source graphical desktop environment that combines ease of use, contemporary functionality and outstanding graphical design. KDE desktop is very similar to the Windows 98/NT environment. It provides a complete desktop environment by including:
(i) Standardised menus and toolbars, key bindings, colour-schemes and many more. (ii)Dialog driven desktop configuration. (iii) File Manager for easy management of files and directories. (iv) KDEPrint for administration of various printing engines and management of enterprise networked printing systems. (v) An integrated help system allowing for convenient, consistent access to help on the use of the KDE desktop and its applications. (vi) Browser Support including support for Java Script and DHTML. (vii) Innumerable utilities and applications like:
8) KDE-Network: KMail, KNode, Knewsticker etc.
9) KDE-Graphics: Graphics applications such as KDVI, KGhostview, KPaint, Kfax
10) KDE-Utilities: KEdit, KCalc, KHexEdit, Knotes
11) KDE-Edu: Edutainment related programs
12) KDE-Games: KAsteroids, KPat, KTetris
13) KDE-Admin: Various tools to aid system administration
14) KOffice: Integrated office suite
15) TCP/IP networking support: Linux supports most Internet protocols. TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is built into the kernel itself. TCPIIP is the communication protocol that binds the Internet.
16) High level security: It has many built in security features to protect your system from unauthorised users. It stores the passwords in encrypted form which cannot be decrypted.
17) Web server: It can be used to run web servers like Apache, serving various application protocols such as HTTP, FTP, SMTP and many more. It can also be used as an email server or a file server.
18) Database support: All major brands like Sybase, Informix and Oracle run well on Linux.
19) Programming support: It provides programming support for various languages like Fortan, Pascal, C, C++ and many web technologies.
20) Free: It can be downloaded for free from the Internet and its source code is freely available to everyone. Since the source code is open, bugs can be fixed easily without having to wait for proprietary vendors to fix the encountered problems.
21) GNU software support: Linux supports a wide range of free software written by the GNU Project, including utilities such as the GNU C and C++ compiler, and so on. Many of the essential system utilities used by Linux are GNU software.
22) The X Window system: X Windows is the de facto industry standard graphics system for UNIX machines. A free version of The X Window System, known as 'Xfree86' is available for Linux. The X Window System is a very powerful graphics interface that allows multiple login sessions in different windows on the screen at the same time.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The various elements of multimedia. Discuss the applications of multimedia in the field of education.
¬ ELEMENTS OF MULTIMEDIA:
Multimedia means multi (many) and media refers to communication/transfer medium. Multimedia is comprised of several elements including text, graphics, sound, video, and animation. Kiosks and CD-ROM applications are excellent vehicles for presenting information with the dynamics of multimedia. Multimedia is characterized by an Audio-Visual interface, which provides an excellent instruction medium for user interactivity.
Following are brief explanations of each multimedia element and how they can be used:
Text:
Text is perhaps the most fundamental element of any multimedia project. Text-based information can also be gathered from resource CDs and the Internet. Words are vital elements of multimedia that can appear in the titles, menus, navigation aids and in the content of a multimedia application or project. It is most essential to use words that have the most precise, legible, powerful meanings and visible size to express what you need to convey..
Hyperlinks:
Hypertext is the organization of information units into connected associations that a user can choose to make. An instance of such an association is called a Hyperlink. When a user clicks on such a cross-link words, images, videos or sound files, more information on the particular topic is displayed. It, therefore, provides the user an option of reading as much information as required.
Graphics:
Graphics can be incorporated into a multimedia project in the form of photographs or designs. Original graphic designs can be created with applications such as Hyper Studio, Movie Works, and Photoshop LE. Generally Image files are compressed to save memory and disk space of computer. GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and PNG (Portable Network Graphics) are examples of compressed image file.
Animation:
Graphics that contain movement are often referred to as animation. Animation gives visual impact to your multimedia application. Animation files can be downloaded from the Internet in the form of animated GIF files and can be viewed, edited & created with QuickTime Pro, Hyper Studio, and Movie Works. MS PowerPoint is a tool used for creating primitive animations. Visual effects like fly, wipes, dissolves, fades and zooms can be added to any object. You can create complex animations using tools like Director, 3D Studio Max, CompuServe and Shockwave.
Sound:
Sound is used to set the rhythm or a mood in a package. Sound can be added to a multimedia presentation from a variety of sources. Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) is a communication standard developed in early 1980's for electronic musical instruments and computers.
Video:
Moving images or video can be incorporated into a multimedia project as QuickTime movies. QuickTime Pro, Hyper Studio, and Movie Works can be used with a camcorder or VCR to create and edit QuickTime movies for playback
¬ APPLICATIONS OF MULTIMEDIA IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION:
Multimedia. is a term frequently heard and discussed among educational technologists today. Unless clearly defined, the term can alternately mean a judicious mix of various mass media such as print, audio and video computer-based hardware and software packages produced on a mass scale for sake of better understanding in education.
Multimedia plays a vital role in all the fields of real life.
As compared to traditional 'Stand and Deliver' teaching methodology, training imparted using animated, interactive and instructional multimedia applications has proven to be more useful. Apart from making the subject interesting, it increases information retention and learning capacity of the users. The potential for students of all ages to author as part of a creative educational programme that focuses on achievement of goals and competencies rather than time served, will help educators to shift from teacher to facilitator and mentor. Some applications of multimedia in education are stated below:
Computer encyclopedias have gained considerable popularity in recent years as they allow the user a non-linear navigation of text; user can quickly access the desired topic.
The web can be thought of as a global digital multimedia library. The concept of e-learning or online learning using interactive communication tools has grown tremendously with the popularity of www. It is accessible to a large number of people, can be accessed from anywhere and everywhere and promotes the quality of learning experiences and outcomes.
Multimedia can be used for "stimulating different types of environments used for training purposes. For example: flight attendants can be trained to manage terrorism and security by artificially simulating such an environment.
Libraries, arts and cultural centres, and learner support systems are already using interactive communication tools. Multimedia documents can also be designed to receive information from the reader and subsequently process it to provide individualized solutions. This has added a new dimension to the reading/writing process and the skills involved can be reinforced.
Multimedia means multi (many) and media refers to communication/transfer medium. Multimedia is comprised of several elements including text, graphics, sound, video, and animation. Kiosks and CD-ROM applications are excellent vehicles for presenting information with the dynamics of multimedia. Multimedia is characterized by an Audio-Visual interface, which provides an excellent instruction medium for user interactivity.
Following are brief explanations of each multimedia element and how they can be used:
Text:
Text is perhaps the most fundamental element of any multimedia project. Text-based information can also be gathered from resource CDs and the Internet. Words are vital elements of multimedia that can appear in the titles, menus, navigation aids and in the content of a multimedia application or project. It is most essential to use words that have the most precise, legible, powerful meanings and visible size to express what you need to convey..
Hyperlinks:
Hypertext is the organization of information units into connected associations that a user can choose to make. An instance of such an association is called a Hyperlink. When a user clicks on such a cross-link words, images, videos or sound files, more information on the particular topic is displayed. It, therefore, provides the user an option of reading as much information as required.
Graphics:
Graphics can be incorporated into a multimedia project in the form of photographs or designs. Original graphic designs can be created with applications such as Hyper Studio, Movie Works, and Photoshop LE. Generally Image files are compressed to save memory and disk space of computer. GIF (Graphics Interchange Format), JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) and PNG (Portable Network Graphics) are examples of compressed image file.
Animation:
Graphics that contain movement are often referred to as animation. Animation gives visual impact to your multimedia application. Animation files can be downloaded from the Internet in the form of animated GIF files and can be viewed, edited & created with QuickTime Pro, Hyper Studio, and Movie Works. MS PowerPoint is a tool used for creating primitive animations. Visual effects like fly, wipes, dissolves, fades and zooms can be added to any object. You can create complex animations using tools like Director, 3D Studio Max, CompuServe and Shockwave.
Sound:
Sound is used to set the rhythm or a mood in a package. Sound can be added to a multimedia presentation from a variety of sources. Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) is a communication standard developed in early 1980's for electronic musical instruments and computers.
Video:
Moving images or video can be incorporated into a multimedia project as QuickTime movies. QuickTime Pro, Hyper Studio, and Movie Works can be used with a camcorder or VCR to create and edit QuickTime movies for playback
¬ APPLICATIONS OF MULTIMEDIA IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION:
Multimedia. is a term frequently heard and discussed among educational technologists today. Unless clearly defined, the term can alternately mean a judicious mix of various mass media such as print, audio and video computer-based hardware and software packages produced on a mass scale for sake of better understanding in education.
Multimedia plays a vital role in all the fields of real life.
As compared to traditional 'Stand and Deliver' teaching methodology, training imparted using animated, interactive and instructional multimedia applications has proven to be more useful. Apart from making the subject interesting, it increases information retention and learning capacity of the users. The potential for students of all ages to author as part of a creative educational programme that focuses on achievement of goals and competencies rather than time served, will help educators to shift from teacher to facilitator and mentor. Some applications of multimedia in education are stated below:
Computer encyclopedias have gained considerable popularity in recent years as they allow the user a non-linear navigation of text; user can quickly access the desired topic.
The web can be thought of as a global digital multimedia library. The concept of e-learning or online learning using interactive communication tools has grown tremendously with the popularity of www. It is accessible to a large number of people, can be accessed from anywhere and everywhere and promotes the quality of learning experiences and outcomes.
Multimedia can be used for "stimulating different types of environments used for training purposes. For example: flight attendants can be trained to manage terrorism and security by artificially simulating such an environment.
Libraries, arts and cultural centres, and learner support systems are already using interactive communication tools. Multimedia documents can also be designed to receive information from the reader and subsequently process it to provide individualized solutions. This has added a new dimension to the reading/writing process and the skills involved can be reinforced.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Video Input or Capture Process
Writing a thorough Video Capture guide is impossible due to the large amount of devices that are available on the market.
The way Digital Video editing has been done in the past was to take a video capture card, hook up VCR or LD player to it, and then capture clips to your hard drive. This is still a very viable method (and indeed the only good option open to you if you don't have DVDs).
A Video Capture card will usually have a video-in connector - either Composite video (the yellow plug with one prong that usually comes in a set of 3 along with a left and right audio connector) or S-Video (usually a black cable where the plug has four or six pins coming out of it). There are some with Component but if you have a card that does Component you don't need to be reading this guide.
Install Virtual Dub and then run it and select Capture AVI from the file-menu. If it comes up and says there is no capture device, most likely your capture card is not supported.
When you go to capture your video, change the color format to be YUV, YUY2, UYVY or something similar if the option is available. This will give you better compression later. Then select a video compressor.
Then select your capture resolution. First try 720x480 or 704x480 if it is available. If you try capturing with these and you get dropped frames, try lowering your resolution to 360x480 or 352x480 if you can. This will maintain all the vertical resolution and scan lines and simply drop half your horizontal resolution.
If you start to get dropped frames, make sure that "preview" is off, and you are either capturing with Overlay or blind since this will save CPU cycles. Also, obviously close all other programs and make sure you aren't doing anything else. Capturing video is very processor intensive. It's also recommended to have a lot of free space handy on whatever drive you're capturing too, as well as decrementing the drive. Defragmentation can give HUGE speed increases (in the neighborhood of 3x speed increase) when it comes to working with large files.
Tips: The video you capture will only be as good as the source it came from. If the tapes are worn, the captured footage will reflect that. Try and store your old tapes in a cool, dry place. Before recording, "pack" your videotape by fast-forwarding to the end of the tape and then rewinding back to the beginning before playing. This will allow for smooth playback while capturing the video.
If your source device has S-Video output, make sure you use that instead of composite (RCA) video output. S-Video delivers a much higher picture quality than composite video.
If you want to capture lots of video to burn to DVD, make sure you have a large hard drive, or better yet, use a separate hard drive for storing video.
Devices Required:
A Computer
A Video Capture Device
Video Capture Software
If you want to edit your video, you will need Video Editing Software
If you want to record your video to DVD you will need DVD Recording software
You will need a DVD Burner to physically record the DVD
The way Digital Video editing has been done in the past was to take a video capture card, hook up VCR or LD player to it, and then capture clips to your hard drive. This is still a very viable method (and indeed the only good option open to you if you don't have DVDs).
A Video Capture card will usually have a video-in connector - either Composite video (the yellow plug with one prong that usually comes in a set of 3 along with a left and right audio connector) or S-Video (usually a black cable where the plug has four or six pins coming out of it). There are some with Component but if you have a card that does Component you don't need to be reading this guide.
Install Virtual Dub and then run it and select Capture AVI from the file-menu. If it comes up and says there is no capture device, most likely your capture card is not supported.
When you go to capture your video, change the color format to be YUV, YUY2, UYVY or something similar if the option is available. This will give you better compression later. Then select a video compressor.
Then select your capture resolution. First try 720x480 or 704x480 if it is available. If you try capturing with these and you get dropped frames, try lowering your resolution to 360x480 or 352x480 if you can. This will maintain all the vertical resolution and scan lines and simply drop half your horizontal resolution.
If you start to get dropped frames, make sure that "preview" is off, and you are either capturing with Overlay or blind since this will save CPU cycles. Also, obviously close all other programs and make sure you aren't doing anything else. Capturing video is very processor intensive. It's also recommended to have a lot of free space handy on whatever drive you're capturing too, as well as decrementing the drive. Defragmentation can give HUGE speed increases (in the neighborhood of 3x speed increase) when it comes to working with large files.
Tips: The video you capture will only be as good as the source it came from. If the tapes are worn, the captured footage will reflect that. Try and store your old tapes in a cool, dry place. Before recording, "pack" your videotape by fast-forwarding to the end of the tape and then rewinding back to the beginning before playing. This will allow for smooth playback while capturing the video.
If your source device has S-Video output, make sure you use that instead of composite (RCA) video output. S-Video delivers a much higher picture quality than composite video.
If you want to capture lots of video to burn to DVD, make sure you have a large hard drive, or better yet, use a separate hard drive for storing video.
Devices Required:
A Computer
A Video Capture Device
Video Capture Software
If you want to edit your video, you will need Video Editing Software
If you want to record your video to DVD you will need DVD Recording software
You will need a DVD Burner to physically record the DVD
The purpose of hand-held scanner
In computing, a scanner is a Input device that analyzes & captures an image (such as a photograph, printed text, or handwriting) or an object (such as an ornament) from the source documents into the Computer system and converts it to a digital image. Scanner facilitates the capturing information in graphical as well in editable format. The graphical images thus scanned can be seen and processed directly by the computer.
Two types of scanner are CONTACT and LASER. Most scanners today are variations of the desktop (or flatbed) scanner. The flatbed scanner is the most common in offices.
Hand-held scanner is the laser scanner, where the device is moved by hand. The main purpose of using hand-held scanner is for quickly capturing text.
Hand-held scanner is that, which moves across the image to be scanned by hand. They are small and less expensive than their desktop counterparts, but rely on the dexterity of the user to move the unit across the paper. Trays are available that keep the scanner moving in a straight line.
Handheld scanners are a convenient way to get printed text into an editable format on your computer, but the best devices are prohibitively expensive.
Hand scanners are manual devices, which are dragged across the surface of the image to be scanned. Scanning documents in this manner requires a steady hand, as an uneven scanning rate would produce distorted images. They typically have a "start" button which is held by the user for the duration of the scan, some switches to set the optical resolution, and a roller which generates a clock pulse for synchronization with the computer. A typical hand scanner also had a small window through which the document being scanned could be viewed.
Handheld scanners have scan heads 4-5 inches wide, which makes them very portable. They plug into parallel port so they're easy to share among people and can be a good addition to laptop.
You can get cheap handheld scanners for under $150, but their declining popularity might make them hard to find. Another kind of handheld scanner is the pen scanner. You drag a pen scanner over a line of print like a highlighter. The built-in optical recognition software turns the scan into text, which can be transferred in to a computer via serial or USB port. Handheld Barcode scanners are also well known & in use for reading barcode of the items in a most of the shopping centers.
In case of some advanced Hand-held scanners for e.g Wizcom Handheld scanner, the device can "see" text and automatically activate the scanner when text comes into its field of view. Then, you only have to roll the pen smoothly over the line you want to capture and lift it off the page at the end of the text line. The optical character recognition (OCR) engine then translates the scanned images into editable text.
Handheld scanners use the same basic technology as a flatbed scanner, but rely on the user to move them instead of a motorized belt. It is briefly popular but is now not used due to the difficulty of obtaining a high-quality image.
Two types of scanner are CONTACT and LASER. Most scanners today are variations of the desktop (or flatbed) scanner. The flatbed scanner is the most common in offices.
Hand-held scanner is the laser scanner, where the device is moved by hand. The main purpose of using hand-held scanner is for quickly capturing text.
Hand-held scanner is that, which moves across the image to be scanned by hand. They are small and less expensive than their desktop counterparts, but rely on the dexterity of the user to move the unit across the paper. Trays are available that keep the scanner moving in a straight line.
Handheld scanners are a convenient way to get printed text into an editable format on your computer, but the best devices are prohibitively expensive.
Hand scanners are manual devices, which are dragged across the surface of the image to be scanned. Scanning documents in this manner requires a steady hand, as an uneven scanning rate would produce distorted images. They typically have a "start" button which is held by the user for the duration of the scan, some switches to set the optical resolution, and a roller which generates a clock pulse for synchronization with the computer. A typical hand scanner also had a small window through which the document being scanned could be viewed.
Handheld scanners have scan heads 4-5 inches wide, which makes them very portable. They plug into parallel port so they're easy to share among people and can be a good addition to laptop.
You can get cheap handheld scanners for under $150, but their declining popularity might make them hard to find. Another kind of handheld scanner is the pen scanner. You drag a pen scanner over a line of print like a highlighter. The built-in optical recognition software turns the scan into text, which can be transferred in to a computer via serial or USB port. Handheld Barcode scanners are also well known & in use for reading barcode of the items in a most of the shopping centers.
In case of some advanced Hand-held scanners for e.g Wizcom Handheld scanner, the device can "see" text and automatically activate the scanner when text comes into its field of view. Then, you only have to roll the pen smoothly over the line you want to capture and lift it off the page at the end of the text line. The optical character recognition (OCR) engine then translates the scanned images into editable text.
Handheld scanners use the same basic technology as a flatbed scanner, but rely on the user to move them instead of a motorized belt. It is briefly popular but is now not used due to the difficulty of obtaining a high-quality image.
The purpose of hand-held scanner
In computing, a scanner is a Input device that analyzes & captures an image (such as a photograph, printed text, or handwriting) or an object (such as an ornament) from the source documents into the Computer system and converts it to a digital image. Scanner facilitates the capturing information in graphical as well in editable format. The graphical images thus scanned can be seen and processed directly by the computer.
Two types of scanner are CONTACT and LASER. Most scanners today are variations of the desktop (or flatbed) scanner. The flatbed scanner is the most common in offices.
Hand-held scanner is the laser scanner, where the device is moved by hand. The main purpose of using hand-held scanner is for quickly capturing text.
Hand-held scanner is that, which moves across the image to be scanned by hand. They are small and less expensive than their desktop counterparts, but rely on the dexterity of the user to move the unit across the paper. Trays are available that keep the scanner moving in a straight line.
Handheld scanners are a convenient way to get printed text into an editable format on your computer, but the best devices are prohibitively expensive.
Hand scanners are manual devices, which are dragged across the surface of the image to be scanned. Scanning documents in this manner requires a steady hand, as an uneven scanning rate would produce distorted images. They typically have a "start" button which is held by the user for the duration of the scan, some switches to set the optical resolution, and a roller which generates a clock pulse for synchronization with the computer. A typical hand scanner also had a small window through which the document being scanned could be viewed.
Handheld scanners have scan heads 4-5 inches wide, which makes them very portable. They plug into parallel port so they're easy to share among people and can be a good addition to laptop.
You can get cheap handheld scanners for under $150, but their declining popularity might make them hard to find. Another kind of handheld scanner is the pen scanner. You drag a pen scanner over a line of print like a highlighter. The built-in optical recognition software turns the scan into text, which can be transferred in to a computer via serial or USB port. Handheld Barcode scanners are also well known & in use for reading barcode of the items in a most of the shopping centers.
In case of some advanced Hand-held scanners for e.g Wizcom Handheld scanner, the device can "see" text and automatically activate the scanner when text comes into its field of view. Then, you only have to roll the pen smoothly over the line you want to capture and lift it off the page at the end of the text line. The optical character recognition (OCR) engine then translates the scanned images into editable text.
Handheld scanners use the same basic technology as a flatbed scanner, but rely on the user to move them instead of a motorized belt. It is briefly popular but is now not used due to the difficulty of obtaining a high-quality image.
Two types of scanner are CONTACT and LASER. Most scanners today are variations of the desktop (or flatbed) scanner. The flatbed scanner is the most common in offices.
Hand-held scanner is the laser scanner, where the device is moved by hand. The main purpose of using hand-held scanner is for quickly capturing text.
Hand-held scanner is that, which moves across the image to be scanned by hand. They are small and less expensive than their desktop counterparts, but rely on the dexterity of the user to move the unit across the paper. Trays are available that keep the scanner moving in a straight line.
Handheld scanners are a convenient way to get printed text into an editable format on your computer, but the best devices are prohibitively expensive.
Hand scanners are manual devices, which are dragged across the surface of the image to be scanned. Scanning documents in this manner requires a steady hand, as an uneven scanning rate would produce distorted images. They typically have a "start" button which is held by the user for the duration of the scan, some switches to set the optical resolution, and a roller which generates a clock pulse for synchronization with the computer. A typical hand scanner also had a small window through which the document being scanned could be viewed.
Handheld scanners have scan heads 4-5 inches wide, which makes them very portable. They plug into parallel port so they're easy to share among people and can be a good addition to laptop.
You can get cheap handheld scanners for under $150, but their declining popularity might make them hard to find. Another kind of handheld scanner is the pen scanner. You drag a pen scanner over a line of print like a highlighter. The built-in optical recognition software turns the scan into text, which can be transferred in to a computer via serial or USB port. Handheld Barcode scanners are also well known & in use for reading barcode of the items in a most of the shopping centers.
In case of some advanced Hand-held scanners for e.g Wizcom Handheld scanner, the device can "see" text and automatically activate the scanner when text comes into its field of view. Then, you only have to roll the pen smoothly over the line you want to capture and lift it off the page at the end of the text line. The optical character recognition (OCR) engine then translates the scanned images into editable text.
Handheld scanners use the same basic technology as a flatbed scanner, but rely on the user to move them instead of a motorized belt. It is briefly popular but is now not used due to the difficulty of obtaining a high-quality image.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Losing to big sister Venus little solace for Serena
WIMBLEDON, England -- Serena Williams hates to lose.
This is not a well-kept secret.
Her attitude after a big defeat confirms it. A lioness who survives to hunt each opponent as prey, Serena's competitive heart just doesn't compute allowances for failure.
Even her family confirms, the concept of being checkmated is the bane of Serena's existence. In fact, her relatives willingly take much of the blame for her inability to deal with defeat as an outgrowth of them always spoiling her as the baby of the family. Her sister, Lyndrea, who flew in from Los Angeles yesterday, said Serena to this day can't even bear to lose when they play the card game "spoons."
"Serena thinks everything is supposed to go her way, that's the bottom line," said mom/coach Oracene Price, who had finally removed the large sunglasses she hid behind during the match. "She thinks that's the way it's supposed to go in life. But this is life."
Serena's face in disappointment always tells the story -- it's a sour frown, one of anger and disbelief that anyone, even her sister Venus, would have the goods to one better her in a match. And that's the look we all were treated to when Venus solidified her position as the pre-eminent grass-court player of her generation with a fifth Wimbledon title, a title that came at the expense of Serena in an entertaining 7-5, 6-4 victory on Saturday afternoon.
CARL DE SOUZA/Getty Images
Serena Williams let her frustration show during Saturday's final as her chance at another Wimbledon title -- and another win over her big sister Venus in a Grand Slam final -- slipped away."It's definitely not any easier," said Serena, about coming up short in a Grand Slam final to kin instead of a nonrelated rival. "I just look at her as another opponent at the end of the day. I don't think it's harder, but it's definitely not easier."
To drive home the point of how unacceptable a loss is to Serena, it can be noted that while she gave Venus credit for her abilities on grass, she managed to insert herself into the explanatory equation. And let's remember when pondering the comment, Venus has five Wimbledon titles and Serena has only two, although she did win her two with final victories over Venus in 2002 and '03.
"Well, it says a lot about her. I mean, she's won five Wimbledons now," Serena said. "She's beaten me on grass now, so that definitely says a lot."
It should be made clear that being a bit of a sore loser does not mean that Serena exhibits unsportsmanlike behavior. The fact that she conceded a game point in the ninth game of the first set to Venus during the final after umpire Carlos Ramos called for them to replay the point, is a testament to her fairness in battle.
Certainly, Serena's passion for competition and success supports her future candidacy as one of the all-time greats of the game. She's already won eight Grand Slam titles, at least one at each of the four majors, dating back to her first as a 17-year-old at the 1999 U.S. Open. She's captured 31 career titles to date and is a former world No. 1. And she's only 26, so there's plenty more opportunity ahead.
For her mother's part, however, she believes it's time for Serena to grow up and experience a reality check on life in the real world.
"Well, you know, she's going to have to learn how to suck things up," Price said. "[She needs to] say, 'OK, I'm not going to win everything. This is going to make me a better person. This will build character for myself and I have to learn how to lose. I might not be happy about it, but I just have to go on, go on and say, you know what, I didn't get this one, but I'm getting the next one.'"
While Price compassionately understands Serena's disappointment in being outplayed, she would prefer her daughter to deal with defeat in a different way -- her present style of going AWOL is disturbing. Most recently, Serena tuned out after her shocking third-round exit at the recent French Open, in which unlike Saturday's final, she played sloppy, dispassionate tennis.
"I'm not going to say nothing," said Price, smiling when asked how she might go about consoling Serena. "Before she won Australia [2007] that time and she lost in Hobart I didn't see her for two days. She didn't answer my e-mails, no texts, nothing. And when she lost at the French Open [2008], which was the worst, nothing for a week or two. You can't talk to her because she's not communicating with anyone."
It wasn't all gloom and doom for Serena, as it turned out on Saturday.
About three hours after she failed to win a ninth Grand Slam title against big sis, the two walked back onto Centre Court together, a joint force to be reckoned with, winning the women's doubles championships 6-2, 6-2 over Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur. For Venus, that marked the second time at Wimbledon she scored a daily double by taking the singles and doubles title -- she also performed that magic in 2000. For Serena, it salvaged the day, because she would not go home without a 2008 Wimbledon trophy.
But everyone knew the day was all about their earlier encounter, a match that produced terrific tennis, surprisingly, considering the blustery conditions. It was a competitive affair played to a capacity crowd.
The meetings between Venus and Serena now stand at 8-8 with Serena leading 5-2 in Grand Slam final outings. And while Venus tried to contain her joy in victory so as to not rub it into Serena's face, Serena did not hesitate to hide her frustration in failure.
If those details don't squelch the crazy notion that the Williams family has made a habit of fixing the matches between Venus and Serena, it's hard to imagine what would silence that incessant chatter, which Venus so aptly deemed "offensive" and "extremely disrespectful" in advance of the final.
This is not a well-kept secret.
Her attitude after a big defeat confirms it. A lioness who survives to hunt each opponent as prey, Serena's competitive heart just doesn't compute allowances for failure.
Even her family confirms, the concept of being checkmated is the bane of Serena's existence. In fact, her relatives willingly take much of the blame for her inability to deal with defeat as an outgrowth of them always spoiling her as the baby of the family. Her sister, Lyndrea, who flew in from Los Angeles yesterday, said Serena to this day can't even bear to lose when they play the card game "spoons."
"Serena thinks everything is supposed to go her way, that's the bottom line," said mom/coach Oracene Price, who had finally removed the large sunglasses she hid behind during the match. "She thinks that's the way it's supposed to go in life. But this is life."
Serena's face in disappointment always tells the story -- it's a sour frown, one of anger and disbelief that anyone, even her sister Venus, would have the goods to one better her in a match. And that's the look we all were treated to when Venus solidified her position as the pre-eminent grass-court player of her generation with a fifth Wimbledon title, a title that came at the expense of Serena in an entertaining 7-5, 6-4 victory on Saturday afternoon.
CARL DE SOUZA/Getty Images
Serena Williams let her frustration show during Saturday's final as her chance at another Wimbledon title -- and another win over her big sister Venus in a Grand Slam final -- slipped away."It's definitely not any easier," said Serena, about coming up short in a Grand Slam final to kin instead of a nonrelated rival. "I just look at her as another opponent at the end of the day. I don't think it's harder, but it's definitely not easier."
To drive home the point of how unacceptable a loss is to Serena, it can be noted that while she gave Venus credit for her abilities on grass, she managed to insert herself into the explanatory equation. And let's remember when pondering the comment, Venus has five Wimbledon titles and Serena has only two, although she did win her two with final victories over Venus in 2002 and '03.
"Well, it says a lot about her. I mean, she's won five Wimbledons now," Serena said. "She's beaten me on grass now, so that definitely says a lot."
It should be made clear that being a bit of a sore loser does not mean that Serena exhibits unsportsmanlike behavior. The fact that she conceded a game point in the ninth game of the first set to Venus during the final after umpire Carlos Ramos called for them to replay the point, is a testament to her fairness in battle.
Certainly, Serena's passion for competition and success supports her future candidacy as one of the all-time greats of the game. She's already won eight Grand Slam titles, at least one at each of the four majors, dating back to her first as a 17-year-old at the 1999 U.S. Open. She's captured 31 career titles to date and is a former world No. 1. And she's only 26, so there's plenty more opportunity ahead.
For her mother's part, however, she believes it's time for Serena to grow up and experience a reality check on life in the real world.
"Well, you know, she's going to have to learn how to suck things up," Price said. "[She needs to] say, 'OK, I'm not going to win everything. This is going to make me a better person. This will build character for myself and I have to learn how to lose. I might not be happy about it, but I just have to go on, go on and say, you know what, I didn't get this one, but I'm getting the next one.'"
While Price compassionately understands Serena's disappointment in being outplayed, she would prefer her daughter to deal with defeat in a different way -- her present style of going AWOL is disturbing. Most recently, Serena tuned out after her shocking third-round exit at the recent French Open, in which unlike Saturday's final, she played sloppy, dispassionate tennis.
"I'm not going to say nothing," said Price, smiling when asked how she might go about consoling Serena. "Before she won Australia [2007] that time and she lost in Hobart I didn't see her for two days. She didn't answer my e-mails, no texts, nothing. And when she lost at the French Open [2008], which was the worst, nothing for a week or two. You can't talk to her because she's not communicating with anyone."
It wasn't all gloom and doom for Serena, as it turned out on Saturday.
About three hours after she failed to win a ninth Grand Slam title against big sis, the two walked back onto Centre Court together, a joint force to be reckoned with, winning the women's doubles championships 6-2, 6-2 over Lisa Raymond and Samantha Stosur. For Venus, that marked the second time at Wimbledon she scored a daily double by taking the singles and doubles title -- she also performed that magic in 2000. For Serena, it salvaged the day, because she would not go home without a 2008 Wimbledon trophy.
But everyone knew the day was all about their earlier encounter, a match that produced terrific tennis, surprisingly, considering the blustery conditions. It was a competitive affair played to a capacity crowd.
The meetings between Venus and Serena now stand at 8-8 with Serena leading 5-2 in Grand Slam final outings. And while Venus tried to contain her joy in victory so as to not rub it into Serena's face, Serena did not hesitate to hide her frustration in failure.
If those details don't squelch the crazy notion that the Williams family has made a habit of fixing the matches between Venus and Serena, it's hard to imagine what would silence that incessant chatter, which Venus so aptly deemed "offensive" and "extremely disrespectful" in advance of the final.
Friday, July 4, 2008
Find out the storage capacity of a magnetic disk having 80 tracks, 15 sectors per track and storing 512 bytes per
Magnetic disks are direct-access medium and so are the most popular online secondary storage devices. Direct-access devices are also called random-access devices because information is literally available at random or in any order. Access to any location on the device is direct and so approximately equal access time is required for each location. An example of this is a music CD where if you wish to listen to the 5th song, you can directly select the 5th track. It does not require you to fast forward the previous 4 songs.
Magnetic disk is a circular plate made of metal or plastic, coated with magnetized material. Often both sides of the disk are used. Data is recorded on the disk in the form of magnetised and non-magnetised spots (not visible to the naked eye).
Track: Data is stored in concentric rings or tracks. To minimize the interference of magnetic fields, the adjacent tracks are separated by inter track gaps.
Sector: Tracks are commonly divided into sections called sectors. In most systems, the minimum quantity of information that can be transferred is a sector. Usually 8 or more sectors per track are found.
Usually the upper surface of the topmost disk and the lower surface of the bottom-most disk are not used since these are prone to getting scratched easily. For faster access of data from disk packs, a concept called cylinders is used.
Disk Storage Capacity
Capacity: Maximum number of bits that can be stored
Vendors express capacity in units of gigabytes (GB), where 1 GB = 10^9.
Capacity is determined by these technology factors: Capacity is determined by these technology factors:
Recording density (bits/in): number of bits that can be squeezed into a 1 inch segment of a track.
Track density (tracks/in): number of tracks that can be squeezed into a 1 inch radial segment.
Arial density (bits/in2): product of recording and track density.
The storage capacity of a disk system can be determined as follows:
Storage capacity = Number of recording surfaces x Number of tracks per surface x
Number of sectors per track x Number of bytes per sector
In this question we have given a Magnetic disk having 80 tracks having 15 sectors per track. Also, each sector can store 512 bytes, then
Storage capacity = 2 sides per disk x 80 tracks per side x
15 sectors per track x 512 bytes per sector
= 1,228,800 bytes
= Approximately 1.23 MB
Magnetic disk is a circular plate made of metal or plastic, coated with magnetized material. Often both sides of the disk are used. Data is recorded on the disk in the form of magnetised and non-magnetised spots (not visible to the naked eye).
Track: Data is stored in concentric rings or tracks. To minimize the interference of magnetic fields, the adjacent tracks are separated by inter track gaps.
Sector: Tracks are commonly divided into sections called sectors. In most systems, the minimum quantity of information that can be transferred is a sector. Usually 8 or more sectors per track are found.
Usually the upper surface of the topmost disk and the lower surface of the bottom-most disk are not used since these are prone to getting scratched easily. For faster access of data from disk packs, a concept called cylinders is used.
Disk Storage Capacity
Capacity: Maximum number of bits that can be stored
Vendors express capacity in units of gigabytes (GB), where 1 GB = 10^9.
Capacity is determined by these technology factors: Capacity is determined by these technology factors:
Recording density (bits/in): number of bits that can be squeezed into a 1 inch segment of a track.
Track density (tracks/in): number of tracks that can be squeezed into a 1 inch radial segment.
Arial density (bits/in2): product of recording and track density.
The storage capacity of a disk system can be determined as follows:
Storage capacity = Number of recording surfaces x Number of tracks per surface x
Number of sectors per track x Number of bytes per sector
In this question we have given a Magnetic disk having 80 tracks having 15 sectors per track. Also, each sector can store 512 bytes, then
Storage capacity = 2 sides per disk x 80 tracks per side x
15 sectors per track x 512 bytes per sector
= 1,228,800 bytes
= Approximately 1.23 MB
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Seek Time & Memory Hierarchy
¬ SEEK TIME
The disk address is specified in terms of the surface number, track or cylinder number, and the sector number. The read/write heads need to be first positioned on the track on which the data are to be recorded or from which data needs to be read.
Information is always written from the beginning of a sector and can be read only from the beginning of the desired track. Thus, the disk access time depends on the (i) Seek Time & (ii) Latency Time
Seek time: The seek time measures the amount of time required for the read/write heads to move between tracks over the surfaces of the platters. Seek time is one of the most commonly discussed metrics for hard disks, and it is one of the most important positioning performance specifications. The seek time would vary depending upon the position of the access arms at the time the read/write command was received, i.e., if the access arm was positioned on the outermost track and the current read operation required it to be positioned on the 5th track, then the time taken to position the access arm on track 5 is the seek time. It is obvious from this example that moving from outermost to the innermost track or vice versa would result in the maximum seek time. The average seek time in most systems is 10-100 milliseconds.
Typical full seek time is 8 ms. Average seek time (from one random position to another random position) is 1/3 full seek time.
While seek time is usually given as a single number, in fact there are three different seek time specifications you should examine for a drive, as they represent the drive's performance when doing different types of seeks:
(i) Average: As discussed, this is meant to represent an average seek time from one random track (cylinder) to any other. This is the most common seek time metric, and is usually 8 to 10 ms, though older drives had much higher numbers, and top-of-the-line SCSI drives are now down to as low as 4 ms!
(ii) Track-to-Track: This is the amount of time that is required to seek between adjacent tracks. This is similar in concept (but not exactly the same as) the track switch time and is usually around 1 ms.
(iii) Full Stroke: This number is the amount of time to seek the entire width of the disk, from the innermost track to the outermost. This is of course the largest number, typically being in the 15 to 20 ms range. In some ways, combining this number with the average seek time represents the way the drive will behave when it is close to being full.
MEMORY HIERARCHY:
Memory in the computer system is required for storage and subsequent retrieval of instructions and data. Fast access to instructions and data stored in memory is essential in order to meet the throughput requirements of the processor. Memory system can be considered to consist of three groups of memories:
Ø Internal processor memory consists of a small set of high-speed registers
Ø Primary storage or main memory is a large memory, which is fast, but not as fast as internal processor memory.
Ø Secondary storage or auxiliary memory or backing store is much larger in size than the main memory but is slower than the main memory.
A balanced provision for different kinds of memory – CD-ROM, hard-disc, DVD, main semiconductor memory (DRAM), cache memory (SRAM, SSRAM or SDRAM), processor registers – is necessary in order to meet the performance/cost requirements of a computer system.
650 MB – 1 TB, 100 ms - ??
The total memory capacity of the computer can therefore be visualised as being a hierarchy of components consisting of all storage devices employed in a computer system from the slow but high-capacity auxiliary memory to a relatively faster main memory, to an even smaller and faster cache memory accessible to the high-speed processing logic. Thus, as one goes up in the hierarchy, the following conditions occur:
(i) Decreasing cost per bit (ii) Increasing capacity (iii)Increasing access time
(iv) Decreasing frequency of access of the memory by the processor
CPU Registers:
CPU contains several registers for storing data and instructions. But these can store only few bytes. Internal processor memory consists of a small set of high-speed registers that are internal to a processor and are used as temporary locations where actual processing is done.
Main Memory:
Primary storage or main memory is a large memory, which is fast, but not as fast as internal processor memory. This memory communicates directly with the CPU and is mainly based on integrated circuits.
Cache Memory:
Another kind of memory that is increasingly being used in modem computers is called the cache memory. Cache memories are small, fast memories placed between the CPU and the main memory. Due to it’s expensiveness of this memory it is used in small quantities only. The memory read or writes operation is first checked with the cache and if the desired data is available in the cache it is used by the CPU directly.
Secondary Storage Memory:
Devices that provide backup storage (like magnetic tapes and disks) are called secondary storage or auxiliary memory. It typically stores all the system programs and other software.
For e.g. CD-ROM, hard-disc, DVD
The disk address is specified in terms of the surface number, track or cylinder number, and the sector number. The read/write heads need to be first positioned on the track on which the data are to be recorded or from which data needs to be read.
Information is always written from the beginning of a sector and can be read only from the beginning of the desired track. Thus, the disk access time depends on the (i) Seek Time & (ii) Latency Time
Seek time: The seek time measures the amount of time required for the read/write heads to move between tracks over the surfaces of the platters. Seek time is one of the most commonly discussed metrics for hard disks, and it is one of the most important positioning performance specifications. The seek time would vary depending upon the position of the access arms at the time the read/write command was received, i.e., if the access arm was positioned on the outermost track and the current read operation required it to be positioned on the 5th track, then the time taken to position the access arm on track 5 is the seek time. It is obvious from this example that moving from outermost to the innermost track or vice versa would result in the maximum seek time. The average seek time in most systems is 10-100 milliseconds.
Typical full seek time is 8 ms. Average seek time (from one random position to another random position) is 1/3 full seek time.
While seek time is usually given as a single number, in fact there are three different seek time specifications you should examine for a drive, as they represent the drive's performance when doing different types of seeks:
(i) Average: As discussed, this is meant to represent an average seek time from one random track (cylinder) to any other. This is the most common seek time metric, and is usually 8 to 10 ms, though older drives had much higher numbers, and top-of-the-line SCSI drives are now down to as low as 4 ms!
(ii) Track-to-Track: This is the amount of time that is required to seek between adjacent tracks. This is similar in concept (but not exactly the same as) the track switch time and is usually around 1 ms.
(iii) Full Stroke: This number is the amount of time to seek the entire width of the disk, from the innermost track to the outermost. This is of course the largest number, typically being in the 15 to 20 ms range. In some ways, combining this number with the average seek time represents the way the drive will behave when it is close to being full.
MEMORY HIERARCHY:
Memory in the computer system is required for storage and subsequent retrieval of instructions and data. Fast access to instructions and data stored in memory is essential in order to meet the throughput requirements of the processor. Memory system can be considered to consist of three groups of memories:
Ø Internal processor memory consists of a small set of high-speed registers
Ø Primary storage or main memory is a large memory, which is fast, but not as fast as internal processor memory.
Ø Secondary storage or auxiliary memory or backing store is much larger in size than the main memory but is slower than the main memory.
A balanced provision for different kinds of memory – CD-ROM, hard-disc, DVD, main semiconductor memory (DRAM), cache memory (SRAM, SSRAM or SDRAM), processor registers – is necessary in order to meet the performance/cost requirements of a computer system.
650 MB – 1 TB, 100 ms - ??
The total memory capacity of the computer can therefore be visualised as being a hierarchy of components consisting of all storage devices employed in a computer system from the slow but high-capacity auxiliary memory to a relatively faster main memory, to an even smaller and faster cache memory accessible to the high-speed processing logic. Thus, as one goes up in the hierarchy, the following conditions occur:
(i) Decreasing cost per bit (ii) Increasing capacity (iii)Increasing access time
(iv) Decreasing frequency of access of the memory by the processor
CPU Registers:
CPU contains several registers for storing data and instructions. But these can store only few bytes. Internal processor memory consists of a small set of high-speed registers that are internal to a processor and are used as temporary locations where actual processing is done.
Main Memory:
Primary storage or main memory is a large memory, which is fast, but not as fast as internal processor memory. This memory communicates directly with the CPU and is mainly based on integrated circuits.
Cache Memory:
Another kind of memory that is increasingly being used in modem computers is called the cache memory. Cache memories are small, fast memories placed between the CPU and the main memory. Due to it’s expensiveness of this memory it is used in small quantities only. The memory read or writes operation is first checked with the cache and if the desired data is available in the cache it is used by the CPU directly.
Secondary Storage Memory:
Devices that provide backup storage (like magnetic tapes and disks) are called secondary storage or auxiliary memory. It typically stores all the system programs and other software.
For e.g. CD-ROM, hard-disc, DVD
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Chopper crash leaves grieving mother-to-be Expectant father among 6 to die when medical helicopters collide in Ariz.
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - A soon-to-be father who loved being a firefighter was among six people killed when two medical helicopters collided in Arizona.
Michael MacDonald, 26, was fighting wildfires at the Grand Canyon when he was bitten by an insect on Friday and taken to a nearby hospital, said Tyson Runningwolf, fire management officer for the Blackfeet Nation in Montana.
MacDonald suffered prophylactics shock — a life-threatening allergic reaction — from the treatment he received for the bite, and was being transported to the Flagstaff Medical Center in Arizona when the helicopters collided Sunday afternoon.
One of the helicopters was operated by Air Methods from Englewood, Colo., and the other was from Classic Helicopters of Woods Cross, Utah. Both aircraft were Bell 407 models.
Investigators plan to begin examining the remains of the helicopters on Tuesday.
Ninth accident this year
It was the ninth accident this year involving emergency medical aircraft, bringing the number of deaths to 16, National Transportation Safety Board officials said Monday.
MacDonald was aboard the chopper coming from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, about 70 air miles from Flagstaff, farther by ground. The drive on well-paved roads takes about 90 minutes. The other chopper was coming from Winslow, about 50 miles away on Interstate 40.
 |
Three people died on each of the two Bell 407 helicopters: the pilot, the patient and a flight nurse on one chopper, the pilot, the patient and a paramedic on the other. A flight nurse on one of the helicopters was hospitalized in critical condition.
At the crash site Monday, wreckage from one helicopter sits as a pile of twisted metal among bent pine trees. One long rotor blade sticks up in the air, while another is bent up at a 90-degree angle. Green wire hangs out of the wreckage, and medical bags are strewn about. The smell of fuel lingered Monday.
More than 300 feet away, what was a helicopter is now a pile of burned metal in a clearing atop a mesa.
A surveillance camera from one of the hospital's parking lots captured the crash, but it will require technical work to remove the time stamp that blocks footage of the collision.
MacDonald was a "super nice kid" who loved being a firefighter, said his uncle, John Lee Hall, of Browning, Mont. He grew up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, but had been living in Missoula and attending the University of Montana as a physical education major. He enjoyed playing basketball in his free time, Hall said.
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