This section of the course is simultaneously the most in depth and interesting of all topics we study. The legal side of computing is fascinating in its own right, but the often forgotten environmental impact of the technology we consume…
Utilities are pieces of software which perform a single, specific task in a computer system and usually do so in the background with little or no user interaction. Utilities have been around since the dawn of computing and basically fall…
Operating Systems are the single most important piece of software on any computer system. All computer systems must have an operating system in order to work, whether you notice it or not! Any OS is an incredibly complex and intricate…
In the previous section, 1.4.1 – Threats to Computer Systems and Networks, we looked at a fairly comprehensive rundown of the most common and prevalent attacks that exist to compromise system security, steal data and gain access to computers. This…
As the number of network connected devices increases, so does the proportion of poorly designed and insecure devices. Many people do not understand the significance of poor security, whether that is in devices they own or their own personal security…
In the last section we focussed on what networks are, why they are used and covered a broad range of related topics such as how networks are categorised, topologies, performance factors, internet technologies and more. The second half of this…
In this section (click to jump): Performance Factors People that look after networks are odd people. I once convinced a student that every network had a guardian figure called the Server Room Urchin, a being that only existed in networking…
Today, our world is connected in ways which were unimaginable a generation ago. We take for granted the ability to communicate in real time, across the world using both audio and video. In recent times it is possible for anyone…
Compression is all about making things smaller and take up less space. The need to make things take up less space is certainly not unique to computing and there are countless examples in history of clever techniques and innovations designed…
The final stop on our encoding journey is sound. In this section we learn how sound waves are translated into a digital, binary form and conversely, how a computer transforms digital data back in to analogue sound. If you have…