Storage Devices

Identify three different storage devices. Describe the storage media of each (the type of material they are made of). What are their advantages and disadvantages?

SSD - A solid state drive uses flashed file storage that is not as susceptible to physical interference or damage such as a platter based hard drive. It is made of a metal casing, circuit board, and many semi conductors. They are still expensive and offer less storage space.

Cloud Storage - Cloud storage means that any of your files that you upload into storage online is kept safe and secure on a server in an offsite location. This allows you to access any of your files on any computer wherever you may be as long as their is an internet connection. The downside is the small amount of free storage that you receive.

USB stick - Ultra portable device for storing files and taking them with you. USB sticks are very cheap to buy and provide a lot of storage for the price. The bad thing is that they are so small, they are very very easy to misplace or forget and should not hold important documents. They are usually made of a metal input connected to a chip board and covered by a plastic casing.

Input Output

Input and Output devices allow humans to interact with computers. Think about all the different input and output devices that we have in the world today. Choose one innovative input device and one output device. Briefly explain what is innovative about it, how it could change the way people do things, etc. Are there any downsides to them?

Input - XBOX Kinect is a great innovation in motion sensor control without using a controller. The motion tracking of the moving body without predefined points is a huge step in capturing movement. The only downside is that things can still be effected by the enviroment if there is any other movement.

Output - 3D printers are becoming easier to get a hold of and have allowed many people to create physical 3D models very easily without heavy machinery. The downside is the price to rent or buy one of these machines is still quiet large.

Multi-Core Pipelining

Briefly explain the steps in the Fetch Execution Cycle (Machine Instruction Cycle). How do multi-core processors and pipelining improve the performance of processors?

Fetch - Processes the instructions.

Decode - Instructions move to the appropriate registers after being decoded.

Read - Decides which operation the instruction is and takes appropriate action.

Execute - The instruction is executed with micro operations dependent on the instruction type.

A multi-core processor has two or more CPU's. Pipelining allows instructions to be executed so that most of the CPU's components are in use simultaneously. 

Application Software

Choose one piece of application software that you use on a regular basis. What is the software used for?

XBMC. Media Center software that organizes and displays all of your media through an easy to use graphical interface.

What are some features of the software that you like?

Organization of movies and TV shows is great and gives you a lot of information on your selections such as rating, year, cast, and box art.

What are some features you feel could be improved upon?

More support for offline use would be great as it is hard to add extensions to the interface without using its integrated repository.

What are three websites that you visit on a regular basis?

Reddit. Google. Amazon.

What do you use them for?

Reddit is just a good place to find interesting articles, helpful information, funny images, good stories, insightful questions and so on. Google is just useful for everything from finding images to finding information. Amazon is not only a go to place to buy things cheap and easily, but is my standard site for finding out the integrity of products by viewing detailed reviews.

What do you not like about each?

Reddit is becoming overrun with children and teens and good information and content is becoming more scarce. Google should integrate their services better with Amazon and vice versa making them both easier to find item specific information.

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The Life and Times of College

What is your major in college?

This time around? Computer Science with a focus in Networking. My long term major, when I apply to a four/six year college, has yet to be determined but is more than likely going to be Computer Engineering.

In what ways can computers and technology be used in your chosen major or field?

To engineer computer hardware, such as processors, I will most likely need to use a computer for data calculations, data retrieval, 3D construction and blueprints, and much more. What can't you use a computer for in the field of computer technology?