CS105 Computer Concepts

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CS105 Computer Concepts

• Administrivia
• Participants Background Survey Form
• Syllabus for this Course
• Motivation for Mastering this Material
• Use of PC and Internet Technology
• Welcome to Computer Science

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Administrivia

• No eating or drinking in the computer labs!

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Student Background Survey

• Please fill out Participant Background
  Information survey today and turn it in.
• I need to gauge the level of the audience for
  this material.
• I want to make this course useful to you - not
  bore you or overwhelm you.

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Syllabus

• Text The Analytical Engine An Introduction to
  Computer Science Using the Internet, Rick Decker
  Stuart Hirshfield, Brooks/Cole Division of
  Thompson Learning
• Date Topic(s) Text Lab(s)
• Date of Subject Matter Reading Lab assigned
• Lecture (Chapters)
• Labs are due by the class following the date
  they are assigned.

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Motivation

• The computer has become an essential tool for
  almost every job and occupation
• Computer literacy is required to perform most
  jobs well and to lead/guide other people on the
  job
• Computer literate people are less frustrated in
  their jobs with less need to rely on others for
  help
• Computer literate people are compensated more
  generously than other people ()

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Motivation

• The computer has also become an enjoyable leisure
  time activity for many people
• There are computer games, discussion groups, and
  humor on most topics of interest
• There is contact with other people via email,
  personal web pages, and online picture albums
• There are opportunities to research and learn

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MotivationYOU CAN ACTUALLY HAVE FUN!

• Lets look on my CS105 Web Page at
• Example of a simple game AdLib Game
• Example of Internet humor F15 Warranty
  Registration
• After this course, you will be able to
• Locate and enjoy these kinds of humorous files
• Generate simple ones yourself

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Use of Computer Technology

• The computer has changed the language and culture
  of the workplace and our life styles
• You can only learn a new language by using it to
  do something in the native culture
• This course is an immersion into the actual
  computer technology being learned
• We will use PCs and the Internet extensively
  especially in the homework assignments.

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A Warning

• Learning computer science concepts and the
  associated skills can be very frustrating
• A computer is stupid - It does exactly what you
  tell it to do without questioning or warning you
• You must tell it to do everything in great detail
  
• When it doesnt work right, it is not easy to
  figure out whats wrong with what you have told
  it to do
• You will spend a lot of time debugging your
  instructions to the computer to get it working
  right!

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A Warning (Continued)

• Do try to figure out your problems yourself first
• But, dont try for too long - spinning your
  wheels
• If you need to ask a question about how to do
  something, contact me via email, phone, before or
  after class, or during my office hours
• Ask other people for help, but be careful to
  interpret their answer in the context of our
  class
• But, dont ask other people do your work for you!!

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Grading

• Grades will be based on the following
• Homework 40
• Quizzes 30
• Final Exam 30

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Welcome to Computer Science!

• Personal Computer
• Operating System
• Web Browser
• Instructors Web Site
• Internet Access
• Disks and Disk Drives
• Email to Instructor

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Personal Computer

• IBM PC (not Apple!)
• Computer
• Monitor
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Pointer
• Cursor
• Buttons
• Clicking on and Double Clicking on

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Operating System

• Microsoft Windows XP
• Opening / Closing Windows
• Minimizing / Restoring Windows
• Scroll Bars and Scrolling
• My Computer Window
• Hard Drive (Not Removable)
• Removable Drives (Floppy Disk , Zip Disk, CD-ROM)
• Launching Applications (e.g. the web browser)
• The Recycle Bin / Delete Key

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Web Browser

• Netscape 6.2.1
• Opening Web Pages and Navigation
• Home Page (Where you go when starting Netscape)
• Entering Uniform Resource Locators (URLs)
• Clicking on Hot Links on a displayed Web Page
• Back, Forward, Reload, Home, and Go (History)
• Searching
• Downloading
• Downloading Files from the Web to local disks
• Decompressing (Unzipping) Downloaded Files

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Instructors Web Site

• The URL for my Web Site (home page) is
  http//www.cs.umb.edu/bobw
• Browse to it to see my biography/background
• Use the link from there to my CS105 Home Page
• My CS105 home page has
• Syllabus and Grading Policy
• Lecture Notes
• Homework Assignments
• Other Lesson Related Links and References

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Internet Access

• Local Area Network in Computer Labs
• At home or off-site
• Analog Telephone Modem
• Cable Modem
• Digital Subscriber Line
• These are all equivalent except for speed and
  connection time
• You are connected to the Internet!

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Disks and Disk Drives

• You cant save anything on lab machines!
• You need to bring your own disks to labs
• You can plug your disks into lab machines
• Your disks are removable
• Please take them with you when you leave
• You can use your disks on home machines or on
  UMass PC laboratory machines

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Email to Instructor

• My email address is bobw_at_cs.umb.edu
• One quick way to get help is email to me
• Use your UMass-Boston email account
• After 1st week, send me files for homework
  assignments via email.

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Notes on the Text Book

• Publication date is 1998 so material is vintage
  1997. (CAVEAT ANACHRONISMS!)
• I will provide notes to correct textbook errors
• Page xviii Statement about the labs The
  online and local (CD) versions are identical.
  This is not true. I have found differences.
• Use the on-line Labs unless told otherwise.

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Notes on the Text Book

• Page 9 Lab 1.1 - Reference to the web browser
  having a Go To box is obsolete. Should use
• File/Open menu or
• File/Open Web Location menu.
• Page 19 Website Lab 1.3 URL list omits two of
  the five sites in the text and on CD-ROM. The
  additional websites on the CD-ROM are valid as
  web links although one redirects to another URL.