Chapter 6: Graphics, Digital Media, and Multimedia

Chapter 6: Graphics,Digital Media, and Multimedia

• Graphics: images that are displayed on a screen.
• Digital Media: any type of electronic media.
• Multimedia: collaboration of multiple forms of media.
• Tim Berners-Lee:- invented World Wide Web and is the head of W3C.

Q: What are Bit-mapped Graphics?

Bit mapped Graphics is the representation of graphic images as bit maps by hardware and software.

• Painting Software: in which pixels are painted on a screen with a pointing device.

-stores image at 300 at dots per inch of higher

-translates pointer movements into lines and patterns on the screen.

Definitions

Pixels: little dots of white, black, or color that make images on screen.

Palette: the given set of options of colors to choose from.

Color depth: the number of bits to each pixel.

Resolution: the density of the pixels.

• Image Processing: to edit photos through the computer.

- possible to manipulate and combine photos, it's realistic.

- Digital photo management software make it easy to and automate normal tasks that have to do with capturing, recognizing,editing, and sharing digital images.

What does the digital photo management software do?

-It simplifies and automates regular tasks that have to do with capturing, recognizing, editing, and sharing digital images.

• Object-oriented drawing- better for creating printed graphs, charts, and illustrations. Also, lines are cleaner and shapes are smoother.

-Some integrated programs contain both drawing and painting modules.- Allows you to choose the right tool for each job.
-Some programs merge features of both in a single application

-blurs b/t types

What is the difference between CAD, CAM, and CIM?


• Computer Aided Design (CAD):

-Allows engineers, designers and architects create designs on screen for products ranging from computer chips to public buildings.
-Can test product prototypes

-Cheaper, faster and more accurate than traditional design-by-hand techniques.

• Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM)- is the process when data related to the product design are put into a program that controls the manufacturing of parts.
  


• Computer-Integrated Manufacturing(CAM)- refers to the combination of CAD/CAM and is a big step toward a fully automated factory.

Presentation Graphics: automates the making of visual aids for lectures, training sessions, sales demonstrations and others.

Animation:
-is a computer-drawn picture
-moving from frame to frame to make a movie effect.


Tweening- animator creates key frames and objects and use software to help fill in the gaps.
What is a video digitizer?
-"Is software that takes an analog video still frame and converts it to a digital still image."
• Analog and Digital Video- a video digitizer can convert analog video signals from a TV broadcast or videotape into digital data.

- Can import signals from televisions

- signals are displayed in the computer's screen in real time.

-Digital video cameras capture footage in digital form.

-Digital videos can be copied, edited, stored and played back w/o loss of quality.

- They will soon replace analog video for most applications.

What does nonlinear editing technology do?

-Is a video editing or audio editing system which can perform random access on the source material.

Video editing software: ex: Abode Premiere

- makes it easy to eliminate footage , combine clips from multiple takes, splice together scenes, create specific effects and perform a variety of other activities.

• Morphs are video clips in which one image morphs into another.

• Data Compression- software and hardware used to compress data from movies so that it can be stored easily.

What does broadband mean?

- "telecommunications system of greater bandwidth."

-Audio digitizer- captures sound and stores it as a data file.

-Synthesizer- an electronic instrument that synthesizes sounds using mathematical formulas.

-MIDI( Musical Instrument Digital Interface)- standard that allows electronic instruments and computers to communicate with each other.

What is the differ b/t MIDI and MP3?

MP3 is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression while a MIDI is a standard that allows electronic instruments and computers to communicate with each other.

-For audio when it digitizes it transfers from sound waves to 0s and 1s.

• Rules of Thumb

Don't Steal

Understand streaming and downloading

Know your file formats.

Don't over-compress

• Popular Digital Audio Formats-WAV.AIFF, MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG.

• MIDI-can control electronic musical instruments and sound sources

-Can be interpreted by music synthesizers and samplers.

• Sequence software- turns a computer into a musical composing, and editing machine.
• Electronica- music designed from the ground up with digital technology.

What is the difference b/t hypertext and Hypermedia?

• Hypertext- refers to the info linked in non sequential ways.

• Hypermedia- combines text, numbers, graphics, animations, sound effects, music, and other media .

-Makes slide shows directly on computer monitors, LCD projectors, still images...

-Make an outline
-Design backgrounds, borders, templates..
-Print overhead transparencies
-Microsoft Producer

How to make a powerful presentation?
-remember your goal
-remember your audience
-outline your ideas
-keep it simple
-use a consistent design
-be smart with art
-keep each slide focused
-tell them what your going to say, tell them again, tell them what you said.

• Dynamic Media-modern media contains dynamic info

• Interactive Multimedia: a combination of text, graphics, animation, video, music, voice, and sound effects that allows the user to take an active part in the experience.

-Requires high quality , color monitors, fast processors, large memory, CD-ROM drives, speakers, and sound

-uses authoring programs such as Hyperstudio and Metacard

-Binds source documents together to communicate with users in an aesthetically pleasing way.

-Involves programming objects on the screen to react or behave in certain ways under certain conditions.

-example: Macromedia Director MX-includes prewritten behaviors that can be attached to on-screen buttons, images, and other objects.

Rules of Thumb

• Be consistent in visual appearance


• Use graphical metaphors to guide viewers


• Keep the screen clean to guide viewers


• Include multiple elements to enliven the presentation


• focus on the message


• Give the user control


• Test your presentation


• Virtual reality:combines virtual worlds with networking.


• multiple participants in a virtual space


• representations of each other called avatars


• Tele-immersion: uses multiple cameras and high-speed networks to create a video conferencing environment in which multiple remote users can interact with each other and computer-generated objects.

Chapter 5: Productivity Applications

Doug Engelbart Explores Hyperspace

One of the pioneers of the computer hardware and software

In 1968 he showed his Augment system,which were:

• Mouse


• Video display editing- movie making


• Mixed text and graphics, windowing


• Outlining


• Shared-screen video conferencing


• Computer conferencing


• Groupware


• Hypermedia

The Wordsmith's Toolbox
Working with a word processor involves several steps:

• Entering Text
  


• Editing Text



• Formattting the document



• Proofreading the document



• Saving the document on a disk



• Printing the document

Entering, Editing, and Formatting Text

• Entering Text
  


• Text is displayed onthe screen and stored in the computer's RAM
  


• Save your work periodically because RAM is not permanent memory
  
  Editing Text


• Navigate to different parts of document


• Insert or delete text at any point


• Move and copy text


• Search and replace words or phrases


• Word Processors and Other word tools

Formatting commands

• Formatting characters


• Characters are measured by the point size


• A font is a size and style typeface


• Serif fonts have serifs of fine lines at the ends of character


• You can use monospaced fonts of spaced fonts
  
  Formatting paragraphs involve:


• Margin settings


• Line spacing


• Indents


• Tabs


• Justification

Formatting the documents

• style sheets


• headers and footers


• multiple variable width columns


• graphics


• automatic editing features


• hidden comments


• table of contents and indexes


• coaching and helping feautures


• conversion to HTML
  
  
  Rules of Thumb: Word Processing Is Not Typing


• Use the return key only when you must


• Word wrap moves text to the next line


• Use tabs and margin guides, not the spacebar, to align columns


• WYSIWYG is a matter of degree


• Text that looks perfectly aligned onscreen may not line up on paper.


• Don't underline


• Use Italics and boldface for emphasis


• Use only one space after a period.


• Proportionally-spaced fonts look better without double space


• Take advantage of special characters


• bullets, dashes, curly or smart quotes

The Wordsmith's Toolbox

Outliners and Idea Processors are effective at:

• Arranging info into levels


• Rearranging ideas and levels


• Hiding and revealing of detail as needed.

Digital References

• Dictionaries, quotation books, atlases...


• The biggest advantage of the electronic form of speed.


• The biggest drawback is that

Synonym Finders

• A computerized thesarus that gives a variety of synonyms for a chosen

Spelling Checkers

• Compare words in your document with words in a disk-based dictionary.F7

Grammar and Style Checkers

• Analyze each word in context, checking for errors of content


• Check spelling


• Analyze prose complexity using measurements such as sentence length.

Form Letter Generators

• Mail merge capabilities produce personalized form letters.


• Create a datatbase with names


• Create a form letter


• Merge the database with the form letter to create personalized letter.


• Example: give info and email and your name comes up so that it's as if Muhammad Shareef is emailing you personally.


• You can incorporate custom paragraphs based n the recipient's personal data.


• Each letter looks ad of it were individually written.

Collaborative Writing Tools

• Groupware: software designed to be used by a workgroup


• Provides for collaborative writing and editing


• Example: Google documents


• Compares documents versions and highlights differences in documents

Emerging Word Tools

• Processing handwritten words


• Processing words with software that can reliably recognize human speech


• Anticipating a writer's needs, acting as a an electronic editor.

The Desktop Publishing Story

• The process of producing a book, magazine, or other publication includes several steps:





• Writing text





• Editing text





• Producing drawings, photos, and other grahics to accompany the text.





• Designing a basic format for the publication





• Typesetting text





• Arranging text and graphics on pages





• Typesetting and printing pages





• Binding pages into a finished publication





• With modern desktop publishing tech (DTP), the production process can be accomplished with sophisticated tools

Desktop publishing software:

Image-editing software

Page layout software combines ht evarious source docs into a coherent, visually appealing publication.

QuarkXpress

PageMaker

Adobe InDesign

Rules of Thumb:

Plan before you publlish

Use appropriate fonts.

Don;t go style crazy

View your document through your reader's eyes

Learn from the masters

Formulas can be:

Relative

Linking spreadsheets together

Financial management software: Quickbook - gives reliability

Mathematica

Statistical Software: Beyond Spreadsheets

Scientific Visualization

Scientific visualization software shape

Chapter 1: Our Digital Planet

• The computer is a versatile tool.

ex: compute taxes, deploy missile

• All computers take in information ca;;ed input and give out info called output.


• Hardware: the physical part


• Software the instructions that tell the software what to do.


• 1939: Konrad Zuse-first digital computer


• 1943: First electronic digital computer called Colossus by mathematician Alan Turing.


• 1939: Professor John Atanasoff developed possibly the first electronic digital computer, the Atanasoff-Berry Computer(ABC)


• 1944: Professor Howard Aiken developed the Mark I, by a one million dollar grant from IBM.


• John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert helped the U.S effort in World War II by constructing a machine to calculate trajectory tables for new guns.


• After the war, John Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert started a private company called Sperry and created UNIVAC I, the first general-purose commercial computer.


• Vacum Tubes- were used in early computers


• ENIAC Electronical Numerical Integrator Computer


• Transistors replaced vacuum tubes starting in 1956


• By the mid-1960 transistors were replaced by integrated circuits.


• Integrated circuits brought:


• Increased reliability


• Smaller size


• Higher speed


• Higher effciency


• Lower cost


• 1971: The first microprocessor was invented by Intel engineers


• THe personal computer


• Desktop Computers


• Embedded Computers- perform specific tasks


• Special purpose computers


• controling the temperature and humidity


• Monitoring your heart rate


• Monitoring your house security system


• The program is etched on silicon so it cannot be altered . This is called firmware.


• Personal Computers


• PCs serve a single user at a time.


• Common applications include:


• word processing


• Workstations: high-end desktoop computers with massive computing power used for high-end interactive applications.


• Portable Computers: machines that are not tied to the desktop


• Notebooks-laptops


• Handheld Computers-PDA


• Servers: Computers designed to provide software and other resources to other computers over a network.


• Mainframes:


• Used by large organizations, such banks and airlines, for big computing jobs.


• Communicate with mainframe through terminals


• Multiple communications at one time through process of timesharing.


• Supercomputers: For power users who need access to the fastest, most powerful computers made.


• The Emergance of Networks


• Connect devices together.


• 1960s: Internet developed with backing of the U.S goverment.


• The Internet Explosion- Pver a billion people with Internet acceses by the end of 2005.


• Electronic mail- email


• World Wide Web


• Led the Internet's tranformation from a text-only environment into a multimedia


• Web Browsers: Programs that serve as navigable wilndows into the Web.
• explorer, firefox. chrome


• Hypertext links: millions of Web pages tied together created by different authors.


• Internet varied activities:


• eBay-international transactions


• Real-time multiplayer games


• In history we have had:


• Agricultural Age


• Industrial Age


• Now we are in the Information Age- people earn a living now by working with words, numbers, and ideas
• Social and Ethical issues
• personal privacy
• high-tech crime and keeping data secure
• defining and protecting intellectual property
• The threat of automation and the dehumanization of work
• The abuse of info as a tool of political and economic power
• The emergence of bio-digital technology
• The dangers of dependence on complex technology
• Bio-digital examples:
• Micro-chipping pets
• Prosthetic limbs
• Virtual Surgery
• Brain fused with PC chip
  

Chapter 4 Continued

Web Applications

• Web applications fall into several categories
• Some simple Web applications perform simple data-processing tasks that could also be performed by traditional programs running on stand-alone PCs. Ex: Blogs
• Most Web applications take advantage of the Web’s connectivity.
• Many Web applications leverage the Web’s strength as a huge repository of information.
• Some Web applications support online business transactions.
• News-oriented Web applications provide up-to-the-minute reports on a myriad of subjects.
• Other Web applications support a more traditional form of information broadcasting.
• Web applications take advantage of web connectivity

Integrated Applications and Suites: Software Bundles
Vertical -Market and Custom Software
• Very expensive compared to mass market applications
mass-market applications
• Job-specific software: Medical billings, Library cataloging, Legal reference software, Restaurant management, Single-client software needs

The Hardware-Software Connection
• System software: A class of software that includes the operating system and utility programs, handles these details, and hundreds of other tasks behind the scenes.
System Software:
The Hardware-Software Connection
• Operating system functions:
• Supports multitasking
• Manages virtual memory
• Maintains file system
• Responsible for authentication and authorization

Utility Programs and Device Driver
• Utility programs: Serve as tools for doing system maintenance and repairs that aren’t automatically handled by the operating system.
• Make it easier for users to:
• Copy files between storage devices
• Repair damaged data files
• Translate files so that different programs can read them
• Guard against viruses and other potentially harmful programs (as described in the chapter on computer security and risks)
• Compress files so they take up less disk space
• Perform other important, if unexciting, tasks

• Symantec Norton Utilities is a popular utility package that includes software tools for recovering damaged files, repairing damaged disks, and improving disk performance

Device drivers:

• Small programs that enable I/O devices—keyboard, mouse, printer, and others—to communicate with the computer.

• Included with the operating system or bundled with peripherals

Where the Operating System Lives
• Some computers store their operating system in ROM.
• Others include only part of it in ROM.
• The remainder of the operating system is loaded into memory in a process called booting, which occurs when you turn on the computer.
• Most of the time the operating system works behind the scenes.
• Interacting with the operating system, like interacting with an application, can be intuitive or challenging and it depends on something called the user interface.


The User Interface
The Human–Machine Connection

• User Interface: The interface defines the look and feel of the computing experience from a human point of view.
• Desktop Operating Systems
• MS-DOS ( Microsoft Disk Opening System)is a disk operating system in which the user interacts using characters:
• Letters
• Numbers
• Symbols

• Features include:

• Command-line interface (commands are typed)

• Menu-driven interface (commands are chosen from on-screen lists)

• Graphical User Interfaces (GUI)

• Mac OS was developed by Macintosh in 1984 using GUI.

• Microsoft Windows is now the most popular operating system.
Multiple User Operating Systems: UNIX and Linux
• UNIX was developed at Bell Labs before personal computers were available.
• Linux was created by Linus Torvalds and continues to be a work-in-progress.
• UNIX allows a timesharing computer to communicate with several other computers or terminals at once.
• Linux is free for anyone to use or improve.
• UNIX remains the dominant operating system for Internet servers.
• Some form of UNIX is available for personal computers, workstations, servers, mainframes, and supercomputers.
Hardware and Software Platforms
• Windows Vista
• Windows Server 2003
• Windows XP
• Windows ME
• Microsoft Windows CE
• Mac OS X (10)
• Mac OS 9
• Linux, Sun Solaris, and other UNIX variations

• Cross-platform applications, such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop, are programs that are available in similar versions for multiple platforms.

• Mac users can buy software emulation programs that:

• Create a simulated Windows machine in the Mac .

• Translate all Windows-related instructions Mac equivalents.



• Future applications may be more tied to networks than to desktop computer platforms.

• Microsoft .NET strategy

• Java, a platform-neutral computer language developed by Sun Microsystems for use on multiplatform networks.

Chapter 4 Questions

1. What is the the difference between authentication and authorization? Give Examples.

• An authentication system is to verify that the user is really who they are. For example, Password Based Authentication that requires the user to know a password.
• An authorization system is how the system decides what the user can do. For example, the difference between a normal user and the superuser on a unix system.
  

2. What does the operating system do?

• It manages the hardware and software resources of the system.
• It provides a good way for applications to deal with hardware without it being required to know the details of the hardware.
  

3. What is the difference between utility programs and device drivers?

A device driver is a small program that tells the operating system how to communicate with a device. A utility program help to control computer resources, such as protecting your computer from viruses.

Chapter 4: Software Basics: The Ghost in the Machine

Open Source-open to the public.

Non-open source- not open to the public.

Linus Torvalds and the Software Nobody Knows

• Linus Torvalds- a genius
  
• Created the Linux


• It is the best known example of open source software


• It powers Web servers, film and animation workstations, scientific supercomputers, and a handful of handhelds.


• Open source software: open for the public and it is reliable because of constant updates.


• means you can change the code behind the system or software.


• Three major categories of software:


• Compliers and other tranlator programs: enable programmers to create othe rsoftware.


• sees the syntax of your code if it's right or wrong.


• Example: Intel compliers like translator


• Software applications: serve as productivity tools to help computer users solve problems.


• Example: Microsoft Word like product


• System software : coordinates hardware operations and does behind-the-scenes work the computer user seldom sees.
  

Processing with Programs

• Food for thought


• The hardware in acomputer system is equipped to produce whatever output a user requests.


• Example: iIf you have a recipe for french toast- that is your input, then if you mix the ingreidients all together then- your result is the output.


• Set of rules to solve a pro


• A fast, stupid machine


• Programmers begin with an algorithm: a set of step-by-step instructions written in a natural languafe,e.g,English


• The steps are cpmplicated, long and error pone


• The steps are translated into the vocabulary

Sofware Applications: Tools for Users

• Consumer Applications


• Many software companies have replaced their printed documentation.


• Tutorials


• Reference Materials


• Help files


• On-line help


• Upgrading: Users can upgrade a program to the new version by paying an upgrade fee the the software manufacturer.


• Ex:Itunes


• Newer releases often have additional features and fewer bugs-an error.


• Compatibility


• It allows to function properly with the hardware, operating system, and peripherals.


• Programs written for one type of computer system may not work on another.


• Ex:Macintosh and Intel


• Disclaimers


• Software manufacturers limit their liability for software problems by selling software "as is"


• Created whether you like it or not; don't use it.


• Licensing: Commercial software is copyrightes so it can't be legally duplicated for distribution.


• Software license


• Volume license


• Distribution: Software is distributed via:


• Direct sale


• Retail stores


• Mail-order catalogs


• Web sites


• Not all software is copyrighted.


• Public domain software


• Shareware- search to make sure software isn't copyrighted.


• Web applications


• Web applications fall into several categories:


• Some simple Web applications perform simple data-processing tasks that could also be performed by traditional programs running on stand-alone PCs.


• Ex: Flashplayer,etc....


• Most Web applications take advantage of the Web's strength as a huge repository


• of information.


• Ex: pictures and outside info


• Many Web applications leverage the Web's strength as a huge repository of information.


• Some Web applications support online business transactions.


• News-oriented Web applications provide up-to-the minute reports on a myriad(countless)of subjects.


• Other Web applications support a more traditional form of information broadcasting.
  

Project Theory

Introduction to project cycle

A project is a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product or service.

SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle)

Project Identification & Selection - Project Initiation & Planning - Analysis - Logical Design -
Physical Design - Implementation - Maintenance.

What is a project?

A project is a sequence of unique, complex, and connected activities having one goal or purpose and that must be completed by a specific time, within budget, and according to specifications.

Project Management Criteria

• Projects are oriented towards a goal.


• There is something unique about every project.


• Projects have a finite duration.- It ends.


• Projects require coordination of interrelated activities.

What is Project Management?

• Project management is a set of principles and tools for:


• Defining


• Planning


• Executing


• Controlling and..


• Completeing a PROJECT

Why is Project Management important?

• Organize your approach


• Generate a credible schdule


• Track progress and control your project


• Identify where to focus your efforts


• Identify problems early-before they are crises


• Saves you TIME..and MONEY.


• If you fail to plan, plan to fail.

Project Phases

1. Assessment


2. Planning


3. Implementation


4. Evaluation

Project Cycle Management (PCD)

Assessment (of needs, situation)

• Observing a problem


• Analysing it


• Defining the need


• Deciding on an action


• Answering W-questions (Laswell)
  

W-questions

•Who, for whom, with whom, etc.?
•What?
•Why?
•Where?
•When?
•How?

Planning

• Think the way the client is thinking .


• Know everything about theie business/occupation.


• Needs Analysis of the organization, its values, activities and relevancy.


• Own Motivation


• Definition of aims (general) and concrete objectives.


• Selection of methodology, activities


• Plan of activities – schedule


• Resources: human, financial, material, time


• Organization of the project: team, partners

• Outline of the project/project fiche

• Risks assessment strategy
  

Concrete Objectives

SMART:Specifc Measurable Achieveable Realistic Timed