Introduction to Information Technology

Input and Output

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Magnetic Ink Character Recognition (MICR)

A character recognition system using a special ink and characters which can be magnetised and read automatically with much greater accuracy compared to human reading or other optical character recognition systems. MICR is used almost exclusively in the banking industry where it is used to print details on cheques to enable automatic processing.

Optical-character Recognition (OCR)

Optical character recognition or OCR refers to the branch of computer science that involves reading text from paper and translating the images into a form that the computer can manipulate. An OCR enables you to take a book or a magazine article, feed it directly into an electronic computer file, and then edit the file using a word processor.

Optical-mark Recognition (OMR)

Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) is the technology of electronically extracting intended data from marked fields, such as check boxes and fill-in fields, on printed forms. It is generally distinguished from OCR and by the fact that a recognition engine is not required. This requires the image to have a high contrast and an easily recognizable or irrelevant shape. OMR technology scans a printed form and reads predefined positions and records where marks are made on the form. This technology is useful for applications in which large numbers of hand-filled forms need to be processed quickly.

Dot Matrix Printer

Dot Matrix refers to the way the printer creates characters or images on paper. This is done by several tiny pins, aligned in a column, striking an ink ribbon positioned between the pins and the paper, creating dots on the paper. Characters are composed of patterns of these dots by moving the print head laterally across the page in very small increments.

Plotters

A device that draws pictures on paper based on commands from a computer. Plotters differ from printers in that they draw lines using a pen. As a result, they can produce continuous lines, but printers can only simulate lines by printing a closely spaced series of dots. Multicolor plotters use different-coloured pens to draw different colors.

Photo Printer

A color printer optimized to reproduce ‘photograph quality’ prints on special paper. Such printers, often low cost, may incorporate a reader to accept data direct from one or more of the small memory cards used in digital cameras without requiring a computer to interpret the image data.

Portable Printer

The portable printer is a portable printer designed and configured to be lightweight to facilitate being transported by a user. The dimensions of the printer housing are similar to, or slightly larger than, a conventional laptop computer to accommodate the placement of a laptop computer on the portable printer.

Fax Machine

Fax Machine or short for facsimile machine, is a device that can send or receive pictures and text over a telephone line. Fax machines work by digitizing an image by dividing it into a grid of dots. Each dot is either on or off depending on the color either it's black or white. Electronically, each dot is represented by a bit that has a value of either 0 or 1. 0 is off and 1 is on. In this way, the fax machine translates a picture into a series of zeros and ones that can be transmitted like normal computer data. On the receivers side, a fax machine reads the incoming data, translates the zeros and ones back into dots, and reprints the picture.

Multifunctional Devices

Multifunctional Devices are a multiple devices such as copying, texting, printing and faxing put into one and is more efficient and neat. It is to deal with important data collation and delivery functions in today's dynamic office environment. It is used for office and business requirements.

Internet Telephones

A category of hardware and software that enables people to use the Internet as the transmission medium for telephone calls. For users who have free, or fixed-price Internet access, Internet telephones software essentially provides free telephone calls anywhere in the world. However, Internet telephones does not offer the same quality of telephone service as direct telephone connections.

Telephony

Telephony is the technology associated with the electronic transmission of voice, fax, or other information between distant parties using systems historically associated with the telephone, a handheld device containing both a speaker or transmitter and a receiver. With the arrival of computers and the transmittal of digital information over telephone systems and the use of radio to transmit telephone signals, the distinction between telephony and telecommunication has become difficult to make.

System Unit

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Expansion Card

An expansion card is an electronic circuit board that adds more functionality to a desktop computer. Expansion cards are installed into the expansion slot in the motherboard of the computer. They enhance the computer’s ability to perform additional functions which is not offered by the motherboard. Video cards and sound cards are examples of PC expansion ards. A new video card will enhance the three dimensional graphics processing power of a computer while a new sound card may improve a computer’s audio input.

Network Interface Card (NIC)

A network Interface Card or also known as NIC is a device that allows computers to join in a LAN or a local area network. Networked computers communicate with each other using a protocol or agreeing upon language for transmitting data packets between the different machines or also known as nodes. The network interface card acts as the liaison for the machine to both send and receive data on the LAN.

Plug & Play

Plug and Play or is known as PnP, is a capability developed by Microsoft for Windows 95 and after that operating systems that gives users the ability to plug a device into a computer and have the computer recognize that the device is pluged in. The user doesn't have to tell the computer. In earlier computer systems, the user was required to tell the operating system when a new device had been added. Microsoft made Plug and Play a selling point for its Windows operating systems. A similar capability had long been built into macintosh computers. Plug and play has been replaced by an open industry standard Universal Plug and Play or UPnP which uses Internet protocols for seamless device plug-in.

Sockets

A CPU socket or CPU slot is an electrical component that attaches to a printed circuit board (PCB) and is designed to house a CPU (also called a microprocessor). It is a special type of intergrated circuit socket designed for very high pin counts. A CPU socket provides many functions, including providing a physical structure to support the CPU, providing support for a heatsink, facilitating replacement (as well as reducing cost) and most importantly forming an electrical interface both with the CPU and the PCB. CPU sockets can most often be found in most desktop and server computers (laptops typically use surface mount CPUs), particularly those based on the Intel x86 architecture on the motherboard.

Chips

A small piece of semiconducting material (usually silicon) on which an integrated circuit is embedded. A typical chip is less than ¼-square inches and can contain millions of electronic components (transistors). Computers consist of many chips placed on electronic boards call printed circuit boards. There are different types of chips. For example, CPU chips (also called microprocessors) contain an entire processing unit, whereas memory chips contain blank memory.

Slots

An opening in a computer where you can insert a printed circuit board. Slots are often called expansion slots because they allow you to expand the capabilities of a computer. The boards that is inserted in a expansion slots are called expansion boards or add on boards.

Bus-lines

Device on a computer's motherboard that provides a data path between the CPU and attached devices. Like a vehicular bus that stops at designated stations to pick up or drop off riders, a computer bus receives a data signal from the CPU and drops it off at the appropriate device. Conversely, data signals from devices are sent back to the CPU. On a network, a bus provides the data path between the various computers and devices.

Serial Port

A port, or interface, that can be used for serial communication, in which only 1 bit is transmitted at a time. Most serial ports on personal computers conform to the RS-232C or RS-422 standards. A serial port is a general-purpose interface that can be used for almost any type of device, including modems, mice and printers.

Parallel Port

A parallel interface for connecting an external device such as a printer. Most personal computers have both a parallel port and at least one serial port. On PCs, the parallel port uses a 25-pin connector and is used to connect printers, computers and other devices that need relatively high bandwidth. It is often called a Centronics Interface after the company that designed the original standard for parallel communication between a computer and printer

Universal Serial Bus

Universal Serial Bus (USB) is a set of connectivity specifications developed by Intel in collaboration with industry leaders. USB allows high-speed, easy connection of peripherals to a PC. When plugged in, everything configures automatically. USB is the most successful interconnect in the history of personal computing and has migrated into consumer electronics (CE) and mobile products.

Careers in IT

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Webmaster

A webmaster is the designation given to the person responsible for designing and maintaining the coding and proper functioning of a website. In the case of a personal website, the webmaster is most often the person who owns the domain. Small businesses often employ someone in-house to be the webmaster, or they might hire an independent contractor who works part-time on the project from his or her home or office. Large companies might contract a third party to handle their online presence. In these cases the webmaster is not responsible for content, only for design and function.

Computer support specialist

Computer support specialists help people use computers. When something goes wrong, support specialists figure out why. Then, they try to fix it. Many support specialists answer questions over the phone or by e-mail. Others also help people face-to-face. To answer a problem over the phone, the specialist takes the person through the necessary steps to fix the problem using their own computer. Computer support specialists also install printers, software, and other computer tools. Then, they teach people how to use them. Sometimes, they write instruction books.

Technical writer

A technical writer prepares clear, concise written documentation which communicates technical information to a target audience. Some common examples of technical writing include user manuals for software, documentation guides for industrial machinery, and design or engineering specifications for construction projects. This is a very diverse field, and according to the American Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is rapidly growing.

Software engineer

A software engineer is in charge of assembling extensive amounts of code into working applications, as well as updating and fixing problems in existing software. A software engineer is also referred to as a programmer, because the main duties of a software engineer involve programming computers. Software engineering maybe compared with computer science. While a software engineer works on actually developing working software solutions, a computer scientist focuses on the theoretical construct of software and hardware development.

Network administrator

The position of network administrator is sometimes advertised as systems administrator, LAN administrator, network operations analyst, network technician or information systems administrator, but no matter what the exact job title, this IT professional is responsible for the day to day operations of the network infrastructure of the organization. Depending on the organization, this network infrastructure will consist of such elements as individual desktop PCs, specially designed thin clients or workstations, file servers, mail servers, application servers, backup servers and more. The many duties of the network administrator include installing and configuring new equipment, including desktop PCs and servers, troubleshooting day to day problems and unusual issues with networked equipment, and evaluating the need for upgrades or replacements of current computer hardware and software solutions.

Database administrator

The Internet and electronic commerce generate lots of data. Computer databases that store information on customers, inventory, and projects are found in nearly every industry. Data must be stored, organized, and managed. Database administrators work with database software to find ways to do this. They identify user needs, set up computer databases, and test systems. They ensure that systems perform as they should and add people to the system as needed. Database administrators often plan security measures. Data integrity, backup, and security are critical parts of the job.

System analyst

They figure out how to use computers to get things done. They tell businesses and other organizations which computers and software to buy, and they decide how to get those tools to work together. They start their work by asking what they need their computers to do. After that, they plan a computer system that can do the tast well. A system can include many computers working together and different types of software and tools.

Programmer

Computer programmers write, test, and maintain the detailed instructions, called programs, that computers follow to perform their functions. Programmers also conceive, design, and test logical structures for solving problems by computer. With the help of other computer specialists, they figure out which instructions to use to make computers do specific tasks. Many technical innovations in programming use advanced computing technologies and sophisticated new languages and programming tools, for example they have redefined the role of a programmer and elevated much of the programming work done today.