cs 240 course journal | fall 2008

• Tuesday, September 2nd
  
  On this first day of “Business Processing and Communications Infrastructure”, the semester and technological perspective as I knew it was about to take a journey. I would soon be shifting through in my mind and textbook the unexplored depths of computer technology and system architecture that the Windows GUI I’ve grown up with has sheltered me from. Yes, I am about to learn about the machine I spend more time with than my friends and family (but we’re just friends, it’s nothing like ‘that’ if that’s what you’re thinking, we’re just good friends, seriously). So let us take a little journey through CS World this semester.
• Thursday, September 4th
  
  In this second class, we’re broke the surface of the course with an in-depth overview of computer architecture and system components. I won’t bog you down with the details, I’m sure you remember (since you did teach it and all). So I’ll just say that for this class period I learned what a system actually is, beyond the six letter word we all use without paying attention to how it’s being used.
• Tuesday, September 9th
  
  Alright, down to the “good” stuff. Rather, I should say the second grade mathematics that is number conversion. Not only did I learn the major number bases used in computer (i.e. Binary, duh), but how to actually start converting between them. Granted it took a refresher course on simple division (since ‘someone’ doesn’t allow calculator, hmmhmm. I’m sorry, just clearing my throat).It’s kind of sad when “it’s so simple, only a child can do it” as Tom Lehrer says. Alright, see you in two days.
• Thursday, September 11th
  
  And the numbers continue to pile on for every bit of the class today (Yes, that was a pun with ‘bit’. Hey, if I have to read them in the textbook, I think I can make a few of my own. Just kidding, trying to have some fun). Moving on, I have got to say, being able to convert binary to hexadecimal in my head (due to its simplicity) has definitely given me something to impress people with (I’ll show those Geek Squad guys).
• Tuesday, September 16th
  
  The number crunching has subsided and now we move onto representation of alphanumeric data with through Unicode, ASCII, and EDCDIC (my favorite acronyms of the semester). In addition, the simple configuration of the keyboard with hit and return codes for each key significantly opened my eyes to how all that works (in addition later on in the semester where I realize how slow my very fast typing is..well, in computer CPU terms). And I finally nailed down in this class the exact different between the various image formats, their compression and qualities, and which are better for certain occasions (couldn’t have been more useful for my digitial photography class this semester).
• Thursday, September 18th
  
  Thursday is finally here, and so is the momentous day where a fifty year old computer model becomes the key talking point of the class for the semester. Yes, you are right, ladies and gentlemen may I introduce you to the LMC. Standing at just a few nanometers tall, this vibrant fictional character may only know a few instructions, but they’re all you’ll need to program this little guy to do whatever you want! Ladies, finally there is a many that you really can program to do whatever you want! (And who will not stop until you tell him to do so! Hmm, better get to him before me ladies. Just kidding, he’s a bit too needy for me. Yes, another cheesy binary joke, I know you missed them).
• Tuesday, September 23rd
  
  Well, after spending a few hours in a classroom with this LMC character doing the homework assignments, he is my new BFF. This guy is pretty cool, we’re going to work the submissiveness of just taking orders though. Anyways, the LMC came into a more substantial perspective when he was compared to the actual CPU and memory in the computer. Having only seen most of these terms (CPU, memory among others), this was new territory for me and welcomed as this is what I signed up for learning.
• Thursday, September 25th
  
  Oh shoot, I totally just forgot what I was going to say. If only i had the proper memory installed in my head like me laptop has. (Again, couldn't spare you on the bad humor). Among other things learned were the basic mantras to remember (especially come exam time and computer shopping), like how memory accesses always slows us down since it is slower than CPU processing speeds, or how "the larger the memory, the slower the memory" but the less page faults that will occur (learned later on in the semester). The most dramatic topic learned was how data was actually stored in memory, with that being billions of rows of bits in a matrix setup.
• Tuesday, September 30th
  
  And on this last day of September comes the topics of I/O, DMA, and Interrupts. Totally new to my mind and understanding, the LMC helped put into perspective DMA. That being basically DMA causes the device controller to perform I/O actions directly with memory (i.e. the mailboxes, bypassing the LM altogether) via a backdoor to the LMC 'mailroom'. Wow, there goes the Little Man's job security. Probably not, he's survived fifty years of technological advancement, I think he's good through retirement.

• Thursday, October 2nd
  
  Exam 1: No New Topics
• Tuesday, October 7th
  
  “Bus #159 CPU to Device Controller is now boarding” (Wow, even I regret that attempt at humor). Moving on quickly, Bus was the word of the day, from definition to implementation throughout of the computer. Having only really been familiar with buses through the USB, my learning was in full capacity during this session.
• Thursday, October 9th
  
  Disk drives was the topic of the day, and for some reason "God" is in my notes. The functional mysteries of how data is stored and read on/from disks was revealed through its simplicity in concept, and God was given due credit for how this actually works in the scope it does, at speeds adn physical size it does with the accuracy it produces.
• Tuesday, October 14th
  
  The mathematics has returned with latency and seek times on disks, and more advanced into Constant Angular Velocity (CAV) and Constant Linear Velocity (CLV) relating to motor speed and not wasting disk space. An interesting note was the dual layering on DVD/CD disks where data is stored on the same side, right on top of one another, with the top layer being transparent enough for the highly-accurate laser to read the underlying data.
• Thursday, October 16th
  
  And now comes the all-powerful Multiprocessing, Clusters, and Networks topics. Two is always better than one; that is the general consensus, just like more is better (at least for memory). Uncovered the different types of multiprocessing (symmetric and master-slave), and what a cluster actually is. The most interesting part of this class the was the Google example, seeing how Google operates and is set up (from a bunch of old computers all sharing resources) to power the most powerful site on the Internet.
• Tuesday, October 21st
  
  Networking: what it’s all about. It’s refreshing to study a different type of networking than what the Career Services office is always pushing. Those LAN, WAN, PAN, MAN, all have considerably more understanding in my mind in terms of their differences and how they operate. The topology in how the networks are laid out was interesting, while being relatively straight-forward (star, ring, bus).
• Thursday, October 23rd
  
  And now to one of the biggest topics of the semester (sorry Little Man, you’re being overwritten, much like my first blog file :/). This was totally new to me, beyond the terminology of TCP/IP. The logical presentation of the 5-layer structure and how data is added to the packet (the envelope holding the message), whether it be MAC address, IP address, Port number, etc. that is being added so the packet arrives at the correction location on the network and limited number of packets are lost.
• Tuesday, October 28th
  
  Aloha! Ethernet was the main topic today, with the two types of Ethernet being explained (bus/hub-based and switch). The discussion covering the radio-based network on the Hawaiian islands was a nice addition to building a better visual understanding of the network. The CSMA/CA and CSMA/CD was a brand new concept I’ve never heard of before this class and one that was great to learn in just understanding in my mind how all of that data going through the thin Ethernet cable doesn’t get mixed up or corrupted considering the volume of data being passed.
• Thursday, October 30th
  
  A little more on TCP/IP was covered, with Frame Relay, switches and hubs being the other terms discussed that day before Halloween. But the only scary thing that class was the overview of the second exam (not really, exams always seem that way).

• Tuesday, November 4th
  
  Ah, yes, the day we learned that the Internet, and as a result, society, almost collapsed. Of course, I am referring to the uncovering of a major DNS bug that could have put the face of Bank of America or any other large firm on some scam artists’ mercy list. Luckily good prevailed in this one, but it definitely peeked my interest in Internet security (of which we learned is non-existent).
• Thursday, November 6th
  
  Exam #2: No New Topics
• Tuesday, November 11th
  
  No Class: Veterans' Day
• Thursday, November 13th
  
  Let the Windows bashing begin! Of course I am referring to the new topic: Operating Systems. I have definitely taken a major liking toward the open-source community, especially after seeing and working with Linux only minimally. As for the class, I learned the basic components that make up the OS; most notably that it is a collection of programs, not a single program itself.
• Tuesday, November 18th
  
  Processing: now I can actually make sense of the Task Manager utility. As you may assume, this was a totally new area of learning for me as before today the processing of programs was nothing more than double-clicking an icon (I know, I’m being really technical at the moment). The process, from the IPL to all of its ‘offspring’ that spawn from it, to abortions and proper processing termination (children before parents) brought an interesting comparison to the topic.
• Thursday, November 20th
  
  User Interfaces: how Windows controls the market. Functionality is what I know to go for and settle for the technical interface as opposed to the Windows-strong GUI. Although, a nice GUI or visual display is an asset not to be overlooked (perhaps you’ve seen how this web page blog beat the heck out of of Word document). And we cannot forget the file system structure topic covered. I owe CS213 and my current job to me acing that part of the exam (or at least I believe I did).
• Tuesday, November 25th
  
  On this last day before the semester crunch time, memory management made its formidable appearance. Although it is logically very sound, the actual translation of the Virtual Storage concept into my own memory is another story. The page faults all make sense, especially for computers with a smaller amount of memory installed and DAT took a little getting used to. I’m going to need to work on this a little more and make sure I get it right so that’s it’s in my ROM (I know, but it’s the first joke I’ve written in a while) for when I’ll probably be asked it in a technical interview someday.
• Thursday, November 27th
  
  No Class: Thanksgiving Break

• Tuesday, December 2nd
  
  Linux Party! Coca-cola, donuts, free software, and no Windows, does it get any better for a class period? Yes, Linux was everywhere (except the new HPs :/), but we’re working on that one. This was a great head-start on next semester’s CS420.
• Thursday, December 4th
  
  And then there was one. This final class was a bittersweet ending to a tough semester that produced more learning than most of my other courses combined. Files and directory structure were covered a little more in-depth in this final review class before the final exam.