What is a Blog?

This time I will explain the definition of What is a blog?

Blog is short for Web Log.Log, in a very simple form, is a record of events arranged in sequence, or chronologically. Think of a diary. Every time the owner of the diary notes are given a date, sometimes hours, about the events that he experienced or advanced the story of the events that have happened before. That's the log.

Thus, a Web log or blog is a chronological record of a particular subject that is stored and shared on the World Wide Web, by showing the sources of information about the event. Usually a blog entry is designed to last at the top and bottom of the previous entry.

Personal blogs are oriented
I mean, writing on a blog will be very dependent on the mindset of the owner of the blog, or we are familiar with the blogger. So, you can know how the character of the blog by reading the writings on his blog.

Subject discussed on a blog can vary. From mild (artist gossip, personal experiences, comics), an online business opportunity, to a serious political or military. Even in the same theme, we have a choice to see a blog with a different perspective. It could be that one blog laud Gus Dur, while others hate blog at all. That's an example. You just choose which one you like.

The blogger, often online or offline to find the latest news updates related to the theme of his blog from various sources. He then summed according to their own perspective on his blog as a new post. That is why the information on a blog usually have a deeper understanding as compiled from various sources.

Alternatively, there is also a blogger who also serves as a source of information because of the experience or knowledge. It could also be because he become rich because of her blog to be a money machine. This blogger is usually considered a senior and his blog is often a reference for other bloggers. You can find many wealthy bloggers on the internet. .

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What is Internet?

What is Internet?

Internet is a network of interconnected computers that enables global Internet users share information / data through the network. The Internet is a global data communications system, an infrastructure consisting of hardware and software that connects computers in the network.

So, talking about the internet connected computer networks and interact with each other on a global scale.
At the beginning of the Internet (brief version of the Internet History)

There are many important points in the history of the internet. But on this occasion I will simplify it into 5 important milestone in advance only, based on what has been published on the CNET Australia. A more complex version of the Milestone I will publish in the next article :)

The emergence of the Internet began in 1966, by ARPA (Advanced Research Project Agency - One of the divisions in the U.S. defense department) with a very simple idea: create a network of military computers capable of exchanging data from distant places.

In 1969, ARPA ARPANET was to successfully connect two computers at the University of California, Los Angeles and SRI International in Menlo Park, California. This is what became one of the embryos internet delivery.

In 1974, TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) was introduced and became very popular and acceptable in the 80's. TCP / IP is a data communication standard that is used for exchanging process data in the Internet network. Simply put, TCP / IP is a protocol / rules are used together in transferring data from one computer to another computer in the Internet network.

TCP / IP using a scheme called IP Address. A scheme which gives an address to a computer machine, which makes data stored in it can be accessed by other computers. Example IP Address: 205 116 008 044. For a better understanding of the IP Adress, you can ip address in the article on wikipedia

On October 1984, the domain name system (. Com,. Org,. Gov,. Edu, etc) are introduced. Domain name is one way to make the Internet becomes easier to explore. Put simply this: Technology TCP / IP provides an IP address for each computer that make it accessible to other computers. IP address consists of a sequence of numbers, for example: 192.12.12.98. Well, the domain name is an attempt to make the internet a more humane way to make the domain name as an "alias" of the IP address. It's easier to type than 192.12.12.98 bloggingly.com right? ;)

June 1987, gif image formats found. GIF or graphics interchange format is a digital image format that is relatively more efficient (due to their smaller size) than other image formats (eg,. JPEG), which immediately makes the Internet becomes more colorful with a variety of image formats. Gif.

November 1990, the format of the World Wide Web or www Barners introduced by Tim Lee, an employee of CERN (Organisation joint European countries are researching nuclear technology. Been reading Deception Point, Dan Brown's novel).

Well, these things are important, but often we lack proper understanding of: the internet and world wide web are two different things. Internet is a network of computers connected in a global scale, while the world wide web is one of the internet service in the form of a network of documents or other resources such as audio, video or images that are connected by a hyperlink or URL (Uniform Resource Locator - a web address that your web documents type in the browser address bar) that is transferred through the Internet via HTTP protocol (hypertext transfer protocol).

So initially there are various formats of data exchange between computers that exist in the Internet network. Unfortunately, sometimes from one format to another format is not compatible. This is exactly what underlies the creation of the world wide web as an internet platform: for a uniform data exchange format on the internet.

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What is Personal Computer (PC)?

A personal computer (PC) is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator. In contrast with the batch processing or time-sharing models which allowed larger, more expensive minicomputer and mainframe systems to be used by many people, usually at the same time. Large data processing systems require a full-time staff to operate efficiently.

Software applications for personal computers include, but are not limited to, word processing, spreadsheets, databases, Web browsers and e-mail clients, digital media playback, games, and myriad personal productivity and special-purpose software applications. Modern personal computers often have connections to the Internet, allowing access to the World Wide Web and a wide range of other resources. Personal computers may be connected to a local area network (LAN), either by a cable or a wireless connection. A personal computer may be a desktop computer or a laptop, tablet, or a handheld PC.

While early PC owners usually had to write their own programs to do anything useful with the machines, today's users have access to a wide range of commercial software and free software, which is provided in ready-to-run or ready-to-compile form. Since the early 1990s, Microsoft software and Intel hardware have dominated much of the personal computer market, first with MS-DOS and then with the Wintel platform. Popular alternatives to Microsoft's Windows operating systems include Apple's Mac OS X and open-source Linux-based operating systems such as Ubuntu. AMD provides the major alternative to Intel's central processing units. Applications and games for PCs are typically developed and distributed independently from the hardware or OS manufacturers, whereas software for many mobile phones and other portable systems is approved and distributed through a centralized online store.

Source: wikipedia

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What is Central Processing Unit?

The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the "brain" of the computer--it is the 'compute' in computer. Without the CPU, you have no computer. AMD, IBM, Intel, Motorola, SGI and Sun are just a few of the companies that make most of the CPU's used for various kinds of computers including home desktops, office computers, mainframes and supercomputers. Computer CPU's (processors) are composed of thin layers of thousands of transistors. Transistors are tiny, nearly microscopic bits of material that will block electricity at one voltage (they are a non-conductor and 'resist' the flow of electricity) and permit electricity to pass through them at different voltage (the material loses its resistence to electricity and becomes a conductor). The ability of these materials (called semi-conductors) to transition from a non-conducting to a conducting state allows them to take two electrical inputs and produce a different output only when one or both inputs are switched on. A computer CPU is composed of millions (and soon billions) of transistors. Because CPU's are so small, they are often referred to as microprocessors. So, the terms processor, microprocessor and CPU are interchangeable.

Modern CPU's are what are called 'integrated chips'. The idea behind an integrated chip is that several types of components are integrated into a single piece of silicon (a single CPU), such as one or more execution core, arithmetic unit (ALU), logic unit, registers, instruction memory, cache memory and the input/output controller (bus controller).

Each transistor is a receives a set of inputs and produces output. When one or more of the inputs receive electricity, the combined charge changes the state of the transistor internally and you get a result out the other side. This simple effect of the transistor is what makes it possible for the computer to count and perform logical operations, all of which we call processing.

A modern computer's CPU usually contains an execution core with two or more instruction pipelines, a data and address bus, a dedicated arithmetic logic unit (ALU, also called the math co-processor), and in some cases special high-speed memory for caching program instructions from RAM.

The CPU's in most PC's and servers are general purpose integrated chips composed of several smaller dedicated-purpose components which together create the processing capabilities of the modern computer.

For example, Intel makes a Pentium, while AMD makes the Athlon, and Duron (no memory cache).

Generations

CPU manufacturers engineer new ways to do processing that requires some significant re-engineering of the current chip design. When they create this new design that changes the number of bits the chip can handle, or some other major way in which the chip performs its job, they are creating a new generation of processors. As of the time this tutorial was last updated (2008), there were seven generations of chips, with an eighth on the drawing board.

CPU Components

A lot of components go into building a modern computer processor and just what goes in changes with every generation as engineers and scientists find new, more efficient ways to do old tasks.

• Execution Core(s)

• Data Bus

• Address Bus

• Math Co-processor

• Instruction sets / Microcode

• Multimedia extensions

• Registers

• Flags

• Pipelining

• Memory Controller

• Cache Memory (L1, L2 and L3)

Measuring Speed: Bits, Cycles and Execution Cores
Bit Width

The first way of describing a processor is to say how many bits it processes in a single instruction or transports across the processor's internal bus in a single cycle (not exactly correct, but close enough). The number of bits used in the CPU's instructions and registers and how many bits the buses can transfer simultaneously is usually expressed in multiples of 8 bits. It is possible for the registers and the bus to have different sizes. Current chip designs are 64 bit chips (as of 2008).

More bits usually means more processing capability and more speed.

Clock Cycles

The second way of describing a processor is to say how many cycles per second the chip operates at. This is how many times per second a charge of electricity passes through the chip. The more cycles, the faster the processor. Currently, chips operate in the billions of cycles per second range. When you're talking about billions of anything in computer terms, you're talking about 'giga' something. When you're talking about how many cycles per second, your talking about 'hertz'. Putting the two together, you get gigahertz.

More clock cycles usually means more processing capability and more speed.

Execution Cores

The third way of describing a processor is to say how many execution cores are in the chip. The most advanced chips today have eight execution cores. More execution cores means you can get more work done at the same time, but it doesn't necessarily mean a single program will run faster. To put it another way, a processor with one execution core might be able to run your MP3 music, your web browser, a graphics program and that's about where it starts to slow down enough, it's not worth it running more programs. A system with a processor with 8 cores could run all that plus ten more applications without even seeming to slow down (of course, this assumes you have enough RAM to load all of this software at the same time).

More execution cores means more processing capability, but not necessarily more speed.

As of 2008, the most advanced processors available are 64-bit processors with 8 cores, running as fast as 3-4 gigahertz. Intel has released quad-core 64-bit chips as has AMD.

Multi-Processor Computers

And if you're still needing more processing power, some computers are designed to run more than one processor chip at the same time. Many companies that manufacture servers make models that accept two, four, eight, sixteen even thirty two processors in a single chassis. The biggest supercomputers are running hundreds of thousands of quad-core processors in parallel to do major calculations for such applications as thermonuclear weapons simulations, radioactive decay simulations, weather simulations, high energy physics calculations and more.

CPU Speed Measurements

The main measurement quoted by manufacturers as a supposed indication of processing speed, is the clock speed of the chip measured in hertz. The the theory goes that the higher the number of mega or gigahertz, the faster the processor.

However comparing raw speeds is not always a good comparison between chips. Counting how many instructions are processed per second (MIPS, BIPS, TIPS for millions, billions and trillions of instructions per second) is a better measurement. Still others use the number of mathematical calculations per second to rate the speed of a processor.

Of course, what measurement is most important and most helpful to you depends on what you use a computer for. If you primarily do intensive math calculations, measuring the number of calculations per second is most important. If you are measuring how fast the computer runs an application, then instructions per second are most important.

Processor Manufacturers

• American Micro Devices (AMD)

• Intel

• IBM

• Motorola

• Cyrix

• Texas Instruments

AMD and Intel have pretty much dominated the market. AMD and Intel are for IBM compatible machines. Motorola chips are made for MacIntoshes. Cyrix (another IBM compatible chip maker) runs a distant fourth place in terms of number of chips sold.

Today all chip manufacturers produce chips whose input and output are identical, though the internal architecture may be different. This means that though they may not be built the same way, they DO all run the same software.

The CPU is built using logic gates, and contains a small number of programs called 'microcode' built into the chip to perform certain basic processes (like reading data from the bus and writing to a device). Current chips use a 'reduced instruction set' or RISC architectures. Chips can also be measured in terms of instructions processed per second (MIPS).

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What is output device

An output device receives information from the computer and translates it from machine language to a form that humans can read or so that another machine can read the information. An output device is any piece of computer hardware equipment used to communicate the results of data processing carried out by an information processing system (such as a computer) to the outside world.

Electronic output devices can be mechanical, audio, or visual. Mechanical outputs include motors, solenoids, and other electromagnetic devices. Audio outputs include buzzers, loudspeakers, piezo transducers, and ultrasonic transmitters. Mechanical and audio outputs tend to have a higher power demand than other output devices. Visual outputs include lamps, LEDs (light-emitting diodes), and infrared transmitters.

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What is input device?

In computing, an input device is any peripheral (piece of computer hardware equipment) used to provide data and control signals to an information processing system such as a computer or other information appliance. Input and output devices make up the hardware interface between a computer and a scanner or 6DOF controller.

Many input devices can be classified according to:

• modality of input (e.g. mechanical motion, audio, visual, etc.)

• the input is discrete (e.g. key presses) or continuous (e.g. a mouse's position, though digitized into a discrete quantity, is fast enough to be considered continuous)

• the number of degrees of freedom involved (e.g. two-dimensional traditional mice, or three-dimensional navigators designed for CAD applications)

Pointing devices, which are input devices used to specify a position in space, can further be classified according to:

• Whether the input is direct or indirect. With direct input, the input space coincides with the display space, i.e. pointing is done in the space where visual feedback or the pointer appears. Touchscreens and light pens involve direct input. Examples involving indirect input include the mouse and trackball.

• Whether the positional information is absolute (e.g. on a touch screen) or relative (e.g. with a mouse that can be lifted and repositioned)

Direct input is almost necessarily absolute, but indirect input may be either absolute or relative. For example, digitizing graphics tablets that do not have an embedded screen involve indirect input and sense absolute positions and are often run in an absolute input mode, but they may also be set up to simulate a relative input mode where the stylus or puck can be lifted and repositioned.

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What is mass storage?

Refers to various techniques and devices for storing large amounts of data. The earliest storage devices were punched paper cards, which were used as early as 1804 to control silk-weaving looms. Modern mass storage devices include all types of disk drives and tape drives. Mass storage is distinct from memory, which refers to temporary storage areas within the computer. Unlike main memory, mass storage devices retain data even when the computer is turned off.

The main types of mass storage are:

• floppy disks : Relatively slow and have a small capacity, but they are portable, inexpensive, and universal.

• hard disks : Very fast and with more capacity than floppy disks, but also more expensive. Some hard disk systems are portable (removable cartridges), but most are not.

• optical disks : Unlike floppy and hard disks, which use electromagnetism to encode data, optical disk systems use a laser to read and write data. Optical disks have very large storage capacity, but they are not as fast as hard disks. In addition, the inexpensive optical disk drives are read-only. Read/write varieties are expensive.

• tapes : Relatively inexpensive and can have very large storage capacities, but they do not permit random access of data.

Mass storage is measured in kilobytes (1,024 bytes), megabytes (1,024 kilobytes), gigabytes (1,024 megabytes) and terabytes (1,024 gigabytes).

Mass storage is sometimes called auxiliary storage.

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What is memory?

Internal storage areas in the computer. The term memory identifies data storage that comes in the form of chips, and the word storage is used for memory that exists on tapes or disks. Moreover, the term memory is usually used as a shorthand for physical memory, which refers to the actual chips capable of holding data. Some computers also use virtual memory, which expands physical memory onto a hard disk.

Every computer comes with a certain amount of physical memory, usually referred to as main memory or RAM. You can think of main memory as an array of boxes, each of which can hold a single byte of information. A computer that has 1 megabyte of memory, therefore, can hold about 1 million bytes (or characters) of information.

There are several different types of memory:

• RAM (random-access memory): This is the same as main memory. When used by itself, the term RAM refers to read and write memory; that is, you can both write data into RAM and read data from RAM. This is in contrast to ROM, which permits you only to read data. Most RAM is volatile, which means that it requires a steady flow of electricity to maintain its contents. As soon as the power is turned off, whatever data was in RAM is lost.

• ROM (read-only memory): Computers almost always contain a small amount of read-only memory that holds instructions for starting up the computer. Unlike RAM, ROM cannot be written to.

• PROM (programmable read-only memory): A PROM is a memory chip on which you can store a program. But once the PROM has been used, you cannot wipe it clean and use it to store something else. Like ROMs, PROMs are non-volatile.

• EPROM (erasable programmable read-only memory): An EPROM is a special type of PROM that can be erased by exposing it to ultraviolet light.

• EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory): An EEPROM is a special type of PROM that can be erased by exposing it to an electrical charge.

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What is Software?

Software is a general term for the various kinds of programs used to operate computers and related devices. (The term hardware describes the physical aspects of computers and related devices.)

Software can be thought of as the variable part of a computer and hardware the invariable part. Software is often divided into application software (programs that do work users are directly interested in) and system software (which includes operating systems and any program that supports application software). The term middleware is sometimes used to describe programming that mediates between application and system software or between two different kinds of application software (for example, sending a remote work request from an application in a computer that has one kind of operating system to an application in a computer with a different operating system).

An additional and difficult-to-classify category of software is the utility, which is a small useful program with limited capability. Some utilities come with operating systems. Like applications, utilities tend to be separately installable and capable of being used independently from the rest of the operating system.

Software can be purchased or acquired as shareware (usually intended for sale after a trial period), liteware (shareware with some capabilities disabled), freeware (free software but with copyright restrictions), public domain software (free with no restrictions), and open source (software where the source code is furnished and users agree not to limit the distribution of improvements).

Software is often packaged on CD-ROMs and diskettes. Today, much purchased software, shareware, and freeware is downloaded over the Internet. A new trend is software that is made available for use at another site known as an application service provider.

Some general kinds of application software include:

• Productivity software, which includes word processors, spreadsheets, and tools for use by most computer users

• Presentation software

• Graphics software for graphic designers

• CAD/CAM software

• Specialized scientific applications

• Vertical market or industry-specific software (for example, for banking, insurance, retail, and manufacturing environments)

Firmware or microcode is programming that is loaded into a special area on a microprocessor or read-only memory on a one-time or infrequent basis so that thereafter it seems to be part of the hardware.

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What is Hardware?

Definition Hardware, in the computer world, refers to the physical components that make up a computer system.

There are many different kinds of hardware that can be installed inside, and connected to the outside, of a computer.

Here are some common individual computer hardware components that you'll often find inside a modern computer case:

• Motherboard
• Central Processing Unit (CPU)
• Random Access Memory (RAM)
• Power Supply
• Video Card
• Hard Drive (HDD)
• Solid-State Drive (SSD)
• Optical Drive (e.g. BD/DVD/CD drive)
• Card Reader (SD/SDHC, CF, etc.)

Here is some common hardware that you might find connected to the outside of a computer:

• Monitor
• Keyboard
• Mouse
• Battery Backup (UPS)
• Printer
• Speakers

Here is some less common computer hardware, either because these pieces are now usually integrated into other devices or because they've been replaced with newer technology:

• Sound Card
• Network Interface Card (NIC)
• Expansion Card (Firewire, USB, Thunderbolt, etc.)
• Hard Drive Controller Card
• Analog Modem
• Scanner
• Floppy Disk Drive
• Joystick
• Webcam
• Microphone
• Tape Drive
• Zip Drive

The following hardware is referred to as network hardware and various pieces are often part of a home or business network:

• Digital Modem (e.g. Cable Modem, DSL Modem, etc.)
• Router
• Network Switch
• Access Point
• Repeater
• Bridge
• Print Server
• Firewall

Network hardware isn't as clearly defined as some other types of computer hardware. For example, many home routers will often act as a combination router, switch, and firewall.

In addition to all the items listed above, there's more computer hardware that I like to call auxiliary hardware, of which a computer might have none, or several, of some kinds:

• Fan (CPU, GPU, Case, etc.)
• Heat Sink
• Data Cable
• Power Cable
• CMOS Battery
• Daughterboard

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What is Computer?

What is a Computer?

A computer is a programmable machine. The two principal characteristics of a computer are:

• It responds to a specific set of instructions in a well-defined manner.
  

It can execute a prerecorded list of instructions (a program).

Modern Computers

Modern computers are electronic and digital. The actual machinery wires, transistors, and circuits is called hardware; the instructions and data are called software.

All general-purpose computers require the following hardware components:

• memory: enables a computer to store, at least temporarily, data and programs.

• mass storage device: allows a computer to permanently retain large amounts of data. Common mass storage devices include disk drives and tape drives.

• input device: usually a keyboard and mouse, the input device is the conduit through which data and instructions enter a computer.

• output device: a display screen, printer, or other device that lets you see what the computer has accomplished.

• central processing unit (CPU): the heart of the computer, this is the component that actually executes instructions.
  

In addition to these components, many others make it possible for the basic components to work together efficiently. For example, every computer requires a bus that transmits data from one part of the computer to another.

Computer Classification

Computers can be generally classified by size and power as follows, though there is considerable overlap:

• personal computer: a small, single-user computer based on a microprocessor. In addition to the microprocessor, a personal computer has a keyboard for entering data, a monitor for displaying information, and a storage device for saving data.

• workstation: a powerful, single-user computer. A workstation is like a personal computer, but it has a more powerful microprocessor and a higher-quality monitor.

• minicomputer: a multi-user computer capable of supporting from 10 to hundreds of users simultaneously.

• mainframe: a powerful multi-user computer capable of supporting many hundreds or thousands of users simultaneously.

• supercomputer: an extremely fast computer that can perform hundreds of millions of instructions per second.

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