module 4 the uses of computers unit 10 main software · dan bricklin was preparing a spreadsheet...

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Extra Activities Bit by Bit - Copyright © EDISCO Editrice - Vietata la vendita e la diffusione

UNIT 10 • MAIN SOFTWARE

1 Answer the questions. 1. What does calendaring software provide?2. In what devices can electronic calendars be found?3. What type of calendar applications are available?4. What is an electronic diary?5. What can users do with an electronic diary?6. What are the advantages of an electronic diary if compared with a paper diary?7. What are the main categories of electronic diaries?8. What are the two most common types of notebook applications?

2 Answer the questions.1. What is a database?2. What is a query?3. What are the main types of non-relational databases? What are their characteristics?4. How are relational databases organised?5. What is the key field?6. What are the most common types of data type?7. Why are relational databases predominant today?

3 Write the definitions.

1. accounting application: ��

2. CRM applications: ��

3. database application: ��

4. database engine: ��

5. database management system: ��

6. database schema: ��

7. data dictionary: ��

8. data file: ��

9. index: ��

10. statistical data: ��

11. web applications: ��

ACTIVITIESModule 1

THE USES OF COMPUTERS

EXTRA ACTIVITIES

Module 4

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ACTIVITIES4 4.1 Read and listen to the text and complete it with the missing words.

1978: VisiCalc Spreadsheet is born

Dan Bricklin was preparing a spreadsheet analysis for a Harvard Business School case

study (1) �� and had two alternatives: do it by hand or use a time-sharing

mainframe program�

Bricklin thought there must be a better way� He wanted a program where people could

visualize the (2) �� as they created it� By the fall of 1978, Bricklin had

programmed the first working prototype of his concept in integer (3) ��

The program helped users input and manipulate a matrix of five columns and 20 (4)

��

The first version was not very powerful so Bricklin recruited an MIT acquaintance

Bob Frankston to improve and expand the program� Bricklin calls Frankston the (5)

�� of the electronic spreadsheet� Frankston created the production code

with faster speed, better (6) ��, and scrolling� He also expanded the program

and packed the code into a mere 20k of machine memory, making it both powerful and

practical enough to be run on a microcomputer�

During the fall of 1978, Daniel Fylstra, joined Bricklin and Frankston in developing

VisiCalc� Fylstra was (7) �� and suggested that the product would be viable if

it could run on an Apple micro-computer� Bricklin and Frankston formed Software Arts

Corporation on January 2, 1979� In May 1979, Fylstra and his firm Personal Software (later

renamed VisiCorp) began marketing VisiCalc with a teaser ad in Byte Magazine� The name

VisiCalc is a compressed form of the phrase “visible (8) ��” VisiCalc became an

almost instant success and provided many business people with an incentive to purchase

a personal computer or an H-P 85 or 87 calculator from Hewlett-Packard� About 1 million

copies of the spreadsheet program were sold during VisiCalc’s product lifetime�

Adapted from: microcohttp://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/6990/ VisiCalc-Spreadsheet-is-born/mputer”

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ACTIVITIESUNIT 11 • GRAPHICS SOFTWARE

1 Complete the text with the missing words.

Metafile

A metafile is a file which contains information (1) �� describes or specifies

another file� It contains a sequence of graphical-device-interface function calls, or

commands, that result in the presentation of (2) �� graphic image� Some of

the function calls are equivalent (3) �� vector graphics statements and others

identify stored bitmap specifications� Using metafiles instead of ready-built bitmaps saves

space when many bitmaps (4) �� used repeatedly (5) �� different

components of the operating system of an application� Two common metafile formats

(6) �� WMF (Windows Metafile Format) and CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile)�

While WMF is specific for Windows, CGM can be used on (7) �� operating

system�

Adapted from: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/metafile

2 Read the text and choose the appropriate heading for each paragraph.

editing features • help and support • import/export functions • organising capabilities • output formats • sharing tools • user interface

Photo editing: the seven parameters to identify the software that will answer your needs

1. �� Good software offers a simple user interface, easy-to-understand directions, and help for simplifying tasks such as correcting problems and aiding in quick learning and navigation�

2. �� Image editing software should offer features for adding, changing or improving your photos, such as removing red-eye, straightening crooked pictures, taking care of insufficient lighting, and so on�

3. �� The software features should include organising capabilities such as thumbnails, keyword search or query or rating, view image formats from digital cameras, store images in digital albums, and image archiving�

4. �� The image editing software should provide tools for optimising parameters such as image resolution, file size and so on, and to enable sharing through various modes such as e-mail, MMS, print, web galleries and social media sites such as Picasa, Flickr and Facebook�

5. �� Photo editing software features should enable saving images in different file formats and in different ways, such as printing, on the web, e-mailing and integrating with other applications that allow creation of digital photo albums, collages and cards�

6. �� The photo editing software should be capable of importing files of most formats into it, as well as converting from one format to another before exporting�

7. �� An extensive and easy-to-follow tutorial explaining the hows and whys of specific features, a pop-up Help menu, FAQs, as well as e-mail, chat and phone support, are a critical and essential part of any good editing software�

Adapted from: https://www.flatworldsolutions.com/digital-photography/articles/ types-of-photo-editing-software.php

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ACTIVITIES3 Complete the table.

1. Definition of DTP2. Meaning of the acronym

3. Its uses

4. Meaning of frame-based

5. Types of frames

6. Advantages over a word processor

7. Two common applications

4 Complete the table.

Digital mappingDefinition and characteristics Software names

GIS

CAC

mapping programs

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ACTIVITIESUNIT 12 • OTHER SOFTWARE PROGRAMS

1 Read the description of some of the most popular computer games in 2017 and match them with their names.

1. Everything2. Outlast 23. Rising Storm 2: Vietnam

4. Stellaris: Utopia5. Stories Untold6. Resident Evil 7

A. The same 64-player, tactics-heavy shooting of the Red Orchestra and Rising Storm series, shifted from WWII to Vietnam� With automatic weapons in every hand, RS2 makes positioning, smoke grenades, and battlefield even more important�

B. Inhabit a cow and tumble end-over-end, or become a microbe, or a galaxy� Everything lives up to its name–though it obviously doesn’t include literally everything, it lets players become the tiniest molecules or entire islands, planets, and beyond�

C. First-person horror at its most disgusting, this new version of Outlast suffers from some confusing stealth segments, but makes up for it with pure horror� “Long after the final minutes of the game, I felt uncertain that what I saw had actually happened,” wrote a player� “It’s one of the most bizarre ending sequences I’ve witnessed, tapping into a fear I’ve known since my first week at Sunday school�”

D. “If you want to build a giant Dyson sphere around a sun to steal all of its energy and make any planets that depended on it freeze to death, you can do that,” wrote a player in our review� And who doesn’t? The game expansion overhauls politics, adds factions to your population, and introduces tradition trees–which are how you might blot out the sun� The add-on gives the game a big push in the right direction, filling out the previously light mid-game�

E. You’re playing a text adventure, but not on your PC–on a virtual computer on a virtual desk� And as you explore, strange things start happening in your virtual room� The game is “a wonderfully creepy idea,” wrote a player, which is told in four episodes that form a “fascinating, subversive experiment in storytelling that delights in messing with your head�”

F. A reset for series, this game moves away from the action movie stylings of the last few games for a creepier, first-person horror adventure� “It takes an industrial pressure washer to the series, blasting off years of accumulated filth and grime,” wrote a player� “And you’re left with a polished survival horror that borrows from its legacy, but isn’t afraid to look to modern horror games for inspiration too�”

Adapted from: http://www.pcgamer.com/best-pc-games-2017/

2 PAIR WORK. Read a list of categories and decide to which ones the games of the previous activity belong to.

Refer to this site for a description of the categories: https://www.thocp.net/software/games/reference/genres.htm

a. shooterb. adventurec. strategy/tacticsd. sports

e. fightingf. role playing gameg. simulationh. survival horror

3 PAIR WORK. Answer the questions.1. Do you like videogames and/or computer games?2. Do you prefer a PC or a game console? Why?3. Which is your favourite genre?4. What is your favourite game?

module 4 the uses of computers unit 10 main software · dan bricklin was preparing a spreadsheet...

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