UNIT XIII:USING ELECTRONIC GADGETS

We all know that man is a social animal. This snippet of enlightenment has stood the test of time and whatever he does and whatever be the changes in his socio-eco-technological environment, he’ll always want to socialize. Man has started finding ways to socialize despite his non-social lifestyle demands- They have come up with electronic technology and gadgets that allowed them to socialize well and stay connected with the rest of the world.

The need for staying connected is so compelling that despite the recession people have bought electronic gadgets more than ever! In fact, those were the only items that were in high demand in the past holidays. The Cell phones, Digital Cameras, Fax, MP3 Players, Bluetooth Technology, Computers or Laptops etc have made it possible to stay connected with rest of the world in a much better way.

A Brief History Of Computers

• The first computers were people! That is, electronic computers (and the earlier mechanical computers) were given this name because they performed the work that had previously been assigned to people. "Computer" was originally a job title: it was used to describe those human beings (predominantly women) whose job it was to perform the repetitive calculations required to compute such things as navigational tables, tide charts, and planetary positions for astronomical almanacs. Imagine you had a job where hour after hour, day after day, you were to do nothing but compute multiplications. Boredom would quickly set in, leading to carelessness, leading to mistakes. And even on your best days you wouldn't be producing answers very fast. Therefore, inventors have been searching for hundreds of years for a way to mechanize (that is, find a mechanism that can perform) this task.

The abacus was an early aid for mathematical computations

In 1617 an eccentric (some say mad) Scotsman

named John Napier invented logarithms

•An original set of Napier's Bones •A more modern set of Napier's Bones

Napier's invention led directly to the slide rule, first built in England in 1632 and still in use in the 1960's by the NASA engineers of the Mercury,

Gemini, and Apollo programs which landed men on the moon.

SLIDE RULE

The Harvard Mark I: an electro-mechanical computer

One early success was the Harvard Mark I computer which was built as a partnership between Harvard and IBM in 1944. This was the first programmable digital computer made in the U.S. But it was not a purely electronic computer

Modern Computer

It responds to a specific set of instructions in a well-defined manner. It can execute a prerecorded list of instructions (a program).

Opening new files• A file is the basic unit of

storage It represents a Document or a Program. The icons that represent it depend on the type of the file.

• A Folder is just like a directory containing programs, files and documents used to organize the data in a systematic way.

How to Create a File

Double click on My Documents Icon

Choose folder in which you want a new file.

Click on File menu. Click on New option. Click the type of the file you

want to create. Type the name of the new file.

Searching For TextTo locate specific text:• Move the insertion point to the location where you want the search

to begin. To search the entire document, press Ctrl+ Home before searching.

• Select Edit > Find (Ctrl + F) to display the Find dialogue box.• Type the characters you want to locate. Press Enter or select Find

Next to begin search.• Word will highlight the next occurrence of the text. The Find dialogue

box remains on the screen after Word locates the text. To find the next occurrence of the same text, select and find next.

• If the text is not found, a dialogue box appears with the message that the search item was not found. Select OK or press Enter to remove message – the insertion point will be in the original position.

Transferring Information

Moving Text With the Mouse

• Place the mouse pointer on the selected text, press it and hold down the left mouse button.

• Drag the mouse pointer to the location where you want to insert the text. The screen will scroll. If you move the pointer to the top or bottom of the screen.

• Release the mouse button.

Copying Text With the Mouse

• Move the insertion point to the place where text is to be copied.

• Now move the insertion pt to text to copy.

• Select the text you want to copy.• Place the mouse pointer on the

selected text, then press and hold down the left mouse button.

• Drag the mouse point to the location where you want to insert the text.

• Press and hold down the Ctrl key.• Release the mouse button.

Moving Text With Cut And Paste Select the text you want to move.

Click the right mouse button to display the shortcut menu, then select CUT. The text

disappears from the screen. You can also select Edit > Cut (or press Ctrl+X )Position the insertion point where you want to place the text. If you decide not to move the text, place the insertion point at its original location.Click the right mouse button to display the shortcut menu shown in the figure and select

Paste

The great thing about a computer notebook is that no matter how much you stuff into it, it doesn't get bigger or heavier. Bill Gates (1955 - )

Writing A Fax• (Taken from UnitXIII of Functional English B.A.-I,Paper-B)

An exact copy of a document made by electronic scanning and sent by telecommunication links.

Originated from ‘Facsimile’,a Latin word which means ‘make similar’or make a copy.

WHAT IS FAX ?

WHAT IS A FAX MACHINE?

• A tele copying device that electronically transmits written or graphic material over telephone lines to produce a hard copy at a remote location.

• It was invented by Alexander Bain and first became popular in Japan in 1980.

PARTS OF A FAX

• The Cover Sheet

• The Content

WHAT IS A COVER SHEET?

• A document that precedes the other pages that are being faxed.

• A sheet that helps ensure that the document arrives at the intended destination.

INFORMATION REQUIRED TO FRAME A COVER SHEET

• Organization’s name and telephone/fax number.

• Sender’s name and telephone/fax number.

• Addressee’s name.• The number of pages.• The subject line.

THE FORMAT OF A COVERSHEET

To: Department of EnglishFax: 0172 200017

From: Daisy VermaFax: 011 5694439

Date: 05 March 2010

FAO: The Head of the Department

No. ofPages: Two including this one

Re:

CONTENT

(IN OFFICIAL LETTERS) Dear Sir/Madam

Yours faithfullyDaisy Verma

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN A FAX AND A LETTER

• The Salutation

• The Closing

• The Style

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A FAX AND A LETTER

• A fax cover sheet needs a telephone number of the place where it is to be sent.

• Has ‘FAO’,which means ‘For the Attention Of’.

ADVANTAGES OF FAX

Convenience

Speed

Absolute similarity with the document to be conveyed.

Written record of the phone number and time of transmission of the message.

DO YOU KNOW?

• The fax was the first of the electronic media to be used to send letters and other written communication.