Record details

• ISBN: 9780789749840
• ISBN: 078974984X
• Physical Description: print
  xx, 361 pages : color illustrations ; 26 cm
• Edition: Tenth edition.
• Publisher: Indianapolis, IN : Que, [2015]
• Copyright: ©2015

Content descriptions

General Note:

Includes index.

Formatted Contents Note:

pt. 1. What makes a computer a computer. 1. The ghostly LEGOs of computing : How waves take the universe on a joy ride ; How information rides the waves ; How electromagnetism is the ghost in the machine ; How we control electricity ; How computers create our world using numbers -- 2. How computers remember : How a little transistor does big jobs ; Writing data to RAM ; Reading data to RAM ; How flash memory remembers when the switch is off -- 3. How a little microprocessor does big things : How a processor tracks numbers ; How a processor does math ; How a processor moves data ; How multi-core processors work ; How desktop CPUs keep it complex ; How mobile CPUs keep it simple -- 4. How motherboards conduct a symphony of data : How a motherboard brings it all together ; How the chipset directs traffic ; How PCI-Express breaks the bus barrier -- pt. 2. Software--the computer's own poetry. 5. How words are stitched into programs : How a program is a roadmap ; How software interpreters generate action ; How a compiler churns out software -- 6. How applications work so you can play : How text SHOUTS and whispers ; How databases track everything ; How databases pack it in ; How databases make connections ; How spreadsheets solve formulas ; How numbers become pictures ; How art is compressed to save space ; How imaging software paints by numbers ; How photo editors revive old memories ; How apps fuel mobile devices -- 7. How games create new worlds : How computers plot a 3D world ; How 3D gets dressed ; How shaders control the world ; How games populate new worlds -- 8. How security software fights off invaders : How computer hackers break in ; How spyware reports everything you do -- How viruses invade your computer ; How viruses hitch rides in your email ; How antivirus software fights back ; How firewalls keep hackers out ; How spammers find you ; How antispam software sniffs out phony email ; How prime numbers protect prime secrets -- pt. 3. How computers evolve. 9. The origins of computer DNA : Fossils of the premobilian era ; Persistent relics: the mouse ; Persistent relics: the keyboard ; How the workaday floppy drive ruled ; How the CRT was the grande dame of displays ; How the impact printer was right on the spot ; The unlikely progenitor to the Internet: the dialup modem ; How cabling was worse: serial ; How cabling was worse: parallel ; How the power supply hasn't changed ; How the iPhone made it slick -- 10. How small mutations pay off big : How USB really is universal ; How little bits add up to big changes ; How file compression makes files smaller ; How solid state drives command the instant ; How solid state drives take out the trash ; How PCs use light to remember ; How optical disc drives write with light -- 11. Honey, I've shrunk the PC : How computers get smaller and better ; How iPods dish out media ; How eInk puts words on your eReader ; How all those smarts got packed into a smartphone ; How Google Glass makes us cyborgs -- 12. Evolution of the super computer : How video cards break the game barrier ; How overclocking multiplies time ; How a PC keeps its cool ; How advanced cooling refrigerates your PC ; How jailbreaking frees your devices -- 13. How cameras capture memories : How digital cameras capture the moment ; How autofucus clears the picture ; How cameras choose an exposure --

Search for related items by subject

Subject:

Microcomputers

Computer input-output equipment