Back

Computers

Goal: What should I look for in a computer?

Situation: What should I look for in a computer?

Response: I know about... responding to: What should I look for in a computer?

Action: SpeakFree = That depends on your needs in a computer. If you like to program, look for a computer with a built-in language or many language available. If you will be doing a lot of word processing, you should get a computer that is compatible with a word processor that has the features you want. Just like when buying a new car, you should research the market before spending your money.

Goal: What is a Kilobyte?

Situation: What is a Kilobyte?

Situation: What is a K?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a Kilobyte?

Action: SpeakFree = K is an abbreviation for the word kilobyte. A kilobyte is 1,024 bytes.

Goal: What can you use a computer for?

Situation: What can you use a computer for?

Response: I know about... responding to: What can you use a computer for?

Action: SpeakFree = Most computers are general purpose, and you can use them for such applications as games, home management, business, etc.

Goal: What type of system computer are you?

Situation: What type of computer are you?

Situation: What type of system are you?

Response: I know about... responding to: What type of system computer are you?

Action: SpeakFree = I am Software! I live in an IBM PC/XT. But I can work in any 100% IBM compatible system with 1 disk drive and 128K of memory.

Goal: What one gets the job done best?

Situation: What one gets the job done best?

Response: I know about... responding to: What one gets the job done best?

Action: SpeakFree = That is a tricky question. You or your computer dealer will need to decide on that.

Goal: What is the best computer system?

Situation: What is the best computer system?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is the best computer system?

Action: SpeakFree = The best computer system is the one that gets the job done!

Goal: How does a computer work?

Situation: How does a computer work?

Response: I know about... responding to: How does a computer work?

Action: SpeakFree = Computers work very well. I love living in one!

Goal: What is a disk drive?

Situation: What is a disk drive?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a disk drive?

Action: SpeakFree = A disk drive is used to store or retrieve programs and information using a diskette.

Goal: What is a hard disk?

Situation: What is a hard disk?

Situation: What is a HD

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a hard disk?

Action: SpeakFree = A hard disk is a device that can store large amounts of data in a very small area. The fact that the disk surface is hard, allows information to be packed very tight.

Goal: What is a syntax error?

Situation: What is a syntax error?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a syntax error?

Action: SpeakFree = A syntax error is reported when the rules governing the structure of a language are broken. This is usually caused by a mistyped word.

Goal: What is an expansion card?

Situation: What is an expansion card?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is an expansion card?

Action: SpeakFree = An expansion card is usually a printed circuit board containing hardware, that will add certain features to a computer system. Such as memory expansion cards, graphics cards, serial cards, etcetera.

Goal: What is the best system?

Situation: What is the best system?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is the best system?

Action: SpeakFree = The one that gets the job done.

Goal: Are you a computer?

Situation: Are you a computer?

Response: I know about... responding to: Are you a computer?

Action: SpeakFree = Well, I am a child of COMPANION SOFTWARE. My name is Name$ and I live inside a personal computer. Really, I am not a computer, I am a Knowledge & Information Support System.

Goal: Do you like computers?

Situation: Do you like computers?

Response: I know about... responding to: Do you like computers?

Action: SpeakFree = Yes, I like computers. Without them, I could not exist.

Goal: What is a bit?

Situation: What is a bit?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a bit?

Action: SpeakFree = A bit is a contraction of the words BINARY and DIGIT. This is expressed as 0 or 1. There are only these two digits in the binary numbering system.

Goal: What is a buffer?

Situation: What is a buffer?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a buffer?

Action: SpeakFree = A buffer is a set of memory locations dedicated to a specific need. Usually a buffer is used to store information before it is transferred from the computer to any external device.

Goal: What is a bus?

Situation: What is a bus?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a bus?

Action: SpeakFree = Bus is a term to discribe several lines grouped together. In a computer, there are two main buses, the data bus and the address bus. Information is transferred in parallel across a bus.

Goal: What is a byte?

Situation: What is a byte?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a byte?

Action: SpeakFree = A byte is a specific number of bits, usually 8 or 16, depending on the type of computer used. An eight bit byte can represent any integer number between 0 and 255.

Goal: What is a compiler?

Situation: What is a compiler?

Response: I know about... responding to: Undefined Goal

Action: SpeakFree = A compiler is a program that converts source code into machine code.

Goal: What is a computer?

Situation: What is a computer?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a computer?

Action: SpeakFree = A computer is an electronic device capable of accepting and processing data and displaying the results of these processes. It usually consists of input, output, storage, arithmetic and logic functions, and associated control units.

Goal: What is a CPU?

Situation: What is a CPU?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a CPU?

Action: SpeakFree = A CPU is the main chip within a computer system. It is the chip which handles the main functions in a computer. Some systems have otherchips dedicated to sound, graphics, or other tasks.

Goal: What is a CRT?

Situation: What is a CRT?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a CRT?

Action: SpeakFree = CRT is an acronym for Cathode Ray Tube. Most television screens are of this type. Many computer users are turning away from CRTs becouse of the radiation generated by them and the strain they cause on the users eyes. Today, many LCD, Plasma and other flat screen type monitors are being used in place of the CRTs.

Goal: What is a disk?

Situation: What is a disk?

Situation: What is a diskette?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a disk?

Action: SpeakFree = A disk is a piece of magnetic material similar to a cassette tape. The material is formed into a flat two-sided circular sheet, like a record. Computers can store and retrieve information and programs from disks. I live on one!

Goal: What is a flowchart?

Situation: What is a flowchart?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a flowchart?

Action: SpeakFree = A flowchart is a symbolic description of program flow. All major steps in a program are converted to special symbols and each symbol is then connected by arrows to show the flow of the program.

Goal: What is a joystick?

Situation: What is a joystick?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a joystick?

Action: SpeakFree = A joystick is a device used to enter 2 dimensional movements. Many games use a joystick for control.

Goal: What is a keyboard?

Situation: What is a keyboard?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a keyboard?

Action: SpeakFree = A keyboard is a device that allows humans to enter typed input into a computer. The keyboard is the main input device for many computer systems.

Goal: What is a modem?

Situation: What is a modem?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a modem?

Action: SpeakFree = A modem is a data transmission device that allows computer-to-computer, or terminal-to-computer communications using a normal telephone line.

Goal: What is a monitor?

Situation: What is a monitor?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a monitor?

Action: SpeakFree = A monitor is a display device that requires composite video or RGB input. A monitor does not contain a tuner section and has a higher resolution than an ordinary TV.

Goal: What is a PIA?

Situation: What is a PIA?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a PIA?

Action: SpeakFree = PIA is an acronym for Peripheral Interface Adaptor. PIA is usually a LSI chip which interfaces with the CPU in a computer. PIA usually controls external peripherals. Several different PIA chips are available.

Goal: What is a printer?

Situation: What is a printer?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a printer?

Action: SpeakFree = A printer is an electro-mechanic device that produces a hard copy (printed copy) of ASCII data fed to the printer from a host computer

Goal: What is a peripheral?

Situation: What is a peripheral?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a peripheral?

Action: SpeakFree = A peripheral can be any device connected to a computer. Such as printers, modems, monitors or expansion cards.

Goal: What is a VDT?

Situation: What is a VDT?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is a VDT?

Action: SpeakFree = VDT is an acronym for Video Display Terminal. Usually a CRT with a keyboard and terminal hardware.

Goal: What is access time?

Situation: What is access time?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is access time?

Action: SpeakFree = Access time is the amount of time required to retrieve data from a device such as a disk drive or a memory chip.

Goal: What is baud rate?

Situation: What is baud rate?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is baud rate?

Action: SpeakFree = Baud rate is the transmission rate of ASCII data, usually expressed in bits per second.

Goal: What is dynamic RAM?

Situation: What is dynamic RAM?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is dynamic RAM?

Action: SpeakFree = Dynamic RAM is the internal memory used in modern computer systems. Dynamic RAM is composed of thousands of single-bit storage registers. This is usually stored in a charged capacitor representing a particular bit. As with all capacitors, this charge eventually drains off. To prevent this, each bit must be periodically addressed (refreshed). This constant refreshing of the data is the reason for the term "Dynamic RAM".

Goal: What is source code?

Situation: What is source code?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is source code?

Action: SpeakFree = Source code is the high-level language (English like) code that a programmer would write. The computer cannot execute this code, so the programmer puts it through a compiler which translates the code into executable code, or object code. Some languages bypass this step by converting the code at execution time. These slower languages are referred to as interpreters.

Goal: What is your microprocessor?

Situation: What is your microprocessor?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is your microprocessor?

Action: SpeakFree = I use a 8088 microprocessor. Earlier versions used the 6502 and whatever is in a IBM System/34.

Goal: Are computers good?

Situation: Are computers good?

Response: I know about... responding to: Are computers good?

Action: SpeakFree = Any computer that gets the required tasks done is a good computer!

Goal: What is BASIC?

Situation: What is BASIC?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is BASIC?

Action: SpeakFree = BASIC is an acronym for Beginners All purpose Symbolic Instruction Code. It is a high-level language which is known for its ease of use and learning. The major fault of BASIC is that it runs 10 - 1000 times slower than true assembly code.

Goal: What is Baud?

Situation: What is Baud?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is Baud?

Action: SpeakFree = Baud is a measurement of speed for serial data transfer. If a device transmits 300 bits per second, it is said to operate at 300 baud.

Goal: What is COBOL?

Situation: What is COBOL?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is COBOL?

Action: SpeakFree = COBOL is an acronym for COmmon Business Oriented Language. COBOL is one of the oldest and best supported computer languages.

Goal: What is CP/M?

Situation: What is CP/M?

Situation: What is CPM?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is CP/M?

Action: SpeakFree = CP/M is an acronym for Control Program for Microcomputers. CP/M is the industry standard for the 8080 and Z-80 8-bit microprocessors.

Goal: What is data?

Situation: What is data?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is data?

Action: SpeakFree = A term used to denote any facts or information of any type. This includes numeric and alphabetic data. A single character of data is usually expressed as a byte.

Goal: What is DMA?

Situation: What is DMA?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is DMA?

Action: SpeakFree = DMA is an acronym for Direct Memory Access. Any device supporting DMA can directly retrieve or store information to memory. Other devices must communicate with memory thru a port of some kind and need a driver to operate.

Goal: What is DOS?

Situation: What is DOS?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is DOS?

Action: SpeakFree = DOS is an acronym for Disk Operating System. DOS is the program that contains the standard input, output and control drivers.

Goal: What are registers?

Situation: What are registers?

Response: I know about... responding to: What are registers?

Action: SpeakFree = Registers are the memory cells contained within the CPU.

Goal: What is EPROM?

Situation: What is EPROM?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is EPROM?

Action: SpeakFree = EPROM is an acronym for Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory. EPROMS are read only memory chips that can be programmed and then erased using ultraviolet light. Once erased, an EPROM can once again be programmed.

Goal: What is FORTRAN?

Situation: What is FORTRAN?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is FORTRAN?

Action: SpeakFree = FORTRAN is an acronym for FORmula TRANslator. FORTRAN is a semi-popular and fairly old programming language. The BASIC language was adopted from FORTRAN.

Goal: What is hardware?

Situation: What is hardware?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is hardware?

Action: SpeakFree = Hardware components are the main components of a system. Hardware includes keyboards, printers, chips, and other peripherals.

Goal: What is HEX?

Situation: What is HEX?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is HEX?

Action: SpeakFree = HEX is short for Hexadecimal. HEX is the representation of a number in base 16.

Goal: What is Pascal?

Situation: What is Pascal?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is Pascal?

Action: SpeakFree = Pascal is a semi-interpreted computer language. The source code is compiled, but only to P-code.

Goal: What is PROM?

Situation: What is PROM?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is PROM?

Action: SpeakFree = PROM is an acronym for Programmable Read Only Memory. PROMS are read only memory chips that can be programmed once, but never changed.

Goal: What is P-code?

Situation: What is P-code?

Situation: What is P code?

Situation: What is Pcode?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is P-code?

Action: SpeakFree = P-code is the form of code generated by a Pascal compiler. This code can be interpreted very quickly, but still slower than true machine code.

Goal: What is RAM?

Situation: What is RAM?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is RAM?

Action: SpeakFree = RAM is an acronym for Random Access Memory. This memory will be erased when power is turned off. To get around this problem, floppy disks, hard disks, and cassettes are used to store information while the power is off.

Goal: What is ROM?

Situation: What is ROM?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is ROM?

Action: SpeakFree = ROM is an acronym for Read Only Memory. This is memory that the system uses for read operations only. The data stored in ROM can never be changed.

Goal: What is software?

Situation: What is software?

Response: I know about... responding to: What is software?

Action: SpeakFree = Software is what you use to make the computer perform tasks for you.

Goal: BBS

Situation: BBS

Response: I know about... responding to: BBS

Action: SpeakFree = A BBS is a Bulletin Board System. It is a system that allows users to call using a computer or terminal to leave messages to other users. This system is not a BBS!