The fourth article of my series is an overview of Input/Output devices for the computer. Without input and output, a CPU, RAM and drives cannot get data or display it for use. I/O devices provide the method that a CPU is useful for humans.

This is the third article of my series about computers and how they work. This article focuses on file storage, the permanent memory for computers. When a CPU and RAM is connected to a file storage device, it saves time and reduces error for software programs and data storage. This article explores a high level view of file storage devices and the impact and they have on computers.

How File Storage Works

This is the second article of the series I am writing about computers. A CPU is the focus of a computer but without Random Access Memory (RAM), it would be harder to use. A CPU has a very small amount of memory to store instructions. If software was limited to that memory, the registers, complex program would not be possible. Other methods can be used to get data into the CPU, but they also bring in limits. The next sections discuss what RAM does and how it affects the computer experience. 

This morning I had a sight that filled my heart and brightened my day. I was returning from my run on the trail when I saw a large group of school children who were out for a walk. Teachers were with them and the children were busy observing the plants, bugs, lizards and other things that weren’t frightened off by all of their noise. It was a modern group, carrying computer tablets instead of notebooks, many of them taking pictures and notes about what they saw.

This is the starting place for my articles about computers. It seems fitting to start with the Central Processing Unit (CPU), which is the key component of modern computers. The first part of my article will describe how a CPU works. The second part of the article will be an examination of how the design and usage of a CPU affects computers and how they are used.

As this year unfolds changes continue to occur in my life. I am grateful the changes are not as momentous as events in the last two years. However, they are changes, both sad and happy, which I am gradually navigating.

With the events of the last two years, it seems important to think about grief and how to heal from it. Many people want to ignore those events which shifted so many lives. Myself, I think that attempting to ignore things like this cause more problems but I also understand that not everyone is in a good place to work through the grief and pain in their lives.

Measurements are what we use to track success, failure, progress and other parts of our life. The usefulness of a measurement is dependent on choosing the right way to measure an item, activity or event. Using a ruler to weight a piece of paper  sounds nonsensical if we report “This piece of paper weighs 8.5 inches by 11 inches!”. We expect to hear “The piece of paper weighs .16 ounces” or “The paper weighs 4.536 grams”.