Harvard Extension School - Computer Science E-1: Understanding Computers and the Internet
This course is all about understanding: understanding what’s going on inside your computer when you flip on the switch, why tech support has you constantly rebooting your computer, how everything you do on the Internet can be watched by others, and how your computer can become infected with a worm just by turning it on. In this course we demystify computers and the Internet, along with their jargon, so that students understand not only what they can do with each but also how it all works and why. Students leave this course armed with a new vocabulary and equipped for further exploration of computers and the Internet. Topics include hardware, software, the Internet, multimedia, security, website development, programming, and dotcoms. This course is designed both for those with little, if any, computer experience and for those who use a computer every day.
Nice job. via: Learn How The Darn Thing Works … from Harvard
Related: University of California, Berkeley course videos - Technology Talks at Google - Engineering and Science Webcast Libraries - Lectures from the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
June 11th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
“Things start rolling when you press the power button on the computer (no! do tell!). Once the motherboard is powered up it initializes its own firmware - the chipset and other tidbits - and tries to get the CPU running…”