Deep Into Technology with Sir Franclin ZUKO

08/01/2025

Third Party
In the computer world, a third party may refer to either a hardware manufacturer or a software developer. It is a label given to companies that produce hardware or software for another company's product.
Third party hardware refers to components that are developed by companies besides the original computer manufacturer. For example, a person may buy a Dell computer and then upgrade it using third party components, such as an Nvidia video card and a Seagate hard drive. Since the components are not included with the computer and are purchased from companies other than Dell, they are considered third party hardware. These components would typically not supported by Dell, but instead would be supported by the original equipment manufacturer, or OEM.

Third party software refers to programs that are developed by companies other than the company that developed the computer's operating system. Therefore, any Macintosh applications that are not developed by Apple are considered third party applications. Likewise, any Windows programs developed by companies other than Microsoft are called third party programs. Since most programs are developed by companies other than Apple and Microsoft, third party applications make up the majority of software programs.

Some programs also support third party plug-ins, which add functionality to the software. For example, Adobe Photoshop supports plug-ins that add features like extra filters and selection tools to the program. These plug-ins may be created and distributed by other companies, but are designed to work with Adobe Photoshop. Therefore, they are called third party plug-ins.

08/01/2025

File
A file is a collection of digital data stored as a single object on a disk. The type of data stored in a file depends on its file type, typically consisting of text, images, multimedia audio and video streams, data libraries, executable software, or other information. A file can be identified by its filename, extension, and location in the disk's file system.
Every file on your computer starts with a header — a special string that tells software programs and the computer's operating system how its contents are encoded, along with metadata like the file's author, created date, and total file size. For example, a JPEG image's header starts with a string that identifies it as a JPEG image, then includes other information like its dimensions, color information, and compression settings. Next comes the file's contents, encoded as either human-readable plain text (using ASCII, UTF-8, or another text encoding method) or as binary data. Finally, a file ends with either an end-of-file marker (another special string like the file header) or by reaching the end of the file size specified in the header.

When a program opens a file, it copies the file from the storage disk to the system memory (RAM), where it can read and modify data much faster. Any changes to a file made while it is open won't be committed to the version on the disk until you save it. You can also move or copy a file to a new folder or another disk entirely; you can also transfer a file to another location over a network connection or the Internet. If you don't need a file anymore, you can delete it to free up its disk space.

There are countless file types that each store data in a file in their own way. The most common way to identify a file's type is by looking at its file extension, which is found at the end of the file name and is typically three or four letters after a period (.). For example, plain text files use the extension .TXT, while a file with the .PNG extension is a PNG image.

08/01/2025

ATX
Stands for "Advanced Technology eXtended."
ATX is a motherboard specification that defines the board's physical dimensions, connector placement, I/O ports, and supported power supplies. Intel introduced the ATX specification to replace the previous AT standard for desktop PCs. Several variations of the ATX have been introduced since then and are common in desktop computers.

The ATX specification introduced several significant improvements to motherboard design. It standardized the position of the I/O panel, directly integrating ports into the motherboard. It also moved the CPU and RAM slots to a location where they wouldn't interfere with full-length expansion cards. It sets requirements for compatible power supplies to include a series of connectors to provide power to the motherboard, processor, and expansion cards. It moved the connector for storage devices closer to the location of the drive bays to shorten the length of cables needed. ATX motherboards and cases also provide better airflow through the chassis than older designs.

The ATX specification defines the location of the mounting holes in a computer case, so any ATX motherboard will fit in an ATX case. It also specifies several different-sized variations — some are larger to support more expansion ports, while others are smaller to fit in compact cases:

FlexATX – 9 × 7.5 in (229 × 191 mm)
MicroATX – 9.6 × 9.6 in (244 × 244 mm)
ATX — 12 × 9.6 in (305 × 244 mm)
Extended ATX (EATX) – 12 × up to 13 in (305 × up to 330 mm). Many manufacturers make motherboards smaller than the full size allowed by the standard.
NOTE: Since the different sizes use the same series of mounting holes, smaller-sized motherboards (like MicroATX) will fit in cases designed for larger ATX motherboards.

03/01/2025

27/12/2024

Term of the Day
December 27, 2024

Winsock
Winsock is an API that allows Windows software developers to connect their applications to the Internet. It provides a basic set of functions that developers can call on to help their apps communicate with remote computers and send or receive data without writing their own protocol interface.
Originally named "Windows Socket API," Winsock controls the creation of network sockets that direct data to specific applications running on specific computers. It consists of a library of networking functions that developers can use to access basic network protocols, including TCP, UDP, IP, and ICMP (among others). It abstracts most details of establishing connections and transferring data to let the developer focus on other functionality in their application. If necessary, a developer can create raw sockets that allow an application to access other protocols directly.

The Winsock API was developed in 1992 by developers from several software companies (including Microsoft, Novell, 3Com, and Sun Microsystems) to provide a single standard API for Windows networking. Before Winsock, Windows did not have its own networking software stack and instead relied on network software from several vendors, who each provided their own API. This fragmentation made it difficult for developers to create programs that worked on multiple systems. After the release of Winsock as an add-on for Windows 3.1, developers could create network-connected applications that worked on all Windows computers. Every version of Windows since Windows 95 has included the Winsock library.

22/12/2024

Point 3: Screen Refresh Rate

The term "Screen Refresh" refers to the redrawing process of a computer monitor. This process usually happens many times per second and is called the "refresh rate."

Computer monitors often have a "maximum refresh rate" listed in their technical specifications. This number, measured in hertz (Hz), determines how many times the screen is redrawn(updated) each second. Typical refresh rates for monitors include 60Hz, 75Hz, and 85Hz. Some monitors support refresh rates of over 100Hz.
NB: A refresh rate of 60Hz means the screen is redrawn 60 times per second. The higher the refresh rate, the less image flicker you will notice on the screen.

Typically a refresh rate of less than 60Hz will produce noticeable flicker, meaning you can well see that the screen is being redrawn instead of seeing a constant image. If the refresh rate is too slow, this flicker can be hard on your eyes and may cause them to tire quickly. As if sitting at a computer for several hours wasn't hard enough!

To avoid flickering, you should set your monitor to use the maximum refresh rate possible. This setting is found in the Monitors control panel in Windows and the Displays system preference in Mac OS X. While 60 Hz is considered a good refresh rate, some people will find that 85 Hz is significantly better.

The maximum refresh rate is determined by three factors:
1) The rate your video card supports
2) the rate your monitor supports
3) the resolution your monitor is set at
Lower resolutions (e.g 800x600) typically support higher refresh rates than higher resolutions (e.g 1600x1200).

If you have an LCD monitor, you may not be able to adjust the refresh rate. This is because most LCD monitors come with a standard refresh rate that is well above the "flicker" point. LCD monitors produce less flicker than CRT monitors because the pixels on an LCD screen stay lit longer than CRT monitors before they noticeably fade.

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20/12/2024

Date: 20/12/2024. (Pls follow my page 🙏)
Point 2: How characters and images are displayed in color on a screen.

Before diving into color displays, let's understand what exactly are pixels and how they are structured on a screen to produce millions of different colors to display images.

A pixel (short for "picture element") is the smallest element of a digital image displayed on screen — a single dot of color within a larger grid of dots that combine to form a picture. The word "pixel" can refer to both the physical element on a monitor capable of displaying a single dot of color and to the digital data representing each dot within a raster image file. The more pixels in an image or monitor, the higher its resolution and the more detail it can display.

A screen resolution, generally represented in the form HxV where H & V are the number of Horizontal and Vertical lines respectively running through the screen (e.g a Tecno Camon 18i smartphone has screen resolution 720x1600. This implies that there are 720 horizontal lines and 1600 vertical lines in the screen giving a total of 1,152,000pixels dots in the screen).

A screen contains a matrix of thousands or millions of pixels. An individual pixel displayed on a screen is often too small to be seen by the naked eye, with some HiDPI monitors containing more than 200 pixels per inch. Each pixel on a screen consists of three smaller subpixels (one each for red, green, and blue) that mix light into a single color.

Each pixel only displays a single color; combining thousands (or millions) of pixels allows the colors in those individual dots to blend smoothly. How many possible colors a pixel can display is determined by the image's color depth — the number of bits it uses to store a single pixel. A color depth of 8 bits allows for 256 (2⁸) possible color values, while a higher color depth of 24 bits allows each pixel to have 16.7million (2²⁴) possible color values.

Coming next: Screen Refresh Rate.

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19/12/2024

1. How are images formed on a computer screen?

A display screen, be it a computer, TVs smartphone or even a common calculator use similar technologies to display characters or images on the screen.
Just as in mathematics, a Cartesian plane is used to plot a graph using intersection points of the x-axis and y-axis, A given shape or figure can be obtained by linking the intersection points to one another using lines. The same process is carried out by a screen in order to display characters or images.
The internal structure of a screen consists of vertical and horizontal lines running across the screen with no line touching the one next to it. Each of the lines can only be in either a true state (1) or a false state (0). The intersection point between a vertical line and a horizontal line is known as a Pixel whose electrons can either be charged or uncharged (reaction to current flow state) based on the True or False states of the intersecting lines.
To start with the simplest form of screens which is the black\white display,
A charged pixel will appear black while an uncharged pixel will simply reflect the background lightening of the LEDs(white).
Characters are formed on the screen by charging several pixels at different locations and because the lines are too close to each other, The charge pixels next to each other will appear to our eyes as if they are all joined together forming a particular shape That can be read and understood by our brain.
A character let's say the letter "A" displayed in black means the corresponding pixels are charged while the surrounding pixels are uncharged. The reverse being true when the letter "A" is instead displayed in white.

Coming next: How characters and images are displayed in Color

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