Computer Fundamentals and System Concepts

Blaise Pascal invented the Pascaline in 1642, an early mechanical calculator that could perform addition and subtraction. It was one of the first calculating machines and used a geared wheel mechanism. His work laid groundwork for future computing devices.

Downloading refers to retrieving data from a remote server to your local device. It is the opposite of uploading, which is sending files from your device to the Internet. Options like scanning or moving files from local media are unrelated to network transfers.

Degaussing is the process of reducing or eliminating a magnetic field, specifically used to erase data from magnetic storage media like floppy disks, tapes, or hard drives. It is not related to CPU attachments, creating media, or medical applications.

Computer viruses are malicious programs that spread through file sharing, email attachments, infected downloads, or network connections. A scanner is an input device for digitizing physical documents - it cannot contract or spread viruses as it does not execute or transfer program files.

The Intel Pentium FDIV bug was a flaw in the Floating Point Unit (FPU) of certain Pentium processors that caused incorrect division results. It was not related to cache, socket issues, and Intel acknowledged the flaw.

The motherboard is the main printed circuit board in a computer. It is also commonly referred to as the 'system board' or 'mainboard'. CPU refers to the processor, and 'Fatherboard' is a non-existent humorous term.

An android is specifically defined as a robot designed to look and act like a human being. The word comes from the Greek 'androeides' meaning 'man-like,' distinguishing androids from other types of robots that may have different forms or functions. While robots in general can have any appearance or function, androids are characterized by their human-like appearance and behavior.

Not all viruses steal data - viruses are simply self-replicating programs that can have various purposes. Some viruses do steal data (spyware), but many simply spread, delete files, display messages, or cause other harm without theft. The term 'virus' refers to replication mechanism, not data theft capability.

Code Red was a major computer worm that emerged in 2001, causing widespread damage by exploiting vulnerabilities in Microsoft IIS servers. It was ranked among the most destructive viruses, second only to the ILOVEYOU (Love Bug) virus from 2000 in terms of economic impact and notoriety.

A cell phone is fundamentally a sophisticated radio that transmits and receives voice signals through radio waves. Unlike traditional radios which primarily receive broadcast signals, cell phones use two-way radio communication to both transmit and receive calls. Voice processing and data recording are functions of cell phones but not their fundamental technology.

Intel announced a working 22nm SRAM chip in 2009, demonstrating breakthrough in transistor technology. This was a significant milestone in semiconductor manufacturing, moving beyond the 45nm and 32nm processes.

Computer Associates (CA Technologies, now part of Broadcom) used 'The software that powers the E Business' as a corporate tagline in the late 1990s/early 2000s during the e-business boom. Quick Heal, Symantec, and Norton are security software companies but this tagline belongs to CA.