A little bit of programming can actually help you in having a good time with your computer. Most people shy away from the word programming – something that we associate with geeks and is assumed to be too difficult to comprehend. We have some tools, we have the mouse and we can click – that’s all we need to know in computers to make it work. That is of course true. But it is also true that programming can help you work a lot faster on your computer and is in fact not that difficult to learn.
For example MS DOS batch files can help you start all your favorite programs all at once the moment you start your computer. You do not need to go to your desktop and click on icons one after another to open all your favorite windows. Similarly other programming languages for example C, C++, Visual Basic, etc are also simple programming languages that can be used to control your computer.
Learning about any particular programming language is beyond the scope of this article. However, almost all programming languages work on some conditions and commands. Let’s look at some of the basic components of a programming language. Please note that this article is not meant for teaching any particular programming language. The purpose is more to help bust the fear that people in general associate with the word ‘programming’.
Commands: Commands, as the word suggests, are used to ask the computer to behave a certain way. The commands cannot work all by themselves unless some data is provided to work on. For Example you can’t command on empty space asking it to ‘sit’! On the contrary if you have a dog, you can train it to sit on your command. In the computer the data can be fed by the user or the program can get the data from the Internet to work on.
Conditions: When the commands have to work with unknown data, programmers include conditions. Whatever the outcome of the previous command is, is to be followed – is an example of a condition that can set for a certain program. Thus if one variable is ‘x’, then we can ask the program to perform in a certain way whereas if the variable is ‘y’ we can command the program to behave in a different way.
Using data, variables and conditions you can set up simple programs to work for your computers. The outcome is limitless:
o Get forms filled in automatically.
o Download updates without manually visiting the websites.
o Perform mathematical tasks automatically
o Compose email messages and get those sent as and when required automatically.
o Set your alarms, reminders and the resulting actions.
o Create animations and digital signatures.
The possibilities are plenty. All you need to do is create a executable files from your commands using your programming language. Now these files will have .exe extension and can be operated automatically. So in simple words you or the programmer has created a software program to say for example fill out online forms automatically.
Are you looking for a list of NFL Network shows? The NFL Network is a specialty channel available with some cable and satellite companies that is owned by the National Football League. The network first launched on November 4, 2003. The NFL invested 100 million dollars to fund this fledgling network. Who makes up the programming of the NFL Network? NFL Films is responsible for much of the network’s programming, along with other ventures into commercials, TV productions and even feature films.
One of the most unique qualities of the network is its game highlights, game sounds, side line talk, and slow-mo instant reply. The network currently broadcasts out of Culver City, California. The network has earned its share of controversy in fearlessly dealing with such big name companies as Charter Cable, Dish Network, Comcast, Cox Communications and Insight Communications. In fact, five major cable providers have chosen not to carry the NFL Network, including Carter and Time Warner Cable. What is the major argument concerning? The NFL Network wants its channel placed on basic cable with a cost of .61 cents per subscriber. However, many of the major cable companies want to place the network on a sports tier, believing that the channel is only of moderate interest to NFL fans, since it has few live games and a long “off-season.” However, it is currently available on Comcast, Cox and Insight along with satellite providers Dish and DirecTV.
What kind of shows does the NFL Network broadcast? There are many shows that are broadcast, some of which appear periodically or even once a year. Annual events that are highlighted on the network include the Hall of Fame Game, Inside Minicamp and Inside Training Camp, NFL Draft, NFL Preseason, NFL Scouting Combine, Live from the Owners Meeting, Live from the Pro Bowl, Live from the Rookie Symposium and Live from the Super Bowl. Lastly, there’s the Pro Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies. Some of the network’s current shows include America’s Game: The Super Bowl Champions, College Football Now, NFL Classics, NFL Follies, NFL Game of the Week and Put Up Your Dukes. Put Up Your Dukes is a popular show and is a sports television talk show that features Jamie Dukes as well as contributors like Deion Sanders, NFL.com writers Adam Schefter and Pat Kirwan and FOX commentator Brian Baldinger. The focus of the show is to debate NFL news, though it also has an interactive system that lets viewers send questions to the host to be answered on the air.
Another popular show is Hard Knocks, a reality sports show that follows a select National Football League team through its training camp through an up close and personal perspective. The series covers the team’s preparations as well as inside jokes, pranks, family matters and game strategy. It has won an Emmy Award for its outstanding achievement.
The NFL Network has plenty of great shows on all year round. If you love the NFL then ask your local provider about the NFL Network!
It was once popular in K-12 schools to teach computer programming. Languages like Logo, BASIC and HyperTalk used to be taught widely. With all the pressures that young people must deal with today, how can we justify the notion that programming studies be required in our schools? This article will explore this subject in brief.
One great mistake in the field of human endeavor with respect to computers is to overlook how they can be used to think differently about the world we live in. Because most people are instrumental thinkers, it can be more or less taken for granted that any new tool that is invented will be applied to the kinds of work and ideas that already exist. Certainly the computer certainly has spawned lots of new ideas, but its potential has been largely unrealized. In many classrooms computers are used as way to automate drill and repetition, and not as a medium to help the student learn how to learn better.
In the classroom for various reasons (which may relate to money, politics, ideology, and human nature) computer literacy has been ill-defined and paid lip service to. The ability to turn on a computer and operate various appliances like web browsers, instant messaging clients, word processors and the like without the slightest notion of how they actually work is a potentially harmful form of dependency.
Without being given at least a basic understanding of programming our children will not understand what a computer actually is and how it works, and they will not be truly computer literate. This can result in their subjugation to those who use the computer to run the public and private infrastructure. This is no different than other forms of exploitation within other realm of knowledge. As a simple example, a driver who understands how a car works benefits greatly whether driving on the road, broken down at the roadside, or at the counter at the repair shop.
Possessing a true computer literacy would not be of much value in an industrial age, but we are in an information age and so we are surrounded by computers. They are in our workplaces, our cars, our homes, our appliances and our pockets. We rely on these devices and we trust them to work and to give us good information.
As our children grow up they will need to make wise decisions about how computers are used in critical matters of life. As a real and current example, let’s consider computerized voting machines. There is controversy about whether the convenience of such systems is worth the cost of not being able to able to verify the integrity of their operation. An understanding of how computers really work is crucial to knowing how to think about such things. The people running our own legal and government institutions have not demonstrated a sufficient grasp of the issues, but the next generation could be better prepared if we decide it is important.
Is computer programming helpful for enhancing other kinds of thinking in addition to making people wise about the role that computers play in civil society? Let’s cover a few ways that programming is believed to be helpful to thinking and learning.
Organizational – Programming requires that things be organized. Values, functions, and presentation all must be put in their proper place.
Procedural – Writing instructions for a computer forces the programmer to think and understand procedure. This involves understanding and planning.
Abstract – Once the procedural skills are in place, a more advanced programmer will learn to think abstractly. This involves deciding what the program does (what it really means) and dividing the procedural parts up into general ideas.
Mathematical – Not the simple act of computation (3+4=7) or even algebraic thinking, but a real experience of how numbers can be important in the relationships between ideas.
Critical – To create a computer program it is important to weigh one idea against another, and the act of debugging a computer program requires one to think deductively.
It is important to realize that these ways of thinking can be taught without the use of computers. They can be taught in the course of reading and critical writing, debate, scientific discourse, history, politics, musical studies, and art (does this sound like your school?). Computer programming can enhance the benefits of these other activities.
In summary, given the very pervasive and growing impact of computers in our world we would be wrong not to provide our children with a profound understanding of computers and how their lives will be impacted. What’s more, the other ways in which programming improves thinking are useful and enriching in many wide-ranging ways.