CompTIA A+ Hardware/OS - 9/29/2005

Class today consisted of discussions of motherboards and power supplies.  Some key concepts to make sure you know:

• Know the differences between AT and ATX motherboards.  


• Know why ATX motherboards had to come about


• Know about the “in-between” boards like LPX and NLX


• Be able to describe soft power


• Be able to tell me about the three main chips that are in a motherboard’s chipset and what each does (Northbridge, Southbridge and Super I/O)


• Know the steps in choosing a new motherboard


• Know about basic troubleshooting a motherboard


• Know about the different types of electrical current and which one comes before and after the power supply


• Be able to differentiate between AT and ATX power supplies


• Be able to tell me what a molex connector is


• Know what each wire coming from the power supply does and how much voltage it carries


• Know both types of power switches found on an AT power supply (plunger and rocker)


• Be able to tell me what ESD is and why its bad news for a computer.


• Be able to describe different types of UPS systems

We also had hot dogs.

Homework:

• Chapter 7: Questions 1-10


• Chapter 8: Questions 1-10

Remember!  Test next week over Chapters 1-8!!!

Desktop Operating Systems - 9/28/2005

Today we covered the Internet Explorer section in our book.  We experimented with a “do-it-yourself” approach to learning – meaning you guys went at your own pace and I hung out in the wings to answer any questions that might have come up.  If you’re in this class and reading this, please feel free to comment (anonymously, if you’d like) and let me know if you prefer me teaching straight out, or be allowed to work at your own pace.  There are no right or wrong answers, just let me know whatcha think!

Remember, test next week!! (10/4)

Homework:

• IE section, pg 14 – Questions 1-7.

Marketing - 9/27/2005

Tonight we covered Chapter Two – Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage.  What this meant was basically covering the parts of a strategic/marketing plan.  I covered the main sections that every good plan should include:

1. Mission Statement


2. Marketing Objective(s)


3. SWOT Analysis


4. Target Market Selection


5. Marketing Mix (4 Ps!)


6. Implementation

Homework:

• Questions 1.1, 1.2, 4.1

CompTIA Network+ Training - 9/27/2005

Today we covered Chapters 4, 5 and 6, which dealt with Network topologies and Ethernet – both past and present.  Key topics (not the only topics) for today’s discussion included:

• The four basic topologies: bus, ring, star and mesh.


• The two hybrid topologies: star-bus and star-ring


• Cable types: coax, unshielded twisted pair (UTP) and shielded twisted pair (STP) and fiber optic


• IEEE standards


• Ethernet frames


• CSMA/CD


• 10Base5 & 10Base2


• Repeaters, Bridges & Switches (Oh my!)


• 10BaseT


• TIA/EIA 568A/B standards


• 10BaseFL


• Fast Ethernet Flavors


• Full Duplex vs. Half Duplex

Homework:

• Chapter 4 – Questions 1-10


• Chapter 5 – Questions 1-10


• Chapter 6 – Questions 1-10

Remember, test next week on Chapters 1 – 6!!!

MS Office - 9/26/2005

Today we covered Chapter Two in the Word section, which dealt with Formatting Characters.  Remember, most of these settings will be found under Format, Font.  

Homework:

• Completion: 1-13 – pg 60


• Skill Assessment #2 – pg 61

Desktop Operating Systems - 9/26/2005

Today we covered the Internet Explorer section of our book.  Make sure you know about search engines and how to use the advanced search portion.  

Homework:

• IE Explorer Section (Green): pg 14 1-7

Remember, test next week over Windows and Internet Explorer!!

CompTIA A+ Hardware/OS - 9/22/2005

Today we covered Chapters 4, 5 and 6 which dealt with RAM, BIOS and the Frontside Bus respectively.

Things you should probably know:

• Know what DIPP, SIPP, SIMM, DIMM and RIMM stand for and mean.


• Know about banking – specifically how to calculate how many sticks of a given type of RAM in order to work with a given processor.


• Know the difference between System BIOS and CMOS.


• Know about the CONFIG.SYS, SYSTEM.INI and Registry files.


• Be able to recreate the list of IRQs that I gave you in class.  YOU WILL SEE THIS ON A TEST!


• Know about the different expansion slots – specifically the ISA, PCI and AGP slots.

Homework:

• Chapter 4 – Review Questions 1-10


• Chapter 5 – Review Questions 1-10


• Chapter 6 – Review Questions 1-10

Blog-Only Information:

• Pop-quiz next week on the above information!!!

Desktop Operating Systems - 9/21/2005

Today we covered the Windows unit of our book.

Homework:
* pg 14 – Questions 1-8

Marketing - 9/20/2005

Tonight we covered Chapter 1 – specifically looking at the four marketing philosophies: production, sales, market and societal.  Make sure you know the differences between these and can identify which philosophy a company subscribes to by viewing their behaviors.

Homework:

• pg 20 – review question 2 (this includes all 3 subquestions!)


• the 12 define it terms

Make sure you have each of these ready to turn in next week!

CompTIA Network+ Training - 9/20/2005

Please Do Not Take Supplies Please Ask.

Today we covered Chapters Two and Three, covering what Networking is, and Networking with the OSI model, respectively.  Remember that the goal of Networking is to share resources in a way that makes them appear local to your computer.  

Homework:

• Chapter 2: Questions 1-5


• Chapter 3: Questions 1-10

Try not to look at the answers to the questions before answering them.

Next week, 9/27, we will be having a quiz!  Make sure you’re ready!

MS Office - 9/19/2005

Today we covered the first chapter in the Word section of our book.  Make sure you know all of the keystrokes and mouse shortcuts that we went over!

Homework:

• Pg 31: Matching 1-10


• Pg 32: Completion 1-12


• Pg 32-33: Skill Assessments 1 & 3.

Arr!

Desktop Operating Systems - 9/19/2005

Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!

Today we made introductions and dove headfirst into the Windows unit, learning about the various aspects and features of the Windows 2000 operating system.  

Homework:

• Windows Section, pg 14: 1-8

Make sure you have this ready to turn in next week!  Arrr!

CompTIA A+ Hardware/OS - 9/15/2005

Today we had class introductions and covered Chapters 1 – 3.

Homework:

• Chapter 2: Questions 1-10


• Chapter 3: Questions 1-10

Remember, quiz over processors next week!  Know them inside and out!