The official magazine of Eddy Gordon Online Issue 2 - December 2001 Hardware How does my monitor work? Part two Software Review of 'The Complete and Easy Guide to the Internet' Ask Eddy Your questions answered
contents Editorial - Eddy has his say... 1 Ask Eddy - The latest tips from the man himself... 2 Software - The Complete and Easy Guide to the Internet... 3 Hardware - How does my monitor work? - part 2... 4 editorial Issue 2 - December 2001 www.eddygordon.com www.eddygordon.com.au Editor David Dickson Assistant Editor Andrew Hale Designer Leigh Hyland Contributors Leigh Hyland Daniel Potter Julian Scott Francz Varga Email eddy@eddygordon.com Hello again and a big welcome to the second issue of EG Magazine. We ve been quite busy since our last issue with the addition of a new look village start page and many other changes to both the members and public areas of my Online Learning website. If you haven t already, be sure to check out Eddy s Starter Kit available from both the public and member s areas of my site. Eddy s Starter Kit will automatically detect what Internet software you have and give you advice on how to download any that is needed to fully enjoy the site. You ll also find that detailed class material has been added to the learning products sections of the site. Microsoft Word, Photoshop, and an introduction to Flash are just some of the topics that will be added to over the next few weeks. Be sure to check out the latest Eddy Gordon Shortcut, it s great! In this issue of EG Magazine we ll be taking a look at: Ask Eddy - Some of the latest questions and answers from Eddy Gordon Online. Software - A review of The Complete and Easy Guide to the Internet. Hardware - We'll finish our two-part feature on how monitors work. Happy reading, EG Magazine is published by Eddy Gordon Media. You can subscribe to this magazine at www.eddygordon.com. All material is protected by copyright law. The official magazine of Eddy Gordon Online 1
Q: I've heard Macs can't get viruses. Is that true? A: This is not true. Viruses are simply programs that have a disruptive purpose. In addition they are able to spread themselves throughout your computer by attaching themselves to your computer files without your permission (much like the viruses humans attract). They can remain hidden and undetected unless the necessary precautions are taken. Macintosh computers are also vulnerable to viruses. You may have heard that a Macintosh cannot get an IBM PC virus. This can be true as these two computer platforms are different in their make up. As both platforms speak different languages the virus written for one language will not necessarily work on the other. Regardless of this however, your Macintosh computer is in everyway as vulnerable to viruses as the IBM PC is. Be sure to protect your Macintosh with the necessary virus protection software as you would a PC. Q: How do I defragment my hard drive? A: Defragmenting your hard drive is quite simple. Simply open "My Computer", and right mouse click on the hard drive you want to defragment. From the menu select "Properties". Now there should be a series of tabs along the top of the Properties Window, so click on the "Tools" tab. One of the listed options should be "Defragmentation". Click on the "Defragment Now..." button. Once the "Disk Defragmenter" window appears, click on the "Defragment" button. This procedure usually takes a long time, depending on the size of the hard drive and how fragmented it is. It might be wise to do this procedure before going to bed and letting it run over night, as you cannot use your PC while it is being defragmented anyway. Q: Eddy you re not showing on my screen? Where do I get the plugin for you to appear? A: The plug-in to make me appear is called the Pulse Player. You can get this manually at www.pulse3d.com (follow the link to get the Pulse Player). The plug-in however, should automatically download and install into your browser. Please make sure you are running one of the following compatible browsers: Windows 95/98/NT/2000/ME - Internet Explorer 4.x and above - Netscape Navigator 4.x - AOL 4.x Mac OS - Netscape Navigator 4.x A lot of people say that the built in Defragmenting feature of Windows is too slow and they would rather user a program like Norton Speed Disk. That is fine, but Norton isn't a free program, so unless you want to go out and pay for such a program, when you could do the same job for no cost with the Windows defragmentation feature - the choice is yours. The official magazine of Eddy Gordon Online 2
Review The Complete and Easy Guide to the Internet Winner, 1999 Best Training Title AIMIA awards The award winning Complete and Easy Guide to the Internet is the first product in Eddy Gordon s Complete and Easy Guide series. This comprehensive pack includes an interactive CD-ROM, video and book that teaches you all about what the Internet is and how it works. Some of the topics covered include: Search Engines Browsers Email Online Chat Downloading Information E-commerce Uploading Information Internet Terminology The interactive CD-ROM uses a familiar web-like interface making it easy to navigate your way around its contents. The CD's delivery style is easy to understand with a self paced tutorial and print out facility. Information is sorted into four chapters covering interest levels from basic through to advanced. No Internet connection is required. The instructional video provides an introduction to the topic of the Internet, explaining what it is, how it works and how it will affect you. The full colour illustrated resource book provides you with in-depth information on using the Internet. Its easy reading style will help you to understand and use the Internet effectively. If you're interested in making your time on the Internet useful and rewarding, Eddy Gordon s Complete and Easy Guide to the Internet could be the pack for you. if you re a Net novice wandering through a computer superstore, seeking something that will give you the knowledge and the confidence to go online, and you see this humble disc buried among the more highprofile products, buy it. Mark Butler, THE AUSTRALIAN The Internet pack is available from Eddy Gordon Media, www.eddygordon.com.au or call (08) 8346 2077. The official magazine of Eddy Gordon Online 3
How does my monitor work? Part Two Introduction The monitor is directly affected by the computer's video card. The video card determines the resolution, colour range and refresh rate of the monitor. The monitor, however, places limits on what can be displayed. In essence, the video card draws the pictures and the monitor displays them. Step 1 The monitor receives analogue signals from the video card. This signal contains colour information for every pixel at the current resolution. Each pixel has three voltage values that correspond to each of the phosphors the monitor will eventually use to display it red, green and blue. The range of information available to define the colour of each pixel is determined by the colour depth. The number of pixels is defined by the current resolution. The number of times this signal is sent per second is equal to the refresh rate. The amount of information that can be transferred is defined by the monitor's bandwidth. Step 2 The pixel information is sent to one of the monitor s three electron guns at the back of its cathode ray tube (CRT). Each gun corresponds to a colour - red, green and blue. Each gun fires a stream of electrons though the vacuum of the CRT. The intensity of each of these streams is defined by the pixel information supplied by the video card. The official magazine of Eddy Gordon Online 4
How does my monitor work? - Part Two Step 3 The beams pass through holes in a metal plate called a shadow mask, designed to keep the beams precisely aligned. The distance between these dots is the monitor s dot pitch. The closer the holes are together, the smaller the dots and the sharper the image. A typical PC monitor has a dot pitch between 0.15mm and 0.30 mm. Step 4 The inside of the monitor s screen is covered by a phosphor coating that glows when hit by an electron stream. Three different phosphor materials are used, one for each of the RGB colours. Depending upon the intensity of each of the beams, a huge range of colours can be reproduced. Step 5 The inside of the monitor s screen is covered by a phosphor coating that glows when hit by an electron stream. Three different phosphor materials are used, one for each of the RGB colours. Depending upon the intensity of each of the beams, a huge range of colours can be reproduced. Each of these steps is repeated for every pixel on screen. The official magazine of Eddy Gordon Online 5