Basic Computer Thermodynamics
Picture the CPU of a computer cooking away because the designer wants to push too much power through a small piece of silicon. If we don't take away that heat as fast as it's created, that CPU will fry! More ...
History of the QWERTY Keyboard
In the late 1860s, American inventor Christopher Scholes developed the first typewriter. The keys were originally laid out in alphabetical order, but this led to problems with the type bars jamming when typing at speed. To remedy this, Scholes relocated the keys to keep the most frequently used letters apart, resulting in the QWERTY keyboard. More ...
How does a CD Burner work?
The CD burner or more commonly known as the CD writer has become a standard part of the PC today. But how does the CD writer actually work? More ...
PC Technician Street Smarts: A Real World Guide to CompTIA A+ Skills
Hit the ground running with the street-smart training you'll find in this practical book. Using a 'year in the life' approach, it gives you an inside look at the common responsibilities of PC Technicians, with key information organized around the actual day-to-day tasks, scenarios, and challenges you'll face in the field. More ...
The Master Boot Record (MBR)
The Master Boot Record, created when you create the first partition on the hard disk, is probably the most important data structure on the disk. It is the first sector on every disk. The location is always track (cylinder) 0, side (head) 0, and sector 1. More ...
Five Types of HDMI Cables
There are different types of HDMI cables, some are technologically more enhanced and some are designed for specific PCs and TVs, so it's important that you get to know about the various types. More ...
What is Bluetooth?
Bluetooth is a wireless technology designed for short range data communications Two or more Bluetooth devices establish a connection and form a small network known as a Piconet. More ...
How Does Wireless Internet Work?
Just as we broke free from phone lines, we can now access the Internet from just about anywhere via a wireless connection. Wireless Internet access is really much simpler than most people think. This article briefly explains how it works. More ...
Intel Chipsets
The original 4.77 Mhz 8088-based IBM PC released in 1981 was built with over 100 discrete logic chips. To lower the cost of manufacturing, the logic was integrated into a couple of chips that were used together as a set. They became referred to as a chipset. More ...
Understanding Your Motherboard
Understanding your motherboard is about pointing out what the bits of your motherboard actually do, if you are not used to building or upgrading your own machine you will want to know the ins and outs of the motherboard. More ...
1G, 2G, 3G, and 4G Cellular Wireless Standards
The meaning of the terms 3G and 4G have been made very confusing because some wireless carriers have built new high-speed 4G networks from the ground up while other wireless carriers have chosen to doctor-up their 3G service and market it as 4G. More ...
PC Video
The video circuits of a computer take digital data and arrange it for display on a screen. In the past, PCs used CRTs (Cathode Ray Tubes) for video display. Today's PCs use LCDs (Liguid Crystal Displays). Whether the display is CRT or LCD, the image is created with a matrix of dots (called pixels for picture elements). More ...
How to Choose a Computer Case
Computer cases come in many sizes, configurations, and with many features. Which case you need depends upon what you will use your computer for. You might choose a standard mid tower case for a home computer that will be used for word processing and spread sheets. For a game machine or server you might choose a full tower case because of its expansion capability. More ...
Solid State Drive (SSD) Basics
Why is a hard disk drive so slow compared to a solid state drive and why don't they just get rid of the hard disk drive, and store everything in solid state memory? Since 2006 computer manufacturers have been producing Solid State drive based PCs. More ...
