Read the article and tell if there should be adopted restrictions on cell phone use in our country.

There are many talks about putting restrictions on the use of cell phones. For example, in New York, cell phones were supposed to be banned in restaurants sometime in 2006 or 2007 but this bill was reconsidered because many people thought it was an overregulation people’s behaviour.

Previously mentioned, driving while on your cell phone can be a dangerous thing. In Canada, as of April 1, 2003, it is only illegal to drive with a cell phone in Newfoundland and Labrador.

As you can see from the graph, having cell phones banned while driving received the highest percent of voters and this is probably due to the fact that driving with a cell phone has the most dangerous impact on society out of all the categories as it is the only one that can be the cause of immediate death. The other uses on the graph simply cause distraction, annoyance or rudeness.

With the increased use of cell phones, there is an increased call for a ban of them in certain situations. There will always be a conflict between the restriction of cell phones to benefit society versus freedom to communicate.

What do you think about the following statement?

Internet Craze

The Internet has forever changed the way we live. Its importance will continue to grow. Most of the world is conducting its business, receiving its media (TV, films, music), and staying in touch solely via the Internet.

The Internet Will Change Our Lives In Every Aspect. The use of the Internet around the world is doubling every few months. The Internet has already changed with way we communicate. Business has invested billions in the Internet. The Internet is becoming faster all the time, you can already watch video or listen to Mp3s via the Internet. Many people now live at home and work via the Internet. The Internet has created unlimited new business opportunities. Most people use email instead of writing letters to keep in touch withtheir friends.

The Internet Is Just A New Form Of Communication, But Will Not Change Everything In Our Lives. The Internet, while interesting, is just a fad. People want to go out and meet other people when they do their shopping. It is too difficult to use the Internet and computers, most people do not have the patience. Reading on a computer screen is uncomfortable and people will never stop wanting to read, listen to music and be entertained in traditional ways. The Internet creates cultural homogenization – some would say Americanization, and eventually people will get tired of this. The only real interaction between people must take place face to face on not ‘virtually’. The Internet is mainly used by teenagers and other people who have lots of time to waste.

 

BLOCK IV

Topics for discussion and essays.

1. Recall the day when the mobile phone turned out to be of great help to you.

2. Say what services you get by phone.

3. State advantages and disadvantages of having a mobile phone.

4. What is the fastest way to send information (pictures)?

5. What can you get having Internet at home?

6. What is the difference between Skype and ICQ?

7. Is it necessary to have our own page in Internet?

8. Do you happen to know other (alternative) / more advanced means of communication used today?

 

LESSON 8

Computers in our life

Never let a computer know you’re in a hurry.

To err is human, but to really foul things up

requires a computer.

Computers have lots of memory but no imagination.

I had a life once… now I have a computer and a modem.

I just wish my mouth had a backspace key.

Computers eat time – we only think they run on electricity.

In God we trust, all others we virus scan.

There are three kinds of death in this world. They are

heart death, brain death, and being off the network.

INTRODUCTORY TEXT

Notes to the text:

evolution of computers – еволюція комп’ютерів

desktop – настільний комп’ютер

laptop (notebook computer) – ноутбук

palmtop – портативний комп’ютер

PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) – кишеньковий комп’ютер, що виконує спеціальні функції

programming languages – мови програмування

USB drive (Universal Serial Bus) – ЮСБ драйвер

Internet access – доступ до інтернету

networking capabilitiy – можливість організації мережі

Our Lives and Computer Technology

Using a computer to write about computers is like searching for ‘Google’ on Google! Computer technology is so much a part of our lives, that we cannot imagine a life without it. Computers serve as efficient data storage systems and excellent information processors. They can store, organize and manage huge amounts of data. Moreover, they operate on incomparable speeds, thus saving human time and effort to a large extent. True, they are an integral part of our lives. It is said that inventions change the way we live. Computer technology is a classic example of this adage. It has indeed changed our way of living.

Computer technology that is in daily use today finds its roots in the oldest computing systems like Abacus and slide rules. The evolution of computers can be traced back to calculators and punched cards, which were some of the earliest computing devices. Analogue computing devices evolved into digital information processors and from then on, there was no looking back! For a closer look at the major events in the computer history, you must go through the full timeline of computers.

For many years after 1960, when the third generation computers were created, desktops remained to be popular for personal and business use. Research in computer technology continued, giving rise to the development of laptops, palmtops, miniature tablet PCs and PDAs. As we see today, they serve as ‘personal digital assistants’ in the literal sense of the term! Their small size endows them with portability, thus adding to user convenience. As they can be operated on batteries, they provide computer users with mobile computing capabilities. How has this affected our lives? Well, we can remain connected to the world at all times. Work is no more location-dependent!

Computer operating systems are a vital component of the computer technology. They help in the management of a variety of computer operations and in the sharing of computer resources. They handle the scheduling and execution of computer programs, help in the management of files and handle interrupts. They manage multiple user profiles and user accounts, thus playing a major role in maintaining computer security. Certain types of operating systems offer distributed processing capabilities and support multitasking and multi-user operations. The most important role of an operating system is to provide the users with an interactive interface. They have made the interaction with computers, a user-friendly experience and made it easy for the common man to make friends with the computer technology.

Computers, as we all know, can perform complex mathematical operations and process large amounts of information. Thanks to their computational powers, long and complex calculations can be performed within seconds. They can be programmed to execute complex instruction sequences through the use of programming languages. That reminds us of the software industry, one of the most progressive industries of the world. Computer technology gave rise to this industry and changed the face of the world.

The multimedia capabilities possessed by the computers make them one of the ideal audio-visual media. They can be made to play movies and music. They offer support to a variety of storage media like CDs, DVDs, floppy disks and USB drives. Computer hard disks are also capable of storing and playing audio and video. And how has this affected our lives? Well, it is due to these storage and audio-visual media, that we can maintain soft-copies of data. Gone are the days, when we used to document on paper! Gone are the days when students maintained traditional notebooks. Many of them possess notebook computers today. Today’s education is about PowerPoint presentations and e-homework assignments. TVs and radios were once, the only means of entertainment, but not any more. Today’s entertainment is about the computer and Internet technology!

Perhaps, one of the major advantages of the computer technology is its ability to provide us with Internet access. Computers possess networking capabilities, which makes it possible to connect multiple computers and achieve an exchange of information between them. Network communication is possible, thanks to the networking features offered by the computer technology.