Computer Science and IT General Knowledge MCQ Set 2 — 20 MCQ Practice

The period 1953-1964 is generally taken to be the period of second generation computers. Sometimes, 1946-1958 is supposed to be the period of first generation computers. By 1948, the invention of the transistor greatly changed the computer's development. The transistor replaced the large, cumbersome vacuum tube in televisions, radios and computers. As a result, the size of electronic machinery has been shrinking ever since. From 1955 onwards transistors replaced vacuum tubes in computer designs, giving rise to the "second generation" of computers. A second generation computer, the IBM 1401, captured about one third of the world market. IBM installed more than ten thousand 1401s between 1960 and 1964

A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building using network media. The defining characteristics of LANs, in contrast to wide area networks (WANs), include their usually higher data-transfer rates, smaller geographic area, and lack of a need for leased telecommunication lines.

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application protocol for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web. HTTP is the protocol to exchange or transfer hypertext.

A personal computer (PC) is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator. This contrasted with the batch processing or time-sharing models which allowed larger, more expensive minicomputer and mainframe systems to be used by many people.

The kilobyte (symbol: kB) is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information. Although the prefix kilo means 1000, the term kilobyte and symbol kB have historically been used to refer to either 1024 bytes or 1000 (10^3) bytes, dependent upon context, in the fields of computer science and information technology.

The IBM PC XT was the successor of the IBM PC. The XT stands for EXtended Technology and was introduced in early 1983. It had enhanced features: CGA graphic card, hard disk, more memory, and no more tape port. The term PC-XT refers to personal computer extended Technology.

ENIAC was the first electronic general-purpose computer. It was Turing-complete, digital, and capable of being reprogrammed to solve a full range of computing problems. It was designed to calculate artillery firing tables for the United States Army's Ballistic Research Laboratory.

The byte is a unit of digital information in computing and telecommunications that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, a byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the basic addressable element in many computer architectures.

ENIAC was the first electronic general-purpose computer. It was Turing-complete, digital, and capable of being reprogrammed to solve a full range of computing problems. The 18,000-tube ENIAC was completed in 1946.

Desktop publishing software (abbreviated DTP) is the creation of printed materials using page layout on a personal computer. When used skillfully, desktop publishing software can produce printed literature with attractive layouts and typographic quality comparable to traditional typography and printing.

The term "Information Technology" (IT) has been variously defined. It is defined as the coming together of computing and telecommunications for the purpose of handling information; the application of technologies to information handling; including generation, storage, processing, retrieval and dissemination. It is a broad-based term comprising the gathering (acquisition), organization (packaging), storage and retrieval (dissemination) of information. Internet is an essential component of it.

A sound synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing a wide range of sounds. Synthesizers may either imitate other instruments ("imitative synthesis") or generate new timbres. They can be played (controlled) via a variety of different input devices (including keyboards, music sequencers and instrument controllers). Synthesizers generate electric signals (waveforms), and can finally be converted to sound through the loudspeakers or headphones.

Morphing is a special effect in motion pictures and animations that changes (or morphs) one image into another through a seamless transition. Most often it is used to depict one person turning into another through technological means or as part of a fantasy or surreal sequence.

A modem takes the digital signal from the computer and converts it to "analog". It does this by both creating an analog sine wave and then "MODulating" it. Since the result still represents digital data, it could also be called a digital signal instead of analog.

Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. This contrasts with media that use only rudimentary computer displays such as text-only or traditional forms of printed or hand-produced material. Multimedia includes a combination of text, audio, still images, animation, video, or interactivity content forms.

Optical fibers are used instead of metal wires because signals travel along them with less loss and are also immune to electromagnetic interference. Besides, there are no radiated magnetic fields around optical fibers; the electromagnetic fields are confined within the fiber. Since fiber optics do not radiate electromagnetic energy, emissions cannot be intercepted.

A modem (modulator-demodulator) is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data.

The floppy disk were produced with a capacity of 720 KB, followed by what became the most common format, 1.44 MB. All disks had a rectangular hole which, if obstructed, write-enabled the disk. 1.44 MB disks had another hole which identified them as being of that capacity.

Adam Osborne was an American entrepreneur who was best known for creating the first commercially available portable computer, the Osborne 1, released in April 1981. Ian Wilmut is best known as the leader of the research group that in 1996 first cloned a mammal from an adult somatic cell, a Finnish Dorset lamb named Dolly.

Random-access memory (RAM) is a form of computer data storage. A random-access device allows stored data to be accessed in very nearly the same amount of time for any storage location, so data can be accessed quickly in any random order. In contrast, other data storage media read and write data only in a predetermined order.