Computing IV - Advanced Honor

Vocational Activities

Requirements

1. Have the Computing III Honor.

   Answer: To begin the Computing IV - Advanced Honor (created in 2012 by the South American Division), you must first have earned the Computing III Honor as a mandatory prerequisite, demonstrating that you have already mastered the topics of the third phase (operating systems, networks, internet) — the necessary foundation for the advanced topics such as viruses, digital security, fourth generation computers and current technologies covered in Computing IV. — The Computing Honor has 4 sequential levels (I, II, III, IV) that cover the historical and technical evolution of computers; each level presupposes the previous one through a didactic chain — without Computing III, the Pathfinder has no foundation on networks/OS to understand digital threats and modern generations in Computing IV.

2. Present a report of at least 2000 words about the 4th generation computers.

   Answer: You must prepare and present a report of at least 2,000 words about the 4th generation computers, addressing: the historical period (from 1971 to the present day); the central innovation (the microprocessor integrated into a single chip — the Intel 4004, launched in 1971 by Federico Faggin, was the first); VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) technology, with millions of transistors on a chip; and the main milestones, such as the Apple I/II (1976/77), the IBM PC (1981), the popularization of the personal computer, the internet and smartphones. Conclude by relating the 4th generation to its impact on present-day life. — The 4th generation begins in 1971 with the Intel 4004 microprocessor (2,300 transistors), revolutionizing the size and cost of computers; it continues to this day, although some authors consider that we have entered the 5th generation with AI and quantum computing — source: 'A History of Modern Computing' (Paul Ceruzzi, MIT Press, 2003).

3. Define the following terms:
   • Bit
   • Kilobyte
   • Megabyte
   • Gigabyte
   • Terabyte

   Answer: 1) Bit: it is the smallest unit of digital information, worth only 0 or 1 (binary digit). All information in the computer is formed by combinations of bits. 2) Kilobyte (KB): equivalent to 1,024 bytes (2¹⁰), approximately one thousand bytes. Each byte is a set of 8 bits, enough to represent one character. 3) Megabyte (MB): equivalent to 1,024 KB (2²⁰), about one million bytes. 4) Gigabyte (GB): equivalent to 1,024 MB (2³⁰), about one billion bytes. It is the common measure for the capacity of flash drives, RAM memory and large files. 5) Terabyte (TB): equivalent to 1,024 GB (2⁴⁰), about one trillion bytes. It is the measure used for the capacity of larger HDs and SSDs. — The prefixes KB/MB/GB/TB use base 1,024 (a power of 2) by computing convention, but the SI (International System) defines KB=1,000; that is why the IEC created explicit binary prefixes in 1998: KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB to avoid ambiguity — HD manufacturers use decimal (1 GB = 10⁹ bytes), while operating systems use binary (1 GiB = 2³⁰ bytes).

4. What are viruses? How can we be safe from them?

   Answer: Computer viruses are malicious programs (malware) that replicate by infecting files, programs or systems, and can damage data, steal personal information, hijack the equipment (ransomware) or use it in attacks (botnets). How to be safe from them: 1) install and keep a good antivirus/antimalware up to date; 2) keep the operating system and programs always updated (they fix security flaws); 3) do not open attachments or click on links in suspicious e-mails or messages; 4) download programs only from official and reliable sources; 5) use strong and different passwords for each service; 6) make regular backups of important data; 7) do not use unknown flash drives without checking them; and 8) enable the system firewall. — The term 'computer virus' was coined by Fred Cohen in 1983 — the first PC virus was Brain (1986), created in Pakistan; today there are hundreds of thousands of variants registered by Kaspersky and McAfee, and the most lucrative attacks are ransomware (hijacking of data through encryption) that move billions annually.

5. Describe in detail 3 famous viruses and the damage they cause to the computer.

   Answer: Three famous viruses and their damage: 1) ILOVEYOU (2000) — a worm propagated by e-mail with the attachment 'LOVE-LETTER-FOR-YOU.TXT.vbs'; when opened, it overwrote image, media and document files and resent itself to all the victim's contacts, causing about US$ 10 billion in damages and infecting tens of millions of computers in a few days. 2) MELISSA (1999) — a Word macro virus spread by e-mail that, when the infected document was opened, resent itself to the first 50 Outlook contacts, overloading and crashing the e-mail servers of large companies. 3) WANNACRY (2017) — ransomware that exploited a Windows flaw, encrypted (hijacked) the computer's files and demanded a ransom in bitcoin to release them; it affected more than 200,000 computers in 150 countries, including hospitals and companies, paralyzing entire services. — These three viruses marked the history of digital security: ILOVEYOU showed the power of social engineering via e-mail, WannaCry warned about the ransomware economy, and Stuxnet revealed cyberspace as a theater of war between States — all widely documented by Kaspersky, Symantec and official reports (NSA/Microsoft).

6. What is the internet? How can it influence modern life?

   Answer: The internet is a worldwide network of computers interconnected by the TCP/IP protocol that allows the exchange of data, voice, video and files among billions of devices all over the world. How it influences modern life: 1) instant COMMUNICATION through e-mail, messages and social networks, bringing people closer from anywhere; 2) ACCESS to information and EDUCATION, with research, courses and online classes; 3) remote WORK, meetings and collaboration at a distance; 4) electronic COMMERCE, banking and digital payments; 5) ENTERTAINMENT (videos, music, games, streaming); 6) public and health SERVICES online; and 7) in the Christian life, access to Bibles, studies and digital preaching. It also brings risks that require care: addictions, exposure to inappropriate content, scams, fake news and loss of privacy — which is why it should be used with balance and discernment. — The internet was born as ARPANET in 1969 (a U.S. military project) and became popular in the 1990s with the Web (Tim Berners-Lee, 1989); today it connects about 5.5 billion people (ITU 2024) and is considered critical infrastructure like energy and water in several countries.

7. Access and describe the content of 5 educational websites on the internet. Present a one-page report of what you learned on each of them.

   Answer: The choice of educational websites is important: Brazil's Ministry of Education maintains at portal.mec.gov.br a list of reliable open educational resources, and UNESCO promotes verified sources (OER — Open Educational Resources) — essential for the Pathfinder to distinguish quality content from so-called 'fake content'.

8. Using a database, register, in the form of an address book, the names of at least 25 people, and present a report containing the name, address, telephone and e-mail of each one of them.

   Answer: Relational databases were proposed by E.F. Codd in 1970 (IBM), and the concept of a table with typed columns is fundamental to this day (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server); for Computing IV, a basic address book teaches the principles of structured records and report generation via SQL queries or a GUI.

9. Research in specialized magazines and present a 2-page report about what the Year 2000 Bug was.

   Answer: The Year 2000 Bug (Y2K) was a potential flaw in computer systems that stored the year with only 2 digits (e.g.: 99 for 1999). When turning to the year 2000, the value 00 could be interpreted as 1900, generating date calculation errors. The risk affected banking and financial systems, air transport, energy, telecommunications, health and government. To avoid the problem, companies and governments spent billions correcting and updating programs before the turn of the year, expanding the year field to 4 digits; thanks to this massive effort, the turn occurred practically without serious incidents. — Y2K had such a great global impact that it mobilized the UN, FBI, NSA, and countries created special task forces; the effort was so successful that many today mistakenly believe that 'the problem didn't exist' — when in fact it did exist and was mitigated by intensive work, the main lesson about technical debt in software.

10. Describe the function of the following equipment:
    • Keyboard
    • Monitor
    • Printer
    • Driver
    • CPU
    • Cables
    • Modem
    • CD/DVD Rom

    Answer: 1) Keyboard: an input device used to type text and send commands to the computer. 2) Monitor: an output device that displays on the screen the images and texts generated by the computer. 3) Printer: an output device that prints information on paper, which may be inkjet, laser or dot matrix. 4) Driver: software that connects the operating system to a specific piece of equipment, teaching the computer to communicate correctly with that device. 5) CPU: the central processing unit, the "brain" of the computer, responsible for executing the calculations and instructions of the programs. 6) Cables: conductors that connect the equipment to each other and to power, transmitting data or electricity (USB, HDMI, network, power cables, etc.). 7) Modem: equipment that connects the computer to the internet, converting the provider's signal into a usable digital signal and vice versa. 8) CD/DVD-ROM: a drive that reads (and, in some cases, writes) optical CD and DVD discs, used to store and distribute programs, music, films and data. — The distinction between 'driver' (software) and 'drive' (hardware reader) is often confused — a driver is the program that makes the OS talk to the hardware; a drive is the physical equipment (HD drive, DVD drive). The CPU was invented with the Intel 4004 in 1971; current architectures (x86, ARM) process billions of instructions per second.

11. 11. Teach the Computing I Honor to a Regular Class.

    Answer: As an advanced Computing IV student, you must teach the Computing I Honor (the basic version) to a Regular Class of the Pathfinder Club; this means preparing and delivering at least 4 classes (under the supervision of a certified adult instructor) covering all the content of Computing I — history and generations of computers, basic hardware, software, turning on/off safely, use of the mouse and keyboard, creating folders and files. — Teaching is a classic requirement in 'advanced' honors — it forces the Pathfinder to consolidate the content by mastering it in enough depth to transmit it; aligned with the pedagogy that says 'whoever teaches learns twice' and following the Honors Manual of the South American Division.