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Specialized training is a matter of professional survival in the worldwhere the methods of handling information are changing rapidly. Thesecretary will be increasingly involved with office automation and needsto be familiar with the concept and the technology. The responsibilitiesof the secretary are multifunctional: typing/keyboarding; transcribing;processing mail; telephoning; scheduling appointments; greeting visitors;composing and editing documents; researching; coordinating meetings,conferences, and teleconferences; making travel arrangements; handlingreprographics; and organizing time and work. Supervisor and managementeducation and advanced technical and professional education are availableto those who are interested in moving ahead in the organization. Thedirector of education at a nationwide insurance company states that one ofthe great benefits of a well-developed education and training program is thatpeople on the secretarial level can move into supervisory, administrative,and managerial positions if they have the desire and the ability to doso. Secretaries are encouraged to develop career paths and life plans justas executives do. The secretary's projected work life is just as long as theexecutive's. These years will be more pleasant if the individual takessteps to examine what kind of job will be the most personally satisfyingnow and in the future. This kind of examination also benefits theorganization, because it keeps personnel from changing companies when achange in work responsibility would be more satisfying.The secretary's time is a valuable and perishable commodity. All dutiesare performed as quickly as possible so that the unexpected may be dealt

with. A sense of the relative urgency of activities is developed withexperience, so that it is possible to distinguish the important from thetrivial. A long-distance caller does not distract the secretary from thenecessity to transcribe an urgent letter. The unexpected visitor is startedon his or her way courteously and firmly, rather than being allowed to wastecompany time. Business calls are evaluated for length, and they are notcontinued beyond the time that is absolutely essential for courtesy and theexchange of information. The secretary should structure the business callin the form of a business letter. It should be planned ahead and shouldhave a beginning, middle, and end. If one is making a call, a clearstatement of purpose should open, followed by details, questions, orwhatever the call must accomplish. The call should be completed by thankingthe person on the other end, stating the action you or your boss expect to

be taken, or getting a firm commitment for future action or the time of areturn call. Remember that this is a business call and avoid those verbalticks like "you know" and slang that would be appropriate in a personalcall.The secretary's filing system gets the same careful attention given to otherduties. The employer must have an accurate record of what has happened inthe past in order to take future action. For highly confidential mattersor the employer's personal correspondence, a system consistent with filingrules but responsive to the needs of the office should be set up. If thecompany has a central files department, the secretary works closely withthe assigned file clerk, whose expertise should be recognized. Filing isa historical recording of events that have occurred in a given aspect ofcompany development. Filing requires intelligence, an intimate knowledge

of the subject matter, and an organized method of recording. The secretaryshould work with the file clerk. All material should be carefully markedto indicate whether there has been any previous correspondence on thesubject. If the previous reference could not be easily identified by thefile clerk, a notation indicating the subject with which it should be filedis a courtesy that will save time, prevent confusion, and contribute to ahelpful attitude in the office, which will be to everyone's benefit. Ifa subject is especially important or unusually complicated, an exchangeof ideas may enable the file clerk to set up the file intelligently. Asense of history on the part of the secretary and the file clerk will enable

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them to build up a file coherently, so that a person reading it will be ableto determine the sequence of events and the actions taken. When thesecretary recognizes the complexity of the file clerk's job, the employerwill get the file or information sought, not an excuse.Accuracy and speed are the hallmarks of the legal secretary in theone-lawyer office or the large firm with a national reputation. The workof a law office is exacting; an inaccurate record can be extremely expensiveto the firm. Terminology is precise. Since many legal procedures haveto follow an initial action in exact sequence, timing and organizationare essential. Typing/keyboarding, shorthand, transcription skills, and aknowledge of legal documents and legal terminology are important. Verbaland writing ability are essential because the legal secretary's work isvery exacting. The work is also highly varied and involves extensivecontact with clients. The legal secretary must, of course, refrain fromanswering legal questions. Word-processing systems and microcomputers havebeen added to most law offices to aid in the preparation of legaldocuments. The secretary who wishes to remain in the field should takeadvantage of every opportunity to learn the newest automated equipment. Thelegal secretary's job is not easy, because there is a lot of pressure and thereusually are long hours of work. However, it is one of the most lucrativejobs in the secretarial field. The fringe benefits are generally excellent,and the vacation periods are usually generous.Medical secretaries may be employed in a physician's office, medical clinic,hospital, public health facility, health maintenance organization, nursing

home, research center, foundation, laboratory, insurance company,pharmaceutical company, government-related health service agency, privateagency, publishing company, medical department of a business organization,business that manufactures medical supplies and equipment, or medicaltranscription service company. Each job requires keyboarding skills, machinetranscription, and a knowledge of word processing, computers, and softwareprograms in addition to familiarity with medical terminology. The medicalsecretary may need to know how to perform certain medical tasks, how tocomplete insurance claim forms, how to take a patient's medical history,how to handle the doctor's billings, and how to perform other clericalduties peculiar to a doctor's office. In addition, the secretary may needto deal with people who are ill, a task requiring patience, sympathy, andtact. Regardless of the setting--a one-doctor office or a large

facility--the medical secretary must observe medical ethics. Cases should notbe discussed except in the context of office business, and no comments orquestions regarding a patient's condition or ailments should be made in thepresence of other persons.Desktop publishing is used to create newsletters, manuals, forms, reports,proposals, flyers, etc. The development of page layout software and theavailability of affordable easy-to-use laser printers are responsible forthe growth in this area. Using a page layout program, the user can programtext to flow around graphics according to the instructions given. Differenttype styles or fonts can be used in several sizes. A scanner can be used toconvert pictures and drawings into electronic images. Once this is done, theimages can be made larger or smaller or can be otherwise modified. Morecontrol of a job is obtained since work does not have to be sent out to

achieve professional quality. A setup for desktop publishing generallyrequires a PC, preferably an Apple Macintosh or IBM XT or AT compatible, withat least 640K memory, a 20-megabyte hard disk, a graphics monitor, a laserprinter, and desktop publishing software. A wide variety of desktoppublishing software exists. In some the capabilities are limited to a fewdifferent type fonts and the ability to mix text and line art and producemulti-column formats; these programs work best with short, preferablyone-page, documents. More sophisticated packages include those whose strengthis multi-page documents and whose end product is ready for typesetoutput. Templates, which are predesigned formats, have made it possible to

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create professional-looking pages without design training.Electronic mail is the popular term for many of the new forms of communicationthat use computer and telecommunications technology. Also sometimes calledelectronic data communication, it is the noninteractive communication oftext, data, voice, and image messages between a sender and a recipient usingsystem links. There are two advantages to electronic mail. One is the highspeed with which large amounts of data can be sent from one place toanother. The second is that data can be distributed to a specific locationand stored in electronic form until it is needed by the recipient. Electronicmail is rapidly becoming an indispensable tool in communications. Not onlydo companies use electronic mail for inhouse communication but also for manyemployees who work at home from computer work stations and terminals. Withthe use of public access network, such as Tymnet, Telenet, and other digitalsystems, it is possible to link host computer facilities simply, througha local phone call from almost anywhere in the world. Electronic mail isimplemented with several different technologies, among them facsimiletransmission, telex, communicating word processors, microcomputers and othercomputer-based networks, electronic document distribution systems, and voicetechnologies. We shall discuss briefly a few of thesemeans. Telecommunications is the process of transmitting information over adistance, or "at a distance," by electromagnetic or electrical systems. (Theprefix tele is derived from a Greek root meaning "at adistance.") Telecommunicated information may be in several forms, includingvoice, data, image, or message. The transmission systems include telephone

lines, cables, microwaves, satellite transmission, and light beams.The caller at the other end of the phone cannot see the person who istalking. This should be remembered at all times, for it means that thecaller has no visual image on which to base impressions. The telephonecaller's attention is focused entirely upon the audio impressions coming overthe wires. If these sounds are jarring or unpleasant, a busy executive mayquickly lose patience and discontinue association with the firm inquestion. On the other hand, a pleasant and understanding voice coming overan inanimate instrument can accomplish wonders. The power of the spoken wordcan and does exert a great impact upon the listener. The telephone is not anuisance instrument designed to interrupt the secretary in the midst of someimportant or complicated task. It is, rather, a vital business communicationfacility that assists the employee in carrying out duties and responsibilities

owed to the employer. In order to enhance one's telephone personality, it isnecessary to inject variety and flexibility into the voice, so as to conveymood and attitude in telephone conversations. These qualities can beobtained through pitch, inflection, and emphasis. The development of thesequalities is individual. A high-pitched voice may convey an impression ofchildishness and immaturity or of impatience and irritability. On the otherhand, a voice that is well modulated carries the impression of culture andpolish. "Pitch" in speaking, like "pitch" in music, refers to the key inwhich one speaks. Everyone has a range of tone within which a pleasantspeaking voice is possible, and it can be consciously controlled. Eachperson must be conscious of his or her own range and practice utilizing iteffectively. An individual is said to speak in a "modulated" voice whenthe pitch is in the lower half of the possible range. This tonal range

carries best and is easiest to hear over the telephone. In cultivating aninteresting individual telephone personality, voice development alone isinsufficient; it is essential also that the speaker enunciate clearly anddistinctly. A garbled and indistinct speech pattern will annoy the listenerwho cannot understand what is being said. Do not be afraid to move thelips. One cannot form rounded vowel sounds or distinct consonants unless thelips accomplish their function. It is not necessary to exaggerate or to becomestilted; clear enunciation and pronunciation should be made a part of thesecretary's natural, daily speech pattern, because it is just as importantin face-to-face conversations as in telephone conversations. Above all, be

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sure that your voice reflects your personality, that it transmits alertnessand pleasantness, and that it is natural, distinct, and expressive, andneither too loud nor too soft. Avoid repetitious, mechanical words andphrases, and try to enunciate in a manner that it neither too fast nor tooslow.There are several types of numeric filing systems, some used only in highlyspecialized businesses. Straight numeric. This system has records filedaccording to strict numeric sequence. Folder number 1 is given to the firstclient or account; folder number 2 is given to the second, and so forth, instrict numeric order. Terminal digit. In this system, numbers on a fileare read from right to left. Usually, the last, or terminal, two digits arethe drawer number, the next two digits are the folder number, and any othernumbers indicate the sequence within the folders. For example, an insurancepolicy numbered 567,123 would be stored in drawer 23, folder 71, and the56 would refer to its sequence in the folder. Triple digit. This system issimilar to the terminal-digit system, except that the numbers are read inthree digits instead of two. The terminal three digits of a number arecalled the "primary" numbers, and the remaining digits refer to the sequenceof the papers in the folders bearing the primary numbers. For example, theinsurance policy numbered 567,123 would be found in folder 123, and 567 wouldrefer to its sequence in the folder. Middle digit. The third and fourthdigits from the right are separated from the last two digits on theright. For example, in the insurance policy number 567,123, the policy wouldbe filed in folder 71, and 23 would refer to its sequence in the

folder. Decimal system. The decimal system is used only in highly specializedbusinesses. The system may be based on the Dewey decimal system, which isthe system commonly used by public libraries, though many are switchingto the Library of Congress Catalog card system.The raw material to which the secretary applies these skills is the Englishlanguage. A command of and a respect for the English language, both inwriting and in speaking, are essential. A good dictionary, a thesaurus, anda grammar book must be kept handy for immediate checking of spelling,end-of-line division, usage, and sentence construction. In the automatedoffice, equipment may have a built-in spell checker or a software programwith a dictionary or grammar component. Work still has to be proofread,however, because the equipment and programs cannot distinguish betweenhomonyms, nor can they determine if the transcript omitted a word. Letters,

whether the secretary composes them or transcribes them, represent the company,the employer, and the professional secretary. The recipient of a letter mustnever get the impression that any one of the three is less than firstrate. Most executives have a good speaking command of the language. Thisasset is often one of the reasons why an individual reaches a top managementposition. However, it is the secretary's responsibility to check details ofgrammar, spelling, and punctuation. An employer with an excellent command ofEnglish presents a double challenge to the secretary. Transcribed lettersmust be absolutely perfect, and letters composed for the executive must matchthem in composition, tone, and clarity.The most important phase of preparing minutes is the accurate recording andreporting of the actions taken. The record should report what was said. Attimes, it is difficult to report what is done. For informal meetings, the

minutes are compact and simple; for formal meetings, the minutes arecomplex. If you find that grouping the minutes around a central theme isclearer, do so. On the other hand, the executive may prefer chronologicalorder. Corporate minutes (official minutes of a formal nature) must beprepared in the order of occurrence, showing details and the exact wording ofmotions, resolutions, and so forth. By law, corporations are required to keepminutes of stockholders' and directors' meetings. These minutes are legalrecords and should be protected from tampering.It is good practice to keep a written record of all incoming calls,particularly when the executive is away from the office. In recording the

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call, the secretary should indicate the time the call was received; the name,business affiliation, and telephone number of the caller; and the message. Thenote may be signed with the secretary's initials. If the message is froman out-of-town caller, the area code or the telephone operator's number shouldalso be recorded, so that the executive can return the call in a short timeand without confusion. It is best when taking a message to read it back tothe caller in order to avoid errors or misunderstandings. Messages shouldalways be taken verbatim. Be patient and pleasant but persistent. Ask thecaller to spell out both first and last names if necessary. If numbers areinvolved, repeat the sequence for verification. Taking a telephone messageaccurately often saves calling back to check information. Then again, if amessage is completely garbled, it may be impossible to call back and a valuablecontact could be forever lost.The sundial may be the oldest device for measuring time, going backto the Fertile Crescent of about 2000 B.C. Its operation is based on the factthat the shadow of a fixed object will move around it from one side to theother as the sun moves from east to west. Naturally, the duration ofthe hours marked off by a sundial changes according to the seasonsof the year. Along with sundials, ancient peoples used water clocks thatmeasured time by a constant rate of flow of water through a bowl-like devicewith an outlet. Sand flowing from one compartment into another alsowas used in late medieval Europe to measure time. These last two methods couldbe used at night; they also counted more uniform units of time. With theinvention of mechanical clocks, the hours became uniform. The first

mechanical clocks appeared in Europe in the thirteenth century (mechanicaltimepieces existed in China at least two centuries earlier, though the Chinesenever developed them highly). The earliest ones were driven by weights strungaround a drum. As the weight fell, the mechanism was activated. Next camespring-driven clocks, through they had the disadvantage of running differentlywhen the spring was just wound and at its most tense position and afterit had unwound somewhat. The workings of all clocks depend on a motion orvibration that is constant and regular. In 1583 the great Italian physicistGalileo (1564-1642) observed that the time it took for a pendulum to completeone total swing (called the period of oscillation) was almost independentof its magnitude, that is, how far it swung from side to side. He understoodthat this could be used as a frequency mechanism for regulating a clock. In1656 a Dutch inventor, Christian Huygens (1629-95),

working independently, constructed the first pendulum clock. Pendulum clocksremained the most precise means of measuring time into the twentiethcentury. Pendulums could be constructed to oscillate at specified frequenciesonce such factors as latitude, the pull of gravity, and weather and its effecton the materials out of which the clock was made had been compensatedfor. Quartz clocks, introduced in the 1930s, improved on the pendulum, throughonly after years of development. By controlling the frequency of an electriccircuit through the regular mechanical vibration of the quartz crystal, highdegrees of constancy in vibration can be achieved, making a quartz clock evenmore accurate than a pendulum. In the 1940s atomic clocks wereintroduced. Their frequencies are based on the vibrations of certain atomsand molecules that vibrate the same number of times per second. Atomic clocksare constant to within a few seconds every 100,000 years.

Daylight Saving Time is attained by forwarding the clock one hour. In 1967the Uniform Time Act went into effect in the United States. It proclaimedthat all states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. possessions were to observeDaylight Saving Time starting at 2 A.M. on the last Sunday in April and endingat 2 A.M. on the last Sunday in October. Any state could exempt itself by lawand a 1972 amendment to the act authorized the states split by time zones toconsider that split in exempting themselves. Arizona, Hawaii, part of Indiana,Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa are now exempt. TheDepartment of Transportation, which oversees the act, has modified some localzone boundaries in Alaska, Florida, Kansas, Michigan, and Texas over the last

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several years. Daylight Saving Time was extended by Congress during 1974 and1975 to conserve energy, but the country then returned to the previousend-of-April to end-of-October system until 1987, when new legislation wentinto effect. The new bill, signed by President Reagan on July 8, 1986, movedthe start of Daylight Saving time up to the first Sunday in April, but it didnot change the end from the last Sunday in October.On most ships, a day consists of six 4-hour watches. The watches change at8 A.M., noon, 4 P.M., 8 P.M., midnight, and 4 A.M. A chime indicates eachhalf-hour. During a 4-hour watch, one bell chimes at the first half-hour,two bells at the second, and so on up to eight, when the next watch beginsand the sequence starts over again. On many vessels the ship's whistle isblown at noon. On some ships a lightly struck 1 bell announces 15 minutesbefore the change of watch.Scientists have divided the natural world into three kingdoms: the animalkingdom, the mineral kingdom, and the plant kingdom. Natural objects, asopposed to man-made objects, all fall into one of those kingdoms. The animalkingdom is classified by zoologists into groups of related animals. Eachof the largest groups is called a phylum. Each phylum includes severalclasses. Each of these classes is divided into orders, which themselves arefurther divided into families, genera, and species. There are more than 1million different species of animals in the world, including about 4,000species of mammals. Mammals are vertebrates, which means they havebackbones. They are warm-blooded and have hairy skin. They are called mammalsbecause they nourish their young by giving milk from their mammary

glands. There are 19 orders of mammals in the world. Ten of these live inNorth America. Some orders include a wide range of animals; for example,shrews, lemurs, marmosets, monkeys, apes, and humans are all primates. Otherorders are made up of only one sort of creature; Order Chiroptera, for example,consists of several families of bats. The proper names of orders of animalsare given in Latin, a convention that allows scientists who speak differentlanguages to discuss them.big bang model A theory that describes the beginning of our universe as atitanic explosion. This explosion did not occur at a particular point inspace, according to the theory, but rather was a transition from enormousdensity and temperature throughout all space to conditions of even lowerdensity and lower temperature as space itself expanded. After the hypotheticalexplosion, the universe was swamped with energy in the form of radiant energy

and various atomic particles. This phase was followed by a cooling andthinning out of the universe. It is believed that the universe is stillexpanding at this time.time sharing A computer function of handling two or more tasks simultaneously,as when a mainframe computer is used to process operations of several remoteterminals at the same time. Such a system depends on buffering and switchinginputs and outputs for each terminal. This is done at such a high rate ofspeed that operators of individual terminals are unaware that others aresharing the same central processing unit.Abstract Expressionism A movement in painting, also called action painting,originating in New York City in the 1940s. Propelled by the work of ArshileGorky, its focus is on surface qualities and on the act of painting itself,with the admission of the accidental. It was the first important school of

American painting to develop independently of European styles.Latrobe, Benjamin Henry (1766-1820). British-American architect. Consideredthe first professional architect in the United States, Latrobe produced someof the best monumental architecture of his time in Classical Revivalstyle. His works include the Bank of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (1799); theBank of the United States, now the old Philadelphia Custom House (completed byWilliam Strickland, 1819-24); the Roman Catholic Cathedral, Baltimore, thefirst cathedral built in the United States (1805-18); and St. John's Churchin Washington, D.C. (1816).The colon represents the next closest thing to the full stop indicated by a

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vehicles.While a U.S. passport is not required by U.S. laws for travel to or in mostcountries in North, South, or Central America or adjacent islands, except Cuba,a passport is required under the laws or regulations of some of thosecountries and a valid U.S. passport is the best travel documentationavailable. Persons who travel to a country where a U.S. passport is notrequired should be in possession of documentary evidence of their U.S.citizenship and identity to facilitate reentry into the United States. Thosecountries that do not require a passport to enter or depart frequentlyrequire the traveler to have documentary evidence of U.S. citizenship andidentity. Documentary evidence of U.S. citizenship may be a previouslyissued U.S. passport, birth certificate, certificate of naturalization,certificate of citizenship, or report of birth abroad of a citizen of theUnited States. Documentary evidence of identity may be a previous U.S.passport, certificate of naturalization, certificate of citizenship, validdriver's license, or government (federal, state, or municipal) identificationcard or pass. Persons traveling in countries having requirements for evidenceof citizenship and identity are cautioned that they may experience seriousdifficulties or delays if they do not have the necessary documents.Inquire before departure at the Embassy in Washington, D.C. or the localconsulate of the country to be visited for specific requirements.The "Stars and Strips" as we know it today, with its blue field of 50 whitestars and 13 red and white stripes representing the original 13 colonies,underwent several transformations. The first flag raised in the United

States was hoisted by John Cabot in 1497; it flew the banners of England andSt. Mark. As settlers populated the colonies, each territory adopted itsown flag. By 1707, each colony had its own state flag, the forerunners of theindividual state flags today. The first colonial flag representing all thecolonies, however, was believed to have been raised on Prospect Hill inBoston at the Battle of Bunker Hill. The "Continental Colors" bore thecross of the British flag in the upper left corner with 13 alternatingred and white stripes extending horizontally. In 1777 the firstContinental Congress "Resolved, that the Flag of the United States bethirteen stripes alternate red and white, that the Union be thirteen starswhite on a blue field, representing a constellation." As the new Uniongrew, Congress voted in 1794 to add two stripes and two stars to representthe two new states of Vermont and Kentucky. This flag is believed to be the

one nicknamed the "Star-Spangled Banner." By 1818 five more states hadjoined, and on April 4 Congress voted to keep the number of stripes at 13 andto add a star to the field for every new state, the stars for the new statesbeing added the July 4th after each state's admission to the Union.Artemision at Ephesus, the temple of the Greek goddess Artemis (also theRoman goddess Diana), was begun in 541 B.C. at Ephesus (now a site in Turkey)and completed 220 years later. The temple was 425 feet long and 220 feetwide with 127 marble columns, each 60 feet tall. The gates were made ofcypress and the ceiling of cedar. The temple was destroyed by the Gothsin 262 A.D. The Colossus of Rhodes, a 100-foot-tall bronze statue of thesun god Helios, was erected between 292 and 280 B.C. in the harbor atRhodes. According to legend, it appeared to stand astride the harbor butwas actually on a promontory overlooking it. The statue was toppled by an

earthquake around 224 B.C. and lay in ruins until 653 A.D., when the remainswere sold as scrap metal. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, a series of fiveterraces of glazed brick, each 50 feet above the next, was erected by KingNebuchadnezzar for his wife, Amytis, in 562 B.C. The terraces, featuringrare and exotic plants, were connected by a winding stairway. A pumpingdevice supplied water so the gardens could be irrigated by fountains. TheMausoleum at Halicarnassus, a 140-foot-high white marble structure, wasbuilt in 352 B.C. at Halicarnassus (now a site in Turkey) in memory of KingMausolus of Caria. Its massive base contained a sarcophagus and supported36 columns crowned with a stepped pyramid on which was constructed a marble

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chariot. It was destroyed for the use of stone to build a castle for theKnights of Saint John in 1402. Olympian Zeus, a statue of the supreme godin Greek mythology, was executed in gold and ivory for the temple atOlympia. The figure of the seated Zeus was 40 feet tall and rested on abase that was 12 feet high. The portions of the statue representing theflesh of the god were covered in marble and his cloak was made ofgold. Golden lions rested near his feet. The Pyramids of Egypt were startedby Khufu (Cheops) around 2700 B.C. as tombs for the ancient kings. The threelargest and finest were erected during the Fourth dynasty at Gizeh, nearCairo. The largest of the group is the Khufu Pyramid, built of limestoneblocks from a base 756 feet wide on each side and covering an area of 13acres. It is 482 feet high. Smaller pyramids were built for wives andother members of the royal families. The Tower of Pharos was a greatlighthouse built on the island Pharos, at Alexandria, Egypt, during thereign of Ptolemy Philadelphus, 285 B.C. Also called The Pharos, it was 500feet tall with a ramp leading to the top. Light was produced with a fireand reflectors and could be seen from a distance of 42 miles.Reduced to its fundamental principles, the microprocessor is not difficult tounderstand. It's simply the electronic equivalent of a knee-jerk. Every timeyou hit the microprocessor with an electronic hammer blow--the proper digitalinput--it reacts by performing a specific something, always the same thing forthe same input. For example, the bit pattern 0010110 tells an Intel8086-family microprocessor needs to know what to subtract from what, and itneeds to know what to do with the result. The first question is handled by

variations of the subtract instruction, of which there are about seven(depending on what you regard as subtraction because each particularinstruction tells the microprocessor to take numbers from differing places andcompute the difference in slightly different manners). The numbers to beworked on can be located in one of three places--in one of the microprocessor'sregisters, in ordinary RAM memory, or in the code of the instructionitself. The result is always stored in a register. (If the information to beworked on is stored on disk it must first be transferred to RAM.) Othermicroprocessor instructions tell the chip to put numbers in its registers to beworked on later and to move information from a register to somewhere else, forexample to the memory or an output port. The example instruction tells themicroprocessor to subtract an immediate number from the accumulator, aparticular microprocessor register that is favored for calculations. Everything

the microprocessor does consists of nothing more than a series of theseon-step-a-time instructions. Simple subtraction or addition of two numbers mayentail dozens of steps, including the conversion of the numbers from decimal tobinary (ones and zeros) notation that the microprocessor understands. Computerprograms are complex because they must reduce processes that people think of asone step in itself--adding numbers, typing a letter, moving a block ofgraphics--into a long and complex series of tiny, incremental steps.The Intel family comprises four principal numeric coprocessor chips, the 8087,the 80287, the 80387, and 80387SX. Each is designed to work with a particularmicroprocessor in the Intel 8086 family. Each of this quartet shares somecommon traits. Beyond the 8-, 16-, and 32-bit processors you're used to dealingwith, the Intel coprocessors work 80 bits at a time. Each uniformly has eight80-bit registers in which to perform their calculations. They work with 32-,

64 or 80 bit floating point numbers, 32 or 64-bit integers, and 18-digit binarycoded decimal (BCD) numbers. (Binary Coded Decimal numbers simply use aspecific four-bit digital code to represent each of the decimal digits betweenzero and nine.) The Intel numeric coprocessors also add new abilities to thosenative to the host microprocessor, such as tangent and logarithmicfunctions. Instead of simply working with the resident microprocessor in yourcomputer,the Intel coprocessors work as an extension of it. They connect to theaddress and data lines of your PC and execute the instructions meant for them asthey arise within programs. They can carry out their calculations at the sametime as the microprocessor, so both chips can be thinking at the same

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time. Because they read their instructions directly from the bus, they imposeno microprocessor overhead to set them rolling on problem.Computer memory systems are often divided into two types, primary storage andsecondary storage. Primary storage is that which is immediately accessible bythe computer or microprocessor. Anything kept in primary storage is immediatelyaccessible and ready to be used. This form of memory is called on-line storagebecause it is always connected to the computer. It may be directly accessiblethrough the address lines of a microprocessor or through I/O ports of thecomputer. Because any specific part of this memory, any random byte, can beinstantly found and retrieved, primary storage is often termed Random AccessMemory or RAM. Regardless of its name, primary storage is, in effect, theshort term memory of the computer. It's easy to get at but tends to be limitedin capacity. Long-term computer memory is termed secondary storage. Not onlydoes this form of memory maintain information that must be kept for a long time,but it also holds the bulk of the information the computer deals with. Secondarystorage may be tens, hundreds, or thousands of times larger than primarystorage, and because of its bulk is often termed mass storage. These data areheld off-line and is not directly accessible by the computer. To be used,it must be transferred from secondary storage into primary storage.Not all memory must be endowed with the ability to be changed. Just as thereare many memories that you would like to retain--your first love, the names ofall the stars in the Zodiac, the answers to the chemistry exam--a computer isbetter off when it can remember particularly important information without

regard to the vagaries of the power line. Perhaps the most important of thesemore permanent recollections is the program code that tells a microprocessorthat it is actually part of a computer and how it should carry out itsduties. In the old-fashioned world of relays, you could permanently set memoryin one position or another by careful application of a hammer, and with enoughassurance and impact, you could guarantee the system would never forget. Inthe world of solid-state the principle is the same, but the programminginstrument is somewhat different. All you need is switches that do notswitch--or, more accurately, switch once and jam. This permanent kind of memoryis valuable in computers that a whole family of devices called Read-Only Memoryor ROM chips has developed. They are called read-only because the computerthat they are installed in cannot write or rewrite new code and store it inthem. Only what is already there can be read from the memory. In contrast,

the other kind of memory, to which the microprocessor can write as well asread, is logically termed Read-Write Memory. This term is, however, rarelyused. Instead, read-write memory is generally called RAM even though ROM alsoallows random access. If ROM chips cannot be written by the computer, theinformation inside must come from somewhere. In one kind of chip, the maskROM, the information is built into the memory chip at the time it isfabricated. The mask is a master pattern used to draw the various circuitelements on the chip during fabrication. When the circuit elements of the chipare grown on the silicon substrate, the pattern includes the information thatwill be read in the final device. Nothing, other than a hammer blow or itsequivalent, can alter what is contained in this sort of memory. Mask ROMs arenot common in personal computers because they require their programming becarried out when the chips are manufactured; changes are not easy to make and

the quantities that must be manufactured to make production affordable aredaunting. One alternative is the Programmable Read-Only Memory chip orPROM. This style of circuit consists of an array of elements that work likefuses. Normally, the fuses conduct electricity. However, like fuses, thesecircuit elements can be blown, which stops the electric flow. PROM chips aremanufactured and delivered with all of their fuses intact. A specialmachine--called a PROM programmer or PROM burner--is used to blow the fusesone-by-one according to the needs of the software to be coded inside thechip. This process is usually termed "burning" the PROM. As with mostconflagrations, the effects of burning a PROM are permanent. The chip cannot

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be changed to update or revise the program inside. PROMs are definitely notsomething for people who can't make up their minds--or a fast changingindustry. Happily, technology has brought an alternative, the ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory chip or EPROM. EPROMS are almost self-healingsemiconductors because the data inside an EPROM can be erased and the chipreused for other data or programs. EPROM chips are easy to spot because theyhave a clear window in the center of the top of their package. Invariably,this window is covered with a label of some kind, and with good reason. Thechip is erased by shining high-intensity ultraviolet light through thewindow. If stray light should leak through the window, the chip could beinadvertently erased. (Normal room light won't erase the chip becauseit contains very little ultraviolet. Bright sunshine does, however, and canerase EPROMs.) Because of their versatility, permanent memory, and easyreprogrammability, EPROMs are ubiquitous inside personal computers.The evolution of the RAM chip has closely followed the development of thepersonal computer. The success of the small computer fueled demand for memorychips. At the same time, the capacity of memory chips has increased and,except for a temporary rise following the plummet of the dollar, their pricehas tumbled. At the time the first PC was introduced the standard RAM chipcould store 16 kilobits of information, that is, 16,384 bits or 2048 bytes. Thememory cells (where each bit is stored) was assigned its own address so bitswere individually retrievable. These were the smallest capacity memory chipsused by any PC-compatible computer. Besides the original IBM PC, they werealso used on some accessories, such as memory expansion boards and video

adapters. Today these chips are expensive because relatively few new devicesuse them and their rarity has made manufacturing, distributing, and storing ofthese chips uneconomical. By the time the XT was introduced, about a yearlater, chips with a larger capacity proved to be more cost-effective. Althoughable to store four times the data, 64-kilobit chips then began to cost lessthan four times the price of 16-kilobit chips. The PC system board was revisedto accommodate the better memory buy and the XT was designed to accept them. Ina few years, 64-kilobit chips became so popular that their price fell below thatof 16-kilobit chips. By 1984, the best value in memory had become the next steplarger, the 256-kilobit chip, and RAM chips of this size were chosen for theoriginal AT. Now chips with one megabit capacity are becoming popular.Memory beyond the megabyte addressable by the 8088, which can be accessedthrough the protected mode of the 80286 and 80386 microprocessors, is generally

termed extended memory (although IBM sometimes calls it expanded memory, a termreserved by most writers for another type of memory). Up to 15 megabytes ofextended memory can be added to an 80286-based computer, four gigabytes to an80386. The most important distinguishing characteristic between extended andbase memory is that programs that run in real mode cannot execute in extendedmemory. DOS is written for the real mode, so it is limited to basememory. This is not to say extended memory is inaccessible in realmode. Programs don't know how to address its extra bytes. Although extendedmemory can be used for data storage, software must be particularly written totake advantage of it. Few DOS-based programs are. The primary example of aprogram that is the VDISK floppy-disk emulator included with DOS 3.0 orlater. Although the program code for VDISK executes in normal DOS memory inreal mode, it can use extended memory for data storage. Because OS/2 can

operate in protected mode, it can take full advantage of extended memory. Note,however, that when its compatibility box is used to run old-fashioned DOSapplications, OS/2 shifts back to real mode and is constrained by the 640Kmemory limit in executing them.In April, 1985--months after the AT was introduced with its multiple megabytesof extended memory range--a major software publisher, Lotus DevelopmentCorporation, and a hardware maker, Intel Corporation, formulated their ownmethod for overcoming the 640K limit of older DOS computers based on the 8088microprocessor. A few months later they were joined by Microsoft Corporations,and the development was termed the Lotus-Intel-Microsoft Expanded memory

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Specification (for its originators), or LIM memory, or EMS, or simply expandedmemory. The initial Version was numbered as EMS Version 3.0 to indicate itscompatibility with then-current DOS 3.0. When Microsoft joined, the spec wasslightly revised and denominated as Version 3.2. The new memory systemdiffered from either base memory or extended memory in not being within thenormal address range of its host microprocessor, instead, it relied on hardwarecircuitry to switch banks of memory within the normal address range of the 8088microprocessor switching, was neither novel nor unusual, for it has beenapplied to CP/M computers based on the Z80 microprocessor to break throughtheir inherent 64K addressing limit. Only the cooperative effort atstandardization by oftentimes competing corporations was surprising. Theoriginal EMS specification dealt with its expanded memory in banks of 16kilobytes. It mapped out a 64K range in the non-DOS memory area above thebytes used for display memory to switch these banks, up to four at a time, intothe address range of the 8088. Up to eight megabytes of 16K banks of expandedmemory could by installed in a system. The Expanded Memory Specificationincluded the definition of several function calls--predefined software routinescontained in special EMS software called the Expanded Memory Manager--that wereto be used by programs to manipulate the expanded memory. Because the memoryareas beyond the DOS 640K range had been assigned various purposes by IBM, werethe bank-switching area assigned an arbitrary location, it could potentiallyconflict with the operation of other system expansion. Consequently, thespecification allows several address locations for the bank-switching areawithin

the range 784K to 960K. Because programs had to be specially written toinclude the function calls provided by the EMS drives, expanded memory does notallow ordinary software to stretch beyond the DOS limit. Moreover, the originalExpanded Memory Specification put a burdensome limit on the uses of thisadditional memory because it could only be used for data storage--program codecould not execute in the EMS area. Adding EMS memory to your system alsonecessitated special expansion boards with the required bank switching hardwarebuilt into them. You couldn't just buy a handful of AST Six-Paks and expectto put all their bytes to work. The introduction of the AT and its potentialof 16 megabytes of addressability overshadowed EMS until the hard reality ofthe inaccessibility of extended memory hit home. Even the few availableprograms that could take advantage of EMS were more useful than the VDISKdriver, which was the only DOS-compatible product to use extended memory. In

fact, until the announcement of OS/2, the most valuable application for theextended memory of the AT was as expanded memory using an expanded memoryemulation driver, such as V-EMM from Fort's Software. These software-onlyEMS products can be divided into two classes, those that take advantage of thepaged-virtual memory-mapping abilities built into the 80386 microprocessor andthose that copy 16K banks of memory from extended into base memory. Althoughboth types of software have been used effectively, Lotus claims the 80386-basedsystems are truly compatible with EMS and the block-copying programs cannotprovide full, correct EMS functionality.The IBM BIOS is designed to work through a system of software interrupts. Toactivate a routine, a program issues the appropriate interrupts, a specialinstruction to the microprocessor. The software interrupt causes themicroprocessor to stop what it is doing and start a new routine. It does this

by suspending the execution of the code that it is working on, saving its place,and looking in a table held in memory that lists interrupt vectors. Eachinterrupt vector is pointer telling the microprocessor the location where thecode associated with the interrupt is located. The microprocessor reads thevalue stored in the vector. The table of interrupt vectors begins at the verystart of the microprocessor's memory, address 00000(Hex). Each vectorcomprises four bytes, and all vectors are stored in increasing order. Thedefault values for each vector are loaded into RAM from the ROM containing theBIOS when your computer boots up. Programs can alter these vectors to changethe meaning of software interrupts. Typically, terminate-and-stay-resident

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programs (TSRs are pop-up programs like SideKick, and background programs likePro-Key) make such modifications for their own purposes. Because there aremany fewer interrupts available than functions you might want the BIOS to carryout different functions are available for many of the interrupts. Theseseparate functions are identified by parameter passing. That is, informationis handed over to the BIOS routine as a parameter, a value held in one or moreof the registers at the time the software interrupt is issued. The BIOSroutine may also achieve some result and pass it back to the program.When mounting a new drive you'll need rails for it. Many products come withthe rails already installed, Others come with loose rails left for you toinstall. Some come without rails, leaving you to find a pair of your own. Allsorts of rails are available. Official IBM rails are different for the rightand left side of the drive and have only two installation holes. Point thetapered end of the rail toward the rear of the drive. The screws to hold therails in place then go into the lower pair of the two sets of mounting holes onthe drive. Third-party mounting rails are usually made to be interchangeablebetween the left and right sides of the drive. They have four holes, whichcombined with the four mounting holes in the drive it self, give you fourinstallation permutations, only one of which will work. Only two screws shouldbe used to hold the drive to the rail. In general, the lower holes on the rail(when its tapered is pointed toward the rear of the drive) should mate withthe lower holes in the drive. Note that some odd rails may have holes indifferent positions. If you install rails on a new drive, make sure that thedrive lines up in the proper vertical position before you secure its mounting

brackets and try to reinstall the lid of the case.A legend surrounds the QWERTY arrangements. According to the common myth,QWERTY came about because typists pounded on keys faster than the simplemechanisms of the first typewriters could handle the chore. The keysjammed. The odd QWERTY arrangement slowed down the typists and prevented thejam. Sholes left no record of how he came upon the QWERTY arrangement, but itcertainly was not to slow down speedy typists. High typing rates implymodern-day touch typing, ten fingers flying across the keyboards. This styleof typing did not arise until about ten years after Sholes had settled on theQWERTY arrangement. Other arguments about the QWERTY placement also lead todeadends. For instance, breaking a strict alphabetic order to separate thekeys and prevent the type bars (the levers which swing up to strike letters onpaper) from jamming doesn't make sense because the arrangement of the typebars

has no direct relationship to the arrangement of keys.