Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Computers

1. TCP Congestion Control

Slow Start: TCP initializes congestion window (cwnd) to a small size and doubles it every Round Trip Time (RTT) until a loss occurs (exponential growth) or the slow start threshold is reached.

Congestion Avoidance: After reaching the threshold, cwnd is incremented by one segment for each RTT, growing linearly to avoid congestion.

Fast Recovery: When triple duplicate ACKs are detected, TCP halves the cwnd and reduces the slow start threshold to half of the cwnd size before the loss, then transitions to congestion avoidance.

2. TCP RTT and Timeout

Estimating RTT: Uses Smoothed Round Trip Time (SRTT) which is a weighted average of previous RTT measurements.

Timeout Calculation: Often calculated as Timeout=SRTT+4×RTT

Windows Popularity and Vista Features

Unit 13

Interviewer: There is no doubt that Windows has revolutionized the way we use computers today. Bill, can you explain just why it’s so popular?

Bill: Well, very simply, people find Windows very easy to use because everything is presented in graphic images. It’s also compatible with thousands of programs.

Interviewer: The big news at the moment is, of course, the launch of Windows Vista – the successor to Windows XP. I understand that there are several versions of Vista available. Could you give us some advice on which one to get?

Bill: Yes, you’re right – there are four main editions: Home Basic, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate.

Windows Vista Editions:

• Home Basic: Designed for users with basic

Unit 14: Moving Text

Cutting and Pasting

Anna: Ben, do you know how I can move this paragraph? I want to put it at the end of this page.

Ben: I think so. First, select the text with your mouse. Then, choose "Cut" from the Edit menu.

Anna: Like this?

Ben: Yes. The text disappears and is copied to the Clipboard. Click where you want the text to go.

Anna: Okay. Is that right?

Ben: Yes, if that's the correct spot. Next, choose "Paste" from the Edit menu, or press CTRL+V.

Anna: Okay, done. Is that all?

Ben: Yes. If you make a mistake, choose "Undo" from the Edit menu to reverse your last action.

Anna: Brilliant! Thanks!

Ben: You're welcome.

Unit 15: Spreadsheet Fundamentals

Introduction

Let's start with the basics. Spreadsheets are used in business for financial... Continue reading "Spreadsheet Basics and Text Editing Tips" »

What is Mathematical Logical Thinking?

These are the skills students develop associated with logical and mathematical concepts, reasoning, comprehension, and exploration of the world through real proportions, thus strengthening more abstract aspects of thought.

Geometry with Dinosaurs

This activity involves cutting out various geometric shapes with EVA rubber. Children will then create their own dinosaurs using these shapes. Through this activity, they can learn geometric shapes, count the number of elements used in each dinosaur (like the sides of the shapes), and create new geometric shapes from the ones they already have.

Logical Reasoning with Chupa Chups

This activity consists of creating logically structured material and playing with it using... Continue reading "Developing Logical and Mathematical Thinking in Children" »

Performance Metrics

• Elapsed Time: Represents overall system performance. It is the total time taken to complete a task.
• User CPU Time: Indicates CPU performance. It is the time the task actively runs on the CPU, excluding idle time.
• CPU Time: The time the CPU spends executing instructions, either from the task or the operating system, excluding idle time.
• Clock Speed: 1 MHz equals 1 million clock cycles per second. 1 GHz equals 1 billion clock cycles per second.
• Response Time: Equivalent to execution time.
• Throughput: Equivalent to bandwidth.
• Performance Comparison: (PerfA) / (PerfB) = (ExecTimeB) / (ExecTimeA) = n

Impact of Processor Upgrades

• Replacing a processor with a faster one decreases response time and increases throughput.
• Adding an additional

Nmap Options

-PE: Quickly check if host is up.

-sn: Disable port scanning (host discovery).

-n: Disables DNS resolution (checks IP online without looking up hostnames).

-O: OS detection.

-A: OS detection, Version detection, Script scanning, traceroute.

-sV: Service detection (banner info, version).

-vV: Provides verbose output.

-sC: Scan with default scripts for additional info gathering.

--min-rate=5000: Ensures scan sends at least 5k packets per second.

nmap --script smb-enum-shares.nse -p 445 (ip): List shares and their properties.

To see scripts starting with X: ls /path/X

To execute script with script tracing: sudo nmap -script=smb-os-discovery -script-trace target_ip

To enumerate the SMB share files: sudo nmap -script=smb-enum-shares target_ip

Vulnerability... Continue reading "Nmap, Netcat, and Metasploit Commands Cheat Sheet" »

BPSK Signal Generation

This section demonstrates the generation of a Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) signal using Python.

import numpy as np
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt

def bpsk_detect(modulated_signal, carrier):
    return np.sign(modulated_signal * carrier)

message_frequency = 10
carrier_frequency = 20
sampling_frequency = 30 * carrier_frequency
t = np.arange(0, 4/carrier_frequency, 1/sampling_frequency)
message = np.sign(np.cos(2 * np.pi * message_frequency * t) + np.random.normal(scale = 0.01, size = len(t)))
carrier = np.cos(2 * np.pi * sampling_frequency/carrier_frequency * t)
modulated_signal = carrier * message
detected_message = bpsk_detect(modulated_signal, carrier)

plt.figure(figsize=(12, 8))
plt.subplot(4, 1, 1)
plt.plot(t,