Binary Subtopic: other character encodings such as UTF-8 Character encodings for

Binary
Subtopic: other character encodings such as UTF-8
Character encodings for beginners (w3.org)Links to an external site. – short reading
What is UTF-8 Encoding? A Guide for Non-Programmers (Jamie Juviler)Links to an external site. – short reading
Characters, Symbols and the Unicode Miracle – ComputerphileLinks to an external site. – video, length: 9:36
Subtopic: floating point number encoding (in particular, IEEE Standard 754)
Floating Point/Scientific Notation (Wikibooks)Links to an external site. – short reading
IEEE Standard 754 Floating Point Numbers (GeeksforGeeks)Links to an external site. – short reading
IEEE 754 Floating Point Representation to its Decimal Equivalent (Abishalini Sivaraman)Links to an external site. – video, length: 7:25
Computer Hardware
Subtopic: how magnetic disks and optical disks work
How Hard Disks Work (Marshall Brain, HowStuffWorks)Links to an external site. – short reading
Magnetic Disks – Georgia Tech – HPCA: Part 4 (Udacity)Links to an external site. – video, length: 5:37
How do CD-R discs work? (HowStuffWorks)Links to an external site. – short reading
Subtopic: how solid-state drives work
How Solid-state Drives Work (William Harris, HowStuffWorks)Links to an external site. – medium-length reading
How do SSDs Work? | How does your Smartphone store data? | Insanely Complex Nanoscopic Structures! (Branch Education)Links to an external site. – video, length: 17:54
Subtopic: overclocking
What Is Overclocking? The Beginner’s Guide to Understanding How Geeks Speed Up Their PCs (Chris Hoffman, How-To Geek)Links to an external site. – short reading
What is Overclocking as Fast As Possible (Techquickie)Links to an external site. – video, length: 2:32
Is Overclocking Worth It? (Techquickie)Links to an external site. – video, length: 5:27
Subtopic: interface types (like USB) and adapters
Types of Computer Ports (GeeksforGeeks)Links to an external site. – short reading
HDMI, DisplayPort, DVI, VGA, Thunderbolt – Video Port Comparison (PowerCert Animated Videos)Links to an external site. – video, length: 7:35
USB Ports, Cables, Types, & Connectors (PowerCert Animated Videos)Links to an external site. – video, length: 9:15
Data
Subtopic: types of databases
Types of Databases (GeeksforGeeks)Links to an external site. – short reading
What is SQL? [in 4 minutes for beginners] (Danielle Thé)Links to an external site. – video, length: 4:25
How do NoSQL databases work? Simply Explained! (Simply Explained)Links to an external site. – video, length: 7:37
Subtopic: the .mp3 file format
How Digital Audio Works (Don Cross)Links to an external site. – medium-length reading
How MP3 Files Work (Marshall Brain, HowStuffWorks)Links to an external site. – medium-length reading
How Digital Audio Works – ComputerphileLinks to an external site. – video, length: 12:24
How MP3 File Works | MP3 Compression Explained In 3 Minutes (CSRocks)Links to an external site. – video, length: 3:17
Subtopic: file compression
How File Compression Works (Tom Harris, HowStuffWorks)Links to an external site. – short reading
Huffman Encoding for Dummies (Pawan Kishor Singh)Links to an external site. – short reading
Compression: Crash Course Computer Science #21Links to an external site. – video, length: 12:47
Subtopic: bit parity and redundant arrays of independent disks
Parity bit (Computer Hope)Links to an external site. – short reading
How does Parity Work? (YimmyTalks)Links to an external site. – video, length: 2:40
A Beginner’s Guide to RAID (General Technics)Links to an external site. – short reading
What is RAID 0, 1, 5, & 10? (PowerCert Animated Videos)Links to an external site. – video, length: 5:03
The Internet
Subtopic: making a basic webpage with HTML
The Internet: HTTP & HTML (Code.org)Links to an external site. – video, length: 7:06
HTML Tutorial (W3Schools)Links to an external site. – long reading
Complete the first 19 sections (through “HTML Lists”).
Subtopic: routing packets through the internet
Internet routing protocol (Pamela Fox, Khan Academy)Links to an external site. – short reading
The Internet: Packets, Routing & Reliability (Code.org)Links to an external site. – video, length: 6:25
Subtopic: collision detection
Collision Detection in CSMA/CD (GeeksforGeeks)Links to an external site. – short reading
CSMA/CD and CSMA/CA Explained (PowerCert Animated Videos)Links to an external site. – video, length: 6:13
Privacy and Security
Subtopic: two-factor authentication
Two-Factor Authentication for Beginners (Martin Shelton)Links to an external site. – medium-length reading
2FA: Two Factor Authentication – ComputerphileLinks to an external site. – video, length: 12:33
Subtopic: antivirus software
What is an antivirus product? Do I need one? (National Cyber Security Centre, UK)Links to an external site. – short reading
How an Antivirus Works? (GeeksforGeeks)Links to an external site. – short reading
What is an Antivirus and How Does it Work in 2021? (SafetyDetectives)Links to an external site. – video, length: 5:08
Global Impact
Subtopic: online harassment such as doxing and cyberstalking
Online Harassment (Maeve Duggan, Pew Research CenterLinks to an external site.) – medium-length reading
You only need to read the first page, entitled “Summary of Findings.” However, you are more than welcome to read the subsequent pages in this report!
Here’s What Online Harassment Looks Like | AJ+Links to an external site. – video, length: 9:24
Content warnings: stories about violence and threats of violence, including sexual violence
Subtopic: labor issues in electronics manufacturing
New Report Looks at Ethical Sourcing Risks in the Global Electronics Supply Chains (RELX Sustainable Development Goals Resource Centre)Links to an external site. – short reading
The deadly cost of cobalt for smartphones | DW StoriesLinks to an external site. – video, length: 4:28
Content warnings: mining injuries and deaths
Subtopic: sustainability and computing
The World Has an E-Waste Problem (Alana Semuels, TIME)Links to an external site. – medium-length reading
If you are unable to access the resource above, you are welcome to use the following resource instead: About E-Waste (Geneva Environment Network)Links to an external site. – longer reading
How Can We Fix The Massive E-Waste Problem? (CNBC)Links to an external site. – video, length: 17:05
Subtopic: diversity in the tech industry
There Aren’t Enough Women in Tech. Here’s Why. (CJ Riculan, NPR)Links to an external site. – video, length: 3:07
Why Aren’t There More Women In Tech? A Tour Of Silicon Valley’s Leaky Pipeline (Antonia Cereijido and Alina Selyukh, NPR)Links to an external site. – medium-length reading
Is Big Tech Still Struggling With Diversity? (CNBC)Links to an external site. – video, length: 13:28
Why I Used A Brown Hand For The “Add To Slack” Button (Diogenes Brito, FastCompany)Links to an external site. – short reading
Subtopic: artificial intelligence and bias
Why it’s so damn hard to make AI fair and unbiased (Sigal Samuel, Vox)Links to an external site. – longer reading
Algorithmic Bias and Fairness: Crash Course AI #18Links to an external site. – video, length: 11:19
How I’m fighting bias in algorithms | Joy Buolamwini (TED)Links to an external site. – video, length: 8:44
Paper
Requirements
Your paper must be at least 500 words in length.
Your paper must cover at least 3 main ideas related to your topic.
Your paper must provide at least 3 supporting details per main idea.
Resources
How to Write an Informative Essay (Megan Morgan, wikiHow)Links to an external site. – medium-length reading
Informative Writing – Introduction (Mr. S – Upper Elementary)Links to an external site. – video, length: 3:34
Informative Writing – Introduction Paragraph (Mr. S – Upper Elementary)Links to an external site. – video, length: 5:47