Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
reasonably small graphical regions and computing projected
weather conditions at each piece at frequent intervals (every hour or
less). As you can see, the computational abilities are used through
out the weather forecasting process.
Organizing Finances and Personal Information: Another applica
tion that takes advantage of the computer's ability to quickly per
form computations and that may apply to our everyday lives in
volves the organization of our personal data and information. For
example, we might wish to utilize the computer to help us with our
finances—perhaps with an eye to assisting with our need to file in
come tax returns each year. Part of such applications involve the
storage and retrieval of financial information; we need to keep track
of what money we have had as income (rarely enough), and we
must record whom we have paid for what. To clarify our financial
picture, we may want to place both income and expenses into cate
gories. Income might include categories for wages, bank interest,
tips, gifts, babysitting, walking a neighbor's dog, and the like.
Expenses might include lodging (rent or mortgage), clothing, food,
entertainment, transportation, medical expenses, and so on. Each
month, we may want to know our overall financial picture—our to
tal income and total expenses, but also our totals in each category.
In keeping a budget, we may want to know how much we really
spent on that party or for medicine. Further, if we have been careful
in setting up our categories, then we also will have the information
we need for the various parts of our income tax form. As with sim
ple storage and retrieval of information, this use of a computer to
store financial data has become quite common, and various finan
cial and taxreturn software packages are available to help.
The planning of budgets, personnel schedules, and multistep
tasks can also take advantage of a computer's abilities. For exam
ple, a civic organization may have income based on dues and gifts,
and it may want to plan its program for the coming year. At first,
leaders may list the various activities they want to do. Each activity
might include such expenses as materials, refreshments, travel, and
publicity. If an outside speaker is to be invited for a meeting, then
there may be a need to pay travel and speaking fees. To prepare a
budget, all costs can be estimated and totals compared with income.
If there is significantly more income, then each event could be ex
panded, perhaps with fancier decorations or refreshments. If the ex
penses are too high, then some events might be canceled, or cheaper
