She publicly retired from a singer in the music industry in 2008 when she had the last concert tour.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling is the second novel (published in 1998) in the Harry Potter series of books. A movie of the book was released in 2002.
The story begins as Harry, orphaned, spends summer with an aunt, uncle and cousin who do not love him. Harry is visited by Dobby, a house-elf, who is forced to serve the Malfoy family. Dobby warns Harry not to go back to Hogwarts, the magical school that Harry went to the year before, saying that terrible things will happen there. Harry doesn't listen to the warning, so Dobby causes a mess to make Harry's aunt and uncle angry. They lock Harry in his room for the rest of the summer. Harry is rescued by his best friend Ron Weasley in a flying car. He spends the rest of the summer at the Weasley home, called "The Burrow". The reader is introduced to the Weasley family, including Ron's sister Ginny, who is just starting at Hogwarts.
Mr Weasley works for the Department of Magic. He is fascinated by "Muggles" (ordinary people) and the way that they manage to live without magic. It is his job to prevent wizards from illegally enchanting Muggle objects. But he does not always do his job in the way the Department would like. In fact, he drives his family to catch the school train in a magical Ford Anglia. The magical train leaves Paddington station in London from Platform 9¾. But because of strange happenings, Harry and Ron miss the train to school.
Harry and Ron go to school, very late, and in disgrace. Harry has not been back at school very long before it becomes clear that everybody inside the school is in danger. One by one students, and even the caretaker's cat, are affected by a strange and frightening spell. As everyone becomes more and more frightened, they start to be suspicious of other people.
Personal computer
A personal computer (PC) is the common name for a type of computer that is most popular in offices and homes. The first PC called the "IBM PC" was made by the company called IBM in 1981, although many computers were made before like the Commodore PET. Smartphones and tablets are also computers for personal use, but they are not often called "personal computers".
Today, most PCs usually have a basic set of software called an operating system. The operating system is responsible for several tasks including providing a user interface (UI). The most popular operating system on PCs is Windows, sold by Microsoft Corporation. PCs made by a company called Apple Inc. use a different system of software called Mac OS that is also made by Apple Inc.
Many free operating systems are available. Some are called Linux operating systems. There are over 300 different Linux "distributions". Each one has a different purpose/feel. Ubuntu Linux is the most-used Linux distribution.
A modern PC has a minimum set of parts to be useful. The "base unit" or "tower" (case) houses the computer parts. Usually, a mouse and keyboard are used for input, however some operating systems need only a keyboard. A monitor is usually needed to view output. In a laptop computer these parts are all together.
Inside the base unit or tower there are many electronic parts. The main parts are the motherboard, CPU, memory, and a data storage device, such as a hard disk or solid-state drive.
The CPU (Central Processing Unit) follows the instructions in the operating system and application programs. The memory, or RAM (random access memory), is for moving information (or data) quickly to and from the processor. The hard disk or solid-state drive hold programs and data while the computer is powered off. Floppy drives, CD-ROM drives, and USB flash drives are used for portable data storage.
Computers sometimes have a modem to send and receive data over a phone line, or more recently, over cable television lines. Computers can also be connected to a computer network using a network card.
Modern PCs have various sockets called ports. The most common ports are known as USB ports.
Computers may be used for work, including doing research using the internet, keeping records; or writing documents. Other uses include communicating, with people across the world using Instant messaging, e-mail or Skype or recreation activity such as playing computer games.
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is a computer operating system by Microsoft Corporation. It stands for "Microsoft Disk Operating System", and came from an operating system Microsoft bought called 86-DOS, originally called QDOS, or "Quick and Dirty Operating System." The operating system used a command-line interface for the user to input commands. It was popularly used in PCs before a GUI operating system called Microsoft Windows came out, and still is used in some places today.
OS/2 was made to replace MS-DOS, but that replacement did not succeed. MS-DOS was the framework behind Windows operating systems until an operating system known as Windows XP.
MS-DOS is a text-based operating system, meaning that a user works with a keyboard to input data and receives output in plain text. Later, MS-DOS often had programs using a mouse and graphics to make work more simple and quick. (Some people still believe that working without graphics is really more efficient.) It is called a disk operating system because it was originally made to be loaded into a computer's memory with a floppy disk each time the computer is started (booted) up.
MS-DOS was released as proprietary software, but decades later after most users had gone to other systems, it was released as free software.
Many books were written on how to use MS-DOS. A popular introductory book was "MS-DOS for Dummies", by Dan Gookin, the book in the "For Dummies" series of easy to follow instruction books.
DOS
A disk operating system (DOS) will load from a floppy disk each time a computer starts, and will access that disk for software to complete operations. MS-DOS is probably the most well-known DOS, and was purchased by Microsoft Corporation from a system known as QDOS. As operating systems became more complicated and took up more space, they began to be permanently installed on hard drives, which are faster and more reliable than floppy disks, and can store more data. This was encouraged by a steady drop in hard drive prices.
"DOS"es are usually text-based and without graphics to save space on a floppy disk. Although DOSes have mostly been replaced by Windows, Macintosh, and Linux systems, among others (sporting a GUI, or Graphical User Interface), they are still in use in some places, mostly on older computers. This may be because of a lack of money, the need to use software which still runs on a DOS system, nostalgia for an older operating system, or the belief that text-based systems are more efficient.
Although GUIs are more popular, in times of emergency or when one needs to install special software, a boot disk allows a user to start his or her computer into a DOS.
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider, or ISP, maintains, installs and provides internet connection to residential or commercial areas. Some examples of ISP clients include - homes, coffee shops, hotels, libraries, offices. They usually charge a fee for installing the connection and a monthly fee for maintaining it.
The internet is basically a web of interconnected networks - which are maintained by a huge number of different ISPs. They keep connected around the world by giving their clients access to other ISP networks. This is called peering.
Many ISPs have other services such as e-mail and web hosting service.
ISPs offer different types of connections such as dial-up, DSL, through optical fiber wires, through a cable television connection, or wireless. Communications satellite connections are used mainly in remote areas. Dial-up is the slowest connection, while a direct fiber-optic connection is usually the fastest.