I'm skeptical that the topics listed in the sample are actually relevant to a first-time programmer. While eventually I would want people to know that numbers are stored in binary in the computer, for most purposes, a first timer doesn't need to know that. Similarly, signed vs unsigned numbers aren't hugely critical, and some languages (e.g. Python) don't even have unsigned.

It seems to me the core, universal concepts that beginners have trouble with are more often ideas like iteration, control flow, and functions and recursion.