Pumpkin

22/01/2023

22/01/2023

The History of Computer Development

The rapidly advancing field of electronics led to construction of the first general-purpose electronic computer in 1946 at the University of Pennsylvania. It was Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer or ENIAC, the device contained 18,000 vacuum tubes and had a speed of several hundred multiplications per minute. Its program was wired into the processor and had to be manually altered.

Later transistors appeared. The use of the transistor in computers began in the late 1950s. It marked the advent of smaller, faster elements than it was possible to create with the use of vacuum-tube machines. Because transistors use less power and have a much longer life, computers alone were improved a lot. They were called second-generation computers.

Components became smaller and the system became less expensive to build.

Modern digital computers are all conceptually similar, regardless of size and shape. Nevertheless, they can be divided into several categories on the basis of cost and performance.

The first one is the personal computer or microcomputer, a relatively low-cost machine, usually of desk-top size. Sometimes they are called laptops. They are small enough to fit in a briefcase. The second is the workstation, a microcomputer with enhanced graphics and communications capabilities that make it especially useful for office work. And the server computers, a large expensive machine with the capability of serving the needs of major business enterprises, government departments, scientific research establishments. The largest and fastest of these are called supercomputers.

A digital computer is not actually a single machine, in the sense that most people think of computers. Instead it is a system composed of five distinct elements: a central processing unit, input devices, memory storage devices, output devices and a communications network, called a «bus» that links all the elements of the system and connects the system itself to the external world.

Talking about a central processing unit or the heart of computer; I would like to add that there were several generations of microprocessors. The first generation was represented by processing unit Intel 8086. The second generation central processing unit was represented by processing unit Intel 80286, used in IBM PC AT 286. In the end of 80s such computer costs about 25-30 000 rubles in the former USSR. The third generation is represented by Intel 80386, used in IBM PC AT 386. The microprocessors of the fourth generation were used in computers IBM PC AT 486. There are also central processing units of the fifth generation, used in Intel Pentium 60 and Intel Pentium 66, central processing units of the sixth generation, used in computers Intel Pentium 75,90,100 and 133. Few years ago appeared central processing units of seventh and eighth generations.

Computer speeds are measured in gigahertz today. Recently, an optical central processing unit has been invented, which is capable of executing trillions discrete operations per second or it is as fast as the speed of light.

So, we are at the threshold of new computer era, when artificial intelligence could be invented. There are no questions with «if», the only question is «when». And time will show us either computers become our best friends or our evil enemies as it is shown in some movies.

22/01/2023

Virtual Reality

Not long ago computers were considered an amazing invention. Today they form part of our everyday life. The latest thing today is Virtual Reality. A Virtual Reality system can transport the user to exotic locations such as a beach in Hawaii or the inside of the human body.

The Virtual Reality system is still in the early stages of its development. At the moment it is necessary to put a large helmet on your head to see the simulated world and you have to wear a special glove on your hand in order to manipulate the objects you see there. Lenses and two miniature display screens inside the helmet create the illusion that the screen surrounds you on every side.

You can «look behind» computer— generated objects, pick them up and examine them, walk around and see things from a different angle.

Already today Virtual Reality is used in medicine. In hospitals, surgeons could plan operations by first «travelling» through the brain, heart or lungs without damaging the body. It is also used in police training schools. In schools pupils could explore the Great Pyramid or study molecules from the inside. Developers of Virtual Reality say its potential is powerful.

The word which comes closest to describing Virtual Reality is «simulator». Virtual Reality technology resembles the flight simulators that are used to train pilots. But of course there are dangers as well as benefits. In the wrong hands Virtual Reality can be used for power fantasies and po*******hy.

22/01/2023

The Internet

The Internet is a huge network of computers spanning this planet and is now started to bring in the surrounding area like space. Some computers like servers share data, others just surf the web as clients downloading the data. Public Internet began in the late 70's. In the 70*s web users used an interface called telnet, but now that program is mainly obsolete. Telnet is most widely deployed in accessing college email accounts.

The Internet is very helpful, because it's a huge database of knowledge, from the pictures of family trips to an analysis of quantum mechanics. Everyone should have the Internet because of its near instantaneous communication and huge wealth of knowledge. But how to go on the Internet and do a search for information we need. There are two ways to do it.

The first is when you know an internet address of data you need and the second one is when you try to find information you need by using a search program. In the beginning we have got to enter any browser you like. It could be an Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator or Opera, etc. If we have a broadband connection, we connect to the Internet at once. If not, we have to set up and connect to our dial-up service. Finally, if we want to find some information in the Internet, we are to type an address of this data in the browser we use or simply use the existing search-programs such as the google search program, rambler search program, yandex search program or yahoo search program.

They are very simple and popular networks of sites. In these programs we can just type the word or name of thing, we would like to find and then press enter. A search program solves this problem. We get our results in the same window. After we get our results, we simply choose whatever site best matches our query or keep searching.

Besides data, one can get from the Internet, we can also send and receive e-mail or electronic mail. This internet service is cheaper than ordinary mail and much quicker. It is becoming popular day by day. We can get some news from the Internet, because there are many informational servers in the web.