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A Study of Network Based Simulators

2018-06-25T05:21:06.75-04:00

A Study of Network Based Simulators Asim Qayyum BL735753 Department of Computer Science Allama Iqbal Open University Islamabad Abstract—Simulation procedures became fashionable among computers and telecommunications network researchers and developers round the world. This quality is owing to the provision of assorted innovative and powerful simulation packages, and owing to the pliability within the construction and validation of models bestowed by imagination For selecting AN acceptable network machine for a simulation task, it's vital to own smart information of the simulation tools accessible, in conjunction with their strengths and weaknesses. It’s conjointly vital to confirm that the results generated by the simulators are valid and credible. The purpose of this paper is to survey and compare network simulators so that researchers can help select the most importantly acceptable simulation tool. We compare the support type of network simulators, preparation mode, network troubleshooting and protocols. We tend to discuss machine analysis methodologies and techniques, and supply tips for best follow in network simulation. Key Words: Network simulator, simulation methodology, parallel simulation. I. INTRODUCTION Network simulation methodology is usually wont to verify analytical models, generalize the ministration results, value the performance of latest protocols that are being developed, in addition on compare the prevailing protocols. However, there is also a possible drawback once mistreatment simulation in testing protocols as a result of the results generated by a machine might not be essentially correct or representative. To beat this drawback, it's vital for network researchers and developers to use a reputable simulation tool that is simple to use; additional versatile in model development, modification and validation; and incorporates acceptable analysis of simulation output information, pseudo-random range generators, and applied mathematics accuracy of the simulation results. To pick out a reputable machine for a simulation task, it's additionally vital to possess sensible information of the on the market simulation tools, at the side of their relative strengths and weaknesses. These aspects of credible simulation studies are counseled by leading simulation researchers. II. A SURVEY OF EXISTING NETWORK SIMULATORS While numerous simulators exist for building a spread of network models, we tend to compare ten fashionable network simulators lightness their strengths and weaknesses. These simulators were selected supported their quality, revealed results, and attention-grabbing characteristics and options. i.OPNET Optimized Network Engineering Tool (OPNET) is a discrete event, object-oriented, general purpose network simulator. It provides a comprehensive development environment for the specification, simulation and performance analysis of computer and data communication networks. OPNET is a commercial network simulation package

waste heat recovery from solar water heater

2018-01-24T02:29:20.967-05:00

HEURÍSTICA PARA LA SIMULACIÓN DE PROCESOS ESTOCÁSTICOS

2017-11-30T20:40:50.297-05:00

Change Position of Taskbar in Windows

2017-02-27T11:11:11.593-05:00

LPG Automation Device

2017-01-26T13:57:49.357-05:00

Maintenance Planing in BME

2016-12-16T08:35:41.2-05:00

Design of octagon shape microstrip patch antenna for multiband application

2016-08-21T02:51:15.1-04:00

Stereo vision aided inertial navigation with inverse depth parameterized mapping and 1-Point RANSAC for EKF filtering

2016-06-15T16:33:42.373-04:00

Stereo vision aided inertial navigation with inverse depth parameterized mapping and 1 point RANSAC for EKF filtering

2016-06-15T16:21:09.7-04:00

Intelligent Traffic Control System

2016-01-17T12:32:30.48-05:00

THERMO MECHANICAL PROCESSING

2015-11-03T02:42:40.57-05:00

free apps for android

2014-02-15T08:23:34.41-05:00

free android apps

2014-02-15T08:03:32.877-05:00

Drupan

2013-06-24T03:56:06.83-04:00

Homework Helps For College Accounting

2013-05-25T05:19:20.91-04:00

Social studies vary between the countries and human society that is not a synonymous of social science and sociology.Social studies

Custom Research Paper Writing

2013-04-16T06:35:45.873-04:00

A Research paper also known as academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical by which a student is assessed by an academician. Academic journals act as forums for the introduction and display for investigation of new research and the criticism of existing research. Research paper can typically take form of articles such as research work, review articles and book reviews. A research paper or academic journal implies all scholarly publications in various fields. Scientific journals or journals of the quantitative social sciences differ in form and structure from journals of the humanities and qualitative social sciences. Professional scholars in the field of academics usually make unasked submissions of their academic work to academic journals. After receiving an article manuscript, journal editor assesses the work and decides whether to reject the research study of the researcher or begin with the process of review. If it is the case of peer review by outside academicians, the submission is subject to the editor's evaluation. The number of peer reviewers depends on each journal's editorial practice; usually not less than two and at least three outside peers give the report that describes the editor's decision. Our organization comprises of a hundred men team dedicated to provide relevant knowledge on writing research papers on subjects as varied as science, mathematics, arts and philosophy. Our support staff is available round the clock for any assistance regarding the research paper tasks of clients. Our organization is determined to raise the standards of the weak students and bring them to satisfactory levels. A Research Paper is a form of an essay, which is used in academic writing. In this, the writer interprets, evaluates and includes the arguments on an issue. A survey is conducted in the field of knowledge, so that information is collected for deriving the results. There is a structure, which is recommended for writing the research paper. It includes title page, contents page, Abstract, Introduction, literature review, Discussion (in can includes sub-headings), conclusion, and reference List. Introduction section is self explanatory. It includes the thesis or hypothetical statement. It also includes research question and the importance of the topic. Literature review summarizes the research analysis and reviews the literature. Methodology gives information about the data, sources of information, limitations of the data, etc. In the analysis and findings, detailed analysis is discussed about the data collected from various primary and secondary sources. Finally,

Dissertation Assistance by Experts

2013-03-12T02:29:20.643-04:00

We provide content development services for development of academic essays. Our expert team of professionals put their hard core effort in developing a good content development essay. Framing a good academic essay requires services of an expertise and we provide excellent solutions for completing the assignment related to academic essays. An academic essay is defined as a piece of writing, which is written generally from a writer’s point of view. Various elements have been included in the essay, which include the learning arguments, political manifestos, reflections, recollections and authors thinking about the topic. Using all this information, the writer can write a good quality essay. Academic essays can also be defined as a short literary composition on a particular topic or any subject under study, which is generally and usually analytical, informative, interpretative and speculative. An academic essay is something, which describes a topic in depth, providing the reader with the deep knowledge of the paper under discussion. There are several points that are needed to be kept in mind, while writing an academic essay. The main point that needs to be taken care of is to do an extensive research about the research topic and collect data and information related to the topic. The essay must also be framed in an outlined manner, so that the essay can be prepared in an appropriate manner. Academic essay is written in response to a question asked. In the academic essay, it is expected to present a point of view, which is present in a thesis statement and is informed by research. The aim of the academic essay is development of a support argument for the thesis, which is proposed. An academic essay must have a purpose or motive. Just the existence of the assignment or the deadline is not sufficient. There are few steps in preparation of an academic essay. First is choosing the topic. Second step is analysis of the question. Third step is construction of an initial outline plan. Fourth step is location and evaluation of resources. Fifth step is researching and organization of notes, construction of a final essay plan. Last and final steps are preparation of rough draft and final draft. Most of the academic essays require presenting an argument with the help of reasoning and the use of evidence. The typical structure of an academic essay is introduction, body and conclusion. The introduction includes background of topic and

Darkfall On the internet Guide

2013-01-05T21:36:44.217-05:00

Overcome through the countless abilities as well as spells obtainable? Uncertain regarding ability rot, creating abilities as well as armour kinds? Unsure where you can visit following within the substantial globe associated with Agon? Fed up with dropping products you cannot pay for to get rid of? The actual Darkfall On the internet manual may be the means to fix all of your problems. Through the standard particulars to obtain a person began along with racial choice, GUI set up, position and also the fight program towards the heightened ability administration methods as well as installing the very best counter-top episodes, positively get rid of questions and also have your own opponents fragile within the legs in the reference to your own title. Learn how to earn Darkfall gold money as well as fill up upon every item you'll need so the periodic reduction does not ruin your money. Regardless of what your own perform design or even encounter degree, there's some thing within the Darkfall guide for you personally. Skill Management:Darkfall On the internet is about abilities, therefore equipping your self along with confirmed ability administration methods is essential. While you might discover brand new abilities from any kind of provided second, there's a gentle limit which considerably decelerates your own currently hard ability increases. Do not spend your time attempting abilities and then uncover that they're useless or even do not match how you perform. With this Darkfall On the internet guide, you're certain to understand just the abilities which enhance your own actively playing design whatsoever period of time feasible, to be able to rapidly create a title on your own within the Tale program. Gold Making Strategies:Perhaps you have turn out to be as well acquainted with the actual ineffective precious metal producing initiatives along with therefore small results? The actual precious metal producing strategies provided within the Darkfall On the internet manual will help you share your own financial institution as well as cheap darkfall gold fulfill each and every investing require inside some time. Learn to take your time really actively playing the overall game, instead of looking to get prepared to perform. Combat, PvP and Warfare: Having issues getting upward using the difficult as well as fast-paced fight program? Don't let this particular impede your own possibility of successful throughout fight, and not once again shed your own belongings whenever opponents loot your own corpse. Regardless

We will roll out a return to Darkfall marketing

2012-12-07T02:17:49.13-05:00

This promotion has two parts, one has related to the prices and one along with actual game-play. On the prices component, once we already mentioned, the customer buy cost will be eliminated and you'll only need to spend a month-to-month subscription. Additionally we are reducing the membership cost. So, to be able to play Darkfall you will simply have to

SWTOR dangling upon with regard to expensive existence

2012-08-28T05:15:55.42-04:00

EA as well as Bioware produced a good brand new method for Celebrity Conflicts enthusiasts to savor the actual much far world along with Celebrity Conflicts: The actual Aged Republic MMOG. The internet game's discharge had been extremely expected, because had been the actual transformation in order to free-to-play up-to degree 15. The hoopla

Computer Games: Addictive and Time-Consuming

2006-05-03T13:09:17-04:00

Entertainment plays a big role in everyday life. “Games, video, computer, online games, Playstations, etc can be used as entertainment and stress relief by many.” (Woolley). Games are created to give people some time of pleasure and fun, time to get away from the world and don’t think about the problems they face. But entertainment has become a business. Companies dealing with entertainment business make millions of dollars by (for example) putting a single computer game on sale. Their success depends on their products, and if the product is an MMO (mass multiplayer on-line) Game then their success will be great. Because even though MMO Games are created with the same purpose of a normal game – to entertain, they do cause addiction. Marie Winn says “the essence of any serious addiction is a pursuit of pleasure, a search for a 'high' that normal life does not supply.” in her Plug-In Drug (“Electronic Heroin.”) She presents watching television as a serious addiction, comparing it to heroin addiction and alcohol addiction. Accordingly MMO Games addiction is very similar to what she explains about television addiction in her essay. She says “television experience allows the participant to blot out the real world and enter into a pleasurable and passive mental state. The worries and anxieties of reality are as effectively deferred by becoming absorbed in a television program as by going on a 'trip' induced by drugs or alcohol. And just as alcoholics are only vaguely aware of their addiction, feeling that they control their drinking more than they really do, people similarly overestimate their control over television watching.” (“Electronic Heroin”) MMO Games share this very serious problem with television addiction. They give people pleasure, and can be used as an escape of the real world entering that “passive and pleasurable mental state” in the game’s fantasy world the same way the television gives the ‘escape’ to television viewers. The main reason MMO Games rise the addiction issue is the way their game-play is arranged. Single player games offer players a set of objectives and when it is completed then the game is over and the fun and pleasure of that game is over. Unlike single player games, MMO Games give the player a character and place him in a fantasy world where he can experience virtual adventures. All players from the whole world are placed in this fantasy world with the help of

Hydrogen as an Alternative Fuel for Internal Combustion Engines

2004-11-16T19:24:59-05:00

Hard to believe that the simplest atom in the universe is used in the making of the most destructive weapon known to man isn’t it? Well so is the fact that it will soon (we hope) become the replacement for petroleum-based fuels, and just about every other form of fuel too. One electron orbiting one proton is all that hydrogen is, and it is mankind’s future. It is easy to manufacture, (although the government says otherwise,) safe and easy to store, and has only one by-product…water. The way that most hydrogen is made today is by electrolysis. Electrolysis is the reaction to an electrical current being sent through water from one electrode to the other. To do this, the electrical current must be at least 1.23 volts. When the current interacts with the water it splits the molecules into their base atoms, which are hydrogen and oxygen. There are several ways to collect the gas, but that is not important. Now you have hydrogen gas! Well, YOU probably don’t have hydrogen gas, but that’s how it’s made. There are many ways to extract hydrogen, but only a few are economically efficient. Solar panels, wind power, hydroelectric, geothermal, and several other sources are economically more efficient than burning petroleum or coal to extract hydrogen. By burning coal or petroleum to extract hydrogen, you create hydrogen as a storage medium, NOT an energy source. Only by using renewable sources such as solar and hydroelectric power, can hydrogen be considered an energy source. In all extraction techniques, energy is required to make the hydrogen. If the government allotted more funding, then we could be driving cars that produce water instead of carbon monoxide. Most electrolysis devices using solar power convert water into hydrogen and oxygen with an efficiency of 4-6 percent, which isn’t very efficient. The devices would convert approximately 4-6 percent of the sunlight into hydrogen. But in 2000, a team of German, Israeli, and Japanese scientists finished work on a device that boosted efficiency to 18.3%. Theoretically, 40% or higher efficiency CAN be achieved. But the current estimates for maximum efficiency are staying around 31%. With the 18.3% efficiency, commercial production is feasible. This efficiency is only concerned with the extraction procedure. Hydrogen gas efficiency with internal combustion engines is near 90% while gasoline is coughing along at 25%. Hydrogen already has petroleum beat and it’s only in its infancy. Unfortunately

CAUGHT IN THE WEB

2004-11-12T06:19:05-05:00

When is government use of spyware justified and what are the social and ethical issues?

2004-06-02T10:54:42-04:00

Presentation of the Issue Governments employ spyware to track potential criminals and suspected terrorists, specifically Osama bin Laden and Al’Qaida after the event of September 11, 2001 at New York and the Pentagon. It can happen however that these suspected criminals turn out to be innocent civilians. If this turns out to be the case, the government will have been invading certain individuals’ privacy for a little or no reason. Government officials monitor civilians at work and at home without them knowing . It was recently estimated in Great Britain that the average inhabitant of London would be filmed on Close Circuit Television cameras (CCTV) as often as 300 times a day . Telephone calls can be tapped, mobile phones traced, e-mails can be read and even one’s keystrokes on a PC can be monitored, as is often the case when criminal justice is involved. Human rights activists debate the fact that the government’s use of Spyware is excessive and goes against the right to privacy. Given the tragic events of 9-11, is this ‘Big Brother’ approach of modern government justified or have governments become excessive in their surveillance? IT background of the issue There are two types of spyware: Hardware includes Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras, hidden microphones, GPS satellites, keyloggers, telephone taps, and bug tracers. CCTV cameras are used for monitoring jobs within a certain district and provide visual footage of the occurrences. Microphones are similar, but provide audio footage. Both devices provide digital feedback because it is more efficient to transmit and to record than analogous footage. Software key loggers are a stealth software product that records every keystroke on a keyboard of a computer. They can be installed on machines by sending them as an e-mail attachment and they are mostly undetectable to anti-virus programs, but these are being modified to intercept spyware programs as well. The hardware version of key loggers are often mistaken for an obligatory part of the hardware and so are ignored because they either look like a part of a keyboard or are made to look like normal keyboards . Spyware by the name of ‘Real Time Spy’ is capable of monitoring subjects as they are online, which is known as real-time spyware, and then there is also spyware that allows the user to monitor all e-mail traffic on the subject’s machine , which is known as ‘WebMail Spy’. Another limited form of key

Welcome To the World of Ports

2003-12-12T07:15:49-05:00

Welcome To the World of Ports In the modern technological world today, society has expanded and increased our knowledge about computers and the way they function. A computer is much more complex than just chips and gadgets. A computer is made up of several mechanics and ports that connect

Speech Input and Output for Commercial Information Systems

2002-11-09T13:00:00-05:00

Abstract

Conventional user input devices such as keyboards and mice are not natural or necessarily intuitive and are often detrimental to the efficiency of a computer user. Complex user interfaces can slow a user’s progress and prolonged use of keyboards, mice and monitors can result in muscle strain and permanent injury. The learning curve of these traditional devices is also steep for new users – learning where the keys are, learning the right amount of power required to move a mouse, how fast to double-click and counter-intuitive software interfaces make it very difficult for a user to effectively use a computer without investing time in learning how to operate it. Since the natural communication method for humans is speech, it makes sense that speech be investigated as a possible input and output method. This paper discusses the technology of speech recognition as an input method and speech synthesis as an output method; how the technology is currently being used in commercial systems and possible applications in the future.

Introduction

The primary reason speech is being researched as an input and output device is convenience. Current computers are controlled with keyboard and mice, limiting users to the desktop environment where the computer and processor physically exists (“Microsoft Research,” 2001). If the computer could be controlled without these physical interfaces it could be used anywhere and output information to the user at any time, in the user’s native language. Speech-controlled devices also make irrelevant user interface usability issues (McKay, 2001) and lessen the learning curve of a new computer user. Accessibility for disabled users will cease to be an issue with speech devices; no longer will fine coordination and vision be required to effectively operate a computer. The aim of speech interface research is to allow computers to work alongside the user, making computing less time consuming and more productive. But for this to work effectively, speech recognition and synthesis needs to be combined with the artificial intelligence (and appropriate network infrastructure) to understand natural language, allowing users to simply ‘ask’ the computer to do something for them, rather than issuing a string of commands. The use of artificial intelligence to learn to understand what a particular user wants and means is what makes this approach to computing so effective and desirable.

Speech Recognition

Speech recognition, taking voice input and interpreting it either as commands or converting to text, has been the topic of research for many

Current Copyright and Patent laws: Weak and Ineffective

2002-05-11T14:00:00-04:00

The world of today is drastically different from that of twenty years ago. Ideas, life, and technology have changed in many ways. Computers and software have developed significantly since the start of the computer revolution. From the first computer, software has become more important. Our lives all revolve around computers and software. People use them to make math easier with calculators, and use them to withdraw money on the go with ATM machines. However, even with all the technological help that has presented in the past few decades, software and the people who write it barely protected by law. Current copyright and patent laws are not strong enough to protect programmers' rights, and they even slow down software development and reduce competition; software is not a physical thing and by nature completely defenseless, as it is more or less simply intellectual property, and thus, is very easily copied. There are two categories of intellectual property. The first one is composed of writing, music, and film, which are covered by copyright. Patents cover inventions and innovations (Bassinger 24-28). These two categories have safely covered many kinds of work, with little or no conflict for years. For example, Susan Willis described Disney World's strict policy on photography in her essay, "Disney World: Public Use/Private State:" "The merchandise, the costumes, the scenery ¡V all is either stamped with the Disney logo or Covered by copyright legislation¡K it is impossible to photograph at Disney World without running the risk of infringing a Disney copyright," and "the only thing that saves the average family from a lawsuit is that most don't use their vacation photos as a means for making profit" (Willis 751). Unfortunately, it is not that easy when dealing with such a complex matter such as computer software. For example, there is a program that can perform specific tasks¡Xcreating, editing, deleting, and formatting texts¡Xsuch as Microsoft Word. Before, the program could be used to do those specific jobs; the program is in the text format that is just like an essay with strange form. Therefore, when something is typed on a computer, it is considered writing, as it is all written words and numbers. However, when executed by the computer, it functions like an invention, performing a specific task as instructed by the user. Thus, software falls into both categories (Salone 25). As illustrate above, software can either fall into the categories of copyrights or

Ferroelectric Molecular Optical Storage Nanatechnology

2002-03-04T13:00:00-05:00

The patents protect a new and unique method for a semiconductor integrated read/write head using a high-k dielectric ferroelectric (perovskite - photonic crystal) optical data storage fedisk. There are no Random Infinite Read/Write Holographic Disk / Tape drive products on the world market. Colossal's patents will protect and propel the company into creating the next industrial revolution which will be lead by new innovative storage technology markets. By being the first in the world, Colossal wants to set the direction of the world's future 3 D Volume fedisk,

Tanks, the evolution of tank technology

2002-03-03T13:00:00-05:00

Ever since the introduction of the tank into modern ground combat, it has been a bold symbol of armies of all countries. Its beginnings based on that of a farm tractor, the tank now looms large over battlefields as a worthy foe, and is in many cases the backbone of most modern day ground maneuvers. The tank was first developed by the British and the French during World War I. These tanks were very slow (road speed was about 5 mph) and were used only for infantry protection. Although they had some success in the battlefield, they failed to penetrate German lines. After World War I the Germans used the inter-war period to develop tank technology and tactics. The results of their efforts showed in the Blitzkriegs of 1939 in Poland and of 1940 in France. The tactics involved using newer, faster models of tanks that operated as a single unit, instead of just as a shield for infantry. In 1943 the Russians turned the tables at the Battle of Kursk, at the time the largest tank battle in history where almost 4,000 Russian tanks stopped a German offensive of more than 2,000 tanks. This battle was a turning point in the war as it ended the German offensive capability in the East. Its status as the largest tank battle in history lasted until 1973, when the Israeli army counterattacked against the Egyptian offensive in the Sinai during the Yom Kippur War. Interesting about this battle was the fact that the Egyptians used Russian tank tactics involving massed maneuver, while the Israelis used essentially the German blitzkrieg technique, which emphasized single-unit maneuver. The Israelis won this battle. Most recently the tank dominated in Desert Storm where United States tanks once again proved that maneuverability is more useful than massing, and the Western tanks proved dominate over the Russian. The tank has developed in many different areas since its introduction during World War I. The speed, range, lethality, survivability, and the ability to communicate with or control a tank on the battlefield have all improved greatly, but there haven’t only been advancements in actual tanks when it comes to this kind of warfare. Anti-tank warfare has also seen great improvements in many of the same areas like weapon range and lethality. One of the most remarkable areas of improvements has been that of speed. During World War I where tanks first saw battle,

The True Hacker: A Distortion of Reality

2001-11-16T13:00:00-05:00

Over the years, to this date, the media has distorted the definition of a hacker. It has been morphed and demonized to someone who terrorizes cyberspace. However, the true hacker is someone who seeks knowledge and information. When hackers hack into systems or networks, it is to explore an operating system that is foreign to them. The younger generations have bred a new philosophy of hacking. Wannabe hackers who do not deserve the title “hacker” use simple utilities available over the Internet to hack into personal computers or banks and cause havoc. This is due because they have no respect for the unwritten hacker code and ethics. Those superficial hackers who use their knowledge to harm other operating systems or use their experience to gain material wealth have blemished the integrity of the hackers of the world. A true hacker is not like your ordinary person. Hackers are distinctively different than your average and boring citizen. They do not settle for what the rest of the world is following or brainwashed into doing. Hackers thrive off curiosity, and have an unsatisfying hunger for knowledge. The word impossible or access denied does not exist in a hacker’s vocabulary. They can access anything and everything that is kept in a computer; particularly when a price has been placed on knowledge and information. Why should only a select few have leisure of knowing what the rest of the public does not? Knowledge is and should always remain free. A hacker will share his knowledge, encourage it to be reproduced and distributed. Hacking is a skill that takes years and years and tons of practice to achieve. A hacker’s qualifications are based on qualifications and performance. Prejudice is non-existent, a person’s title such as degree or position means nothing over the Internet. Discrimination is impossible, hackers are judged on how much they achieved in the quest for knowledge. Hackers have ethics, contrary to what the media has portrayed. Hackers do not plant viruses, (biggest myth) they do not steal. However certain hackers who misuse their abilities to steal are not classified as true hackers, because knowledge in itself is its own reward. Hackers do not cause corruption nor destroy systems or networks. A real hacker’s purpose is to explore foreign material. The most common cliché is “Using your knowledge to increase your knowledge.” But nowhere in the process is it said to gain material wealth

The Internet, is it a boon or a bane?

2001-10-31T13:00:00-04:00

With the Dotcom gold rush and the advent of the Internet, the world has proliferated and grew more sophisticated. The Internet, just like the cellular phones and televisions, has become a need in this modern era. Closer to home, the introduction of the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) has boosted the numbers of Internet users in Malaysia. In fact, the cyberspace fever is still spreading, faster than we ever imagine. The Internet, once dominated by the military intelligence has brought changes into our lives. Although it was initially created as a communication system to last the fallout of a nuclear war, the Internet has been librated. One needs only a telephone line and a computer equipped with a modem to explore the cyberspace. Thus, knowledge is now easily and readily accessible. With just a simple surf to various search engines in the Net like Yahoo or AltaVista, we can get thousands of web addresses linked to the information we want. We can even download it and save it into our computer for free. Further more, communication via the Internet is very convenient and cheap. Net communities can congregate via e-groups or chat rooms with a very low cost. Discussion can be made online without the hassle of rushing to a meeting place. We can even contact our friends or relatives anywhere in the world easily by sending e-mails, which is much cheaper than the conventional “Snail Mail”. In deed, the Internet boom has made the world even smaller. Besides that, Internet-based companies, usually known as the Dotcoms, are sprouting everywhere, creating a new type of business for the communities. This so-called business of the new millennium is e-commerce. It is actually an online web portal created by the companies as a platform for them to provide their services or sell their products to everyone in the world without the need of launching new branches in other countries. In Malaysia, many Dot Com companies are formed due to the fact that we need these type of companies for our MSC project. Some meet failures in the middle of formation, but those successive ones keep on earning big money from the benefits of e-commerce. However, cyberspace is no longer a safe zone. One of the major treat caused by the introduction of the Internet is pornography. The recent survey shows that 30% of the websites parked in the Net contain sexual-based images or

Computer Abuse

2001-10-17T14:00:00-04:00

The use of computers within the business and government sector has said to have ‘rapidly increased over the last fifteen years’; this therefore provides a whole new prospect for a distinctive criminal to prosper, and in most cases, to go utterly undiscovered. It has been anticipated that, unless this particular problem is tackled head on, losses from the computer crime may eventually reach $50 billion per year. One expert in the field has estimated that, under present law the chances of a computer criminal being convicted are 1 in 500, and of going to jail as 1 in 1000. The possibility of corporations or banks going bankrupt as a result of computer theft is very real. W. John Taggart, “Computer Law in Australia”. There are many forms of computer abuse, yet they have come to many solutions. Many penalties if the criminals get caught and yet there are many weaknesses in computer law. With the expeditions rate of advances in technology, coping with those classified as ‘computer criminals’ who are always one step ahead, is virtually impossible. They may ‘patch up’ faults in previous systems, however do not recognise faults in latest systems until it’s too late. Computer crime involves the unauthorised and unlawful use of a computer. Given growth of technology in our society, the incidence of computer rime is a matter of considerable concern for our law-makers. The cost of computer crime in the United States has been estimated to be at least $5000 million a year. (Cudmor, Greg “Computer Law”, page 8). Who would be classified as a ‘computer criminal’? It is said that often the ‘computer criminal’ is a trusted employee and the problem for organisations seems to be internal security. The community considers computer crime, as being less serious than other crimes against property, such as burglary or car theft, as it is not violent or public. In many instances computer crime is not always reported, due to the complexity of information systems. It is sometimes possible for offences to be concealed and often victims are unaware that an offence has even been committed. A reason for computer crime not being reported is when the crime is discovered companies defrauded of tremendous sums of money are sometimes ashamed to report a breach of security. Another reason is that the offender is sometimes and employee of the company and if the harm is not significant the company may discipline

Internet Shopping - Good or Bad?

2001-06-02T14:00:00-04:00

Shopping on the Internet is increasing but would you do business this way? The Internet?s popularity has dramatically escalated over the past few years and has become an integral part of daily life. It has wide spread uses ranging from, obtaining information, downloading files, business advertisement to Internet commerce, which plays a major part in Internet practice. Our social structure is pressuring society to connect to the Internet, with schools world wide becoming more Web based and universities now have lectures, which can be solely viewed over the Internet. Within the next few years the potential and capabilities of the Internet are endless. With that in mind the following assignment will examine a continuously flourishing component of the Internet, Internet shopping. Although Internet shopping is on the increase, it will never surpass conventional shopping, as the ?experience of shopping? is lost, it is open to fraud and the ?try before you buy? concept does not occur. From this information, it could be stated, ?The promise of Internet shopping is drowning in a flood of deceit, customer dissatisfaction, fraud and misappropriation. The Internet is best known for being a information superhighway, not a superhighway to the shopping mall.? Shopping from the convenience and comfort of your own home may have its apparent advantages; no more standing in line, no more hassles. Currently people are using the Internet for shopping largely as it offers some benefits when compared with conventional shopping, for a narrow range of goods and services. Given that, there are still concerns about risks involved ? many issues from security of credit cards to privacy Purchasing products from the Internet has major disadvantages when compared to conventional shopping. A significant problem is you cannot see the store you are buying from. On the Internet, it can be difficult to know whether the business you are dealing with is honest or not. When your credit card number is given to a marketing site in order to purchase goods, there is no certain guarantee that it will be used for the purpose it was intended for. Many unscrupulous internet web sites, use promises of miracle cures, and other hoaxes in order to exploit their users in an effort to gain credit card numbers and use them, for their own personal gain. However many web sites are creditable, but the security of their web page then may be violated. (By ?Hackers?) When a user ?surfs? into

The History and Development of Computers

2001-05-20T14:00:00-04:00

There is no noun with the ability to represent modern life other than computer. Whether the effect is negative or positive, computers control nearly every aspect of our everyday life. Computers have evolved from bearing the role of strictly computing to having the ability of completing unthinkable tasks. Supermarket scanners calculate our grocery bill while keeping store inventory; computerized telephone switching centers play traffic cop to millions of calls and keep lines of communication untangled; and automatic teller machines (ATM) let us conduct banking transactions form virtually anywhere in the world. All of this amazing technology started over five thousand years ago and continues to grow with an unknown culmination. Around five thousand years ago in Asia minor, a simple machine bearing a system of sliding beads arranged on a rack such as ones found in a pool hall may be considered the first computer. It is known as the Abacus and is still in use today. Merchants used the Abacus to record their barter transactions. Its popularity began to fall when the use of paper and pencil spread particularly throughout Europe, its importance diminished. The next significant advance of computing started with a man named Blaise Pascal, nearly twelve centuries ensuing the invention of the Abacus. Pascal was an eighteen year-old son of a French tax collector in the early seventeenth century. To ameliorate his father’s duties, Pascal assembled a brass rectangular box, also called a Pascaline, using eight movable dials capable of adding sums up to eight figures long. Pascal’s system is all based upon the number ten. For example, as one dial passed nine, the next dial turned to represent one in the tens column as the original dial returned back to zero. The Pascaline’s only drawback was its limitation to addition. A German mathematician and philosopher named Gottfried Wilhem von Leibniz improved the Pascaline in 1694 by inventing a machine with the ability to not only add, but multiply as well. Leibniz’s mechanical multiplier preserved Pascal’s idea of using dials and gears refined form Pascal’s original Pascaline from the study of his notes and drawings. The refined model used a stepped-drum gear design rather than Pascal’s flat gear design, however; the widespread use of the mechanical calculator did not take effect until 1820. Charles Xavier Thomas de Colmar was another great inventor whose efforts assisted in the evolution of the simple computer. Colmar was a Frenchman whom invented

The Benefits and Curses of Technology

2001-05-03T14:00:00-04:00

“Many facts concur to show that we must look far deeper for our salvation than to steam, photographs, balloons or astronomy. These tools have some questionable properties. They are regents. Machinery is aggressive. The weaver becomes a web, the machinist a machine.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson Throughout the course of human history, men and women have taken steps to make life easier. Going back to the allegorical curse placed upon man in the Genesis scriptures, that he should “work by the sweat of his brow,” men have tried desperately, to some avail to annul that curse. Throughout the 20th century, men have succeeded in many aspects of technological change. The past 140 years, a short time in comparison with human history, have brought about some of the most noted technological changes. For instance, 140 years ago, there was no telephone. Photography was still in its infancy. The idea of an automobile was absurd, and the notion that a machine heavier than air could fly was scoffed. But advances in scientific discovery led to many changes in the thoughts and attitudes of humans as to what technology meant to changing society. But, somehow, this advancement in human achievement is sometimes viewed with scorn by some of the wisest among us. Has these advancements improved our lives, or just changed the nature of the problems we face? It is important to understand that the luxuries of yesterday somehow seem to become the necessities of today. Hot and cold running water, the in-house bathroom, the telephone, the television – these were all considered luxuries at one time. But now, they are deemed as necessities by many in society. They can’t be appreciated properly unless one was to view societies where these items do not exist, or their existence is scorned. In modern times, we tend to “work to eat,” and “eat to work.” It becomes a never-ending cycle that traps modern western societies into thinking that this is the ordinary. But in many other cultures, such as the indigenous Tarahumara tribes of south central Chihuahua, Mexico, where most of their society has remained “untouched” for hundreds of years, technology has not affected the culture. The society of the Tarahumara revolves around family and the success of the tribe and village. In American and other western societies, Americans continue to try and “rise among the ranks” in view of possessions. The culture has become enslaved to the

Mobile Phones in Business

2001-04-16T14:00:00-04:00

Introduction to Mobile Phone Mobile Phone is a wireless device that emits RFR (radio-frequency radiation) to transmit data and allows people to communicate anywhere. It can be carried anywhere as long as there is a signal transmission. There are three types of Mobile coverage, which are: AMPS, GSM and CDMA AMPS (Analogue Mobile Phone System) It is an analogue signal and system for transmit data and be used for mobile communication. The strength of this system is it has a better network coverage than GSM. However it is the most insecure mobile phone. This system is also going to be closed in Australia until end of 2000 as the government states that analogue signal make the frequency too crowded. GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) It is a digital system that converts from our voice to digital (pulse) and transmits it to air for mobile communication. The strength of this system is it is more secure than analogue system. On the other hand, the weakness is the signal is not as strong as analogue system. CDMA(Code Division Multiple Access) It uses a digital systems but it is not pulsed as GSM did. The strength of this system is it has the best signal receiver, and it is secure communication. However, it is just being introduced in Australia and the rest of the world.

Network Provider in Australia

Optus Optus stated that they have 93% population coverage, which means, the capacity of the network that Optus can carry is up to 93 % of total population. It also has strength, which it has the lowest congestion rate (making and receiving call) Telstra Telstra stated that they have 94% population coverage, which means they can carry up to 94 % of the total population. Their strength is they have better network signal compare to other competitors. Vodafone Vodafone have 91% population coverage. Their strength is they are international recognition so people will believe that they have more experienced worldwide. The market shares of these companies are as follow: Telstra 49%, followed by Optus 33 % and last by Vodafone 18%

The Users of Mobile Phones

Business People It is obvious that most of business people in Australia use Mobile Phone now. It can be seen from the street that almost every business people have a mobile phone. Rural Business People It is important that rural business people to be able to communicate to other people, as sometimes the lines connection to rural area is not available. Others It is also be

Search Engines

2001-04-16T14:00:00-04:00

There are currently over a billion pages of information on the Internet about every topic imaginable. The question is how can you possibly find what you want? Computer algorithms can be written to search the Internet but most are not practical because they must sacrifice precision for coverage. However, a few engines have found interesting ways of providing high quality information quickly. Page value ranking, topic-specific searches, and Meta search engines are three of the most popular because they work smarter not harder. While no commercial search engine will make public their algorithm, the basic structure can be inferred by testing the results. The reason for this is because there would be a thousand imitation sites, meaning little or no profit for the developers. The most primitive of searches is the sequential search, which goes through every item in the list one at a time. Yet the sheer size of the web immediately rules out this possibility. While sequential might return the best results, you would most likely never see any results because of the web’s inflammatory growth rate. Even the fastest computers would take a long time, and in that time, all kinds of new pages will have been created. Some of the older ‘spiders’ like Alta Vista are designed to literally roam randomly through the web using links to other pages. This is accomplished with high-speed servers with 300 connections open at one time. These web ‘spiders’ are content based which means they actually read and categorize the HTML on every page. One flaw of this is the verbal-disagreement problem where you have a particular word that can describe two different concepts. Type a few words in the query and you will be lucky if you can find anything relates to what you are looking for. The query words can be anywhere in a page and they are likely to be taken out of context. Content-based searches can also be easily manipulates. Some tactics are very deceptive, for example “…some automobile web sites have stooped to writing ‘Buy This Car’ dozens of times in hidden fonts…a subliminal version of listing AAAA Autos in the Yellow Pages”(1). The truth is that one would never know if a site was doing this unless you looked at the code and most consumers do not look at the code. A less subtle tactic is to pay to get to the top. For example, the

Alternatives to Internal-Combustion Engines

2001-03-25T14:00:00-04:00

In the past decade there has been a great deal of worrying about what will happen when the world’s oil supply becomes depleted. The main reason for concern is that almost all of the automobiles in use now require an oil based gasoline to run their internal-combustion engines. In the next few decades it is predicted that all of the world’s oil will have already been mined, and combustion engines will be unable to function. For this reason many companies such as Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, Toyota, BMW, and others have started to create engines that do not require oil based gasoline. Such engines include the battery-powered engine and the hydrogen-powered engine. These engines require different fuels and all have their own good and bad qualities. This essay will describe these engines and how they work. The battery-powered engine is run using solely battery power. The battery-powered engine, along with all the other engines mentioned in this essay pollute much less than the combustion engine. The battery-powered engine is more efficient than the combustion engine for a variety of reasons. One reason includes how the electric motor is directly connected to the wheels; this lets the vehicle consume no energy while the car is at rest or coasting. Another way the battery engine is more efficient than the combustion engine is the fact that the battery engine converts more than 90 percent of the storage cell energy into driving force, while the combustion engine converts only a mere 25 percent of the energy in a liter of gasoline into driving force. The battery-powered engine also has its drawbacks. What is keeping this engine from being mass-produced is the lowness of energy storage that it has. Today’s technology only allows battery-powered vehicles to drive around 120 miles until its needs to be recharged. This number will obviously increase as new technology is invented. Along with the small distance the battery engine can operate, its takes several hours to recharge. The battery-powered engine cannot operate under the same rechargeable battery its entire life; the battery must eventually be replaced. The battery is expensive, but does not need changing very often. The price of gasoline it requires to run a combustion car for as long as it takes a battery-powered car to run-down a battery, is about equal to the price of a battery. Primarily hydrogen cells fuel the hydrogen-powered engine. The fuel cells inside the

Technology is the seed of our destruction

2001-01-21T13:00:00-05:00

I agree and disagree with this statement. Technology has become very important in our society recently, and more people are getting involved with it, discovering new technology, and introducing it into society. The big question is whether or not society is ready for all the new techonological advancements. In some cases, the answer is yes. I am quite certain that people can handle TV, computers and radios fairly well. However, some technology would be way too advanced for us, such as a mind-reading room, perhaps? I think with the right knowledge and experience, individual people can handle any new technology that is introduced to them. People in large numbers tend to panic, and not deal with new things very well. It is my opinion that as a crowd of people grows larger, the collective intelligence of the crowd grows smaller. If advanced technology is introduced suddenly to a large number of people, then it will not work. If you introduce it slowly, it might work better. Some tehnology has helped us in many ways, such as: microscopes, electricity, and computers. Other technology has both helped and hindered us, such as the television and the car. Some technology has not helped at all, such as an electric fork or the electric car, the latter being too expensive for any normal person to run. Television is a big thing nowadays, and it has rotted the minds of children and adults alike. However, it has also improved communication, and if viewed in small time slots, it has enhanced some people’s intelligence. Some parents may sit their children in front of the television for hours while they go off somewhere to drink, etc. I don’t think this helps their children’s intelligence, and it eventually distances the children from the parents. For example, if you have children, and a television, what do you think would happen if you removed the TV from the house? The answer is simple: your kids would hate you for it. This is because they have grown accustomed to having the TV there as a distraction, or as entertainment. However, if you had never owned a TV, would your kids miss it? I think that, to a certain extent, technological advancement is a very good thing, because it can enhance and enrich our lives, but when it starts to take over the simple things in life and makes everything instant and electronic,

Bill Gates and the Microsoft Corporation

2000-12-05T13:00:00-05:00

Bill Gates - you love him, you hate him, maybe you should get to know him. The founder of the Microsoft has a lot of admirers and we can tell that for sure just by looking at his fortune. There are however people who not only despise him, but dedicate entire web-sites to criticizing him and his company; if you are one of those people you can check out www.onmacon.com (access will not be granted if you use Microsoft Internet Explorer). Some have even gone as far as throwing pies in his face... It’s an irony that one of the world’s smartest people didn’t even finish college. In 1975 he dropped out of Harvard to form an informal partnership with Paul Allen, “Micro-soft”; they invested all their time in BASIC, the first computer language program written for a personal computer. It wasn’t until November 1976 that Microsoft became official, when it was registered at the Office of the Secretary of the State of New Mexico, and only in 1977 did the partnership between Bill and Paul Allen become official. That’s also when they deliver their second language product, FORTRAN. In 1978, besides launching a third language, COBOL-80, Microsoft goes international by forming a strategic partnership with the founder of ASCII Corporation in Japan. The following year, the company also enters the European market and wins the ICP Million Dollar Award with the 8080 BASIC. This is an important indicative of the growth and acceptance of the PC industry. Starting with the early 80s, Microsoft starts expanding the product range from languages to operating systems and its first hardware product, the SoftCard, designed for the Apple II users. The newly incorporated business signs a contract with IBM, the first version of MS-DOS being the primary result. Unfortunately, this operating system wasn’t a very good one, requiring its users a thorough knowledge of command syntax. The company moves into the realm of business with an electronic spreadsheet program, the Multiplan. Also at this time, the Microsoft Local Area Network (MILAN) becomes functional, linking all of Microsoft’s in-house development computers. 1983 is an important year toward the development of a more user-friendly computer. In May the mouse is introduced, in September the Word processing program and in November Windows is announced, an extension of the MS-DOS operating system that provides a graphical operating environment. Windows allows a user to view unrelated application programs simultaneously and it

Microsoft and Windows Competitors

2000-12-05T13:00:00-05:00

A lot of people today, mostly microsofties, argue that Microsoft should not be split up since it isn’t really a monopoly; Windows has a lot of competitors out there and some of the companies that make them are even bigger than Microsoft. And that is actually quite true: Microsoft has only about 6% of the global software market and only 3% of the global computer market overall. There are several computer companies that make more than Microsoft, like Sun Microsystems and Compaq and there are at least nine other operating systems besides Windows, some of which you could even get for free. After three decades of use, the UNIX computer operating system from Bell Labs is still regarded as one of the most powerful, versatile, and flexible operating systems (OS) in the computer world. Its popularity is due to many factors, including its ability to run a wide variety of machines, from micros to supercomputers, and its portability -- all of which led to its adoption by many manufacturers. The UNIX operating system was designed to let a number of programmers access the computer at the same time and share its resources. While initially meant for medium-sized computers, the system was soon moved to larger, more powerful mainframe computers. As personal computers grew in popularity, versions of UNIX found their way into these boxes, and a number of companies produce UNIX-based machines for the scientific and programming communities. A major contribution of the UNIX system was its portability, permitting it to move from one brand of computer to another with a minimum of code changes. At a time when different computer lines of the same vendor didn't talk to each other -- yet alone machines of multiple vendors -- that meant a great savings in both hardware and software upgrades. It also meant that the operating system could be upgraded without having all the customer's data inputted again. And new versions of UNIX were backward compatible with older versions, making it easier for companies to upgrade in an orderly manner. UNIX comes with hundreds of programs that can be divided into two classes: integral utilities that are absolutely necessary for the operation of the computer, such as the command interpreter, and tools that aren't necessary for the operation of UNIX but provide the user with additional capabilities, such as typesetting capabilities and e-mail; the tools can be added or removed from a UNIX system,

Microsoft and Windows Competitors

2000-12-05T13:00:00-05:00

Ethics and the Internet

2000-11-30T13:00:00-05:00

No one denies that the Internet is the most useful tool for research, business, and education, yet the Internet is the subject of a topic that is as controversial as the legalities of abortion or homosexual rights: ethics and the Internet. Many racy, illegal, and controversial materials are available on the Internet such as pornography and pirated software; on the other hand, many educational tools are on-line as well. This brings a need for a case of ethics in the Internet realm. A definition of terms used regarding the Internet is necessary for the full understanding of how “unethical” data broadcasts itself around the Internet. The Internet is a worldwide computer network of home, organizational, corporate, and government computers. It is necessary to understand that the Internet is not just composed of web pages, but of files, e-mails, newsgroups, internal computer networks, personal computers, etc.; the media that most often provide the deemed controversial content are explained here. Electronic mail (E-mail) “enables computer users to communicate with and transmit digital material to other … groups of users” (“Internet”). Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a chat system in which messages are displayed real-time (i.e. messages are transmitted immediately and directly to however many receiving computer, all of which are connected to a remote server). File Transfer Protocol (FTP) allows remote computers to transfer information stored in files (such as reports or software) efficiently (“Internet”). Each medium of spreading information plays a large role in the spread of pirated software (Jordan). Software piracy, often called “warez” as a vulgar term by the pirates themselves (“Warez”), is not just a problem to people; it is a problem to the software industry of the world. A 1999 study conducted by the International Planning and Research Corporation for the Business Software Alliance and Software & Information Industry Association (forthwith referred to as the BSA and SIIA, respectively) shows that, though the percentage of pirated software has reduced in the past 5 years, the per capita expense of the software industry due to piracy has grown. Additionally, the rate of software piracy is still 36 percent (i.e. 36 out of every 100 programs worldwide are pirated; this number is based on the global population’s PC business software applications), which is rather substantial (“1999”). The fact that the rate is 26 percent may lie in the fact that many so-called software pirates hide behind myths that they believe protect

Analyzing Search Engines

2000-10-20T14:00:00-04:00

1. Formulate five criteria for the evaluation of search engines

To effectively evaluate three different search engines from the perspective of an advanced web user, the following criteria were established: 1. Relevance and accuracy of search results 2. Search speed 3. Advanced search options 4. Other services 5. Site design and layout More information about these criteria and how they were used is available below. 2. Test three search engines against your criteria For this evaluation, the following three search engines were tested: 1. AltaVista - http://www.altavista.com/ 2. Google - http://www.google.com/ 3. DirectHit - http://www.directhit.com/

3. Explain your methodology

The criteria outlined in Part 1 were reached by considering the things that would be important to an advanced user. Of course, factors like Relevance and Speed are critical to such a user (particularly in a work environment). The search options criteria is particularly important to advanced users who are after a specific page and do not want to waste time 'wading' through results from a 'standard' search. The other criteria are important to most users and mean that the search engines are more usable and useful. The search results from the three test search engines (Part 2) were evaluate according the criteria, explained it more detail below. Criteria 1 - Relevance and Accuracy of Results This criterion was to evaluate the usefulness of a particular search engine according to the accuracy of its results. I defined the relevance, according to personal standards, after browsing the pages in the results, for three separate search terms. The Relevance Percentage is calculated by counting the number of relevant pages that appear in the first 20 search 'hits' and then multiplying by 20 (for a percentage). Criteria 2 - Search Speed This criterion was to evaluate which of the test search engines returns results quicker. However, it is important to note that the speed test is both a test of the Internet connection to the remote machine, as well as the time taken by the search engine to perform the search. Furthermore, tests of Internet speeds are very variable based on time of day, other internet traffic etc and are therefore of only limited accuracy. For this reason, no 'hard numbers' were calculated (ie timed searches). Instead, I rated each search engine based on 5 searches per engine at the same time, same day. The possible Speed Ratings are as follows: Excellent, Good, Poor Criteria 3 - Search Options This criteria was to evaluate the search engines advanced search options. This is

Internet: A Medium or a Message?

2000-10-09T14:00:00-04:00

Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites The State of the Net: An Interim Report about the Future of the Internet Who are the participants who constitute the Internet?

Users - connected to the net and interacting with it

The communications lines and the communications equipment

The intermediaries (e.g. the suppliers of on-line information or access providers).

Hardware manufacturers

Software authors and manufacturers (browsers, site development tools, specific applications, smart agents, search engines and others).

The "Hitchhikers" (search engines, smart agents, Artificial Intelligence - AI - tools and more)

Content producers and providers

Suppliers of financial wherewithal (currently - corporate and institutional cash to be replaced, in the future, by advertising money)

The fate of each of these components - separately and in solidarity - will determine the fate of the Internet.

The Internet has hitherto been considered the territory of computer wizards. Thus, any attempt at predicting its future applied the Olympic formula : "Faster, Higher, Stronger" to its hardware and software determinants. Media experts, sociologists, psychologists, advertising and marketing executives were left out of the collective effort to determine the future face of the Internet. The Internet cannot be currently defined as a medium. It does not function as one - rather it is a very disordered library, mostly incorporating the writings of non-distinguished megalomaniacs. It is the ultimate Narcissistic experience. Yet, ever since the invention of television there hasn't been anything as begging to become a medium as the Internet is. Three analogies spring to mind when contemplating the Internet in its current state:

A chaotic library

A neural network or the equivalent of a telephony network in the making

A new continent These metaphors prove to be very useful (even business-wise). They permit us to define the commercial opportunities embedded in the Internet. Yet, they fail to assist us in predicting its future which lies in its transformation into a medium. How does an invention become a medium? What happens to it when it does become one? What is the thin line separating the basic function of the invention from its flowering in the form of a new medium? In other words: when can we tell that some technological advance gave birth to a new medium? This work also deals with the image of the Internet once transformed into a medium. The Internet has the most unusual attributes in the history of the media.

The Solow Paradox

2000-10-09T14:00:00-04:00

Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites The PRODUCTIVE HARDWARE The world is debating the Solow Paradox. Named after the Nobel laureate in economics, it was stated by him thus: "You can see the computer age everywhere these days, except in the productivity statistics". The venerable economic magazine, "The Economist" in its issue dated July 24th, quotes the no less venerable Professor Robert Gordon ("one of America's leading authorities on productivity") - p.20: "...the productivity performance of the manufacturing sector of the United States economy since 1995 has been abysmal rather than admirable. Not only has productivity growth in non-durable manufacturing decelerated in 1995-9 compared to 1972-95, but productivity growth in durable manufacturing stripped of computers has decelerated even more." What should be held true - the hype or the dismal statistics? The answer to this question is of crucial importance to economies in transition. If investment in IT (information technology) actually RETARDS growth - then it should be avoided, at least until a functioning marketplace is there to counter its growth suppressing effects. The notion that IT retards growth is counter-intuitive. It would seem that, at the least, computers allow us to do more of the same things faster. Typing, order processing, inventory management, production processes, number crunching are all managed more efficiently by computers. Added efficiency should translate into enhanced productivity. Put simply, the same number of people can do more, faster, more cheaply with computers than they can without them. Yet reality begs to differ. Two elements are often neglected in considering the beneficial effects of IT. The first is that the concept of information technology comprises two very distinct economic activities: an all-purpose machine (the PC) and its enabling applications and a medium (the internet). Capital assets as distinct from media assets are governed by different economic principles, should be managed differently and be the subject of different philosophical points of view. Massive, double digit increases in productivity are feasible in the manufacturing of computer hardware. The inevitable outcome is an exponential explosion in computing and networking power. The dual rules which govern IT - Moore's (a doubling of chip capacity and computing prowess every 18 months) and Metcalf's (the exponential increase in a network's processing ability as more computers connect to it) - also dictate a breathtaking pace of increased productivity in the hardware cum software aspect of IT. This has been

The Fourth Law of Robotics

2000-09-11T14:00:00-04:00

Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites Sigmund Freud said that we have an uncanny reaction to the inanimate. This is probably because we know that - despite pretensions and layers of philosophizing - we are nothing but recursive, self aware, introspective, conscious machines. Special machines, no doubt, but machines althesame. The series of James bond movies constitutes a decades-spanning gallery of human paranoia. Villains change: communists, neo-nazis, media moguls. But one kind of villain is a fixture in this psychodrama, in this parade of human phobias: the machine. James Bond always finds himself confronted with hideous, vicious, malicious machines and automata. It was precisely to counter this wave of unease, even terror, irrational but all-pervasive, that Isaac Asimov, the late Sci-fi writer (and scientist) invented the Three Laws of Robotics:

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm

A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law

A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws Many have noticed the lack of consistency and the virtual inapplicability of these laws put together. First, they are not the derivative of any coherent worldview and background. To be properly implemented and to avoid a potentially dangerous interpretation of them - the robots in which they are embedded must be also equipped with a reasonably full model of the physical and of the human spheres of existence. Devoid of such a context, these laws soon lead to intractable paradoxes (experiences as a nervous breakdown by one of Asimov's robots). Conflicts are ruinous in automata based on recursive functions (Turing machines) as all robots must be. Godel pointed at one such self destructive paradox in the "Principia Mathematica" ostensibly comprehensive and self consistent logical system. It was enough to discredit the whole magnificent edifice constructed by Russel and Whitehead over a decade. Some will argue against this and say that robots need not be automata in the classical, Church-Turing, sense. That they could act according to heuristic, probabilistic rules of decision making. There are many other types of functions (non-recursive) that can be incorporated in a robot. True, but then, how can one guarantee full predictability of behaviour? How can one be certain that the robots will fully and always implement the

Computers (general history)

2000-06-18T14:00:00-04:00

In this report, you’ll about the components and history regarding the computer. A computer is a devise that processes, organize, and calculate, displays information. It can communicate with other computers all over the world. The most powerful computer can perform 10s of billion of calculations per second. People use computers for business, track inventories, and use bar codes, personal home use and other things. Computers can produce information, numbers, images, sounds and movies. Embedded computers control devices such as remote controls. Lets talk about the essential parts of the computer. First you have your outside units like your printer, monitors, modem, floppy disk drive, CD ROM drive, scanner, speakers and keyboard. These things are called peripherals. Printers come in inkjet, laser and thermal. Lasers are much faster than inkjets. The monitor is the television like unit where you observe text and images. Modems permit us to connect to the Internet, which is a global communication network. Modems come in many different speeds. Some are 14.4k, 56k these uses a phone line, cable modem (in only large cities, an internet setup that uses a cable line) and many more. Floppy disk drives are drives where you insert a disk to save progress or install programs from .CD ROMs are compact disk that can read only memory. Scanners are flatbed devises that you can look at pictures at more closely. Speakers allow us to here the sounds coming from the computer. The keyboard is an input unit that produces data bits. Inside the computer you have processors (CPU), Ram, semiconductor, hard disk, the bus and the operating system. Central Processing Units (CPU) a microprocessor that is, a single piece of silicon containing millions of electrical components. It’s input device or memory is communicated through the bus to the CPU, which is the part of the computer that translates commands and runs programs. Ram is the physical memory of a computer. You can use it to run programs that require memory to load. The semiconductor is the silicone object used for computer inner circuit components. The Bus it the flat cable of numerous wires that joins in with components in the computer. For Example: connection to the CPU to the hard disk. The hard disk is where the machine stores data and programs. When a computer is turned on it searches it memory it is called the operating system. Windows 98 and Mac are

The Internet

2000-05-04T14:00:00-04:00

Imagine life today without the convenience of the Internet. People would actually have to get up out of their comfortable chairs, get in their cars, and drive to the store, the library, the mall, or wherever they wanted to go. Wouldn't that just be a shame? But the Internet has not always been used for the entertainment, in the beginning it was only used by military personnel for communication reasons. In fact, if you were not a computer expert or a genius, you could not even begin to figure out the very complex system known as the Internet. The Internet is the child of several marriages: The government to science, and the telecommunications industry to the computer and software industry. The Internet was the result of some visionary people in the early 1960's who saw great potential value in allowing computers to share information on research and development in scientific and military fields. In, J. Licklider, proposed a global network of computers, and moved to the Defense Advanced Research Projects to develop it. One of Lickliders colleagues, Lawrence Roberts, came close to connecting the first computers in California and Massachusetts, but because the telephone's circuit switching was inadequate the connection was unable to be established. It was not until 1966 that the first Internet was actually conceived. Originally, This project was only meant to be a small network connecting super computers amongst researchers in the United States. This network became known as the Advanced Research Project Agency(Net) or the ARPANET. The innovators of this network wanted to see the ARPANET connect more than just super computers, they wanted people around the United States to be able to use the ARPANET. In 1967 these innovators went to the Association of Computing Machinery Symposium and presented papers to legalize their endeavors. In 1967 they were approved by the ACMS to continue their work, and in 1968 the first software and networking hardware were designed, and by 1969 the ARPANET had connected four universities in the southwestern United States. These schools included: Stanford Research Institute, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, and the University of Utah. By 1971 fifteen more schools had been added to this network including a university in Hawaii. Although the Internet was constructed for military purposes it was slowly moving away from those roots. The network was becoming so commercial that librarians began automating and networking their catalogs. By 1973 the ARPANET

History of C++: Origins and Examples

2000-04-14T14:00:00-04:00

Origins of C++ What are C++ and OOP? C++ is an advanced, high-level programming language (“Computer languages”) that is used to develop powerful applications for Microsoft® Windows®, many Linux environments, and other well-known and widely used operating systems. C++ is quickly becoming the standard language for commercial software development (Oualline). OOP, an abbreviation for object-oriented programming is simply code that “attempts to place a new layer of abstraction between the programmer and the data he is working with … this layer will help the programmer develop better code more quickly than he could do before.” (McHale). OOP languages must include four fundamental concepts before it may reasonably be defined as object-oriented (O-O): encapsulation, polymorphism, inheritance and the ability to be dynamic (McHale). Where did C++ come from? C++ was designed and implemented by Bjarne Stroustrup who works for AT&T Bell Labs as head of the Large-Scale Program Research department where he is heavily involved with the evolution of his product (Duffy, 98). His development, originally called “C with classes” was a marriage between a language called Simula67 with object-orientated features and C, which was powerful and efficient in its design. Fortran John Backus at IBM developed Fortran in 1956. Fortran, an abbreviation and acronym for FORmula TRANslation system, is generally considered to be the first high-level programming language. Fortran is, even today, a language of choice among programmers, its latest release, Fortran 90, in 1990. Early versions of this language would be largely criticized today [there were a few problems like the program layout, which had to obey certain criteria like an 80 character maximum line (the length “of a punch card on which the programs were often written”) (Parsons) and the first six columns were reserved for labels and comments, denoted by the keyword C]; however, this language influenced every language used today in the programming community in some way. A sample Fortran program would look like this (the digits 1, 2, and 3 in this program are labels and .GT. signifies a comparison checking to see if the variable, H, is Greater Than 5): C EXAMPLE FORTRAN CODE DIMENSION A(5), B(5,2) INTEGER H DO 1 I = 1,5 1 A(I) = 6 - I H = 1 3 IF (H.GT.5) GO TO 2 B(H,1) = 1 B(H,2) = 5 + 3 * (H - A(H) ) H = H + 1 GO TO 3 2 STOP END (Parsons) ALGOL Algol, short for ALGOrithmic Language, is perhaps the most influential programming language ever created. The first implementation arose

The Internet Effect: How has it affected You?

2000-04-01T14:00:00-04:00

Commonly known as the Internet, the world’s largest network is used extensively throughout the world today. Since its creation in 1983, the Internet has continued to grow in popularity and use as a commercial and private communications medium. Millions of people throughout the world use the Internet in a variety of ways, ranging from personal conversations to on-line shopping. According to a survey compiled by Nua Ltd in 1999, the number of Internet users rose from 26 million in 1995 to 205 million in 1999, an increase of almost 700% (Nua Ltd)! With such an explosive increase, how then has the Internet affected us personally, and how has it affected the way we do business? The answers to these questions include changes in the way people obtain information, interact, work, learn and conduct business. Given the Internet’s original purpose is to share information, it is no wonder that the most important asset of the Internet is the wealth of information that can be found on the Internet (Maney 3). Information previously found only in libraries and encyclopedias is now available on the Internet; in addition, news, weather, and movie listings are also made available on the Internet. Internet users constantly remain informed of the world around them by reading news from the New York Times, USA Today, San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Times and many other newspapers found on-line. Even those like myself who are far away from home can keep in touch by reading local newspapers published on the Internet. Along with the vast amount of information, the Internet also provides almost instant sharing and distribution of information. Through the use of electronic mail, people all over the world can “send information to far-away places cheaply, easily and in great volume – much more than any medium before it” (Maney 3). This form of communication known as email is the most widely used tool of the Internet today. Another invention of the Internet is the chat room. From within a chat room, people make friends with others throughout the world and share information with one another in real time. Because of email and chat capability, employees can work together without requiring that everyone work in the same place or even at the same time (Maney 4). On a more personal level, email and chat allow families and friends to stay in touch, keeping relationships intact. Being an international student myself,

The Internet Guard Dog

2000-03-08T13:00:00-05:00

Who is supposed to be the watchdog on the net? This question will raise the temperature in almost any room. The government already has to many regulations on lots of things, who wants Uncle Sam’s hand in the web. Some of the regulations that are applied are there for specific reasons. Those protect the people before the damage to say a young child posing for porn can be done. Those people that would be trying to regulate the Internet could be going after those sick, pathetic petafiles that float around in the child chat rooms. In my opinion, the parents should be the ones that are responsible for what their children view on the Internet. The net itself can be very valuable if used as a tool for learning. In the group Families Against Internet Censorship, they understand the concept of parental filtering (Censorship 2000). One of the families uses primarily the Internet to home-school their children. When a child signs on to the web, he or she has almost infinite resources right at the ends of their fingertips. Where else can you maximize the worlds resources from inside the comforts of home. I know that a young teenager can productively use this information. I have been using the net for about eight years for my reports and personal knowledge quests. My father would check on me every now and again to make sure I was on task. Not only was he keeping what I viewed pg13, he was helping me use different search engines and being my troubleshooter until I could surf the web by myself. Lots of the children now days are just tuned loose with a computer and not checked on until suppertime or bedtime. With that much freedom come temptation, this leads to the children looking up porn, explosives, or something else that their parents would not want them to look at. In my opinion, pornography should be allowed on the Internet as long as it is within legal bounds that are already established. I personally do not sit up all night trying to see some naked body in a freaky position. Nevertheless, I do not have a problem if my neighbor looks at pornographic material all day long as long as he does not pressure me with it. You never know where an online neighbor is from. The Internet is neither owned or ran by the

Technology - Good or Bad?

2000-02-29T13:00:00-05:00

People very often debate whether technology is good or bad. Many people believe that technology can only cause harm to their lives and society, while many others strongly defend the technologies which have made their lives much more leisurely and enriching than it could have been several hundred years ago. In my opinion, both of these views are correct to an extent, but I also believe that what should be examined is not whether technology in its self is good or bad, but rather how we as humans use it. For decades now, television has been accused of contributing to the dissolution of the American family and the destruction of the minds of those who watch it. However, although the TV has been involved in this, the problem roots not with technology but rather the people who choose to let it run their lives. I believe this because it is parents, not TV sets, who choose to let their children sit in front of the television for hours upon hours, and it is the parents who do not intervene and replace TV time with quality family time. Technology has also been blamed for destroying the minds of adults who spend too much time watching it, but in fact, the blame should lie on what programs a person watches or the person who chooses to watch it continuously. Hence, the television is only a contributing factor in family problems and mind destruction. It is the bad judgment of the people who watch television or let their children watch it who should be blamed for these harms, not technology. Another topic that comes to mind when technology is discussed is the household appliances that have evolved in the last century. Refrigerators, gas and electric ovens, microwaves, vacuums, dishwashers....the list goes on and on. All these things have made housework tremendously easier than it would have been about 100 years ago. This results with both positive and negative effects. It has given us easier ways to get jobs done, leaving more time for other things, but the bad part of this is what is chosen to do in this extra time. In many cases, this extra time is spent doing leisurely things, which might make us more happy, but also has an effect on our health. Lately we have become aware of the dangers of heart disease and the health benefits of exercise....the exercise we

The Internet: its effects and its future

2000-01-31T13:00:00-05:00

Internet, its effects in our lives and the future of the Internet: The Internet is, quite literally, a network of networks. It is comprised of ten thousands of interconnected networks spanning the globe. The computers that form the Internet range from huge mainframes in research establishments to modest PCs in people's homes and offices. Despite the recent hype, the Internet is not a new phenomenon. Its roots lie in a collection of computers that were linked together in the 1970s to form the US Department of Defense's communications systems. Fearing the consequences of nuclear attack, there was no central computer holding vast amounts of data, rather the information was dispersed across thousands of machines. A set of rules, of protocols, known as TCP/IP was developed to allow disparate devices to work together. The original network has long since been upgraded and expanded and TCP/IP is now a "de facto" standard. Millions of people worldwide are using the Internet to share information, make new associations and communicate. Individuals and businesses, from students and journalists, to consultants, programmers and corporate giants are all harnessing the power of the Internet. For many businesses the Internet is becoming integral to their operations. Imagine the ability to send and receive data: messages, notes, letters, documents, pictures, video, sound- just about any form of communication, as effortlessly as making a phone call. It is easy to understand why the Internet is rapidly becoming the corporate communications medium. Using the mouse on your computer, the familiar point-and-click functionality gives you access to electronic mail for sending and receiving data, and file transfer for copying files from one computer to another. Telnet services allow you to establish connections with systems on the other side of the world as if they were just next door. This flood of information is a beautiful thing and it can only open the minds of society. With the explosion of the World Wide Web, anyone could publish his or her ideas to the world. Before, in order to be heard one would have to go through publishers who were willing to invest in his ideas to get something put into print. With the advent of the Internet, anyone who has something to say can be heard by the world. By letting everyone speak their mind, this opens up all new ways of thinking to anyone who is willing to listen. Moreover, the Internet is

JavaScript

1999-11-30T13:00:00-05:00

Within this report is information on how JavaScript is used on the Internet. This report will contain information that will help you learn about JavaScript and its uses on the Internet. It mentions what JavaScript is, where it originated and what some of its uses are. JavaScript is a loosely typed scripting language that resembles the programming language C. It is designed to be an extension to HTML and is usually included within HTML scripts. JavaScript is object-oriented and has block-structuring features. The main feature of JavaScript is that it lets you build interactive web pages. JavaScript allows you to respond to a user's input in the form of text, buttons selected, or mouse clicks, and can generate a response to the user's computer. JavaScript originated from within the labs of Netscape Communications Corporation in 1994. It was invented so a computing language could build web pages and applications more effectively. When it first appeared it was thought that it was a new form of C, but later turned out to be this wonderful new language called JavaScript. There were skeptics that said the language was a dud and would never catch on, but now more people are learning JavaScript then ever before. JavaScript is used within HTML tags so that the page setup in already present when the JavaScript starts to run. There are many different uses for JavaScript on the Net. It can be used to make mail forms that a customer or person trying to input information can use. The program will allow the user to input information, then it will automatically send that info to a designated email address with the click of a button. It can also be used to put a password on a certain web page; a user trying to enter the page must then input the correct commands and passwords to enter the page. Another command added to this code will make it so that if the user enters the wrong password the code will send them to a site of the scripts designers choice. JavaScript is also a popular language for making simple interactive games like bridge and peg games. These codes can provide hours of fun! JavaScript is used mainly on pages that need to allow users to enter information or choose from options on the page. One section of the Net that relies heavily on JavaScript is E-Commerce. JavaScript is

V-Chip

1999-11-29T13:00:00-05:00

What is a V-chip? This term has become a buzz word for any discussion evolving telecommunications regulation and television ratings, but not too many reports define the new technology in its fullest form. A basic definition of the V-chip; is a microprocessor that can decipher information sent in the vertical blanking of the NTSC signal, purposefully for the control of violent or controversial subject matter. Yet, the span of the new chip is much greater than any working definition can encompass. A discussion of the V-chip must include a consideration of the technical and ethical issues, in addition to examining the constitutionally of any law that might concern standards set by the US government. Yet in the space provided for this essay, the focus will be the technical aspects and costs of the new chip. It is impossible to generally assume that the V-chip will solve the violence problem of broadcast television or that adding this little device to every set will be a first amendment infringement. We can, however, find clues through examining the cold facts of broadcast television and the impact of a mandatory regulation on that free broadcast. "Utilizing the EIA's Recommended Practice for Line 21 Data Service(EIA-608) specification, these chips decode EDS (Extended Data Services)program ratings, compare these ratings to viewer standards, and can be programmed to take a variety of actions, including complete blanking of programs." Is one definition of the V-chip from Al Marquis of Zilog Technology. The FCC or Capitol Hill has not set any standards for V-chip technology; this has allowed many different companies to construct chips that are similar yet not exact or possibly not compatible. Each chip has advantages and disadvantages for the rating's system, soon to be developed. For example, some units use onscreen programming such as VCR's and the Zilog product do, while others are considering set top options. Also, different companies are using different methods of parental control over the chip. Another problem that these new devices may incur when included in every television is a space. The NTSC signal includes extra information space known as the subcarrier and Vertical blanking interval. As explained in the quotation from Mr. Marquis, the V-chips will use a certain section of this space to send simple rating numbers and points that will be compared to the personality settings in the chip. Many new technologies are being developed for smart-TV or

Y2K: Should We Be Worried?

1999-11-18T13:00:00-05:00

Some people wonder what Y2K is, and whether it is true or false. Should we be worried about Y2K? Some people are sure it is false, yet the news stresses that it is true. This has many people in fear for their life. Some have been preparing for over a year now because they think Y2K is going to hit and the power will go out and absolutely nothing will work. Should we believe this? Many people ask, "What is Y2K?". It made me wonder one day, "What does Y2K really mean?". I went to the search engine Altavista and typed in "What does Y2K stand for?". I looked and looked and finally found a page that answered mine and many others' questions. Y2K stands for Year 2000. Why K though? Why not Y2T? It is K because the Greek for thousand is Kilo so we use K to stand for thousand. Then comes another big question. What causes Y2K? There are two different factors in what causes Y2K. One factor being: Along time ago, approximately in the 70's different operating systems were being made for computers. The computer programmers decided to make the dates in these operating systems and programs with 2 digits(73) instead of 4(1973). That was all fine until about the early 90's when computer programmers noticed something. They saw that when the year 2000 rolled around the computers would read the date as 00 instead of 2000. The computer would think, "1900?", but I was made in 1973. This confuses the computer ,therefore, it resets it's self to 1980 and rearranges all of the settings in the BIOS (the programs that tells the computer which drive to load to, what kind of memory, what kind of CD-ROM the computer has, etc.). This could cause a problem, but nothing that could not be fixed in 5 minutes. One downfall to that is every time it got up to 2000 it would need to be fixed again. The upside being a program that reads the date with four digits is approximately ninety dollars depending on the kind of program wanted. The other factor is a computer programming language called COBOL (common business oriented language). This computer programming language is used by many businesses' computers. COBOL handles numbers and text so that businesses can produce reports and keep track of all sorts of data. It has no idea what a

Communications Technology: Global Information Infrastructure

1999-10-18T14:00:00-04:00

Introduction We are in the midst of a global information revolution driven by the convergence and proliferation of information and communication technologies. The telecommunications sector is changing at warp speed, driven by technological innovation that results in new equipment and services, and also by new entrants and alliances between companies with experience in a wide range of information industries from telecommunications to broadcasting to computer hardware and software to publishing. Three major trends are driving these changes:

the rapid introduction of new technologies and services;

the restructuring of the telecommunications sector; and

globalization of economies and of communications. Together these developments are not only changing the world of telecommunications, but the ways people work, learn, and interact. The Death of Distance "The death of distance as a determinant of the cost of communications will probably be the single most important economic force shaping society in the first half of the next century." The death of distance could have profound implications for both individuals and organizations. The ability to work "anytime, anywhere" allows "road warriors" to work without offices on planes, in hotels, and at client sites, and enables information workers to telecommute from their homes rather than traveling to work. This flexibility can be two-edged for individuals, who can work wherever they choose but may never escape the "virtual workplace." Organizations may reduce their overhead costs and improve their productivity, but they must also learn how to manage their decentralized work force. One major technological trend is the extension of "information superhighways" in the form of broadband networks; another is the increasing ubiquity of communications using wireless technologies (that will, however, initially provide access to squirts rather than floods of information). Personal communications networks using microcellular technology will allow people in urban areas not only to talk on pocket-sized telephones, but to transmit and receive data using wireless modems. In rural and developing areas, these services may be available from low earth-orbiting (LEO) satellite systems. On an international level, the death of distance has profound implications for the globalization of industries and national economies. Rural regions in Europe and North America may lure businesses with their pleasant environment and lower labor costs; however, they are no longer competing only with cities in their own countries. Companies may hire information workers in developing countries where labor is far cheaper, not only for data entry and word processing, but for writing computer programs. Conversely, developing

Computers

1999-04-02T14:00:00-04:00

This paper is about the computer. Today computers are used by hundreds of millions of people. There have been many advances in the computer. The computer used to weigh 30 tons and filled warehouse size rooms, but today can be as light as 3 pounds and fit in a persons pocket. There were basically three times the computer was mentioned. One as a mechanical computing device, in about 500 BC The other as a concept in 1833, and the third as the modern day computer in 1946. The first mechanical calculator was called the abacus. The abacus is a is a string of moving beads. The first concept of the modern computer was first outlined in 1833 by the British mathematician Charles Babbage. His outline contained all of todays features in a computer today. Those features are memory, a control unit, and output devices. Even though Babbage worked on the machine for over 40 years he never actual saw it work. The modern computer grew out of intense research efforts mounted during World War II. The military needed faster ballistics calculators, and British cryptographers needed machines to help break the German secret codes. Early as the 1940's the German Inventor, Konrad Zuse, produced the first operational computer. It was used in aircraft and missile designs, but the German government would not let him improve the machine so it never reached its maximum capability. Two engineers called John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert Jr. from the University of Pennsylvania constructed a calculator. Its construction was an enormous feat of engineering. The 30-ton machine was 18 feet high and 80 feet long, and contained 17,468 vacuum tubes linked by 500 miles of wiring. This calculator performed 100,000 operations per second, and its first operational test included calculations that helped determine the feasibility of the hydrogen bomb. Computers were finally made to a smaller size in 1958 by Jack Kilby. He used less expensive silicon chips, this made it possible to cram as many as 10 million components on 1 chip. Another big step in the computer chip was made by American Engineer Marcian E. Hoff. He combined the uses of a computer into 1 tiny silicon chip which he called the microprocessor. This microprocessor was called the Intel 4004. By the mid 1970's the microprocessor or microchip reduced the cost of computers. The first affordable desktop computer designed specifically for personal use was called

Millenium Bug

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

The year 2000 is practically around the corner, promising a new era of greatness and wonder . . . as long as you don't own a computer or work with one. The year 2000 is bringing a Pandora's Box of gifts to the computer world, and the latch is slowly coming undone. The year 2000 bug is not really a "bug" or "virus," but is more a computer industry mistake. Many of the PC's, mainframes, and software out there are not designed or programmed to compute a future year ending in double zeros. This is going to be a costly "fix" for the industry to absorb. In fact, Mike Elgan who is the editor of Windows Magazine, says " . . . the problem could cost businesses a total of $600 billion to remedy." (p. 1) The fallacy that mainframes were the only machines to be affected was short lived as industry realized that 60 to 80 million home and small business users doing math or accounting etc. on Windows 3.1 or older software, are just as susceptible to this "bug." Can this be repaired in time? For some, it is already too late. A system that is devised to cut an annual federal deficit to 0 by the year 2002 is already in "hot water." Data will become erroneous as the numbers "just don't add up" anymore. Some PC owners can upgrade their computer's BIOS (or complete operating system) and upgrade the OS (operating system) to Windows 95, this will set them up for another 99 years. Older software however, may very well have to be replaced or at the very least, upgraded. The year 2000 has become a two-fold problem. One is the inability of the computer to adapt to the MM/DD/YY issue, while the second problem is the reluctance to which we seem to be willing to address the impact it will have. Most IS (information system) people are either unconcerned or unprepared. Let me give you a "short take" on the problem we all are facing. To save storage space and perhaps reduce the amount of keystrokes necessary in order to enter the year to date-most IS groups have allocated two digits to represent the year. For example, "1996" is stored as "96" in data files and "2000" will be stored as "00." These two-digit dates will be on millions of files used as input for millions of

The Evolution of Apple Computer

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Let's take a trip back in time and review the evolution of a computer company. It's not IBM or Microsoft. This company is Apple Computers, Incorporated. In the year 1976, before most people even thought about buying a computer for their homes. Back then the computer community added up to a few brainy hobbyist. So when Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs sold a van and two programmable calculators for thirteen hundred dollars and started Apple Computers, Inc., in Jobs garage, the reach for success seemed far. But these two young business men, Wozniak 26 years old and Jobs 21 years old, had a vision. "Computers aren't for nerds anymore," they announced. "Computers are going to be the bicycle of the mind. Low cost computers for everyone." From the first day on the founders of Apple kept their vision intact, and they spoke it at every turn. They only hired people into the company that had the same visions as they did. In early 1976 Wozniak and Jobs finish work on a preassembled computer circuit board. It has no Product keyboard, case, sound or graphics. They call it the Apple I. They form the Apple Computer Company on April Fool's Day and sold the Apple I board for $666.66 at the Home brew Computer Club in Palo Alto, California. In 1977 the Apple II is available to the general public. Fully assembled and pretested, it includes 4K of standard memory, and comes equipped with two game paddles and a demo cassette. The price is $1,298. Customers use their own TV set as a monitor and store programs on audio cassette recorders. Compare this price with computers today. The price about the same, but the computer has changed tremendously. In 1979 Apple II+ is introduced, available with 48K of memory and a new auto-start ROM for easier startup and screen editing for $1,195. Apple II Pascal is also released. In 1980 Apple FORTRAN introduced and proves to be a catalyst for high-level technical and educational applications. Apple III announced at the National Computer Conference. It has a new operating system, a built-in disk controller and four peripheral slots priced at $3,495, the Apple III is the most advanced system in the company's history. Product In 1981 Accessory Products Division formed to handle production of printers, modems and other peripherals. The Apple Language Card is introduced. It allows Apple II users to run programs in either Pascal, FORTRAN

New Eye Tracking Techniques Improve Realism Of Aircraft Simulators

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

A simulated flight environment for pilot training may soon be made more realistic through the use of eye-tracking technology developed by researchers at the University of Toronto's Institute of Biomedical Engineering (IMBE). Many safety and cost benefits are obtained by training aircraft pilots under simulated conditions, but to be effective the simulation must be convicingly realistic. At present, th e training facilities use large domes and gimballed projectors, or an array of video screens, to display computer-generated images. But these installations are very expensive and image resolution is low. Further, it would take an enormous amount of addi to improve image quality significantly throughout the whole viewed scene. However, based on the visual properties of the eye, realism can be obtained by providing a high-resolution 'area of interest' insert within a large, low-resolution field of view. If the image-generating computer 'knows' where the pilot's fixation is, it mage there. The technology to make this possible was developed by a research team headed by Professor Richard Frecker and Professor Moshe Eizenman. The work was carried out in collaboration with CAE Electronics Ltd. of Montreal with financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Their eye-tracker can record and analyze accurately up to 500 eye positions per second. The system works by means of capturing and processing the reflections of a low-level beam o f invisible infra-red light shone onto the eye. Multi-element arrays capture the image of the eye and digitize the information, which is then processed in real time by a fast, dedicated signal processing unit. The difference in position between the ligh tre of the pupil reveals the instantaneous direction of gaze. Developments by the IBME team have significantly increased the speed of signal processing in addition to enhancing accuracy of eye position estimates. Eizenman believes that "these improvements make our eye-tracker very effective in monitoring the large G-force environment where the pilot tends to make larger eye movements because of contraints which exist on movements of his head". In a new generation of aircraft simulators, under development by CAE Electronics Ltd. of Montreal, a head tracker which tells the direction of the pilot's head is mounted on top of the helmet. The eye tracker is mounted on the front of the helmet, and is ll exactly where the pilot's eye is fixating. Frecker said that "successful integration of our eye tracker into the novel helmet-mounted CAE flight simulator would result in a

How Can Artificial Intelligence Help Us?

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Recently, the media has spent an increasing amount of broadcast time on new technology. The focus of high-tech media has been aimed at the flurry of advances concerning artificial intelligence (AI). What is artificial intelligence and what is the media talking about? Are these technologies beneficial to our society or mere novelties among business and marketing professionals? Medical facilities, police departments, and manufacturing plants have all been changed by AI but how? These questions and many others are the concern of the general public brought about by the lack of education concerning rapidly advancing computer technology. Artificial intelligence is defined as the ability of a machine to think for itself. Scientists and theorists continue to debate if computers will actually be able to think for themselves at one point (Patterson 7). The generally accepted theory is that computers do and will think more in the future. AI has grown rapidly in the last ten years chiefly because of the advances in computer architecture. The term artificial intelligence was actually coined in 1956 by a group of scientists having their first meeting on the topic (Patterson 6). Early attempts at AI were neural networks modeled after the ones in the human brain. Success was minimal at best because of the lack of computer technology needed to calculate such large equations. AI is achieved using a number of different methods. The more popular implementations comprise neural networks, chaos engineering, fuzzy logic, knowledge based systems, and expert systems. Using any one of the aforementioned design structures requires a specialized computer system. For example, Anderson Consulting applies a knowledge based system to commercial loan officers using multimedia (Hedburg 121). Their system requires a fast IBM desktop computer. Other systems may require even more horsepower using exotic computers or workstations. Even more exotic is the software that is used. Since there are very few applications that are pre-written using AI, each company has to write it's own software for the solution to the problem. An easier way around this obstacle is to design an add-on. The company FuziWare makes several applications that act as an addition to a larger application. FuziCalc, FuziQuote, FuziCell, FuziChoice, and FuziCost are all products that are use! d as management decision support systems for other off-the shelf applications (Barron 111). In order to tell that AI is present we must be able to measure the intelligence being used. For a relative scale of

Artificial Life

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Artificial life (commonly called a-life) is the term applied collectively to attempts being made to develop mathematical models and computer simulations of the ways in which living organisms develop, grow, and evolve. Researchers in this burgeoning field hope to gain deeper insights into the nature of organic life as well as into the further possibilities of COMPUTER science and robotics (see ROBOT). A-life techniques are also being used to explore the origins and chemical processes of metabolism. Some investigators have even proposed that some digital "life" in computers might already be considered a real life form. Background The term artificial life was coined in the 1980s by Christopher Langdon, a computer scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Santa Fe Institute. Langdon organized the first experimental workshop on the subject at Santa Fe in 1987. Since then other a-life conferences have taken place, drawing increasingly wider attention and a growing number of participants. Theoretical studies of a-life, however, had been in progress long before the 1980s. Most notably, the Hungarian-born U.S. mathematician John VON NEUMANN, one of the pioneers of computer science, had begun to explore the nature of very basic a-life formats called cellular automata (see AUTOMATA, THEORY OF) in the 1950s. Cellular automata are imaginary mathematical "cells"-analogous to checkerboard squares-that can be made to simulate physical processes by subjecting them to certain simple rules called algorithms (see ALGORITHM). Before his death, von Neumann had developed a set of algorithms by which a cellular automaton-a box shape with a very long tail-could "reproduce" itself. Another important predecessor of a-life research was Dutch biologist Aristid Lindenmeyer. Interested in the mathematics of plant growth, Lindenmeyer found in the 1960s that through the use of a few basic algorithms-now called Lindenmeyer systems, or L-systems-he could model biochemical processes as well as tracing the development of complex biological forms such as flowers. Computer-graphics programs now make use of L-systems to yield realistic three-dimensional images of plants. The significance of Lindenmeyer's contribution is evident in the fact that so-called "genetic algorithms" are now basic to research into a-life as well as many other areas of interest. Genetic algorithms, first described by computer scientist John Holland of the University of Michigan in the 1970s, are comparable to L-systems. A computer worker trying to answer some question about a-life sets up a system-an algorithm-by which the computer itself rapidly grades the multiple possible answers that it has produced to the

The Computer

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Only once in a lifetime will a new invention come about to touch every aspect of our lives. Such a device that changes the way we work, live, and play is a special one, indeed. A machine that has done all this and more now exists in nearly every business in the U.S. and one out of every two households (Hall, 156). This incredible invention is the computer. The electronic computer has been around for over a half-century, but its ancestors have been around for 2000 years. However, only in the last 40 years has it changed the American society. From the first wooden abacus to the latest high-speed microprocessor, the computer has changed nearly every aspect of people's lives for the better. The very earliest existence of the modern day computer's ancestor is the abacus. These date back to almost 2000 years ago. It is simply a wooden rack holding parallel wires on which beads are strung. When these beads are moved along the wire according to "programming" rules that the user must memorize, all ordinary arithmetic operations can be performed (Soma, 14). The next innovation in computers took place in 1694 when Blaise Pascal invented the first "digital calculating machine". It could only add numbers and they had to be entered by turning dials. It was designed to help Pascal's father who was a tax collector (Soma, 32). In the early 1800's, a mathematics professor named Charles Babbage designed an automatic calculation machine. It was steam powered and could store up to 1000 50-digit numbers. Built in to his machine were operations that included everything a modern general-purpose computer would need. It was programmed by-and stored data on-cards with holes punched in them, appropriately called ÒpunchcardsÓ. His inventions were failures for the most part because of the lack of precision machining techniques used at the time and the lack of demand for such a device (Soma, 46). After Babbage, people began to lose interest in computers. However, between 1850 and 1900 there were great advances in mathematics and physics that began to rekindle the interest (Osborne, 45). Many of these new advances involved complex calculations and formulas that were very time consuming for human calculation. The first major use for a computer in the U.S. was during the 1890 census. Two men, Herman Hollerith and James Powers, developed a new punched-card system that could automatically read information on cards without human

A Computerized World

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Since the first computer was made in the late fifties, the technology has developed extremely. Computers which took the place of a living-room then, are now being made in creditcard-formats. More and more areas are being taken over by the computer. As computers are capable of handling large amounts of data in a very short time, they are well suited for wordprocessing. I guess that it won't be long till all the paper-archives are replaced by magnetic tapes and diskettes. A diskette can contain much more data than a written page, and it takes less place It is possible to get the Norwegian telephone book on just one diskette. In near future, a new area will be taken over by computers, namely maps. Different routes are stored on one single compact-disk. Imagine, simply insert the CD into the CD-driver in your car, and tell the computer where to go. The rest will be done automatically. This will be a safer, faster, and more comfortable way to travel. Another new area, called "virtual reality" is currently being tested. This is a way to simulate reality on a monitor. In order to feel this so-called reality you have to wear special electronic glasses and an electronic suit. Fastened to the suit are sensors, which send information to the main computer. This computer works with the data and displays them on the electronic spectacles. This is a technique which use three-dimentional views, therefore the scenery seems incredibly realistic. If you want to be a boxer, simply change the scenery on the main computer, and you are in the ring. Today, many kids have got video games. You could say these games are the present's answer to ludo and monopoly. In a way, it is a great advantage that the kids are being presented to computors at an early age, because they will definitely have to use them later, when they start to work. In the future there will be few occupations which won't use computors, one way or another. But the videogames are often being presented as something negative, which hinder the kids from doing homework and other more useful activities. This partially true, if they do much of it. But generally, I think the young people's contact with computers is positive. In Norway today, it is getting more common to have a computer at home. You can use a personal computer to keep household-budgets or other economics.

Computers

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

A common misconception about computers is that they are smarter than humans. Actually, the degree of a computer¹s intelligence depends on the speed of its ignorance. Today¹s complex computers are not really intelligent at all. The intelligence is in the people who design them. Therefore, in order to understand the intelligence of computers, one must first look at the history of computers, the way computers handle information, and, finally, the methods of programming the machines. The predecessor to today¹s computers was nothing like the machines we use today. The first known computer was Charles Babbage¹s Analytical Engine; designed in 1834. (Constable 9) It was a remarkable device for its time. In fact, the Analytical Engine required so much power and would have been so much more complex than the manufacturing methods of the time, it could never be built. No more than twenty years after Babbage¹s death, Herman Hollerith designed an electromechanical machine that used punched cards to tabulate the 1890 U.S. Census. His tabulation machine was so successful, he formed IBM to supply them. (Constable 11) The computers of those times worked with gears and mechanical computation. Unlike today¹s chip computers, the first computers were non-programmable, electromechnical machines. No one would ever confuse the limited power of those early machines with the wonder of the human brain. An example was the ENIAC, or Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer. It was a huge, room-sized machine, designed to calculate artillery firing tables for the military. (Constable 9) ENIAC was built with more than 19,000 vacuum tubes, nine times the amount ever used prior to this. The internal memory of ENIAC was a paltry twenty decimal numbers of ten digits each. (Constable 12) (Today¹s average home computer can hold roughly 20,480 times this amount.) Today, the chip-based computer easily packs the power of more than 10,000 ENIACs into a silicon chip the size of an infant¹s fingertip. (Reid 64) The chip itself was invented by Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce in 1958, but their crude devices looked nothing like the sleek, paper-thin devices common now. (Reid 66) The first integrated circuit had but four transistors and was half an inch long and narrower than a toothpick. Chips found in today¹s PCs, such as the Motorola 68040, cram more than 1.2 million transistors onto a chip half an inch square. (Poole 136) The ENIAC was an extremely expensive, huge and complex machine, while PCs now are shoebox-sized gadgets

Computer Viruses

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Introduction In the past decade, computer and networking technology has seen enormous growth. This growth however, has not come without a price. With the advent of the "Information Highway", as it's coined, a new methodology in crime has been created. Electronic crime has been responsible for some of the most financially devastating victimizations in society. In the recent past, society has seen malicious editing of the Justice Department web page (1), unauthorized access into classified government computer files, phone card and credit card fraud, and electronic embezzlement. All these crimes are committed in the name of "free speech." These new breed of criminals claim that information should not be suppressed or protected and that the crimes they commit are really not crimes at all. What they choose to deny is that the nature of their actions are slowly consuming the fabric of our country's moral and ethical trust in the information age. Federal law enforcement agencies, as well as commercial computer companies, have been scrambling around in an attempt to "educate" the public on how to prevent computer crime from happening to them. They inform us whenever there is an attack, provide us with mostly ineffective anti-virus software, and we are left feeling isolated and vulnerable. I do not feel that this defensive posture is effective because it is not pro-active. Society is still being attacked by highly skilled computer criminals of which we know very little about them, their motives, and their tools of the trade. Therefore, to be effective in defense, we must understand how these attacks take place from a technical stand-point. To some degree, we must learn to become a computer criminal. Then we will be in a better position to defend against these victimizations that affect us on both the financial and emotional level. In this paper, we will explore these areas of which we know so little, and will also see that computers are really extensions of people. An attack on a computer's vulnerabilities are really an attack on peoples' vulnerabilities. Today, computer systems are under attack from a multitude of sources. These range from malicious code, such as viruses and worms, to human threats, such as hackers and phone "phreaks." These attacks target different characteristics of a system. This leads to the possibility that a particular system is more susceptible to certain kinds of attacks. Malicious code, such as viruses and worms, attack a system

Computer Technology

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

A computer is an electronic device that can receive a set of instructions or program and the carry out this program by performing calculations on numerical data or by compiling and correlating other forms of information. ("Computer" Encarta). It also performs calculations and processes information with astonishing speed and precision. Computer Technology has improved our lives. It will continue to affect our future which will lead to an easier, less complicated lifestyle, with more job opportunities and their benefits. ("Computer." America On-line). The modern world of high technology could not have come about except for the development of the computer. (Astle 1). Different types and sizes of computers find uses throughout society in the storage and handling of data, from secret government files to banking transactions to private household accounts. ("Computer" Encarta). Research and development in the computer world moves simultaneously along two-paths hardware designs and software innovations work in each are alternately influences the other.("The Future Of Computers" America On-line) Computers help people in many different ways, but many people prefer to use paper and pencil to write and to use folders and file cabinets to organize there papers. ("The Future of Computers." America On-line.) Many people in the world use computers to make their lives easier. Such advances computer technology will benefit us all. People use computers for research, organization, writing, communication for personal or business matters and even to look up stock updates. (Astle 786). Whether it is personal or business, computers can help make our daily life easier. Typing is quicker and easier and its also a lot neater than hand writing. When you type on a computer you can look at them and open them a lot faster than having a folder of papers you have to carry around where ever you go. (Masters 654). Computers can also help with editing a paper, they can even check spelling and grammar. Typing on a computer today is probably the most common way people write there research papers, reports and other documents for school and business.("How Computers Make Your Life Easier" America On-line). Families can use computers to keep in touch with each other through E-mail.They help people talk with others all around the world, using different services and methods. ("Information Superhighway." America On-line). Since computers are used all over the world for research, almost all libraries and museums are based on computers. ("How Computers Make Your Life Easier" America On-line).

CPU Internal Organisations

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

The input/output (I/O) interface, bus structures, microprocessor, memories and peripherals (also known as external or I/O devices) are the major components of a computer system. These components constantly trade information and instructions to complete assigned operations. With the exception of the peripherals, the ongoing communication between components is conducted within the system through interconnections or paths called buses. Peripherals such as keyboards, add-in cards (including frame grabbers), monitors, modems and printers are alternatively connected to the system through the I/O interface. The I/O connection features a communication line to send and receive data between the system and peripherals. Figure 1 illustrates the standard microprocessor-based PC architecture outlined above. Note: the peripherals' link to the system through the I/O interface rather than directly through the system's host bus. The primary purpose of a system's host bus is to connect components and allow them to communicate. To achieve this, the host bus is composed of three types of communication lines. An address bus is a one-way path that allows the microprocessor to specify which of the various locations in the memories and in the I/O interface it is accessing. Using this path, the microprocessor can select a memory address from which to acquire or in which to store data. The CPU also queries the I/O interface and devices using the address bus to specify input and output locations. A data bus carries the actual data between the microprocessor, memories and the I/O interface. Because the data bus is bidirectional, information can be both sent and received on these lines. A control bus handles the arbitration and differentiation between data coming in and data going out of different components by transmitting read, write and other control signals. In evaluating bus architecture, our primary concern is with transfers occurring on the data bus. The data bus is responsible for moving the bulk of information that travels through a system. And the data bus design ultimately determines how efficiently that data will flow. Defining features of the data bus include the size or bandwidth of the bus, the speed of the bus, and the location of the bus within the system. It helps to think of the data bus as a gateway through which a certain amount of information can pass. The bus contains a clock that indicates the speed at which data can move through the gateway. The path size or width of the bus indicates the

The Future Of The Internet

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

It's on television, in magazines, newspapers, and in our schools. Everywhere you go you hear about the Internet. Dubbed "The Information Superhighway," one might think that this network of millions of computers around the globe is as fast and as captivating as television, but with more and more users logging on everyday and staying on longer and longer, this "Information Superhighway" could be perhaps more correctly referred to as a clogged Los-Angeles expressway at lunch hour. Users are often frustrated at busy signals and slow speeds. The corporate giant, America Online, Inc, has recently been the target of several lawsuits over this because when it changed it's pricing plan, so many new users came on, and so many people started staying on longer, that it's system couldn't handle the strain and would run very slow and give busy signals to almost everyone that tried to log on. As a result people started staying online because they were afraid that if they logged off, they would never get back on. This forced America Online to upgrade enormous amounts of equipment, lease new telephone lines, and issue commercials apologizing for the whole predicament. They even started giving refunds to users who were never able to get on during the troubled ordeal. Some people are predicting, because of the length of Internet calls and the amount of bandwidth the calls take, that one day in the not so distant future, the entire telephone network, or at least a great portion of it, will cease to function, and all telephone calls will fail to connect. This idea is referred to by some as the "Gridlock Theory." Others advise that steps can be taken to avoid such a disaster, such as upgrading phone lines and limiting Internet usage. Following the gridlock idea is Ethernet creator Bob Metcalfe, who believes that the slowdowns will only get worse. "We recently had an outage... (that) denied 400,00 people access to the Internet, in its entirety, for thirteen hours. I expect even worse cases to develop this year." (Hunter, the Internet.) It is estimated that twenty-five to thirty million users currently are on the Internet. According to a recent study by Pacific Bell, and average Internet call lasts five times as longer as the average regular telephone call. 10 percent of the Internet calls last 6 hours or longer. This can cause switches to overload and, in turn, cause telephone calls to fail.

The Internet: How it Works and How it Effects the World

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Many people do not understand what the Internet is the power that it has over the world. The Internet is an extraordinary learning and entertainment tool that, when used properly, can significantly enhance a user's ability to gather information. Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) started the Internet. It was a project under taken by the Department Of Defense (DOD) in 1969. It started as an experiment to link together DOD and military research including Universities doing military-funded research. "The reliable networking part involved dynamic rerouting." (Levine 12) If one of the computers was under enemy attack, the information could be automatically transferred to other links. Fortunately, the Net is not usually under enemy attack. The ARPANET was very successful, and every university in the country wanted to sign up. Because so many people wanted to use the Net, ARPANET started getting hard to manage, especially with many university sites on it. Therefore, it was broken into two parts: MILNET, which had all the military sites, and ARPANET, which had all the nonmilitary sites. "The two networks remained connected, however, thanks to a technical scheme called IP (Internet Protocol), which enabled traffic to be routed from one net to another as needed. All the networks connected by IP in the Internet speak IP, so they can all exchange messages." (Levine 12) Even though there were only two networks at that time, IP was made to allow thousands of networks. The IP is designed so that every computer on an IP network is compatible. That means any machine can communicate with any other machine. The Internet, also called the Net, is the world's largest computer network. The Internet is the "network of all networks." (Levine 7) The networks are connected to big companies like AT&T, as well as to home computers. About 1,000 networks join each month. Every computer that is attached to the Internet is called a host. Hosts can be super computers with thousands of users, regular PC's with only a couple of users, or specialized computers, like routers that connect networks together or to terminal servers that let terminals dial in and connect to other hosts. Each computer has its own host number. "Being computers, the kind of numbers hosts like are 32-bit binary numbers." (Hayden 32) Here is an example of a binary number: 1011010010010100100100101000 Binary numbers are easier to remember by breaking them up into eight 4-bit groups. "Then each group is

Internet battle between phreaks and administrators

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Thesis: Even from it's humble beginnings, the Internet has always been a battlefield between phreaks and administrators The Internet is a wondrous place. Practically anything you could ever want is available on the Net. It's like a big city, it has the highly prestigious areas, and the sex-ridden slums. It has the upstanding citizens, and it has the criminals. On the Net, crime is more abundant than in a large city, though, mainly because of the difficulties in tracking and prosecuting offenders. Even from its beginnings, the Internet has always been a battlefield between phreaks and administrators. The Internet hasn't always been a public forum. In fact, the Internet has been around for years. The Internet is just a new fad ("The More I Learn" A1). The Internet originally began as DARPANET, a government-created network, which was designed for defense communications. The Net structure is such that it could survive a nuclear war ("Internet History"). The creation of the Net can not be blamed for the existence of hackers though, hackers are older than the Net itself, but the Net is the largest 'hacker haven' today (Spencer, "Hacking McDonalds" 6). The growth of the Net since its creation has been nothing less than astounding. In the 25-plus years since its creation, the Net now has over thirty million users using four million sites worldwide. Estimates rate the growth of the Net anywhere from ten to fifteen percent per month (Spencer, "Hacking McDonalds" 6). The Internet was first released to major universities in the United States of America. Since then, the universities have offered connections to small business, service providers, and even to the individual user. Sometimes these connections cost a fortune, and sometimes they can be obtained for free ("Internet History"). Although some of the original universities have dropped off the Net for various reasons, every major university in the United States, and now, most others in the world, have a connection to the Internet (Quittner 61). Although it isn't easy for an individual to get a direct connection to the Net, many private institutions are getting connections. This is mainly due to the fact that in order to support the very high speed of the Net, a fast computer is needed and a fast connection. A fast computer can cost in the tens of thousands of dollars, at least, and a fast connection can cost twenty thousand dollars or more, followed by a few

HAARP

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

HAARP is an extremely low frequency radio wave generator. It stands for High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program. It is a massive antennae array up in Alaska on the Copper River Basin. It's altitude fluctuates between 1000 and 3000 feet above sea level. It is operated by the US military, more specifically the Navy and Air Force. It operates between 2.8 and 10 MHz. It was also voted one of the 10 most under reported news stories of the year by journalists. Scientific Perspectives HAARP is an HF (High Frequency) generator. It generates frequency's directly above the AM band and below the VHF (Very High Frequency) or TV band. It will zap the Ionosphere which is between 40 and 600 miles above the earth's surface. The ionosphere helps to shield out electromagnetic waves from space that are harmful to life on earth. There are other ionospheric heaters located throughout the world. This specific one differs though from the others in that it concentrates all the energy on one specific spot. This causes a wide beam to focus in on a small area like when you use a piece of glass to start a fire. The others start as a small beam and grows into a bigger area causing the amount of the beam to hit an area to be weaker than when it starts out. The electromagnetic waves then bounce off the ionosphere and radiate back down on the earth. These waves penetrate down to the bottom of the ocean depths. The HAARP project is expected to generate over 1 billion watts when it is completed. It is capable of delivering one watt per square centimeter which can cause the ionosphere to increase and decrease in altitude. Weather modification is also theoretically possible with HAARP. It can cause one of earth's major weather modifiers, the jet stream, to change in direction by causing plumes of atmospheric particles. Another effect is the possibility of raising or lowering large amounts of the earth's atmosphere. This could cause certain areas of the atmosphere to be filled with air or depleted of air. Large amounts of energy could possibly be sent great distances with this technology. Another technological possibility is to spray large area's of the earth with varying wave frequencies and change the frequency. This includes bombarding the frequency of the one that the human brains operate on. You can then cause people to feel a certain

Current Free Speech Doctrine: Will It Work on the Internet?

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

The Internet offers a much greater potential for interactive communication between information senders and receivers than the more traditional methods of communication such as newspaper, radio and television. Freedom of speech ascertained by the constitution is not an absolute right. Depending on the medium through which information is delivered various degrees of the freedom to express one's self is protected. Internet communication may be analogous to either a specific existing communication medium or even several. Current free speech protection begins to dissipate as it is applied to the uncertain confines of the newly developed Cyberspace. The traditionalist approach to free speech protection is centered on core values and yields results that are basically neutral so that content allowed through one communication medium is permissible in all media. Freedom of speech and of the press is a basic tenant of United States constitutional law. Perhaps concern for the English use of prior restraint (licensing of press) and seditious libel was the reason for including the first amendment in our bill of rights. When the first amendment became law the printed page was the most widely used non-verbal medium of speech. Speech, as we understand it, involves more than verbal communication. Speecht includes pictures, movies, radio, television and expressive conduct [Shelton v. Tucker, 364 US 479 (1960)]. As technology advanced and additional communication medium developed, speech was given various levels of first amendment protection depending on the medium through which the information was delivered. Cyberspace is a network of computer systems permitting literally millions of people to communicate with one another on an hourly basis. Cyberspace may mirror other types of communication medium singularly or several at one time. Current free speech protection approaches break down when applied to Cyberspace since one may prohibit speech when delivered by one medium but permit identical speech delivered via a different medium. A core values approach protects identical speech regardless of the medium in which it is delivered. So it is a foundation for Cyberspace and promotes development of new technology. That, "Congress shall make no law..., or abridging the freedom of speech", suggests an absolute right to speak. Justice Black dissenting in Konigsberg felt that freedom of speech was absolute [Konigsberg v. State Bar of California, 366 US 36 (1961)]. Justice Harlan writing for the majority rejected an absolute right, noting that protected freedom of speech was less than an unlimited license to talk. When examining

Object-Oriented Database Management Systems

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

The construction of Object-Oriented Database Management Systems started in the middle 80's, at a prototype building level, and at the beginning of the 90's the first commercial systems appeared. The interest for the development of such systems stems from the need to cover the modeling deficiencies of their predecessors, that is the relational database management systems. They were intended to be used by applications that have to handle big and complex data such as Computer Aided Engineering, Computer Aided Design, and Office Information Systems. The area of the OODBMSs is characterized by three things. First, it lacks a common data model. There is no common data model although many proposals can be found in the literature. This is a more general problem of all the object-oriented systems not only the database management systems. Since the data model determines the database language of the system, which in turn determines the implementation of the system, we can understand that the differences between the various systems with different data models can be big and substantial. Second is the common theoretical framework. Although there is no standard object-oriented model, most object-oriented database systems that are operational or under development today share a set of fundamental object-oriented concepts. Therefore the implementation issues in OODBMSs that arise due to these concepts are universal. The third characteristic is that of experimental activity. Plenty of prototypes have been implemented and some of them became commercial products. There is really a need for applications to handle very complex data and that is why the interest of people in building such systems is so strong. Although there is no consensus on what an OODBMS is and which are the features that differentiate it from other systems, there has been a lot of effort for an agreement on defining the formal characteristics that can stand as the set of specification requirements for the construction of such a system. These should also be used as the set of features that one has to check in order to find out if a system is really an OODBMS. The features of the OODBMS can be divided as follows:

mandatory features: these are the features that one system should have in order to deserve the title OODBMS.

optional features: these are the features that if one system has, should be considered better than another that does not have them, provided that both have all the mandatory features.

Internet Regulation: Policing Cyberspace

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

The Internet is a method of communication and a source of information that is becoming more popular among those who are interested in, and have the time to surf the information superhighway. The problem with this much information being accessible to this many people is that some of it is deemed inappropriate for minors. The government wants censorship, but a segment of the population does not. Legislative regulation of the Internet would be an appropriate function of the government. The Communications Decency Act is an amendment which prevents the information superhighway from becoming a computer "red light district." On June 14, 1995, by a vote of 84-16, the United States Senate passed the amendment. It is now being brought through the House of Representatives.1 The Internet is owned and operated by the government, which gives them the obligation to restrict the materials available through it. Though it appears to have sprung up overnight, the inspiration of free-spirited hackers, it in fact was born in Defense Department Cold War projects of the 1950s.2 The United States Government owns the Internet and has the responsibility to determine who uses it and how it is used. The government must control what information is accessible from its agencies. This material is not lawfully available through the mail or over the telephone, there is no valid reason these perverts should be allowed unimpeded on the Internet. Since our initiative, the industry has commendably advanced some blocking devices, but they are not a substitute for well-reasoned law.4 Because the Internet has become one of the biggest sources of information in this world, legislative safeguards are imperative. The government gives citizens the privilege of using the Internet, but it has never given them the right to use it. They seem to rationalize that the framers of the constitution planned & plotted at great length to make certain that above all else, the profiteering pornographer, the pervert and the pedophile must be free to practice their pursuits in the presence of children on a taxpayer created and subsidized computer network.3 People like this are the ones in the wrong. Taxpayer's dollars are being spent bringing obscene text and graphics into the homes of people all over the world. The government must take control to prevent pornographers from using the Internet however they see fit because they are breaking laws that have existed for years. Cyberpunks, those most popularly associated with the

Internet Censorship

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Thesis: Government Censorship would damage the atmosphere of the freedom to express ideas on the Internet; therefore, government should not encourage censorship. Introduction I. In the Internet community, there is a large volume of technical terms. For this reason, it is first necessary to examine the terminology specific to Internet. 1.The internet is a world wide computer network. 1.Electronic mail (email), which is one component of the Internet, approximates person to person letters, memoranda, notes and even phone calls. 2.Another term that is often used is electronic news (enews/Usenet), enews is a broadcast, free to the Internet medium. 3.The term FTP is also frequently used. File transfer protocol (FTP) started as an Internet archival and retrieval medium, somewhat analogous to traditional libraries. 4.The world-wide web (WWW), which is another component of the Net, can be used to "publish" material that would traditionally appear in journals, magazines, posters, books, television and even on film. 2.It is also essential to give a brief history on the internet. 3.The U.S. government is now trying to pass bills to prevent misuse of the Net. II. In order to understand the need for the ever-growing body of legislation, it is important to explore the controversy, and the current problems involved with the Net as it exists must be introduced. 1.The problem that concerns most people is offensive materials such as pornography. 2.Another crucial internet crime is the stealing of credit card numbers. III. One reaction to this inapplicability has been the "Censor the Net" approach (the censorship bill), we are now to compare its advantages and disadvantages. 1.First, the meaning of "Censoring the Net" must be explained. 2.However, many experts have pointed out that government censorship is not possible. 1.First, it is not fair to exclude the freedom and damage the atmosphere of freely expressing ideas just for the safety of children. 2.Most internet users are enjoying their freedom of speech on the Net, which is supposed to be protected by our First Amendment. 3.Additionally, only a very small portion of the Net contains offensive material, most people do not use the Net for pornography. 4.It must be understood that censoring the Net is technically impossible. 5.While people are concerned about Internet pornography, it should be recognized that pornography is sometimes legal; for example, pornography is legal in video and magazines. IV. There are many alternative measures to government censorship which would prevent misuse of the

Multimedia

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

As a technology, it is called multimedia. As a revolution, it is the sum of many revolutions wrapped into one: A revolution in communication that combines the audio visual power of television, the publishing power of the printing press, and the interactive power of the computer. Multimedia is the convergence of these different professions, once thought independent of one another, coming together to form a new technological approach to the way information and ideas are shared. What will society look like under the evolving institutions of interactive multimedia technologies? Well, if the 1980's were a time for media tycoons, the 1990's will be for the self-styled visionaries. These gurus see a dawning digital age in which the humble television will mutate into a two-way medium for a vast amount of information and entertainment. We can expect to see: movies-on-demand, video games, databases, educational programming, home shopping, telephone services, telebanking, teleconferencing, even the complex simulations of virtual reality. This souped-up television will itself be a powerful computer. This, many believe, will be the world's biggest media group, letting consumers tune into anything, anywhere, anytime. The most extraordinary thing about the multimedia boom, is that so many moguls are spending such vast sums to develop digital technologies, for the delivering of programs and services which are still largely hypothetical. So what is behind such grand prophecies? Primarily, two technological advances known as digitization (including digital compression), and fibre optics. Both are indispensable to the high-speed networks that will deliver dynamic new services to homes and offices. Digitization means translating information, either video, audio, or text, into ones and zeros, which make it easier to send, store, and manipulate. Compression squeezes this information so that more of it can be sent using a given amount of transmission capacity or bandwidth. Fibre-optic cables are producing a vast increase in the amount of bandwidth available. Made of glass so pure that a sheet of it 70 miles thick would be as clear as a window-pane, and the solitary strand of optical fibre the width of a human hair can carry 1,000 times as much information as all radio frequencies put together. This expansion of bandwidth is what is making two-way communication, or interactivity, possible. Neither digitization nor fibre optics is new. But it was only this year that America's two biggest cable-TV owners, TCI and Time Warner , said they would spend $2 billion and $5 billion respectively to deploy

The Internet Market in Kuwait

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Many competitive markets have been appeared in Middle East lately, and specially in Kuwait. The One which I will discuss is the Internet competitive market in Kuwait . Internet has been a great demand in all over the world. In 1992, The ministry of communication in Kuwait provided the internet service. Since there was no community

Internet Censorship Threatens Freedom of Speech

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Thesis: The vast cyber-frontier is being threatend with censorship from the government. Internet censorship should be left up to the individual not the governments discretion. I. Censoring the Internet. A. Clinton passes the C.D.A. B. Our rights as Americans. C. Exon's victory. D. What's really online. E. Strike to free expresson on Compuserve. II. Where the Internet stands now. A. Judges Panel. B. Congress and other's opinions. C. Background information. D. Other opinions. III. Solutions. A. Family's responsibility. B. Censorship Software. C. Civil Rights. Conclusion After threatening the Communications Decency Act with a vetos of the past versions, President Bill Clinton signed the bill into law on February 8, 1996.1 Before hand, congress approved the largest change of the nation's communications laws in 62 years. One of the largest controversial topics included in the bill is the censorship of pornography, which now is a strenuously enforced crime of distributing knowingly to children under 18. The congress overwhelmingly passed the bill with a landslide 414-16 House vote and a 91-5 Senate vote.2 It seems now that the wide bill might not be what it cracked up to be, as it stands now, anyone who might upload James Joyce's Ulysses could be placed in jail for two years and have up to a $250,000 fine.3 Representatives of on-line services industries were concerned about the bill, and feared they could be held criminally responsible for Internet conversations.4 "We face a unique disturbing and urgent circumstance, because it is children who are the computer experts in our nations families," remarked a concerned Rep. Senator of India Dan Coats.5 Although in reality, censorship would do little to stop the pornography problems. The bill is a nation legislation trying to control a international network, which is virtually impossible. According to the First Amendment, Americans were granted to write anything they please, whether it's indecent or not, several series of judicial decisions also helped the freedom down the road.6 Nebraskan Democrat James Exon, put together an informational binder known as the Blue Book to show the Senate about the goings on within the Internet.7 Along the pages of the Blue Book were pictures of people bound and being burned by cigarettes, people pierced with swords and people involved in sexual activities with animals.8 The Senate, acknowledging their ignorance of the Internet, passed Exon's proposal after seeing the pictures in the Blue Book.9 Along with distribution of pornography, a person carries the chance of two

Sony Playstation vs Nintendo 64

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

In the last two years of 1995 and 1996, the video game world was taken into another gaming dimension. The releases of the Sony Playstation in September of 1995 and the Nintendo 64 in September of 1996 has given the gaming public an enormous boost of technological advances in the home entertainment system for the common man. Sony and Nintendo soon became heated rivals as each company tries to out sell each other in the gaming marketplace. Eventhough the Sony Playstation and Nintendo 64 are two different systems. They both have some similar qualities and some very notable differences. First of all the most notable difference between the Sony Playstation and Nintendo 64 is the processing power. Most noteworthy is the fact that the Nintendo 64 is a 64-bit machine, while the Sony Playstation is only a 32-bit system. This means the Nintendo 64 can produce better graphics in a game, while the Sony Playstation's graphics aren't as good. The colors in the Nintendo 64's games are more vibrant, while the Playstation's colors seem to be more dull. Another difference is in the price of each of the systems. The Nintendo 64 is a bit more pricey at $199.99 than the Sony Playstation at $149.99. The games for each of the system also plays at vital role in the gaming marketplace. Both of these systems has some advantages when it comes to games. The Sony Playstation is the favorite in this category, with over 170 games with many 3rd party developers in its extensive library of games. Obviously the Nintendo 64 has less games in its library, due to the fact that the Nintendo was released a year later. The Playstation specializes in the sports genre with many different sporting titles. Sports games such as Madden football '98, NHL'98, NBA Live '98, and PGA Tour Golf '98. The Nintendo 64 specializes in the action/adventure genre with various different titles. With action/adventure games such as Turok: the dinosaur hunter, Super Mario 64, Goldeneye, and Super Mario Cart 64. The prices of the games for the Nintendo system are very expensive compared to the Sony. A Nintendo game can range in price from $59.99 to $69.99 and a Sony game can cost between $39.99 and $49.99. Another difference between the Nintendo 64 and the Sony Playstation is the media in which the games are stored. The Nintendo uses cartridges to store its

Economic Impact of Canadian Telecommunications Legislation

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Canada has been transformed in recent years into an information based society. Nearly half of the labour force in Canada works in occupations involving the collection and processing of information. In a society in which information has become a commodity, communications provide a vital link that can mean the difference between success or failure. Telecommunications is a fundamental infrastructure of the Canadian economy and society. For these reasons, an efficient and dynamic telecommunications industry is necessary to ensure economic prosperity. Deregulating the Long Distance Industry is the only sure way to ensure that prosperity. Telecommunications in Canada, which include services and manufacturing, employ more than 125,000 people and generate over $21 billion in revenues (Dept. of Communications, 1992, p7). Telecommunications helps to overcome the obstacles of distance in a vast country such as Canada, permitting remote communities to benefit from services taken for granted in large urban centres. More than 98 percent of Canadian households have a telephone, and there are more than 15 million telephone lines for a population of nearly 27 million(Dept. of Communications, 1992, p7). It is therefore not surprising that Canadians are among the biggest users of telecommunications in the world. For example, in 1990, Canadians made more than three billion long-distance calls (Dept. of Communications, 1992, p8). Innovations made possible through telecommunications have also contributed significantly to the phenomenal growth of the Canadian telecommunications industry. For example, the total value of the major telephone companies' investment in their facilities rose from $17.8 billion in 1979 to $40.3 billion in 1990. In the same year, Canadian telecommunications companies reported more than $15 billion in revenues, accounting for an estimated 2.7 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In addition, in 1990 the telecom industry achieved a real growth rate (after inflation) of 8.6 percent compared to 0.3 percent for the Canadian economy as a whole. Telecommunications is also Canada's leading high-technology industry; its Research and Development costs of $1.4 billion in 1990 represent about 24 percent of total expenditures in this area. This shows how telecommunications has come to play such a vital role in our society, in addition to being our most important high technology indus! try (Dept. of Communications, 1992, p9-12). Changes are constantly taking place in the telecom industry. These changes are caused by rapid progress in telecommunications technology, growing demand for new services, the globalization of trade and manufacturing operations, and increasing competition worldwide. It

Technology. The Way of the Future?

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

The 90's has been a decade full of controversial and world changing events. The first one I could think of would have to be the Persian Gulf War with Iraq. I think that war brought together the United States, stopped our fighting with each other, and helped us focus on one common enemy, Saddam Hussein. The next thing we did was send troops to Haiti and to Somalia to help protect the people and the failing governments. Once again the United States was brought together in a time of war. However, I believe that the one true Zeitgeist of the 90's isn't the wars that brought us together but the information and technology age that will break us apart. The way that new products are being developed each day in the next 10 to 20 years almost everything will be automated and many being will be out of a job doing nothing. The Internet is now one of the biggest things in the world today with the help of companies like American on Line, CompuServe, Prodigy, Phillips Web Tv and all the other companies that are trying to get rich off of it. They say people can stay in the safety of their home while they can shop, talk to people online and even send things like birthday cards thanks to companies that advertise on the web like Hallmark and Disney's family page. The Internet also offers a way to get information from a wide variety of sources like Compton's Encyclopedia and other useful tools. The Internet offers all of this stuff for us to browse through without leaving our home that pretty soon no one will leave their home especially with newer technology coming out everyday. Computers are the wave of the future and with modems and the Internet and now teleconferencing many more people will be staying at home while they work. New inventions like processing chips that can run billions of commands in a matter of seconds that soon will be able to take control of robots and other machinery that will make human work obsolete. Detroit, Michigan home of the General Motors automotive company was once a huge flourishing community that had a huge population base. Now it is all made up of a few factories that have a very small population base that is mainly operated by machinery and giant robots. Just recently both of my parents started to

How Technology Effects Modern America - US Wage Trends

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

The microeconomic picture of the U.S. has changed immensely since 1973, and the trends are proving to be consistently downward for the nation's high school graduates and high school drop-outs. "Of all the reasons given for the wage squeeze - international competition, technology, deregulation, the decline of unions and defense cuts - technology is probably the most critical. It has favored the educated and the skilled," says M. B. Zuckerman, editor-in-chief of U.S. News & World Report (7/31/95). Since 1973, wages adjusted for inflation have declined by about a quarter for high school dropouts, by a sixth for high school graduates, and by about 7% for those with some college education. Only the wages of college graduates are up. Of the fastest growing technical jobs, software engineering tops the list. Carnegie Mellon University reports, "recruitment of it's software engineering students is up this year by over 20%." All engineering jobs are paying well, proving that highly skilled labor is what employers want! "There is clear evidence that the supply of workers in the [unskilled labor] categories already exceeds the demand for their services," says L. Mishel, Research Director of Welfare Reform Network. In view of these facts, I wonder if these trends are good or bad for society. "The danger of the information age is that while in the short run it may be cheaper to replace workers with technology, in the long run it is potentially self-destructive because there will not be enough purchasing power to grow the economy," M. B. Zuckerman. My feeling is that the trend from unskilled labor to highly technical, skilled labor is a good one! But, political action must be taken to ensure that this societal evolution is beneficial to all of us. "Back in 1970, a high school diploma could still be a ticket to the middle income bracket, a nice car in the driveway and a house in the suburbs. Today all it gets is a clunker parked on the street, and a dingy apartment in a low rent building," says Time Magazine (Jan 30, 1995 issue). However, in 1970, our government provided our children with a free education, allowing the vast majority of our population to earn a high school diploma. This means that anyone, regardless of family income, could be educated to a level that would allow them a comfortable place in the middle class. Even restrictions upon child labor hours kept

Living In Space: Energy

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Space is filled with radiant energy and beyond earth's atmosphere this energy flow more steadily and more intensely from the sun than that which penetrates to the surface of the Earth. So an abundant and essential source of energy that would be used in space for the space colony would be solar radiation by developing satellite solar power stations. To live in space, humans must be protected from the fierce intensity and penetrating wavelengths of unattenuated sunlight, but this same energy is one of the primary resources of space. The colony will have to have enough energy to maintain a fairly uniform temperature even though it is apace. The sun shines twenty-four hours a day and is not dimmed by an atmosphere. Shaded materials not exposed to direct sunlight will almost be at absolute zero. While the temperature in closed bodies exposed to the sun can soar above the boiling point. The colony will need to have both heaters and air conditioners. On the other hand, this sun's energy can be converted into electricity in the colonies. It will be converted with ten percent efficiency to electrical power which is sold at a rate of .012 kw/hr, a square kilometre of space would return more than $14,000,000 each year. Converting solar power to electricity in space, we would build satellite solar power stations that would intercept the sunlight and convert it into electricity. The satellite solar power stations would intercept enough sunlight to replace five nuclear reactors or coal plants. The stations could be as big as nine miles long and four miles wide and it would only weigh twenty thousand tons. It would be built with hollow triangular girders made of aluminum that is very fast and easy to build . Solar power satellites are a pollution free way to generate electricity and cost no more than coal or nuclear energy. There has been twomajor designed stations made so far. One is designed by Peter Glaser of Author D. Little Inc., which would use very large arrays of photo voltaic cells to make the conversion directly into energy. The other major design is by Gordon Woodcock of Boeing Aircraft Corporation, proposed having conventional turbogenerators operating on a Brayton cycle with helium as the working fluid. The key product in the solar power stations is solar cells, which does the actual converting of energy into electricity. A useful material is found in lunar soil

Solar Energy

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Solar cells today are mostly made of silicon, one of the most common elements on Earth. The crystalline silicon solar cell was one of the first types to be developed and it is still the most common type in use today. They do not pollute the atmosphere and they leave behind no harmful waste products. Photovoltaic cells work effectively even in cloudy weather and unlike solar heaters, are more efficient at low temperatures. They do their job silently and there are no moving parts to wear out. It is no wonder that one marvels on how such a device would function. To understand how a solar cell works, it is necessary to go back to some basic atomic concepts. In the simplest model of the atom, electrons orbit a central nucleus, composed of protons and neutrons. each electron carries one negative charge and each proton one positive charge. Neutrons carry no charge. Every atom has the same number of electrons as there are protons, so, on the whole, it is electrically neutral. The electrons have discrete kinetic energy levels, which increase with the orbital radius. When atoms bond together to form a solid, the electron energy levels merge into bands. In electrical conductors, these bands are continuous but in insulators and semiconductors there is an "energy gap", in which no electron orbits can exist, between the inner valence band and outer conduction band [Book 1]. Valence electrons help to bind together the atoms in a solid by orbiting 2 adjacent nucleii, while conduction electrons, being less closely bound to the nucleii, are free to move in response to an applied voltage or electric field. The fewer conduction electrons there are, the higher the electrical resistivity of the material. In semiconductors, the materials from which solar sells are made, the energy gap Eg is fairly small. Because of this, electrons in the valence band can easily be made to jump to the conduction band by the injection of energy, either in the form of heat or light [Book 4]. This explains why the high resistivity of semiconductors decreases as the temperature is raised or the material illuminated. The excitation of valence electrons to the conduction band is best accomplished when the semiconductor is in the crystalline state, i.e. when the atoms are arranged in a precise geometrical formation or "lattice". At room temperature and low illumination, pure or so-called "intrinsic" semiconductors

Economic Consequences of Software Crime

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

In 1996 worldwide illegal copying of domestic and international software cost $15.2 billion to the software industry, with a loss of $5.1 billion in the North America alone. Some sources put the total up-to-date losses, due to software crime, as high as $4.7 trillion. On the next page is a regional breakdown of software piracy losses for 1994. Estimates show that over 40 percent of North American software company revenues are generated overseas, yet nearly 85 percent of the software industry's piracy losses occurred outside of North America. The Software Publishers Association (SPA) indicated that approximately 35 percent of the business software in the North America was obtained illegally. In fact, 30 percent of the piracy occurs in corporate settings. In a corporate setting or business, every computer must have its own set of original software and the appropriate number of manuals. It is illegal for a corporation or business to purchase a single set of original s! oftware and then load that software onto more than one computer, or lend, copy or distribute software for any reason without the prior written consent of the software manufacturer. Many software managers are concerned with the legal compliance, along with asset management and costs to their organizations. Many firms involve their legal departments and human resources in regards to software distribution and licensing. Information can qualify to be property in two ways; patent law and copyright laws which are creations of federal statutes, which are subject to Constitutional authority. In order for the government to prosecute the unauthorized copying of computerized information as theft, it must first rely on other theories of information-as-property. Trade secret laws are created by provincial law, and most jurisdictions have laws that criminalize the violations of a trade-secret holder's rights. The definition of a trade secret varies somewhat from province to province, but commonly have the same elements. For example, the information must be secret, not of public knowledge or of general knowledge in the trade or business. A court will allow a trade secret to be used by someone who discovered or developed the trade secret independently if the holder takes adequate precautions to protect the secret. In 1964, the National Copyright Office began to register software as a form of literary expression. The office based its decision on White-Smith Music Co. v. Apollo, where the Supreme Court determined that a piano roll used in a player piano did

Software and copyright

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Current copright and patent laws are inapropriate for computer software; their imposition slows down software development and reduces competition. From the first computer as we know them, the ENIAC, computer software has become more and more important. From thousands of bytes on miles of paper to millions of bytes on a thin piece of tin foilsandwitched between two pieces of plastic, software has played an important part in the world. Computers have most likely played an important role in all our lives, from making math easier with calculators, to having money on the go with ATM machines. However, with all the help that has been given to us, we haven't done anything for software and the people who write it. Software by nature is completely defenseless, as it is more or less simply intellectual property, and not a physical thing, thus very easily copied. Copied software does not make money for its creators, and thus they charge more for whats not copied, and the whole industry inflates. There are two categories of intellectual property. The first one is composed of writing, music, and films,which are covered by copyright. Inventions and innovations are covered by patent. These two categories have covered for years many kinds of work with little or no conflict. Unfortunately, it is not that easy when dealing with such a complex matter as computer software. When something is typed on a computer, it is considered writting, as it is all written words and numbers. However, when executed by the computer, it functions like an invention, performing a specific task as instructed by the user. Thus, software falls into both categories (Del Guercio 22-24). It is generally covered today by copyright laws, for most mass market software at least. More advanced software or programming techniques, however, can be patented, as they are neither obvious nor old. This results in many problems which I will go into later. Copyrights last the lifetime of the author, plus 50 years, and can be renewed. Patents last only 17 years, but cannot be renewed. With technology advancing so quickly, it is not necessary to maintain the protection of the software for the length of the copyright, but also, it is sometimes necessary to renew them (Del Guercio 22-24), say, for a 10th sequel in a video game series or version 47.1 of Bob's Graphic Program. With copyrighted material, one is able to write software similiar

Virtual Reality - What it is and How it Works

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Imagine being able to point into the sky and fly. Or perhaps walk through space and connect molecules together. These are some of the dreams that have come with the invention of virtual reality. With the introduction of computers, numerous applications have been enhanced or created. The newest technology that is being tapped is that of artificial reality, or "virtual reality" (VR). When Morton Heilig first got a patent for his "Sensorama Simulator" in 1962, he had no idea that 30 years later people would still be trying to simulate reality and that they would be doing it so effectively. Jaron Lanier first coined the phrase "virtual reality" around 1989, and it has stuck ever since. Unfortunately, this catchy name has caused people to dream up incredible uses for this technology including using it as a sort of drug. This became evident when, among other people, Timothy Leary became interested in VR. This has also worried some of the researchers who are trying to create very real applications for medical, space, physical, chemical, and entertainment uses among other things. In order to create this alternate reality, however, you need to find ways to create the illusion of reality with a piece of machinery known as the computer. This is done with several computer-user interfaces used to simulate the senses. Among these, are stereoscopic glasses to make the simulated world look real, a 3D auditory display to give depth to sound, sensor lined gloves to simulate tactile feedback, and head-trackers to follow the orientation of the head. Since the technology is fairly young, these interfaces have not been perfected, making for a somewhat cartoonish simulated reality. Stereoscopic vision is probably the most important feature of VR because in real life, people rely mainly on vision to get places and do things. The eyes are approximately 6.5 centimeters apart, and allow you to have a full-colour, three-dimensional view of the world. Stereoscopy, in itself, is not a very new idea, but the new twist is trying to generate completely new images in real- time. In 1933, Sir Charles Wheatstone invented the first stereoscope with the same basic principle being used in today's head-mounted displays. Presenting different views to each eye gives the illusion of three dimensions. The glasses that are used today work by using what is called an "electronic shutter". The lenses of the glasses interleave the left-eye and right-eye views

History of Space Exploration

1999-01-22T13:00:00-05:00

Exploration; to travel in a little-known region for discovery, as defined by Webster. Since the age of the Greeks, Anglo-Saxons have been interested in space exploration. From Copernicus to Gaileo to Newton, space has been looked upon with adoring eyes. Space has been regarded time after time as the final frontier. That was until 1957, with the launch of the Sputnik-1, when the Soviet built satellite became the first man-made satellite successfully launched out into outer space. In 1958, the United States matched the Soviets with their own satellite, Explorer III. After that, it became a free-for-all out into the darkest regions of the final frontier. The ascension into space for the United States started off with rockets, satellites, and probes then later moved on to shuttles and larger spacecrafts. In 1946, the United States started their climb towards the heavens with the NRL V-2. The rocket gave the first observations of the Sun's UV spectrum. In 1949, the NRL V-2 gave the first observations of solar X-rays. In 1958, the Explorer III became the US's first satellite and it also discovered Earth's radiation belt. On August 17th, 1958, the US set its sights upon the moon with the Pioneer 0 but it exploded in its first stages of ascension. It was followed later in the year by Pioneer 1 and Pioneer 3 both lunar orbiters, but again failure because both separately failed to reach atmospheric escape velocity. The following years Pioneer 4 and 5 were launched as space probes and are presently still in solar orbit. In 1962, the Aerobee Rocket was launched and observed the first x-ray star. In the 1960's, NASA began the Ranger space probe program. They were NASA's earliest Moon exploration program probes. These spacecrafts were designed to perform a crash landing upon the Moon's surface. They were intended to take pictures and return scientific data up until the impact of the probe with the lunar surface. On April 23rd, 1962, the Ranger 4 became the first US lunar impact on the Moon's surface. The Soviets had done it first with Luna 2 on September 14th, 1959. The Ranger's provided scientists with more than 17,000 close up pictures of the lunar surface and specifically the areas of Mare Tranquillitatis and Ocean Procellarum. (Johnson) These pictures gave us more information about the Moon and its surface in just a few years than all the previous attempts put