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The Evolution of Computing and its Impact on History

The Evolution of Computing and its Impact on History

Author Archives: Andrew Atkinson

Class Summary: 11/30

04 Sunday Dec 2011

Posted by Andrew Atkinson in Class Summary

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We had quite a busy day today, jamming 9 presentations into the 50-minute class.

First, Nathan gave a presentation on fonts, starting with a history of printing. This began with the printing press in 1440, where documents were duplicated by creating molds of each page. Luckily we’ve gone a long way from this difficult process. Nathan contrasted two kinds of fonts- bitmap fonts and outline fonts. Bitmap fonts are just a matrix of points that make up the character.

The problem with bitmap fonts is that they are not scalable, so they must be made for a variety of sizes. Outline fonts define vectors and drawing instructions so that they are scalable. Font technology has been very important in broadening our printed communication abilities.

Next, Mai talked about HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) and GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces). GUIs were a huge advance in HCI from the previous text-based command interfaces. Douglas Englebert invented the mouse and created the first GUI. Englebert’s work led to Xerox creating the first ever GUI computer. Other interfaces that are emerging include touchscreen, gestures, 3D, and tactile interfaces.

Nick next talked about Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM), which uses statistical analysis of medical data across numerous parameters to improve patient care. This field arose from the same problem that Hollerith faced- too much data to analyze. Two pioneers of the field, Dr. Robert Ledley and Dr. Lee Lusted headed an NIH initiative to integrate computers into hospitals. Ledley’s “Metal brain for diagnosis” was a primitive diagnosis program, where one could push buttons for exhibited symptoms. EBM has struggled because of the divide between doctors and computer people, but can be incredibly effective- one example was a massive increase in survival rates from Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Then I (Andrew) gave a presentation on Arthur Lee Samuel and the field of machine learning. I talked about Samuels’ checkers program, the first ever machine learning program. Then I talked about other games that computers are trying to master, one of the most challenging of which is go. Finally, I attempted to give a quick introduction to the field of machine learning, and supervised vs. unsupervised learning. I gave a few scenarios where these methods could be applied, and some real-life applications like Google News and Facebook.

 

Kevin then talked about the origin of video games, starting in 1958 with “Tennis for Two” by William Higinbotham, a game displayed on an oscilloscope. It was created to help draw public interest to the laboratory that Higinbotham worked at, because they were worried the technical pieces wouldn’t generate enough interest. It was a huge hit at the exhibition, with hundreds of people lining up to play. But no one expected interest in computer games to continue…

Then John talked about the important impact of computers on the financial market. In the 1950’s, if you wanted to know the value of a stock, you had to call your broker who had to look through paper strips; or if it couldn’t be found, send someone out onto the floor to find it. With a huge advance, Quotron I, the ticker was fed in and written onto magnetic tape. Next, Quotron II had a screen that could show important features, including yearly highs and lows. Now, stock information is accessible at a single mouse click with sites like Yahoo Finance. Since the 1950’s, with these advances, we have gone from 3.8 million to 3.5 billion trades per day.

We next learned about slot machines from Jenelle. Back in the day, these machines were known as “one-armed bandits”. They were not reliable, and were unpopular in casinos. Charles Fey invented these early mechanical slot machines. Nowadays, the randomization is done by a central computer which determines when the reels stop spinning. The digitalization of slot machines has turned them into one of the top attractions in casinos.

Manali next presented on the history of hearing aids. Initially, hearing aids would have to be concealed under clothing or fans or elsewhere, because they were much too large. Some important advanced contributed to miniaturizing hearing aids, including vacuum tubes, the micro-telephone, the printed circuit, transistors, and the integrated circuit. In fact, the first application of integrated circuits was for hearing aids.

Finally, Sarah talked about photography. The history of cameras began with the camera obscura, which projected the scene onto a screen behind the pinhole. Later, bitumen plates were placed inside these pinhole cameras, which allowed the image to be stored temporarily. But they faded over time. Advancement accelerated in the 19th century, with silver chloride in 1839, printing using negatives in 1841, hand-held cameras in 1879, camera film in 1889, and color film in 1935; and finally, 1991, when people realized that digital cameras were here to stay.

And that’s the end of the course. We concluded by making ice cream sundaes and having a dance party on the table.

Have a good winter break everyone, it’s been fun.

Andrew

Class Summary: 11/23

24 Thursday Nov 2011

Posted by Andrew Atkinson in Class Summary

≈ 4 Comments

Dr. Wagstaff began with the announcement, as she also emailed, that if you have missed a class, you can make up your missed participation points by posting “a thoughtful, contentful comment that shows you’ve read/understood/digested the material we covered that day.”
She also reminded us that presentations are next week. And keep them to 4.5 minutes so we have time for questions and discussion. We will be cut off at 5 minutes, so practice it with a timer to get down to 4.5 minutes.

Identity and Privacy were the topics for today. We passed around slips of paper with quotes about identity and privacy from the reading. We read the quotes and discussed them. We talked about MUDs (Multi-User Dungeon), MUSHs (Multi-User Shared Hallucination), and MMORPGs. A MUD is a text-based virtual fantasy game. Similarly, a

MUSH is a text based virtual domain, but not necessarily a game. We talked about how these games allow people to change themselves and be whatever they want. One aspect of these cyber worlds that we discussed was gender changing. We discussed the motivations behind pretending to be the opposite gender: curiosity, experimentation, challenge, TinySex (cyber sex). In these online worlds, you can pretend to be anything and meet interesting people, overlooking the fact that they are probably lying right back to you. Dr. Wagstaff recommended The Guild, an online TV show written by Felicia Day, which satirizes these communities.
We next talked about privacy. There are some scary concerns when it comes to internet privacy. One example is that researchers could predict with 78% accuracy whether a male is gay by analyzing his Twitter. Even social security numbers can be found by mining social network profiles. Another concern was that iPhones log all of your locations on-device. There is a cool app called iPhone Tracker, which shows you where you’ve

been and where you spend a lot of time. But since all the data is stored on-board, rather than a secure server, it could be bad if your phone was stolen.

We had to cut the class early so we could fill out class evaluations.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Babbage vs. Evolution

16 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by Andrew Atkinson in Alternate History

≈ 1 Comment

May 22, 1826 marks the first voyage of one of the most important ships in history, the HMS Beagle. The Beagle and the HMS Adventure departed together on a several-year long mission to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego to conduct hydrographic survey, which involves measurement and description of the ocean and coastal regions. Like regular surveying, hydrographic surveying requires trigonometry and precise calculations. This task was difficult in the 19th century, especially on top of the challenge of navigation. The Straight of Magellan, off of the coast of Tierra del Fuego, is one of the most important but dangerous water passages in the world. In the weeks of surveying this especially difficult area, Captain Pringle Stokes went into a long phase of depression, ending in his suicide. He was replaced by Robert FitzRoy.

After his success on the first voyage, FitzRoy was put in charge of the Beagle’s second voyage, which departed in late 1831. On the first voyage, FitzRoy had wanted an expert on geology, so for the second, he decided to “endeavor to carry out a person qualified to examine the land; while the officers, and myself, would attend to hydrography”. He wanted a naturalist to go on land to learn about the geology. He had the additional requirement that the naturalist be someone that would make him a good companion. FitzRoy’s friend, Dr. John Henslow sent a letter to someone he thought might fulfill the position. The letter read,

“…that I consider you to be the best qualified person I know of who is likely to undertake such a situation— I state this not on the supposition of yr. being a finished Naturalist, but as amply qualified for collecting, observing, & noting any thing worthy to be noted in Natural History. Peacock has the appointment at his disposal & if he can not find a man willing to take the office, the opportunity will probably be lost— Capt. F. wants a man (I understand) more as a companion than a mere collector & would not take any one however good a Naturalist who was not recommended to him likewise as a gentleman. … there never was a finer chance for a man of zeal & spirit… Don’t put on any modest doubts or fears about your disqualifications for I assure you I think you are the very man they are in search of.”

The letter was to Charles Darwin. You know the rest of the story.

But what if Charles Babbage had completed his difference engine before all of this? He originally proposed his idea to the Royal Astronomical Society in 1822. Assume that everything ran smoothly and the invention was completed by 1828. The difference engine would have been able to quickly, cheaply, and accurately produce important trigonometric tables that would have been hugely beneficial to navigation and hydrographic surveying. In this case, the first voyage of the Beagle could have run much more efficiently and Captain Stokes could have enjoyed a relaxing trip to Tierra del Fuego instead of shooting himself in his cabin. Robert FitzRoy wouldn’t have taken over as captain so he wouldn’t have requested a naturalist/companion for his next voyage, and Darwin would not have been on board. He would have continued his plan of become a priest instead of writing one of the most influential works of all time.

So what if Darwin had never written “On the Origin of Species”? It’s fair to assume that the theory of evolution through natural selection would still have become scientifically accepted, since Darwin was not the first or only person to suggest it. However, Darwin was by far the most convincing, thorough, and methodically correct of the early proponents of evolution. “On the Origin of Species” laid important groundwork not only in evolution, but all life sciences, because of its strong use of the hypothetico-deductive method. Prior to this, naturalists would mostly just describe, name, and study the anatomy of species. Darwin used reasoning, analogy, and large amounts of evidence to form his “long argument”, which laid new foundations for the scientific method in biology. It was well-devised and argued strongly, making it an extremely persuasive work that inspired the evolutionary movement and exemplified proper scientific methodology. Without Darwin, natural selection would have been years behind, as would the foundations of biological research in general. This is perhaps what would have happened if Babbage had finished his machine and vastly improved the availability of accurate trig tables for celestial navigation and surveying.

But luckily Babbage never finished his engine…

There and back again

03 Monday Oct 2011

Posted by Andrew Atkinson in Personal History

≈ 1 Comment

When I was eight, my grandfather got a new iMac 3g, the Bondi Blue, complete with hockey-puck mouse and the wonderful game Lemmings. Whenever I visited I would play the game and learn how to use the computer. Soon after, my father got a PC for my two brothers and I to share. Learning both operating systems simultaneously, I remember finding Windows easier and more intuitive than the Macintosh (no longer the case). On our PC, we brothers would play games like Diablo, Myst, and Doom. As the youngest, I usually watched, but sometimes got the special job of managing the potions or spell book during tough fights. I continued to be an avid gamer, and kept learning and loving computers.

When first trying to figure out the internet, I remember hearing the AOL voice say, “You’ve got mail!”. Amazed by the computer’s knowledge, I went out to check the mailbox. There was no mail, and I never trusted AOL again.

I eventually did learn about email though, a few years later, with my first Hotmail account. I was twelve, so I really didn’t care about my inbox or messages. But my account gave me access to all sorts of great free games on MSN. My favorite was online chess. Chess was already my favorite game, and being able to play it online with thousands of real people was incredible. I could practice more effectively and play all the time! With my computer to help me train, I went on to win several local chess tournaments and even compete in the nationals. Over the years I lost my ability to run a strong Queen’s Gambit, but my love and skill for computers only grew, and continued to help me.

Throughout elementary and middle school, I felt that my computer-savvyness gave me a big advantage. I could do better research online, type papers instead of write them, and solve the problems of my tech-foreign teachers. I learned how to use computers to make art, get news, and type to friends in real time. I even figured out a way to use the internet to get free music! It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

In High school I got Adobe CS3, and began doing animation in Flash, web design with Dreamweaver, and art in Photoshop. As a filmmaker, I also used Adobe’s Premiere Pro and After Effects. I used computers for everything and knew a lot about them.  But it wasn’t until OSU that I learned how to program. A civil engineering major at first, I decided to take a computer science class; I changed my major to CS a few weeks later. I loved it immediately, and had no doubt that it was the field for me. That was two years ago. It’s going great, and I have a couple more years to go. One thing I find myself always learning is that I hardly know anything. I went from a sophisticated computer user to an amateur computer scientist. I’m constantly amazed by the enormity and evolution of the discipline, and admittedly daunted by the fact that it is growing much faster than I can hope to learn it! But I will keep trying, and keep looking forward to what I will be able to do with computers in the future.

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