Section+3,+Table+1+-+Intro+to+the+course,+history+of+computing,+information+searching

Heres the link to the key terms for week 1 https://canvas.instructure.com/courses/739593/wiki/week-1-keywords?module_item_id=4202119


 * Moore's Law**--//which states that the number of transistors on a given chip can be doubled every two years//--has been the guiding principle of progress in electronics and computing since Moore first formulated the famous dictum in 1965. And, for the same amount of time, people have predicted it would hit a wall.

So far it hasn't, meaning chips and computers have become simultaneously more powerful and less expensive. The number of transistors produced annually is now roughly equal to the number of letters and/or characters printed annually--and they cost about the same to produce, Moore noted. The amount of transistors produced each year outnumbers the worldwide ant population by 10 to 100 times.

In some markets, "you can get 50 million transistors for a buck these days," Moore said. In the late 1950s, some chips had 200 transistors; by 2005, Intel will produce chips with 1 billion transistors. Semiconductor industry revenue has grown 800-fold since the late '50s.

-Three hardware systems: 1. a central processing unit (CPU) 2. main memory system 3. an I/O system - Capacity to carry out sequential instruction processing Non-Von Neumann model - 1960’s- computer systems equipped with dual processors to increase computational throughput - 1970’s- supercomputers equipped with 32 processors - 1980’s- supercomputers built with 1000 processors - 1999- IBM created Blue Gene system with 1M+ processors
 * Early computers – stored programs – Von Neumann Architecture systems
 * Today’s stored program computers – characteristics
 * Single data path between CPU & main memory
 * Newer computer have expanded capabilities, including specialized buses, separate memories
 * Adding processors to increase processing power
 * Multiple processors
 * Parallel processing – only one method of providing more computational power.

UNIVersal Automatic Computer

- world's first commercially available computer - John Mauchly, owner of company - unique in that it separated the complex problems of input and output from the actual computation facility - it was able to predict an election outcome and had one of the first industrial payroll application - 25 feet by 50 feet in length - internal storage capacity of 12,000 characters - Power consumption was about 120 kva - processing speed was 0.525 milliseconds for arithmetic functions - first computer to have magnetic tape units (which stores data) and to use buffer memory


 * **Storage Media Types**
 * Floppy, Hard Drives, Zip Drives, USB Drives
 * bit = 1/8 byte
 * KB = 2^10 - 1024bytes
 * MB = 2^20
 * Hexadecimal Notations Role
 * Base 16 - digits 0-9 and A-F for 10-15
 * Used primarily for representing color on the web
 * 1's and 0's
 * 8 bits in a byte so there are 256 different combinations per byte
 * Ex)
 * 00000001
 * 00000011
 * ASCII
 * American Standard Code for information interchange
 * Uses 7 bits
 * Binary values allow for 0-127 different combinations
 * Most computers extend ASCII for full 256 characters in a byte using accented characters from different languages
 * Computers use powers of 2 for binary
 * A bit (1,0)
 * Boolean functions - truth tables
 * Different Kinds of gatesCircuits consist of combination logic circuits
 * Basic Gates - AND, OR, NOT
 * Universal Gates - NOR (OR + NOT) and NAND (AND _NOT)
 * Combination Logic Circuits
 * Half Adder - adds two one bit binary numbers
 * Full Adder - adds binary numbers and any values coming along for the ride
 * Creation of 1's and 0's
 * George Boole, end of the 19th century
 * Logical thought represented via math equations
 * Computers thus use boolean algebra\
 * Formal Logic
 * On and off
 * Digital systems
 * on and off, 1 and 0, high and low

= = =__Information Searching (Thursday 8/30)__=

1. Authority a. Is the information reliable? b. Check the credentials! c. Is there a reputable organization or expert behind the resource? d. Are the sources cited? e. Is it biased? f. Can the author be contacted for clarification?
 * Checklist for Evaluating Web Services: **

a. Is the material useful? Unique? Accurate? Doubtful? b. Is it available in other formats? c. Is the purpose of the source clearly stated? Does it fulfil its purpse? d. What items are included in the resource? Time period, subject area, formats? e. How frequently is the resource updated?
 * 2. Scope **

a. Is the information accessible? (easy to get to?) How many links to click befire you get to what you need? b. Is the target audience clearly indicated? c. Does the site have its own search engine? d. Is the site browsable or searchable. e. Is the arrangement of links uncluttered.
 * 3. Format and Presentation **


 * 4. Cost and Accessibility **

a. Is the site available on a consistent basis? b. How is the response time? c. Is there a text-based alternative? d. How many links are dead ends? e. Is this a fee-based site? Can non members have access to part of the site? f. Do you have to register?


 * Other tips: **

a. Check other sites and compare information (Google it!) b. In the URL a ~ (tilde) usually indicates that the content is in a personal web directory rather than an organization's official website. c. Check printed sources. d. Check header and footer information.

Evaluating Internet Info Telling good information from the bad? Areas to look at for quality information on the Web Authority Coverage Objectivity Accuracy Currency
 * Authority
 * Coverage
 * Objectivity
 * Accuracy
 * To tell if a page has authority look at the top and bottom of the web page.
 * Is the page signed?
 * Authors qualifications available?
 * Association with an education institution or reputable organization?
 * Contact info for the author or group on the site?
 * Use the WhoIs servce
 * Look at the URL
 * Is it .org? .edu? .gov? .net? .com?
 * Page explaining who they are and/ their mission or philosophy.
 * Read through/scan the web page
 * Is the info relevant to your topic of interest?
 * Is the information on the page found elsewhere?
 * In-depth details on the material?
 * Observe the webpage and consider:
 * The page show bias?
 * Factual or Persuasive(Opinionated)?
 * Free of advertisements or sponsored links?
 * Is this site linked through searches?
 * Such as Google's link searches
 * Since there are no Web standards that exist to ensure accuracy, and most sites rarely have editors you should look to see:
 * Is the info reliable and error-free?
 * Editor or Fact-checker?
 * Is the page dated?
 * Can you find when was the last update?
 * Links current? Point to existing pages?