CS110 - Final

Modem

(modulator-demodulator) is a device or program that enables a computer to transmit data over, for example, telephone or cable lines.

Give three examples of Operating Systems.

-IOS, Mac OS, and Windows 7

Give three examples of software applications.

-Microsoft office -Outlook -iTunes

Order the following computing Paradigms chronologically (Oldest First)

1.Mainframe Computing 2.Client-server Computing 3.Cloud Computing

Briefly describe one Citizen Science Project and how it has contributed to knowledge in a particular field of study. You may summarize one of the projects identified in the article listed or you may follow the links at the end of the article and summarize another project of interest to you.

A Citizen Science project that specifically interested me was "Increasing Scientific Understanding of Seasonal Variation in Plants and Animals". In this project, 1,800 people contributed their records of unique plants and animals, these observations were of approximately 10,000 unique beings, this greatly contributed to our understanding of our eco system and animals that most people didn't even know existed.

Cloud Computing

A computing resource in a remote location.

Router

A device that forwards data packets along networks. A router is connected to at least two networks and are located at gateways.

Trim in SSDs

A feature of the Data Set management command. The command is used in the operating system to wipe invalid data blocks on solid-state drives (SSD) which are no longer in use - including data blocks which have been left by deleted files. command that wipes out invalid data

Infographic

A graphic that displays visuals containing information and data present effectively to a user.

Open Source Software

A program or software where the source code is open to the public free of charge.

Give three examples of abstractions as related to computers or technology.

A programmer typing rather than worrying about the individual bytes or bits they are coding Sending an email, because all of the cross continental cables are already set up, so it becomes easier for the end user Using voice recognition, that recognizes the sounds that you make, rather than manually entering information.

UNICODE

A standard for representing characters as integers. Unlike ASCII, which uses 8 bits for each character, this uses 16 bits, which means that it can represent more than 65,000 unique characters.

Smart Car

A vehicle containing advanced electronics

Byte

Abbreviation for binary term, a unit of storage capable of holding a single character. On almost all modern computers, a byte is equal to 8 bits.

Elasticity

Ability for the computer to adapt its workload capacity overtime

Collaboration

Able to work together in real time over the internet between users.

What can the govt do to improve air safety with so many amateur drone flights?

According to Washington Post, the government should create awareness of the dangers of drones, the drones sold to amateurs should come with much more safeguards and imply "geofencing" where a drone cannot go up higher than the legal limit of 400 feet.

What are two beneficial effects and two potentially harmful effects of cloud computing?

Advantages: - Less need for local data storage - It is accessible from any computer Disadvantages - The issue of privacy- Who is looking at the data? who has access to it? - Loss of data

Drone

Aircraft piloted by computers only.

ASCII

American Standard Code for Information Interchange, a code for representing English characters as numbers, with each letter assigned a number from 0 to 127

Output

Any machine capable of representing information from a computer

Input

Any machine that feeds data into a computer.

Choose one of the breakthrough technologies mentioned in the breakthrough technology 2015 article & describe the purpose & one possible benefit.

Apple Pay is a breakthrough, where apple now enabled a system where you input your credit card details and pay virtually while at a grocery store or starbucks.

API

Application Program Interface - Routines, protocols and tools to abide by for building software applications. Refers to how the components should interact.

BIOS

BIOS is an acronym for basic input/output system, the built-in software that determines what a computer can do without accessing programs from a disk.

Cloud Backup

Backing up data on a remote server, part of a cloud-based storing it saves data to be stored and accessed by many resources.

Microprocessor (CPU)

CPU is the abbreviation for central processing unit (the processor). The CPU is the brains of the computer where most calculations take place. A silicon chip that contains a CPU. In the world of personal computers, the terms microprocessor and CPU are used interchangeably.

Public Cloud

Cloud computing that relies on a third party to provide servers, data storage and applications. Cost effective as service is off-site and maintained by the 3rd party.

Hybrid Cloud

Combination of Private & Public cloud in which crucial data is stored on-site while other data is stored with a third party.

Software

Computer instructions or data. Anything that can be stored electronically is software. The storage devices & display devices are hardware.

Give an example of how crowdsourcing can be used to benefit others?

Crowdsourcing can be used to benefit others, as those who are discussing may have experience that employees who would have been hired would not necessarily have.E.g. Kickstarter is a benefit because it allows an entrepreneur to pitch their idea & have whomever financially support. their product ideas.

From the short video, what do you believe Douglas Rushkoff means when he says "Program or be Programmed"?

Douglas Rushkoff meant that nowadays one must know how to program as if one doesn't know what the device is used for, one is not using it, rather they are being used by it, he gave an example about how there's a misconception that facebook is there to make friends, while really it's used to monitor people's relationships with each other.

How might drone swarms change the face of modern warfare? Describe how swarms are different than single drones in their operations.

Drone swarms are able to carry out missions while taking multiple hits, they are able to adapt based on present battle situation. Whereas a single drone can only take a single hit. It cant keep going.

Dual Core Processor

Dual-core means a CPU that includes two complete execution cores per physical processor, installed together in one CPU package.

Briefly Discuss how education, age, and class help to create a digital divide?

Education and age may go hand in hand, as those two factors may encourage one to use technology or discourage them. For example my 66 year old father is less likely to use technology due to his age and the way in which he was educated (with minimal technology). Whereas one's class may be an issue as even though technology is becoming less expensive, it still is quite a hefty sum of money to pay for a product, therefore the less one's income is, the less likely they are to purchase it.

External Storage

Flash drive, external hard drive.

How many Bytes in a Gigabyte? in a Kilobyte?

Gigabyte- approximately 1 Billion (230 ) Kilo (thousand) - 1024

Name two cloud computing Applications you use regularly

Google Drive & Dropbox

Scalability

How capable a hardware or software system is to adapting to increases in demands.

From the various readings and videos about cloud computing and its effects on society in general, describe, in your own words, how cloud computing enhances human communication, interaction, and cognition? Address each of these three areas in your response.

Human Communication- Cloud computing allows us to instantaneously get a hold of each other, which makes building a connection between people easier and faster. Interaction- To some extent, we get closer and farther to our close ones with cloud computing. The reason I say this is because our generation "hanging out" usually consists of sitting next to each other and being on our phones or laptops at the same time, at times we even go as far as posting on each others facebook timelines. While cloud computing gives us material to connect over, it also separates us as we don't feel the need to interact face to face. Cognition - Cloud computing is making us dumber, it has allowed us to take knowledge for granted, for example, 20 years ago, if one were curious about a definition, they would go to a library, find a dictionary or encyclopedia and look up the answer, however now we know how easy it is to find this definition to the point where we're too lazy to even look it up at times.

What does 56K Modem indicate about the modem? How does this speed generally compare to the speed of DSL or Cable?

Indicates that it only download 56 kbps or 56,000 bits compared to DSL which can range from 128,000 -3,000,000 bits per second. Cable often more than doubles the download speeds of DSL.

What is meant by infographics? Find an example of an infographic that is appealing and meaningful to you. Briefly explain your reasons for choosing this particular example.

Infographics are a graphic image of data represented. This infographic is meaningful to me as the losses of lives are increasing and due to the fact that we are in a politically stable country, we tend to forget the tragedies going on in the world.

IaaS

Infrastructure as a Service. Computer infrastructure such as software and servers are purchased as a fully outsourced service, eg. Amazon Web Services

Is Wikipedia an example of crowdsourcing?

It is crowdsourcing because it outsources work. It calls for collaborative efforts from others to edit or add info.

In Chapter 1 of Blown to Bits, seven Koans of Bits are identified. What is meant by koan? What ONE koan has the most meaning for you? Why?

Koans are the seven truths about bits. I believe Koan 2: Perfection is normal, is the koan that has most meaning to me, simply because it is true, computers lack error, computers seem to become so advanced that we rely on them rather than our own intelligence in many aspects of our lives, I believe that with technology, we have grown so immune to the knowledge accessibility under our thumbs that we take it for granted.

Processing

Manipulation or transformation of data (raw material) into a meaningful information

Secondary Storage

Mass storage devices, such as disk drives and tapes

Memory/Storage

Memory identifies data storage that comes in the form of chips, and storage is used for memory that exists on tapes or disks.

Volatile

Memory that loses its contents when the power is turned off. All RAM except the CMOS RAM used for the BIOS is volatile.

How is data represented in a computer?

Most of today's computers represent info as a series of on/off pulses. Humans think of those pulses in terms of the binary system

Operating System

OS; the most important program that runs on a computer. Computers and mobile devices must have an operating system to run programs

Hardware

Objects that you can touch, such as the keyboard, monitor, screen, mouse,etc.

Crowdsourcing

Obtain (information or input into a particular task or project) by enlisting the services of a number of people, either paid or unpaid, typically via the Internet.

Wikipedia

Open collaborative effort for an encyclopedia used by community users

PaaS

Platform as a Service.Computing Platforms delivered as a service. Helps the deployment, testing and supports the building, testing and hosting of Web Applications. E.g. Windows Azure.

Quad Core Processor

Quad core is a chip with four independent units called cores that read and execute CPU instructions such as add, move data, and branch

What is the difference between ROM and RAM?

RAM, which stands for Random Access Memory, is readable and writable memory for which the computer system has quick access to. RAM loses its contents without power. ROM, which stands for Read Only Memory, is by definition read only. However, it's contents are safely stored without power.

RFID

Radio Frequency Identification; a technology similar in theory to bar codes. The electrostatic coupling in the RF portion of the electromagnetic spectrum is used to transmit signals.

Private Cloud

Refers to cloud computing behind a company firewall. Company must maintain servers and run the servers on-site.

Lossless Compression

Refers to data compression techniques in which no data is lost. The PKZIP compression technology is an example of this

Lossy Compression

Refers to data compression techniques in which some amount of data is lost. These technologies attempt to eliminate redundant or unnecessary information.

Sequential Access

Refers to reading or writing data records in sequential order, that is, one record after the other. To read record 10, for example, you would first need to read records 1 through 9.

Random Access

Refers to the ability to access data at random. The opposite of this is sequential access.

Hexadecimal

Refers to the base-16 number system, which consists of 16 unique symbols: the numbers 0 to 9 and the letters A to F. (0-9 = 10 ) (A -F = 6) 10+6=16

Octal

Refers to the base-8 number system, which uses just eight unique symbols (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7). Programs often display data in octal format because it is relatively easy for humans to read and can easily be translated into binary format, which is the most important format for computers.

Citizen Science

Research by means of crowdsourcing

Scarlet Apps

Rutgers Implementation of Google Docs

Google Docs would be classified as IaaS, PaaS or SaaS

SaaS

Bit

Short for binary digit, the smallest unit of information on a machine. A single bit can hold only one of two values: 0 or 1.

Crowdsourcing

Slang used to explain the use of non experienced individuals to create content or solve problems for businesses.

Three examples of technology that would be included in a smart city and how it might benefit the city & you

Smart Traffic Lights --> Be able to respond to changes in traffic pace instead of patterns for more efficient travel times. Smarter Utilities--> Be able to monitor changes in usage in order to detect a leak or problem in systems Wifi Hotspots/ Charging stations --> Make the ability for devices to be better connected and last longer.

SaaS

Software as a Service. Software delivery method that provides access to software remotely by organizations. E.g. Google Apps

Device Drivers

Software used to allow a computer to "talk to" and recognize a peripheral device. For example, if you get a new printer your computer will need the right driver to recognize and use the printer

Google Apps

Suite of cloud computing productivity and collaboration tools and software offered by a subscription

Digital Divide

The Differences in two people where one has the know how and access to resources of information like the internet and those who do not.

Bandwidth

The amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time.

Compare a computer to a house using matching the following computer related terms to the house related terms: Computer House RAM Butler Hard Drive Closet Processor

The computer is related to house because it has all of the components inside of it. The RAM is similar to a closet because people use it to store things there even if it is for a short period of time, the hard drive is related to the basement because like many households, it is a big storage space. Lastly, the processor is related to the butler because it performs most tasks to keep the house running.

What is Meant by Open Source Software & how is it different from (or related to) crowdsourcing & or co-creating?

The difference between crowdsourcing and Open Source Software is that crowdsourcing is a source that invites and encourages individuals' contributions, including: editing, refining, submitting and discussing. Whereas, Open Source Software requires more programming skills in order to contribute.

What is the difference between memory and disk storage?

The difference between memory and disk storage is the duration for which information is stored there, as well as the format. Memory, like RAM, for example, is often present in the form of a chip that can be inserted into the "motherboard." Disk storage like a hard drive is built into a computer, and is not meant to be removed.

What is the job of the Operating System?

The job of the operating system is to organize and control hardware and software systems of the machine. It also provides a stable way for applications to interact with hardware, without having to read every detail of the hardware.

Abstraction

The process of picking out common features of objects and procedures. A programmer would use this, for example, to note that two functions perform almost the same task and can be combined into a single function. (the more abstract, the harder it is to see).

Transfer Rate

The speed with which data can be transmitted from one device to another.

Access Time

The time a program or device takes to locate a single piece of information and make it available to the computer for processing.

How does the following quote relate to the digital divide and to cloud computing? "This isn't about faster Internet or fewer dropped calls. It's about connecting every part of America to the digital age. It's about a rural community in Iowa or Alabama where farmers and small business owners will be able to sell their products all over the world. It's about a firefighter who can download the design of a burning building onto a handheld device; a student who can take classes with a digital textbook; or a patient who can have face-to-face video chats with her doctor." - President Obama, State of the Union Address, 2012.

This quote is about the digital divide as President Obama is clearly emphasizing the importance of technology access for those who are on the other side of the spectrum, i believe that he is saying that technology, cloud computing specifically should provide the same benefits to the personas introduced in the quote regardless of their age, class or education in order to improve America.

In the article 30 Incredible Ways technology Will Change Education by 2028, the author suggests that we may be leading towards learning simulations replacing teachers, diverse learning forms replacing schools, and cloud-based education becoming the normal mode, not the exception. List at least two benefits and at least two harmful effects that these moves may have our society or on the individual student

Two Beneficial effects: There's no room for error with technology, when we are taught by teachers, we must consider the fact that they are human and tend to make mistakes when teaching. There's no personal effect, again teachers are human beings who may subconsciously be biased, however with a computer there is much less space for bias, therefore all students truly get equal treatment Two Harmful effects: Our reliance on technology will grow immensely, this is unhealthy as the system needs to be incredibly generalized for it to successfully teach our next generation The transition between e-Learning and face to face learning will be challenging and as a result the generation that is going through the transition will suffer.

Non-Volatile

Types of memory that retain their contents when power is turned off. ROM is nonvolatile, whereas RAM is volatile. This term often refers to the CMOS memory in PCs that holds the BIOS.

USB

Universal Serial Bus; an external bus standard that supports data transfer rates of 12 Mbps.

UAV

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Aircraft with no pilot on board.

Smart City

Uses info and communication technology to improve quality of life and efficiency in order to run a city

Binary Representation of Data

a choice of 2 values -binary digit=bit(smallest unit of info) -8 bits=1 byte

Bus

a collection of wires through which data is transmitted from one part of a computer to another

Application Software

a program or group of programs designed for end users. Applications can be systems software or applications software. It is set of instructions that tells the computer what to do and provides a means for us to interact with, and use the computer

Instruction set

also called a command set, the basic set of commands, or instructions, that a microprocessor understands.

Primary Storage

also known as main storage or memory, is the area in a computer in which data is stored for quick access by the computer's processor.

List from most general (most abstract) to most specific (least abstract): flash drive, byte, secondary storage.

byte secondary storage Flash drive

Peripherals

computer devices, such as a CD-ROM drive or printer, that is not part of the essential computer

RAM

random access memory, a type of computer memory that can be accessed randomly; that is, any byte of memory can be accessed without touching the preceding bytes. RAM is the most common type of memory found in computers and other devices, such as printers. -volatile -stores part of OS -stores part of application programs -Stores your files as you work on them 2 types: DRAM(need to be refreshed a lot) and SRAM(no refreshing needed)

ROM

read-only memory. ROM is computer memory on which data has been prerecorded. It retains its contents even when the computer is turned off. -nonvolatile -hardwired by manufacturer -holds start-up instructions

Cache

special high-speed storage mechanism. It can be either a reserved section of main memory or an independent high-speed storage device

When we refer to an operating system, are we referring to hardware or software?

we are referring to a collection of software.