4. Computing Basics
Computers over time (museum)(timeline)
◦ Mainframes (1960’s)
◦ Minicomputers (1970’s)
◦ Personal computers (1980’s)
◦ Networked computers (1990’s)
◦ Wireless computers (2000’s)
◦ ?? (2010’s)
Embedded in humans
Worldnet
Biometrics
5. Computing Basics
The First Generation: Vacuum Tube Computers (1945 - 1953)
– Atanasoff Berry Computer (1937 - 1938)
• solved systems of linear equations
• John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry of Iowa State University.
– Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), 1946
6. Computing Basics
The Second Generation: Transistorized Computers (1954 -
1965)
– IBM 7094 (scientific) and 1401 (business)
– Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) PDP-1
– Univac 1100 - video
– Control Data Corporation 1604.
8. Computing Basics
On early computers, programming was done at the digital logic
level. Programming the computer involved moving plugs and
wires.
A different hardware configuration was needed to solve every
unique problem type.
Stored-program computers have become known as von
Neumann Architecture systems.
Today’s stored-program computers have the following
characteristics:
– Three hardware systems:
• A central processing unit (CPU), A main memory system, An I/O system
– The capacity to carry out sequential instruction processing.
A single data path between the CPU and main memory.
– This single path is known as the von Neumann bottleneck.
9. Computing Basics
Non - Von Neumann model
– Newer computers now go beyond the VN model by including
specialized buses, floating-point units, and cache memories.
– Adding processors is one approach to increasing
processing power.
– Multiple Processors
• In the late 1960s, high-performance computer systems were
equipped with dual processors to increase computational
throughput.
• In the 1970s supercomputer systems were introduced with 32
processors.
• Supercomputers with 1,000 processors were built in the 1980s.
• In 1999, IBM announced its Blue Gene system containing over 1
million processors.
– Parallel processing is only one method of providing
increased computational power.
10. “1” and “0”
Towards the end of the 19th century, a mathematician
(George Boole) suggested that logical thought could be
represented through mathematical equations. Computers, as
we know them today, are implementations of Boole’s Laws of
Thought.
Boolean algebra is a mathematical system for the
manipulation of variables that can have one of two values.
– In formal logic, these values are “true” and “false.”
– In digital systems, these values are “on” and “off,” 1 and
0, or “high” and “low.”
Boolean expressions are created by performing operations
on Boolean variables.
– Common Boolean operators include AND, OR, and NOT.
11. “1” and “0”
The three simplest gates are the AND, OR,
and NOT gates.
They correspond directly to their respective
Boolean operations, as you can see by their
truth tables.
12. “1” and “0”
Combinational logic circuits
give us many useful devices.
One of the simplest is the half
adder, which finds the sum of
two bits.
We can gain some insight as to
the construction of a half adder
by looking at its truth table,
shown at the right.
14. “1” and “0” – in summary
Basic unit is a bit (1,0)
Computers are implementations of Boolean
logic.
Boolean functions are completely described by
truth tables.
Logic gates are small circuits that implement
Boolean operators.
The basic gates are AND, OR, and NOT.
The “universal gates” are NOR, and NAND.
Computer circuits consist of combinational logic
circuits and sequential logic circuits.
To learn more – take a computer engineering
course
15. “1” and “0”
Decimal Numbers are based on the digits systems using
powers of 10 (base 10)
◦ 853 = 8*100 + 5*10 + 3*1
◦ 853 = 8*10^2 + 5*10^1 + 3*10^0
Computers use a binary system – powers of 2 (base 2)
◦ Cheaper and easier
◦ 1101 = 1 * 23+ 1 * 22 + 0 * 21 + 1 * 20
= 8 + 4 + 0 + 1 = 13
◦ 1001010
(1 * 26) + (0 * 25) + (0 * 24) + (1 * 23) + (0 * 22) + (1 *
21) + (0 * 20)
64 + 0 + 0 + 8 + 0 + 2 + 0 = 74
◦ What does 111 (base2) represent?
◦ How about 101 (base2)? 11101110111 (base2)?
16. “1” and “0”
With 8 bits in a byte, you can represent 256 values ranging
from 0 to 255, as shown here:
– 0 = 00000000
– 1 = 00000001
– 2 = 00000010
– 254 = 11111110
– 255 = 11111111
ASCII
– Uses 7 bits
– In the ASCII character set, each binary value between 0 and
127 is given a specific character.
– Most computers extend the ASCII character set to use the full
range of 256 characters available in a byte.
– The upper 128 characters handle special things like accented
characters from common foreign languages.
– Besides decimal, and binary, there’s hexadecimal (base 16)
17. “1” and “0”
Hexadecimal notation is simple. Just use digits for 0
through 9, and A through F for 10 through 15. The
following table shows all of the combinations.
Binary Decimal Hexadecimal Binary Decimal Hexadecimal
0000 00 0 1000 08 8
0001 01 Hexadecimal notation is simple. Just use digits
1 1001 09 9
0010 02 2 1010 10 A
0011 03
for 0 through 9, and A through F for 10 through
3 1011 11 B
0100 04
15. The following table
4
shows all of the
1100 12 C
0101 05 5 1101 13 D
combinations.
0110 06 6 1110 14 E
0111 07 7 1111 15 F
Convert 73 to hexadecimal
Convert aa to decimal? To binary?
18. Storage Media
– Tape (actual tape)
– Floppy Drives
– Hard Drives (30GB, 120GB, 250GB)
– Zip Drives
– Pen or USB drives
– How many movies (assume a typical DVD stores 4.7GB per movie)
can I store on my 40GB laptop hard drive?
Unit Abbreviation Size (bytes)
bit b 1/8
byte B 1
kilobyte KB 210 = 1024
megabyte MB 220 = 1,048,576
gigabyte GB 230 = 1,073,741,824
terabyte TB 240 = 1,099,511,627,776
petabyte PB 250 = 1,125,899,906,842,624
19. Evaluating Resources
How do you know if a source is
legitimate?
– Offline
– Online
What is literacy?
– Information literacy
– Financial literacy
– Health literacy
– Technology literacy
20. Evaluating Resources
Information Literacy
– “The ability to conduct searches, evaluate,
and create new ideas”
– Cynthia Bowman, 2000
– The ability to “recognize when information is
needed” and “locate, evaluate, and use
effectively the needed information…. a
survival skill in the Information Age.”
– ALA Presidential Committee on Information
Literacy. 1989
21. Evaluating Resources
Once you search:
– Did you find it?
– How long did it take?
– Were you satisfied with the answer?
– Are there other possible answers?
– What makes a resource credible?
23. Evaluating Resources
PRINT:
– Ask the following questions:
• Current edition?
• Journals peer-reviewed?
• Revision and editing process?
ONLINE:
– Ask the following questions:
• Are your online sources reliable?
• Credible domain names, such as .org, .gov., or .edu?
• Biased domain names, such as .com or .net?
• Who is the author? Professional writer, organization,
government agency, blogger, amateur writer, fringe group,
12 year old school kid?
24. Evaluating Resources
Objectivity Issues
– Do sources reflect the question at hand or are
they writing about a related topic?
– Are they objective in presenting both sides of
the story?
– Do they provide a context for their
information?
– What do you know about the author or
agency putting out [responsible for] the
source(s)?
25. Evaluating Resources -
Balance
Information-Seeking Skills
– Finding information
– Evaluating information
– Using information ethically
– Emphasis on critical discernment
Information Technology Skills
– Word processing
– Presentation software
– Spreadsheet software
– Database software
– ???? What else?
26. What does this mean?
Write a 15-page paper about a topic of your
choice.
Write a 15-page term paper about FSU.
Find answers to the following questions in
the library reference collection:
– Who was Jim Morrison?
– Who is Anthony Scott Flippen?
Find a peer-reviewed scholarly journal
article about some aspect of toddler skills
development. (use print resources)
27. What does this mean?
Read the articles on taxes that are posted on Blackboard
(this is hypothetical – there are no articles). Explain why
some writers believe taxes should be abolished, while
others believe taxes to be useful. Evaluate both
perspectives and give your own opinion in a 5-page paper.
Research the topic of capital punishment from the
perspective of three different disciplines.
Find a scholarly journal article written by:
– a psychologist (PsycINFO)
– a sociologist (Sociological Abstracts)
– a political scientist (International Political Sci. Abstracts)
– Identify each author’s credentials.
– Compare and contrast the three different perspectives in a
3-page paper.
– Use APA style to cite sources.
28. Growing Needs
Each task is increasingly difficult.
Each task requires increased literacy
skills.
Relate this to technology:
– Purchase a hard drive.
– Purchase a laptop.
– Purchase a system to track parking tags wirelessly.
– Purchase a system to boost inventory tracking, improve
output, reduce employees, and manage the Web site.
– Due diligence is the key.
29. Where to turn?
Technology
– Pronto
– C|net
– mySimon
– Amazon (customer reviews)
– Ebay (customer reviews)
– Technology magazines
– Industry (early adopters) – look for
benchmarks
– TimeKiller
– TimeKiller 2