Computer and IT Class

Computer literacy
People acquire enough understanding of common technical terms so they are not intimidated by
computer jargon

I. Brief History of Computers (5 mins)

Mesopotamians, 3000 BC
– Abacus = first known computer

Greeks, 200 BC
– Antikythera Mechanism
= mechanical computer
= tracks cycles of Solar System

Blaise Pascal, 1642

– First mechanical calculator
– Opposed by people (technology could replace people at workfield)

Charles Babbage, 1822

– Father of Modern Computer
- Computer = someone who computes
- Difference Engine
= polynomial functions
= finite differences, no multiplication or division
= mechanical (with gears and levers)
≠ worked
- Analytic Engine
= programmable: one-time big-time initialization
= mechanical (with additional punch cards)
= arithmetic unit + storage unit + programs
≠ worked
- Application:
From gears to microchips
From non-working to working diff engine (London Science Museum)
From conceptual analytic engine to Ada programming language (Ada Lovelace)

George Boole, 1833

- Developer of symbolic logic
- Symbolic Logic = AND, OR, NOT
- Binary system, Boolean algebra, 1s and 0s
- Application: Digitization = Analog to Digital
Alan Turing, 1938
- Any math problem could be solved by a machine if it could be expressed in a
finite number of manipulations
- Finite State Machines
- Application: Theoretical Machines to Actual Automata

Innovations, Today
- Hardware: From vacuum tubes to integrated circuits to the arising memristors
(Leon Chua)
- Physical: From Desktops to Laptops to IPods
- Memory: From smaller to bigger memories
- Monitors: From CRT to LCD to Gas Plasma displays
- Software: From slower to faster systems
- Thinking: From simple Input/Output to Artificial Intelligence
- Processing: From one-problem-at-a-time to parallel processing
- Data Input: From punch cards to keyboards to Wii wands
- Data Display: From command line to 3-D Virtual Reality
- Data Storage: From punch cards to diskettes to CDs to USBs
- Usage: From mathematical to ubiquitous computing
- Communication: From loner computers to INTERNET connections!!!!!
II. The Internet (20 mins)

Cyberspace: Internet Metaphor

– Setting of William Gibson’s Novel, Neuromancer (1984)
- Need to “jack in” to connect to this 3D world of information from all human
computers
- Other terms: the Net, the Web, the Cloud, the Matrix, the Metaverse, the
Datasphere, the Electronic Frontier, and the Information Superhighway
- “… that place you are in when you are talking on the telephone,” John Perry Barlow
- Virtual reality, an experience of being in the same room and communicate with
each other (virtual = almost like something real)
- From atom to bit

Internet: Origins
– Part of US Dept of Defense experiment in response to USSR’s Sputnik
- Global system of interconnected networks
- No one owns it nor controls it
- Lawless world
- Netiquette = Internet rules for etiquette

Internet: Culture
– Regional remodeling (Facebook -> Facebuko)
- Online language (LOL, ROFL, BTW, XD, :))

Internet: Technologies
– Smartphones, PDAs
- Bulletin Board Systems

Internet: Online Service

– Multimedia: it’s like TV but interactive
it pleases almost all the senses
Interactive: from passive (select channel, modulate volume)
to active control (play, pause, rewind, add subtitle)
Infopike: Internet + Cable TV
- Virtual citizen: electronic mail, online chat, shopping, school, travel
- Paperless office (pbworks, electronic groups, SVN)
Digital signatures (with encryption) for authentication
III. Cloud Computing (15 mins)

What is Cloud Computing?

– Cloud = Another Internet metaphor
Computing = Applications, Services, Softwares
- Model for convenient, network access over computing resources
Computing resources: networks, servers, storage, applications, services

Essential Characteristics
– On-demand self service
Individuals can use resources without anyone’s help
- Broad network access
From laptops to mobile phones to PDAs
- Location-independent resource pooling
Pool of resources to serve multiple users
Demands for processing and storage are balanced
No resource is assigned to particular user
- Rapid elasticity
Consumer can increase or decrease resource capacity at will
- Measured service
Pay per use

Cloud Architecture

Cloud Service
– Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS)
Applications/softwares are accessed over the net
No need to install, manage or buy; just connect and use
– Cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Development platform and tools for developers
Place where they could build their applications
 - Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Storage and resources for delivering business solutions
Software is owned by user

Cloud Deployment
– Public cloud
Available over general public internet
- Community cloud
Community of organizations that have similar requirements
Public groups
- Private cloud
Inside the premises of the company
- Hybrid cloud
Composed of two or more clouds (public and private)