Scientific Computing

From the beginning computers were used as tools for science.  The conception of computers came from the mistakes of men.  Whenever a human does a calculation there is a chance for error.   This is especially true when there a numerous values being calculated to precise significant figures repeatedly.  To solve the problem of humans making errors the first known computer was conceived in a so called proof of concept, The Babbagemachine.   While it was not built until the 1990s, The Babbage machine was important because it had the idea of creating a device to compute values for systematically without using a person to perform steps of the calculation.  Following steps created by a person, the device could perfectly run and calculate correct values.  With this same idea computes were designed.  Allowing programmers to give it a set of instructions, computers were able to solve complex mathematical problems, quickly and accurately.  The first computers were used primarily by scientists to perform big calculations.   In an effort to machines more efficient programming languages became designed for calculations.  FORTRAN, one of the most recognized programming languages ever, was developed and is still used for scientific calculations.  FORTRAN allowed scientists to use a computer for easy calculations.

Today there are even more language and programs developed to make computing easier for scientific research.  Everything from MathLab for calculation to AutoCad for 3D designing, computers continue to be an important tool for scientists.  It would take a person years to do the same amount of calculations that a laptop could now do in a few hours. 

Although computers are becoming more mainstream and household tools, they will still always be most appreciated by scientists.  Scientist’s created the computer, only they know of its possibilities.

Babbage Machine

Computer Graphics

Of the many interesting fields in computer science few are as complicated and captivating as graphics.  One of the greatest achievements computer scientists have made, was the ability to render graphical images to a screen.  The process of mapping images to a screen is fascinating and I could spend a whole blog on just that. However, I must digress to the more interesting and focus of this blog.  Computer graphics have done amazing things such as creating an easy to use interface for a user. Moving away from the console to a Graphical User Interface designed created a much easier interface for users to operate a computer.   In my opinion however, whenever I think of graphics I think of video games.

There is no better way to survey the advancements in computer graphics then to compare old games to new ones.  Most video games are all done using computer graphics.  Originally, due to the lack of processing power as well as memory, images were very rough.  The classic 8-bit image (Mario to the right) is iconic when thinking of old video games up until the 90s.  As computer became more powerful and memory was not as big as an issue, computer graphics advanced exponentially.  Today video games look incredibly realistic (As seen below).  How has there been such a dramatic change?  As stated before new video games are allocated much more resources in both development and deployment.  Not only do games have art teams dedicated to improving the art they display, they also have a processor (GPU) which sole job is to process and render the content.   

 

People strive for realistic images on a computer.  As long as there is a market for improvement, computer scientists will find a way to make it happen.

Communications and Security

Technology has completely overhauled communication methods in the past century.  Snail mail which took days turned into Email which takes seconds.  Telephone calls have turned into video conferences.  One of the leading components to the change in communication was the advancements in social media cites as well as email clients.   New technologies continue to make the means of communicating easier and more convenient for users, but there is a risk that comes with them.  It is important to recognize the advancements in communication that are provided by these new tools but to also understand how to properly use them.

One of the conveniences of computers is the ability for a website to remember a user’s login information.  It accomplishes this by the use of a tracking cookie.  Tracking cookies are given by a website and stored on a local machine and detected by the HTML of a website when you revisit it.  Being remembered across multiple websites is an incredible convenience, but it is also a real risk.  If someone gains access to your computer, they now have access to all of the websites that you are permanently remembered on.  Access to your personal social media website where they can learn private information about you or your friends can be very dangerous.  Even worse if your email is always logged in, someone could access your email and get all types of sensitive information.  The best solution is to not take the easy way and sign in each time.  Most websites offer the ability to remember the users name, without the password .  This is a much safer solution.  As with most things in life, in order to be safe one must make some sacrifices such as convenience of automatically logging into a website.