On this page I hope to summarize the "one most interesting thing" comments that you, my students, provide me in your written journals at the end of each class. Posting them allows you to see what your classmates are thinking.
Similar responses are grouped, and they are listed based on group size.
| Count | Comment |
|---|---|
| 7 | Tasks that are hard for us are easy for computers, and vice versa. |
| 7 | How long it takes for computers to understand common sense; the CYC project has been working on this for 24 years and not yet achieved it. |
| 2 | The car being able to drive itself. |
| 2 | That we have not come very far in developing AI. |
| 2 | How much work they are trying to do in order to make computers like humans |
| 1 | The computer has difficuly recognizing the meaning of "it" in a sentence. |
| 1 | Computer that took 15 hours to move across a 30 meter room. |
| 1 | That some people are geniuses in one area but stupid in all other areas (idiot savant). |
| 1 | The mind is like computer software and the brain is like computer hardware. |
| 1 | Computers can think like us. |
| 1 | How the computer learned how to talk using the learning neural network. |
| 1 | That people tried to fly by initating biology (airplanes with flapping wings exist! See www.ornithopter.org). |
| My Comment: The CYC project is now called Cycorp, www.cyc.com.
It has grown to include hundreds of thousands of terms along with information about each one and its relationship to others.
Doug Lenat, the CYC person in the video (striped shirt), is President and CEO of Cycorp. A recent (2006)
Google video of Lenat speaking
on common sense shows both that he is still dedicated to the cause, and he also seems to have not aged a bit since the
Thinking Machines video was filmed in 1990!
Although progress is slow, there have been many advances in AI since the video was produced. The IBM chess-playing computer Deep Blue defeated then-world champion Garry Casparov in 1997. And earlier today I read this new item: "University of Toronto (UT) researchers have developed a system capable of recognizing six human emotional states by analyzing a human's face to determine how he or she is feeling. The system can recognize the emotions in people from different cultures, who speak different languages, with an 82 percent success rate." My favorite scene in this video is the self-driven van, because the street it is navigating runs through the middle of the Schenley Park golf course in Pittsburgh! While working on my PhD at the University of Pittsburgh, I played this course the same year the video was shot but I don't recall seeing that vehicle. It was developed at Carnegie Mellon University, just down the street from both the golf course and Pitt. | |
| Count | Comment |
|---|---|
| 15 | Watching and learning about Scratch, and looking forward to programming it! |
| 8 | The large number of steps a computer requires to perform a task like making a PBJ sandwich |
| 3 | There are thousands of programming languages |
| 1 | Applying what we learned, to making a PBJ sandwich |
| 1 | Software maintenance phase could cost more than all other steps combined |
| 1 | How the problem solving technique applies to multiple situations |
| My Comment: I think you're going to enjoy Scratch. I just learned about it a couple months ago and knew immediately I wanted to use it in this class. Hopefully by next Thursday I can develop a Scratch project that is enjoyable, challenging, and educational! | |
| Your Comments |
|---|
| The comments that you came up with in your groups in today's class are linked from the Schedule page along with the other lecture notes. Here is the direct link: http://faculty.otterbein.edu/PSanderson/CSC100/notes/internetissues.html. The two issues we focused on were social networking and online availability of medical history. |
| My Comment:I was very impressed by the variety, quality and creativity of your thoughts on the benefits, risks and remedies for both the social networking and the medical history issues! |
| Count | Comments on the Lecture Topic |
|---|---|
| 5 | How many different kinds of malware there are: viruses, worms, Trojan Horses, spyware, zombies, denial of service! |
| 5 | A "worm" can automatically spread throughout the world's Internet in 15 minutes. |
| 5 | The story and concept of a Trojan Horse - a trustworthy program that may be hiding something. |
| 3 | Your computer can be a "zombie" without you even knowing! |
| 3 | That the idea of public key encryption (with a two-part key, public and private) came to somebody in a dream and made e-commerce possible. |
| 3 | The process to encrypt and decrypt a message |
| 2 | When I see a website with "https" or the lock icon at the top of the browser, it is a secure website. |
| 1 | The practice of "phishing" and how links can be deceptive. |
| My Comment:The various types of malware are all interrelated. For instance, your computer can become a zombie from software installed by a virus or Trojan Horse. You need not be too concerned about worms, or about your computer becoming a zombie. You should be concerned about spyware, and follow the Information & Technology Services advice. Their home page is http://www.otterbein.edu/its/ and you should read their page on viruses and spyware http://www.otterbein.edu/its/help/malware.asp. Aside from anti-virus and anti-spyware software, just be prudent in your Internet practices. Before downloading and trying out free software, do a Google search on its name to see if others have flagged it as a carrier of viruses or spyware. | |
| Count | Comments on the Lecture Topic |
|---|---|
| 7 | Creating a web page can be so simple and can be done with simple tools, |
| 3 | Web pages, no matter how simple or complex, are written in the plain text HTML for display by the browser. And the browser will show you the HTML text. |
| 3 | The language and creating a web page is very complex. |
| 1 | It is possible to click on an image to follow a link. |
| 1 | The server and browser communicate in plain language. |
| 1 | HTML tags control what shows up on the browser. |
| Comments on spontaneous Facebook slideshow | |
| 9 | You're on Facebook!? and with family pictures... |
| 3 | You grew up on a pig farm. |
| 2 | You've been married 30 years to your college girlfriend. |
| 2 | You brew beer for a hobby. |
| 1 | You had your first bike ride at 9 months. |
| My Comment: I've split your comments into two groups; those from the lecture topic and those from my Facebook slideshow. I appreciate both! I maintain this web page, like all my web pages, by writing the text and HTML tags in Dreamweaver's "Code" window, which you will use next week. When I decided to join Facebook two years ago, it was restricted pretty much to email addresses ending in ".edu" and your application had to be approved. I invite friend requests from my students so you can learn more about my life outside the classroom, but I do not send friend requests to students because I do not think you would feel comfortable with that. I receive a handful of friend requests from students each quarter. You can learn much more about me by clicking on the My Personal Interests link on my Otterbein home page than from Facebook. | |
| Count | Comment |
|---|---|
| 15 | Internet addresses are numeric internally (IP address), and you can get to a web server by typing its number into your browser. |
| 3 | The WWW is not equal to the Internet; it is but one of many Internet services. |
| 2 | Every computer connected to the Internet has a unique IP address. |
| 2 | The World Wide Web was invented by one person, Tim Berners-Lee. |
| 2 | In the early 1980s there were only 200 computers on the Internet. |
| 1 | The Internet is made up of many different networks. |
| 1 | What the different parts of the Web address mean. |
| 1 | How long the Internet has been around and that it started with DARPA. |
| My Comment: We will soon see how criminals can use numeric addresses to disguise their true identity, often in hyperlinks embedded in "phishing" email messages. Don't click on a link in an email message unless you are certain the message is legitimate! | |
| Count | Comment |
|---|---|
| 10 | Everything about fiber optics is wild, particularly that we have not yet tapped into its carrying capacity! |
| 10 | There are so many different ways to connect to the Internet! |
| 5 | WiMax and its future potential for wide-range wireless access. |
| 2 | The difference between dial-up and DSL connection to the Internet |
| 2 | The vast distance that signals to/from satellites have to travel. |
| 1 | Psychoacoustics, how we perceive sound, drives MP3 compression. |
| 1 | Once you convert CD-quality sound to MP3, information is lost and can't be recovered. |
| 1 | That JPEG and MPEG (thus MP3) have common origins, although one is images and the other is audio. |
| My Comment: I was surprised by how many of you commented on WiMax; it was literally a last-minute addition to my material. It has great potential but is currently struggling to gain a foothold. The latest advance in fiber optics is wavelength division multiplexing. This basically means, transmit light signals in color instead of just switching on/off. If there are four different colors, then each color represents two bits (00, 01, 10, or 11) instead of just one (off for 0, on for 1). You can in effect transmit twice as fast on the same cable! If there are 16 different colors, you transmit four times faster! | |
| Count | Comment |
|---|---|
| 11 | Monitor uses RGB color adding to black, printer uses CMY color subtracting from white |
| 7 | How millions of different colors can be made by blending three primary colors at different intensities |
| 6 | The use of layers like transparencies to build a graphical image |
| 4 | Each second of digital music contains over 88,000 bytes of data (note: 176,000 for stereo) |
| 2 | Process of digitizing sound by sampling the sound waves 44,100 times per second for CDs |
| 2 | Distinction between raster and vector (object) graphics |
| My Comment: Note that for standard CD recordings, over 176,000 bytes (over 1.4 million bits) are required to store one second of music. 44,100 samples times 2 bytes (16 bits) per sample times 2 channels for stereo. We'll start off Wednesday with a brief look at compression as it applies to both music and images to save space. | |
In recognition of Earth Day, today's request was to give examples of how the environmental impact of computers can be reduced. The numbers are large because I asked you to respond in groups.
| Count | Comment |
|---|---|
| 32 | Turn off computer (monitor, etc) when not using it |
| 15 | Use solar energy to power computers |
| 14 | Make more software available online instead of shipping |
| 14 | Use recycled parts |
| 14 | Improve manufacturing for better energy efficiency in computers, cooling systems and batteries |
| 12 | Unplug it when not in use |
| 10 | Recycle old computer equipment and supplies like print cartridges |
| 6 | Leave computer in sleep or hibernate mode and use screen saver |
| 4 | Use recycled paper for printer |
| 4 | Limit the number of computers per household |
| 3 | Limit computer use to 1 hour at a time |
| 3 | Use a laptop instead of a desktop |
| 3 | Keep your computer as long as you can before getting a new one |
| 3 | Use public computers instead of buying your own |
| My Comment: Thanks again for your creative responses. You came up with several recommendations that I hadn't thought of! Did you know there is a computer recycler near Westerville? It is Ohio Mulch on Westerville Road. See Ohio Computer Recycling for more information. Manufacturers of computer processors are trying alternative materials that use less energy and generate less heat than silicon. Programmers strive to make their software more efficient, and a software technique called virtualization allows server computers (such as web servers) to operate more efficiently. | |
| Count | Artist |
|---|---|
| 5 | Taylor Swift |
| 4 | Rascal Flatts |
| 2 | Carrie Underwood, Colbie Caillat, Lil Wayne, Linkin Park |
| 1 | 311, 3 Days Grace, Alkaline Trio, All Time Low, Ashlee Simpson, Brad Paisley, Cece Winans, Chris Brown, Common, Dave Matthews, From Autumn To Ashes, Green Day, Jason Aldean, Kamelot, Kanye West, Keith Urban, Leona Lewis, Matt Redman, Michael Buble, Radiohead, Sara Bareilles, The Grey Night Sessions, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, |
| My Comment: If I had to choose one from the lists above, it would be Radiohead, hands down. My own response at this moment would be the White Stripes. I am currently 1498 songs into the long-term project of digitizing my LPs so have been playing a lot of 60s and 70s music lately (Beatles, Stones, Who, Zeppelin, Springsteen, Hendrix, Rod Stewart, etc). | |
In recognition of Disabilities Awareness Week, today's request was to give examples of how computers and computer-supported technology are being used to assist persons with disabilities. The numbers are large because I asked you to respond in groups.
| Count | Comment |
|---|---|
| 20 | Devices that talk (voice boxes) and communicate for those who cannot talk or write. |
| 11 | IP-relay and TTY (operator service enabling telephone communication via assistive telephone device) |
| 11 | Pacemakers |
| 11 | Advanced Wheelchair lifts |
| 9 | Advanced Artificial limbs |
| 9 | Software that speaks text to blind persons |
| 8 | Advanced hearing aids |
| 8 | Advanced wheelchairs |
| 5 | Computer assisted surgical techniques |
| 4 | Braille keyboards |
| 4 | Enhances ability to research disabilities |
| 4 | Wearable emergency buttons that people can push to get help |
| 4 | Devices that stimulate motor skills for paralyzed persons |
| 3 | Subtitles on television. |
| 3 | Text on cell phones |
| 3 | Order medications online |
| My Comment: Thank you all for your thoughtful responses. The devices I marked "advanced" have traditionally not been computer-controlled but are increasingly becoming so. Of all these, I am most fascinated by computer-designed and computer-controlled prosthetic limbs. Check out the Ohio Willow Wood company in Mt Sterling, about 25 miles southwest of Columbus. Another example, that I had not thought of but read about in the April 19 Columbus Dispatch, is websites through which companies who wish to hire persons with disabilities can get the word out. The article focused on www.accessibleemployment.org. | |
| Count | Comment |
|---|---|
| 16 | You paid the equivalent of $4300 for that Macintosh in 1985, and it has so little capability! |
| 5 | Translator software takes basic code to binary, and programs are represented by ones and zeroes. |
| 4 | Computer uses flash memory called BIOS to boot up. |
| 4 | Three different types of software: application, system, translation |
| 1 | Difference in memory between 1984 computers and now |
| 1 | Apple produced the best commercial ever made, in 1984. |
| 1 | Radiohead put their CD on the Internet for free but still made lots of money |
| 1 | RAM is volatile |
| My Comment: Wow, the original Macintosh was a hit! You might be numb to Moore's law by now, but here goes. That Macintosh has 128 kilobytes of RAM versus average 2 gigabytes today (16,000 times less), 400 kilobytes of disk storage versus average 200 gigabytes today (500,000 times less), and the processor speed was 8 megahertz versus 3 gigahertz today (375 times slower). And yet it booted up in about the same amount of time, less than 30 seconds. The famous "1984" commercial, which was shown only one time, was produced by the movie director Ridley Scott following his classic 1982 movie "Blade Runner." | |
| Count | Comment |
|---|---|
| 13 | Didn't know how large the floppy (and hard) disks used to be! |
| 3 | All the different types of storage (solid state, magnetic, optical) |
| 3 | All the lasers required for CDs and DVDs |
| 3 | "Burning" a CD is literally burning metal. |
| 2 | JPEG compresses megapixels to 1/10th the size |
| 2 | Floppy disks are literally floppy |
| 2 | Learning how digital cameras work |
| 2 | The big and old metal disk holds only a fraction of what my flash drive does |
| 1 | USB stands for Universal Serial Bus |
| 1 | JPEG compression causes information to be lost |
| 1 | Main memory is 1 million times faster than a hard drive |
| My Comment: Although Moore's law addresses the density of switches on a circuit board (doubling every 18-24 months), it has also applied informally to the capacity and cost of hard drives. I bought my first hard drive in 1990 and the cost was $16 per megabyte (adjusted to 2008 dollars). A hard drive today costs as little as $0.25 per gigabyte. This is 64,000 times cheaper per byte! | |
| Count | Comment |
|---|---|
| 9 | A computer can run its instruction cycle 1 billion times or more a second |
| 8 | Gigabytes and growing amount of memory in a computer or iPod |
| 6 | Learning what a gigabyte is |
| 6 | You can count up to 1023 on your fingers using binary |
| 3 | The computer's instruction cycle |
| 2 | Everything is stored in binary |
| 1 | Computers are reaching the limits of physics |
| 1 | Prefixes kilo, mega, giga, mean the same in other sciences |
| My Comment: True confession: I lied about computers running their instruction cycle 1 billion times per second! It's a little less than that. A computer rated at 3 GigaHertz has 3 billion clock cycles or ticks per second. Tick-tick-tick-tick. Each tick only does one of the four instruction cycle steps, and some instructions require multiple ticks just for the execute step. So the number of instruction cycles may be "only" 300-500 million per second! Still pretty damn fast! | |
| Count | Comment |
|---|---|
| 10 | great time savings (28 years calculating PI to 700 digits versus 7 seconds) |
| 7 | 'computer' used to refer to people, not machines |
| 5 | Influence of war on the development of computers |
| 4 | took so long to make the first computer -- 100 years! |
| 4 | computers were thought to be useful only for calculating numbers |
| 3 | how large the early computers were |
| 2 | computers have achieved some intelligence by manipulating symbols |
| 2 | first computer programmer was a woman |
| 1 | use of punch cards inspired by Jaquard loom |
| 1 | people once thought 6 computers would be enough |
| 1 | important role of mathematics in development of computers |
| 1 | use of the binary number system and switches |
| 1 | how rapidly computers have become smaller and more powerful |
| My Comment: If you thought 7 seconds was fast to calculate 700 digits of PI, that's how long it took in 1992. Since then, we've gone through 10 Moore's Law "cycles", which means it is about 1000 times faster today than in 1992! 0.007 seconds! That's about how long it takes a car traveling at 60 MPH to move 7 inches! It is literally 15 times faster than the blink of an eye! | |