Computer Continuum, The, 5th Edition

Table of Contents

Contents

Preliminaries: Where We’re Going

1.1 Beyond the Computer Invasion

A Day in the 21st Century • TECH TALK: Current Dictionaries Reveal the Pervasiveness of Computers

1.2 What Is (and Isn’t) a Computer?

Examples from History • Scales and Calculators • VOICES FROM THE PAST: Stonehenge–The First Computer? • Wireless Communication and Network Access • Computers Large and Small

1.3 The Many Kinds of Computers

General-Purpose versus Special-Purpose Computers • Digital versus Analog Computers • THE CUTTING EDGE: Biological Computers–Using DNA

1.4 The General-Purpose Electronic Digital Computer

2.1 What Is Information?

VOICES FROM THE PAST: Claude E. Shannon–A Theory of Communication

2.2 Representation of Numbers

TECH TALK: A Serious Conversion Problem

2.3 Representation of Symbols and Text

2.4 Representation of Images

TECH TALK: An Intergalactic Message

2.5 Representation of Sounds, Music, and Speech

Representation of Simple Musical Sounds • Representing Music Using MIDI • Representation of Any Sound by Digital Recording • Representing Speech

2.6 Representing the Instructions of Programs

The Word Hunt Instruction Set • About Computer Instructions • THE CUTTING EDGE: Representation of the Human Genome

3.1 Basic Concepts of Computer Hardware

3.2 Sources of Data for the Computer

3.3 Input Devices

Connecting Hardware to the Computer • Common Technologies for Storing Binary Information • Secondary Memory Input Devices • Speed and Access Time • Cost/Removable versus Nonremovable Capacity • Type of Access

3.4 Primary Memory

3.5 The Central Processing Unit

Arithmetic Unit of the CPU • Control Unit of the CPU • Instruction Decoding Unit of the CPU • TECH TALK: Fetch/Execute and the Clock

3.6 Output Devices

Floppy Disk Drives and Hard Drives • Display Monitors • Audio Output Devices • Optical Disks: CD-ROM and DVD • Storage Capacity • Storage Devices of the Future

3.7 Moving Information within the Computer

3.8 Categories of Computers

VOICES FROM THE PAST: The Father of the Electronic Digital Computer • Calculator • Palmtop Computer • Microcomputer • THE CUTTING EDGE: Quantum Computers • Workstation and Minicomputer • Mainframe Computer • Supercomputer

4.1 Communicating with a Computer

4.2 The Role of Languages in Communication

Semantics (Meaning) • Syntax (Form) • Participants

4.3 The Program Language Continuum

In the Beginning . . . • Machine Code–The First Generation • Assembly Language–The Second Generation • VOICES FROM THE PAST: Amazing Grace • People-Oriented Programs–The Third Generation • Nonprocedural Languages–The Fourth Generation • Object-Oriented Programming • Is There a Fifth Generation?

4.4 Assembled, Compiled, or Interpreted Languages

4.5 Programming for Everyone

Using Macros • Using HTML to Create Web Pages • Scripting

4.6 Building a Program

The First Step: Understanding the Problem • Developing the Algorithm • Writing the Program • Documenting the Program • Testing and Debugging the Program • TECH TALK: Introducing Java–A Software System for Online Multimedia

4.7 Software Development: A Broader View

THE CUTTING EDGE: Software-Defined Hardware

5.1 Reviewing Key Concepts

5.2 Two Conceptual Computers

5.3 The ROBOT Computer: Programs and Algorithms

The Robot’s Domain • VOICES FROM THE PAST: John von Neumann • Hardware–Defining ROBOT Capabilities • External Hardware Features • ROBOT Characteristics • THE CUTTING EDGE: Robots by the Dozen • Software–The ROBOT’s Language • ROBOT Programs • Using the ROBOT • Getting the ROBOT Out of a Loop

5.4 The Pencil and Paper Computer

Input and Output Units • Memory • Central Processing Unit (CPU) • The Pencil and Paper Computer Instruction Set • TECH TALK: Plug and Play • Loading and Executing a Pencil and Paper Program • A Final Example

6.1 What Is an Operating System?

Computers without Operating Systems • BIOS (Basic Input/Output System)

6.2 Booting the Computer

Cold Boot • Warm Boot • Booting with Multiple Operating Systems

6.3 User Interfaces

The Graphical User Interface (GUI) • Command-Line Interface • UNIX and Linux • TECH TALK: UNIX–Operating System of Choice for Professionals

6.4 Files and File Management

Naming Files • The Hierarchical File Structure

6.5 Input and Output of Information

General Issues in Processing Files • Device Drivers

6.6 Memory Limitations: Cache and Virtual Memory

Cache Memory • Primary/Secondary Memory Cache • RAM Cache Memory Virtual Memory

6.7 Context Switching and Multitasking

Context Switching • VOICES FROM THE PAST: Multics, the Granddaddy of Operating Systems • Multitasking

6.8 Operating Systems for the Networked World

Parallel Processing • Networks and Distributed Processing • THE CUTTING EDGE: Distributed Processing and Operating Systems • Real Time and Process Control

7.1 Introduction: "Everything Is Connected to Everything"

7.2 Communication Basics of Networks

Types of Connections–Physical Connection versus Wireless • Physical Network Links • Wireless Network Links • Properties of Transmission • Type of Signal • Speed of Signal • Type of Data Movement on the Link • Method of Transmission • Single-Channel versus Multichannel Transmission

7.3 The Physical Organization of Networks

Linking Computers Together–Direct-Connect Networks • Networks on Different Scales • Desk Area Networks • Local Area Networks • VOICES FROM THE PAST: Computer Networks–The Beginning • Metropolitan Area Networks • Wide Area Networks

7.4 Software Architecture of the Network

The Rules of Operation: Protocols of a Network • The Architecture of the Internet • TECH TALK: TCP/IP and Application Ports • Client/Server Model • Other Hardware Necessary for Networks

7.5 Firewalls

THE CUTTING EDGE: The Maturing of the Client/Server Model

8.1 A Powerful Voice

8.2 The Internet: Struggling to Maturity

8.3 The Internet: Early User Interfaces

Before the World Wide Web

8.4 Using Today’s Internet

E-Mail • Peer-to-Peer File Sharing • Usenet and Listservs • THE CUTTING EDGE: Internet2 and the Evolving National LambdaRail • Chatrooms and Instant Messaging

8.5 The World Wide Web: Internet’s Most Common Access

Who Owns the Web?

8.6 Navigating the Web

VOICES FROM THE PAST: Vannevar Bush (1890—1974)–An Enigma • Hypertext, Hypermedia, and Hot Links

8.7 Understanding Web Addresses (URLs)

8.8 The Web and You

Accessing the Web (Internet Service Providers) • Surfing the Web • TECH TALK: The Deep Web • Downloading Software • Free Downloads • Shareware • Creating a Web Presence

8.9 The New Web Presence: Blogs

8.10 The Web in Business: The Growth of E-Commerce

Paying for E-Commerce Purchases • Privacy and Consumer Profiling

8.11 Software Applications: Search Engines

What Are Search Engines and How Do They Work? • Using a Search Engine Effectively

9.1 What Is Multimedia?

9.2 Visual Media: Manipulating Images

Processing Existing Digital Images • TECH TALK: Graphics Formats from GIF to JPEG • Image Enhancement • Image Restoration

9.3 Visual Media: Creating Images

Creating Line Images • Vector versus Raster Graphics • Solid Forms to 3D • TECH TALK: Diplodocuses of the Jurassic in 3D

9.4 Visual Media: Animation and Video

Traditional Animation • VOICES FROM THE PAST: Ivan Sutherland–Computer Graphics Guru • Special Effects and Morphing • Digitizing and Manipulating Video • Basic Video Concepts • Common CODECs • DVD, the Digital Versatile Disc • Digital Video Players • Streaming Media

9.5 Audio Media: Human Speech

Recorded Speech • Speech Synthesis: Making a Computer Speak • Recognizing Spoken Words • The Voiceprint • Recognizing Disjointed Speech • Recognizing Continuous Speech

9.6 Audio Media: Music

The Computer and Recorded Music • Compact Disc Technology • Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) • MP3 Compressed Music • Recorded Audio Forms and Formats • Size and Quality of Sound Files • Sound File Formats • Hardware and Software Needs • MIDI: A Revolution in Music • Using MIDI Instruments • Using a Sequencer

9.7 Software Applications: Internet Music and Audio

Streaming Audio • Sound Files • MIDI Files • THE CUTTING EDGE: Convergence

10.1 Introduction: Information Overload

10.2 The Technology for Data Collection

In the Beginning There Was Nothing • Mark-Sensor Data Collection Sheets • Remote Electronic Data Sensing • TECH TALK: Collecting Data from Earth’s Surface: A Satellite Update • Bar Codes • Data Probe Tools • Voice Recognition Data Entry • Online Interactive Data Entry

10.3 Retrieving Data

FBI Fingerprint Processing: A Study in Data Retrieval • Historical Handling of Fingerprint Data • Visualization of Information from Databases • THE CUTTING EDGE: Biometrics–The New Wave of Identification • Population Growth • Knee Noises • Heart Blood Flow

10.4 The Role of Statistics: Transforming Data into Information

Percents • Probability • Importance of Probability and Percents • Selecting Data for Statistical Analysis • Correlation

10.5 Creating a Custom Database

Database Structure and Design • VOICES FROM THE PAST: E. F. Codd and the Relational Database • Using a Relational Database System • Data Marts, Data

Warehouses, and Data Mining • Database Advantages • Ethical Hazards of Database Systems • Misrepresentation of Data • Invasion of Privacy

10.6 Software Applications: Web-Database Connectivity

What Is Web-Database Connectivity? • Key Advantages of Web-Database Connectivity • Getting Started • Oracle WebDB: An Integrated Solution

11.1 Reasons for Simulation

Forecasting or Predicting the Future • TECH TALK: Monte Carlo Simulation • Accessing the Inaccessible or Impossible • Experimentation and Testing • VOICES FROM THE PAST: Herbert A. Simon–Simulating Human Cognition • Education and Training

11.2 Building a Model

11.3 Monopoly Game Simulation

Programming Getting Out of Jail • Probabilities of the Game • Developing a Winning Strategy

11.4 SimCity: Simulation of City Planning

Overview of SimCity • Planning Details in a Feedback Environment • Strategies and the Model

11.5 Design and Implementation of Computer Simulations

Simulation Languages and Modeling Systems

11.6 Virtual Reality

Fundamentals of Virtual Reality • CAVE Automatic Virtual Environment • Virtual Surgery: A Use of Virtual Reality

11.7 Software Applications: Electronic Spreadsheets as Simulation Tools

Continuous Simulation Model • Probabilistic Simulation Model • Simulation Model with Feedback • THE CUTTING EDGE: MOOs (MUDs Object Oriented)

12.1 What Is Intelligence: Artificial or Not?

12.2 Modeling Human Intelligence

Modeling the Human Knowledge System • VOICES FROM THE PAST: Marvin Minsky–A Leader in AI • Knowledge Acquisition • Knowledge Retrieval by Searching • Brute-Force Search–Looking at Every Possibility • Heuristic Searching • Reasoning • Learning Systems • Common Sense

12.3 Natural Language Communication

ELIZA: An Experiment in Communication • Semantic Translation Problems

12.4 Expert Systems

Expert System Overview • Structure of an Expert System • Expert Systems in the Arts • TECH TALK: Bots and Intelligent Agents

12.5 Neural Networks

The Neuron • Neural Networks • Training a Neural Network • Neural Networks in Action

12.6 Evolutionary Systems

The Genetic Algorithm • Genetic Programming • THE CUTTING EDGE: The Computer as an Inventor

12.7 Complex Adaptive Systems

Defining the Complex Adaptive System • Chaos • Artificial Life

12.8 Software Applications: Natural Language Translation

Web-Based Language Translation

13.1 Historical Perspective

The "Education Factory" • The Seed of Educational Change • VOICES FROM THE PAST: Seymour Papert–A Visionary Looks at Kids, Computers, and Learning

13.2 Why Are Computers Effective Teaching Tools?

13.3 What Can Computers Teach?

Cognitive Learning • Psychomotor Skills • Social Interaction

13.4 What Can Computers Help Us Learn?

TECH TALK Information Age Music Class–Composition and Performance

13.5 High-Tech Tools That Help Us Learn

CD-ROM and DVD • Local Area Networks • The Internet and the Web • Distance Learning • Presentation Technology

13.6 Real and Virtual Classrooms

The Brick and Cement Classroom • The Virtual Classroom

13.7 Software Applications: Electronic Test Generators

THE CUTTING EDGE: An Intelligent Essay Assessor • What Is an Electronic Test Generator and What Does It Do? • The Electronic Test Bank • Building a Test Using the inQsit Online Testing Program • Loading the Test Bank • Creating a Test • Taking a Test • Reporting Test Results

14.1 Introduction to Issues of Personal Security and Privacy

14.2 Fundamental Concepts in Personal Security

Viruses, Worms and Trojan Horses • VOICES FROM THE PAST: Phil Zimmermann–E-Mail Privacy for Everyone • Spyware • Phishing

14.3 The Annoying Types of Computer Assaults Affecting Personal Security and Privacy

Spam • Adware and Popups • Denial of Service Attacks • TECH TALK: Wireless Standards: Bluetooth and Wi-Fi

14.4 How to Protect Personal Security and Privacy from Hackers, Business, and Government

Protection from Viruses, Worms and Trojan Horses • Protection from Spyware and Adware/Popups • Protection from Unauthorized Access • Protection from Phishing • THE CUTTING EDGE: RFID • Protection from Spam