Life story of Computers.. Part 1

Okay, I'm finally ready to blog about this dense and dull book.

So, society has come a really long way from our first ever calculator, the abacus, to my 1 inch thick MacBook Pro that I am using right now and for almost everything!

The first part of the book explains society's need to find a way to count and to make calculations. Obviously, counting with our fingers and toes are not enough to make huge calculations like the orbiting of the planets, universe, and so on. So even before the existence of computers, it all began with the invention of calculating systems. Scientists now know that humankind have created early forms of 'computers' - for example, there are bone carvings of prime numbers. The next step was the invention of abacus, a calculation system using moveable beads and rocks. I've actually used an abacus before because my grandmother still uses it. She's still so stuck in her generation that she's more comfortable using an abacus to calculate things than using an solar powered calculator. It's very interesting that an apparatus using beads to make calculations eventually sparked an idea of the inventions of computers.

Then in the 19th century,  a really smart English dude named Charles Babbage started thinking about the high error rate in calculations in math tables. So.. by removing the human error factor, he created the two greatest inventions that he called, the Babbage Difference Engine and Analytical Engine (genius). Babbage proposed a machine that was able to calculate polynomials by using numerical method called the differences method. This machine not only calculated numbers but it also was capable of printing mathematical tables. Like any other great inventions, there were definite trial and errors. During the physical building process of the Difference Engine, Babbage thought up another invention which would be capable of major logical components and techniques for the modern electronic computer (Ferro 17). However this was never invented and only stayed as a proposal - this would later be considered the first realizable design for a general-purpose computer (Ferro 17).

The first fully electronic computer is born! During WW2, the army needed a technology that would calculate artillery-firing tables and the settings used for different weapons under varied conditions for target accuracy. So, John Mauchly and John Presper Eckert developed the Electrical Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC) computer. Completed in 1945, the ENIAC consisted of 49ft high cabinets, almost 18,000 vacuum tubes and many miles of wiring and weighed 30 tons (Ferro 39). This amazing technology was able to solve a ballistic trajectory calculation in 30 seconds while it would take a human mathematician 20 hrs to solve!

In memory of Ty

I am so deeply disturbed. 

I grew up with Tyler Clementi. I took classes with him for three years in middle school and high school and seriously, no human being deserves this. Tyler was a person, not a freak show. And just like everyone else, he deserved that privacy and the pursuit to his happiness. It breaks my heart that someone could be THIS cruel enough to hurt an innocent person. I don't understand how they could think this as a joke... How is that funny at all? It's sad to see that our youth threw away an education for the satisfaction of bringing another student down. It's unfortunate, but hopefully the justice system will do right by Ty and hold these two people accountable for the damage that they have caused. They targeted Ty because he was gay and different. I have seen how gay and closeted teens are treated in high school and now I doubt much has changed. It makes me so sick to my stomach just thinking about this heinous incident. He was only 18! and he hasn't even been in college for more than a month. His roommate didn't even really know him -  they didn't even have the chance to really know each other and already he was playing sick jokes on Ty, how dare he?!! AHHH gets me so mad just thinking about it. Poor Ty, probably thought he was free of that hateful shit once he got into Rutgers, one of the most diverse campuses in US.... instead he was used as an object for humiliation because of his sexuality. What a horrible thing for two people to do to a fellow HUMAn being. It gives me chills just thinking about it. Ty was a great person. He kept to himself mostly but he was so bright and had so much potential of being a great violinist/musician. Ty, you will be greatly missed. And hopefully, our society will learn from this unfortunate incident of cyberbullying. My prayers go out to the Clementi family. Rest in peace, buddy.

-----

Technology can be so evil! This goes without saying, yes technology is amazing and it revolutionized how our society communicates and shares information with each other. But when it comes to using technology to humiliate and ruin an innocent person's life, that is unacceptable. 

TFLN

Texts from Last Night is a website where any users can upload/share with the world the texts that they have received. It's completely anonymous and the only information that's provided in the text is the area code. The texts that people post up are categorized by; best, worst, and random. I've always heard of TFLN but I have never visited the website. After our class discussion, it intrigued me to surf through this website. It didn't surprise me that most of the texts were party/drunk/naked/sexual - based but it did surprise me however, that "texters" send out messages such as this :

(501):

So when I got her home I realized being a lesbian again isn't like riding a bike...

and this...
(305):

Honestly, I don't care if the only reason she gave me her beer was because she was bisexual and wanted to touch my vagina. Beer is beer.


and this.... 

(661):

I'm just gonna be the bigger person here and say I want you inside me

It's pretty funny reading all the texts. But I wonder why it's necessary for people to post up funny/random texts for the whole world to see... Is it because it's entirely anonymous? Is it   entirely for entertainment? 

I have had friends who show me some random people's texts from TFLN because their texts were relevant to our nights/situations... I think the reason why a lot of people visit these sites are because not only do they want a good laugh but most of these "snippets" of texts are relevant to many people's situations. When I say 'people,' I mean TFLN users of my generation - college/high school students.. I wouldn't expect people in my mom's age to be 'sexting' or talking about how crazy their night was through texts... if they do, that would be straight up weird. 

Internet uses

I use the internet for almost everything from school work, checking my work schedule, to stalking people on Facebook, and for boredom. The most popular sites that I constantly use is Facebook, Youtube, youtube to MP3 converter, Google, Yahoo, Netflix, Hotschedules (for work), and Stumbleupon. I have realized that it has become an unconscious habit of mine to automatically log onto Facebook as soon as I open my laptop. And whenever I do get off the computer, I go to check my Facebook on my crackberry (I call it that, because that's what it is). I feel like on a daily basis, I check my Facebook more than I check Sakai or Eden. Even when it's like super late at night and nobody is posting anything on Facebook, I hit refresh, and then refresh again, to see if anyone is on. Besides Facebook, I use youtube a lot, not to watch funnyass videos like "hide ya kids hide ya wife" but for music. I feel kind of guilty that I haven't bought a single song from iTunes or even bought a CD of my favorite artists. Youtube has so much power in itself - take Justin Bieber for example.. he got famous just posting videos of himself and somehow Usher saw talent in him.

I think that this generation has completely redefined ways of communication. Nowadays, it's all about networking. Networking is awesome because it's a global playground for people to connect and reconnect. However, all this craze and desire for the next better gadget is freaking me out. I mean, my friend's younger sister already has a crackberry and she's only in 5th grade!!! It's also really weird that some of my best friends' grandparents have Facebook and that I'm Facebook friends with them... although i hide everything from them. My roommate actually tried to give up Facebook for lent and that was an epic fail. I'm ashamed to say this but whenever my cell dies or if it's not attached to my hip, I feel completely naked and I don't know what to do with myself. Also, for last year's final I had to write a 15 page research paper and I spent 3 hours Facebook stalking and not even a single word was written on my paper (not even my name). So... it just goes to show - Hi my name is Joanne and I'm addicted to Facebook.