In 1617 an eccentric (some say mad) Scotsman named John Napier invented logarithms, which are a technology that allows multiplication to be performed via addition. The magic ingredient is the logarithm of each operand, which was originally obtained from a printed table. But Napier also invented an alternative to tables, where the logarithm values were carved on ivory sticks which are now called Napier's Bones.
An original set of Napier's Bones [photo courtesy IBM]
A more modern set of Napier's Bones
Napier's invention led directly to the slide rule, first built in England in 1632 and still in use in the 1960's by the NASA engineers of the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs which landed men on the moon.
Rupa
Saturday, December 6, 2008
An Illustrated History of Computers Napier
An Illustrated History of Computers
The first computers were people! That is, electronic computers (and the earlier mechanical computers) were given this name because they performed the work that had previously been assigned to people. "Computer" was originally a job title: it was used to describe those human beings (predominantly women) whose job it was to perform the repetitive calculations required to compute such things as navigational tables, tide charts, and planetary positions for astronomical almanacs. Imagine you had a job where hour after hour, day after day, you were to do nothing but compute multiplications. Boredom would quickly set in, leading to carelessness, leading to mistakes. And even on your best days you wouldn't be producing answers very fast. Therefore, inventors have been searching for hundreds of years for a way to mechanize (that is, find a mechanism that can perform) this task.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Google launches internet browser
Google is launching an open source web browser to compete with Internet Explorer and Firefox.
The browser is designed to be fast, and to cope with the next generation of web applications that rely on graphics and multimedia.
Called Chrome, it will launch as a beta for Windows machines in 100 countries, with Mac and Linux versions to come.
"We realised... we needed to completely rethink the browser," said Google's Sundar Pichai in a blog post.
The new browser will help Google take advantage of developments it is pushing online in rich web applications that are challenging traditional desktop programs.
Google has a suite of web apps, such as Documents, Picasa and Maps which offer functionality that is beginning to replace offline software.
"What we really needed was not just a browser, but also a modern platform for web pages and applications, and that's what we set out to build," Mr Pichai, VP Product Management, wrote.
The launch of a beta version of Chrome on Tuesday evening (UK time) will be Google's latest assault on Microsoft's dominance of the PC business. The firm's Internet Explorer program dominates the browser landscape, with 80% of the market.
Those already in the browser space were quick to respond to the news. Writing in his blog, John Lilly, chief executive of Mozilla was sanguine about the new rival in the browsersphere.
"It should come as no real surprise that Google has done something here - their business is the web, and they’ve got clear opinions on how things should be, and smart people thinking about how to make things better."
Chrome will be a browser optimized for the things that they see as important, and it’ll be interesting to see how it evolves," he wrote.
He welcomed the competition and said collaboration between Mozilla and Google on certain projects would continue.
Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of Microsoft's Internet Explorer, was more bullish.
"The browser landscape is highly competitive, but people will choose Internet Explorer 8 for the way it puts the services they want right at their fingertips, respects their personal choices about how they want to browse and, more than any other browsing technology, puts them in control of their personal data online," he said in a statement.For Nate Elliot, an analyst with Jupiter Research, entering the browser market is an obvious next move for Google.
"This is a much bigger undertaking than providing a Google toolbar but it feels like the natural next step," he said. But competing with the established browser names could be harder, he thinks.
"Mozilla's Firefox is very well respected and yet it commands less than 20% of the browser market which just shows how hard it is to overtake an incumbent although Google does have almost unparallelled ability to promote it to almost the entire online audience," he said.
Chrome is now available for download.
HP computer 24 hour battery for the EliteBook 6930p
September 9, 2008
Many notebooks on the market have us reaching for the power cord after just a few hours of continuous use, but HP's latest announcement promises to let you stay away from the mains supply for quite a while longer. Using with an optional ultra-capacity battery, the company's new HP EliteBook 6930p offers up to 24 hours of battery runtime, a feat achieved by a combination of the battery design itself and energy saving components like LED displays and Intel® solid-state hard drives (SSD). Good news for all of us who have ever wandered around an airport looking for a socket.
“All-day computing has been the holy grail of notebook computing,” said Ted Clark, senior vice president and general manager, Notebook Global Business Unit, HP. “With the HP EliteBook 6930p, customers no longer have to worry about their notebook battery running out before their work day is over.”
The magical 24 hour figure was arrived at using an industry-standard benchmark test and in terms of power-saving components, the company's release states that the "HP Illumi-Lite LED display improves battery run time by up to 4 hours compared to traditional LCD displays, while the Intel SSD provides up to a 7 percent increase in battery life compared to traditional hard drives."
The EliteBook 6930 features a 14.1-inch diagonal widescreen display (the mercury-free Illumi-Lite LED is optional) and offers a number of other carrots to mobile professionals, namely a lightweight configuration that starts at only 4.7 pounds (2.1 kilograms), a durable inner magnesium shell, a shock-resistant hard drive and a spill-resistant keyboard. The unit also meets MIL-STD 810F military-standards for environmental reliability, operation at extreme temperatures and withstanding vibration and high humidity.
The new Intel X25-M and X18-M Mainstream SATA SSDs (for which HP is a launch customer) are expected to be available in October.
computer tips
Intel® Core™2 Duo processor E4600
(2 MB L2 Cache, 2.4 GHz, 800 MHz)
Intel DG31PR Mother Board
1GB DDR2 RAM , 160 GB Sata
15" CRT Black Monitor
Optical Mouse Multimedia Keyboard,
DVD Rom
Price : 31,000.00
Mobile:01818765951
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Firefox Grabs 20 Percent of Global Browser Market
For the first time in its history, Mozilla’s Firefox Web browser reached a global market share of 20 percent, according to That Happened!.
Firefox’s gain has come at Microsoft’s Internet Explorer’s expense, according to data from Net Applications. Internet Explorer still has a tight grip on the global market with a 71 percent share, says this […]
Search Engine Dives into the Deep Web
research-focused search engine is claiming to go where no search engine has gone before: the deep Web.
Founded by Human Genome Project scientists, DeepDyve searches the 99 percent of hits not picked up by other search engines, like content hidden behind paywalls or not linked to enough sites to gain ranking. According to Wired, it […]
Now Open: Microsoft’s U.S. Online Store
Microsoft’s U.S. online store is now open, according to BetaNews.
Products ranging from full versions and upgrades of Vista to Microsoft Office to Zune are available on the site. But if you’re in the market for Design and Developer tools like Expression Studio and Visual Studio, you’ll have to wait, as they are not available yet.
Customers […]
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Computer Training, MCSE Certification Training, IT Boot Camps, CBT Intelligentedu.com: Computer Training, Education, and Tutorial ......
CBT Planet provides computer training programs for Desktop Office Users, IT Certification, Technical IT Networking and Programming, and Soft Skill Training ...
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Computer, Internet and more...
Gateway releases 16-inch MC series laptops
Gateway on Monday released its first 16-inch laptops, the MC7801u and the MC7803u. With a 16:9 aspect ratio screen, 16-inch (and 18-inch) models are beginning to emerge.
Unlike traditional 16:10 laptop displays, a 16:9 screen matches the ratio of movies and HD content. Similar to the redesigned MacBook, the display on Gateway's MC series laptops features a glossy glass overlay that runs edge to edge. The 16-inch screen features a 1366x768 resolution; you'll need to bump up to an 18-inch model for 1080p playback.
The $950 MC7801u features a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo T5800 CPU, 4GB of DDR2 RAM, 64-bit Vista Home Premium, and a 320GB hard drive. So what don't you get on this sub-$1,000 laptop? You miss out Intel's latest Centrino 2 platform, and the laptop relies on integrated Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics.
A second model in the 16-inch MC series, the $1,000 MC7803u, will feature a dedicated 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 graphics card. Providing the MC models with a distinctive look, a thin pleather strip runs down the middle of the lid. The lower-end MC7801u features a burgundy lid, and the higher-end MC7803u features a black lid.
Other features include HDMI and VGA ports, backlit keyboard and multimedia controls, Webcam, DVD burner, Draft N Wi-Fi and Gigabit Ethernet, four USB 2.0 ports, and ExpressCard and media card slots.
The Gateway MC7801u is being sold through Best Buy and is included in our holiday retail laptop roundup. Look for our review next week.
Posted by Gans - computer blogger at 12:17 AM 0 comments
Labels: Gateway releases 16-inch MC series laptops
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Visiting card
Visiting cards also known as calling cards first appeared in China in the 15th century, and in Europe in the 17th century. The footmen of aristocrats and of royalty would deliver these first European visiting cards to the servants of their prospective hosts solemnly introducing the arrival of their owners.
Visiting cards became an indispensable tool of etiquette, with sophisticated rules governing their use. The essential convention was that one person would not expect to see another person in their own home (unless invited or introduced) without first leaving their visiting card with the person at their home. Upon leaving the card, they would not expect to be admitted at first, but might receive a card at their own home in response. This would serve as a signal that a personal visit and meeting at home would not be unwelcome. On the other hand, if no card was forthcoming in return, or if a card were sent in an envelope, a personal visit was thereby discouraged. As an adoption from French and English etiquette, visiting cards became common amongst the aristocracy of Europe, and also in the United States. The whole procedure depended upon there being servants to open the door and receive the cards and it was, therefore, confined to the social classes which employed servants.
Some visiting cards included refined engraved ornaments and fantastic coats of arms. However, the standard form visiting card in the 19th century in the United Kingdom was a plain card with nothing more than the bearer's name on it. Sometimes the name of a gentlemen's club might be added, but addresses were not otherwise included.
The visiting card is no longer the universal feature of upper middle class and upper class life that it once was in Europe and North America. Much more common is the business card, in which contact details, including address and telephone number, are essential. This has led to the inclusion of such details even on modern domestic visiting cards, a practice endorsed by modern books of etiquette, such as Debrett's New Etiquette.
Among officers in the military, at least in the United States, the use of calling cards and the paying of social calls on superior officers is still customary. It is still somewhat common in the U.S. Navy and very common in the U.S. Marine Corps, which tends to be the most "traditional" of the U.S. Armed Services. The use of visiting cards is optional in the U.S. Army today and regulations state that "there should be no directives or requirements for individuals to purchase visiting cards". Current U.S. Marine Corps calling cards are 1.625 by 3.25 inches and are always plain white pasteboard; the traditional size, according to U.S. Army Regulations, is 1.5 by 3.25 inch
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