Computer evolution Image source: Upgrade Reality, ‘Evolution Man into Computer’, available from: http://www.upgradereality.com/images/evolution-white.jpg, date accessed 15/10/11

Activity – 15 minutes In small groups, spend 10 minutes sharing your memories of your first computer. Think also about your current computer. Then, try to summarise the main differences. What has changed since those days? Image source: Extra Ketchup, ‘Electronics club 1986’, http://www.flickr.com/photos/27315689@N00/440680363/

Image source: Gordon Moore, available from http://www.vcharkarn.com/uploads/224/225132.jpg Source article: Moore, G. (1965), ‘Cramming more components onto integrated circuits’, ftp://download.intel.com/museum/Moores_Law/Articles-Press_Releases/Gordon_Moore_1965_Article.pdf Later revised this to every 2 years (in 1975)

Image source: Jeff Will, ‘On top of the city’, http://www.flickr.com/photos/35708620@N00/439227689/

Can exponential growth continue indefinitely? Activity – take a piece of paper, fold it in half… then fold it again… how many times can you fold it? Why stops you from continuing to fold it? Image source: Visual Panic, ‘Sitting down here – Lene Martin’, http://www.flickr.com/photos/41754875@N00/2054645212/

Image source: sbfisher, I/O, http://www.flickr.com/photos/72103051@N00/2275277312/

Activity – mark this up Hand out

Activity – read through article and then evaluate based on the PROMPT criteria – 15 minutes

TU100 Day School 1 Sarah Horrigan, Associate Lecturer, Region 05

Today’s agenda Overview of session The evolution of computers Binary HTML Evaluating sources - PROMPT

Aim to leave today knowing… A little more about Parts 2 and 3 of Block What are the main stages of evolution for computers Moore’s Law and exponential growth The basics of binary and counting in binary Where to start with HTML How to evaluate a web resource

Block 1 Introduces the concepts of data and information e.g. Data storage Internet, HTML and RSS Wireless networks Basic programming using sense

Activity What was your first computer? What is your current computer? What are the main differences?

Moore’s Law “Transistors on a chip will double every year for the next 10 years” Gordon Moore, 1965

Exponential growth? “Growth in which each value is a fixed multiple of the previous value”

Activity Take a piece of paper… Fold it in half… … then fold it again How many times can you fold it?

Writing it down… What is: 104 33 28 163 2-2 10-4 Hint: x-n = 1/(xn) xn = x multiplied by itself n times

Writing really big / small numbers 5 trillion? = 5,000,000,000,000 = 5 x 1012 0.000000005? = 5 x 10-9

The bouncing ball method… 0.000000005

The bouncing ball method… 0.000000005

The bouncing ball method… 0.000000005 1 4 5 6 7 8 9 2 3

The bouncing ball method… 0.000000005 = 5 x 10-9

Binary There are 10 kinds of people in this world… Those who understand binary… and those who don’t

Binary numbers are the form in which information is held in a computer

Binary to decimal 11 0001 101 1 1001 2

Web addresses / URLs The anatomy of an Uniform Resource Locator (URL) Scheme defines how the browser should form its requests to access the resource. For web pages the scheme ‘http’ represents the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP or for secure transfers HTTPS). Host is the name of the server computer that holds the web page. Path is the name of the pathway to the file on the serve - typically this file will reside inside a ‘nest’ of directories (folders).

Heading The first paragraph is often an introduction. Subsequent paragraphs can form part of the body. Lists are useful ways of highlighting key points: point 1 point 2 Using bold can also highlight key terms

Presentation Relevance Objectivity Method Provenance Timeliness

Presentation (is the information clearly communicated?) Look at language, layout, structure, etc.

Relevance (does the information match the needs of the searcher?) Look at the introduction or overview – what is it mainly about?

Objectivity (Is the author´s position of interest made clear?) Look for an introduction or overview – do the writers state their position on the issue? Is the language emotive? Are there hidden, vested interests?

Method (research reports only) (Is it clear how the data was collected?) Were the methods appropriate? Do you trust it?

Provenance Is it clear where the information has come from? Can you identify the authors or organisations? How was it published?

Timeliness (Is it clear when the information was produced?) Does the date of the information meet your requirements? Is it obsolete?

Any Questions?