[Amazing] 25 Interesting Insights Into The World Of Computers And Computing
Computers have drastically changed the way we function (one of the many insights into the world of computers). From the moment we wake up, our days are dependent on the functions computers offer. We no longer open the morning paper, we just open a web page. We don’t check the mailbox, we check our email. We don’t even check our voicemail, we just have it downloaded straight into our brains. Okay, before we continue, we should probably stop to point out that we lied about the last one. Although the US military is almost certainly experimenting with such technology, it is not a “thing” yet. Technology moves fast but not that fast. Relax. Checking voicemail is still semi-cool.
At any rate, the point is that technology is changing. As we speak, we’re programming computers that are going to program other computers. That’s right. Self programming computers. Sounds scary right? What if they become self-aware? Well, they might soon enough. But before that happens, we want you to be able to defend yourself. And that is why we are going to review some basic computer knowledge. It will make it easier to find the computer’s weak spot if it ever decides to attack you. Alright, enough of the joke, these are 25 interesting insights into the world of computers and computing!
Featured Image: pixabay
An unidentified 15 year old (online he went by c0mrade but due to being a juvenile his identity is protected) hacked into NASA and the Pentagon. He got 6 months in jail.
Source: huffingtonpost, Image: wikipedia
In 1936 the Russians built a computer that ran using water
Source: gizmodo.com, Image: wikipedia
The newest TI calculators have ABC keyboards instead of QWERTY keyboards because otherwise they would be classified as computers (and not allowed for test taking)
Source: dailymail, Image: wikipedia
In 1978 Apple Corps, which was owned by the Beatles, sued Apple Computer for trademark infringement. They settled out of court with Apple Computer promising to never enter the music business and Apple Corps promising to not enter the computer business (yes, we know....iTunes)
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
The first computer bug was an actual moth that got stuck in a Mark II computer at Harvard in 1947
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
MIT has developed software that can distinguish between genuine and fake smiles
Source: techcrunch, Image: wikipedia
In 1956 IBM launched the first "super" computer that had a hard disk drive (305 RAMAC). It weighed more than a ton and could hold a whopping 5 megabytes of data.
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
Washington DC resident Jay Matthew Riley turned himself in for possessing child pornography when he received a warning from the FBI on his computer. The warning, however, had originated not from the FBI but a computer virus that had infected his computer.
Source: washingtonpost, Image: wikipedia
There are actually illegal numbers. These are numbers that represent information that is illegal to possess or distribute, usually having to do with software or cyber security
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
Investigators on the Casey Anthony case (regarding whether or not she killed her daughter) missed incriminating Google searches on her computer (e.g. how to suffocate somebody) because they checked Internet Explorer history but not Firefox
Source: orlandosentinel.com, Image: wikipedia
No More Woof is a Scandinavian company that claims to have developed a way to translate what dogs are thinking by using EEG sensors and microcomputers
Source: nomorewoof.com, Image: wikipedia
In spite of the fact that 95% of mail is sorted electronically by computer programs, the US Postal Service still employs people to read the really messy envelopes
Source: nytimes, Image: wikipedia
For nearly a decade, the password to access the computer controls of the United States' nuclear missiles was 00000000
Source: vice, Image: wikipedia
Tyler Coyner was a student at a Nevada high school who hacked his teachers' computers and charged students to bump their grades up
Source: huffingtonpost, Image: wikipedia
John Lasseter, the CEO of Pixar, actually got fired from Disney because he felt so strongly about computer animation
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
The worst intelligence breach in US military history happened when a government employee plugged a memory stick that they found in the parking lot into their computer. They didn't know that it had been infected by a foreign intelligence agency. (2008 cyberattack that led to the creation of United States Cyber Command)
Source: nytimes, Image: wikipedia
Sister Mary Kenneth Keller, a nun from Ohio, was the first woman in the United States to receive a PhD in computer science
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
A computer that is as powerful as your brain would be able to do 38 thousand trillion operations per second and it would have nearly 4 thousand terabytes of memory. In fact, your brain is many times more powerful than even the most advanced supercomputers in the world.
Source: wired, Image: wikipedia
In 1982 the Motion Picture Academy wouldn't nominate the movie Tron for a special effects award because they thought Steven Spielberg cheated by using computers
Source: gizmodo, Image: wikipedia
Some people actually create "good" viruses/worms. For example, the Welchia worm would enter your computer, search out the Blaster worm (a bad worm), destroy it, download security patches to secure your computer, and then self-destruct
Source: bbc, Image: wikipedia
Only about 8% of the world's money is actually physical currency. The rest is all digital.
Source: cnn, Image: wikipedia
"Typewriter" is the longest English word you can write using only one line of your keyboard (assuming it's QWERTY)
Source: reddit, Image: wikipedia
HP, Apple, and Microsoft were all started in garages
Source: wikipedia, Image: wikipedia
You normally blink about 20 times per minute. While using a computer you only blink about 7 times per minute
Source: theguardian.com, Image: wikipedia
More than 80% of email sent everyday has been classified as spam
Source: huffingtonpost, Image: wikipedia
