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This article discusses on several studies building on theories and research from several domains investigating how gender differences interact with software. Gender differences suggest that females process information and solve problems in different ways than males do. It investigates whether software design should take gender differences into account. It discusses gender human-computer interaction which refers to how software relates to gender differences. It focuses on how gender-neutral software works, not on gender-oriented content.

The article focuses on the use of computer simulation technology, the technology of computer games, which caught the public attention in the U.S. Chess-playing computers captured the attention of early computer researchers compared with the computer simulation. As more programmers became skilled at writing games with simulation tools, they explore computer games, fantasy worlds. The computer game industry has used simulation technology to create a host of artificial and imaginary worlds. Therefore, people get their first exposure to computers through video games. INSET: IEEE Annals of the History of Computing.

The article presents information on the vacuum tube computers and the supporting software developed by Sperry Rand Corp. The company was formed in 1955 by the merger of Remington Rand and Sperry Gyroscope. In the development of the computer industry the most striking technological changes have been those in computer processors — from vacuum tubes to transistors to integrated circuits — and these have been taken to define the three generations of computer hardware. One of the most significant developments within the first generation was the emergence of core memory as the primary memory technology. The ENIAC had used vacuum tubes for its 20 accumulators. However, the need to provide greater storage capacity for its successor, the EDVAC, led to the development of mercury delay line memory. Once core memory was developed, it was found superior to electrostatic memory in reliability and to mercury line and drum in speed of access. However, for many years drum memory continued to be used because of the high cost of core memory.

We describe a constrained test-generation procedure for synchronous sequential circuits embedded in a large design where scan is used to provide access to the inputs of the individual circuits. The constrained test-generation procedure generates test sequences, where each vector is obtained from the previous one by shifting the scan chain a limited number of positions. Such constrained sequences can be applied through a scan chain with minimal test-application time overhead due to scan. When a shift by a single positions is used to obtain each vector from the previous one, the constrained test sequences can allow functional (at-speed) testing of the circuit. Although constrained test sequences cannot achieve complete fault coverage, they reduce the overall test-application time required to achieve complete fault coverage when used together with unconstrained test sequences. We demonstrate these features through experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new form of logic diagnosis is described that is suitable for diagnosing falls in combinational logic. It can diagnose defects that can affect arbitrarily many elements in the integrated circuit. It operates by first identifying patterns during which only one element is affected by the defect, and then diagnosing the fails observed during the application of such patterns, one pattern at a time. Single stuck-at faults are used for this purpose, and the aggregate of stuck-at fault locations thus identified is then further analyzed to obtain the most accurate estimate of the identifies of those elements that can be affected by the defect. This approach to logic diagnosis is as effective as that of classical stuck-at fault-based diagnosis, when the latter applies, but is far more general. In particular, it can diagnose fails caused by bridges and opens as well as fails caused by regular stuck-at faults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Features several computer products presented at the 1998 Comdex computer show in the United States. Microsoft's SQL Server 7; Oracle 8i; IriScan's Iris Recognition Technology; Visionics' FaceIt DB, a program for biometric security; Cyber-Sign's Cyber-Sign Enterprise 2.0; Be's BeOS 4.0.

The article reports on the new approach towards computer virtualization. Virtualization technology enables a single computer to run multiple operating systems simultaneously, and allows the companies to a single server for multiple tasks. The application of the technology results to the reduction of the number of servers needed, that saves money and other resources. The software products, tools, and services manufactured by several computer companies that enable lightweight virtualization are also discussed.

A summary of articles recently published in IEEE Computer Society periodicals. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents suggestions on the problems to look for in computer software design and discusses the need to start solving these problems before they get out of control. The term refactoring is used to mean the improvement of the design of existing code in order to avoid heat death, which occurs when the design fails to the point where starting over is cheaper than continuing. The article also offers the steps followed by the author in rafactoring code, including the identifying an aspect of the design, recognizing ways to improve the design, and applying small changes in small steps.

The article features several new computer software and hardware products in the U.S. in 2004. Xilinx announced a new version of the System Generator for DSP development tool that supports the Matlab 7 and Simulink 6 software packages. Altera Corp. has announced Nios 2, a development environment based on the open Eclipse platform, which has become one of the preferred development frameworks among embedded tool providers. Sun Microsystems released the Sun Java Desktop System 2, which now offers integrated, centralized management functionality specifically designed for administers working with large networks.

During the 1970s and early 1980s China tried to develop a full line of computer hardware and software incorporating indigenous technology. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

"We must also consider several changes that are occurring in our field, our organization, and society at large. To address these changes, the plan has four central aims: acquire a global perspective in our activities, disseminate technical information with new electronic methods, keep pace with the evolution of our field, and better integrate our programs with member needs.” [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article presents the Scalable Network Technologies QualNet 3.8 computer software to design and test a wide variety of communications networks including ad hoc wireless networks. The new Real-Time Interfaces Module directly supports hardware- and software-in the loop simulation by accepting packet data traffic from a real network.