Search

This article revises the traditional view that the 1966 U.S. embargo was the main motivation for Plan Calcul, France's first large-scale information technology program. The government-supported, nationwide program imitated the U.S. "state-industry" model of technological development during the Cold War arms race. French information technology archives and the literature help chart what actions and investments the French government had undertaken several years earlier to establish a solid foundation for Plan Calcul. Often ignored when discussing the development of France's information technology industry, this early history shows why the French government decided to build an autonomous computer industry independent of U.S. technical and financial dominance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the Lighthill Affair. The Lighthill Report, which formed the basis for the decision by the British government to end support of AI research in all but two universities. (Oral tradition paints a somewhat different and more colorful picture, with political ambitions and personal animosities that cannot be put into print.)1 In this paper, I describe the affair, put in print some of the things hinted at here, and elaborate on the issues that have remained topical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this essay is to examine how a comfortable paradigm for explaining the spread of a major technology began cracking, shaken by new findings. I do this by, first, summarizing familiar explanations for the diffusion of computing, as much recently historical research still depends on it. Then I describe problems-cracks-appearing in these assumptions, followed by a proposed modification of how to view IT's diffusion-the why and how-an an update more in line with current historiography. The conclusion of this essay identifies implications for research on other technologies, especially those that emerged during the Second Industrial Revolution still unfolding, many of which are morphing into quasi-computers themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this essay is to examine how a comfortable paradigm for explaining the spread of a major technology began cracking, shaken by new findings. I do this by, first, summarizing familiar explanations for the diffusion of computing, as much recently historical research still depends on it. Then I describe problems-cracks-appearing in these assumptions, followed by a proposed modification of how to view IT's diffusion the why and how an an update more in line with current historiography. The conclusion of this essay identifies implications for research on other technologies, especially those that emerged during the Second Industrial Revolution still unfolding, many of which are morphing into quasi-computers themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses computer games as an educational or training tool of representing a model on how a system works. In 2001, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars gathered game developers, educational foundations and homeland security consultants to provide information on gaming technology and established an industry. These experts aim to convince people that game is also a medium of teaching just like books and films. Serious games emerge in various fields like science, defense and social change. This article cites several educational games, including Immune Attack created by the Federation of American Scientists, Balance of Power by Chris Crawford and Food Force by the United Nations World Food Programme.

This article is the second in a two-part series exploring the development of the early history of information technologies, from the 1940s to the present. This article describes the evolving information infrastructure used by historians in support of their research on the history of computing and of the role of IT practitioners, computer executives, scientists, and universities in creating that support since the 1970s. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is very little published literature on the display of computing technology in museums and galleries. This article reviews a variety of displays, from the early 1970s to the 1990s, to show how computing and communication technologies shifted from a taxonomic approach that inferred an element of progression to displays that take a more socially and culturally embedded approach. The article argues that by changing their focus away from computing per se to considering the history of sociocultural information networks, museum professionals can create more engaging experiences for visitors while reflecting the current concerns of the sociology of technology and historiography. Using insights drawn from the development of the Information Age gallery at the Science Museum in London, the article argues that while the shift toward information and communication networks is not without conceptual challenges, it brings to the fore the importance of infrastructure, the role of users in the coconstruction of networks, and the challenge of software in display. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is part of a two-part series exploring the development of the early history of information technologies, from the 1940s to the present. It argues that historians have developed this new field along the lines evident in other historical categories, evolving from accounts of machines and individuals to more complex historiographical issues involving research methods, institutions, groups, and whole nations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Academically trained as a historian and then hired as an IBM salesperson in the 1970s, James Cortada spent many years working to define the scope of the emerging history of computing field. As an IBM employee, Cortada began his writing career with almost exclusive access to the IBM Archives. This article describes his experiences with the IBM Archives, the archives of other major industry leaders (such as Burroughs and NCR), and the still active pioneers in the computer industry during this period. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The history of computing in India is inextricably intertwined with two interacting forces: the political climate (determined by the political party in power) and the government policies mainly driven by the technocrats and bureaucrats who acted within the boundaries drawn by the political party in power. There were four break points (which occurred in 1970, 1978, 1991 and 1998) that changed the direction of the development of computers and their applications. This article explains why these breaks occurred and how they affected the history of computing in India. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present article aims to present ongoing research on one of the segments that have been most active in the state of Paraná, Brazil: the computer industry. This industry is a core sector of the so-called "new economy", either for its nature or for the announced possibilities of "transformed labor", as proposed by some authors. The sociological issues that arise from this sector prompted us to study its dynamics, processes and labor patterns. Given the complexity of the field, we have focused on companies that produce computer hardware (assembly of desktops, notebooks, servers and components) and those that design software (computer programs). At the center of this industry lies its workforce, immersed under the banner of new organizational paradigms, namely, more flexible forms of labor and contractual relations. The reality of labor and workers in this sector allows for critical analysis of theses that defend that we are heading towards an era of emancipated work that is friendlier, healthier and free of the constraints imposed by Fordism and Taylorism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cloud computing market is one of the fastest growing segments in the global technology industry, yet less than a quarter of the PC (Personal Computer) users in Europe declare that they access cloud services. Cloud-based solutions [1] can and shall bring huge benefits to the European Union economies, allowing governments, businesses and consumers to access high-quality software and IT (Information Technology) resources in a more efficient way and with lower costs than in the past. Unfortunately, most PC users in the European Union are not fully familiar with what cloud computing is and still fail to take advantage of the opportunities it offers. This paper aims to present some aspects on the use of cloud computing services for the computerization of society and for its transformation into an information society as an intermediate step towards the knowledge society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green Computing is one of the emerging computing technology in the field of computer science engineering and technology to provide Green Information Technology (Green IT / GC). It is mainly used to protect environment, optimize energy consumption and keeps green environment. Green computing also refers to environmentally sustainable computing. In recent years, companies in the computer industry have come to realize that going green is in their best interest, both in terms of public relations and reduced costs. Information and communication technology (ICT) has now become an important department for the success of any organization. Making IT "Green" can not only save money but help save our world by making it a better place through reducing and/or eliminating wasteful practices. In this paper we focus on green computing by optimizing operating systems and scheduling of hardware resources. The objectives of the green computing are human power, electrical energy, time and cost reduction with out polluting the environment while developing the software. Operating System (OS) Optimization is very important for Green computing, because it is bridge for both hardware components and Application Soft wares. The important Steps for green computing user and energy efficient usage are also discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being one of the most popularized measures of education policy taken by the latest Portuguese governments, the so-called enrichment activities for primary school pupils can also stimulate a reflection upon the effects of dualism in the workplace -- here viewed as the co-presence and cooperation, in the same institution, of workers with equivalent functions though with quite different contractual conditions. Based empirically on the experience of one of the authors in several primary schools in a suburban city near Lisbon, the article presents dualism and work precariousness as predictable results of the implementation of a political program that articulates several organizational processes -- from the Ministry of Education, to mayors and partner entities, to each primary school --, having as common denominator the intention of rendering public educational services more flexible via the use of easily dispensable workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a manufacturing environment, product development technologies have the potential to be a central tool in the organisation of administrative and manufacturing tasks. Such integration of technology and information presents a strategic avenue for creating efficiencies in the development of highly complex products. This paper examines the implementation of a sophisticated computer aided design (CAD) package in a small company. The strategic aim was to bring components into the CAD environment, supporting each component with procurement information. The intention was that this would lead to: reduced design cycle times through the development of parts libraries; improved efficiencies in planning; and reduced manufacturing cycle times. In a small commercial environment, such strategic development presents a challenging task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is intended to aid students and consumers of Cognitive Systems Engineering (CSE) in learning about CSE. A proliferation of terms describing CSE and related constructs makes it difficult to sort out differences and similarities across approaches. To aid the reader in exploring CSE, we examine areas of confusion surrounding CSE, define CSE, and discuss the role of CSE in the systems engineering design process. We advocate the use of CSE principles and methods as a means to incorporate worker needs, expertise, cognitive demands, constraints, and goals throughout the design process. Articulation of the value case for CSE is offered as a vehicle to foster collaboration across disciplines. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A calendar of events for the computer industry in 2009 is presented which include the 7th International Conference on Pervasive Computing in May 11-14, the 8th International Conference on Interactive in June 3-5 and the 31st International Conference on Information Technology Interfaces in June 22-25.

Software industry development is acknowledged as an important engine of economic growth for many developing countries. The role of national policy has been identified as a catalyst to software industry and software exports development. Academic and practitioner frameworks have emerged to guide policymakers to the factors that are critical to success. This article adopts an institutional theory perspective on the strategy-making and implementation process and examines how historically rooted, taken-for-granted assumptions limit the possible courses of action and may also simultaneously open up new opportunities. Certain complexities and contradictions are highlighted through a longitudinal case study of Costa Rica where there is an ongoing strategic planning effort to increase software exports. Key findings from the research are related to improving our understanding of how software exports policy is influenced by local, emergent institutions that have been shaped by particular historical circumstances. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After being emblematic of the U.S. economic surge in the late 1990s, urban areas that specialize in information technology (IT) products struggled in the aftermath of the IT spending bust, with most experiencing deeper and longer periods of economic decline than the nation as a whole. Seven years later, most have recovered, but only a few have regained the prominence of earlier years. In this paper, we consider the rise, the fall, and the recovery of urban IT centers and distinguish between the factors leading to temporary gains and those contributing to a more lasting growth path. Specifically, we examine the initial characteristics of the most prominent IT centers, linking these characteristics to a discussion of economic research concerning the sources of growth in urban industrial centers. We then follow these centers through the IT bust and subsequent economic recovery. The results indicate that, although each of our IT centers was hit hard by the IT bust beginning in 2000, the full impact of the decline and the subsequent pace of recovery varied considerably with the size, density, and composition of the local IT sector. The overall experience of the IT sector and the factors that ultimately seemed to separate those urban areas that succeeded from those that struggled suggest that inputs to the process such as education, research networks, and flexibility matter more than picking the right industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract-In this paper, we consider the issue of constructing an energy-efficient virtual network backbone in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) for broadcasting applications using directional antennas. In directional antenna models, the transmission/reception range is divided into several sectors, and one or more sectors can be switched on for transmission. Therefore, data forwarding can be restricted to certain directions (sectors), and both energy consumption and interference can be reduced. We develop the notation of our directional network backbone by using the directional antenna model and form the problem of the directional connected dominating set (DCDS), which is an extreme case of the directional network backbone using an unlimited number of directional antennas. The minimum DCDS problem is proven to be NP-complete. A localized heuristic algorithm for constructing a small DCDS and two extensions of the algorithm are proposed. Performance analysis includes an analytical study in terms of an approximation ratio and a simulation study on the proposed algorithms by using both a custom simulator and ns2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multicore processors have been utilized in embedded systems and general computing applications for some time. However, these multicore chips execute multiple applications concurrently, with each core carrying out a particular task in the system. Such systems can be found in gaming, automotive real-time systems and video / image encoding devices. These system are commonly deployed to overcome deadline misses, which are primarily due to overloading of a single multitasking core. In this paper, we explore the use of multiple cores for a single application, as opposed to multiple applications executing in a parallel fashion. A single application is parallelized using two different methods: one, a master-slave model; and two, a sequential pipeline model. The systems were implemented using Tensilica’s Xtensa LX processors with queues as the means of communications between two cores. In a master-slave model, we utilized a course grained approach whereby a main core distributes the workload to the remaining cores and reads the processed data before writing the results back to file. In the pipeline model, a lower granularity is used. The application is partitioned into multiple sequential blocks; each block representing a stage in a sequential pipeline. For both models we applied a number of differing configurations ranging from a single core to a nine-core system. We found that without any optimization for the seven core system, the sequential pipeline approach has a more efficient area usage, with an area increase to speedup ratio of 1.83 compared to the master-slave approach of 4.34. With selective optimization in the pipeline approach, we obtained speed ups of up to 4.6 × while with an area increase of only 3.1 × (area increase to speedup ratio of just 0.68). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IT systems and control systems have been developing independently of each other with both close to reaching the panacea, but it is only recently that companies have started to look closer at integrating these systems. IT tend to do a better job rolling things out globally, dealing with much, much larger projects because they are often looking at the manufacturing assets as a network in progress. On the flipside, where manufacturing has had a great deal of success is in high availability. Lowering costs and getting greater leverage from an investment is what IT focuses on - it has not historically been the people in control. The focus in control is solving problems day to day - cost is not the big issue. Long-term support costs are not really the big question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on the increase in information and communications technology (ICT) use and access in Sub-Saharan Africa. ICT has proven to be the major catalyst for users to access and share information and knowledge resources globally. The licensing of Internet Service Providers in some Sub-Saharan African countries only started in recent years as governments started liberalizing their telecommunications regimes. A gradual and steady increase in the number of cybercafes, improvements in the quality of service and increased affordability is reported.

Structured adaptive mesh refinement (SAMR) techniques provide an effective means for dynamically concentrating computational effort and resources to appropriate regions in the application domain. However, due to their dynamism and space-time heterogeneity, scalable parallel implementation of SAMR applications remains a challenge. This paper investigates hybrid runtime management strategies and presents an adaptive hierarchical multipartitioner (AHMP) framework. AHMP dynamically applies multiple partitioners to different regions of the domain, in a hierarchical manner, to match the local requirements of the regions. Key components of the AHMP framework include a segmentation-based clustering algorithm (SBC) that can efficiently identify regions in the domain with relatively homogeneous partitioning requirements, mechanisms for characterizing the partitioning requirements of these regions, and a runtime system for selecting, configuring, and applying the most appropriate partitioner to each region. Further, to address dynamic resource situations for long-running applications, AHMP provides a hybrid partitioning strategy (HPS) that involves application-level pipelining, trading space for time when resources are sufficiently large and underutilized, and an application-level out-of-core strategy (ALOC), trading time for space when resources are scarce in order to enhance the survivability of applications. The AHMP framework has been implemented and experimentally evaluated on up to 1,280 processors of the IBM SP4 cluster at the San Diego Supercomputer Center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Application-level multicast is a promising alternative to IP multicast due to its independence from the IP routing infrastructure and its flexibility in constructing the delivery trees. The existing overlay multicast systems either support a single data source or have high maintenance overhead when multiple sources are allowed. They are inefficient for applications that require any-source multicast with varied host capacities and dynamic membership. This paper proposes ACOM, an any-source capacity-constrained overlay multicast system, consisting of three distributed multicast algorithms on top of a non-DHT overlay network with simple structures (random overlay with a non-DHT ring) that are easy to manage as nodes join and depart. The nodes have different capacities, and they can support different numbers of direct children during a multicast session. No explicit multicast trees are maintained on top of the overlay. The distributed execution of the algorithms naturally defines an implicit, roughly balanced, capacity-constrained multicast tree for each source node. We prove that the system can deliver a multicast message from any source to all nodes in expected O(logC n) hops, which is asymptotically optimal, where c is the average node capacity and m is the number of members in a multicast group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which focuses on architectural optimization methods in bioinformatics applications. In this study, researchers have focused on two aspects namely memory usage and execution time. In addition, the researchers also observed the impact of various cache line sizes and associativities. The study suggests that cache memory does not have a significant effect on system performance. Furthermore, two instruction level methods have been observed and examined after the optimization has been implemented.

The article presents a study that shows a design and implementation of a system which leverages interactive scripting environment to the needs of scientific computing. The computer system allows translation of high level script codes to highly optimized native language executables which can be ported to parallel systems with high performance hardware and potential lack of the scripting language interpreter. Furthermore, the results are given to show various usage scenarios which differ in terms of invested programmer's effort and resulting performance gains.

The article presents a study that describes the overall design and architecture of the pMatlab performance with the equivalent Message Passing Interface (MPI) codes. In this study, the researchers present implementation data collected from a sample of real pMatlab applications drawn from the approximately one hundred computer users at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. Furthermore, these data show that users are typically able to go from a serial code to an efficient pMatlab code in about 3 hours while changing less than 1 percent of their code.