Computing technology has come incredibly far in the last 80 years. No other technology has seen such dramatic improvements in as little time. Super computers today are millions of times more powerful then those 50 years ago, and are only getting stronger. With this computing power we have the tools to investigate and potentially solve various scientific problems. Enter computational science, a relatively new field that is changing how scientists approach and solve problems.
Computational science utilizes the advances in computational processing power to tackle problems that were far too complex mathematically. Various factors added to this mathematical complexity, such as the number of variables, the number of calculations, or the complexity of the model. Using computers we can build models to help better understand things that were impossible to compute in real time otherwise, such as weather or geological models. Essentially what Computational Science comes down to is using computers to aid with and solve complex problems. It's often considered the fourth method of conducting research, in addition to experimental science, theoretical science and observational science.
A link I found in researching this topic is to the SciDAC Review, in which they list the top breakthroughs in Computational Science. The list was incredible, and helped me understand just how tremendous the contribution of Computational Science has been to research. I urge you all to take a look, as I'm still reading through this article in awe. Here's the link.
Sources :
http://www.shodor.org/chemviz/overview/compsci.html
http://www.scidacreview.org/0901/html/bt.html
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Sunday, December 8, 2013
Computer Graphics : Games and Names
Computer graphics are an interesting topic to me. As an avid gamer for the majority of my life, I've come to appreciate the advance of computer graphics and graphics processing over the last 20 years.
My first experience with which was the original NES, and it's Picture Processing Unit, the Ricoh 2A03. This 8-bit microprocessor delivered the computing power necessary to process the graphics enjoyed by millions. The chip itself was optimized to use very little memory to store data pertaining to graphics. This small amount of memory could be extended through the use of mappers found on the game cartridges, quite the ingenious design to extend the lifetime of Nintendo's proprietary hardware.
Similar design and hardware was found on the later generations of consoles, but I would rather move on to the advance of PC hardware. The company 'id' is best known for the controversy surrounding their game titles, "DooM" and "Quake." The games themselves play well, and pushed the envelope on what type of gross artwork they could fit into their games. The company gains little credit for it's efforts in advancing the standard of graphics in game engines. DooM was groundbreaking, Quake was groundbreaking, and Quake 3, also, was groundbreaking. Each of these games advanced the standard for what people would expect from their games. DooM brought to life sprites rendered in a 3D space. Quake realized a full 3D world with 3D models and particles, and Quake 3 utilized new technologies and hardware like OpenGL and real GPU's.
This is all thanks to John Carmack, co-founder of id Software. I've known his name since I was a child, but it wasn't until I pursued my degree in Computer Science that I realized how brilliant of a man he is. He's invented several computer graphics algorithms, took advantage of advances in PC hardware to make his games shine, and has made major innovations in 3D graphics. The guy is spoken of entirely in awe, and I'm starting to understand why. He's made games what they are today, and without him titles like Call of Duty and Battlefield wouldn't exist. He's the father of modern gaming, and more so of modern graphics in games.
My first experience with which was the original NES, and it's Picture Processing Unit, the Ricoh 2A03. This 8-bit microprocessor delivered the computing power necessary to process the graphics enjoyed by millions. The chip itself was optimized to use very little memory to store data pertaining to graphics. This small amount of memory could be extended through the use of mappers found on the game cartridges, quite the ingenious design to extend the lifetime of Nintendo's proprietary hardware.
Similar design and hardware was found on the later generations of consoles, but I would rather move on to the advance of PC hardware. The company 'id' is best known for the controversy surrounding their game titles, "DooM" and "Quake." The games themselves play well, and pushed the envelope on what type of gross artwork they could fit into their games. The company gains little credit for it's efforts in advancing the standard of graphics in game engines. DooM was groundbreaking, Quake was groundbreaking, and Quake 3, also, was groundbreaking. Each of these games advanced the standard for what people would expect from their games. DooM brought to life sprites rendered in a 3D space. Quake realized a full 3D world with 3D models and particles, and Quake 3 utilized new technologies and hardware like OpenGL and real GPU's.This is all thanks to John Carmack, co-founder of id Software. I've known his name since I was a child, but it wasn't until I pursued my degree in Computer Science that I realized how brilliant of a man he is. He's invented several computer graphics algorithms, took advantage of advances in PC hardware to make his games shine, and has made major innovations in 3D graphics. The guy is spoken of entirely in awe, and I'm starting to understand why. He's made games what they are today, and without him titles like Call of Duty and Battlefield wouldn't exist. He's the father of modern gaming, and more so of modern graphics in games.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Computer Security : Cryptography and Protocols
Information security is an intergral part of of your daily life on the internet, whether you know it or not. Information transmitted via wireless and cable is encrypted, and follows security protocols. Without these security precautions information you transmit would be readily available to anyone observing your internet traffic. Common encryption methods include public key encryption and stream encryption. Common protocols include WPA, WEP, and others you would use every day.
Cryptography has a prolific history, spanning most of ancient time. The field of modern cryptography and cryptanalysis is young compared to other fields, as it's birth paralleled the development of computing technology. Throughout history people have needed to disguise their information so that it could travel safely. Roman's used the Caesar cipher, in which each letter of a message was changed for the letter three spaces ahead. In this manner, A became C, and so on for every letter. Various other methods existed spanning different civilizations, and you can take a look at this site I found, some of which are very interesting and worth checking out.
The reason I described cryptography's history in such endearing terms is because the contributions of allied code breakers to the effort in WWII, by some accounts , may have won them the war. As a result, cryptography and cryptoanlysis were held in high esteem in post WWII times, and became funded and regarded as legitimate fields. The NSA was established to further research cryptography and cryptanalysis method in the United States, and in post WWII times was the primary establishment for these fields.
Today computer security is vital. Encryption methods developed by brilliant minds such as Adi Shamir are used in WEP, the most commonly used encryption method for wireless networks. The interest in security comes from both sides of the coin, as for every defense built, there is an attacker in mind. People are constantly exploring encryption methods and security protocols to find vulnerabilities, either to be exploited or for academic purposes. The class I took recently on information security was very well rounded, and I owe a lot of my interest in the subject to my teachers, Tom Austin and Mark Stampp. Their approach to the subject explored both the attackers mindset and the defenders, and gave us a more versatile understanding of the subject.
Sources:
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=9722
http://users.telenet.be/d.rijmenants/en/timeline.htm
http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=372
http://www.cypher.com.au/crypto_history.htm
http://cryptozine.blogspot.com/2008/05/brief-history-of-cryptography.html
Cryptography has a prolific history, spanning most of ancient time. The field of modern cryptography and cryptanalysis is young compared to other fields, as it's birth paralleled the development of computing technology. Throughout history people have needed to disguise their information so that it could travel safely. Roman's used the Caesar cipher, in which each letter of a message was changed for the letter three spaces ahead. In this manner, A became C, and so on for every letter. Various other methods existed spanning different civilizations, and you can take a look at this site I found, some of which are very interesting and worth checking out.
The reason I described cryptography's history in such endearing terms is because the contributions of allied code breakers to the effort in WWII, by some accounts , may have won them the war. As a result, cryptography and cryptoanlysis were held in high esteem in post WWII times, and became funded and regarded as legitimate fields. The NSA was established to further research cryptography and cryptanalysis method in the United States, and in post WWII times was the primary establishment for these fields.
Today computer security is vital. Encryption methods developed by brilliant minds such as Adi Shamir are used in WEP, the most commonly used encryption method for wireless networks. The interest in security comes from both sides of the coin, as for every defense built, there is an attacker in mind. People are constantly exploring encryption methods and security protocols to find vulnerabilities, either to be exploited or for academic purposes. The class I took recently on information security was very well rounded, and I owe a lot of my interest in the subject to my teachers, Tom Austin and Mark Stampp. Their approach to the subject explored both the attackers mindset and the defenders, and gave us a more versatile understanding of the subject.
Sources:
http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=9722
http://users.telenet.be/d.rijmenants/en/timeline.htm
http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=372
http://www.cypher.com.au/crypto_history.htm
http://cryptozine.blogspot.com/2008/05/brief-history-of-cryptography.html
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