Anthony Watkins

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Wiki Entry #1: The Analog Computer

Arrival of the Analog Computer

The arrival of the first computer, known as the Analog computer, came during the time of World War II. A variety of professions, ranging from physicists to engineers, were constructing a device that would both alleviate time of their hands with working with armies and wars, and still providing the same benefits to them. It was the flourishing of a device that would prove to be one of the most powerful inventions in the entire world, and one of the most headlining items in the technology industry. Minds were able to come together and create the mechanical analog computer, which was described as the world’s most advanced and capable fire-systems utilized by the United States Navy (Clymer, 1993). It had the capability of calculating trajectories for a variety of artillery, granting the Navy more time to produce both old and new artillery and having the ability to analyze all of their components in a relatively short amount of time. The man-machine provided to the Navy was being made easier and better by simply delegating more to machines, already exhibiting the significance and strength of a computer (Clymer, 1993).

The Mind of Hannibal Ford & the Ford Instrument Company

The individuals behind the evolution and advancements of the mechanical analog computer and fire-system were the great minds of Hannibal Ford and William Newell. Many have not recognized the names upon sight due to the credit typically being withheld for security reasons (Clymer, 1993). The men worked together to create improved fire-systems that would only provide advantageous points to the United States Navy. More specifically, Hannibal Ford was responsible for the flourishing of mechanical analog computers of unprecedented dependability, accuracy, and other noteworthy descriptive terms (Clymer, 1993). After the creation of his company, the Ford Instrument Company, he created his first product that was quickly delivered to the US Navy known as the Range Keeper Mark 1. The analog computer performed a plethora of functions, such as calculating range rate, present range, and the relative speed at right angles (Clymer, 1993). With the great mind of Hannibal Ford working for vast improvements to his system, he can be recognized as one of the original pioneers of analog computer production.

The Contributions of William Newell

William Newell advanced in the company of the Ford Instrument Company to a chief engineer, displaying his talents as a developer of mechanisms, designer, and inventor. He instantly began contributing to the world of analog computers to further assist the United States Navy. He was a man of constant improvement and production, creating a variety of inventions, such as the hydraulic computer, a torpedo director, and a computer specialized in predicting deck angles of an aircraft carrier the instant an aircraft would land (Clymer, 1993). History described his work as original and self-reliant, with the slight accusation of him taking ideas from other organizations and slightly altering them into his own.

Significance of the Inventions

Regardless of the truth, one can understand how important his contributions were to the Ford Instrument Company—with the combined inventions of both him and Ford, they were able to assist the US Navy and introduce the expansive capability of analog computers. Their contributions and vast improvements of the analog computer displayed the device’s constant need for alteration, but also its capability of further advancement. Furthermore, the analog computer itself helped those to realize how much time it could lift from their hands, all the while functioning in a timely matter. Without the creation and advancement of the analog computer, one might wonder where the modern personal computer would stand at this present time.

Works Cited

A. Ben Clymer. 1993. The Mechanical Analog Computers of Hannibal Ford and William Newell. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 1.5: 19-34.


Wiki Entry #2: Ken Williams

History of Ken Williams

Ken Williams is an American game-programmer, born in October of 1954. He is often described as a pioneer of game evolution and is remembered as the first to start introducing the combination of graphics and text together in computer gaming. Together, with the assistance of his wife Roberta Williams of other twenty-five years, Ken was able to construct a company known as On-line Systems, which was later to be recognized in history as Sierra On-Line. Ken was often described as a game hacker, learning his programming from doing mainframe work for various companies (Levy, 296). Ken is most often identified as the historical figure responsible for introducing and developing graphic adventure games to the personal computer, where interactive text and graphics suddenly came together into one cohesive unit. While he was the driving force behind Sierra On-Line, it was strengthened by the love and support of his wife, whom he married at the tender age of eighteen, being a year younger than her during the time of matrimony (Levy, 295).

Mystery House & The Wizard and the Princess

One of the most monumental moments in the evolution of games was the creation of graphic adventure games with the incorporation of graphics and text. This came about after production of two of the first games created by Ken and Roberta Williams, Mystery House and The Wizard and the Princess. It was the production and gaming capabilities of these two games that not only introduced a new genre to the gaming world, but brought substantial financial support into their lives, a factor they never originally anticipated would be so phenomenally impactful. The first game to bring them such large income rates was Mystery House, described as an assembly-language adventure game with pictures (Levy, 308). While it was determined that the hues of the pictures were only in black and white spectrums, the world of technology understood there was not a game created yet like it. And with improvements in technology and dedication came the production of their second game, The Wizard and the Princess, proven to be up more difficulty and strategy than their previous game. The game moved at a relatively quicker pace due to Ken’s rapidly-growing abilities in game and computer programming. Together, they were able to expand their company and move into a building, having funds to hire workers and continuously flourish their technological vision and gaming production.

Significance of Ken Williams

Ken Williams can be described as a pioneer of gaming programming and introducing interactive text with graphic games on the computer. It was his mind and creativity, with the curiosity and motivation from his wife, which helped games of today incorporate interactive text within their different genres, from adventure to role playing. Most importantly, he can be seen as a man that went from ‘rags to riches’, benefiting greatly from the funds of only two games, while still working as a programmer for a variety of companies. While retiring from this company and focusing on other projects, it can be understood that without his ability as a programmer and hacker, games of today would have been a lot different than what they are now.

Works Cited

Levy, Steven. 2010. Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. O’Rielly Media, Incoporation. Sebastopol, California.


Wiki Entry #3: Apache

Apache: What is it?

Apache, short for the Apache HTTP Server, is a type of web server software. It is most recognized for its significance in the creation and flourishing of the World Wide Web. Apache is one of the leading and dominating web servers that millions use to support their web browsers and surf the internet for what can seem like an eternity. Apache, currently, serves to over half of all functioning websites across the world and almost seventy percent of the top servers across all of the known domains in web technology. It is an ever-moving project that is still ongoing to this day, in which its main purpose remains exactly the same: freely-available source code implementation of an HTTP (Web) server (1). The Apache HTTP Server Project is recognized for being associated with the Apache Software Foundation. Origin of Apache’s name is synonymous to a Native-American tribe called the Apache, who were most recognized for their extraordinarily exceptional competences in combat and tactics. Furtherfore, due to its association of being a conjunction of software patches, it has origins rooting down to the phase ‘A Patchy Server’.

The Creation of Apache: Where Did it Come From & Who Created it?

Before the creation of Apache, the most widespread and leading server software on the Web was the public domain HTTP daemon that was created by Rob McCool at the NCSA (National Center for Supercomputing Applications) (1). Unfortunately, development and extension of this HTTP daemon came to a halt upon Rob’s leave from the NCSA. With bugs and patches needed for further development, an intricate group of volunteers were placed together in attempts of alleviating this issue. They were described as a ‘small group of webmasters gathered together for the purpose of coordinating their changes’ (1). The changes, patches, would be the essential piece in creating the powerful unit known as the Apache HTTP Server. After enhancing the HTTP daemon with the elimination of bugs and the many upgrades and enhancements to the software itself, the first release of the Apache HTTP Server proved to be a monumental hit in the internet-technological world. The group, in collaboration with the NCSA, impacted the World Wide Web with the HTTP daemon Apache in less than a year. In the same year of release, it was deemed as the top, leading server on the Internet, where is currently is at this present day (1).

Significance of Apache

Apache has been characterized to having ‘high performance’ capability that helps power website and enable more frequent access to them. Also, it protects privacy of both the website and the consumer by having processes that involve password authentication and digital certificate authentication. Apache has helped millions and millions of individuals access the internet world and develop what is now called the World Wide Web. Most importantly, it has expanded our access to a variety of safe websites and enables the viewer to effectively authenticate websites and reduces the factor of being ‘scammed’ or computers being infected with viruses. Apache itself continues to be the most powerful HTTP daemon for the internet, and will remain to positive impact the World Wide Web as the world continues evolving technologically.

Works Cited

1. Apache HTTP Server Project, http://httpd.apache.org/ABOUT_APACHE.html


Wiki Article: The Evolution of Social Networks and its Effects on Human Interaction

Society was once a place that had no relation to the world of technology. We were individuals of the world that relied on basic human interaction to achieve everything that we desired, socially. This ranged from building relationships to relatives, to meeting new friends that could have been originated from across the world, to becoming romantically involved by going out on a late evening and getting to know the person of interest. In all of these situations alike, people of yesterday relied on human contact and interaction to achieve this. Technology was not provided as a catalyst to achieve these requirements in a shorter span of time. Technology was not present to give us reasons not to travel the world and continue strong friendships that may have been long distance. Technology, by far, was absent and gave people reasons to show their true colors and their rightful identities, without hiding behind a computer screen and masking our identity or manipulating identity to create an entirely new person.

Yesterday was a day when people suffered depression at lower rates—we were forced to face the world with open eyes and go out to effectively interact and fulfill that social aspect needed for daily function. With the emergence of technology came the creation of the World Wide Web, giving people the opportunity to learn about everything the world had to offer. As technology advanced, internet advanced, and there was a new birth among this field—social networks. And with emergence of social networks and its evolution came the opinions of those against them and for them. However, that is not the main focus—social networking changed human interaction, from both detrimental aspects and beneficial natures. It was hard to recognize how human interaction would forever be changed, until it was put up against technology’s own computerized version.

Technology benefited millions across the world by introducing them to a variety of aspects—we were given the capability of surfing the internet to find every single resource that was available. Computers gave people the opportunity to complete hundreds of tasks in a matter of minutes, proving to alleviate time from their lives to allow more room to complete things in their daily lifestyles. Technology continued expanding on the internet, but was not introduced to the world of communication until e-mail capabilities were able to be sent (Oh). People were given the opportunity to communicate with one another from their homes, from vacations, from conferences, from virtually anywhere that was provided with adequate internet services, computers, and relatively good resources for sending and receiving e-mails.

Corporate worlds benefited the most from this aspect—they would be able to communicate with other businesses and set up times for meetings, formal and informal lunches, anything that they truly desired. Regardless of this enhancement, human interaction was not necessarily harmed—it provided itself as a catalyst for faster interaction, especially when communicating with individuals that were of great distance. It still, however, required people to meet one another and continue developing communication and social skills. Little did the world know that e-mails would be the starting point that would forever change the history of human interaction.

The emergence of popular social networking began in the 1990’s, the first stepping-stone toward the evolution of social networking and alteration in human interaction. One of the popular websites during that particular era was Classmates.com, a website dedicated towards individuals from school life (Davies). Members of the website would be given ample opportunities to create profiles of him or herself that listed their name, age, marital status, and other key features, as well as the schools attended in the past. Using these features, members would be able to search within the websites of those who attended their past schools, and re-connect with them, if desirable (Davies). This was specifically geared towards friends that may have attended the same school, but eventually lost contact as they separated and went to lead different lives in the same city, or different cities across the various nations of the world. This was seen as one of the more monumental moments of social network evolution—it was taken with positive reception, since it enabled individuals to get into contact with one another again, especially those that may not have seen their high school friends for decades.

Most importantly, it continued providing a catalyst toward human interaction. People would be able to re-connect with friends, and possibly set up times for reunion affairs. Therefore, it was seen as a positive movement toward social interaction and human communication—it still required a great deal of personal effort from people involved in social networks to continue building on the friendships that were once lost. People were only provided the opportunity to rediscover friendships through the internet, not keep them alive through the world of technology and the internet.

As technology moved and advanced, entering into the early twenty-first century, social networking continued impacting the world and evolving with it. The creation of websites, such as Friendster.com, continued providing itself as a catalyst for speeding up social interaction, and providing an alternative for human interaction. Friendster.com was deemed one of the pioneers for real-world friends for online connections (Oh). The website included a 90% member rate based in Japan, and allowed members to expand known facts about themselves (Davies). It blossomed as one of the first websites to allow these features, setting stone a new movement for social networking. Detailed with members’ profiles would be dating preferences, favorite bands, books, television shows, and hobbies (Davies). This would particularly allow for individuals to start the task of common fabrication—it gave people the ability to alter these traits about themselves and present their profiles in a more seductive, interesting manner. Individuals would be able to connect with one another based on association, whether simple acquaintance or friendship.

A clone-website, Myspace.com, was created a year later—it mimicked the same capabilities and profiles as Friendster.com, but made things a bit more appealing. It grew to substantial heights in the United States, showing its impact on social networking (Davies). Additionally, it continued to give people a way to begin altering who they were, and what they liked. People were so excited about the creation of a website like Myspace, that they had little idea that they would be effected in ways they never imagined. Within a few years came the websites of Twitter and Facebook, but in which are utilized and are still growing in great popularity (Davies). Social networking moved quickly and significantly in the new age of technology—and so, with these capabilities, one started to question if human interaction was even needed anymore. Facebook provided so many details about each person that was a member—you could list your employment history, dating history and preference, age, sex, sexuality, interests, education, and so much more. However, these social networks gave people features that would were once only available for those who got out of the house to see the world and the people that lived in it—meeting new people. And with this feature came the depression of human interaction and the heightening of social networking.

Beneficial natures came with human interaction since the evolution of social networks, such as the creation of Facebook and Twitter. It has been estimated that approximately 23% of all American workers telecommute in order to satisfy themselves with the daily interaction for those who they never imagined they would meet (Hoover). As noted by Hoover, “Social networking services expand the pool of people we have the opportunity to meet to near limitless possibilities. We're no longer restricted to or rely on people in our neighborhood, church, or workplace to provide the interaction we desire.” In retrospect, it would grant us the opportunity to meet new friends online that may live hundreds of miles away, and create virtual friendships with them, or individuals that might have shared common interests with you, without having only the reliability of forming friendships in your every-day, typical environment.

From a business aspect, these two particular websites that created catalysts for businesses, market production, and business feedback (The CRM World). Businesses no longer did not have to rely on paper surveys for customer feedback, or individual meetings with customers to understand their product satisfaction. These websites provided people with the benefit of making social gains and inhibiting the unwanted human interactions from people of their work environment, neighborhood, or daily life (Hoover). Interactions with Facebook and Twitter seem to be of daily use—it was reported that randomly-chosen group of Facebook members report spending between 10 and 30 minutes on average each day and report having between 150 and 200 friends listed on their profile (Ellison et. al., 2007).

Other social networking venues, such as Youtube, have created themselves a firm staple in the digital world, giving people the opportunity to showcase their talents and abilities in video format (Morgan). This has already been recognized to be a successful tool in the music industry, with one of the biggest stars being discovered on this video social-networking site. It also grants the less-talented members of the website to ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ the content within Youtube, and post comments solely based on opinionated feelings and statements, which may be a key feature in the popularity of videos on the website. Facebook and Twitter also provide individuals to keep their hope for finding love alive by being the staircase to dating. As stated by Morgan, “Social networking has made it easy to keep up with the opposite sex on a casual level that doesn't require a lot of work.” Members of both can start meeting individuals who are of the sex of interest and start communicating through these websites by ways of tweeting and facebook messaging. This can be defined as a reliever for those who are particularly more shy and quiet in person—they can express themselves freely from a computer screen, without feeling such a great deal of anxiety with communicating with the person of interest. Additionally, it stills gives those two people the opportunity to exchange contact information and meet in person to get better evaluations of one another, which still reflects on the great measure of human interaction needed from a physical standpoint.

With so many beneficial natures to these high-tech social networking sites, millions will see these are social gains to their daily lives, giving them the opportunity to not only connect with friends, but watch their daily lifestyles through the form of ‘breaking news’ such as new tweets, status updates, and any changes within their profiles. So, is there any negatives to such fantastic websites as these? Has human interaction been affected negatively? While it seems like we have lifted weight from our shoulders, there seems to be reasons that we’ve actually put more weight on our backs, damaging our social skills and mental well-being.

Social networking has altered the true definition of friendship. Facebook, in particular, has enabled individuals to add friends, and new people, to their ‘Friend’s List’, whether they actually know them or have no idea who they are in relevance to their life. If the opposite person approves, they are now friends. This has been structured to be artificial friendships, ones that are not based truly on shared interests and prior history of physical human interaction. With this feature, it may become harder for future generations to be able to identify the difference between a meaningful friendship and a casual acquaintance (Parrack). Furthemore, those who have the need to seek attention and brag about their lifestyles have been given the perfect opportunity to do so, whether it is factual or not—Facebook and Twitter gives me to give detailed accounts about their current stats, whether they are eating an extravangent breakfast, or attending a high-profiled club event with celebrities. Either way, it provides individuals to simply drag on about things that are not necessary to mention; and with the ‘Like’ feature on Facebook, people can like the status and add to the person’s attention cravings (Parrack).

Additionally, social networking has the strong capability, and have been the culprit, for ruining relationships. Facebook and Twitter gives people the opportunity to add friends from years ago, that they may have once loved or crushed on. In a hypothetical situation, there can be a man, who is married, and adds an old flame on Facebook. If the fire is rekindled, what happens to his current marriage and vows promised within that eternal love link? Social networks allow individuals to cheat, to freely hook up on multiple occasions with multiple individuals, harming possible relationships they are already involved in (Parrack). It provides people with a quick escape to venture outside of their love, and an even easier way to cover up the evidence through technology.

Most importantly, social networks turns private lives into everyone’s daily business—we are provided the telescopes to view many other’s lives and daily activities that may be deemed as more private affairs, such as the breaking up of in a relationship, the loss of a family member, and other detrimental aspects that affect our mental health. As described by Parrack, “Most people would rightly refuse to walk around with a billboard attached to their front revealing all and sundry to the world. Yet we do just that on social networking sites.” Expanding on this idea, privacy should never be expected to be of critical concern when joining these social networks. Social networking sites record all interactions, and retain them for potential use in social data mining (Dwyer et. al., 2007). However, we obtain privacy when conducting human interaction by not physically sharing these events with people. The integrity and the concern for privacy basically leaves right out of the window quicker than it entered when one starts to associate themselves in the world of social networking.

Networks also alter the shape of human interaction for individuals in their teenage years, a time deemed delicate in the average person’s life. Teenagers, who are still shaping themselves in a constantly-changing world, are influenced partially by themselves and partially by others. Human interactions allows teenagers to start understanding how to talk to individuals, how to communicate appropriately, and respect one’s privacy on more personal issues. Social networks do the exact opposite—they partially allow individuals to shape their personalities on their own, without any particular influence from others they have met physically. In particular, teenagers enthralled in social networking lose a sense of social norms and common behaviors in certain environmental settings. Publics, or physical human interaction, enable this features Publics are where norms are set and reinforced, where common ground is formed (Boyd, 2008).

In the end, social networking has provided both beneficial and detrimental effects on human interaction. There have been social gains from the average people, but substantial loses for those who have little communication outside of the digital world. We are able to hide behind computer screens, and given the opportunity to refuse accepting social norms. We will continue losing a sense of connection of human interaction and privacy, and as we continue moving with the contact evolution of social network, there is no indicator for predicting what human interaction will become of tomorrow, if it will even exist at this point in time.

Works Cited

1. Davies, Laura. Communicating Views. Web. http://lauramdavies.wordpress.com/2010/02/11/timeline-a-history-of-social-networking-sites/.

2. Oh, Mok. Interesting Timeline of “History of Social Networking”. Web. http://allthingsv.com/2011/01/25/interesting-timeline-of-history-of-social-networking/.

3. Hoover, Lisa. PC World. How Society Networking Has Changed Society. Web. http://www.pcworld.com/article/162719/how_social_networking_has_changed_society.html.

4. All Things CRM: Trends and Technology in the CRM World. Social Networks and How They Changed the World of Business. Web. http://www.allthingscrm.com/crm-basics/social-networks-and-how-they-have-changed-the-world-of-business.html.

5. Morgan, Jeff. Bullz Eye Entertainment. Social Studies: How Social Networking Changed the Way We Live. Web. http://www.bullz-eye.com/entertainment/features/2011/social_studies.htm.

6. Parrack, Dave. The Negative Impact of Social Networking Sites in Society [Opinion]. Web. http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/negative-impact-social-networking-sites-society-opinion/.

7. Dwyer, C., S. Hiltz and K. Passerini. 2007. Trust and Privacy Concern Within Social Networking Sites: A Comparison of Facebook and MySpace. Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS).

8. Boyd, Danah. 2008. Why Youth Love Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life. University of California, Berkley, School of Information.