Computers are actually much older than you'd think. If you were to do a simple Google search, it will say that Charles Babbage invented tbe computer, but it's not true. He invented the first mechanical supercomputer dedicated to solving complex mathematical problems called the difference engine and later the analytical engine. Originally, computers were only used for solving simple mathematical problems, like adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. They actually date back to the early 1600s.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepped_reckoner
https://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2008/05/computers-antiq.html
These devices were called mechanical calculators, as digital calculators weren't around until the1960s and 70s. Computers didn't become available to the general public until the late 60s and even they were just calculators, like the Hewlett Packard 9100A programmable calculator. In the 70s, computers weren't owned by that many people except geeks. You would have to buy parts from Radioshack that usually costed thousands of dollars so that you could build your own computer from scratch, like the Altair 8800. It wasn't until the 1980s did computing become mainstream whem you had the Commodore 64 and many other computers on the market. BBS was widely used instead of the internet. The internet didn't start to gain popularity until the mid-1990s.
Did I get everything right?
I'm in a computer science course this semester, but I'm not particularly well versed on the topic or its history, so I was wondering if there were any good books or other resources that provide a good intro and overview on the period while being fairly easy to pick up.
I'm interesting in reading a non-fiction about the creation of personal computers, or even a fiction about early computer hobbyist or enthusiasts. Thanks.
Yesterday at work my two managers were in the office with me. We are aloud to use our personal computers at work when there is nothing to do and I was on mine doing homework. I walked away to help one manager with something and while I was away the other manager went over to my computer. Immediately he opened my search history and started reading it aloud to me and the other manager. The other manager told him to stop but he continued until he read a whole page of my search history and then walked out laughing.
Is there nothing legally wrong with what he did or is that just a scummy thing to do?
So I was doing a school project on my personal computer, and so I switched over to my main account to browse twitter, and I happened upon this post of my timeline that was just basically tiddies, and I clicked on it just because, and ended up going to that person's profile bc i'm bored. I was somehow still logged into my school account, even though I thought I switched accounts, but I was still logged in. I went to check the history on the account, and it had all the shit on it, like the names of the tweets and everything, so I quickly cleared my browsing data. I'm just worried that they might have that shit archived or something. I'm just not sure if the browsing data is saved only on the computers at school or just my account in general..
I, for example, have my school account on my phone via gmail. But I use an app called Quiet for Gmail that allows me to set a schedule for when gmail can check my school e-mail (I have it set to weekdays 6am to 5pm).
Doing this years ago was one of the best things I have ever done in terms of keeping a work/life balance.
After your contracted hours are over, your day should be yours. Your weekend is yours. Don't let e-mails from school come in during that time and take up your time.
If it's a genuine emergency (which I have never experienced in my 20 years of teaching), the school has your cell number, they can call or text you.
In this other timeline, computers are just used to type out reports, and play games, and store files, but internet hubs and search engines do not exist. How can we bring that about?
Just as the title says, I'll be leaving my current job for a new one (yay). But before leaving I want to make sure no personal information or history is left on the computer. Basically, I'd like to leave it just as it was given to me, with just windows and the essential programs on it.
What's the best/easiest way to go about this? I should add there are ZERO administrative restrictions on computers here, if this makes any difference.
Hello everyone,
I have a bit of an embarrassing question. I went on some adult websites on my own personal laptop at home today (I forgot go incognito). I just remembered that the tabs are linked between my personal and work computer through chrome, meaning I can view open tabs from my work computer at home on my personal laptop and view open tabs on my personal computer on my work computer. Anyway, I am now very nervous that it's going to look like I was browsing adult websites at work. Is this a legitimate concern? Is IT at work going to see what I was browsing at home? Thank you in advance for your time.
Sincerely, A very nervous young professional
Let us know what systems you have gamed on over the years when it comes to Personal Computers.
Fist ever personal computer I ever gamed on was an Acorn BBC Micro (they got this cheap second hand when I was really young came with loads of software) then from there used an IBM PS/2 running Windows 3.11 (It was at the restaurant/pub my mum and did use to run) after that it was a Packard Bell GLE 1326 running Windows 95 then got a Daewoo computer that was running windows 98 (this was my first computer that was mine) I later got for a birthday an eMachines that came with Windows XP that after about a year I ripped out the Motherboard & CPU and upgraded from a Celeron to the first gen Athlon 64 CPU after that point I just started building my own PC's.
