Artificial Intelligence

Introduction:
Intelligence is a statge grasping the truth, involving reason, concerned with action about what is good or bad. Intelligent behaviour is the behaviour of a machine, which is performed by a human being.
 British artificial intelligence (AI) Pioneer Alan Turing in 1950 proposed a test for determining if machines could think. John McCarthy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) coined the term AI in 1956.
 Artificial Intelligence is probably one of the most successful branches of a broad area of computing. AI attempts to provide machiines with capabilities and characteristics that would indicate intelligence in human being. AI is the branch of computer science that is the ability of computers to have some IQ power, logic and decision making capability and work as if it is done by people. AI is based on knowledge. AI is the combination of computer science, biology, psycology, linguistics, mathematics and engineering. AI covers such fields as expert systems, problem solving, robot control, intelligence, database querying and pattern recognition.

Renaming the start button

If you want to rename your start button, the first thing you'll need is hex editor.
My preference is UltraEdit
The steps are:-

• Copy the \windows\explore.exe file to a new name (e.g. explorer_1.exe)
• With the hex editor, open that file and go to offset 412b6
• You will see the word start with blanks between each letter
• Edit it be any 5 characters or less
• Save the file
• Boot to DOS
• Copy the existing c:\windows\explorer.exe to explorer.org
• Copy explorer_1.exe to explorer.exe
• You will also need to replace the explorer.exe in the c:\windows\system32\dllcache file as well with the new one.

Computer Measurement Units

Memory of storage capacity measurement

We come across different measuring units like kilogram, meter and liter and so on to measure weight, length and capacity or volumes of different commodities. Similarly, when we have to measure the capacity of computer’s memory, storage devices and length of programs, units like kilogram, meter and liter can not be used. Hence, we use the units like BIT, NIBBLE, BYTE and WORD.

BIT

BIT is an abbreviation of the words binary digit and is the smallest units of information. It is either ‘0’ or ‘1’. The raw data fed into the computer are first converted into an electrical pulses or BITs, as the computer do not recognize the general form of data like numbers (0-9), alphabets (a-z or A-Z) and special characters like punctuation marks and arithmetic signs. The 0 and 1 of the binary system corresponds to the ON and OFF of the flow of electrical in the computer’s circuits. Computer works by recognizing the presence or absence of an electrical pulses or BITs at a particular time.

NIBBLE

A NIBBLE is a string of four BITs. The earliest form of code, called ‘Binary Decimal Code (BCD)’ used a NIBBLE for every character.

For example:

Character 3 A

BCD (NIBBLE) 0011 1010

BYTE

It is the unit of measuring computers memory and size of a program. One BYTE is the string of eight binary digits (BITS). It may represent a single letter, numeral or other characters. Computer memory is expressed in terms of Bytes, Kilo bytes(KB), Mega bytes(MB), Giga bytes(GB) and Tera bytes(TB).

8 bits = 1 byte

1024 bytes = 1 kilobyte (KB)

1024 kilo bytes = 1 Mega byte (MB)

1024 mega bytes = 1 Giga byte (GB)

1024 giga bytes = 1 Tera byte (TB)

A ‘Kilo’ should mean 103 (10×10×10) that is 1000 bytes. However, since the computer used Binary system and 210 (i.e. 2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2×2) equals to 1024 bytes, which is nearly 1000 bytes. Hence, ‘Kilo’ refers to 1024 in measuring units of computer.

WORD

A computer word is defined in terms of bytes. A word may be formed by combining two or more bytes. The most common combination if of four bytes. Word-length is a length of bits that occupy one location in memory. A computer having a smaller word-length is slower that another having a larger word-length is, though the speed of both is same. Word-length is generally fixed for a computer, but some computers have a challengeable word-length i.e. they can be used in doing small or big tasks. Nowadays computers have word-length of 16, 32, 48, 64, 128 or more bits.

Computer Application

In 1950's , Computers were very expensive and were only used by large institutions such as governments and universities. The computers were used for calculating the precise time of spacecraft journey or planning the targests of missiles, or processing Census data.
In 1960's, IBM introduced mainframe computers. then, the use of computer increased rapidly in business organizations. But, they were expensive for general use.
After the introduction of PC's (Personal Computers) in 1870's, size as well as price of computer decreased. So, computers became common to small business or home use. Now, computers are used in many areas, such as :

1. BUSINESS :
Computers are the part of the modern society. Modern business can not survive without computers. In business, computers are used to write letters, keep employee records, communicate with the co-workers, prepare budgets and perform many other functions.

2. Medicine and Health Care :
Computers are extensive used in medicine. It is used for diagnosing diseases, monitoring the condition of patients and keeping the necessary records.
Many innovative medical applications use small, special-purpose computers. For example, pacemakers are computers that operate within the human body and help to maintain heart beat.
Also, laboratory tests such as X-RAY, CT-SCAN etc are performed by computers.

3. Education :
Computers have brought revolution in the field of education. Now, computers are used in school and colleges by students, teachers and many others. People use computers in library to read magazines and journals from the computer terminal rather than searching the shelves for paper organizations.
Teachers use computers as a presentation tool, to explain difficult topics more clearly and easily to their students.
Students use computers to develop their computer projects and to do their mathematical problems.
Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) is used by students to improve knowledge of any subject.

4. Space Technology :
It would be impossible to explore outer space without computers. Computers are used to make accurate calculations for the spacecraft journey to moon, mars etc. The computer is also used to control the artificial satelites to know the weather patterns in earth. Nowadays, the actual damage due to flood, earthquake, etc. in particular area of earth is analyzed using satelite pictures.

5. Engineering
Engineers use computers to design the model of machines, vehicles, bridges, buildings etc. The design made with computers is more accurate and flexible than the design drawn with paper and pencil.
The design of complex structures such as aeroplanes, satelites etc. is almost impossible without computers.

6. Aviation :
The computer is highly used in aviation. Modern aircrafts include sophisticated computerized instruments so that it can communicate with the ground airport atations, identify the status of its parts, fuel and available location in the atmosphere.
Thus, the use of computer has increased security in aviation.

7. Music and Entertainment :
Computers have become a helpful tool for musicians. It helps them to create various electronic notes. Also, the notes can be converted to music graphs. The composer can create the music of many musical instruments using a special keyboard called MIDI Keyboard.
Computers games are the means of entertainment for people of all ages. Computers are heavily used in entertainment industry i.e. television, theater, films, etc. Films are special visual effects to make the contens real. These effects are possible using computers. Computers have also improved cartooning and animations.

8. The Military :
Military or Defense services use computers massively. the actual development of computers are due to military. In 1946, ENIAC (Electrionic Numerical Integrator and Calculator) was created for the U.S. Army. They used ENIAC for calculating accurate targets of missiles.
Now, military uses more advanced computer technology. They use computers to spy the enemy secrets such as enemy location, enemy numbers and their amount of weapons. they also use a special type of missile called "Smart Bomb" which embeds computer within it.

The Parts Of Computer

The word 'Hardware' refers to the physical parts of a computer. The main parts are the monitor, keyboard, the mouse & CPU or central processing unit, which contains the hard disk. The monitor is also known as the screen or VDU (Vidual Display Unit). It looks like a television screen & displays what we do on the computer. It comes in different size. The actual computer i.e. the part that performs tasks we ask it to do is in a unit holding the CPU, memory & hard disk & floppy disks. It comes in a rectangular box. CPU stands for central processing unit. This could be called the brain of a computer. It performs calculation & manipulates data. The keyboard functions like a typewriter. The computer is given commands by typing them on the keyboard information is then displayed on the monitor. The mouse is a hand-held pointing device. By moving the mouse around on a flat surface, a pointer or arrow on the monitor will made corresponding movements. By clicking, holding & dragging with the mouse various things can be done on the monitor.
The hard disk is a fixed device for permanent storage which stays with in the computer . A hard disk is capable of holding tremendous amounts of information, yet it is only a few inches in width & length. A computer also has a floppy disk drive. It is a slot for the insertion of portable disks, also known as floppy disks.

Uses of computer

Computer, one of the most powerful machine today, is being used everywhere. Let’s discuss the uses of computer on various sectors of our society.
Business and Industry:
The uses of computer in business/offices improve their working efficiency. Record keeping becomes very easy. Information can be searched immediately. The use of computers in industries has improved their efficiency. The cost of production goes down. The quality of products is improved. Unpleasant and hazardous work can be performed by using robots. Working hours of laborers are reduced; they get more leisure.
Health Care:
Computers are also being used for planning and control purposes by health-care professionals. Computer equipment is used to monitor pulse rate, blood pressure and other vital signs. This leads to correct and fast diagnosis. Medical researchers are using computers as a tool in their search for cures of deafly disease like cancer and AIDS.
Education:
Computers are playing an important role in education. Once can get lessons on certain topics, special lectures prepared by experts etc on the screen as many times as he wants until he understands the topic. Computers are working as teachers or helping teachers in educational institutions.
Communication:
Computers are capable of manipulating and transmitting texts at very fast rate. Sitting at home, anybody may do office work, bank transactions, marketing, purchase of shares, reservation of place and bus tickets and so on. Officers and managers can contract any branch office anywhere in the world through the computer network. Text, voice, data and picture can easily be transmitted nowadays using modern communication systems, which heavily depend upon computers. Information is transmitted over long distances through satellites.
Humanities:
In recent years, computers have become popular among people having interests in history, literature, music, graphics, arts and other branches of humanities.
Science and Technology:
Thousands of scientific applications are processed daily, on the computers. One of the most important daily activities is whether forecasting, which involves solution of mathematical equations using worldwide data about air pressure, temperature, humidity and other values.
Recreation and Entertainment:
Our entertainment and pleasure-time have also been affected by computerization. For example;
a) In movies, computer generated graphics give freedom to designers so that special effects and even imaginary character can play a part in making movies, videos, and commercials.
b) In sports, computers compile statistics, sell tickets, create training programs and diets for athletes, and suggest game plan strategies based on the competitor’s past performance.
c) In restaurants, almost every one has eaten food where the clerk enters an order by indicating choices on a rather unusual looking cash register; the device directly enters the actual data into a computer, and calculates the cost and then prints a receipt.
Government
Various departments of the government use computer for their planning, control and law enforcement activities. To name a few traffic, tourism, information and broadcasting, education, aviation and many others.

Types Of Computer

a) On the basis of function/Activity

i) Analog computer
An analog computer is one that measures physical, continuous data such as temperature or pressure that fall along a continuous scale or variance in temperature of pressure. They give approximate result. For example an analog computer connects fuel flow measurements into quantities and price value.
Analog devices are speedometer, Seismograph, Thermometer etc.

ii) Digital Computer
The computer which accepts discrete (discontinuous) data is known as digital computer. Basically digitally computer counts digits which present numbers or letters.
Examples: IBM-PC, IBM compatibles

iii) Hybrid Computer
The data processing device, which uses both continuous and discrete data, is known as Hybrid computer.
Auto flight or Safe flight system is used in flight is known as Hybrid computer.

b) On the basis of brand / Manufacture

i) IBM-PC
The personal computer manufactured by the IBM (International Business Machine) company is known as IBM-PC.

ii) IBM-Compatible
The computers having the same functional characteristic of IBM Company are called IBM compatibles. (Assembled Computer)
iii) Apple/Macintosh
The computer developed & manufacture by Apple Company having different architecture and system known as Apple/ Macintosh computer.

c) On the basis of size / volume

i) Super Computer
Supercomputer are the most powerful and the fastest computer system, are used in weather forecasting, rocket launching, seismology, nuclear physics and so on. Examples: CRAY-1, CRAY X-MP, SX-2, HITAC S300 etc.

ii) Mainframe Computer
A Mainframe is the largest, fastest computer systems of general use having largest storage capacity; more then 100 people can work at the same time. Examples: IBM-1401, IBM-4300 HP9000model 3705/300 & 8705/400

iii) Mini Computer
Minicomputers resemble mainframe computers but they are comparatively small and less expensive.
Examples: IBM-AS/400/b60, HP-900, VAX-8842, Wipro-s68030 v, MIPS-II-52

iv) Micro Computer
A computer, which is based on microprocessor, is called a microcomputer. Types of Microcomputer are: 1. Desktop Computer 2. Laptop Computer 3. Palmtop Computer
d) On the basis of speed/model
i) XT (Extended technology) 8086, 8088 with speed 4.77 MHZ
ii) PC/AT (Personal Computer Advanced Technology) 80286, 80386, 80486. Pentium i, ii, iii, iv
iii) PS/2 (Personal System-2) other types of model from IBM since 1990.

Computer Software

Software is an organised collection of programs, which is responsible to controlling, integrating & managing the hardware components of a computer system to accomplish specific tasks. In other words, the software tellls the computer system what to dom how to do & when to do. For example, software instructs the hardware what to display on the users screen, what kind of input to take from the user. & what kind of output to generate. Thus, Software communicates with the hardware, it organises the control sequences & the hardware carries out the instructions defined by the software.It is an important part of the computer system that is indefinable & the user can not touch it. Generally the software can be classified into two categories :-
System Software
Application Software
System Software
The system software that contributes to the control and performance of the computer system and permits the user to use the system more conveniently is termed as system software. System software is setup programs, which interact with the hardware at a very basic level. They are the basic necessity of a computer system for its proper functioning. System serves at the interface between hardware and the users. System software not only controls the hardware but also provides a platform for other programs to run onto them. Depending upon the functionality, the system software can be classified into two major categories:
1. System management software
2. System development software
1. System management software
System management software, as name implies, is responsible for the management and accurate functioning of the computer system. It includes an integrated system of software that manages the operation of processor, controls the input/output, manages storage resources and provides various support services as the computer executes application programs. This software is available as :
a. Operating system
b. Device drivers software
c. System utility software
a. Operating system
The most important type of system software is the operating system. It is responsible for performing basic tasks such as recognizing input from the keyboard, sending output to the display screen, keeping track of files and directories on the disk, and controlling peripheral devices such as printers and modems. In addition, the operating system provides software platform on which other programs can run. So, every computer has operating system software, which takes care of the effective and efficient utilization of all the hardware and software components of the computer. The examples of an operating system are : MS-DOS, Microsoft windows 98/2000/XP, UNIX, Windows NT, Linux Mac OS.
b. Device drivers
Device drivers are system software, which are responsible for proper functioning of devices. Every device or hardware, whether it is a printer, monitor, mouse, keyboard or modem has a driver software for support. Whenever a new device is added to the computer system, a new device driver must be installed before the device can be used. But device drivers are not independent software; they assist and are assisted by the operating system for the proper functioning of the devices.
C. Utility Software
Utility software performs day to day tasks related to the maintenance of the computer system. This is used to support, improve, expand and secure existing programs and data in the computer system. Certain utility software comes along with the operating system. Some utility software is available for free as per requirement, some of the utilities are purchased from market. Some of tasks are commonly performed by utilities software include formatting of hard disks, or floppy disks, taking backup of files stored on hard disk, on a tape or floppy disk, data recovery, virus protection etc.
2. System development software
System development software consists of system software, which is associated with the development computer programs that the operating system can execute. A programmer needs certain tools to build software, which include an appropriate computer language, a translator to translate a particular language to machine language, etc. All the necessary tools that are required by the programmer are :
1. Programming Language
2. Language translators
1. Programming Language
A programming language is a primary interface of a programmer with a computer a program is an ordered list of instructions that, when executed, causes the computer to behave in a predetermined manner. A programming language includes a series of commands, which are used in development of software. Programming languages are further divided into three categories, namely machine language, assembly language and high level language. Hundreds of programming languages have been developed since the invention of the computer system. Basic, C, C++ are popular high level programming languages.
2. Language Translators
Language translators are system software, which transform the instructions prepared by programmers in a programming language, into a form of 0s and 1s, called machine language, which can be interpreted and executed by a computer system. Language translators are classified into three types.
a. Assembler
b. Interpreter
c. Complier
a. Assembler
An assembler is a type of language translator, which translates an assembly language program (Source Program) into its equivalent machine language program (object program). Compared all they types of programming language, assembly language is the closest to the machine code. It is fundamentally a symbolic representation of machine code called mnemonic code such as ADD for addition, SUB for subtraction etc. However, no matter how close assembly language is to machine code, the computer is still unable to understand it. So, the assembly language program must be translated into machine code 0s and 1s by a separate program called an assembler.
b. Interpreter
An interpreter is another type of language translator, which analyses and executes the source code written in high level language in line by line manner, without looking at the entire program. In other words, an interpreter translates a statement in a program and executes the statement immediately, that is, before translating the next source language statement. The advantage of interpreter is it they can execute a program continuously.
c. Complier
A complier is a type language translator that translates a program code written in high level language into a machine language. The programs written in any programming language needs to be converted to binary form. Therefore, in order to execute the programs, a programmer needs to compile the written programs. As a system program, a complier translates the source code (user written program) into the object code (binary form). The complier looks the entire source code and convert to the machine code.
Application Software
Application software is a set of programs designed to do a specific job for the user such as producing electricity bills, payroll slips or producing bills at the supermarket or business house preparing document. In many cases, users produce the programs according to its own requirements. Such programs are called user programs. But all these programs belong to a common name “Application Software”.
There are millions of application software available for a wide range of applications, raising from simple to complex. Some of the most commonly known application software are word processing, spreadsheet software, database software, graphic software, education software, and entertainment software. The application software is classified into two types:
a. Packaged Software
b. Customized or tailored software
a. Packaged software
Package software is generalized set of programs, which performs specific task for varieties of users. It’s designed to meet the needs of a wide variety of users for particular type of work. MS-word, MS-Excel, MS Access, PowerPoint, etc are the examples of packaged software. Such types of softwares are used in wide range for their common works. It can be used in schools, hospitals airlines, business, business houses etc. for common purpose. There are different types of packaged software that are designed of different purposes. Some of the common packaged software are :
Word processing package
Spreadsheet package
Data Management package
Engineering designing package (CAD, Autocad, CAM)
Computer Graphic Package
Accounting Package (Tally, Fact, Ex’ package)
b. Customized or tailored software
Customized or tailored software is a specialized set up programs, which performs a specific task for the specific individual organization. It is designed to meet the specific requirements of individual or organization. SLC result processing software and telephone bill processing software are good examples of customized software. Such type of software can be developed for other places like hospital, airlines or business houses.
Open Source Software
Open Source Software is the practice of making the source cod for a software product freely available, at no cost, to interested users and developers, even though they were not involved in creating the original product. The distribution of open source software expect and encourage users and outside programmers to examine the code in order to identify problems, and to modify the code with suggested improvements and enhancements. Widely used open source products include the Linux Operating system and Apache web server.

What is Computer?

Computer is an advance electronic device which takes raw data as input then processes these data as per given instructions then gives out the rsult and store it for the future use. Computer is used in every field in these modern days of life. computers are used in researches, medical sciences, engineering, astronomy, information technology, entertainment, learning accountancy, agriculture, etc. Due to the speed, accuracy, diligence, versatility, reliability & huge storage capacity the demand of computer is growing rapidly. computers have become a part of modern life. Today's school children carry arround calculating power which would have filled a large room 40 years ago. Computers scientists are now working on the next generation of computers; ones which will have true intelligence. The computer is one of the most powerful & useful electronic devices. The computers are use everywhere. They are used in schools, banks, hotels, hospitals, airports, communication, etc. There is rarely any field where the computer is not used.