English Summary 2022-2023 1st Semester

Hodut Darius
During this semester we’ve approached some subjects relating to manipulation of
information which, as we all know, is at utmost importance in those modern times. Most of
the seminars contain at the beginning a slew of questions regarding the subjects we studied
along with some words relating to the subject. After that we have a series of question related
to the subject itself.

1. What is ICT?

During this seminar we’ve approached the subject of ICT systems and what they are
known for. At the beginning we had the definition of an ICT told by the teacher.
Firstly, we learn that ICT stands for Information and Communication Technology and
it has as its key principles the input, storage and transmission of information. It means every
phone or laptop or digital communication we use daily. After our reading section we had
exercises related to how ICT systems work and their definition in both General English and
ICT Language.
For me personally, I’ve already knew most of the definitions and the theme surrounding
the usage of ICTs, but it didn’t hurt to learn some of the new ones or the ones that I’ve had
less interaction with.
 2. The History of ICT

As the title implies, in this seminar we talked the history of ICT starting way back with
the ancient times civilizations who were using simple arithmetic methods to count goods and
slowly moving forward to modern times.
Moving towards the 17th century, an interesting calculation device was invented called
Napier’s bones/rods which is considered the first calculation device.
Then we have the first mechanical calculators which used wooden/metal cogs and
gears. One of these was the Pascaline, invented by Blaise Pascal which could add numbers up
to 8 figures long and is still used today as an analogue device for gas and electricity meters.
We then move forward to Joseph-Marie who had invented a calculation device which
was using the now-famous punch-cards as a way to input calculations.
Moving towards the 19th century both United States and United Kingdom had tried to
improve the way finances works and so they started to invest heavily into calculation devices.
Following this, plenty of experimental devices were invented but none of them had a future.
In the 20th century the Tabulating Machine, which was invented by Herman Hollerith in
the US, had sped up the census process. Herman was also the founder of the company we
know today as IBM which was a major player in inventing modern computers.
During dire times in 1940 computational devices started to take a big leap with Alan
Turing inventing the Colossus which was used to break German Codes during WW2 and is
considered the first electronic computer.
After WW2 in the US has appeared the first commercial computer called UNIVAC
which had offered efficiency for companies for that time in handling their data but the
drawback was that it was expensive along with its big size and electrical consumption.
In 1847 the biggest invention known by then would be the transistor, invented by the
American Telephone and Telegraph Corporation, know as AT&T now. This invention was
proven to be the most important discovery of the 19th century as this component would then
be pivotal in making the first PC in 1974 by IBM and it easily found its way into every
electrical device.
I’d be honest, I had known some of the stuff related to the history of some of those, but
regardless, I’m glad I’ve learned some new stuff along the way.
 3. Software Development

In this seminar we talked about how a software is developed, from the initial prototype
to the final product and how we can develop them.
Firstly we had an exercise in where we had to fill in the blanks of some sentences with
the right words. Afterwards we were given a lecture which describes the process of software
development.
First and foremost, the software that is developed must be in concordance with the
requirements of the client and the laws. This process could involve the requirements, the
design of the application and the functionality. It could also involve the making of a working
prototype.
After this stage the development stage comes which is the hardest one.
Lastly, we have quality verification/ testing stage in where the product is tested in order
to have a seamless functionality and the issues to be resolved.
Most of the time, the problems that arise in software development are because of a
faulty decision regarding programming language. There are plenty programming languages
and programming methods that can be used and each one of them has its advantages and
drawbacks related. Not knowing exactly what the program is supposed to do will lead to
wrongly choosing the programming language, in turn leading to bad performance and even
errors; sadly, not all applications have a clear view regarding how are they supposed to be
developed.
During development mock-ups are made in order for the client to preview the progress
and determine if it is in accordance with their needs. There are 4 main types of these models.
1. Waterfall models in which each stage is dependent on previous stages, which assists
in resolving problems which are clearly defined.
2. Iterative models are the models in where the functionality is added in each stage. It is
mostly seen on end-user software and on OS.
3. Prototyping models means developing mock-ups or prototypes of the models between
each stage. Mostly seen on websites OR on applications; the prototypes on this stage
can also be called wireframes.
4. Spiral models is a combination of the waterfall model and the prototype method. It
can be used on large and costly projects but it is not advised on smaller products
without funding.
I had some prior knowledge on this subject, especially the prototype model (as I use it
while I am doing graphical design) but I hadn’t known all of the other stuff related to this
subject.
 4. History of the Internet

At this seminar we tackled the history of the Internet, from its militaristic usage to our
present days. Firstly we had some general terms related to the Internet, including
Next, we have an exercise in which we have to fill in the blank spaces with the words
given from before; the text that was in this exercise explained how information is transported
in Internet.
The next exercise involved translating from native language into English two pieces of
text which presented the invention of the Internet and how it came to be.
The first piece of text explains how the Internet had managed to persist and evolve up
until now, explaining how devices communicate with each other using protocols and the
second text is presenting the history of the Internet involving the DARPA and their
willingness to develop the Internet into something anyone could use and have access to.
This seminar had way too much technical stuff to get into, but it has its worth for
someone who’s willing to continue into developing software.

5. WEB 2.0. Real change or hype?

This seminar starts off with a series of questions and then it leads into a text explaining
the changes that were introduced with WEB 2.0.
The biggest change would be the introduction of dynamic websites that use databases to
showcase the information they have at that moment. That was one way that websites became
more dynamic. The other change included the introduction of AJAX, PHP and many other
protocols and programming languages that made browsing websites that much seamless.
One of my favourites additions to WEB 2.0 was the Adobe Flash Player, which had a
huge impact on the way images could work on Internet, especially when you were able to
create games using it. Sadly it is deprecated for new technology.
Another very important technology that was added with WEB 2.0 was the P2P(peer-to-
peer) technologies which was and still is a staple of Internet pirating copyright products. It
also has a lot of promise for research groups in transmitting large amounts of data to point A
to B.
Most of the stuff that were introduced here are known to me, especially WEB 2.0 and
its impact to how Internet is shaped today.

6. Introduction to ICT Systems

This seminar had started with a short introduction to what ICT Systems are and there
were some questions that we had to respond to.
 Following these questions there are some exercises that follow suit with the former
questions:
 First one involved choosing the right definition for the words given in the box above.
 The second one involves using the right words used in the previous exercise to fill the
blanks spaces.
 Third one involves studying 5x3 words each that have the same prefix and to define
each word
 And the last exercise involves using the words from previous exercise to fill the blank
spaces of 5 sentences.

This seminar helped me understand how prevalent and important ICT Systerms are in
our everyday life.