Computing
18 questions tagged Computing — spanning every one of the seven Ws.
What is artificial intelligence?
Artificial intelligence is the field of building machines and software that can perform tasks that normally require human intelligence.
When was the first electronic computer built?
ENIAC, one of the first general-purpose electronic computers, was completed in 1945 and filled an entire room.
Whose ideas laid the foundations of computing?
Charles Babbage designed early mechanical computers, and Ada Lovelace wrote what is often called the first computer program.
How does Wi-Fi work?
Wi-Fi sends data through the air using radio waves, letting devices connect to the internet without cables.
How does a touchscreen work?
Most modern touchscreens sense the tiny electrical charge in your finger, detecting exactly where you touch the glass.
When Was the First Computer Bug Found?
On 9 September 1947, operators of the Harvard Mark II computer found a moth trapped in a relay, which they taped into the logbook with the note "first actual case of bug being found" — popularising the term "debugging" in computing.
How does a hard drive store data?
A traditional hard drive stores data as tiny magnetised regions on spinning metal disks, with a read-write head magnetising and detecting these spots to record and retrieve information as binary code.
Whose creation is Linux?
Linux was created by Finnish student Linus Torvalds, who announced it on 25 August 1991 while studying at the University of Helsinki.
What is a gigabyte?
A gigabyte is a unit of digital storage equal to about one billion bytes.
Whose invention was the computer mouse?
Douglas Engelbart invented the computer mouse in the 1960s at the Stanford Research Institute, with engineer Bill English building the first prototype.
What is Moore’s Law?
Moore’s Law is the observation that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles roughly every two years, driving exponential growth in computing power.
What is a microchip?
A microchip is a tiny piece of semiconductor material that contains electronic circuits.
When was the first vacuum tube computer built?
The first large-scale electronic general-purpose vacuum tube computer was ENIAC, completed in 1945. It was unveiled to the public in 1946.
When was the first mechanical computer built?
Charles Babbage designed the Difference Engine in the 1820s, but a complete working version was not built in his lifetime.
When was the first programmed computer built?
The first generally recognized programmable electronic digital computer was ENIAC, completed in 1945.
Whose creation was the World Wide Web?
Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web. He proposed it in 1989 and launched the first website in 1991.
Whose code created the first successful computer algorithm?
Ada Lovelace wrote the first published algorithm intended for a machine, in 1843. Her notes on Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine made her a pioneer of computing.
Whose work created the first successful digital computer program?
Ada Lovelace is often credited with writing the first published computer program in 1843. Her notes described an algorithm for Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine.