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Рецензенты старший преподаватель кафедры английской филологии факультета ргф ивГУ, к ф. н
Unit VIII.
IT Revolution
Prereading Discussion
What do computers-biz futurists say?
You start with the computer and end with the media, don’t you?
What is multimedia?
Are the humans manipulated by the media in the same way as by
reading?
Will every cycle of processor power and every byte of memory be sucked by new, larger software programs (Gate’s law)?
The amount of info is said to be doubling every six to seven years. Can we keep up?
How might other humans use computers to control you?
When and how do you spend your time on the Internet?
Reading analysis
VOCABULARY LIST
Nouns: census, anarchy, lingo, prerogative, humiliation, trans gression, junk, moderation, cornerstone, vehicle, abdication, over reliance.
Verbs: to mature, to approach, to roam, to browse, to surf, to reveal, to obscure, to hinder, to enhance.
Adjectives: crucial, instant, dismissive, entrepreneurial, volumi nous, incredible.
Word combinations: back and forth, file transfer protocol (ftp), to filter out, to make sense, stress relievers, invasion of privacy.
TEXT I. SURFING THE NET
What is more impressive than the pyramids, more beautiful than Michelangelo’s David and more important to mankind than the wondrous inventions of the Industrial Revolution? To the convert ed, there can be only one answer: the Internet that undisciplined radical electronic communications network that is shaping our universe. Multimedia, the electronic publishing revolution, is en tering every area of our lives — college, work and home. This new digital technology combines texts, video, sound and graphics to produce interactive language learning, football, music, movies, cookery and anything else you might be interested in.
The industrial age has matured into the information age; wherein the means to access, manipulate, and use information has become crucial to success and power. The electronic superhighway provides an entry to libraries, research institutions, databases, art galleries, census bureaus, etc. For those of us interested in intercultural com munications Cyberspace is a universal community, with instant access not only to information anywhere, but also to friends old and new around the globe.
The Internet is an amorphous global network of thousands of linked
computers that pass information back and forth. While the Internet has no government, no owners, no time, no place, no country, it definitely has a culture, which frequently approaches anarchy; and it has a language, which is more or less English. People who inter act in an Internet environment know how addresses are formed, how to use e-mail, ftp, Usenet News, Telnet, and other software tools.
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Like all new worlds, Cyberspace has its own lingo, for example: e-bahn, i-way, online, freenet, web page, freeware, browser, gopher, archie, gateway. There are words to describe people who roam the
7-4343net: netters, e-surfers, internet surfers, netizens, spiders, geeks:.. The Internet has its own prerogatives: for example, the dismissive term lurker for the person who hangs around the net, reading what is there but not contributing anything. The term flaming refers to the public humiliation of another netter as punishment for a real or imagined transgression against net culture.
Large-scale use of computer-to-computer transfer of information was implemented by the US military in the late 60s and early 70s — part of the superpower competition of the cold war and the arms race. The US military created an electronic network (Arpa net) to use computers for handling the transfer of large amounts of sensitive data over long distances at incredible speed. Computer- to-computer virtual connections, using satellites and fiber optics, have distinct advantages over telephone or radio communications in the event of a nuclear attack. Mathematicians and scientists (and their universities) have been linked and electronically exchanging information over the Internet since the mid-70s.
Now the Internet has become commercialized with private and public companies offering access to it. (CompuServe — is the best- known international commercial electronic access provider). The Internet is being expanded and improved so that every home, every school, every institution can be linked to share data, infor mation, music, video and other resources. If you have a computer or a computer terminal, some kind of connection (probably, mo dem and telephone line) to the Internet, and some kind of Inter net service provider, you can participate in electronic communi cation and become a citizen of the global village.
Information technology is a good vehicle for the argument. Some scientists remind us that voluminous information does not neces sarily lead to sound thinking. There are many genuine dangers that computers bring to modem society: efficient invasion of privacy, overreliance on polling in politics, even abdication of control over military decision-making. Data glut obscures basic questions of jus tice and purpose and may even hinder rather than enhance our productivity. Edutainment software and computer games degrade the literacy of children. On the other hand, only a few use PCs on network to share information and ideas. In most cases IT is used to speed routine tasks, to automate manual processes rather than to change work patterns and business practices. Most managers use
their PCs to edit documents — not a good use of their time when they could be dreaming up creative applications. It is time to eval uate anew the role of science and technology in the affairs of the human species.
So, if you are riding on the information highway, you should take steps to cope with information overload. The gift of boundless in formation is causing a new kind of stress known alternately as tech nostress, information overload or Information Fatigue Syndrome. Some experts say that we don’t get anywhere near the data it takes to overload our neurons. According to some estimates, our mind is capable of processing and analyzing many gigabytes of data per second — a lot more data than any of today’s supercomputers can process and act on in real time. We feel overloaded by the quantity of information because we are getting it unfiltered. We should filter out the junk and turn data into shapes that make sense to us. Stress in moderation is good: it drives us to achieve, stimulates our cre ativity and is the force behind social and technological breakthroughs. Stress is revealing how humans are in some ways more primitive than the technology they have created. Meditation, muscular re laxation, aerobics, jogging, yoga can be effective stress relievers, but no technique is universal: experiment and find the one that best works for you.
The cornerstone of an economy are land, labor, capital and entre preneurial spirit. That traditional definition is now being challenged. Today you find a fifth key economic element: information domi nant. As we evolve from an industrial to an information society, our jobs are changing from physical to mental labor. Just as people moved physically from farms to factories in the Industrial age, so today people are shifting muscle power to brain power in a new, computer-based, globally Jinked by the Internet society.
EXERCISES
How much has technology changed in just the last 20 years?
If you were to bury a time capsule to be opened in 2100 what would
you put into it?
Explain the buzzwords in the text.
Define the following terms:
e.g. Buffer — an area of storage used to temporarily hold data being transferred from one device to another.
e-mail, byte, browser, zoom, bug, cursor, buffer, download, gateway, drive, router, hypertext, protocol, graphics, modem, freenet.
What do these abbreviations stand for:
DT, DP, VDU, 16K, Al, IT, CPU, RB, RZ, i/o.
What do these acronyms stand for:
CAD, CAM, ROM, RAM, CDl, LAN, Y2K, ALGOL, BASIC, CO BOL, FORTRAN.
Translate some computer terms:
Simple toms: anchor, wizard, versioning, relink, cipher, containment. Compounds: clipboard, multithreaded, client-pull, design-time, run time, polyline, turnkey, bltmapping, bandwith.
Term collocations: frame-based layout, active template library, active server pages, asynchronous moniker, active data objects, connectable ob ject, frequently asked question, hypertext markup language, hypertext transfer protocol, integrated development environment, interface definition language, Internet service provider, object linking and embedding, remote procedure call, software development kit, uniform data transfer.
Put the proper words into sentences:
multimedia, dominant, spider, netizen, flame, writing, foolproof, tech nostress, zoom.
Please, don’t... me if you disagree with this.
The person who develops a ... lock for computer data will make a fortune.
.. a person or computer program that searches the web for new links and link them to search engines.
.. spends an excessive amount of time on the Internet.
Windows and Unix operating systems are going to be on the desk tops and on servers in ... numbers (B. Gates).
Hit a video button and ... for a closer look.
... brings together different types of visual devices: texts, pictures, sounds, animations, speech.
Each person handles ... differently.
Good ... on the Net tends to be clear, vigorous, witty and above all brief: short paragraphs, bulleted lists, one-liners — the units of thought.
TEXT II. THE LANGUAGE OF E-MAIL
E-mail is the simplest and most immediate function of the Internet for many people. Run through a list of questions that new e-mail users ask most and some snappy answers to them.
What is electronic mail? Electronic mail, or e-mail as it’s normally shortened to, is just a message that is composed, sent and read electronically (hence the name). With regular mail you write out your message (letter, postcard, whatever) and drop it off at the post office. The postal service then delivers the message and the recipient reads it. E-mail operates basically the same-way except that everything happens electronically. You compose your message using e-mail software, send it over the lines that connect the In ternet’s networks and the recipient uses an e-mail program to read the message.
How does e-mail know how to get where it’s going? Everybody who’s connected to the Internet is assigned a unique e-mail address. In a way, this address is a lot like the address of your house or apartment because it tells everyone else your exact location on the Net. So anyone who wants to send you an e-mail message just tells the e-mail program the appropriate address and runs the Send command. The Internet takes over from there and makes sure the missive arrives safely.
What’s this netiquette stuff I keep hearing about? The Net is a huge,
unwieldy mass with no “powers-that-be” that can dictate content or standards. This is, for the most part, a good thing because it means there’s no censorship and no one can wield authority arbi trarily. To prevent this organized chaos from descending into mere anarchy, however, a set of guidelines has been put together over the years. These guidelines are known collectively as netiquette (net work etiquette) and they offer suggestions on the correct way to interact with the Internet's denizens. To give you a taste of neti quette, here are some highlights to consider.
Keep your message brief and to the point and make sure you clear up any spelling slips or grammatical gaffes before ship ping it out.
Make sure the Subject lines of your message are detailed enough so they explain what your message is all about.
Don’t SHOUT by writing your missives entirely in upper case letters.
Don’t bother other people by sending them test messages. If you must test a program, send a message to yourself.
What’s a flame? The vast majority of e-mail correspondence is civil
and courteous, but with millions of participants all over the world, it’s inevitable that some folks will rub each other the wrong way. When this happens, the combatants may exchange emotionally charged, caustic, often obscene messages called flames. When enough of these messages exchange hands, an out-and-out flame war develops. These usually burn themselves out after a while, and then the participants can get back to more interesting things.
Is e-mail secure? In a word, no. The Net’s open architecture allows programmers to write interesting and useful new Internet services, but it also allows unscrupulous snoops to lurk where they don’t belong. In particular, the e-mail system has two problems: it’s not that hard for someone else to read your e-mail, and it’s fairly easy to forge an e-mail address. If security is a must for you, then you’ll want to create an industrial strength password for your home di rectory, use encryption for your most sensitive messages, and use an anonymous remailer when you want to send something incog nito.
EXERCISES
Answer the questions:
What major problems are there with the e-mail? Are they opinions or facts? Would it be a problem for you?
What do you think is the reason for the various bits of netiquette which are mentioned?
Find at least 5 examples of a very colloquial and chatty style used in the text. Why are they used?
For which of the following types of writing is it necessary to be brief?
Instructions, love letters, news reports, business proposals, faxes, ad verts, insurance claims, curriculum vitae, short stories, scientific reports, e-mail, poems.
Write a summary of the text. Include only the information, ignore any extra remarks. Write in a neutral rather than an informal style.
E-mailers also keep their message brief by abbreviating frequently used phrases. Complete these common phrases:
AAMOF
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as a m... off...
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AFAIK
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as f... as I k...
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FYI
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for your i...
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FYA
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f... y... am...
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IMO
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in my o...
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IOW
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in o... words
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NRN
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not r... necessary
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TTYL
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talk to у... 1...
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FAQ
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f... a... question(s)
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BTW
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by t... w...
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LOL
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la... o... loud
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KHYF
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k... ho... y... fe...
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IMHO
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in my h... o...
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WYSIWYG
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what y... see is w... y... g.
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RTFM
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read the f... m...
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E-mail messages usually have the following format:
To: (Name and e-mail address of recipient)
From: (Name and e-mail address of sender)
Subject: (Identification of main point of message)
Here is an example of an e-mail address: smith@cup.ac.uk
Note that the symbol @ in e-mail address is read at and that the full stops are read as dot. Thus the example address would be read as Smith at С — U — P dot A — С dot U — K.
The ac.uk in the example address tells you that the address is based at a university in the United Kingdom.Do you know anyone with an e-mail address? If so, dictate it to other students in the class. If not, then your teacher will give you some addresses for dictation.
E-mailers make use of symbols called smileys (or emoticons) which can be written using standard letters and signs.
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Your basic smiley. This is used to mean I’m happy.
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;-)
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Winking smiley. I’m flirting or being ironic.
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Frowning smiley. I did not like something.
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>1
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I’m indifferent.
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8-)
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I wear glasses.
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H)
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I have a moustache.
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I have a cold.
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С=:л)
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Head cook, chef-de-cuisine.
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Qn
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Soldier, man with beret, boy scout.
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*:0)
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Clown face; I’m feeling like a buffoon.
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:л9
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Licking the lips; very tasty or delicious.
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ДД/\Д/\ДО:> Snake (or to rake someone over the coals)
Match these smileys to their meanings listed below:
%-) (-: |-| :-Q :-D <:-| (:) [:-)
I’m a dunce.
I’m an egghead.
I’m asleep.
I’m laughing.
I’m left-handed.
I’m screaming.
I’m wearing a Walkman.
I’m sticking my tongue out at you.
I’ve been staring at this screen for too long.
Discuss:
Do faxes, electronic mail and papers offer an escape from human interaction?
Could all these topography symbols such as e-smiles supplant the more emotive ingredients of two-way communication?
How can we balance the use of technology and real-life conversa tion?
Write an e-mail message to your friend (on paper). Use an appro priate format and a chatty style. Try to use at least one smiley and some abbreviations.
Translate into English:
СЛОВАРИК ЮНОГО ИНТЕРНЕТЧИКА. ТОЧКА, ТОЧКА, ЗАПЯТАЯ - ВОТ И РОЖИЦА КРИВАЯ
История появления в Интернете забавных рожиц, составлен ных из точечек, скобочек и запятых, вполне объяснима. Всем хо роши электронные письма — и составлять их легко, и доходят до адресата они быстро, вот только хранят они лишь сухие компью терные буквы, даже почерк, по которому можно было бы судить
об эмоциях пишущего человека, исчезает. А жаль. Вот и придумали хитроумные компьютерные фанаты целый язык, использующий человеческую мимику. Рожицы, или, как их еще называют, смай лики (от английского улыбающийся), конструируют из знаков пре пинания. Только разглядывать их надо под углом 90 градусов. Итак:
:( — хмурый
серьезный :-) — улыбающийся •-))) — радостный ;-) — подмигивающий ;( — плачущий ;.(.. — рыдающий :л) — счастливый :| — суровый :А( — печальный
:@) — счастливый, как поросенок |-( — усталый и недовольный 8) — большие глаза |-0 — сонный (зевающий)
80 — вопящий |-| — спящий
:-0 — ошарашенный |-Р — облизывающий :-D или 8-D — смеющийся 8-( — запуганный:-Р — дразнилка (с высунутым языком)8-) — удивленный (с широко открытыми глазами) :-( — расстроенный 8-| — сосредоточенный
|| — рассерженный :-/ — насупленный
0 — испуганный
:-[ ] — ошеломленный
саркастичный :-[ — вампир
:-Е — клыкастый вампир :-7 — кривая улыбка :-Q — курящий:-? — курящий трубку:-S — непоследовательный, бессвязный:-D — громко хохочущий:-Х — рот на замке:-С — лодырь :-9 — облизывающий губы
рот скреплен проволокой :-% — банкир
бородатый :-{ — усатый
:*) — пьяный:=) — с похмелья%-) — программист8-) — в солнечных очках.-) — одноглазыйg-) — в пенсне{:-) — в парике-:-) — панк*<:-) — Санта-Клаус.
WWW
Все началось с того, что в 1948 году вышли книги К. Шеннона «Математическая теория связи» и Н. Винера «Кибернетика, или управление и связь в животном и машине». Они и определили новый вектор развития науки, в результате чего появился компь ютер: вначале ламповый гигант, затем транзисторный и на ин тегральных схемах, на микропроцессорах. И вот в 1981 году по явился персональный компьютер (IBM). В том же году вышла про грамма MS-DOS, а в 1990 — Windows-З.О, а далее пошло стремительное совершенствование «железа» и программного обес печения. К концу столетия человечество получило потрясающую миниатюризацию компьютерной техники, сокращение «расстоя ния» между компьютером и человеком, тотальное проникнове ние компьютерных технологий в бытовую сферу. 1986 год — рож дение Интернета, глобальной сети, охватившей практически все страны мира, поставляющей каждому пользователю текущую информацию, открывающей доступ к книгам большинства круп ных библиотек мира, позволяющей каждому жителю планеты поговорить с любым другим землянином. Кроме того, Интернет обеспечивает единую финансовую систему, покупки, бытовые услуги, службу знакомств...Несколько слов об Интернете в России. В 1990 году к сети были подключены около тридцати организаций, главным обра зом научных центров. Но только через пять лет состоялось офици альное распространение WWW-технологий. В 1998 году количе ство пользователей Интернета достигло одного миллиона, а к 2000 году — 5,4 млн человек (По прогнозам, к концу 2001 года их станет 7,8 млн) Четверть регулярных «посетителей» Интернета жи вут в Москве и Санкт-Петербурге, другая четверть— в Сибири и на Дальнем Востоке, при этом больше половины посетителей Интер нета проживают в городах численностью менее миллиона человек.Компьютеризация и Интернет — столбовая дорога западной цивилизации в XXI веке. Хотим мы или нет — Россия много сто летий тяготеет к европейскому пути развития. Поэтому и наше будущее связано не с сырьем, не с вооружением, а исключитель но с широчайшей компьютеризацией школ и вузов, с выходом в мировую сеть Интернет, с поголовной компьютерной грамотнос тью молодежи. Другого пути нет, если мы не хотим остаться сы рьевым придатком западного мира.
БИОКОМПЬЮТЕРЫ
Применение в вычислительной технике биологических мате риалов позволит со временем уменьшить компьютеры до разме ров живой клетки. Пока это чашка Петри, наполненная спираля ми ДНК, или нейроны, взятые у пиявки и подсоединенные к электрическим проводам. По существу, наши собственные клет ки — это уе что иное, как биомашины молекулярного размера, а примером биокомпьютера, конечно, служит наш мозг.Ихуд Шапиро из Вейцмановского института естественных наук соорудил пластмассовую модель биологического компьютера вы сотой 30см. Если бы это устройство состояло из настоящих биоло гических молекул, его размер был бы равен размеру одного из компонентов клетки — 0,000 025 мм.Билл Дитго из Технологического института штата Джорджия провел интересный эксперимент, подсоединив микродатчики к нескольким нейронам пиявки. Он обнаружил, что в зависимости от входного сигнала нейроны образуют новые взаимосвязи. Веро ятно, биологические компьютеры, состоящие из нейроподобных элементов, в отличие от кремниевых устройств, смогут искать нужные решения посредством самопрограммирования. Дитто на мерен использовать результаты своей работы для создания мозга роботов.
ОПТИЧЕСКИЕ КОМПЬЮТЕРЫ
По сравнению с тем, что обещают молекулярные или биоло гические компьютеры, оптические ПК могут показаться не очень впечатляющими. Однако ввиду того, что оптоволокно стало пред почтительным материалом для широкополосной связи, всем тра диционным кремниевым устройствам, чтобы передать информа цию на расстояние нескольких миль, приходится каждый раз пре образовывать электрические сигналы в световые и обратно.Целиком оптические компьютеры появятся через десятиле тия, но работа в этом направлении идет сразу на нескольких фрон тах. Например, ученые из университета Торонто создали молеку лы жидких кристаллов, управляющие светом в фотонном крис талле на базе кремния. Они считают возможным создание оптических ключей и проводников, способных выполнять все функции электронных компьютеров.
Однако прежде чем оптические компьютеры станут массовым продуктом, на оптические компоненты, вероятно, перейдет вся система связи — вплоть до «последней мили» на участке до дома или офиса. В ближайшие 15 лет оптические коммутаторы, повто рители, усилители и кабели заменят электрические компоненты.
Topics for Essays, Oral or Written Reports
The most interesting places you have explored on the Internet.
Next generation Internet.
My media.
The place of computer technology in our culture.
Unit IX. Humor the Computer
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Computer was given to man to complete him for what he is not; science jokes to console him for what he is. So keep smiling! Reading and Discussion |
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