"As you probably already know, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is one of the top-ranked universities in the United States and world and has top-ranked programs such as computer science, engineering, statistics, business, and psychology. \n\nI have never been a student, faculty member, or staff member here, but my husband did teach short courses in the computer-science department years ago, and I recently used CMU's Hunt Library to search for grant opportunities.\n\nAs an outsider, I approached the information desk to ask for a free, temporary username and password to use their grant database GrantForward. The employee asked another employee about it a few times, looked at my ID, gave me the username and password, and kindly walked me to another floor.\n\nThe library looked old and like it needed to be remodeled, and a small section of it was being remodeled. Noisy construction was occurring. I felt surprised that not many computers were there. One computer would not turn on, another computer needed an administrator to fix it, and finally the third computer allowed me to log in.\n\nThe GrantForward database gave me very useful information about grants. The computer, though, logged me off about every two hours without giving any notice, so I lost my place the first time and had to sign back in. In the end, I felt thankful that CMU allowed me to use their library."
A computer is a programmable device for processing, storing, and displaying information. Learn more in this article about modern digital electronic computers and their design, constituent parts, and applications as well as about the history of computing.
A computer is a machine that can store and process information. Most computers rely on a binary system, which uses two variables, 0 and 1, to complete tasks such as storing data, calculating algorithms, and displaying information.
Computer - Technology, Invention, History: By the second decade of the 19th century, a number of ideas necessary for the invention of the computer were in the air.
Computer science is the study of computers and computing, including their theoretical and algorithmic foundations, hardware and software, and their uses for processing information.
Computer - History, Technology, Innovation: A computer might be described with deceptive simplicity as “an apparatus that performs routine calculations automatically.” Such a definition would owe its deceptiveness to a naive and narrow view of calculation as a strictly mathematical process.
Computer, device for processing, storing, and displaying information. Computer once meant a person who did computations, but now the term almost universally refers to automated electronic machinery.
Computer software is divided into two basic types—the operating system and application software. The operating system controls how the different parts of hardware work together. Application software gives the computer instructions for doing specific tasks, such as word processing or playing games.
Computer - Home Use, Microprocessors, Software: Before 1970, computers were big machines requiring thousands of separate transistors. They were operated by specialized technicians, who often dressed in white lab coats and were commonly referred to as a computer priesthood.
Computer - Memory, Storage, Processing: The earliest forms of computer main memory were mercury delay lines, which were tubes of mercury that stored data as ultrasonic waves, and cathode-ray tubes, which stored data as charges on the tubes’ screens.
