The Silent Arms Race: The Role of the Supercomputer During the Cold War, 1947-1963

One of the central features of the Cold War is the Arms Race. The United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist republics vied for supremacy over the globe for a fifty-year period in which there were several arms races; atomic weapons, thermonuclear weapons and various kinds of conventional weapons. However, there is another arms race that goes unsung during this period of history and that is in the area of supercomputing. The other types of arms races are taken for granted by historians and others, but the technological competition between the superpowers would have been impossible without the historically silent arms race in the area of supercomputers. The construction of missiles, jets as well as the testing of nuclear weapons had serious implications for international relations. Often perception is more important than fact. Perceived power maintained a deterrent effect on the two superpowers. If one superpower suspected that they, in fact, had an advantage over the other then the balance of power would be upset and more aggressive measures might have been taken in various fronts of the conflict, perhaps leading to war. Due to this, it was necessary to maintain a balance of power not only in weapons but in supercomputing as well. Considering the role that the computers played, it is time for closer historical scrutiny

Pioneers of Soviet Computing

A szerző 1995-ban megjelent orosz nyelvű "История Вычислительной Техники в Лицах" című könyvének fordítása, amely a szovjet számítástechnika történetének fontos - gyakran kevéssé ismert - eseményeit jelentős személyiségek életútján keresztül mutatja be. Néhány, a magyarországi számítástechnika fejlődésére hatással lévő témáról (pl. M3 története, ESzR körüli viták) is érdekes információkat tudhatunk meg

Networks in the Russian Market Economy

If Russia has become a market economy, how does it function on a grassroots level? In addition to market mechanisms, what kinds of social and moral principles are at work in the new Russian economy? Is the 'Soviet legacy' still present in post-Soviet business practices? This book searches for answers to these questions, by investigating the networking practices of the Russian software industry. It examines what kinds of resources are transmitted through the personal networks of Russian IT directors and managers, and which mechanisms govern this transmission. The volume opens a rarely available grassroots-level view into the business practices of the new Russian knowledge-based economy. This book is essential reading for all interested in Russian society, culture and economy

Economic Model of Information, Information Society, and information Literacy: A View from Russia

The article reveals the theoretical model of information as an economic resource. The emphasis is put on the role of information in social and economic evolution, development of information society in Russia in the context of global trends. Further, the author proceeds to the concept of \u27information literacy\u27 and a new educational role of university libraries. The service model itself is changing: from satisfying information needs to an advanced model of want formation. Besides, in the 21st century, research libraries find new users: in addition to students and faculty, their services increasingly attract the attention of business. The article is encouraged by the experience of the introduction of new library services in the Research Library of Ural Federal University, as well as the promotion of a university library in the business environment

Minding the Gap: Western Export Controls and Soviet Technology Policy in the 1960s

This thesis examines the origins and evolution of Western export controls intended to limit the transfer of high technology, particularly computers, to communist countries, and how technology policy within the Soviet Union and other communist states was shaped by these controls. This work intends to demonstrate that Western attempts to control trade in high technology were responsive to changing economic and political realities and that changes in export controls produced corresponding changes in policy within the USSR. Ultimately, policies on both sides served to maintain and widen the technology gap between East and West far more dramatically than anticipated, deepening the economic stagnation of Eastern Europe and hastening the collapse of communism

Історія науки й техніки

The tutorial "History of Science and Technology" is intended for undergraduate students who study this academic subject in English. The material for each of the themes covers a specific historical period in the history of science and technology from ancient times to the present. The last theme is devoted to the study of the history of NTU "Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute".Навчальний посібник "Історія науки і техніки" призначено для студентів-бакалаврів, які вивчають дисципліну англійською мовою. Матеріал для кожної із тем висвітлює певний історичний період розвитку історії науки і техніки від стародавніх часів до сьогодення. Остання тема присвячена вивченню історії НТУ "Харківський політехнічний інститут"

Evolution of human computer interaction

The work is devoted to the review of the development the human-computer interaction. In the first sections the history of computing in the "pre-computer" era is briefly described and then the early history of modern computing, methods of the first computers controlling and the tasks of programmers at this stage are described. It describes the methods of interaction with the first -generation computers using the remote control elements, punched cards and punched tapes. The section, devoted to the second generation computers, describes the emergence of high-level operating systems and programming languages. At this point, there are such means of interaction with the computer as the displays and, respectively, such programming tools as interactive languages and interactive debuggers. Research is also beginning on principles of human-computer interaction the infancy of the discipline "computer graphics", the development of computer graphics packages and the emergence of interactive computer graphics standards are considered. In the section “Revolutions in computer science” describes the appearance of a large number of the same series computers and the first super-computers in the context of human-computer interaction. Revolutionary changes are considered in computer graphics and emerging of the science discipline “computer visualization” with its parts “scientific visualization”, “software visualization”, “information visualization” and also “programming by demonstration”. The information about the attempt to create a fifth generation computer based on logical programming is given. It is told about the initial period of teaching programming. The creation of computer networks and the emergence of personal computing as well as the creation the tools of modern parallel computing have become the important stages in the development of modern computing. The virtual reality becomes an important computer visualization tool. The modern state of human-computer interfaces is characterized primarily by emerging of natural interfaces which can be attributed Brain-Computer Interface (Neurocomputer interface, Brain-Computer Interfaces), interfaces based on the direct use of nerve impulses, speech recognition, recognition of lip movement, mimic recognition and eye tracking (Eye Gaze or Eye Tracking), haptic interfaces and also interfaces giving tactile feedback (allowing you to feel the touch),motion capture interfaces the entire human body or individual organs (head, entire arm, hands, fingers, legs), motion capture toolkits,in particular, interfaces based on leg movements (foot-operated computer interfaces), sign interfaces, sign languages. We briefly describe the activity approach to the design of interfaces and also some problems concerning the problem of mass interfaces. Finally, we discuss a number of problems arising from the increasing capabilities of modern computers. The work is in the nature of a popular science article and it largely reflects the subjective impressions of the author. © 2020 National Research Nuclear University. All rights reserved

An autoethnographic study of a Mongolian English teacher’s journey in applying a task-based approach to an online English writing class for adult learners

This study explores the trajectory of a Mongolian English teacher incorporating task-based language teaching (TBLT) in an online writing class. Through autoethnograpy, it deepens teacher’s pedagogical understanding of technology-mediated TBLT, grounded their first-hand experience and learner’s perceptions about this unique approach. The findings show the main challenges the teacher faced were teacher’s self-doubt and anxiety regarding TBLT, technology use and language proficiency. Overall, Mongolian learners perceived the lessons positively as it encouraged independent and reflective learning