Parallelism through Digital Circuit Design

Two ways to exploit chips with a very large number of transistors are multicore processors and programmable logic chips. Some data parallel algorithms can be executed efficiently on ordinary parallel computers, including multicores. A class of data parallel algorithms is identified which have characteristics that make implementation on multiprocessors inefficient, but they are well suited for direct design as digital circuits. This leads to a programming model called circuit parallelism. The characteristics of circuit parallel algorithms are discussed, and a prototype system for supporting them is described

Use of Computers in Undergraduate Education

Over the past several years automatic digital computers have become accessible to many undergraduate students. This accessibility has given an impetus to the inclusion in the undergraduate curriculum of various aspects of computer utilization such as programming, numerical methods, and computer applications. This paper will examine some of the reasons for including such material in the undergraduate curriculum, and in the course of such examination, some of the ways in which this can be done will become evident

Language without code: intentionally unusable, uncomputable, or conceptual programming languages

The esoteric class of programming languages, commonly called esolangs, have long challenged the norms of programming practice and computational culture. Esolangs are a practice of hacker/hobbyists, who don’t primarily think of their work as art. Most esolangs are experiential works; we understand the languages by writing code in them. Through this action, the logic of the language becomes clear. However, a smaller subset of esolangs make their point not through actively writing code, but instead by simply contemplating their rules. We can think of these esolangs as conceptual rather than experiential. Some are designed in such a way that they don’t allow any code to be written for them at all. By stepping away from usability, the conceptual esolangs offer the most direct challenge to the definition of programming language, a commonly used term which is surprisingly unspecific, and usually understood through utility, despite the fact that programming languages predate digital computers. This paper delves into the conceptual esolangs and looks at their challenge to the idea of programming languages

Immigrant Youth and Digital Disparty in California

This study addresses three key research questions regarding immigrant youth and the digital divide:What are the patterns of home technology use among native-born and immigrant families and youth?What are the causes and consequences of the digital divide for immigrant families and youth?How does technology at CTCs in California benefit immigrant families and youth

The Analogue Computer as a Voltage-Controlled Synthesiser

This paper re-appraises the role of analogue computers within electronic and computer music and provides some pointers to future areas of research. It begins by introducing the idea of analogue computing and placing in the context of sound and music applications. This is followed by a brief examination of the classic constituents of an analogue computer, contrasting these with the typical modular voltage-controlled synthesiser. Two examples are presented, leading to a discussion on some parallels between these two technologies. This is followed by an examination of the current state-of-the-art in analogue computation and its prospects for applications in computer and electronic music

The PLC: a logical development

Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) have been used to control industrial processes and equipment for over 40 years, having their first commercially recognised application in 1969. Since then there have been enormous changes in the design and application of PLCs, yet developments were evolutionary rather than radical. The flexibility of the PLC does not confine it to industrial use and it has been used for disparate non-industrial control applications . This article reviews the history, development and industrial applications of the PLC

Computing as the 4th “R”: a general education approach to computing education

Computing and computation are increasingly pervading our lives, careers, and societies - a change driving interest in computing education at the secondary level. But what should define a "general education" computing course at this level? That is, what would you want every person to know, assuming they never take another computing course? We identify possible outcomes for such a course through the experience of designing and implementing a general education university course utilizing best-practice pedagogies. Though we nominally taught programming, the design of the course led students to report gaining core, transferable skills and the confidence to employ them in their future. We discuss how various aspects of the course likely contributed to these gains. Finally, we encourage the community to embrace the challenge of teaching general education computing in contrast to and in conjunction with existing curricula designed primarily to interest students in the field