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Introduction to Humanities Computing
Spring 1999
Lecture Four
Important distinctions
 Algorithm
 integrated
 Program
circuit
 floppy
 plastic
 microprocessor
 stiffie
rodent
 mouse
Know your generations
 1st
vacuum tubes
 2nd
transistors
 3rd
chips
 4th
microprocessors
Changes
 How
do computers
change communication?
 What
do computers not change?
Change?
 How
we communicate
Internet, E-mail, WWW, Chat, MUDs, IRC
 What
we communicate
Multimedia, Procedures, Agents
 Where
we communicate
Home Office, Virtual Spaces
 When
we communicate
Asynchronous Communication, Chat
 Pace
of communication
Pace
how
More ways = Faster?
where
More places = Faster?
when
More times = Faster?
what
More types = Faster?
Cost
how
More ways = cheaper?
where
More places = cheaper?
when
More times = cheaper?
what
More types = cheaper?
Theorum
it is impossible
most content-related
to know your audience
glitches
once and for all
in
so
computer-mediated communication
the big innovation
result from
wrought by
the confusion of
computer-mediated communication
one-to-many communication
increase in
with
feedback * response * follow-up
one-to-one communication
expectations
Network Varieties
Alluquère Rosanne Stone
The War of Desire and Technology at the
Close of the Mechanical Age (1995)
See Chapter Five “Agency and Proximity”
for an engaging history of the
CommuniTree BBS
Pay close attention to how Stone portrays
the link between the physical and virtual.
Communication networks
 Semaphores
 Postal
Service
 Rail network
 Telegraph
 Phone network
 Couriers
 TV Networks
 Internet
Layers
Some of the layers involved in connecting
computing machines :
 Physical Layer Cables, Routers, NIC (Cards)
 Software
Layer -
Protocols and Packets
 Service
Layer -
WWW, E-mail, Gopher
LANs
 Local Area
Network
Cable
Network Cards
Networked Devices
Personal Computers
File Server
Net Printer
Shared Devices
WANs
 Wide Area
Internet (US nets)
Network
CAnet (Canada Wide)
Onet (Ontario Wide)
McMaster Backbone
Togo Salmon LAN
Other Universities
Other Buildings
Movement of Information
Packets
1. Your file is divided into lots of small packets.
2. The packets are addressed.
3. The packets are sent out.
4. Packets are reassembled into a file
IP = From: and To:
TCP = How many packets, order
Information
Shapes of Connection
 Daisy
Chain
 Star
 Ring
Remember the selection from Alluquère Rosanne Stone.
What kinds of mental spaces do these formations evoke?
Topologies
 Daisy-Chain
 Star
Mainframe
Modems
 Ring
Terminal
Star
Mainframe
Modems
Daisy Chain
Ring
Modem
 Operates
via telephone line connection
 Modem changes
digital bits into analog signal
and vice versa
 See
demo on Computer Confluence CD
What can you do with network?
Application
 Share a Mainframe - Terminals
Server
 Share
a File Server
File Server
 Swap Files (FTP)
 Send Electronic Mail E-mail Server
 Join Discussion Groups List Server (Listserv)
 Publish and Read Information
(Gopher, WWW)
WWW Server
How do you connect?
 Direct
Connection (You have an IP address)
Internet
Internet Machine
 Through
Terminal
an Access System (muss)
Mainframe (Access System)
muss.cis.mcmaster.ca
Internet
Stretch...
What is the impact of Moore’s law on
bandwidth?
Bandwidth
Basics
Moore’s Law
physical
Bandwidth
media
& Processing
Speed
Which
of these
depends
In 1965,
Gordon Moore,
Chairman
of Intel
network
the traffic
third
element
network
growth
predicted
the power
of in
a silicon
chip
of theupon
software
protocols
is aboutprocessor
speed
same price
would double
every eighteen
network
Storage
Space
?
months connection
for at least
two decades.
End
simple concepts
when connected
appear to become
complex