The traces of programming can be found as early as 2000 years ago with the invention of Abacus, a device made of wood which had two parallel strings fixed horizontally on it. On these strings, beads were embedded. Using programming rules which were decided by the scholars of those days, addition and subtraction of numbers was made possible using Abacus. Another significant programming development which was invented around the same time is the Astroble. This device proved to be very useful for navigation in those days.
These instruments, Abacus and Astroble were used significantly for many centuries until the discovery of the digital computer or in simple terms, a calculator by which it is known popularly was made. The famous mathematician Blaise Pascal is known for programming the first calculator in 1642. The device build by Pascal used to take numbers as inputs and used to give their addition as output. Pascal programmed the device in such a way that the numbers had to be entered via dials. Pascal invented this device in order to help his father save time in his calculations as he was a tax collector.
In the year 1671 A.D., a scientist named Gottfried Wilhelm Von Leibniz designed a computer. He claimed that his designed computer would be able to perform mathematical operations such as addition and subtraction and after making some modifications he was convinced that it could also perform multiplication. Due to financial crisis he was not able to convert his designed model into a reality. But he didn’t lose hope and in the year 1694 he was finally able to prove his design. He successfully programmed a computer that could perform the mathematical operations which he had claimed 23 years ago.
The programming techniques invented by Leibniz and Pascal were not accepted by their colleagues. Their inventions were considered weird for almost a century. But they were soon accepted by the new age scientists for making faster programming techniques and till today we use the same technique which they invented centuries ago.
Have you ever had an experience where you had something in your hand, you put it down somewhere and you forgot where it was. Well hopefully you wont get that feeling again, thanks to a handy little camera. The camera can fit in the palm of your hand, and can store up to 30,000 images, which is enough for two whole weeks. The camera is produced by Microsoft and takes photos of daily events every 30 seconds so they can be played back later at high-speed to jog the memory.
It was announced today by the energy company giant Exxon mobile that they have developed a new kind of battery technology for cars in cooperation with a Japanese company known as Tonen Chemicals. The battery’s are a lithium ion battery similar to the ones that are in your ipod, laptop, or cell phone except these lithium ion battery’s would be strong enough to propel a car. There are several companies that are using battery technology in there cars right now but they are not the lithium ion type so they have some major disadvantages. The new battery technology should be pretty cool and will be interesting to see where it goes, it is set to debut at an electric car show in California in the first week of December.