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Techno
Page - By Harendra Alwis Will the Pentium
4s or 'Hammers' quench our thirst for faster computers? If history
is anything to go by, they definitely would not. But what is it
that transforms the technological marvels of today into antiques
of tomorrow? If you think about it, it has nothing to do with the
speed or the capabilities of the machines, but the hidden desire
within us humans to have machines that act more like ourselves. Today we make
use of these cumbersome machines that sit on our desks to do a very
limited number of jobs. Apart from typing in emails or documents
and a few other functions such as graphics and sound manipulation
work, PCs are hardly used for anything else around the household.
Even so imagine how complex it is to use computers, even in this
modern age of Graphical User Interfaces and multimedia! Do you honestly
believe that the computer revolution hasn't happened yet? Well,
think about it. A computer that is just five metres away from you
can hardly be of any use to you. Even when you are seated right
in front of it with the keyboard and mouse in your hands there are
only a very limited number of things you can do. Even then, you
have to acquaint yourself with complex software and interfaces that
are difficult to learn and sometimes next to impossible to use!
Besides, do you know that the average user of Microsoft Word does
not make use of more than 90% of its potential? We still live
in a world where a vast majority of people have not even seen a
computer. Think of the day when we would look at the 'huge' tower
casings that stand on our desks in just the same way we now look
at ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer), the world's
first electronic digital computer that occupied a whole building. We have reached
lightning speeds when it comes to raw computing power. Today, a
regular pocket calculator has hundreds of times more computing power
than did the entire Apollo 11 spacecraft that put men on the moon
and returned them safely to earth. The auto pilot of a 747 jumbo
jet has no more computing power than an Intel 486, but the performance
of our Pentium 4 leaves much to be desired when it comes to simple
tasks like 3D image rendering! Why? We use
a computer to do work that is too boring to do ourselves. Obviously,
painting with real 'paint' on a wall is more fun than drawing something
with your mouse-pointer with MS Paint right? Computers are marginalized
in our lives because of their limited capability. They are of little
use when it comes to regular household tasks. Real household tasks
like cleaning and cooking are 'beyond possibility' for a computer. Imagine what it would be like to build software that would train your dog! You may say that these are just abstract thoughts, but if you are longing to be an IT professional "when you grow up", then these may be some of the problems that you will have to solve. Food for thought of course, so write to us and share your ideas if you managed to digest it. Bioinformatics:
The future Bioinformatics
allows us to understand the functionality of every gene and use
the information. For example, analyze for diseases such as cancers
and design New Revolutionary Medicines. These medicines will cure
the diseases at root cause unlike the presently available allopathic
medicines. Bioinformatics incorporates expertise from the biological
sciences, physical and chemical sciences, computer science, and
mathematics. Within 10 years, all new drug designs are going to
be Genomics-related. Applications
of Bioinformatics Job/Career
Outlook A recent study
estimates thousands of workers will be needed in this field by 2005.
Employment will be in various industries particularly in pharmaceutical,
agriculture and human health fields. Numerous job opportunities
in both the direct application of Bioinformatics and the required
supporting service industries are available. Prospective
employers include pharmaceutical companies, R&D organizations,
academic institutions, government organizations, software companies
& product marketing companies. There are great opportunities
to work as scientists, researchers, software developers, database
developers, consultants, trainers and academics. Some of the
biggest drug firms are hunting for Bioinformatics experts while
smaller firms have difficulties in getting the staff they want.
It is true of the renowned IT companies. Current salaries in USA
for advanced degree & certificate holders in this field range
from US$75,000 - US$150,000 per year. The required
skills What is protocol? * The type
of error checking to be used * There are
a variety of standard protocols in use today. Each has inherent
advantages and disadvantages; for example, some are simpler than
others, some are more reliable, and others are faster. From a user's
point of view, the only important aspect about protocols is that
your computer or device must support the right ones if you want
to communicate with other computers. A protocol can be implemented
either in hardware or in software. |
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