The first digital computer

Short for Atanasoff-Berry Computer, the ABC began development by Professor John Vincent Atanasoff and graduate student Cliff Berry in 1937. Its development continued until 1942 at the Iowa State College.

The ABC was an electrical computer that used vacuum tubes for digital computation, including binary math and Boolean logic and had no CPU. On October 19, 1973, the US Federal Judge Earl R. Larson signed his decision that the ENIAC patent by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly was invalid and named Atanasoff the inventor of the electronic digital computer.

The ENIAC was invented by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly at the University of Pennsylvania and began construction in 1943 and was not completed until 1946. It occupied about 1,800 square feet and used about 18,000 vacuum tubes, weighing almost 50 tons. Although the Judge ruled that the ABC computer was the first digital computer, many still consider the ENIAC to be the first digital computer because it was fully functional.

Network Security with NetFlow and IPFIX: Big Data Analytics for Information Security

An extensive|A thorough} guide for deploying, setting up, and troubleshooting NetFlow and learning big data stats technologies for cyber security

Today's world of network security is {packed with} {internet|web|internet} security vulnerabilities, incidents, removes, and many headaches. {Presence|Awareness} {in to the|in the} network is an indispensable tool for network and security professionals and Cisco NetFlow creates an environment where network {managers|facilitators|directors} and security professionals have the tools to understand who, what, when, where, {and exactly how|and just how} network traffic is flowing.

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Grand Theft Auto Online

Grand Theft Auto Online is a persistent, open world online multiplayer video game developed by Rock star North and published by Rock star Games. It was released on 1 October 2013 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and was released on 18 November 2014 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with a Microsoft Windows version on 14 April 2015. The game is the online multiplayer mode for Grand Theft Auto V. Set within the fictional state of San Andrea based on Southern California, Grand Theft Auto Online allows up to 30 players to explore the open world and engage in cooperative or competitive game matches. The open world design lets players freely roam San Andrea, which includes open countryside and the fictional city of Los Santos based on Los Angeles.

Grand Theft Auto Online

Developed in tandem with the single-player mode, Grand Theft Auto Online was conceived as a separate experience, to be played in a continually evolving world. At release, it received generally positive reviews, with praise particularly directed at the scope and open-ended game play. Critics were polarized by the widespread technical issues at launch, which resulted in the inability to play missions, and loss of character data. It won divided year-end accolades, ranging from Biggest Disappointment to Best Multiplayer, from several gaming publications. The game also receives frequent updates, which are available for free.

Game play

Developed in tandem with Grand Theft Auto V, Grand Theft Auto Online was conceived as a separate experience to be played in a continually evolving world.Up to 30 players freely roam across a re-creation of the single-player world and enter lobbies to complete jobs story-driven competitive and cooperative modes. The Content Creator tool set lets players create their own parameters for custom jobs, like racetracks and death match weapon spawn points.Players may band together in organised player teams called crews to complete jobs together. Rock star Games Social Club extends crews formed in Max Payne 3‍‍ '​‍s multiplayer mode to that of Grand Theft Auto Online. Players can create their own crews and join up to five total. Crews win multiplayer matches to earn experience points and climb online leader boards.

In Grand Theft Auto Online, players create a new character specific to the online world, which shows on the screen's Switch Wheel alongside single-player characters Franklin, Michael, and Trevor. The player-characters are designed by a genetics-related process. Greater control is given to the character's clothes and hairstyles. The mute player-character online avatar arrives in Los Santos by plane and is picked up by Lamar Davis, who gives the character a gun and a car. The player earns money by playing and can unlock more guns and missions. An hour-long tutorial introduces the player to the various game modes, driving, fighting, and game progression mechanics. The story is not central in the multiplayer, though characters from the single-player are woven in.

Aside from the open world, there are three main types of set activities: racing by car, bike, air or boat, Deathwatch team or free-for-all, and objective-based Missions simplified single-player-like missions, usually cooperative. Online uses lock-on aim and emphasizes stealth in firefights. Leveling up lets players buy more guns and cars and unlocks more activities, such as parachuting and aircraft. Once unlocked, items need to be purchased with in-game currency, which can be earned or purchased with real money. Money can also be used to buy car customization. Players can circumvent an activity's level requirements by joining a game with others of a sufficient rank. There are options to play alone or with friends, and an option for "Passive Mode", which makes the player immune to other players.

The game includes a content creation tool that lets players make automobile races and deathwatches. Players.Players can choose the location, start and spawn points, and weapon and vehicle drops in deathwatches, and the location, route, race type, and player count in air, land, or sea races. Creations have to be tested against computer-controlled players before the mode is available online. The creations can also be published for others to use. Rock star tags what they deem to be the best as "Rock star Verified".

A brief history of hydropower

Some of the earliest innovations in using water power were conceived in China during the Han Dynasty between 202 BC and 9 AD. Trip hammers powered by the vertical-set water wheel were used to pound and hull grain, break ore, and in early paper-making.

The availability of water power has long been closely associated with kick-starting economic growth. When Richard Arkwright set up Cromford Mill in England’s Derwent valley in 1771 to spin cotton and so set up one of the world’s first factory systems, hydropower was the energy source he used. 

Indeed, he was so convinced of the benefits of hydro that when he started using a steam engine six years later, he used it to pump water into the mill pond rather than to drive machinery directly. His enterprise quickly spread throughout the valley, and the massive industrial buildings that he set up still stand – in a world heritage site.

While hydropower was quickly overwhelmed in the relatively flat English landscape by coal-fired steam engines and, later, electricity generation – it was hydropower that set the country’s industrial revolution running. In many regions of the world, hydropower has played an equally major role in increasing and transforming development.

Turbines

Some of the key developments in hydropower technology happened in the first half of the 19th century. In 1827, French engineer Benoit Fourneyron developed a turbine capable of producing around 6 horsepower – the earliest version of the Fourneyron reaction turbine.

In 1849, British–American engineer James Francis developed the first modern water turbine – the Francis turbine – which remains the most widely-used water turbine in the world today.

In the 1870s, American inventor Lester Allan Pelton developed the Pelton wheel, an impulse water turbine, which he patented in 1880.

Into the 20th century, Austrian professor Viktor Kaplan developed the Kaplan turbine in 1913 – a propeller-type turbine with adjustable blades.

The first generation

The world’s first hydroelectric project was used to power a single lamp in the Cragside country house in Northumberland, England, in 1878. Four years later, the first plant to serve a system of private and commercial customers was opened in Wisconsin, USA, and within a decade, hundreds of hydropower plants were in operation.

In North America, hydropower plants were installed at Grand Rapids, Michigan (1880), Ottawa, Ontario (1881), Dolgeville, New York (1881), and Niagara Falls, New York (1881). They were used to supply mills and light some local buildings.

By the turn of the 20th century the technology was spreading round the globe, with Germany producing the first three-phase hydro-electric system in 1891, and Australia launching the first publicly owned plant in the Southern Hemisphere in 1895.

In 1895, the world’s largest hydroelectric development of the time, the Edward Dean Adams Power Plant, was created at Niagara Falls.

In 1905, a hydroelectric station was built on the Xindian creek near Taipei, with an installed capacity of 500 kW. This was quickly followed by the first station in mainland China, the Shilongba plan in the Yunnan province, which was built in 1910 and put into operation in 1912. Upon completion Shilongba had an installed capacity of 480 kW – today it is still in operation with an installed capacity of 6 MW.

In the first half of the 20th century, the USA and Canada led the way in hydropower engineering. At 1,345 MW, the Hoover Dam on the Colorado River became the world’s largest hydro-electric plant in 1936, surpassed by the Grand Coulee Dam (1,974 MW at the time, 6,809 MW today) in Washington in 1942.

From the 1960s through to the 1980s, large hydropower developments were carried out in Canada, the USSR, and Latin America.

Over the last few decades, Brazil and China have become world leaders in hydropower. The Itaipu Dam, straddling Brazil and Paraguay, opened in 1984 at 12,600 MW (it has since been enlarged and uprated to 14,000 MW), and is today only eclipsed in size by the 22,500 MW China Three Gorges Dam, which opened in 2008.

Hydropower today

Into the 21st century, hydropower continues to catalyse growth around the world. For example, it has played a key role in transforming Brazil into the seventh largest country by GDP in 2012; not least through a period of very rapid economic growth between 2000 and 2010, which saw its increase in value only outpaced by the USA and China. 

This was only possible with the massive increases in electricity output that have been delivered by its investment in hydropower. In 2010, Brazil produced 349,000 GWh of electricity, and by 2011 this had increased by 40 per cent to 489,000 GWh. Remarkably, just 2 per cent of this energy came from imports, and around 80 per cent from hydropower. 

The result is a very modern fleet of very large hydropower stations – of which at least 24 are rated at 500 MW or above. Brazil has made the most of its rich hydrological resource to transform itself into a leader on the world stage, keep costs down and maintain its energy independence from the rest of the world.

The mobile revolution is over. Get ready for the next big thing: Robots

Warner Bros. PicturesIn the Spike Jonze movie "Her," Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore Twombly, who falls in love with a virtual assistant. See AlsoTravelers would rather bring their smartphone with them over a toothbrush or deodorantLeaked text messages show 'El Chapo' Guzmán was mulling over the iPhone 6 and Galaxy S6 while on the runThis smart suitcase literally follows you around so you'll never have to drag or carry a bag again

The computer industry moves in waves. We're at the tail end of one of those waves — the mobile revolution.

The robot revolution won't be characterized by white plastic desk lamps following you around asking questions in a creepy little-girl voice, like I saw at last week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. That might be a part of it, but a small part.

Rather, it'll be characterized by dozens of devices working on your behalf, invisibly, all the time, to make your life more convenient.

Some people in the industry use the term "artificial intelligence" or "digital assistants." Others talk about "smart" devices. But none of these terms capture how widespread and groundbreaking this revolution will be. This isn't just about a coffee maker that knows to turn itself on when your alarm goes off, or a thermostat that adjusts to your presence.

(And "Internet of Things" — please stop already.) 

This is about every piece of technology in your life working together to serve you. Robots everywhere, all the time.

Not like the Roomba. More like the movie "Her."

Where we've been

Every 10 or 15 years, a convergence of favorable economics and technical advances kicks off a revolution in computing. Mainstream culture changes dramatically. New habits are formed. Multibillion-dollar companies are created. Companies and entire industries are disrupted and die. 

I've lived through three of these revolutions.

The PC revolution. This kicked off in the 1980s with the early Apple computers and the quick-following IBM PC, followed by the PC clones. Microsoft and Intel were the biggest winners. IBM was most prominent among the big losers, but there were many others — basically, any company that thought computing would remain exclusively in the hands of a few huge computers stored in a data center somewhere. By the end, Microsoft's audacious dream of "a computer on every desk and in every home" was real.

The internet revolution. This kicked off in the mid 1990s with the standardization of various internet protocols, followed by the browser war and the dot-com boom and bust. Amazon and Google were the biggest winners. Industries that relied on physical media and a distribution monopoly, like recorded music and print media, were the biggest losers. By the end, everybody was online and the idea of a business not having a website was absurd.

The mobile revolution. This kicked off in 2007 with the launch of the iPhone. Apple and Samsung were the biggest winners. Microsoft was among the big losers, as its 20-year monopoly on personal computing finally broke. 

APSteve Jobs unveils the first iPhone.

A couple of important points.

First, when a revolution ends, that doesn't mean the revolutionary technology goes away.

Everybody still has a PC. Everybody still uses the internet.

It simply means that the technology is so common and widespread that it's no longer revolutionary. It's taken for granted. 

So: The mobile revolution is over.

More than a billion smartphones ship every year. Apple will probably sell fewer iPhones this year than last year for the first time since the product came out. Huge new businesses have already been built on the idea that everybody will have an internet-connected computer in their pocket at all times — Uber wouldn't make sense without a smartphone, and Facebook could easily have become a historical curiosity like MySpace if it hadn't jumped into mobile so adeptly.

This doesn't mean that smartphones are going away, or that Apple is doomed, or any of that nonsense. But the smartphone is normal now. Even boring. It's not revolutionary.

The second thing to note is that each revolution decentralized power and distributed it to the individual.

CBS/YouTubeMicrosoft cofounders Paul Allen and Bill Gates had to scheme to get access to a computer back when they were in high school.

The PC brought computing power out of the bowels of the company and onto each desk and into each home. The internet took reams of information that had been locked up in libraries, private databases, and proprietary formats (like compact discs) and made it available to anybody with a computer and a phone line.

The smartphone took those two things and put them in our pockets and purses.

Tomorrow and how we get there

This year's CES seemed like an "in-betweener." Everybody was looking for the next big thing. Nothing really exciting dominated the show. 

There were smart cars, smart homes, drones, virtual reality, wearable devices to track athletic performance, smart beds, smart luggage (really), and, yeah, weird little robots with anime faces and little-girl voices. 

But if you look at all these things in common, plus what the big tech companies are investing in right now, a picture starts to emerge. 

Sensors and other components are dirt cheap. Thanks to the mobile revolution creating massive scale for the components that go into phones and tablets, sensors of every imaginable kind — GPS, motion trackers, cameras, microphones — are unimaginably cheap. So are the parts for sending bits of information over various wireless connections — Bluetooth LTE, Wi-Fi, LTE, whatever. These components will continue to get cheaper. This paves the way for previously inanimate objects to collect every kind of imaginable data and send simple signals to one another. 

Every big tech company is obsessed with AI. Every single one of the big tech companies is working on virtual assistants and other artificial intelligence. Microsoft has Cortana and a bunch of interesting behind-the-scenes projects for businesses. Google has Google Now, Apple has Siri, Amazon has Echo, even Facebook is getting into the game with its Facebook M digital assistant. IBM and other big enterprise companies are also making huge investments here, as are dozens of venture-backed startups. 

Society is ready. This is the most important point. Think about how busy we are compared with ten or twenty years ago. People work longer hours, or stitch together multiple part-time jobs to make a living. Parenting has become an insane procession of activities and playdates. The "on-demand" economy has gone from being a silly thing only business blogs write about to a mainstream part of life in big cities, and increasingly across the country — calling an Uber isn't just for Manhattan or San Francisco any more. This is the classic situation ahead of a computing revolution — everybody needs something, but they don't know they need it yet.

AP Photo/Mark LennihanAn AI version of Barbie gets to know your child.

So imagine this. In 10 years, you pay a couple-hundred bucks for a smart personal assistant, which you install on your phone as an app. It collects a bunch of information about your actions, activities, contacts, and more, and starts learning what you want. Then it communicates with dozens of other devices and services to make your life more convenient.

Computing moves out of your pocket and into the entire environment that surrounds you.

Your alarm is set automatically. You don't need to make a to-do list — it's already made. Mundane phone calls like the cable guy and the drugstore are done automatically for you. You don't summon an Uber — a car shows up exactly when you need it, and the driver already knows the chain of stops to make. (Eventually, there won't be a driver at all.)

If you're hungry and in a hurry, you don't call for food — your assistant asks what you feel like for dinner or figures out you're meeting somebody and orders delivery or makes restaurant reservations. The music you like follows you not just from room to room, but from building to building. Your personal drone hovers over your shoulder, recording audio and video from any interaction you need it to (unless antidrone technology is jamming it). 

Reuters/ Tyrone Siu

At first, only the wealthy and connected have this more automated lifestyle. "Have your assistant call my assistant." But over time, it trickles down to more people, and soon you can't remember what life was like without one. Did we really have to make lists to remember to do all this stuff ourselves?

This sounds like science fiction, and there's still a ton of work ahead to get there. Nobody's invented the common way for all these devices to speak to each other, much less the AI that can control them and stitch them together. So this revolution is still years away. But not that far.

If you try to draw a comparison with the mobile revolution, we're still a few years from the iPhone. We're not even in the BlackBerry days yet. We're in the Palm Pilot and flip-phone days. The basic necessary technology is there, but nobody's stitched it together yet.

But when they do — once again — trillion-dollar companies and industries will rise and fall, habits will change, and everybody will be blown away for a few years. Then, we'll all take it for granted. 

Get THE MID-YEAR SMARTPHONE MARKET REPORT now! A comprehensive look at the global smartphone market from BI Intelligence by platform, vendor, country and more. Insights into the power struggles between the biggest platforms and the underdogs. Get the Report Here » SEE ALSO: I WAS A CES NEWBIE: Here's what I learned in Las Vegas swarming with 170,000 nerds NOW WATCH: This tiny droid may be the smartest robot we’ve ever seen Please enable Javascript to watch this video

The e-bike without a chain

The Mando Footloose is the worlds first chainless electric bike. Batteries are stored in the frame and the pedals are linked to an alternator to generate electricity while you pedal. When you have arrived at your destination the bike neatly folds down to a manageable size.

However it will set you back around £2,000 ($3,200) if you buy it.

And as Spencer Kelly discovered when he took one for a test-ride in London, not having a chain does have its drawbacks.

Canon EOS 80D

The Canon EOS 80D features an all-new 24.2MP APS-C CMOS sensor, 45-point all cross-type autofocus system, and the company's DIGIC 6 processor. When using live view or recording video users can take advantage of the 80D's Dual Pixel CMOS AF for fast and smooth autofocus. Photos can be composed on an 'Intelligent' optical viewfinder or a flip-out-and-rotate 3" touchscreen LCD. The 80D can record 1080/60p video and offers sockets for both a microphone and headphones. Wi-Fi is also built in, with support for NFC technology.

Group has overhauled its prosumer DSLR line with the EOS 80D, offering a recently created 24.2MP APS-C sensor, 45-point all cross-sort self-adjust module, upgraded Dual Pixel AF for live view still and video recording, and Wi-Fi with NFC. 

Standard claims its new AF module, an eminent change over the 70D's 19-point framework, is equipped for centering in low light conditions down to - 3EV at the middle point. Double Pixel AF now offers ceaseless center, and all pixels can perform stage identification center while being utilized for as yet imaging. Video recording is offered at an enhanced 1080/60p. 

The 80D uses a DIGIC 6 processor and gives a local ISO range in stills shooting from 100-16,000, expandable to 25,600. Blasted shooting at up to 7 fps is keeping pace with the 70D. The 80D is furnished with a roughly 100% scope optical viewfinder and a completely explained 3" 1.04M-dab touchscreen LCD, and in addition worked in Wi-Fi with NFC. 

The Canon EOS 80D will be accessible in March for $1199 body-just or $1799 packaged with an overhauled EF-S 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS USM unit lens.

Availability

The Canon EOS 80D Digital SLR camera and EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens are at present planned to be accessible in March 2016 at an expected retail cost of $1,199.00 for the body just, $1,799.00 with the new EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens and $599.99 individually. 

The Canon Power Zoom Adapter PZ-E1 and Directional Stereo Microphone DM-E1 are at present planned to be accessible in June 2016, at evaluated retail costs of $149.99 and $249.99 individually.

Features

Canon is also introducing a new EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM lens optimized for high-speed autofocusing when shooting stills and quiet and smooth zoom when shooting video. The lens is also compatible with Canon’s new Power Zoom Adapter for smooth cinematic ‘pulls’ when changing focal length on a subject, and responsive adjustments at the push of a button for stills or video.

Updated features in Canon EOS 80D DSLR Camera include: 

New 45-point all cross-type AF system 

Intelligent Viewfinder with approximately 100% viewfinder coverage 

Newly Developed 24.2 Megapixel (APS-C) CMOS sensor

DIGIC 6 image processor for enhanced image quality

Improved Dual Pixel CMOS AF for smooth, fast and accurate autofocus with video and stills 

Built-in Wi-Fi 2 and NFC2 capability for easy transfer of images and movies to compatible mobile devices

1080/60p Full HD video to capture brilliant results in MP4 format for easy movie sharing on select social networking sites

Vari-angle Touch Screen 3.0-inch Clear View LCD II monitor enables flexible positioning and clear viewing even outdoors 

High-Quality Still and Video Image Performance

Highlighting another 24.2 megapixel APS-C Canon CMOS sensor and Canon's brilliant DIGIC 6 Image Processor, and additionally an enhanced still picture ISO scope of 100–16000 (Video ISO range 100–12800, both expandable to 25600), the Canon EOS 80D DSLR camera is equipped for creating sharp, definite pictures and recordings even in low-light conditions. Rapid nonstop shooting up to seven edges for each second (fps) joined with the 45-point all cross-sort AF permits picture takers to catch quick moving subjects effortlessly and precisely, while the camera's Scene Intelligent Auto Mode conveys upgraded photographs and offers extraordinary scene discovery for astonishing results notwithstanding when shooting in low light. HDR mode gives inventive channel impacts, for example, normal, craftsmanship standard, workmanship striking, workmanship clear and craftsmanship embellished. For included accommodation, the Canon EOS 80D camera highlights Anti-Flicker shooting, like that found in the EOS 7D Mark II DSLR camera. Hostile to Flicker shooting creates reliably astounding results notwithstanding when shooting in ranges with fluorescent detecting so as to light or other glinting light sources the flash cycle of the light source and shooting when brilliance is close to its crest.

Conclusion

Group has reported the EOS 80D, the successor to extremely proficient EOS 70D that, outstandingly, presented Dual Pixel self-adjust. The 80D conveys some stamped changes to Canon's mid-market, fan line, including another 45-point AF module and overhauled Dual Pixel AF. 

Body-wise, the 80D remains fundamentally the same to the 70D, which implies a polycarbonate outside with water and tidy resistance. A couple of things have changed: the Q and Playback catches on the back have contracted, an earphone attachment has been included, the remote port has been moved descending, and the stereo receivers have been moved from the highest point of the camera (close to the hot shoe) to the front, with more extensive division (take note of the four little openings simply left of the EOS 80D logo). Besides, the 80D now has a mirror vibration control framework like the 5DS and 7D Mark II.