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Algorithm #1: Operating Systems

Operating systems would not exist without the use of algorithms.

OS: the glue between digital bytes and the user

without it, we’d all still be using typewriters

OS’s take many forms depending on their intended use

Most researchers agree:

Origins of the OS lie in our earliest history: not the last few decades

Original OS Examples

Babylonian Abacus

Incan Khipu

(both intended to keep precise records of complex data)

Modern computers didn’t appear until mid 20th century

1970’s and 80’s:

they became more widely used in academia

able to talk to one another

microprocessor tech evolved enough for creation of powerful desktop computers

1980’s and 90’s:

the familiar user-friendly OS emerged

Microsoft and Apple drove the evolution of the desktop GUI OS

their battle has given us a wide variety of OS’s

Algorithm #2: Communications

Without algorithms, there would be no World Wide Web

Two of the most famous, world changing algorithms:

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)

Defines how the Internet transmits data

Invented when computers were mainframes housed in cool rooms (and dinosaurs roamed the earth)

HTTP (Hypertext Transfer (or Transport) Protocol

underlies the WWW and played a large part in the Internet’s mid-90s breakthrough

1969: ARPANET was developed

a four-node, packet-switched network

1974: TCP/IP was developed

proposed as the new set of protocols

“The most basic bit of ‘science’ in current networks is the discovery that packet switching actually works,” MIT’s Clark told the E-Commerce Times.

Many thought TCP/IP would not work: they thought it would be unstable.

1980: ARPA began converting its computers to TCP/IP

1983: ARPA mandated that all computers connected to ARPNET, use TCP/IP

TCP/IP became the standard underpinning today’s Internet – used by hundreds of millions worldwide

there are nearly 150,000,000 active Web sites on the Internet today

Algorithm #3: Google

Google’s search engine which defines the way in which millions of people find information online

What does it do?

Searches the Web using for keywords used to search

Assigns a page rank to each page based on several factors

ie. How many times keywords appear on the page

Higher ranked pages appear further up in Google’s search engine results page (SERP)

Being listed prominently on Google can result in a big boost in site traffic and visibility

How does it work?

Automated programs called spiders or crawlers travel the Web

Spiders move from link to link building up an index page for keywords

Google references the index when a user enters a search query

Humble beginnings

1998: 10,000 Google searches/day

1999: 500,000 Google searches/day

Google no longer shares those numbers

estimates 3B daily searches

1998: First Google index had 26m Web pages

2011: Over 1trillion

Google may have a googol worth of pages in just a few years

1998: Bill Gates told Auletta his greatest fear was of a few guys in a garage starting a behemoth that would challenge his company.

That’s precisely how Google started

Google revolutionized the media world

It stores 24 quadrillion data bits

Plans to digitize 20 million books

Algorithm #4: GPS (Global Positioning System)

Sat navs are a fascinating offshoot of both the US military’s desire to equip its units with the facility to find out their position and the ability to display maps on a computer screen.

2 major algorithms for sat-navs.

the ability of the unit to use the GPS satellites to work out where the unit is situated

the ability of the sat-nav to determine the shortest distance from point A to point B

Other algorithms in play, mostly dealing with the visual display of the route to take, but these two algorithms are the most important.

GPS started out as a US Air Force system to help determine the position of any receiver to an accuracy of 15 metres.

Regan promised to make GPS available for civilian use following the downing of the civilian KAL 007 airliner

the airliner had drifted into Soviet restricted airspace

1993 – the unencrypted civilian signal was downgraded for accuracy of about 100 meters.

2000 – accuracy limitation was removed

Positioning algorithm:

30 satellites, in Earth’s orbit, transmit the same information

Three main pieces of data:

exact time of transmital

precise orbital data (the ephemeris)

overall system health

The GPS unit listens for, and interprets, these messages

The GPS unit uses time and the speed of light to calculate location

GPS units have become prevalent throughout our society

cars

cellphones

laptops

hand-held GPS devices

Algorithm #5: DoD Level Encryption Codes

Sometimes, algorithms that change the world arise not as research for its own sake, but to answer a pressing need. One example is encryption.

Encryption was created to defend against code-breakers

Code-breakers seek to steal or eavesdrop on vital data

1960’s – standards-based multi-vendor networks were created

1977 – encryption algorithm, RSA, evolved to safeguard code

RSA – named after inventors Rivest, Shamir and Adleman

RSA and it’s descendants play a critical role in today’s Internet-heavy environment

Cryptography

CIS (Cryptographic Interoperability Strategy)

developed to increase assured rapid sharing within the US and between allies

Common public standards, protocols, algorithms and modes are used

These are known as the “Secure Sharing Suite”or S.3.

Implementation of CIS facilitates the development of broader secure cryptographic products

Provides war fighters on the battlefield, ability to share time-sensitive info securely

Enables the gov’t to share intelligence info securely with State and local First Responders

NSA Suite A Cryptography: Unpublished algorithm

Suite A contains both classified and unclassified algorithms

Used in applications where Suite B may not be appropriate

NSA Suite B Cryptography: Published algorithm

Includes cryptographic algorithms for:

key exchange

digital signatures

hashing

encryption

These algorithms play a huge role in keeping our country secure

In Closing

Algorithms have the power to change the course of history

They can be found everywhere you look

Linking structure on the Web

Inner workings of automobiles

Intricacies of stock market exchanges

Whatever the purpose, algorithms will continue to shake up the status quo

The key is to recognize which algorithms will drive the directions of tomorrow’s business world

Sources:

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/algorithm

http://www-chucol.mml.cam.ac.uk/?page_id=52

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/33488.html

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/web-page.htm

http://www.forbes.com/2008/09/04/google-tenth-anniversary-tech-enterprise-cx_wt_0905google.html

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100120/COLUMNIST/1201021?p=3&tc=pg

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/car-tech/satnav/how-your-sat-nav-works-out-the-best-route-677682

http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=1733

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/33488.html

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