A computer is a programmable machine designed to automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations.
Questions tagged [computers]
119 questions
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Did Babbage write programs for the Analytical Engine prior to Lovelace?
Charles Babbage was the inventor of Analytical Engine and Difference Engine.
Ada Lovelace was a mathematician and computer programmer.
The Guardian says :
Often described as the world's first computer programmer, Lovelace showed a keen interest in…
Prem
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11
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Has there never been a virus infection in Chromebook history?
Diamond product expert (maximum level expert for Chromebooks) Jim Dantin stated in a community post that
(quoting user) Chromebooks can be infected by viruses.
(response) It's never happened to a user in the 10 years that ChromeOS has been…
Topcode
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11
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Do all modern laptops have traceable GPS?
I have heard that by law (assuming US law) all modern laptops must have built in GPS. Presumably than, your laptop could be tracked down if it were stolen. This seems unrealistic, however, I've read that there are similar laws for modern cell phones…
logicbird
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Is Edge (significantly) better than Chrome for laptop battery life?
Microsoft recently released the results of a benchmark of four different browsers with respect to battery life. Chrome comes out the worst, then Firefox, then Opera and then Edge, by quite a margin. Unsurprisingly, the news is being parroted by…
Peter
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11
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Does a screensaver save the computer display screen?
Does a screensaver save the computer display screen?
And if it does, what does it save the screen from?
If the above two questions have a NO answer, than why is it called screensaver?
KharoBangdo
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11
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Can overheating laptops cause fire?
I have come across a Facebook post from an unverified and unreliable source, which claims that a fire was started using heat as a source alone. Here is the exact post which is the subject of the question.
LAPTOP USERS: BE AWARE!
A couple lost their…
Barath Bushan
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10
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Was this Harry-Potter themed text written solely by a computer program?
A YouTube video caught my eye with the title, "A Robot Wrote A Chapter To A Harry Potter Book, And It's Absolutely Insane." The video claims that a software algorithm created by Botnik Studios was trained on the text of the Harry Potter series, and…
DLosc
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10
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Do people not understand why Google's AlphaGo made a particular move?
I was reading a UK Government paper on AI and technology and found this section to be slightly unbelievable.
when Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo played Lee Sedol in March 2016 (see paragraph 3), the machine was able to beat its human opponent in one…
Luke
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9
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Is the 2-3-fold rise in HDD price an effect of false shortage?
Beyond any doubt Thailand floods have affected HDD market. However, some analysts say that the effect on the market should be a 10-30% price increase. Meanwhile in the consumer market the increase is 150-300%.
source: Idealo
There are claims that…
vartec
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Does the lifespan of laptop depend significantly on its usage?
Every once in a while I see the claim that lifespan of a laptop is more or less the same, no matter how often it is used. How far is this from being true? Is it true that the difference in lifespan is not significant one?
user0820
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Are 1 in 5 pieces of software in the US unlicensed?
This BSA form claims that
1 in 5 pieces of software in the US are unlicensed.
How true is it?
Franck Dernoncourt
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9
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Does opening a laptop and cleaning it from dust make it live longer?
There are a lot of how-to guides on opening a laptop to clean its fan/motherboard/etc of dust. For example, this or this, and a Google search yields a ton of results. So a lot of people believe it does.
Is there any statistical evidence to back this…
sashoalm
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Do "digital natives" process information in fundamentally different ways
Marc Prensky defines the term digital natives, referring to people who were born after digital computers were popular.
He claims that they process information in fundamentally different ways.
Our students have changed radically. Today’s students…
John Smith
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8
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Can the "Xtra-PC" USB device make your old computer faster?
The Xtra-PC web-site describes a cheap USB device that can speed up old PCs:
Make everything fast again with Xtra-PC: browsing the Internet, writing emails, watching videos, playing games, and more!
It’s the quickest, most affordable way to get a…
user4951
8
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Did Russian hackers obtain billions of passwords?
Many news outlets seem to be reporting this story (NY Times article) about Russian hackers allegedly acquiring billions of usernames and passwords.
A Russian crime ring has amassed the largest known collection of stolen Internet credentials,…
Stephan B
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