Sejarah Komputer Generasi Pertama

 

Halo teman teman bagaimana sih asal mulanya sebuah komputer, bagaimana sih kok sekarang ada sebuah alat yang sangat canggih yang disebut komputer?? baiklah teman teman, di bawah ini akan kami jabarkan tentang sejarah komputer bagaimana sebuah komputer itu bisa lahir. Memang sih tidak ada yang tau persih bagaimana sebuah komputer itu bisa lahir, tapi kan namanya juga belajar sejarah, jadinya menggali informasi dari masa ke masa, kemudian dirangkum, dikelompokkan, diklarifikasi dan akhirnya lahir sebuah sejarah. Sejarah komputer yang kami sajikan ini terbagi menjadi empat generasi komputer, yaitu dari sejarah komputer generasi pertama sampai dengan sejarah komputer generasi keempat.

Sejarah Komputer Generasi Pertama

Awal mulanya komputer pada generasi pertama ini adalah saat terjadi perang dunia kedua, negara-negara yang ikut terlibat dalam perang dunia itu berusaha mengembangkan komputer untuk memaksimalkan kemampuan dalam mengatur strategis yang dimiliki oleh komputer. Hal ini mempengaruhi peningkatan pendanaan pengembangan komputer juga ikut serta mempercepat pertumbuhan kemajuan teknik komputer. Tahun 1941, seorang insinyur Jerman bernama Konrad Zuse membangun sebuah komputer, Z3, untuk mendisain pesawat terbang dan juga peluru kendali.

Di tempat lain ada Pihak sekutu juga yang juga membuat kemajuan lain dalam pengembangan kemampuan komputer. Pada tahun 1943, pihak Inggris berhasil menyelesaikan sebuah komputer pemecah kode rahasia yang diberi namakan Colossus yang berfungsi untuk memecahkan kode rahasia yang digunakan oleh negara Jerman. Efek dari pembuatan Colossus sebenarnya tidak banyak mempengaruhi perkembangan industri komputer, hal itu bisa terjadi karena ada dua alasan yaitu ; yang pertama, colossus adalah bukan komputer serbaguna dalam bahasa inggrisnya “general purpose computer”, ia dibuat hanya agar bisa memecahkan kode rahasia. Yang kedua, keberadaan mesin ini dijaga kerahasiaannya hingga satu dekade setelah perang selesai.

Sedangkan usaha yang dilakukan oleh pihak Amerika pada saat itu adalah menghasilkan suatu kemajuan lain jika dibandingkan dengan sekutu. Seorang insinyur Harvard yang bernama Howard H. Aiken (1900-1973) bekerja sama dengan IBM, berhasil menghasilkan kalkulator elektronik untuk US Navy. Kalkulator itu berukuran sangat besar, yaitu dengan panjang setengah lapangan sepak bola dan juga memiliki rentang kabel sepanjang 500 mil (besar sekali bukan). Komputer itu adalah ; The Harvd-IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator, atau Mark I, merupakan komputer relai elektronik. Mark I menggunakan sinyal elektromagnetik untuk menggerakkan komponen mekanik. Mark I beropreasi dengan lambat, ia memerlukan waktu 3-5 detik untuk setiap perhitungan dan tidak fleksibel yaitu urutan kalkulasinya tidak dapat diubah. Mark I tersebut dapat melakukan perhitungan aritmatik dasar dan persamaan yang lebih kompleks.

Perkembangan komputer lain pada masa itu adalah Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer singkatannya adalah ENIAC, yang diciptakan berkat kerjasama antara pemerintah Amerika Serikat dan University of Pennsylvania. Komputer ENIAC terdiri dari 18.000 tabung vakum, 70.000 resistor, dan 5 juta titik solder, komputer ENIAC merupakan komputer yang sangat besar ia membutuhkan daya sebesar 160kW.

Komputer ENIAC dirancang oleh John Presper Eckert [1919-1995] dan John W. Mauchly [1907-1980], ENIAC merupakan komputer serbaguna [general purpose computer] yang mampu bekerja 1000 kali lebih cepat jika dibandingkan dengan komputer Mark I.

kemudian ada pertengahan tahun 1940-an, John von Neumann [1903-1957] bergabung dengan tim University of Pennsylvania dalam usaha menciptakan konsep disain komputer yang sampai 40 tahun yang akan datang masih dapat digunakan dalam teknik komputer. Von Neumann mendesain Electronic Discrete Variable Automatic Computer [EDVAC] pada tahun 1945 dengan sebuah memori untuk menampung baik program ataupun data. Cara ini memungkinkan komputer dapat berhenti pada suatu saat dan kemudian melanjutkan pekerjaannya lagi. Kunci utama arsitektur von Neumann adalah unit pemrosesan sentral (CPU), yang memungkinkan seluruh fungsi komputer untuk dikoordinasikan melalui satu sumber tunggal. Pada tahun 1951, UNIVAC I atau kepanjangannya adalah Universal Automatic Computer I yang dibuat oleh Remington Rand, menjadi komputer komersial pertama yang memanfaatkan model arsitektur von Neumann itu.

Badan Sensus Amerika Serikat dan General Electric memiliki UNIVAC. Salah satu hasil yang sangat mengesankan yang dicapai oleh UNIVAC adalah pada saat berhasil memprediksi kemenangan Dwilight D. Eisenhower dalam pemilihan presiden pada Tahun 1952.

Komputer Generasi pertama ini dapat dikarakteristikan dengan fakta bahwa instruksi operasi dibuat secara spesifik untuk tugas tertentu. Setiap komputer memiliki program kode-biner yang berbeda yang disebut dengan “bahasa mesin” dalam bahasa inggrisnya adalah “machine language”. Hal ini menjadikan komputer sulit untuk diprogram dan membatasi kecepatannya. Ciri lain komputer generasi pertama adalah pemakaian tube vakum (yang menjadikan komputer pada masa itu tampak berukuran sangat besar) dan silinder magnetik yang berfungi untuk sebagai penyimpan data.

How Area 51 Works

 

Less than 100 miles from Las Vegas, Nevada is the most famous secret military installation on the planet. Rumors swirl around this base, much like the mysterious aircraft that twist and turn in the skies overhead. Although it's known by many names, most people call it by the Atomic Energy Commission's (AEC) designation: Area 51.
There are several theories about how Area 51 got its name. The most popular is that the facility borders the Nevada Test Site (NTS). The AEC used the NTS as testing grounds for nuclear bombs. The NTS is mapped as a grid of squares that are numbered from one to 30 (with a few omissions). Area 51, while not part of this grid, borders Area 15. Many say the site got the name Area 51 by transposing the 1 and 5 of its neighbor. Another popular theory is that the number 51 was chosen because it was not likely to be used as part of the NTS system in the future (in case the NTS expanded later on).
The first documented use of the name Area 51 comes from a film made by the company Lockheed Martin. There are also declassified documents from the 1960s and 1970s that refer to a facility called Area 51. Today, officials refer to the facility as an operating location near Groom Lake when speaking to the public -- all official names for the site appear to be classified.
The name alone inspires thoughts of government conspiracies, secret "black" aircraft and alien technologies. Facts, myths and legends weave together in such a way that it can become difficult to separate reality from fiction. What exactly goes on in this installation? Why did the government alternatively acknowledge and deny its existence until the 1990s? Why is the airspace over it so restricted that even military aircraft are forbidden from flying through it? And, what does it have to do with Roswell, New Mexico?
Each question seems to have a million different answers. Some answers are plausible, while others stretch credulity so far that if someone said it out loud, you might feel the urge to back away from them slowly. In this article, we'll look at the facts as far as anyone outside of the facility can determine them and examine the more popular theories about Area 51.

What are UFOs really?

 

You glimpse a light in the night sky -- not a star, not an airplane, but something radically different. It moves with baffling speed, pulsates with radiance beyond anything you've witnessed. Three letters immediately enter your mind: U-F-O.

Technically an unidentified flying object can be anything when you get right down to it, but the term has become synonymous with extraterrestrial spacecraft. Alleged sightings began popping up in the 1950s and continue to this day throughout the world. Exact descriptions of alien spacecraft vary with each telling, but witnesses often describe a lighted object capable of hovering silently and zigzagging in midair.
The technology for such a craft and the ability for a living passenger to survive its g-forces are well beyond humanity's modern technology [source: Kaku]. Additionally, given the massive distance between habitable star systems, such craft would have to travel at impossible speeds or with patience that staggers the imagination.
What else does science have to say on the matter? Not much. From a scientific standpoint, there's insufficient evidence to make a case for alien visitation. Most UFO sightings depend on fallible human accounts, imperfect footage and conspiracy theory. All of this tends to crumble under the scrutiny of scientific method, humanity's best sieve for separating reality from fantasy.
After all, scientific inquiry hinges on something called the null hypothesis, which means the burden of proof is on anyone making a positive claim. A dog ate your homework? Great, where's the testable evidence? You saw an alien spacecraft? Excellent, let's test and validate the story.
In other words, it's up to so-called ufologists to convince the scientific world that UFOs are alien spacecraft, not for scientists to prove them wrong. Along the same lines, the scientific world doesn't go on the defensive every time someone sees a ghost. Even in the presence of testable evidence, perfectly terrestrial claims demand rigorous testing and a high degree of certainty in the results [source: Shermer].
Although the scientific world remains unconvinced, countless individuals continue to witness unexplainable things in the sky, sights that haunt or inspire them until their dying days. In rare cases, whole crowds glimpse such phenomena. What are we to make of such claims?

How Area 51 Works 

 

Area 51 Aircraft

Area 51 owes its very existence to secret aircraft projects. The original purpose for Area 51 was a testing facility for Lockheed's U-2 spy plane. Lockheed put Kelly Johnson in charge of establishing a base of operations for testing and training facilities. Here are some of the known and suspected projects at Area 51.
The U-2 Spy Plane is a confirmed Area 51 project. Lockheed worked with the CIA to develop a plane that could fly at a high altitude and spy on other nations. The U-2 could fly at altitudes of 70,000 feet and was effective in reconnaissance missions for several years. During the development of the U-2, the CIA and Lockheed realized they would soon need more advanced aircraft because the Soviet Union's missile technology was rapidly catching up. In 1960, the USSR shot down a U-2, confirming this concern.
Engineers designed a plane--called the Suntan--to be a successor to the U-2. It could fly at speeds up to mach 2.5 (almost 2,000 miles per hour). The Suntan used liquid hydrogen for fuel, which was its ultimate downfall. Engineers decided that it would be too expensive to create a fuel infrastructure to support the Suntan's flights, and the government canceled the project.

The A-12 , which was later known as the SR-71 "Blackbird," became the actual successor to the U-2. The A-12 was a prototype model that gradually evolved into the SR-71. These planes could fly up to mach 3 (2,300 miles per hour) and could fly at altitudes of 90,000 feet.
Tacit Blue and Have Blue were the first successful attempts at creating stealth aircraft. Tacit Blue had an odd, whale-like shape, inspiring onlookers to call it "Shamu." It was designed to fly low over battle operations as a reconnaissance vehicle. Have Blue was a prototype for the F117-A Stealth Fighter. Have Blue first arrived at Area 51 in 1977. The Stealth Fighter remained a secret until the Air Force officially unveiled it to the public in 1990.

The Bird of Prey takes its name from a class of ships in Star Trek. The plane is a bomber with stealth technology. The design looks very strange, and some say that it is very unstable at low speeds due to the odd wing design.
One rumored project at Area 51, the TR3A Black Manta, could be a potential successor to the Stealth Fighter, or it may be one of many kinds of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Currently, there is a lot of interest in UAVs because they provide the military with methods of gathering information without endangering the lives of pilots or soldiers.

How Military Snipers Work 

 

Sniper Rifles

"One shot, one kill" is the sniper motto. Accomplishing this would not be possible without the specially modified rifles used by snipers in the field. A sniper rifle such as the M-21 or PSG-1 in the hands of a highly trained sniper can be a deadly weapon from more than a mile away. Army Ranger Sniper used an M-21: "It was a military M-14 with match-grade upgrades -- hollowing out the wood, fiberglass-seated receiver, different trigger mechanisms and optics."
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Match grade means the rifle has been fine-tuned by a professional gunsmith to ensure the highest possible accuracy and reliability. Match-grade rifles are also used for competitive shooting. A match-grade rifle coupled with handmade, match-grade ammunition ensures the consistency that is so important for a marksman.
In addition, sniper rifles sport a free-floating barrel to ensure that the barrel touches the least amount of the weapon possible. This reduces vibration from the recoil. Also, sniper rifles are usually designed or modified to incorporate fiberglass or composite stocks to avoid the effect of humidity on the receiver. Any swelling of the wood can affect the accuracy of the shot.
Sniper rifles are generally bolt-action rifles. That means the sniper must load and chamber each round he fires. Once he has fired, he has to clear the shell casing and load another round. Though they are more difficult to operate and have a much slower rate of fire, bolt-action rifles are preferred because they have fewer moving parts than automatics. There are semi-automatic sniper rifles, though, such as the M-21. Army Ranger Sniper had this to say about how the nature of the different rifles can affect a sniper in the field: "If you fire something on a bolt action, you have to reload one, and that movement could give you away. But also, the round flying out of the rifle could give you away on the semi-automatic." In the end, it comes down to the personal preference of each sniper.
There are many different types of sniper rifles manufactured by countries all over the world. On average, they cost between $8,000 and $15,000.

How the Predator UAV Works

Military commanders use tactics and strategy in combat to inflict as much damage on the enemy while trying to risk as few personnel and resources as possible. This principle was at the heart of the development of the RQ-1 and MQ-1 Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.
These high-tech aircraft, controlled by a crew miles away from the dangers of combat, are capable of reconnaissance, combat and support roles in the hairiest of battles. In a worst-case scenario, if a Predator is lost in battle, military personal can simply "crack another one out of the box" and have it up in the air shortly -- and that's without the trauma of casualties or prisoners normally associated with an aircraft going down.
In this article, we will look at the Predator UAV's flight system, sensors, weapons and crew, and how the military is using Predators to keep personnel safer both in the air and on land.

How M1 Tanks Work

General Dynamics delivered the first M1 Abrams battle tanks to the U.S. Army in 1980, but it wasn't until 1991's Operation Desert Storm that the world fully appreciated the weapon's capabilities. The U.S. Army and Marine Corps deployed nearly 2,000 M1s to the Persian Gulf, and all but 18 returned in working condition. The tanks sped over the rough desert terrain, through heavy smoke from oil fires, destroying almost all of the Iraqis' Soviet tank fleet. In the entire operation, the United States didn't lose a single M1 crew.

M1 Tank Image Gallery
The M1 is the world's preeminent tank because it combines four crucial qualities:

• Superior mobility - to get to targets and escape attack
• Superior sensors and controls - to locate and hit targets
• Superior firepower - to destroy targets
• Superior armor - to withstand attack

In this article, we'll examine these major components to find out how the M1 completes its mission.