Chapter 15 - Robotics

Artificial Intelligence	The fields of computer science devoted to making computers perceive, reason, and act in ways that have, until now, been reserved for human beings.	IBM’s supercomputer “Watson” uses artificial intelligence to recognize questions and take part in “Jeopardy”.
Artificial Life	Systems related to life, its, processes, and its evolution through simulations that use computer models, robotics, and biochemistry.	Hard Alife creates hardware constructs of life-like systems, such as robotic insect colonies
Automatic Translation	The process of using software to translate written or spoken communication from one natural language to another.	Google Translate is an online tool that translates written text from and into any language.
Digitized sound	Computerized sound output.	The sound of a windows error message.
Digitized speech	Computerized voice output that mimics human speech.	Microsoft Sam mimics the human voice by reading out written texts.
Expert system	Information systems or software programs designed to replicate the decision-making process of a human expert.	Windows system help provides suggestions based on the analysed issues.
Expert system shell	Generic expert systems containing human interfaces and inference engines.
Heuristic	A rule of thumb.	“To loosen a stuck jar, run warm water over it.”
Image analysis	The process of identifying objects and shapes in a photograph, drawing, video, or other visual image.	iPhoto’s face recognition recognizes people in the picture and lets users apply tags.
Knowledge base	A database that contains both facts and a system of rules for determining and changing the relationship among those facts.
Machine learning	Artificial intelligence techniques that make it possible for machine performance to improve based on feedback from past performance.	Speech recognition software can adjust to the users accent and pronunciation to provide accurate results
Nanotechnology	A billionth of a second; a common unit of measurement for read and write access time to RAM.	Molecular-scale electronics that produce Nano computers.
Natural language	Language that people speak and write every day.	Conversation between two people speaking english
Neural network	Distributed, parallel computing systems inspired by the structure of the human brain.	Non-player characters in games can be driven by neural networks.
Optical character recognition (OCR)	Locating and identifying printed characters embedded in an image, allowing the text to be stored as an editable document. OCR can be performed by wand readers, pen scanners, and OCR software.	Scanners can identify text in the scanned image and transform it into and editable document.
Parallel processing	Using multiple processors to divide jobs into pieces and work simultaneously on the pieces.	Multicore processors can work on the same process while dividing it amongst the cores
Parsing program	In translation, a program that analyzes sentence structure and identifies each word according to its part of speech. Another program looks up each word in a translation dictionary and substitutes the appropriate word.	ANTLR is a parsing program that translates programming languages not only from word to word but also contextually.
Pattern recognition	Identifying recurring patterns in input data with the goal of understanding or categorizing that input.
Robots	Computer-controlled machines designed to perform specific manual tasks.	Automated car factories use robots on assembly lines
Searching	An artificial-intelligence technique wherein the computer looks ahead at the possible outcomes of a given action, such as a move in a game of chess.	IBM’s Watson searches for alternative answers to the asked question and answers with the most suitable one.
Semantics	The underlying meaning of words and phrases.
Speech recognition	The identification of spoken words and sentences by a computer, making it possible for voice input to be converted into text files.	Apple’s iOS 5 on the iPhone provides a SIRI function that allows the user to ask simple questions.
Speech synthesis	The use of software or hardware to allow PCs to recite anything typed, though with voices that sound artificial and robotic.	Microsoft Sam
Syntax	A set of rules for constructing sentences from words. Every language has syntax.
Turing test	A way to test machine intelligence.	Asking questions that could identify a human but the machine has to be able to answer.

Chapter 5

Accounting and financial management software	Software especially designed to set up accounts, keep track of money flow between accounts, record transactions, adjust balances in accounts, provide an audit trail, automate routine tasks such as check writing, and produce reports.	SAP is a very popular accounting software used by many companies to keep track of their finances.
Address	In a spreadsheet, the location of a cell, determined by row number and column number.	A1 is the first cell in the spreadsheet. “A” determines the column and “1” the row.
Automatic correction (autocorrect)	A word processing feature that catches and corrects common typing errors.	Word uses the autocorrect feature to not only check words for typing errors but also contextual mistakes.
Automatic footnoting	A word processing feature that places foot notes where they belong on the page.	Adding references at the bottom of a word document by using Word’s “footnoting” function
Automatic formatting (autoformat)	A word processing feature that applies formatting to the text.	Applying many rules such as line spacing, font size and colour to an entire word document
Automatic link	A link between worksheets in a spreadsheet that ensures that a change in one worksheet is reflected in the other.	Linking different parts of a spreadsheet to include more detail. “Cost of Car” opens description of car.
Bar chart	A chart that shows relative values with bars, appropriate when data fall into a few categories.	Bar chart representing sales over various years
Bot	Software robots that crawl around the Web collecting in formation, helping consumers make decisions, answering email, and even playing games.	Google has bots crawling around the internet finding information and keywords on different sites to provide better search results
Cell	The intersection of a row and a column on the grid of a spreadsheet.	A point of entry (information) in a spreadsheet. A1 that holds “CARS”
Column	Along with rows, comprise the grid of a spreadsheet.	Column “CARS” that defines the following information in the cells below
Desktop publishing	Software used mainly to produce print publications. Also, the process of using desktop-publishing software to produce publications.	Word, Excel, Adobe
Electronic book	A handheld device that displays digital representations of the contents of books.	Kindle
Electronic paper	A flexible, portable, paperlike display.	Amazon’s Kindle uses E-paper
Feedback loop		During flight simulation, the part where plane and pilot react to data from each other.
Footer	Block of information that appears at the bottom of every page in a document, displaying repetitive information such as an automatically calculated page number.	Footers can include page number, name or any information. In books the footer holds the page number
Formula	Step-by-step procedure for calculating a number on a spreadsheet.	“A1+A2+=A3”
GIGO (garbage in, garbage out)	Valid output requires valid input.	Spreadsheet transcription errors can result in financial miscalculations.
Grammar and slyer check	correction of errors and makes it easy to try out different values while searching for solutions.	Words auto correct includes a grammar and spell check to prevent errors other than typing mistakes.
Groupware	Software designed to be used by work groups rather than individuals.	Teamviewer allows users to share and interact with each other screens
Header	Block that appears at the top of every page in a document, displaying repetitive information such as a chapter title.	Headers can include page number, name or any information. In research papers footers would hold the authors name and topic.
HTML (hypertext markup language)	An HTML document is a text file that includes codes that describe the format, layout, and logical structure of a hypermedia document. Most Web pages are created with HTML.	<meta name="title" content="9GAG - Just for Fun!" />
Justification	The alignment of text on a line: left justification (smooth left margin and ragged right margin), right justification, (smooth right margin and ragged left margin)	Aligning text to the right is a form of justification
Label	In a spreadsheet, a text entry that provides information on what a column or row represents.	Cell A1 is called CARS and labels the information that follows below
Line chart	A chart that shows trends or relationships over time, or a relative distribution of one variable through another.	Representation of income over a number of years.
Macro	Custom-designed embedded procedure program that automates tasks in application programs.
Mail merge	A feature of a word processor or other program that enables it to merge names and addresses from a database mailing list into personalized form letters and mailings.	When sending one mail to many people the user accesses the address database and pulls the addresses of the receivers, according to their names, out of it to add them.
Math-processing software	Software designed to deal with complex equations and calculations. A mathematics processor enables the user to create, manipulate, and solve equations easily.	Microsoft Excel, Calculator Emulators
Modelling	The use of computers to create abstract models of objects, organisms, organizations, and processes.	Google SketchUp is a modelling software that allows the user to create 3D objects.
Online banking services	Use of the Internet to conduct basic bank ing transactions.	CitiBank allows its clients to pay bills online.
Outliner	Software that facilitates the arrangement of information into hierarchies or levels of ideas. Some word processors include outline views that serve the same function as separate outliners.
Page-layout software	In desktop publishing, software used to combine various source documents into a coherent, visually appealing publication.	Word allows the user to design the page based on margins, line spacing and page size.
Pie chart	A round pie-shaped chart with slices that show the relative proportions of the parts to a whole.	Representing percentages during elections.
Replication	Automatic replication of values, labels, and formulas, a feature of spreadsheet software.
Scatter chart	Discovers a relationship between two variables.	In physics experiments scatter charts can be used to visually represent the collected data.
Scientific-visualization software	Uses shape, location in space, color, brightness, and motion to help you understand invisible relationships, providing graphical representation of numerical data.	Venor to represent collected data in graphs.
Source document	In desktop publishing, the article, chapters, drawings, maps, charts, and photographs that are to appear in the publication. Usually produced with standard word processors and graphics programs.	Word produces a source document that can then me uploaded onto a blog and represented differently.
Speech recognition software	See speech recognition.	Dragon Dictation for the iPad allows the user to dictate to the device that then represents the words in written form.
Spelling checker	A built-in component of a word processor or a separate program that compares words in a document with words in a disk-based dictionary and flags words not found in the dictionary. May operate in batch mode, checking all the words at once, or interactive mode, checking one word at a time.	Word’s autocorrect.
Spreadsheet software	Enables the user to control numbers, manipulating them in various ways. The software can manage budgeting, investment management, business projections, grade books, scientific simulations, checkbooks, financial planning and speculation, and other tasks involving numbers.	Microsoft Excell
Stack chart	Stacked bars to show how proportions of a whole change over time.	Representing the contribution of companies products to the total revenue.
Statistical-analysis software	Specialized software that tests the strength of data relationships, produces graphs showing how two or more variables relate to each other, uncovers trends, and performs other statistical analyses.	ADBM
Statistic	The science of analysing and collecting data.	Collecting data in a physics experiment and analysing it.
Style sheet	Custom styles for each of the common elements in a document.	Tables can be designed to look in various ways to seem more “attractive”. Style sheets are used to do so.
Tax-preparation software	Provides a prefabricated worksheet where the user enters numbers into tax forms. Calculations are performed automatically, and the completed forms can be sent electronically to the IRS.	Online Tax Review 2012
Templates	In desktop publishing, professionally designed empty documents that can be adapted to specific user needs. In spreadsheet software, worksheets that contain labels and formulas but no data values. The template produces instant answers when you fill in the blanks.	When producing a Lunch menu the user can chose a template that provides the look of a lunch menu and has to be filled out.
Value	The numbers that are the raw material used by spreadsheet software to perform calculations.	4
What if? Question	A feature of spreadsheet software that allows speculation by providing instant answers to hypothetical questions.	What if cell A1 had the value 4?
Wizard	A software help agent that walks the user through a complex process.	Install Wizard
Worksheet.	A spreadsheet document that appears on the screen as a grid of numbered rows and column