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"A computing scientist's main challenge is not to get confused by the complexities of his own making." Edsger Dijkstra
Randy Pausch
Randy Pausch
Randy Pausch Lecture: Time Management
After Watching Randy Pausch's Lecture about Time Management i had to point out some points i enjoyed in his lecture :1- First of all, obviously he teaches the audience about time management but its not "just another lecture", he interacts and communicates with his audience which makes it more fun to stay and listen to the lecture. 2-How he mixes humor with his talk ( like add a joke in between his talk) but also gets the message he wants to transfer to the audience.3- He gives the audience examples of his lecture through his slides which includes some personal examples of his family for example or how he works his time management, so people are interested in watching what other people do( Randy Pausch).4-Every point he talks about he gives the audience details and pointers on how to do it with various examples and ways of managing your time.5-He teaches us alot of tricks and quotes of his own or borrowed like learn to say no ! or 'If you can dream, you can do it' or being effective is much more important than being efficient. All really useful advices and inspiring.And the video on the right to his Time Management lecture and have fun!
Randy Pausch Lecture: Time Management
Course Work
Research 1
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Research 6
Research 1
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is where applications, processing power and data can be stored or accessed over the internet. It's like a bank where all your belongings can be stored inside and accessed whenever you need them. You might think it's just another useless thing on the internet but on the contrary many people actually use cloud computing while they don’t actually realize it for example through Hotmail, Gmail, Facebook and many others, and don’t tell me that you don’t use Facebook or at least an email account. How does for example email and use cloud computing? When you receive an email and you think it's going to be important for future use, you keep and won't erase it, so now it's stored on the internet and not on your device. It's almost in everyday life and that’s just the beginning. It is like that within a few years from now the vast majority of businesses and personal computing will be internet accessed or based.You can either like it or not but at the end you are going to use it whether you like it or not because most companies and businesses use it. In fact, Technology analysts Gartner have even stated their belief that cloud computing "heralds an evolution of business that is no less influential than the era of e-business".Although using cloud computing is going to be a very necessary use for future users should be aware of some risks of storing information online where they don’t even know where it exactly is stored on the internet. Recently there was the Sony Company which was hacked by hackers using Amazon cloud computing unit. So the moral of this is that hackers will keep getting better so users or businesses must have security settings and better security measures in order to keep their information safe, “Data security is one of these great dynamic situations where the bad guys get better, and the good guys have to keep getting better too -- it’s not a static situation,”-Bezos.Other than cloud computing is mainly used to store information online and not use personal storage on computers, it can also be used for applications and requires no storage, servers and costs less than not using them. Another important factor about it is that it doesn’t require any upgrades! When you use any app that runs in the cloud just log in customize it and start using it, that’s the power of cloud computing. Upgrades are taken care for users so your apps get security and performance enhancement new features automatically.So at the end why not use these clouds they are useful in every way and cost less for businesses and they are going to be used everywhere eventually. I think cloud computing is going to be the future for business, personal use and a big role in everything in life from storage to transferring data!References:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-13/sony-network-said-to-have-been-invaded-by-hackers-using-amazon-com-server.htmlhttp://www.wikinvest.com/concept/Cloud_Computinghttp://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/definition/cloud-computinghttp://www.silicon.com/technology/security/2011/02/03/cloud-computing-what-you-should-and-shouldnt-be-worried-about-39746908/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computingQuestions about cloud computing:How can security for cloud computing be improved ?Who is responsible for loss of revenue/profits from a significant cloud computing outage as a result of a denial of service?What are the downsides to moving to cloud hosting?How does cloud computing really work ?
Research 2
Programming languages and verification
So what is a programming language? From the word 'language' we can know that it’s a way of communication, so what about programming? Programming language is the way humans try to communicate to computers so that’s why it is called programming language. Mostly it is a person giving instructions to the computer since computers don’t think. Now that we identified that programming languages are just like any other language but with computers then it should have some rules like the other human to human languages: grammar, specific structure of which it should be written and vocabulary. In computer world there are also many different languages just like in real life for example like BASIC, C, C++, COBOL, and Pascal and so on… Each language has a unique set of keywords (words that it understands) and a special syntax for organizing program instructions.Ok so programming languages are not only for communication or giving orders from people, computers can be programmed or given orders to try to think for themselves like artificial intelligence but a simpler example would be when you first turn on your computer, it is running programs and carrying out instructions which someone from before programmed. So every operation that your computer performs has instructions that someone else inputted or programmed from before. So an operating system like the new windows 8, took an unbelievable amount of time to write and test the software.Why were programming languages invented or what is its use now? Let us go back to the late 40s or 50s, computer programs were controlled by flicking switches. That was way too slow and people always wanted faster and faster answers and it also was inefficient. So through the 60s and 70s computer programs were invented, and that’s how program languages started and became to what they are today.References:http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/developers-handbook/tools-programming.htmlhttp://cplus.about.com/od/introductiontoprogramming/p/programming.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Programming_languagehttp://alternatives.rzero.com/lang.html
Research 3
Math in Computer Science
How is math related to computer science? In order to answer such a question, you must first understand what computer science is. Computer science is the study of how computers work and how we can use them to create solutions to all kind of problems. To solve problems computer scientists invent ways using algorithms to try to transform information and formulate suitable abstractions to model complex systems. Computer science can be divided into many areas for example computer graphics, robotic coding or programming and many other areas.So how do these areas of computer science relate to using math in them? Let's take for example computer problem solving using algorithms, to solve such a problem you will need a lot of focus on the problem itself and how it can be solved using the strategies used in math like how to approach such a problem and from what angle. So lots of thinking is involved and one of the objectives of programming is to solve common day to day problems so whatever math you use to solve these problems, you will have to use the same concepts in programming.Now we got an idea of how to relate math to computer science but now the other question is what kind of math is actually needed to become a computer scientist !? Math is a really wide area where is involves simple algebra to advanced calculus, but which is really the important one. To be the best you have to learn the best, so if you have amazing math skills and logical thinking you would most likely be very successful, although maybe many programmers almost never use any of the advanced math in their work but if you don’t know advanced math then some certain areas will be closed or limited to you and you will be limited in your career. Most of the math you will use is going to be logical, so for example like what you might have done in the SAT exams. They used a lot of critical thinking and logical strategies to solve several questions.At the end, you should know that using logical approaches is very useful to computer science and also math which in math includes logical thinking to solve certain problems and of course good programming skills.References:http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-computer-science.htmhttp://wesnerm.blogs.com/net_undocumented/2009/02/unifying-math-and-computer-science.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science
Research 4
Data Mining
When you hear data mining, what is the first thought that pops up in your mind? I'm pretty sure that the first thing you would think of is getting information, at least that's what I thought because mining could be used to extract valuable stones or in this case data and information. So the actual meaning of data mining is really close to what we have figured out by almost guessing. Data mining is the taking all the valuable information and bad, analyze all these pieces of information and summarize it into useful information where it should all mix up into a piece of useful information all together.With data mining, it can be used for several purposes for example business purposes where it can collect all the information needed about certain factors for success like product positioning , staff skills, or competition and sum it all up into a summary information which can be used to increase revenue, cut costs, or both.An example could be for example a strategic way for selling your product. By analyzing the local buying pattern they can discover that when people go to buy new computers before summer finishes by a few days, and they usually tend to buy printers with it so they would have everything they need. With that information the retailer can sell computers and printers at full prices before summer to gain maximum revenue.Data mining is also used in other places like science research (medicine, astronomy) or government security (detection of criminals or terrorists). In computer science, data mining is the discovering of new and useful patterns in large quantities of data. So it combines tools from statistics and artificial intelligence with database management to analyze large digital collections. It is pretty much everything I just said about and examples, so it is very useful in computer science including researching and much other stuff.References:http://www.thearling.com/text/dmwhite/dmwhite.htmhttp://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/jason.frand/teacher/technologies/palace/datamining.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_mininghttp://www.laits.utexas.edu/~norman/BUS.FOR/course.mat/Alex/
Research 5
Computer Security
Computer security, from these two words separately one can figure it is how your computer is secured from threats. Threats can be any kind of damage or dysfunction but the usually threats to computers are from viruses or hackers trying to steal information or vandalize private property or information. The actual meaning of computer security according to Wikipedia is "the collective processes and mechanisms by which sensitive and valuable information and services are protected from publication, tampering or collapse by unauthorized activities or untrustworthy individuals and unplanned events respectively." So in other words it is exactly what I said but more detailed.What kinds of threats are there that you should protect your computer from? There are many sources of viruses or threats but they always originate from users, where they are the actual people or discovered or created the virus either on purpose for illegal reasons or research or just by mistake which is a rare thing to happen. I can name some virus that some may be very dangerous or the opposite for example: the Trojan horse. As the historical story of the Trojan horse which allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy by using trickery that the horse could be useful for the city of troy. So it is the exact same concept for the virus. The virus acts as a friend to the user while on the other hand it will be leaking or erasing files and damaging your information on your personal computer. And there are many other viruses each with its specific characteristics.There are many acts of which users can protect their information from such viruses which should include what computer security is. The mainly known and most effective one is using effective anti viruses. Software's that help give you decisions whether to download a specific folder or not, or if the website is safe depends on the specific cases. Banks and governments use high quality firewalls and anti viruses which help them protect their data and information sufficiently.At the end there are many ways in which users can protect their information from viruses or hackers or whatever the cases is but at the end viruses are going to keep on upgrading since humans keep trying to get information illegally to gain money or highly paid information just for living which of course as I said is illegal. Also as threats increase protection also becomes stronger!References:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_securityhttp://www.istl.org/02-fall/internet.htmlhttp://www.cert.org/homeusers/HomeComputerSecurity/http://www.computersecurity.com/Questions:Will all created virus be killed or fixed ?How are viruses tested out, dont they ruin the computer itself ?Can viruses be transfered to all electronics for example like microwaves ?
Research 6
Computer Networks
Computer Networks in general is the connection of a bunch of computers, software or hardware and it can also be only two devices, and it allows the users to communicate or work together each from his own computer. The things computers can do could vary from communication to sharing files to even just playing games together.Networks can be characterized into many different ways. For example there is what is called a LAN (Local Area Network), so this type of network is usually for small networks like in a home or small computer cluster. Another one would be WAN (Wide Area Networks) and these are as the name says is for wide areas or bigger places for networks for example it can reach to cities, states or even across the world. The biggest public WAN is the internet.In networks each has some different design in which they operate. The two main types of network designs are the peer to peer or the client server. Most businesses or internet cafes or homes use the peer to peer networks because they are simple and they do all the required things needed because they all tend to use the same functions. On the other hand, there are the client servers and these use almost the same functions of the peer to peer but more centralized servers that store email, Web Pages, files and or applications. So one known example for a client server would be the internet.Computer networks are evolving really fast nowadays. So now there are networks which are wired or other wireless. Wireless are the most common nowadays since they are getting cheaper to produce and better quality and it provides easy mobility and elimination of cables. On the other hand it has some disadvantages like it has the potential for radio interference due to weather, other wireless devices or obstruction walls.At the end networks are a major part of our lives especially for example the internet since almost everybody uses it, so it is important to use then wisely and try to improve their uses and quality.References:http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_networkhttp://www.tecschange.org/networks/network-syllabus.htmlhttp://www.webopedia.com/TERM/N/network.htmlhttp://compnetworking.about.com/cs/wireless/f/whatiswireless.htmQuestions:Is it possible to access information from a computer in a network without its user knowing about it ?How can Network Neighborhood be restored if it's missing?Can a software be shared among all the computers in the network like an operating system of antivirus software ?How is network speed measured ?
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University Schedule
Here is just something about my semester'shedule and when my free times are in case you needed me.
Future me
Resume/Course Plan
On the right is my course plan for my next four years at CMUQ ------------------------------->Résumé:Name : Ammar Abou-Rahma Date of Birth : 19/06/1994Education : 1st year of CMUQAddress : P.O. Box 3690Mobile Number: +974-66518575Email Address: aaar94_hotmail.com Education: - The International School of Choueifat, Doha-Qatar :September 2002 – June 2011 - Carnegie Mellon , Doha-Qatar :Class of 2015.Experience: Doha Tribeca Film Festival-DTFF, Doha-Qatar:October 2010, October 2011Student Life Organization 2005-2011Certificates:- High School Diploma 2011 (Choueifat).- CS4 – Qatar:19 and 20 February, 201011th and 12th February 2011- Summer College Preview Program at Carnegie Mellon : July 18th-August 5th, 2010- First Aid Training sessions:6th February and 13th March 2010- Student Life Organization 2005-2011
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Name: Ammar Abou-RahmaMajor: Computer ScienceQatar, Ar-RayyanEducation City, Carnegie Mellon University of QatarCell: +974 66518575Email: aabourah_qatar.cmu.edu
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