Tehnički fakultet „Mihajlo Pupin“ Zrenjanin

2007/08.

Engleski jezik 4

1. Tenses
2. Conditionals
3. Translation

Dr Tobolka Erika
1. Tenses

Potrebno je znati sledeća vremena:

1. Present Simple Tense
2. Present Continuous Tense
3. Past Simple Tense
4. Past Continuous Tense
5. Present Perfect Tense
6. Past Perfect Tense
7. Going to
(Gradivo je obradjeno u Engleskom jeziku 1.)
2. Conditionals
Kondicionalna rečenica je složena rečenica koja se sastoji od zavisne pogodbene rečenice
i glavne rečenice. Postoje tri tipa kondicinalnih rečenica:
1. relana kondicionalna rečenica,
2. potencijalna kondicionalna rečenica, i
3. irealna kondicionalna rečenica.

1. Realna kondicionalna rečenica – predvidja se buduća radnja ukoliko se uslovi ispune,

tj.postoji mogućnost da se radnja ostvari. Realna kondicionalna rečenica se gradi:
U zavisnoj rečenici se koristi prosto sadašnje vreme (present simple tense), a u glavnoj
rečenici prosto buduće vreme (future simple tense):
If I have time, I shall come. I shall come if I ahve time.
If he studies hard, he will pass his exam. He will pass his exam if he studies hard.

2. Potencijalna kondicionalna rečenica – predvidja se manje realan, manje verovatan

dogadjaj, radnja najverovatnije neće se dogoditi. Potencijalna kondicionalna rečenica se
gradi:
U zavisnoj rečenici se koristi prosto prođlo vreme (simple past tense), a u glavnoj rečenici
should/would i infinitiv glagola:
If it snowed, we should stay at home.
If he studied harder, he would pass his exam.

3. Irealna potencijalna rečenica – odnosi se na prošlost i izražava samo teorijski uslov.

Irealna potencijalna rečenica se gradi:
U zavisnoj rečenici se koristi pluskvanperfekat (past perfect tense) a u glavnoj rečenici
should/would + have + particip prošli glagola:
If he had had enough time, he would have visited us.
If I had travelled to Australia, I should have drunk Australian wine.

Exercises
Type 1
1) Complete the main clause of the sentences
1. If the whether is nice on Saturday, they .................... football. (play)
2. If we take a taxi, we .................... the train. (catch)
3. If you read the Guardian, you .................... well informed. (be).
4. If she wants to play basketball better, she .................... more. (practice)
5. If Ann breaks her promise, nobody .................... never .................... her. (trust)

2) Complete the subordinate clause of the sentences

1. You will ask the way, if you .................... yourself in a big city. (lose)
2. We shall have a rich vocabulary, if we .................... a lot. (read)
3. They will see the Eifell tower, if they .................... to Paris. (go)
4. Ann won’t go to Italian restaurants, if she .................... Italian food. (like)
5. Your friends will come to the dancing party tonight, if they .................... dancing. (like)

3) Complete the missing part of the clause either main or subordinate

1. If grandmother .................... after her grandchildren, parents will go to work. (look)
2. I will finish typing the letter if you .................... an hour. (wait)
3. If you are kind to me, I .................... good to you. (be)
4. If you .................... Marry, tell her I’ll come to see her. (meet)
5. Tom .................... the invitation if we invite him to the party. (accept)

4) Complete the sentences

1. If she .................... to buy some fresh rolls, she .................... to the baker’s. (want, go)
2. I .................... food for 2 weeks if I .................... to the shopping centre. (buy, go)
3. If it ...................., children .................... snowmen. (snow, make)
4. They .................... an extra prize if they .................... the tournament. (win, get)
5. If I .................... Ann, I .................... her everything about Tom’s problem. (see, tell)
6. You .................... everything the latest news if you .................... to the BBC news (know,
listen)
7. If Jim .................... Mary out to supper, she .................... it with pleasure. (ask, accept)
8. You .................... your health if you .................... a lot. (damage, drink)
9. If he .................... the book so much, I .................... it to him. (like, give)
10. She .................... a party if she .................... the first prize. (organize, win)

Type 2
1) Complete the main clause of the sentences
1. If he changed his job, he .......................... harder. (work)
2. If Tom won the competition he .......................... famous. (be)
3. They .......................... safe if they had a dog. (feel)
4. I .......................... some stocks if I were you. (buy)
5. They .......................... in Australia if they knew much more about this beautiful country.
(live)

2) Complete the subordinate clause of the sentences

1. If you .......................... fat food, you would be much healthier. (give up)
2. He would go to hospital if he .......................... another stroke. (have)
3. If I .......................... to listen to Pavarotti, I would go to his concert. (want)
4. If you .......................... recommend me a good doctor, I would appreciate it. (can)
5. We would see how intelligent they are if we .......................... them better. (know)

3) Complete the missing part of the clause either main or subordinate

1. If he .......................... hard, he would be an excellent student. (study)
2. I .......................... some flowers in front of the house if I were you. (plant)
3. If only a small amount of power was generated by the wind, it .......................... more
economical. (be)
4. The whole would fall into pieces if you .......................... that screw. (remove)
5. If I lived nearer to my office, I .......................... on time every day. (arrive)
6. I would not drink that beer if I .......................... you. (be)
7. All the steam .......................... out if you removed the cover. (come)
8. If I .......................... money, I would travel around the world. (have)
9. The workers .......................... more if they worked overtime. (earn)
10. If I had a computer I .......................... a connection to the Internet. (have)

4) Complete the sentences

1. More tourists .......................... to this historical place if it .......................... a better hygienic
conditions. (come, have)
2. If I .......................... you, I .......................... these mushrooms. (be, eat)
3. I .......................... to the States if I .......................... chance. (go, have)
4. If the manager ..........................the e-mail, he .......................... answer to the customer
immediately. (receive, give)
5. If the wind .......................... so hard, we .......................... to the open air ice-rink. (not blow,
go)
6. She .......................... with us to the cinema if she .......................... time. (come, have)
7. If we .......................... out with him he .......................... very happy. (go, be)
8. I .......................... Russian if I .......................... more time. (study, have)
9. If she .......................... him better she .......................... out with him. (know, go)
10. We .......................... for the excursion if they .......................... us earlier. (go, tell)
Type 3
1) Complete the main clause of the sentences
1. If I had been hungry, I ....................................... the state bread. (eat)
2. If the road hadn’t been wet, he ....................................... the animals crossing it. (avoid)
3. If George had known Mary’s address, he ....................................... it to us. (give)
4. If I had had a bit more time, I .......................................more for the exam. (study)
5. If the tourists had taken the guide’s advice, they ....................................... themselves in the
city. (loose)

2) Complete the subordinate clause of the sentences

1. If she ....................................... seat belt, she wouldn’t have been injured. (fasten)
2. If I ....................................... the necessary qualifications, I would have got the job. (have)
3. If I ....................................... your address, I would have written an e-mail to you. (loose)
4. If we ......................................., the problem with the car, we wouldn’t have missed the
speech. (have)
5. If I ....................................... that you were ill, I would have visited you. (know)

3) Complete the missing part of the clause either main or subordinate

1. I shouldn’t have let him to swim in that dangerous rapids if I ....................................... that he
couldn’t swim. (know)
2. If the lecturer had spoken more slowly, the audience ....................................... him.
(understand)
3. If the tourists ....................................... the directions, they wouldn’t have lost their way.
(follow)
4. The children wouldn’t have had any troubles if they ....................................... their parents
advice. (take)
5. If our basketball team had practice more, we ....................................... the championship.
(win)
6. If I ....................................... the gas before I started, I would have realized that there wasn’t
enough to get to the seaside. (check)
7. If you had asked his permission to borrow his car, he ....................................... it to you.
(give)
8. The roses wouldn’t have faded so quickly if she ....................................... them into fresh
water every day. (put)
9. If my car hadn’t broken down, I ....................................... on time for the lectures. (arrive)
10. If you ....................................... a plumber to fix the water pipes, we wouldn’t have had so
many problems with the plumbing. (find)

4) Complete the sentences

1. If I ....................................... in such a hurry, I ....................................... the lights on. (not be,
leave)
2. You ....................................... an engineer now if you ....................................... all your
exams. (be, pass)
3. If Tom ....................................... Ann before, he ....................................... her. (meet, marry)
4. I ....................................... the exam if you ....................................... me. (pass, help)
5. If I ....................................... the eight o’clock news, I ....................................... everything
about the earthquake. (watch, know)
6. They ....................................... him on a business trip abroad if he .......................................
English better. (send, speak)
7. If I ....................................... came, I ....................................... pictures of the beautiful
countryside. (have, take)
8. There ....................................... so many mistakes in your essay if
you ....................................... harder. (bee, study)
9. If he ....................................... me, I ....................................... my work. (help, finish)
10. He ....................................... his essay better if he ....................................... a lot. (write, read)

Mixed types:
1. Will you help her if she ......................... you to? (need)
2. We ......................... around the World if we had had enough money.(travel)
3. If she works hard, she ......................... a lot of money. (earn)
4. If the student ......................... late, the teacher would not let him in. (come)
5. I .........................you if I have more time. (visit)
6. I should have run away if I......................... a group of thieves. (meet)
7. If you ......................... this dress, I would show you another one. (not like)
8. We ......................... the plane if we take a taxi. (catch)
9. Peter would wear the suit if it ......................... him. (suit)
10. If you eat too much fat food, you......................... ill. (be)
11. If my parents......................... me some money, I shall go to Egypt. (give)
12. We ......................... her the news if we meet her. (tell)
13. If the child ......................... a cap and scarf it wouldn’t have caught a cold. (wear)
14. What would you ......................... if you had been at the top of the World. (do)
15. What would happen if the bridge .........................? (break)
16. If the driver had seen the traffic light, there ......................... (crash)
17. If the elevator ......................... we wouldn’t have come up the stairs. (work)
18. Ann ......................... pleased if she meets her old friend. (be)
19. I wouldn’t have been late for work if I ......................... the ring clock. (hear)
20. I should be pleased if you .......................... (come)
21. You would sleep much better if you ......................... a lot for supper. (not eat)
22. If they ......................... the taxes, they wouldn’t have been in trouble today. (pay)
23. We shall visit The Browns if they ......................... at home next Saturday evening. (be)
24. If it ......................... too foggy I shall drive my car. (be not)
25. If it ........................., the children would go skiing. (snow)
26. I would have got the well paid job if I ......................... the necessary qualifications.
(have)
27. If John ......................... Jane, he would be happy. (marry)
28. We were very pleased if our school ......................... the tournament. (win)
29. If the cook ......................... some species into the meal, it would taste much better. (put)
30. If it had rained yesterday, we ......................... indoors. (stay)
3. Translation

Text 1
MY COMPUTER, MY SELF
Of all the ridiculous ideas that come down the information highway, seat belt off,
drinking heavily, veering into the sparse traffic moving in the opposite direction, there's none I
find more ridiculous than this one: "The computer is our friend."
The computer is not our friend.
True, the computer is a lot of things. It's a tool, for one. But so is a hammer. Is a hammer
a friend? No. It's a hammer. We use it to pound nails, and then put it away, or leave it to rust on
the patio, depending on our personal skills as handy-persons. We don't have personal, deep
feelings about our hammers, unless we hit our thumbs.
The computer is also, of course, the gateway to the future. That doesn't necessarily make
it our friend. How many friends do you have that you can truly call "gateways to the future?" I'm
betting zero, unless you've had a couple drinks, and your friend has expressed some bizarre
insight into the nature of time that you'll both have forgotten by morning.
Even if you did know somebody whom you felt was a genuine gateway to the future, he
or she would not be your friend. They would be your cult leader. Is the computer our cult leader?
Sometimes I wonder.
The San Francisco Chronicle (a personal friend, by the way) informed me this summer
that an "elite group" had gathered in San Jose for the seventh annual "New Paradigms for Using
Computer Workshop." (I know it's a foolish dream, but wouldn't we have lying around, before
tackling new ones?) They had gathered, it seems, to find ways to "give computers a human face."
Ted Selker, an IBM fellow, said: "Computers will know us better than we know ourselves and
will make the best decision for us. It's already starting to happen."
Is the computer my mom? I read on.
Selker, according to the Chronicle, "...envisions a personal computer that knows when
you're happy or sad."
Is the computer my therapist? I read on.
Rosalind Pierce, conference presenter and professor at MIT's Media lab, said a computer
should "act like a dog." When you come home, it should wag its tail (virtually) and drop bones of
data at your feet. Pierce calls this the "illusion of empathy and sympathy," which a computer will
eventually give.
So the computer could be our love slave? Wow.
Scientists at IBM are working on an intelligent system called Simple User Interest
Tracker (or Suitor) that tracks where a user has been on the Internet, and (using a webcam)
studies the user's eye movements to determine his or her interests, needs, and impossible desires.
The system is called BlueEyes.
So the computer is a sociopathic, needy lover who needs our approval to survive?
The relationship is already dysfunctional, and we don't even have the bandwidth to
stream movies yet!
I think we're going about this the wrong way. Maybe we should be getting emotional
input from our computers. We need to learn a little bit more about their needs and wants. I'm not
talking about peripherals and add-ons, but about the soul of the machine. Who's looking to that?
And if it turns out that computers are in fact doglike in their essence, that could work to
our benefit. When the screen freezes in the middle of a project, we can shake our finger at the
webcam, and say in a gentle but firm tone: "Bad computer! Bad! Give me back my document or
no more upgrades for three months!
Of course, we'd have to discipline ourselves as well. No upgrades for three months?
Paradigms lost! But that's the price we have to pay. We must show them who's boss.
Text 2
Computers Make the World Smaller and Smarter
The ability of tiny computing devices to control complex operations has transformed the way
many tasks are performed, ranging from scientific research to producing consumer products.
Tiny computers on a chip are used in medical equipment, home appliances, cars and toys.
Workers use handheld computing devices to collect data at a customer site, to generate forms, to
control inventory, and to serve as desktop organizers.
Not only is computing equipment getting smaller, it is getting more sophisticated. Computers are
part of many machines and devices that once required continual human supervision and control.
Today, computers in security systems result in safer environments, computers in cars improve
energy efficiency, and computers in phones provide features such as call forwarding, call
monitoring, and call answering.
These smart machines are designed to take over some of the basic tasks previously performed by
people; by so doing, they make life a little easier and a little more pleasant. Smart cards store
vital information such as health records, drivers’ licenses, bank balances, and so on. Smart
phones, cars and appliances with built in computers can be programmed to better meet individual
needs. A smart house has a built-in monitoring system that can turn lights on and off, open and
close windows, operate the oven, and more.
With small computing devices available for performing smart tasks like cooking dinner,
programming the VCR, and controlling the flow of information in an organization, people are
able to spend more time doing what they often do best – being creative. Computers can help
people work more creatively.
Multimedia systems are known for their educational and entertainment value, which we call
edutainment. Multimedia combines text with sound, video, animation, and graphics, which
greatly enhances the interaction between user and machine and can make information more
interesting and appealing to people. Expert systems software enables computers to think like
expert. Medical diagnosis expert systems, for example, can help doctors pinpoint a patient’s
illness, suggest further tests, and prescribe appropriate drugs.
Connectivity enables computers and software that might otherwise be incompatible to
communicate and to share resources. Now that computers are proliferating in many areas and
networks are available for people to access data and communication with others, personal
computers are becoming interpersonal PCs. They have the potential to significantly improve the
way we relate to each other. Many people today telecommute – that is, use their computers to
stay in touch with the office while they are working at home. With the proper tools, hospital staff
can get a diagnosis from a medical expert hundreds or thousands of miles away. Similarly, the
disabled can communicate more effectively with others using computers.
Distance learning and videoconferencing are concepts made possible with the use of an
electronic classroom or boardroom accessible to people in remote locations. Vast databases of
information are currently available to users of the Internet, all of whom can send mail messages
to each other. The information superhighway is designed to significantly expand this interactive
connectivity so that people all over the world will have free access to all these resources.
People power s critical to ensuring that hardware, software, and connectivity are effectively
integrated in a socially responsible way. People – computer users and computer professionals –
are the ones who will decide which hardware, software, and networks endure and how great an
impact they will have on our lives. Ultimately people power must be exercised to ensure that
computers are used not only efficiently but in a socially responsible way.
Text 3
Network Communications
The application layer is the only part of a Communications process that a user sees, and even
then, the user doesn't see most of the work that the application does to prepare a message for
sending over a network. The layer converts a message's data from human-readable form into bits and
attaches a header identifying the sending and receiving computers.
The presentation layer ensures that the message is transmitted in a language that the receiving
computer can interpret (often ASCII). This layer translates the language, if necessary, and then
compresses and perhaps encrypts the data. It adds another header specifying the the language as
well as the compression and encryption schemes.

The session layer opens Communications and has the job of keeping straight the
Communications among all nodes on the network. It sets boundaries (called bracketing) for the
beginning and end of the message, and establishes whether the messages will be sent half-
duplex, with each computer taking turns sending and receiving, or full-duplex, with both
computers sending and receiving at the same time. The details of these decisions are placed into
a session header.

The transport layer protects the data being sent. It subdivides the data into segments, creates
checksum tests - mathematical sums based on the contents of data - that can be used later to
determine if the data was scrambled. It can also make backup copies of the data. The transport
header identifies each segment's checksum and its position in the message.

The network layer selects a route for the message. It forms data into packets, counts them, and
adds a header containing the sequence of packets and the address of the receiving computer.
The data-link layer supervises the transmission. It confirms the checksum, then addresses and
duplicates the packets. This layer keeps a copy of each packet until it receives confirmation from
the next point along the route that the packet has arrived undamaged.
The physical layer encodes the packets into the medium that will carry them - such as an
analogue signal, if the message is going across a telephone line - and sends the packets
along that medium.
An intermediate node calculates and verifies the checksum for each packet. It may also
reroute the message to avoid congestion on the network.
At the receiving node, the layered process that sent the message on its way is reversed.
The physical layer reconverts the message into bits. The data-link layer recalculates the
ckecksum, confirms arrival, and logs in the packets. The network layer recounts incoming
packets for security and billing purposes. The transport layer recalculates the checksum
and assembles the message segments. The session layer holds the parts of the message
until the message is complete and sends it to the next layer. The presentation layer expands
and crypts the message. The application layer converts the bits into readable characters,
and directs the data to the correct application.

Text 4
Safe Data Transfer

Secure transaction across the internet mve three goals. First, the two parties engaging in
a transaction (say, an email or a business purchase) don't want a third party to be able to
read their transmission. Some form of data encryption is necessary to prevent this. Second,
the receiver of the message should be able to detect whether someone has tampered with it
in transit. This calls for a message-integrity scheme. Finally, both parties must know that
they're communicating with each other, not an impostor. This is done with user
authentication.

Today's data encryption methods rely on a technique called public-key cryptography.

Everyone using a public-key system has a public key and a private key. Messages are
encrypted and decrypted with these keys. A message encrypted with your public key can
only be decrypted by a system that knows your private key.
For the system to work, two parties engaging in a secure transaction must know each
other's public keys. Private keys, however, are closely guarded secrets known only to their
owners. When I want to send you an encrypted message, I use public key to turn mz
message into gibberish. I know that only you can turn the gibberish back into the original
message, because only you know your private key. Public-key cryptography also works in
reverse – that is, only our public key can decipher your private key's encrypton.

To make a message tamper-proof (providing itegrity), the sender runs each through a
message-digest function. This funvtion within an application produces a led a message-
authentication code (MAC). The system works because it's almost for an altered message
to have the same MAC as another message. Also, you can't take a MAC and turn it back
into the original message.

The software being used for a given exchange MAC for a message before it's encrypted,
Next, it encrypts the MAC with the sender's private key. It then encrypts both the message
and the encrypted MAC with the public key and sends the message.
When the recipient gets the message and decypts it, they also get an encrypted MAC. The
software takes the message and runs it through message-digest function that the sender
used and creates its own MAC. Then it decypts the sender's MAC. If the two are the same,
then the message hasn't been tampered with.

The dynamics of the Web dictate that a user-authentication system must exist. This can be
done using digital certificates.
A server authenticates itself to a client by inencrypted ASCII-based digital digital
certificate. A digital certificate contains information about the company operating the
server, including the server's public key. The digital certificate is 'signed' by a trusted
digital-certificate issuer, which means that the issuer has investigated the company
operating the server and believes it to be legitimate. If the client trusts the issuer, then it
can trust the server. The issuer 'signs' the certificate by generating a MAC for it, then
encrypts the MAC with the issuer's private key. If the client trusts the issuer, then it
already knows the issuer's public key.
The dymanics and standards of secure will change, but the three basic tenetsos secure
transactions will remain the same. If you understand the basics, then you're already three
steps ahead of everyone else.

Text 5
COMPUTER VIRUSES
Computer Virus is a program that “infects” computer files (usually other executable
programs) by inserting in those files copies of itself. This is usually done in such a
manner that the copies will be executed when the file is loaded into memory, allowing
them to infect still other files, and so on. Viruses often have damaging side effects,
sometimes intentionally, sometimes not. A virus that propagates itself across computer
networks is sometimes referred to as a “ Worm”, especially if it is composed of many
separate segments distributed across the network.
Computer viruses are mysterious and grab our attention because every time a new virus
hits, it makes the news if it spreads quickly. On the one hand, viruses show us how
unknowingly vulnerable we are, but on the other hand, they show how sophisticated and
interconnected human beings have become. For example, the "Melissa" virus, which
became a worldwide phenomenon in March 1999, was so powerful that it forced
Microsoft and a number of other very large companies to completely turn off their e-
mail systems until the virus could be contained. The "ILOVEYOU" virus in 2000 had a
similarly devastating effect. That's pretty impressive when you consider how simple the
Melissa and ILOVEYOU viruses are!
Viruses in general are on the wane, but occasionally a person finds a new way to create
one and that's when they make the news!
Computer viruses are called viruses because they share some of the traits of biological
viruses. A computer virus passes from a computer to a computer like a biological virus
passes from person to person. At a deeper level there are similarities as well. A
biological virus is not a living thing. A virus is a fragment of DNA inside a protective
jacket. Unlike a cell, a virus has no way to do anything or to reproduce by itself - it is not
alive. Instead, a biological virus must inject its DNA into a cell. The viral DNA then
uses the cell's existing machinery to reproduce itself. In some cases, the cell fills with
new viral particles until it bursts, releasing the virus. In other cases the new virus
particles bud off the cell one at a time and the cell remains alive.
A computer virus shares some of these traits. A computer virus must piggyback on top
of some other program or document in order to get executed. Once it is running, it is
then able to infect other programs or documents. Obviously the analogy between
computer and biological viruses stretches things a bit, but there are enough similarities
that the name sticks.
Traditional computer viruses were first widely seen in the late 1980s, and they came
about because of several factors. The first factor was the spread of personal computers
(PCs). Prior to the 1980s, home computers were bon-existent or they were toys. Real
computers were rare and they were locked away for use by "experts". During the 1980s
real computers started to spread to business and homes because of the popularity of the
IBM PC (released in 1982) and the Apple Macintosh (released in 1984). By the late
1980s PCs were widespread in business, homes and college campuses.
The second factor was the use of computer "bulleting boards". People could dial up a
bulleting board with a modem and download programs of all types. Games were
extremely popular, and so were simple word processors, spreadsheets, etc. Bulleting
boards led the precursor of the virus known as the Trojan Horse. A Trojan horse is a
program that sounds really cool when you read about it. So you download it. When you
run the program, however, it does something uncool like erasing your disk. Trojan
horses only hit a small number of people because they are discovered quickly. Either the
bulleting board owner would erase the file from the system or people would send out
messages to warn one another.
The third factor that led to the creation of viruses was the floppy disk. In the 1980s
programs were small and you could fit the operating system, a word processor (plus
several other programs) and some documents onto a floppy disk or two. Many
computers did not have hard disks, so you would turn on your machine and it would load
the operating system and everything else off of the floppy disk.
Viruses took advantage of these three facts to create the first self-replicating
programs!

Text 6
Developments in IT
Licence to chill
Barcodes in the packaging of groceries will soon be replace with radio-frequency
tags that can be read at istance and with greater reliability. As well as indicating what thc
product is, the data in the tags will include additional information such the 'best before'
date and even nutritional data. Now, imagine that a fridge could read these tags and keep
track of the items placed there.
If an item is about to exceed its 'use by' date, the fridge tells you, and you can
either use it or throw it out. Fancy something different for dinner? No problem, ask the
fridge to suggest some menus based on the ingredients it knows you have in stock. Or tell
the fridge the menu you require it will provide you with a shopping list of the items you
don't have or order the items via email. This is the Screenfridge from Electrolux.

But why 'Screenfridge'? On the door is a touch-sensitive panel or screen that

provides a means of communicating with the users. For many households, life revolves
around the kitchen. This is the assumption Electrolux made in designing the Screenfridge.
The same screen is a messaging centre. Since the fridge is equipped with a microphone,
speaker and video-camera, you're not limited to textual information. The fridge is
connected to the Internet, so it can be used to send and receive email or you could surf the
Web to find a new recipe.
Many people have a TV in the kitchen, but if you already have a screen on the
fridge, why clutter up the work surface with a TV? Call the Screenfridge's TV mode and
watch your favourite programme on the fridge. The Screenfridge can be interfaced to a
surveillance camera to check out visitors or to keep an eye on the children. Finally, the
Screenfridge can perform some of the household management tasks normally associated
with a PC. For example, it has a diary, address pad and a notepad.

Talking to the washing

A washing machine that can communicate with the Internet using its own built-in
mobile phone has been launched Ariston.
The margherita2000.com washing machine will be able to send breakdown reports
for repair and download new washing cycles from its own website, And the householder
will be able to control the washing cycle remotely using a mobile phone or by logging on
to the machine's own website.
But the importance of the machine is that it is line-up of Web-connected domestic
appliances thlat will be able to talk to each other using new open communication system
called WRAP-WEB-Ready Appliances Protocol. Ariston will be launching a dishwasher,
fridge and oven uing WRAP early next year according to Francesco Caio, head of
Ariston's parent company Merloni Elettrodomestici. Eventually it will be joined by
Leon@rdo, a touch-screen kitchen computer. All the machines will communicate through
the house's ring main, and to the Web through the washing machine's mobile phone.
Mr Caio believes he can sell 30 to 50,000 washing machines each year in Europe.
But he must leap some big hurdles before the system can become widely accepted. WRAP
is a proprietary Merloni standard, and people are unlikely to buy if locked in to Ariston for
other networked appliances. Caio claims the standard is open to other manufacturers to
adopt but so far none have signed up, whereas the huge Japanese manufacturers are
adopting rival systems. The main obstacle is the cost - the margherita2000.com will cost
much more than a traditional washing machine.

Dawn or me cyberbabes
Stratumsoft are developing the first electronic virtual assistant, or EVA. If EVAs live up
to the developers' claims, they could provide the illusion of personal service without the
cost. Call centres, online advertisers and Internet service providers are among the initial
targets. Eighty per cent of all centre requests could, Stratumsoft argues, be dealt with by an
EVA. E-commerce is another application. 'The best experience you can have as a shopper
is personal contact, and EVA is designed to give that', says Stratumsoft's director of
marketing.
The technology behind EVA combines two lobal trends in website design. One,
developed out of the computer animation and gaming idustry, is the ability to give Web
images the impression of three dimensions. The other is the use of dynamic database skills
and artificial itelligence-style searching to retrieve information
from data banks.
Each EVA can be programmed with information such as a product catalogue, answers to
frequently asked questions or an online encyclopaedia. It is also equipped with a search
engine to interpret customer requests made in colloquial language. Queries are typed in
and answered via on-screen text boxes.
If the EVA does not have an answer, it will interrogate the questioner, record the
response, and add the answer to its database for future enquiries. EVAs are not fully
animated to imitate human features but they can be programmed to gesture and imitate
different moods. An EVA is run via a Java applet - a small, self-contained program coded
to download on to any type of personal computer rather than being transmitted over the
Internet.

Ananova
Ananova is the world's first digital newsreader. She as created to front an
Internet 24 hours a day news service by Digital Animations Group, a Scottish 3D
digital entertainment company and PA New MediaMark Hird, Director of PA
New Media said, We have given her a full range of human caracteristics after
researching the personality most people want to read news and other formation.
Ananova has been programmed to deliver breaking news 24 hours a day via the
Internet, and later on mobile phones, televisions and other digital devices.'The
Ananova character fronts a computer system which is constantly updated with
news, sport, share prices, weather and other information. This is converted into
speech while another program simultaneously creates real-time animated
graphics. This ensures that the virtual newscaster can be on top of the news as it
breaks, with very little delay at all. People using the service can also tailor their
own news bulletins by using search words to hear the latest information on their
chosen subjects.
Mr Hird believes the invention will dramatically change the role of the
traditional newscaster, 'In 20 years time we could be seeing that type of job
being replaced by computer-generated images.' But not evervone agrees.
Professor Bili Scott said that people prefer people to teach them things and in a
world where information was increasingly important, an established face was
important in terms of public trust. 'You don't get that confidence with computer
characters.'

The rise of the robots

Japan produced the first commercially available robotic pat, called Aibo, a small
electronic dog that several owners on Aibonet.com describe as part of the family.
Aibo is not alone. Dr Thomas Consi of MIT has oroduced the 'robolobster' which
is capable of imitating lobsters' abilities to sense chemicals in the water
surrounding them. Researches at Edinburgh's Mobile Robot Group have made
the world's first cyber-cricket.
These machines are important because they simple processes can result in
complex behaviours. The robots use 'neural nets', connected processors that have
an input level associated with each processor. When an input signal exceeds
certain value, the processor 'fires' a signal tp other processors as output. Because
neutral nets can recognise patterns in data, they can be trained with samples of
data which are then revised to improve the response.
The most important crossover, however, is not between animal and robot but
between man and machine. Quadriplegics and paraplegics have been testing
computer connections for some time to bypass injured nerves, but Professor
Kevin Warwick, head of the Department of Cybernetics at the University of
Reading, is currently conducting experiments which could lead to more of us
becoming cyborgs.
Professor Warwick has previously had a chip fitted into his arm vvhich could
activate sensors in doors and computers as he approached. He will soon have
another transponder surgically implanted in his arm to rccord electrical signals
controlling his movements, which can be played back so that he is then
controlled by a prerecorded self. He predicts that such a technology could, one
day, enable us to interact with machines in a completely different way. For
example, we could soon be driving cars without steering wheels.
Sporting robots
Each year teams take part in an international foottball competition. The teams are
organised into five leagues and the prize is a cup. Not just any cupp, but the Robocup, for
the players are all robots. They don't play on turf but the objective is the same, to hit a ball
into a goal. The aim behind the Robocup is to promote the development of robots which
can work together. Football is a test of co-operation for any team and the robots are no
exception. Although robot footballers are poor competition for a human team, each year
their performance gets better and each year the standards expected are raised so that
competitors must constantly develop better hardware and software.
The top league is the Sony legged robot division. They use modified versions of the well-
known Sony robodog AIBO. A humanoid league will start as soon as there are sufficient
two-legged players. The organiser of the Robocup is confident in the future of robotics,
'By mid-21st century, a team of fully autonomous humanoid soccer players will win a
soccer game, complying with the official rules of FIFA, against the winner of the most
recent World Cup.'
Other sporting events for robots exist. For example, The British Association for the
Advancement of Science organises a two-a-side event called Robot Volley Ball. The
players' task is simply to return a ball within 60 seconds of its being served. The objective
again, is to promote the development of robots which can work co-operatively. The
advantages of having robots which can tackle a range of tasks together rather than
constructing single expensive robots designed for one task only are obvious.
Text 7
HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED!
10 years ago...
An application was for employment.
A program was a television show.
Windows were something you hated to clean.
A keyboard was a piano.
A cursor used profanity.
Memory was something you lost with age.
A CD was a blank account.
And if you had a 3 ½ floppy you hopped no one found out
Compress was something you did to garbage.
If you unzipped in public you went to jail.
Log on was adding wood to a fire.
A hard drive was a long trip on the road.
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived.
And a backup happened to your toilet.
Cut you did with scissors.
Paste you did wtih glue.
A web was a spider’s home.
An a virus was the flu!!!.
WOW HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED!

HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED!

10 years ago...
An application was for employment.
A program was a television show.
Windows were something you hated to clean.
A keyboard was a piano.
A cursor used profanity.
Memory was something you lost with age.
A CD was a blank account.
And if you had a 3 ½ floppy you hopped no one found out
Compress was something you did to garbage.
If you unzipped in public you went to jail.
Log on was adding wood to a fire.
A hard drive was a long trip on the road.
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived.
And a backup happened to your toilet.
Cut you did with scissors.
Paste you did wtih glue.
A web was a spider’s home.
An a virus was the flu!!!.
WOW HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED!
Text 8
VON NEUMANN, JOHN
(1903-1957)
1. The following puzzle was put to von Neumann, who had a reputation for calculating fabulously
quickly: two cyclists are cycling toward each other, starting twenty miles apart, and cycling at a
steady 10 m.p.h. A fly meanwhile starts from the nose of one cyclist, flies at steady 15 m.p.h. to the
nose of the other cyclist, and then back to the first, and so on, until the cyclists meet. How far does
the fly travel? Von Neumann gave the correct solution instantly, whereupon the poser said, in a
disappointed tone of voice, "Oh, you know the trick!" Replied von Neumann, "What trick? I just
added up the infinite series!"
The 'trick' to which the poser referred is to argue that the fly is flying for the whole of the one hour
before the cyclists meet, and so it flies a total of 15 miles. No further calculation is necessary.
2. Von Neumann supposedly had the habit of simply writing answers to homework assignments on
the board (the method of solution being, of course, obvious) when he was asked how to solve
problems. One time one of his students tried to get more helpful information by asking if there was
another way to solve the problem. Von Neumann looked blank for a moment, thought, and then
simply answered, "Yes".
3. The noted mathematician John von Neumann was an incurable practical joker. During World
War II, when he constructed his famous electronic brain for the government, he identified it on
delivery as Mathematical Analyser, Numerical Integrater, and Computer.
Scientists worked with it for several days before they realized that the first letter of the name its
inventor had given it spelled MANIAC.
4. At the age of six, he was able to exchange jokes with his father in classical Greek. The Neumann
family sometimes entertained guests with demonstrations of Johnny's ability to memorise phone
books. A guest would select a page and column of the phone book at random. Young Johnny read
the column over a few times, then handed the book back to the guest. He could answer any question
put to him (who has number such and such?) or recite names, addresses, and numbers in order.
5. Johnny was the only student I was ever afraid of. If in the course of a lecture I stated an unsolved
problem, the chances were he'd come to me as soon as the lecture was over, with the complete
solution in a few scribbles on a slip of paper.
6. Driving isn't rocket science
Von Neumann liked to drive, but he didn't do it well. There was a "von Neumann's corner" in
Princeton, where, the story goes, his cars repeatedly had trouble. His explanation for such crack-ups
was like this: "I was proceeding down the road. The trees on the right were passing me in orderly
fashion at 60 miles an hour. Suddenly one of them stepped in my path. Boom!"
7. Absent-minded
Accroding to von Neumann's wife Klára, he left their Princeton house one morning to drive to a
New York appointment and then phoned her when he reached New Brunswick to ask: "Why am I
going to New York?"
Paul Richard Halmos, von Neumann's assistant relates a story about one afternoon when he drove
von Neumann to his house. "Since there was to be a party there later, and since I didn't trust my self
to remember exactly how I got there, I asked how I'd be able to know his house when I came again.
'That's easy,' he said; 'it's the one with that pigeon sitting by the curb.'"
8. Priest for a mathematician
Dying from cancer in the hospital, von Neumann requested a priest but "one that will be
intellecutally compatible."