What Is Altair 8800?

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The Altair 8800 was the first personal computer and a big reason why we're all sitting at our desks today. The Altair 8800 was based on the Intel 8080 CPU and was designed by H. Edward Roberts of Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems (MITS). It was released in 1974 and became the first-ever commercially successful personal computer. It launched Microsoft's career, too the company's first product, Altair BASIC, was written for this machine. The S-100 bus was standardized in 1981 by the Society of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (SEER) and was widely used for personal computers during the 1980s. These computers were mostly hobbyist models. The S-100 bus was also used for industrial controllers, where reliability and standardization were more important than cost. The IEEE standards for the S-100 bus have been discontinued and replaced by newer technologies. Still, "S-100" remains a generic term for any computer bus that conforms to the interface specified in the original IEEE standard. The Altair 8800 was a hobbyist's dream come true. It was the first commercially successful personal computer, hitting all the sweet spots: performance and price. The Altair 8800 was sold at $439 per kit when other commercials, and personal computers were in the thousands range. The equipment provided the minimum configuration of circuits that could be legitimately called a computer. While programming the said machine was tedious, the user had to toggle switches to positions corresponding to 8080 microprocessor instruction or opcode in binary; it was still cheaper than any other PC on the market. As you might have heard, Altair BASIC and DOS were announced in 1975, which means that if you're celebrating your birthday this month, you're about to turn forty-one. That's not all! It was also in 1975 that the Homebrew Computer Club was launched, and it was founded by people who read an article about the Altair 8800 published by Popular Electronics. If you haven't heard of the Homebrew Computer Club before, it's essential to know that it inspired twenty-three computer companies, including Apple Computer.

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Related Terms by IT Infrastructure

Information Resource Management (IRM)

Information resource management (IRM) is the management of records, information, or data sets as a resource. It can relate to either business or government goals and objectives. It is a broad term in IT that means different things to different people. Some people use it to manage information resources, while others consider it to collect and store all data types, including personal information. Additionally, IRM can help you keep and manage any information: audio, video, text-based documents, images, etcetera. Information resources can be broadly defined as data sets required for a specific function. Information resources are needed for every organization to function. They are necessary for every process, every decision, every action, and procedure. Information resources can be structured (numeric) and unstructured (non-numeric). Information resources can be either public or private. Information resources can be both in physical form, or they can be purely virtual. Information resources are precious and must be secured and preserved; they must be protected. IRM is the process or science of managing information resources to achieve an organization's desired goals and objectives. If you've ever been caught in a situation where you're wondering, "Where is that document?" then you know how vital information resource management (IRM) is. IRM involves identifying data as an asset, categorizing it and providing various types of active management. Experts describe IRM as managing the life cycle of data sets, from their creation to their use in IT architectures to archiving and eventually destroying non-permanent data. IRM can refer to either software resources, physical supplies and materials, or personnel managing information at any use stage. The goal of IRM is to ensure that valuable information is accessible to those who need it when they need it. IRM also helps users determine whether they need something before they store it electronically or on paper—saving money on unnecessary storage costs!

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In-Memory Analytics

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Trending Definitions

Operation BugDrop

Operation BugDrop is comparable to an underhanded agent that infiltrates your workplace, places a bug there, and listens in on all your discussions. However, rather than planting a physical bug on your person, this snoop will infect your computer with malware and take private information from it. The malicious software, known as "BugDrop," infects your computer by masquerading as a normal file and then secretly making its way onto your hard drive. After it has gained access to your system, it will sneakily begin recording your keystrokes, screenshots, and even the sound coming from your microphone. After receiving all of this information, the hackers will send it back to themselves so that they can use it to steal your personal information, passwords, and even trade secrets. Malware known as BugDrop was found for the first time in Ukraine. It is thought it was used to attack various organizations, including commercial firms, research institutes, and government entities. Phishing emails, infected websites, and even USB sticks left in public areas were all utilized by the hackers behind the operation. They were quite creative and employed various strategies to spread the malware. This operation poses a threat to businesses and government agencies and poses a hazard to individuals who work for these organizations or who keep sensitive information on their computers. It is essential to remember that BugDrop is not the only form of malicious software on the internet; in fact, there are many other varieties of malware that, like BugDrop, can steal your personal information and make your computer run slower. Maintaining secure online behaviors is essential to guard against malicious software like BugDrop and others. This necessitates exercising extreme caution in clicking on links or opening attachments in emails, avoiding going to websites that could potentially contain malware, and ensuring that your computer and its security software are always up to date. In conclusion, Operation BugDrop is analogous to a sly spy attempting to steal your information. Still, if you are aware of the situation and take the required precautions, you can defend yourself from being a victim of malware of this kind.

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DVD-Audio (DVD-A)

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Private

You probably don't want to let just anyone access your private documents, and you don't want strangers to see your methods. Personal is a keyword that specifies access level and gives programmers control over which unsteady systems are hidden in a class. It also might be that Variables and methods defined with the private keyword may be accessed only by other processes within the course and cannot be accessed by derived classes. You may have heard that the private keyword is "the most underrated feature in all programming". It's true! While it may seem like a boring, simple keyword that specifies access level and gives programmers, it offers much more. Derived classes cannot access processes within the course. It means you can set up a private variable or method and use it as a secret handshake between two elements within your code without worrying about any third party getting into it. So, to keep something personal from your users or co-workers, consider using private variables and methods instead of public ones. It'll save you time later when someone tries to figure out why things aren't working right! Personal is the most mysterious of all of the access specifiers. It's also the best. Private data members are usually accessed through unique methods known as setters, which can call only from within the class scope. It means that private variables and methods are tightly bound to a class and only available within its range. If you try to access a private variable or method from outside its course, you'll get an error message from the compiler! So, what does this mean? It means personal data members are hidden from the outside world. We call them "private." You can think of them as your diary: no one can see it unless you let them read it, but if they do read it, they don't have much freedom in what they can do with it other than look at it (and maybe take notes).

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