What is ubiquitous computing/pervasive computing

Ubiquitous computing (or "ubicomp") could be a conception in package engineering and engineering wherever computing is created to look anytime and all over. In distinction to desktop computing, present computing will occur victimization any device, in any location, and in any format. A user interacts with the pc, which might exist in many various forms, as well as portable computer computers, tablets and terminals in everyday objects like a electric refrigerator or a combine of glasses. The underlying technologies to support present computing embrace web, advanced middle ware, software system, mobile code, sensors, microprocessors, new I/O and user interfaces, networks, mobile protocols, location and positioning and new materials.

This paradigm is additionally represented as pervasive computing close intelligence, or "every ware". every term emphasizes slightly totally different aspects. once primarily regarding the objects concerned, it's conjointly called physical computing, the net of Things, perception computing, and "things that think". instead of propose one definition for present computing and for these connected terms, a taxonomy of properties for present computing has been planned, from that totally different types or flavors of present systems and applications is represented

History of ubiquitous

History of ubiquitous/pervasive computing

Ubiquitous computing was initial pioneered at the Olivetti research lab in Cambridge England, wherever the Active Badge, a "clip-on computer" the scale of Associate in Nursing worker ID card, was created, sanctionative the corporate to trace the situation of individuals during a building, additionally because the objects to that they were connected.

Pervasive computing

Largely thought of the daddy of present computing, Mark Wiser and colleagues at Xerox PARC presently thenceforth began building early incarnations of present computing devices within the type of "tabs," "pads" and "boards."

Wiser represented present computing:

Inspired by the social scientists, philosophers and anthropologists at PARC, we've been attempting to require a radical verify what computing and networking have to be compelled to be like. we tend to believe that individuals pass though their practices and in explicit data, so the foremost powerful things square measure people who square measure effectively invisible in use. this is often a challenge that affects all of applied science. Our preliminary approach: Activate the planet. give many wireless computing devices per person per workplace of all scales (from 1" displays to wall-sized). This has needed new add operative systems, user interfaces, networks, wireless, displays and lots of alternative areas. we tend to decision our work "ubiquitous computing." this is often totally different from PDAs [personal digital assistants], Dynabooks or info at your fingertips. it's invisible, all over computing that doesn't carry on a private device of any kind, however is within the woodwork all over.

Solar-powered plane lands in California after Pacific crossing

MOUNTAIN VIEW (AFP) - Solar Impulse 2, an experimental plane flying around the world without consuming a drop of fuel, has landed in California, one leg closer to completing its trailblazing trip.

"The Pacific is done, my friend. I love it, but it s done," said clearly relieved Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, who piloted the craft from Hawaii to California, just before landing.

"It s great to be in California, the land of pioneers," he said once on the ground, with Google co-founder and alternative energy enthusiast Sergey Brin on hand.

"Innovation and pioneering must continue. The clean tech revolution has to keep moving forward."

Piccard, a 58-year-old doctor by training, said that enduring the 62-hour stretch between Hawaii and the Silicon Valley town of Mountain View was one of the "most amazing" experiences of his life.

"I bet that in 10 years, electric airplanes will be transporting up to 50 people. This will happen," he added.

"This is not science fiction. It is real," Piccard said.

The arrival at Moffett Airfield southeast of San Francisco, marked the completion of the ninth of 13 legs in a journey that began last year in the United Arab Emirates.

Piccard, who has been alternating the long solo flights with teammate Andre Borschberg, will now hand over to his teammate who will pilot Solar Impulse across the United States and to New York.

The mission aims to promote the use of renewable energy, with an aircraft powered by 17,000 solar cells.

The plane s wingspan is wider than that of a jumbo jet but its weight is roughly the same as a car s.

Solar Impulse 2 was grounded in July last year when its batteries suffered problems halfway through its 21,700-mile (35,000-kilometer) circumnavigation.

The crew took several months to repair the damage from high tropical temperatures during the first Pacific stage, a 4,000-mile flight between Japan and Hawaii.

The aircraft was flown on that leg by Borschberg, whose 118-hour journey smashed the previous record of 76 hours and 45 minutes set by US adventurer Steve Fossett in 2006.

Born in Zurich, Borschberg is no stranger to adventure -- 15 years ago he narrowly escaped an avalanche, and then in 2013 he was involved in a helicopter crash that left him with minor injuries.

The 63-year-old took catnaps of only 20 minutes at a time to maintain control of the pioneering plane during his arduous flight from Japan, in what his team described as "difficult" conditions.

The Pacific crossing is the most dangerous due to a lack of landing sites in the event of an emergency.

Traveling at altitudes of more than 9,000 meters (29,500 feet), Borschberg at times had to use oxygen tanks to breathe and experienced huge swings in temperature throughout.

Alone throughout and utterly self-reliant in the unpressurized cockpit, he was equipped with a parachute and life raft in case he needed to ditch in the Pacific

Piccard said Saturday that he could not sleep more than 20 minutes at a time "because after 20 minutes you have to wake up and control everything and if everything goes well then you can go back to sleep."

The solar-powered plane, which stores energy in batteries for when the sun is not shining, will stop in New York before a transatlantic flight to Europe. From there the pilots plan to make their way back to the point of departure in Abu Dhabi

British astronaut runs marathon in space

London (AFP) - British astronaut Tim Peake ran a marathon in space in record time on Sunday, strapped into a treadmill on the International Space Station as thousands ran the London Marathon below.

Peake opened the race by counting down in a video message as runners waited at the start line in the British capital.
He then joined them 400 kilometres above earth on a simultaneous feat on board the space station, wearing weights on his body to counter the zero gravity conditions.

"Hello ! Fancy a run?" Peake wrote on Twitter before the race, accompanied by a photograph of London from above.
He followed up with a message sent after he completed the marathon, in which he noted that while he had run the 42 kilometres the International Space Station had travelled almost 100,000 kilometres.

"Congratulations to everyone in & ," he wrote. "Gonna sleep well tonight!"

Peake is the second person to complete a marathon in space, after US astronaut Sunita Williams ran the Boston Marathon on the ISS in 2007 in a time of four hours, 23 minutes and 10 seconds.

But Peake managed to achieve the fastest ever marathon in space by making a time of three hours, 35 minutes and 21 seconds, according to estimated times posted on the website of the European Space Agency.

The Guinness World Records announced that it was a new record.

"Guinness World Records can confirm that ESA Astronaut Tim Peake has achieved a brand new Guinness World Records title for the Fastest marathon in orbit," the records body wrote on its website.

Peake had been helped by a training regime onboard the space station and an iPad showing a moving image of the run.
Back on earth in the British capital, more than 39,000 people completed the London Marathon, the biggest number ever as the event marked its 36th edition.

The men’s race winner was Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge, who finished in two hours, three minutes and five seconds -- the second fastest time ever recorded.

The women’s title was taken by fellow Kenyan Jemima Sumgong, who finished in two hours, 22 minutes and 58 seconds despite earlier hitting her head in a heavy fall.

Peake, 44, is the first Briton to travel to the International Space Station. He blasted off in December for a six-month mission that has generated considerable excitement in Britain.

"It was an unforgettable experience," he said of the marathon in a statement issued by the race organisers.

Halo 5: Guardians

Halo 5:Guardians

 is a first-person shooter video game developed by 343 Industries and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox One home video game console. Part of the Halo series, the game was released on October 27, 2015. Halo 5's plot follows twofireteams of human supersoldiers; when Blue Team, led by Master Chief, goes absent without leave to track down the artificial intelligence construct Cortana, the Master Chief's loyalties are called into question and Spartan Locke along with Fireteam Osiris are sent to retrieve him.

343 Industries started to formulate concepts and objectives for Halo 5 shortly after the release of its predecessor. In late 2012, the team set out goals for the game, including larger campaign and multiplayer areas. Microsoft announced Halo 5 for the Xbox One at the 2013 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Halo 5 features a game engine that dynamically scales its resolution in order to maintain aframe rate of 60 frames per second.

Halo 5: Guardians and game-related hardware grossed over US$400 million in its first twenty-four hours and US$500 million in its first week. The game received mostly positive reviews from critics. Halo 5's gameplay and multiplayer component were praised, but response to its story had mixed reviews. 343 Industries supports the game post-launch with additional downloadable content

Guardians is a first-person shooter, with players experiencing most gameplay through the eyes of a playable character. The camera switches to a third-person view for some cinematics and gameplay sequences.

The game preserves many of the core features of the Halo franchise's gameplay experience. Players step into the MJOLNIRpowered armor of a Spartan and control that character's actions. MJOLNIR armor provides deflector shields, which diminish whilst protecting the wearer from weapons fire but recharge after a short recovery. Spartans may only carry two personal weapons at a time, but may swap them out at any time for any other weapon (including those dropped by slain enemies) and may also carry and fire a crew-served weapon (discarded when the player switches back to a personal weapon). Spartans may also throw grenades and use their weapons for pistol-whipping. Finally, some of the vehicles and their mounted weapons are available for use.

New to the series are "Spartan Abilities", replacing the Armor Abilities of previous games. In-universe, the characters' MJOLNIR armor has been upgraded with various thrusters that allow them increased mobility options in all three axes of movement. They are context-dependent and can be used for attack, defense and evasion. Additionally, all Halo 5 firearms can be aimed by looking down their iron sights, a capability restricted to specific weapons in previous games.

Though previous games in the franchise have featured brief gameplay segments where the player character is accompanied by non-player character (NPC) companions in the form of United Nations Space Command (UNSC) Marines, non-human allies like the Arbiter, and occasionally other Spartans, Halo 5 takes it one step further by equipping the player with a persistent fireteam of NPC Spartans who are present at all times and can be given limited orders using the Xbox controller. During cooperative play, other players assume control of these Spartans; each Spartan has different gameplay attributes. If any Spartan, player-controlled or not, takes too much damage, they enter an incapacitated state, and a teammate must rush over and revive them before they die.

Unlike previous first-person shooters in the Halo franchise, Halo 5: Guardians does not feature any offline capabilities, including split-screen cooperative campaign and multiplayer modes; it also does not have any local networking options.Microsoft Studios corporate vice president Phil Spencer commented on the lack of split-screen, stating "We see the robustness of what Xbox Live is today and where people are playing across Xbox Live—you at your house, me at our house. We know that's the vast majority of the co-op play. With Halo 5, the team really wanted to focus on making that experience great, both visually on the screen that you're looking at, and all the systems in place

Dark Souls

Dark Souls 

 is an action role-playing video game developed by FromSoftware and published by Namco Bandai Games for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. A spiritual successor to FromSoftware's Demon's Souls and the second installment of the Souls series, Dark Souls began development under the working title of Project Dark. The game was released in Japan on September 22, 2011, and in North America, Australia, and Europe the following month. In August 2012, the "Prepare to Die" edition of Dark Souls was released for PC, featuring additional content previously unavailable to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 users. On October 23, 2012, the additional content from the PC version was released as downloadable content for consoles under the title Artorias of the Abyss. Dark Souls takes place in the fictional kingdom of Lordran. Players assume the role of a cursed undead character who begins a pilgrimage out of the Undead Asylum to discover the fate of the Undead.

Dark Souls received positive reviews upon its release, with critics praising its combat depth, marked but fair difficulty, and deeply rooted lore. In April 2013, FromSoftware announced Dark Souls had sold 2.37 million copies. The PC version was the second most played Games for Windows Live title in 2012 based on unique users. The game spawned a sequel, Dark Souls II, which was released in March 2014.

Dark Souls is a third-person action role-playing game. The core mechanic of the game is exploration. Players are encouraged by the game to proceed with caution, learn from past mistakes, or find alternate areas to explore. Dark Souls takes place in a large and continuous open world environment, connected through a central hub area (Firelink Shrine). Players are able to travel to and from areas and explore various paths, although certain prerequisites have to be met in order to unlock certain areas. Scattered throughout the game world are bosses and creatures of varying types that must be defeated. From almost all enemies killed, the player will receive a relative amount of "souls" which act as both currency and experience points. Some enemies also yield rare items.

Central to Dark Souls are Bonfires. Bonfires - which are actually more similar in size to campfires - are scattered throughout the world, and, when rested at, heal the player and save their progression upon death. While resting, players can level up and repair their equipment, among other things. However, resting also causes all of the previously defeated enemies of an area to come back to life and return to their original map placements, except for bosses and mini-bosses.

Another aspect of Dark Souls is the “humanity” system. There are two states of being in the game. While in “human” form, the character will appear human with healthy skin. Being human opens the online portion of the game, allowing allies to be summoned; and invading/being invaded by other players, as well as boosting certain resistances. However, when a human player dies, they will enter “hollow” form with an undead appearance. To return to human status, a player must spend one humanity point at a Bonfire.

Humanity can be acquired in a large variety of ways, and if no humanity is available, players are still able to progress in hollow form. Death in either form results in the loss of all carried souls and humanity, but players revive as hollows at their most recent bonfire with one chance at returning to where they died to recover all lost souls and humanity. If the player dies before reaching their "bloodstain", the souls and humanity they previously accrued are permanently lost.

Fallout 4

Fallout 4

 is an action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The fifth major installment in the Fallout series, the game was released worldwide on November 10, 2015 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Fallout 4 is set in a post-apocalyptic Boston in the year 2287, 210 years after a devastating nuclear war, in which the player character emerges from an underground bunker known as Vault 111. Gameplay is similar to that of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. The player completes various quests and acquires experience points to level up their character. With first-person and third-person perspectives available, players can explore Fallout 4's open world setting at will, allowing nonlinear gameplay. The player can bring companions to assist in battles and help with scavenging. Players have the ability to construct and deconstruct buildings and items, and use them to build settlements, which can attract and be inhabited by non-playable characters.

The game was rumored several times prior to its announcement. It was announced on June 3, 2015. The first gameplay footage of the game was shown at Bethesda's own conference at the 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo. It is the first game in the series to feature full voice acting for the protagonist.

Fallout 4 received positive reviews from critics, with many praising the world depth, player freedom, overall amount of content, story, crafting, characters, and soundtrack. The game shipped 12 million units and generated 750 million dollars within the first 24 hours of its launch. The game received numerous awards and nominations from various gaming publications, including the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and British Academy Games Awards, making it both a commercial and critical success.

Fallout 4's gameplay is similar to that of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, the previous two main entries in the series. Returning features include a camera that can switch between a first-person and third-person perspective, and the ability to roam anywhere on the map. Fallout 4 introduces new features including a layered armor system, base-building, a dynamic dialogue system featuring 111,000 lines of dialogue,an in-depth crafting system which implements every lootable object in the game, and much more. Enemies such as mole rats, raiders, super-mutants, deathclaws, and feral ghouls return in Fallout 4, along with the companion Dogmeat.

Players have the ability to roam anywhere on the map, and leave a conversation at any time. They have the ability to customize weapons; the game includes over 50 base guns, which can be crafted with a variety of modifications, such as barrel types and laser focus, with over 700 modifications available. Power Armor has been redesigned to be more like a vehicle than an equipable suit of armor,^[4] and can be modified, allowing players to add items such as a jetpack or selecting separate types of armor for each part of the suit.^[5] A new feature to the series is the ability to craft and deconstruct settlements and buildings. Players can select some in-game objects and structures, and use them to freely build their own structures. In addition, the towns can be powered with working electricity, using a dynamic power line system. Merchants and non-player characters can inhabit the player's settlements, for which the player must provide sustenance by growing food in makeshift patches and building water spouts. Players can build various defenses around their settlements, such as turrets and traps, to defend against random attacks.

Dark Souls II

Dark Souls II

is an action role-playing video game developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment forPlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. The fourth entry in the Souls series, Dark Souls III was released in Japan in March 2016, and worldwide in April 2016.

Dark Souls III is an action role-playing game set in a third-person perspective, similar to previous games in the series. According to lead director and series creator Hidetaka Miyazaki, the game's gameplay design followed "closely from Dark Souls II". Players are equipped with a variety of weapons including bows, explosives like fire bombs, greatswords, and dual-wielding swords to fight against enemies, and shields that can be used to deflect an enemies' attack and protect the player from suffering damage.^[5] Each attack has two different styles, with one of them being a standard attack, while the other is slightly more powerful and can be charged up, similar to FromSoftware's previous game, Bloodborne. In addition, attacks can be evaded through dodge-rolling. Bonfires, which serve as checkpoints, return from previous installments.Ashes, according to Miyazaki, play an important role in the game.Magic is featured in the game, with a returning magic system from Demon's Souls, known as "focus points" (FP). When performing spells, the players' focus points are consumed and decreased. There are two separate types of Estus Flasks in the game, which can be allotted to fit a players' particular play style. One of them refills hit points like previous games in the series, while another, newly introduced inDark Souls III, refills focus points. Combat and movements were made faster and more fluid in Dark Souls III, with several players' movements, such as backstepping and swinging heavy weapons, able to be performed more rapidly, allowing players to deal more damage in a short period of time.

Throughout the game, players encounter different types of enemies, each with different behaviors. Some of them change their combat pattern during battles New combat features are introduced in Dark Souls III, including weapon and shield "Skills", which are special abilities that vary from weapon to weapon that enable unique attacks and features, at the cost of focus points. The game puts more focus on role-playing, in which the character builder is expanded and weapons are improved to provide more tactical options to players. The game features fewer overall maps than its predecessor Dark Souls II, but were created larger and more detailed, which encourages exploration. The adaptability stat from Dark Souls II was removed in Dark Souls III, with other stats being adjusted^] The game features multiplayer elements, like the previous games in the series.