Browse "Computer Science"

The AES-90 word processor was an innovation released by the Montreal-based technology company Automatic Electronic Systems Inc. in 1972. The new machine was a pioneer within its generation that not only revolutionized office automation, but also set the trend for the design of word processors around the world.

The term artificial intelligence (AI) refers to the capacity of a machine to simulate or exceed intelligent human activity or behaviour. It also denotes the subfield of computer science and engineering committed to the study of AI technologies. With recent advancements in digital technology, scientists have begun to create systems modelled on the workings of the human mind. Canadian researchers have played an important role in the development of AI. Now a global leader in the field, Canada, like other nations worldwide, faces important societal questions and challenges related to these potentially powerful technologies.

The Canadarm was a remote-controlled mechanical arm, also known as the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS). During its 30-year career with NASA’s Space Shuttle Program, the robotic arm deployed, captured and repaired satellites, positioned astronauts, maintained equipment, and moved cargo.

This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on May 27, 2002. Partner content is not updated. It was a bad day at the aerospace office. Around 9 a.m. on March 5, NASA called Richard Rembala, a lead engineer for CANADARM2. There was a problem.

The idea sounded so simple and yet so revolutionary: use the Internet to exploit the buying power of far-flung individual consumers, allowing them to sign up for bulk orders on a Web site that would drive down the price of everything from video games to hand-held computers.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on January 24, 2000

The manufacture of clocks and watches in Canada may have begun as early as 1700; however, practising watch and clockmakers through the 18th and much of the 19th centuries did not make the movements.

Computer-Assisted Learning is an encompassing term which generally refers to 3 major uses of computers in education and training.

One of the fundamental changes to cartography during the 20th century has been the introduction and use of computers and computer-driven machinery (especially drawing and graphic devices) to mapping.

Like most modern communication technologies, the computer had its origins in the military.

During the 1950s, 4 main areas of focus emerged. "Hardware" concentrated on the construction of reliable equipment with faster central-processing units (CPUs), larger memories and more input and output devices to solve increasingly ambitious problems.

MATHEMATICS spawned the computer in the 1940s and gave it its name. Its first application was the computation of theoretical ballistic tables for traditional bombs, but calculations for the atomic bomb and then for guided missiles soon became the driving force for computer development.

Canadians use computers in many aspects of their daily lives. Eighty-four per cent of Canadian families have a computer in the home, and many people rely on these devices for work and education. Nearly everyone under the age of 45 uses a computer every day, including mobile phones that are as capable as a laptop or tablet computer. With the widespread use of networked computers facilitated by the Internet, Canadians can purchase products, do their banking, make reservations, share and consume media, communicate and perform many other tasks online. Advancements in computer technologies such as cloud computing, social media, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things are having a significant impact on Canadian society. While these and other uses of computers offer many benefits, they also present societal challenges related to Internet connectivity, the digital divide, privacy and crime.

In the span of several decades, digital technologies have changed how Canadians work, communicate, consume products and access information. Although technologies like self-driving cars and the Internet of Things may seem advanced, many such tools are still in their early stages. With the growth of the digital economy, digital technologies will continue to present opportunities and challenges. Here’s a look at five of these technologies and some of the risks that come with them.

They came by the thousands last week, a ragtag army of pasty-faced computer geeks in sandals and T-shirts, streaming into the San Jose Convention Center in California's Silicon Valley to honour the 29-year-old hacker from Helsinki who might just be the one to dethrone Bill Gates.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on March 15, 1999

In the Information Age, people like 33-year-old Mark Rein are on the cutting edge. Rein is vice-president of Epic MegaGames Inc., a computer game company in Rockville, Md., yet his "office" is actually his home in Schomberg, just north of Toronto.This article was originally published in Maclean's Magazine on February 17, 1997