Stimulus 2011

The Cyber World

This document is a topical index of projects for Stimulus 2011 - The Annual Festival of Learning of Abhinav Vidyalay & Jr. College, Dombivli, India. It contains topics outlined by areas which can be taken by a group of about 4-6 students for working on, for a period of about 2 months or ~50 hours. The names of the mentors (ex-students and enthusiasts, available online) and project coordinators are mentioned and their blog ID’s and addresses are given. There are topical links to the relatively easy references on the net and also there are certain links in general for most topics and for beginners at the bottom of the page.

Each topic should cover the following aspects with approximately the given weights:

10% - History of the tech; 50% - Concept: idea, examples, classification (if any); 10% - Economics of the industry; 10% - Frontiers of the tech; 10% - Careers related to the tech

The discussion group for all project-groups and mentors & coordinators to meet is Stimulus. Make sure that your discussions are meaningful and decent at all times. You need to use the logins provided by the school to access this group. Anyone from outside Abhinav, may also join the discussions, however, you need to write an email to Mr. Santosh Lakeshri to get enrolled. Please note that some of the resoiurces linked below are available only on the intranet of Abhinav Vidyalay

Grp

Area (Coordinator)  - Topic  - (Mentor) - Scope

Philosophy of Computing  (Makarand Moghe)

pg1

9B-a1,b5

Who or What is a Computer?        (Ayushi Singh - X)

Defined as l/O-Processor-Storage; Varied range of gadgets under this definition; Basic ontology & ontological problems; Classifying by - generations, capacity, function, ...

pg2

11A-g3, B-g5,b5

Bringing the Machine to Life        (Ameya Shinde - X)

How does the hardware start to work - Electric currents, bits & bytes, decision making circuits, human-readable I/O devices; Work of BIOS; Why is ROM needed?;

pg3

11B-b2,b3

The Math behind the Machine       (Ayushi Singh - X)

Number Systems - decimal and beyond, emphasis on binary; Codes & Protocols - Why have them?, ASCII to Unicode and word size, Defining a file (header, footer, FAT,...), TCP/IP v4 & v6; Data/Video/Audio formats & manipulation (demonstrate image & audio processing via MathCAD)

pg4

9B-a3,b2,g2

Joining the Man and Machine        (Bhushan Palav - XII)

Connecting Biological mechanisms with electronics - from insulin controllers and pacemakers to Cyborgs, how is it done, benefits, possible problems, future advances; We are modifying what nature has done - Is it OK to do so?

pg5

11C-b6,g2,g5

Can a Machine Think???        (Shlok Bhurke - X)

What is thinking or intelligence?; Does a machine think? (today); How can we train a machine to think? (Artificial Intelligence); Can training (programming) develop intelligence??? (Turing machine, Godel's theorem, Roger Penrose)

An AI course book available on LAN

Science behind Computing  (Makarand Moghe)

pg6

11C-a2,b2,g3

Activity in Silicon        (Rounak Majumdar - X)

Active electronic components made from silicon - why silicon? (semiconductors), diodes & transistors, how are they made, how they work; Simple circuits which enable decision-making - switches, multivibrators, ...

pg7

9A-a6,b6

Logic in Sand        (Aniket Patil - X)

Mounting many electronic components on an IC - the idea of lithography, Integrating circuits; Boolean Logic (Why its required); Circuits which implement it - Gates, Registers, Adders, ... About Programming Logic Circuits

pg8

11B-a4,a5 A-g1

Instructing the Machine        (Rounak Majumdar - X)

What is a program?; Levels of programming (Machine to Human); Paradigms (From Structured to OOP); Parts of a typical program - Statements, variables, syntax & semantics, looping, branching; Can a program write a program? (in other words - Is programming an art or a science); Programming concepts with VB6

pg9

9A-b3,g3

Connecting the Machines        (Amruta Gokhale - X)

What is a network - interfacing, server-client relationship, peer networks? Kinds of networks - LAN, WAN, Net; How is this done - Topologies, media, handshakes, the network layer, software/special OS; A guide to concepts & terms; About wireless LANs; A simple guide to the basics

pg10

11B-a2,b1,g2

Mega Machines        (Chaitanya Gaikwad - XII)

Making a supercomputer - Advantages in number crunching, Parallel computing, Distributed / Grid computing, ; Clouds and living on the Web

pg11

9B-a5 A-g5

Communications & Entertainment        (Deepti Menon - X)

How these work? - Digital Telephony - Mobiles, VoIP, Digital PABX; Satellite transmissions and Digital TV; The signal processing

pg12

11B-g1,g3,g4

Advancing Science        (Bhushan Palav - XII)

Bio-informatics to Telescope Imagery, GIS, ...; A research paper by alumnus Shashank Araokar; Some Image Processing programs developed by Shashank

The Engineering  (Nanda Apar)

pg13

9A-g1,g6

The Processor        (Rohit Naidu - X)

CPU Cabinet, Motherboard, Microprocessor, Addon cards, Memories-RAM/ROM/Cache etc. - (Function, classification, block-diagram, designing, manufacturing, mounting etc.)

pg14

9B-a4,b1

Input Peripherals        (Amruta Gokhale - X)

Keyboard, Mouse, Joystick, Touchpad, Touchscreen, Digital pen, Mike, Scanner, MICR, OCR, etc. - (Function, classification, block-diagram, designing, manufacturing, mounting etc.)

pg15

9B-g4

Output Peripherals        (Rajani Ghodakhindi - X)

Monitor-CRT/LCD/LED, Printer-Impact/non-impact, Speaker etc. - (Function, classification, block-diagram, designing, manufacturing, mounting etc.)

pg16

9A-a1,g2

Data Storage        (Bhushan Palav - XII)

Different technologies - paper, magnetic, optical, semiconductor, quantum; Properties - capacity, access time, robustness, portability, power consumption, reliability;

pg17

11A-b1,b3 B-b4

Operating Systems        (Aniruddh Das - X)

Why is a OS needed? How is it different from BIOS?; How does the OS Manage - Peripherals, Data, CPU, Memory?; Types of OS's based on interface, no of users, network compatibility; Should an OS be open source? An e-book on OS. An e-book about Linux; A Wiki about OS

pg18

9A-a5,b1

Network Peripherals        (Shivani Chitre - X)

Hubs, switches, routers, connectors & wires, antennas; Why are these required? How are they different from others; Are network peripherals input devices or output devices? A simple guide to networking tech in Windows; A simple guide to the basics

pg19

9B-b3,g6

Power Systems        (Sneha Nair - X)

Why computers require power? When do they require more power, i.e. what tasks consume more? What are the power requirements of computers from portables to supercomputers? What is a - SMPS, spike guard, UPS, Stabilizer, fuel cells? What are the types of these devices based on load capacity, online/offline, fuel used? Can we run a computer on Solar energy?

pg20

9B-a2,g1

Portable Computers        (Shalmali Adivarekar - X)

What makes the computer portable - size, capacity, battery, weight or robustness? How are portables different on the basis of their computing speeds, variability of tasks, capacity to store and handle data, ease of use? Why are there so many variants of mobile phones, PDAs, smart-phones, laptops, hand-helds, etc. in the market and that too at very different prices?

pg21

9A-a2 B-b6

Maintenance        (Shraddha Raut - X)

Can you assemble a computer at home? How? (its possible primarily due to the modular structure of computers); What maintenance can you do at home - Cleaning, replacing of parts, Formatting & repairing HDD's, replacing/repairing OS, defragmentation, compressions of data, etc.; A comprehensive e-Book;  

pg22

9A-a3,g4

Robotics        (Deepti Menon - X)

What is a Robot? How does it - sense, move, get energy and think? How to make one? Applications in different walks of life. Lookup this site for some practical lessons. Check out this WikiBook for details.

pg23

11A-a1 B-a1,a3

Embedded Systems        (Shalmali Adivarekar - X)

What is an "embedded" system? Are these devices "computers"? What do you embed, into what, for what purpose? How is the science/engineering common, but applications and hence design differ? Examples in daily life. Examples in hi-tech industry and research. A course book on embedded computing.

Applying Computing  (Pooja Shukla)

pg24

11C-a4,a6,b5

Ergonomics        (Shweta Kulkarni - X)

 What is Ergonomics? Why should we develop this field? How is it related to - Biomechanics, Industrial Engineering & Design, Kinesiology? Ergonomics in Product-design, Workplace-design. Benefits of Ergonomics - Comfort, efficiency, time-saving, improved communication etc. A comprehensive e-Book; A simpler and illustrated version (only some aspects of these books to be considered); Wikipedia link; About.com link; Indian Society of Ergonomics; Office Ergonomics; Ergonomics products

pg25

11A-b4,b2,g2

Netiquette & Cyber Law        (Vaibhav Meghani - XII)

What is Etiquette? What is Netiquette? What is shareware, freeware? E-mail Netiquette, Rules Vs Laws, Advantages of being Netquette, What is "Flaming"? Social netiquette and Business netiquette, Online edition of "Netiquette",

 

What do you mean by Cyber? What is Cyber Crime? What is the need of Cyber law? What is Denial of Service (DOS) attack, Forgery, Cyber squatting, Cyber terrorism, Credit card & E-commerce frauds, Online Gambling, Identity theft, Data Diddling, Breach of Privacy and Confidentiality, Identity theft, software piracy, copyright infringement, trademarks violations. Cyber Laws in India ; Cyber Crime in India

pg26

9A-b4,b5

Social Networking        (Vaibhav Meghani - XII)

What is a social network and why do we need it? What is a Social networking service? What is the impact of such services on the social structure and vice-versa? Types of structures of such a service, technologies used. Effect of Social networking on Science, Education, Employment, Grassroots organizing, Business etc. Issues due to Social Networking - Privacy, Data mining, Child safety, Trolling, Online bullying, Interpersonal communication, Patents etc. Applications in Governance, Business, Education, Finance, Social & Political issues. Wikipedia link; List of S N sites; What is "online-a-holic”?

pg27

11C-a1,a5,b4

Web Technologies        (Aniruddh Das - X)

What is a website? Where is a website kept (hosted)? What services are needed to host & create a website? viz. Server - IIS/Apache/..., Scripting - PHP, Perl/CGI, ASP, JSP ..., Information - HTML, XML,..., Appearance & Media - Flash... (compare different tech use for the same job);  Why (exactly) use a website in - Business Organizations, Trading, Institutions (like Schools), Individuals, Governance, ...

E-book for making websites; eBook on Web Publishing

pg28

9B-b4,g5

Cyber Security        (Shivani Chitre - X)

What is the need of Cyber Security? What is Hacking, Virus & Worm attack, Trojan attack, E-mail Spoofing/Spamming/Bombing, Cyber Stacking etc. A guide to how you could be hacked; Thinking about Firewalls; What hackers do? How can you prevent these attacks?

pg29

11C-a3,g1,g4

Animation & Graphics         (Aniruddh Das - X)

Definition, History – at least 5000 year old, Flick book (Flipper book), Optical Illusion, Perception, Cinematography, Traditional (hand drawn) animation, Stop motion, Computer Animation, 2D animation, 3D animation, Animatronics, Morphing, Rendering, Hardware, Software, Soft skills required, Role of Mathematics in Computer Animation – Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG), Solid Modeling. How ActiveX for Animation Works?, How Stuff Works Wikipedia Link, Additional Link1, Link2, Link3

pg30

9B-a6,g3

Publishing        (Nikita Galgali – X)

 What is Desktop Publishing (You should only connect the computer based operations with Printing technologies and not go deep into printing tech)? How is it better than Publishing without a computer? What are the technologies involved?, viz. Creating documents - MS Word, Adobe PageMaker, Corel Page; Creating Media - MS Photodraw, Corel Draw, Adobe Suite; Color processing - MS Publisher, Adobe Suite, Corel Suite; How is Automation done in this industry in - News-media, Organizations (like schools, hospitals, etc.)

pg31

11C-b3

Database Management        (Chaitanya Gaikwad - XII)

What is a database? Where & why are databases used? How are computer DBMS better than manual ones - relational arrangement of data, querying and manipulation of data, encryption, data redundancy? Some technologies - MS Access, SQL, Oracle, FoxPro; Examples of applications in - Military & Policing, Schools, Grocery shops

pg32

11A-a2,3,4

Computer Aided Design        (Bhushan Palav - XII)

What is CAD? Types, Technology, Mathematics in CAD  Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG), Solid Modeling, Applications in various industries like civil, engineering, architecture, interior designing, medical etc. Computer Aided Manufacturing, Computer Aided Engineering, Links to CAD sites, Perception

pg33

9A-b2,a4

Gaming        (Vaibhav Meghani - XII)

What do you mean by Gaming? Are games different from sports? How are Computer games / Video games different from traditional games like Board, Dice, Card, Table games? Platforms & Genres of computer games. Single player, Multi player & Network games. Educational games. Benefits, Controversies, Addiction, List of Games. How are Video games made? Business of Gaming. What is the Hardware & Software required for Gaming? Is Computer gaming restricted to the PC? Things to Consider Before Buying a Gaming Computer

pg34

11C-b1,g6

Business Automation        (Ayushi Singh - X)

Where are Computers used in a business on a regular basis? - Accounts, Production, Sales & Marketing, MIS; How are automations done in - documentation, process control & workflow, finance mgmt, asset mgmt, decision making? Demonstrate automation using MS Office Suite and Google Apps. Where and how does e-Commerce fit in? What are Enterprise Resource Planning systems, e.g. SAP, PeopleSoft, Baan?

Links common to most topics (Also for advanced study)

  1. General Knowledge and latest info on Computers at www.computers.about.com 

  2. Free e-books (although some are a bit Hi-funda)

  3. Some more e-books for all areas of science

  4. A simple coursebook on Computer Fundas

  5. Introduction to Software (a simple guide useful for programming and OS and application areas)

  6. A comprehensive yet simple e-Book for every aspect of hardware (The illustrated version)