Chapter 5 Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Scientific Visualization
-Scientific visualization software uses shape, location in space, color, brightness, and motion to help us visualize data.
-Visualization helps researchers see relationships that might have been obscure or even impossible to grasp without computer-aided visualization tools.

Calculated Risks: Computer Modeling and Simulation
-Computer modeling uses computers to create abstract models of objects, organisms, organizations, and processes.
Ex. 1.Games
      2. Dinosaur replicas
      3. Flight and Science Lab simulations
      4. Business, city, or nation management simulations

The Rewards
- Computer Simulations are widely used.
- Reasons
  > Safety
  > Economy
  > Projection
  > Visualization
  > Replication

Making Reality Fit the Machine
- Some simulations are so complex that researchers need to simplify models and streamline calculations to get them to run on the best hardware available
- Sometimes this simplification of reality is deliberate; more often it's unconscious
- Either way, information can be lost, and the loss may compromise the integrity of the simulation and call the results into question

-GIGO Revisited
  > The accuracy of a simulation depends on how closely its mathematical model corresponds to the system being simulated
  > Some models suffer from faulty assumptions
  > Some models contain hidden assumptions that may not even be obvious to their creators
  > Some models go astray simply because of clerical or human errors

The illusion of Infallibility
- A computer simulation, whether generated by a PC spreadsheet or put out by a supercomputer, can be an invaluable decision-making aid.
- The risk is that the people who make decisions with computers will turn over too much of their decision-making power to the computer
- Risks can be magnified because people take computers seriously

Intelligent Agents
- Future user interfaces will be based on agents rather than on tools.
- Agents are software programs designed to be managed rather than manipulated
- An intelligent software agent can:
  > Ask questions as well as responds to commands
  > Pay attention to its user's work patterns
  > Serve as a guide and a coach
  > Take on its owner's goals
  > Use reasoning to fabricate goals on its own

- Future agents will be better able to compete with human assistants.
- Future agents may possess a degree of sensitivity
- A well-trained software agent in the future might accomplish these task
   > Remind you that it's time to rotate your tires and make an appointment for the rotation
   > Distribute notes to the other members of your study group or work group and tell you which members    
      opened these notes
   > Etc.


Summary
- Even though the computer was designed to work with numbers, it can be an important tool for working with words as well
- Word processing software enable you to use commands to edit text on screen, without having to retype messages.
- Outlining software, spell checkers, and online references can be very helpful.
- Desktop publishing produces professional-quality-text-and-graphics documents
- Spreadsheets can be used for tracking, calculating, forecasting, and almost any other task that involves repetitive numeric calculations. Most spreadsheet programs have charting capabilities.
- Specialized software allows you to perform accounting tasks, tax preparation, and a variety of business functions without the aid of spreadsheets
- Symbolic mathematic and statistical-analysis software can help present data in meaningful ways
- Scientific visualization software can help us understand relationships that are invisible to the naked eye
- Computer modeling and simulation can be powerful tools for understanding the world and making better decisions

The Spreadsheet: Software for Simulation and Speculation

Rules of Thumb: Avoiding Spreadsheet Pitfalls
- Plan the worksheet before you start entering values and formulas
- Make your assumptions as accurate as possible
- Double-Check every formula and value
- Make formulas readable
- Check your output against other systems
- Build in Cross-Checks
- Change the input data values and study the results
- Take advantage of pre-programmed functions, templates, and macros
- Use a spreadsheet as a decision- making aid, not as a decision-maker

>Spreadsheets allow you to change numbers and instantly see the effects of those changes
      - "What if I enter this value?"
>Equation solvers
      - Some spreadsheets generate data needed to fit a given equation and target value.

Spreadsheets Graphics: From Digits to Drawing
> Charts allow you to turn numbers into visual data
> Pie charts show proportions relative to the whole
> Line charts show trends or relationships over time