Tablet computer

A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a thin, flat mobile computer with
a touchscreen display, which in 2016 is usually color, processing circuitry, and a
rechargeable battery in a single device. Tablets often come equipped with sensors,
including digital cameras, a microphone, and an accelerometer. The touchscreen display uses
the recognition of finger or stylus gestures to replace themouse, trackpad and keyboard used
in laptops. They usually feature on-screen, pop-up virtual keyboards for typing and inputting
commands. Tablets may have physical buttons for basic features such as speaker volume and
power, and ports for plugging in network communications, headphones and battery charging.
Tablets are typically larger than smartphones or personal digital assistants with screens 7 inches
(18 cm) or larger, measured diagonally.[1][2][3][4] In 2016, many tablets have Wi-Fi capability built in
so that users can connect to the Internet.
Tablets can be classified according to the presence and physical appearance of
keyboards. Slates and booklets do not have a physical keyboard and text input and other input
is usually entered through the use of a virtual keyboard shown on a touchscreen-enabled
display.Hybrids, convertibles and 2-in-1s do have physical keyboards (although these are
usually concealable or detachable), yet they typically also make use of virtual keyboards. The
format was conceptualized in the mid-20th century (Stanley Kubrick depicted fictional tablets in
the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey) and prototyped and developed in the last two decades of
that century. In April 2010,[5]the iPad was released, which was the first mass-market tablet
with finger-friendly multi-touch and a dedicated operating system. In the 2010s, tablets rapidly
rose in popularity and ubiquity and became a large product category[6] used for both personal and
workplace applications.

Usage[edit]
Around 2010, tablet use by businesses jumped, as business have started to use them for
conferences, events, and trade shows. In 2012, Intel reported that their tablet program improved
productivity for about 19,000 of their employees by an average of 57 minutes a day.[158] In the US
and Canada, it is estimated that 60% of online consumers will own a tablet by 2017 and in
Europe, 42% of online consumers will own one.[159] As of the beginning of 2013, 29% of US online
consumers owned tablet computers, a significant jump from 5% in 2011. [160] As of the beginning of
2014, 44% of US online consumers own tablets.[161] Tablet use has also become increasingly
common amongst children. A 2014 survey found that touch screens were the most frequently
used object for play amongst American children under the age of 12. Touch screen devices were
used more often in play than game consoles, board games, puzzles, play vehicles, blocks and
dolls/action figures. Despite this, the majority of parents said that a touch screen device was

"never" or only "sometimes" a toy.[162] As of 2014, nearly two-thirds of American 2- to 10-year-olds

have access to a tablet or e-reader.[163] The large use of tablets by adults is as a personal
internet-connected TV.[164] A recent study has found that a third of children under five have their
own tablet device.[165] While Android tablets sell more units than iPad, the web browser usage
share of iPads is about 65% as of the middle of 2015.

Webcam
A webcam is a video camera that feeds or streams its image in real time to or through
a computer to computer network. When "captured" by the computer, the video stream may be
saved, viewed or sent on to other networks via systems such as the internet, and email as an
attachment. When sent to a remote location, the video stream may be saved, viewed or on sent
there. Unlike an IP camera(which connects using Ethernet or Wi-Fi), a webcam is generally
connected by a USB cable, or similar cable, or built into computer hardware, such as laptops.
The term "webcam" (a clipped compound) may also be used in its original sense of a video
camera connected to the Web continuously for an indefinite time, rather than for a particular
session, generally supplying a view for anyone who visits its web page over the Internet. Some of
them, for example, those used as online traffic cameras, are expensive, rugged professional
video cameras.

Uses[edit]
The most popular use of webcams is the establishment of video links, permitting computers to
act as bs or videoconference stations. Other popular uses include security
surveillance, computer vision, video broadcasting, and for recording social videos.
The video streams provided by webcams can be used for a number of purposes, each using
;,lappropriate software:

Health care[edit]
Most modern webcams are capable of capturing arterial pulse rate by the use of a simple
algorithmic trick. Researchers claim that this method is accurate to within 5 bpm.

Video monitoring[edit]
Webcams may be installed at places such as childcare centres, offices, shops and private areas
to monitor security and general activity.

Commerce[edit]
Webcams have been used for augmented reality experiences online. One such function has the
webcam act as a "magic mirror" to allow an online shopper to view a virtual item on themselves.
The Webcam Social Shopper is one example of software that utilizes the webcam in this manner.
[5]

Videocalling and videoconferencing[edit]

Further information: Videophone, Videoconferencing, and Videotelephony
Webcam can be added to instant messaging, text chat services such as AOL Instant Messenger,
and VoIP services such as Skype, one-to-one live video communication over the Internet has
now reached millions of mainstream PC users worldwide. Improved video quality has helped
webcams encroach on traditional video conferencing systems. New features such as automatic
lighting controls, real-time enhancements (retouching, wrinkle smoothing and vertical stretch),
automatic face tracking and autofocus, assist users by providing substantial ease-of-use, further
increasing the popularity of webcams.
Webcam features and performance can vary by program, computer operating system, and also
by the computer's processor capabilities. Video calling support has also been added to
several popular instant messaging programs.

Video security[edit]
Webcams can be used as security cameras. Software is available to allow PC-connected
cameras to watch for movement and sound,[6] recording both when they are detected. These
recordings can then be saved to the computer, e-mailed, or uploaded to the Internet. In one wellpublicised case,[7] a computer e-mailed images of the burglar during the theft of the computer,
enabling the owner to give police a clear picture of the burglar's face even after the computer had
been stolen.
Unauthorized access of webcams can present significant privacy issues (see "Privacy" section
below).
In December 2011, Russia announced that 290,000 Webcams would be installed in 90,000
polling stations to monitor the Russian presidential election, 2012.[8]

Video clips and stills[edit]

Webcams can be used to take video clips and still pictures. Various software tools in wide use
can be employed for this, such as PicMaster (for use with Windows operating systems), Photo

Booth (Mac), or Cheese (with Unix systems). For a more complete list see Comparison of
webcam software.

Input control devices[edit]

Special software can use the video stream from a webcam to assist or enhance a user's control
of applications and games. Video features, including faces, shapes, models and colors can be
observed and tracked to produce a corresponding form of control. For example, the position of a
single light source can be tracked and used to emulate a mouse pointer, a head-mounted light
would enable hands-free computing and would greatly improve computer accessibility. This can
be applied to games, providing additional control, improved interactivity and immersiveness.
FreeTrack is a free webcam motion-tracking application for Microsoft Windows that can track a
special head-mounted model in up to six degrees of freedom and output data to mouse,
keyboard, joystick and FreeTrack-supported games. By removing the IR filter of the webcam, IR
LEDs can be used, which has the advantage of being invisible to the naked eye, removing a
distraction from the user. TrackIR is a commercial version of this technology.
The EyeToy for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Eye for the PlayStation 3, and the Xbox Live
Vision camera and Kinect motion sensor for the Xbox 360 and are color digital cameras that
have been used as control input devices by some games.
Small webcam-based PC games are available as either standalone executables or inside web
browser windows using Adobe Flash.

Astro photography[edit]
With very-low-light capability, a few specific models of webcams are very popular to photograph
the night sky by astronomers and astro photographers. Mostly, these are manual-focus cameras
and contain an old CCD array instead of comparatively newer CMOS array. The lenses of the
cameras are removed and then these are attached to telescopes to record images, video, still, or
both. In newer techniques, videos of very faint objects are taken for a couple of seconds and
then all the frames of the video are "stacked" together to obtain a still image of respectable
contrast.

Population and Education

The relationship between education and population has attracted the
attention of both scholars and policymakers, especially since the mid1970s. The rate of population growth and the number of people living on
earth have both increased spectacularly since the beginning of the

nineteenth century. During the twentieth century, the human population

increased at an average annual rate that was about fifty times as fast as the
rate over the previous 10,000 years. Between 1800 and 2000, the number
of people alive increased nearly seven-fold. Following World War II, the
rate of population growth explodedduring the 1970s it was about four
times as great as it had been a century earlier. By 2000, the living
population exceeded the entire population born between the beginning of
settled agriculture and the year 1900a period of 10,000 years.
The implications of this explosive growth for both the physical environment
and human wellbeing alarmed many observers and prompted an intense
public policy debate. Many scholars and policymakers noted that high
levels of educational achievement were associated with more moderate
rates of population growth, suggesting that important opportunities for
alleviating population pressures might be found in ensuring greater access
to education, particularly for females. The ensuing public policy debate has
prompted an examination of how education affects the birth rate.
The explosive growth of the human population in the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries was the result of a historically unprecedented decline in
the rate of mortality, rather than an increase in the birth rate. The
proportion of children dying before reaching the age of five fell from nearly
one in three in most of the world to less than one in one hundred in the
most advanced societies over this period, and to one in ten in low-income
countries. In the wealthiest countries, birth rates adjusted quickly to restore
a balance between births and deaths and establish a rate of population
growth of less than 1 percent a year. In economically advanced societies, the
average number of children born to each woman over her reproductive life
has fallen from about seven to less than two. However, in the poorest
countries, a sharp drop in death rates has not been accompanied by a
corresponding fall in birth rates. As a result, the rate of population growth
the difference between the average birth rate and the average mortality
ratehas increased dramatically in most of the world. The growth of
population has been greatest in countries that are both poorest and least
able to invest in social and educational services. The combined effects of
these forces seem to imply that the gulf between rich and poor is likely to
widen over the foreseeable future if aggressive policy measures are not
introduced.
These facts suggest that the key to ensuring a sustainable rate of population
growth lies in reducing the fertility rate. However, in a highly influential
1979 review of the research literature on the relationship between
education and fertility, the economist Susan Hill Cochrane concluded that
too little was known about the mechanisms through which education affects

population growth to allow policy-makers to rely on improvements in

educational opportunities to slow the rate of population growth. Since 1976
a large number of scholars have focused on the impact of education
especially the education of the girl childon fertility, mortality, and
population growth. The central purpose of these studies has been to
determine whether the nearly universal association of low fertility and high
levels of educational attainment are causally linked or merely the result of
their association with other forces that directly affect fertility. For example,
the inverse relationship between female literacy and fertility might have
nothing to do with education as such, but might instead simply reveal that
societies that seriously attempt to educate females also care about the
welfare of women and therefore seek to control fertility in order to protect
their health.