Misc

GitHub

Follow these instructions to sign up for GitHub:

  1. Visit the GitHub website: https://github.com

  2. Click on the "Sign up for GitHub" button.

  3. On the homepage, enter your mail address, create a username and password in the respective fields.

  4. You'll receive an email to verify your account. Click on the verification link in the email.

  5. Once your account is verified, sign in to access GitHub's features.

Request Access to GitHub Education

If you are a student or educator and have an email account with .edu you are likely eligible for free services.

  1. Visit the GitHub Education website: https://education.github.com

  2. Click on the "Get Benefits" button under either the "Students" or "Teachers" section, depending on your role. https://education.github.com/benefits

  3. If not already signed in, go ahead and sign in with your GitHub account.

  4. Fill out the required information, including proof of your educational affiliation (ID), and then click "Submit."

  5. Wait for GitHub to review your request. You'll receive an email once your request has been approved or denied.

For more information about GitHub Education, visit their documentation: https://docs.github.com/en/education

Activating GitHub CodeSpaces

  1. Visit the GitHub website: https://github.com

  2. Sign in with your GitHub account.

  3. Click on your profile picture in the top-right corner, then select "Settings" from the dropdown menu.

  4. On the left sidebar, click on "Codespaces."

  5. Click the "Enable Codespaces" button.

Starting a CodeSpace from a Repository

  1. Navigate to the GitHub repository you want to work with.

  2. Click the green "Code" button located near the top-right corner of the repository.

  3. In the dropdown menu, click on the "Open with Codespaces" tab.

  4. Click the "New codespace" button to create a new Codespace.

Installing VS Code Extensions for CoPilot

  1. In your CodeSpace, click on the Extensions icon on the left sidebar (it looks like a square with four smaller squares).

  2. Search for "GitHub Copilot" in the search bar.

  3. Click the "Install" button next to the GitHub Copilot extension in the search results.

  4. The extension will be installed, and you can start using GitHub Copilot in your CodeSpace.

For more information about GitHub CodeSpaces, visit their documentation: https://docs.github.com/en/codespaces

Transformative technological events in human history
Dates Technology Transformation Years of Relevance
1600s Logarithm Slide Rule Calculator Shorthand Maths 1630s - 1970s
1800s Babbage programmable computer & Lovelace Algorithm Analog Computer 1850s - 1940s
1930s Turing Machines General-purpose Computer 1940s (WWII codebreaking)
1950s UNIVAC First Commercial Computer 1960s
1970s Electric Calculator Multi-purpose Mathematics 1970s - 2000s
1970s FORTRAN Scientific Software 1970s - today
1980s Apple II, IBM PC Personal Computer 1980s - today
1990s Microsoft's Office for Windows General Productivity Software (spreadsheets!) 1990s - today
1990s World Wide Web The Internet! 1990s - today
1990s Google Ranked Search Engine 2000s - today
2000s Apple iPhone all-in-one (touch screen) personal device 2001 - today
2010s OpenAI Large Language Models (LLMs) AI Chat & Computer Vision right now!

  • The slide rule is invented by the mathematician William Oughtred around 1620 (rectangular) and 1630 (circular), based on the concept of mathematical logarithms, which were discovered by John Napier a decade earlier. Slide rules continue to be used for engineering, mathematics, and scientific research well into the 1980s.

  • Ada Lovelace writes the first algorithm around 1842, describing an Analytical Engine to compute Bernoulli numbers for Charles Babbage's computational engine. Notably, the machine is never built, its impact is not realized for another hundred years.

  • In the 1930's Alan Turing devises the "Turing Machine" and is employed by the British Government to break the Nazi's Enigma code boxes. His invention leads to the creation of the first General Purpose Computers.

  • In 1951 the first commercial computer, UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) is put into production in the 1950s with units purchased by commercial companies and research universities. By 1953 the first computer science degree program is offered at University of Cambridge, and by 1962 Purdue has formed the first computer science department.

  • In the 1950s scientists proposed definitions of AI. In 1963, Computers and Thought was published, highlighting 20 seminal papers on AI.

  • The FORTRAN (Formula Translation) programming language is created in 1957 by John Backus team at IBM. Critically, FORTAN shortened the process of programming and made computer programming more accessible. Over 60 years later, modern FORTRAN is still one of the most popular languages for numerical simulation modelling in high performance computing.

  • In the 1980s personal computers are released by Apple and IBM. Computing enters the home and the office.

  • Microsoft's Office for Windows makes word processing and tabular spreadsheets available for most business and scientific research

  • In the 1990s the Internet is expanded beyond University campuses into homes and businesses. Search Engines are developed, with Google taking command in the late 1990s with its patented ranked search which provides better results in less time.

  • Apple releases the iPhone, an all-in-one device which has a high quality camera, touch screen, telephone, and integrated operating system with personal computing.

  • In 2018 LLMs are released by major tech companies (Microsoft, Google, Meta (Facebook)).

  • In late 2022, OpenaI's ChatGPT-3 is released. Within two months has over 100 million active users.