ALAN TURING : THE FATHER OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
A) Fill the timeline with elements from the article :
1912 1928
1934 1939
1948 1952
1954 2009
B) Say if the following elements are machines or not, and say who
their creator(s) was or were :
Turing machine Enigma
bombe turing test
C) Invent 3 questions for the Turing test
D) Was Steve Jobs a great fan of Turing’s work ?
( I found a game online you might try :
[Link]
PAGE 1
History of Python programming language
Adapted from [Link] by Alice Ivey , Jul 24, 2023
Delve into the remarkable evolution of Python, and learn how it grew to become a prominent and beloved
programming language in the tech world.
Python is an interpreted, object-oriented and high-level programming language created by Guido van Rossum. The
language’s design philosophy emphasizes code readability and simplicity, making it a popular choice for beginners
and experienced developers.
Birth of Python
Van Rossum, a Dutch programmer, started working on Python in December 1989 during his Christmas holidays while
working at the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) in the Netherlands. His goal was to create a language that
would be easy to read, write and maintain.
Python 2 vs. Python 3
Python 2.0, which included several new features and enhancements, was released in 2000. However, as the
language developed, some design choices in Python 2 made it more difficult to maintain and advance the language.
In response, Python 3 was created and launched on Dec. 3, 2008. With the introduction of backward-incompatible
improvements to enhance consistency and eliminate unnecessary functionality, Python 3 represented a substantial
advancement.
However, Python 3 is not fully backward compatible with Python 2 — which has reached its end of life and is no
longer actively maintained — requiring some code adjustments when migrating between versions.
The most recent stable release of Python 3.10.4, the fourth maintenance release of Python 3.10, was officially
published on March 24, 2023.
Python in the modern era
Python had become one of the most popular programming languages by the 2010s, and its use has only grown since
then. Python’s thriving community and environment were boosted by the adoption of the language by several IT
businesses, startups, and organizations for their projects.
Why is Python called Python?
Van Rossum named Python in honor of the British comic troupe Monty
Python’s Flying Circus, who he was a fan of.
What should Python not be used for?
Python is a powerful and versatile programming language that can be used for a variety of purposes. However,
there are several circumstances where it might not be the best option. Some examples are real-time systems,
resource-intensive software, mobile app development, high-frequency trading, system-level programming,
memory-intensive software, mobile or console gaming, and certain cryptographic algorithms.
Nonetheless, it is crucial to remember that using the correct libraries and tools can frequently help overcome Python’s
restrictions. The choice of programming language ultimately depends on the project’s needs, the team’s experience
and the development goals. Python is still a well-liked and helpful language that can be used alone or in combination
with other languages to accomplish many tasks.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
A) Lexical fields:
1- Find all the words associated with the idea of progress and change for the better ; classify them in grammatical
categories (nouns, adjectives, verbs …)
2- Make a list of the words which express the quality of a programming language
B) Create a timeline of the different versions of Python
C) Look up all the words in bold types: classify them in categories regarding their origins and creation
1- Compound adjectives 2- adjectives created with a prefix 3- adjectives created with a suffix
4- nouns created with a suffix
PAGE 2
Adapted from The History of Spam, July 2014, The Internet Society, Geneva
The growth of unsolicited e-mail imposes increasing costs on networks and causes considerable aggravation on the part of
e-mail recipients. The history of spam is one that is closely tied to the history and evolution of the Internet itself.
1971 RFC 733: Mail Specifications
1978 First email spam was sent out to users of ARPANET – it was an ad for a presentation by Digital Equipment
Corporation (DEC)
1984 Domain Name System (DNS) introduced
1988 “Spamming” starts as prank by participants in multi-user dungeon games by MUDers (Multi User Dungeon) to fill
rivals accounts with unwanted electronic junk mail.
1990 ARPANET terminates
1993 First use of the term spam was for a post from USENET by Richard Depew to [Link], which was
the result of a bug in a software program that caused 200 messages to go out to the news group.
The term “spam” itself was thought to have come from the spam skit by Monty Python's Flying Circus. In the
sketch, a restaurant serves all its food with lots of spam, and the waitress repeats the word several times in
describing how much spam is in the items.
When she does this, a group of Vikings in the corner start a song:
"Spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, spam, lovely spam! Wonderful spam!" Until told to shut up.
Thus the meaning of the term: something that keeps repeating and repeating to great annoyance.
1994 April, spamming became business practice, two lawyers Canter and Siegel posted a message “Green Card Lottery –
Final One?” to every news group possible
1997 First SMTP hijacking – Simple Mail transfer Protocol (SMTP) is a sender push technology that delivered all messages
without any sender requirement to provide an authentic return address.
1997 First Relay hijacking - allows third-party relay of e-mail messages by processing email that is neither for nor from
a local user, an open relay makes it possible for an unscrupulous sender to route large volumes of spam using
network resources from unsuspecting providers
1997 Paul Vixie creates Realtime Blackhole List (RBL) of spam sites
2000 Nigerian “419” email spam
2001 Code Red worm and Sircam virus infiltrate thousands of web servers and email accounts causing a spike in
Internet bandwidth usage
2003 May 3rd – 25th anniversary of the first “spam” and the first time that the amount of spam email exceeded the
amount of legitimate email
2003 First spamming “botnets” appeared
2006 IronPort released a study (June 28, 2006) that found that 80% of spam emails originated from “zombie”
computers. It also reported there were 55 billion spam emails sent in June 2006.
Botnets sent from zombie computers are often used to spread e-mail spam. Most owners are unaware that their
computer is being used in this way therefore the computers are called zombies.
2010 An estimated 88% of worldwide email traffic was spam (Symantec)
2011 Largest “botnet” on record (Rustock) that had infected over a million computers and had the capacity to send 30
billion emails a day was taken down in March through cooperation and actions between industry and various
governments
2006 IronPort released a study (June 28, 2006) that found that 80% of spam emails originated from “zombie”
computers. It also reported there were 55 billion spam emails sent in June 2006.
Botnets sent from zombie computers are often used to spread e-mail spam. Most owners are unaware that their
computer is being used in this way therefore the computers are called zombies.
A- Find all the words, phrases or acronyms related to IT and the internet
PAGE 3
B- Are the following illustrations spam, or not spam? To justify your choices, find references in the article
1
2 4
3 5
C- Find the words or phrases that correspond to the following definitions :
1- A military project during the Cold War 2-A work permit
3- Taking control by force or illegally 4- A code in the legal system to qualify extorsion
5- An insect and type f computer virus 6- A software which operates on its own
D- Write down a short paragraph to answer each of the following questions :
1- When did the first commercial spam appear?
2- How you make money with spam (find two ways)?
3- Can spam paralyze or slow the internet down?
4- Are zombie computers botnets?
5- What is the connection between Python (the programming language) and spamming?
VIDEO TIME: This is what happens when you reply to spam email l James Veitch on TED
[Link]
1- What was the first scammer proposing to do?
2- What unexpected proposal did James make?
3- What was the visual about?
4- What did James actually invent a code for? What are gummy bears and cream eggs?
5- Why was the response hilarious?
6- Who did the second scammer pretend to be?
7- What parts of the spam was particularly stupid?
8- How does James make fun of the scammer?
9- Finally, does James think his responses are useful? How or why?
VIDEO TIME: The Monty Pythons Spam sketch [Link]
1- Is this funny? Is you think it is, why? If you think it is not, what makes you laugh?
2- English humour is often describe as nonsensical. Does this apply to Monty Python? How?
PAGE 4
COMPOUND ADJECTIVES
PAGE 5