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Privacy Village Academy
Join The Community!AcademyAbout HGPE
  • Hitchhiker's Guide to Privacy Engineering
    • โ“What is HGPE?
      • โš–๏ธWho is this for?
      • ๐Ÿง™โ€โ™‚๏ธPrivacy Engineering
      • ๐ŸŽจCreative Privacy
      • ๐Ÿ”ฎGenerative AI
      • ๐Ÿง‘โ€๐Ÿ’ปAbout the Author
  • ๐Ÿง™โ€โ™‚๏ธThe Ethical AI Governance Playbook 2025 Edition
    • ๐Ÿค–Chapter 1 : AI Literacy
    • ๐ŸŒChapter 2 : AI Governance in the 21st Century
    • โŒ›Chapter 3 - Getting Started with AI Act Compliance
    • ๐Ÿš€Chapter 4 : Rise of AI Governance: Building Ethical & Compliant AI
    • Chapter 5 : Introduction to the Lifecycle of AI
  • ๐ŸŽ“Privacy Engineering Field Guide Season 1
    • โ“Decoding the Digital World: Exploring Everyday Technology
    • ๐Ÿ‘๏ธIntroduction: Why Privacy Matters?
      • Age of Mass Surveillance
      • Privacy & Democracy
      • Privacy & Government Surveillance
    • โšกChapter 1 : How Computers Work?
      • Electricity
      • Bits
      • Logic Gates
      • Central Processing Unit (CPU)
      • Graphic Processing Unit (GPU)
      • Motherboard
      • Data Storage
      • Databases
      • Operating System (OS)
      • Computer Code
      • Programming Languages
      • The File System
      • Bugs and Errors
      • Computer Virus
      • Internet of Things (IoT)
      • Cloud Computing
    • ๐Ÿ›ฐ๏ธChapter 2 : How the internet works?
      • Physical Infrastructure
      • Network and Protocols
      • Switch
      • Routers
      • IP Address
      • Domain Name System (DNS)
      • Mac Address
      • TCP / IP
      • OSI Model
      • Packets
      • The Client - Server Architecture
      • Secure Socket Shell (SSH)
      • Transport Layer Security (TLS)
      • Firewall
      • Tunnels and VPNs
      • Proxy Server
    • ๐Ÿ–ฅ๏ธChapter 3 : How Websites Work?
      • HTML
      • CSS
      • Javascript
      • Web Server
      • Browser
      • HTTP
      • Databases
      • Front End (Client Side)
      • Back End (Server Side)
      • Cookies
      • Local Storage
      • Session Storage
      • IndexedDB
      • XHR Requests
      • Web APIs
      • Webhooks
      • Email Server
      • HTTPS
      • Web Application Firewall
      • Single Sign-on (SS0)
      • OAuth 2.0
      • Pixels
      • Canvas Fingerprinting
      • Email Tracking
      • Containers
      • CI/CD
      • Kubernetes
      • Serverless Architecture
    • โš›๏ธChapter 4 : How Quantum Computers Work?
      • Quantum Properties
      • Quantum Bits (Qubits)
      • Decoherence
      • Quantum Circuits
      • Quantum Algorithms
      • Quantum Sensing
      • Post-Quantum Cryptography
    • ๐Ÿ“ณChapter 5 : Mobile Apps and Privacy
      • Battery
      • Processor
      • Mobile Operating Systems
      • Mobile Data Storage
      • Cellular Data
      • Mobile Device Sensors
      • Wireless Connectivity
      • Camera & Microphone
      • Mobile Apps
      • Software Development Kits (SDKs)
      • Mobile Device Identifiers
      • Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
  • ๐Ÿ•ต๏ธโ€โ™‚๏ธPrivacy Engineering Field Guide Season 2
    • โ“Introduction to Privacy Engineering for Non-Techs
      • ๐ŸŽญChapter 1 : Digital Identities
        • What is identity?
        • Authentication Flows
        • Authentication vs. Authorization
        • OAuth 2.0
        • OpenID Connect (OIDC)
        • Self Sovereign Identities
        • Decentralized Identifiers
        • eIDAS
      • ๐Ÿ‘๏ธโ€๐Ÿ—จ๏ธChapter 2 : De-Identification
        • Introduction to De-Identification?
        • Input / Output Privacy
        • De-identification Strategies
        • K-Anonymity
        • Differential Privacy
        • Privacy Threat Modeling
  • ๐Ÿ“–HGPE Story and Lore
    • ๐ŸชฆChapter 1 : The Prologue
    • โ˜„๏ธChapter 2 : Battle for Earth
    • ๐Ÿฆ Chapter 3 : A Nightmare To Remember
    • ๐Ÿง™โ€โ™‚๏ธChapter 4 : The Academy
    • ๐ŸŒƒChapter 5: The Approaching Darkness
    • โš”๏ธChapter 6 : The Invasion
    • ๐ŸฐChapter 7 : The Fall of the Academy
    • ๐Ÿ›ฉ๏ธChapter 8 : The Escape
    • ๐ŸชChapter 9 : The Moon Cave
    • ๐Ÿฆ‡Chapter 10: Queen of Darkness
  • ๐Ÿ“บVideos, Audio Book and Soundtracks
    • ๐ŸŽงReading Episodes
    • ๐ŸŽนSoundtracks
  • ๐Ÿ‘พHGPE Privacy Games and Challenges
    • ๐ŸŽฎData Privacy Day'23 / Privacy Treasure Hunt Game
    • ๐ŸงฉPrivacy Quest
  • ๐Ÿ“ฌSubscribe Now!
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  • What is a computer?
  • The History of Computing
  • Computers of Today, and the Future

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  1. Privacy Engineering Field Guide Season 1

Chapter 1 : How Computers Work?

This field guide's intention is simply to demystify the subject of how machines work for anyone who has ever wondered whatโ€™s going on inside a cyborg's circuits.

PreviousPrivacy & Government SurveillanceNextElectricity

Last updated 2 years ago

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What is a computer?

If you're ever in need of a machine that can unlock the secrets of the universe, look no further than the mighty computer. Just be sure to use it wisely, lest you unleash forces beyond your control!

With their vast knowledge and processing power, they can navigate the most treacherous corners of the universe, decipher the languages of alien civilizations, and even simulate the birth of stars.

Computers get things done as a result of a combination of hardware, software, input, and output.

A computer is an electronic machine that processes information: it takes in raw information, stores it until it's ready to work on it, uses it, and then spits out the results at the other end.

The History of Computing

Humans across the galaxy have been using numbers for thousands of years.

In 1927, a professor at MIT build a mechanical device that could evaluate calculus integrals and other kinds of mathematical functions.

Computers of Today, and the Future

In the 1940s, computers were giant machines that cost millions; today, most computers are not even recognizable as such as they can be tiny IoT devices.

The history of computing goes back to the used by Greek astronomers before the was differently sized wheels with teeth to measure the speed of planets.

or in the early 1600s were used to add, subtract, multiply and divide upon user inputs.

In 1801 Jacquard Loom invented the slates to control the pattern woven into the fabric. In 1832, the British government funded a machine for calculating and printing tables of logarithms, trigonometric functions, and artillery tables.

In the year 1890, US Census developed the . It used punch cards and card-sorting machines which were the real ancestors of modern computing as we know it today.

When WWII began, built a series of hard-wired special-purpose devices for cracking the German military codes.

was the name of the electromechanical device that searched for possible settings for the Germans' Enigma encryption device. was the second code-breaking project in the UK that used vacuum tubes that can switch electrical signals to crack the military codes used by the Germans.

Now we might be on the verge of the rise of . There are billions of dollars invested in the race to build quantum supercomputers by countries or private companies like , or , or both.

This chapter will help you understand how a computer works from the ground up all the way to , , mobile apps, and even works.

Antikythera Mechanism
Battle for Earth
Napier Bones
Leibniz wheels
first binary system that utilized wooden
Tabulating machine
Alan Turing
The Bombe
The Colossus
quantum computers
IBM
Google
D-Wave
how the internet
websites and web applications
quantum computing
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First-generation cyborgs are the most violent and aggressive ones. The neural chips and shadow matter affects their brain cells. They require bio-organic energy, which could explain why they feast on corpses. - Anatomy of a Cyborg, Book of Princess Talia, 2346 Anno Domini
This is a Raspberry Pie that I use as my spare computer. Having a full desktop experience on such a tiny device is mind-blowing.
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EXPLANATION OF HOW A COMPUTER WORK BY THE LEGENDARY RICHARD FEYNMAN