computer science

Knowbot Information Service

Knowbot Information Service is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Knowbot Information Service rather than just read about it. In short: The Knowbot Information Service (KIS), also known as netaddress, is an Internet user search engine that debuted in December 1989. Although it searches users, not content, it could be argued to be the first search engine on the Internet as it queried more than a single network for information.

Key takeaways

Knowbot Information Service belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Knowbot Information Service to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Knowbot Information Service from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Knowbot Information Service (KIS), also known as netaddress, is an Internet user search engine that debuted in December 1989. Although it searches users, not content, it could be argued to be the first search engine on the Internet as it queried more than a single network for information. It provided a uniform user interface to a variety of remote directory services such as whois, finger, X.500, and MCI Mail. By submitting a single query to KIS, a user can search a set of remote white pages services and see the results of the search in a uniform format. There are several interfaces to the KIS service including e-mail and telnet. Another KIS interface imitates the Berkeley whois command. KIS consists of two distinct types of modules that interact with each other (typically across a network) to provide the service. One module is a user agent module that runs on the KIS mail host machine. The second module is a remote server module (possibly on a different machine) that interrogates various database services across the network and provides the results to the user agent module in a uniform fashion. Interactions between the two modules can be via messages between knowbots or by actual movement of knowbots.

References

External links http://www.ou.edu/research/electron/internet/knowbot.htm http://www.cnri.reston.va.us/home/koe/index.html

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Knowbot Information Service

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Knowbot Information Service claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Knowbot Information Service before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Knowbot Information Service ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Knowbot Information Service

In research: Knowbot Information Service appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Knowbot Information Service in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Knowbot Information Service is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1989 software, History of the Internet, Internet Protocol based network software, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Knowbot Information Service outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Knowbot Information Service in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Knowbot Information Service means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Knowbot Information Service out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Knowbot Information Service in simple terms?

Why does Knowbot Information Service matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Knowbot Information Service?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Knowbot Information Service.