I101 Blog

Lab 10

2007-04-19T18:12:00.000-05:00

Hartly measured uncertainty with a set of alternatives. He measured these alternatives having the same probability. These is measured in bits.

Shannon's enthropy measures uncertainty as well, but it takes into account the alternatives having different probability. It is measured as the average number of bits needed to represent a symbol.

Lab 9

2007-04-06T18:05:00.000-05:00

In lab 9 we did more data analysis. I learned more about the Sumation tool in excel. I learned how to calculate the slop of a line. I also learned how to calculate the y-intercept. We also learned how to calculate the correlation of the line. The main thing that I learned in lab 9 was how to use the data analysis tool. By going to the Tool drop-down, then to add-ins, you can have a new sheet with all calculations that deal with regression. This tool is very useful and saves lots of times.

The lab teaches us about linear regression. Fitting a line to points on a graph can be useful in data analysis. This is called a best-fit line. This line gives you three pieces of information. The slope, which lets you know how the line is increasing or decreasing. It also tells you about the y-intercept, which lets you know what the valuse of y is when x is zero. The last piece of information you can get with calulations of the best-fit line is the correlation of the line. This number is between 0 and 1. It is a percent of how close all of the points are to the best-fit line.

Lab 8

2007-03-30T10:04:00.000-05:00

Lab 8 was an intro to using Excel. I have used excel in the past so I knew a little bit about using it.
I learned that you can import text files instead of typing them in. This is nice to know because it saves alot of time. I also learned how to sort data, I knew you could do this, but I never knew how. I also learned about the sigma symbol. This symbol is very usefull. You can sum, average, count, and many more functions. I am very fimiliar with charts in excel. That's what I have used Excel for in the past.

Lab 7-Task 3

2007-03-09T16:08:00.000-05:00

Lab 7-Task 2

2007-03-09T15:52:00.000-05:00

This circuit has a XOR gate, then goes to a NOT gate. The XOR gate means that it is A or B and not both A and B. This means that it is true only if it is either A or B, but not both of them. The not gate makes it true if A and B are both the same.

Converting Numbers

2007-02-22T21:22:00.000-05:00

Converting Binary Numbers to Decimal Numbers and Back

Convert 110010101 to Decimal

This number has nine places in it. This means you have to go from 2^0-2^8. Then you multiply either the 0 or 1 to what ever 2^n it is. Then you add up all of those numbers.

(2^8 * 1) + (2^7 *1) + (2^6 * 0) + (2^5 * 0) + (2^4 * 1) + (2^3 * 0) + (2^2 * 1) + (2^1 * 0) + (2^0 * 1) = Decimal Number

256 + 128 + 0 + 0 + 16 + 0 + 4 + 0 + 1 = 405

Convert 529 to Binary

To convert to binary you keep dividing the number until you get to 0. You use the remandiers for the binary number.

529 264 1 1

264 132 0 01

132 66 0 001

66 33 0 0001

33 16 1 10001

16 8 0 010001

8 4 0 0010001

4 2 0 00010001

2 1 1 100010001

1 0 1 1100010001

A positonal number system has places for numbers and 0's for spots where there is not a number. The decimal system is a good example. There are specific places for numbers. There is the 1's, 10's 100's 1,000's.......places. There is also the 10ths, 100ths, 1,000ths......places. The numbers are added together as you see them. 1,056= 1,000+50+6.

A non-positional number system does not use 0's for spots where there are no numbers. The Roman numerical system is a good example. For 1 there is I. For 2, II. For 3, III. For 5, V. To get for you put the symbol for 1 before the symbol for 5, IV. 10, X. For 9, IX. To get 11, you put the symbol for 1 after the X, XI. To get 101 there is not a symbol that represents 0. C represents 100, CI represents 101.

Global Swarming

2007-02-15T19:29:00.000-05:00

In Ch. 6, Global Swarming, of Andy Clark's book he mentions "collaborative filtering." The average person might not know what this term means, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that every person who has been on big companies online shopping site has seen this. At least anyone who has bought anything off of amazon.com. Collaborative filtering is a way for companies to try and get more sales. When you select a product to look at you often see a box on the side that shows you other products that people who bought what you are looking also bought. The idea is that you would possibly like what other people who bought what you bought, bought. In theory this sounds like a great idea, but there are flaws in it. What if a parent buys theirself things on amazon.com. But also does birthday and Christmas shopping too. If there were many parents buying similar things for themselves and for their kids, some of the suggestions might not be right for others.

Clark also describes a new type of search engine. A search engine that uses "transitiviy." This is creating links that are cause by people going from websites to websites. If a people go from website A, to B, to C, then there would be a link from site A to site C. There is a real problem with search engines. The web is such that ANYONE can put ANYTHING on it. Which means that there is a lot of JUNK out there. When searching for topics of many search engines it is hard to find exactly what you are looking for. You have to sift through a lor of junk. Making search engines better is a must.

It is interesting that Linux is not owned by anyone. I believe that Mac OS is based off of Linux. Mac to some extend also allows users to create amendments. The Widgets that Mac OSX has is taken from Linux. Microsoft also took it and used it on Vista because Mac OSX has made Widgets very popular. Microsoft, being original and creative (and a high quality system) has named theirs Gidgits.

Unix Commands

2007-02-15T19:17:00.000-05:00

4 Unix Commands

ls
This command shows all of the directories and files in the system. This allows you to see everything on the computer.
A Windows counterpart would be to open My Computer. My computer shows all folders and applications.

rm
This command removes (deletes) a file. This removes a file from the computer.
To do this in Windows you would select the item and press the Delete key.

cd
This command moves you to a different directory. This allows you to change between directories.
To do this in Windows you just open the folder would want.

more
This scrolls through the file. This allows you to see more of the file.
To do this in Windows you can click the arrow buttons, drag the square between the arrows, or you the click wheel in the mouse.

Modeling the World

2007-02-08T15:48:00.000-05:00

From the lecture notes I learned about modeling the world. I learned about the Hertzian Modeling Paradigm. I also learned that there are patterns that exist in nature. These paterns can be modeled on computers. That is how you see plants grow in animation. We also talked about the Fibonacci Sequence, which I already knew about. I learned it in high school math class. It's cool that plants in nature are made up with this sequence. We also watched the trailer for the film Pi which I own. Darren Aronofsky did a great job on this film. I learned about this film because I really enjoyed Requiem For a Dream which Aronofsky also directed. The Fibonacci Spiral is also really cool.

2007-01-24T12:43:00.000-05:00

The Nature of Information

Information is hard to define. It is not a specific area or particular discipline or field. Information is the basis of communication. Informatics is the study of Information which pertains to many disciplines: from Science to Philosophy. The structure of information is a relation among signs, objects, and things. An agent (or person) is informed by a sign, and a sign is a representation that is a symbol for something, and the thing is some form of information. Semiotics is the discipline that studies sign systems. There are three types of signs: Icons, Indices, Symbols. Icons are direct representations of objects. Indices are indirect representations of objects, but necessarily related. Symbols are arbitrary representations of objects, which require exclusively a social convention to be understood. There are different languages which creates difficulty sharing information between people. Information is stored in binary code or bits. This code only uses two characters, 0's and 1's. Binary code is digital. Digital refers to things we can count. Analogue information is transmitted using electrical, mechanical, hydraulic, and sound signals.

Infoport

The Library of Babel

2007-01-14T16:42:00.000-05:00

The story The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges is extremely confusing. The story is about a universe that consists of endless connecting hexagons. These hexagons contain the necessities for survival as well as four walls of bookshelves. The library contains somewhere, every coherent book ever written and every coherent book that will ever be written. The books are useless to the reader, which makes the librarians want to kill themselves.
I found this story to be confusing and very strange.

Infoport: Library of Babel

First Post

2007-01-11T17:57:00.000-05:00

This is the first post for my Blog for I101.