New Binary Code

Today in class we made up a new version of the binary code without using letters or numbers.  Here's mine!

~  =  0
!   =  1

See if you can decode this message.  Each line represents a letter.

~ ! ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ! ~ !
~ ! ! ~ ~
~ ! ! ~ ~
~ ! ! ! !
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ! ~ ~ ~
~ ! ! ! !
! ~ ! ! !
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ !
! ~ ~ ! ~
~ ~ ! ~ !
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
! ! ~ ~ !
~ ~ ! ~ !
! ~ ! ~ !

?

The Binary Game

Check out the binary game here!

1. I got to level 4.
2. The hardest part of the game is when you get to the big numbers that they assign and you have to figure out which buttons to press.
3. Binary numbers are more difficult than a regular base-10 numeral system, so I don't like it as much as regular counting.
4. With 5 fingers, you could count to 31 in binary.
5. Every time you use a computer, you are using binary.  When I type this post, the computer converts the input from the keyboard, which is in binary, to the letters on the screen.  I then post this and the blog stores the binary code of the letters.  When you open the page, your computer converts that binary code into the words you are reading right now.

3...2...1... Why Computers Use Binary

3 things you learned
   -   Sound is made by air pressure pressing and pulling on your eardrums.
   -   Computer code is sent along wires in volts.
   -   Binary is used because of the risk of inaccuracy.

2 things you don't understand well
   -   Why the binary system doubles the number represented by each digit (1, 2, 4, 8, etc)
   -   How do base 2-9 numeral systems work

1 thing you would like to know more about
   -   Base 2-9 numeral systems

Eliza

Eliza is a virtual intelligence, computer simulated therapist.  She's not very smart, though.

1.  I did not find Eliza to be very human-like.
2.  I think that more varied responses and better grammar would make Eliza seem more human.
3.  A computer can only express emotion in words that it is programmed to say.
4.  If computers are extremely well-programmed, with many varied responses available and a very good ability to recognise more than just the key words in a sentence, they could become more human-like.

Google

1.  The widely used search engine Google began as a small, two-man operation, but has transformed into the massive company that it is today.  Originally, the inventors of Google wanted to sell their invention, but no companies would buy it because search engines were not widely used at the time, and they didn't think Google would make any money.  When the inventors decided to make their own company, Google flourished and grew.  Search engines became more popular, and other search engines improved to compete with Google.  They introduced targeted advertising, which presents people with ads based on their search queries.  This is how Google makes so much money and has grown into such a huge success.

2.  Google faces challenges such as staying ahead of the competition, and keeping up with the rapidly expanding internet.

3.  Marketing and performance are the keys to staying ahead of the competition.  Google has to be the biggest name, the one that you hear every day, in order to stay ahead.  It also has to give good results fast.

4.  GoogleBot is a program developed to find every page on the internet to put it into Google's archives.  It organises the pages in the archive.  When someone searches something, results are organised with a complicated algorithm in order of relevance.  It uses statistics such as the number of incoming links and hits to find the most relevant pages, because the most useful pages will be the most popular.

Create Your Own Virtual Bead Loom Design

For our final experiment with the virtual bead loom, we created our own design.  I decided to do a Dalek from Doctor Who.

A bit simplified, but here you are!

Beadwork - Virtual Experiments

In class recently, we have been studying Native American beadwork and patterns and their geometric properties.  We used several virtual tools to use the Cartesian coordinate plane to make designs. First, we experimented with a virtual bead loom.

Then we used a virtual basket weaver.

We also used a virtual rug weaver.

We made another experiment using a culture other than Native American.