Lab 6 - Converting Binary to Decimal Code

This is how you convert a binary code into a decimal code.

1. Going from right to left, label each of your 1s and 0s 2⁰, 2¹, 2³, 2⁴, etc. until each of your digits has a 2 to the whatever power paired with it. Your exponents must got up 1 as you move to the right. You must start with 2⁰ and then go to 2¹ and so on and so forth.

2. Once you have completed this step you want to ignore your zeros. For each of your ones go ahead and calculate the labels that you gave your ones in the previous step.

3. Once you have calculated these numbers add them all. The number that you get after you add them up is your decimal code and that is how you convert from binary into decimal.

Positional and Non-positional Number System
The positional number system is the total value of each number is determined by the position it is in if it is grouped with other numbers. For example, 554 is higher than 544. Even though there is a 4 in the last of the 3 digits on both of the numbers the first one is higher than the second one because the second digit in the first one is a 5 and the second digit in the second one is a 4.
The Non-positional number system differs from this because regardless of what position the numbers are in a so called "bigger" number could actually be smaller than a number that is "smaller" than it is. It doesn't really deal with the position of the digits.

Lab 5 - Part 2: Andy Clark

In this chapter, Andy Clark talks about slugs and ants. He emphasizes how slugs create a slimy "goo" path when they creep along. These paths could be intended for multiple purposes. They act as a path for the slug crawling so that they can easily move along. They can also serve as a path for other slugs that are trailing. He uses the same example talking about ants. Ants use a specific trail to a certain food source and leave pheromones along the way so that all the other ants and quickly and easily retrieve the food.
Clark then goes on to talk about how this is kind of relate to online shopping such as that done on Amazon.com or using a search engine for that matter. By click to go to the next page we leave little trails that tell the merchants how to relate the items that are being viewed so that if someone finds something they like, the merchants can offer more suggestions as to what also they might like. If they are checking out on an online shopping website, that website shows what people also bought if they had purchased the same item, giving the consumer more options when shopping.
It works the same with a search engine. Based on your search requests and the websites that you visit you leave a trail of what you search for. A site can determine what they need to put in a higher ranking order so that when someone is looking for something, they can find it quickly because others have had the same questions and have accessed it giving the latest person to access it no trouble at all.

Lab 5 - Part 1: Unix Commands

The first Unix command would be the MAN, which allows us to access the manual to all of the unix commands. This code can related to windows because when you use access the control panel you can do pretty much anything you need to with the basic components of the PC and acts as sort of a manual for your computer.

The second Unix command would the the CLEAR command, which allows you to clear you page and gives you a fresh start. This can best be related to the Delete or Backspace command on Windows. You can clear information and start with a fresh slate with the delete and backspace key.

The third Unix command would be the CD command, which allows you to move from directory to directory. This relates to moving from folder to folder by click with Windows. We can access different files from different folders by clicking on one folder which leads us to the next. For example, a folder on your desktop would be a directory within a directory.

The final Unix command is the EXIT command, which allows you log out of the remote systems. The component in Windows that allows you to relate to this is the Log Off feature with allows you to log out of your profile. You could even just turn your system off and that would exit the system as well.

Lab 4 Post - Modeling the World

In the Modeling the World lecture, we once again talk about symbols and their uses. But this time we talk about symbols and how they date back all the way to Aristotle. In this time period we used our first numeric symbols in Physics. I like how this lecture incorporates how symbols were also recognized by some very famous faces such as Galileo, Issaac Newton, and Heinrich Hertz.

I thought that the exercise we did in class with the attacker and defender was great. You could really tell the difference in the way the group moved when we switched roles. It was interesting to see the change and then to acutally observe the change on the slide.

With the other examples given about the escape route, this is something that we encounter everyday. I have had multiple experiences where there are many doors available yet the large crowd always tries to squeeze through one door. Why we do this still remains a question to me. A lot of the time we just do what the rest of the crowd is doing, but I think that we need to branch out and be different. It is a vital part of life that we all must have in order to survive. If we would have followed a large group around in trying to escape from a fire (like was shown in the demonstration) then we would just burn; but if we branch out and try to find out own route, then maybe we can escape.