Converting Binary and Decimal

I found the easiest way to convert the binary number 110010101, was to create the table below where each place has a different power of 2 assigned to it. Then if there is a 1 below a specific power of 2, you find what that power is and place it in the 3rd row of the table. Once you have found all the values of the "1s" in the number, you add those values together and come up with the decimal value of the binary number.

28	27	26	25	24	23	22	21	20
1	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	1
256+	128+			16+		4+		1

256+128+16+4+1 = 405

So the value of the Binary number 110010101 is 405

To convert the Decimal number 529 to its Binary form, all you need to do is divide the number by 2 until you can no longer divide it. Although you don't need to organize it into a table I feel its best to make it look clear and concise. As you can see you start with dividing 529 by 2, which is 264 with a remainder of 1, so the first place in the new binary number is 1. Then you divide 264 by 2, which is 132 with a remainder of 0, so the second place in the new binary number is 0. You do this continuously until you reach zero.

Decimal	Quotient	Remainder	Binary
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	0	000010001
1	0	1	1000010001

As you can see once you reach 0 and can no longer divide the number by 2, you have the final binary number.

In this case the decimal number 529 is 1000010001 in Binary.

Positional vs. Non-Positional
The difference between Positional and Non-Positional number systems is very simple to understand. A positional number system is one where each position is related to the next by a constant multiplier. For example the decimal systems constant multiplier is 10, so if you find the number 6 in the "hundreds place," it is multiplied by 10^3 or 100.

A non-positional number system does not have a constant multiplier for each position, instead a new symbol is usually created to convey the newest number position. An example of this would be the Roman Numeral System, each position is not related to the one next to it. The number XLI has no constant multplier to tell you that it means 41 in decimal form, you just have to have a specific understanding of what each symbol means.

Andy Clark and Search Engines

While reading an excerpt from Andy Clark's book Natural-Born Cyborgs I found his opinions about search engines to be very interesting. Clark's views are that newer search engines like Google search for the structure of links between pages instead of strictly looking at the content of the pages. He uses the example of searching for a word like "Harvard" and the Harvard homepage not being one of the top pages in that search for early search engines like Yahoo or Excite, however with engines like Google it's the very first page in the search. By performing searches like this it connects the web more than anyone could have thought.

When search engines are able to bring together these "soft assembled" information packages that Clark outlines, users are able to access any information at any time of day. This has seemed to revolutionize society's ability to give and receive information at any time. The user also has all the control in what information he or she wishes to access. This is basically the opposite of a book or newspaper where the reader is being force fed information, an online search allows for total user control. All of this work has allowed information to be accessible to anybody in the world and also brought the world closer together. Somebody in Paris, France can be accessing the same information that someone in rural Indiana, and I feel its all for the best. With information being so easily accessible due to the capabilities of these search engines, and this can only help people collaborate to come up with newer ideas that can improve the world around us.

Unix

During my time in lab studying the Unix Operating System, I learned several helpful and critical commands in order to properly run the system. The first command I learned was the ls, or list command, which lists the files and other directories that are found in your personal directory. This is similar to the dir command that is used in MS-DOS. The second importatnt command I learned is clear, which clears the screen of all previous text. This is helpful because while using Unix, the screen can get very cluttered with a bunch of text and numbers, so this helps clear the screen and allows you to focus on the only things you need. This is similar to the cls command used in MS-DOS which is also used to clear the screen of all text.

Two of the more advanced commands I learned were how to move objects like the calander function of Unix into files. To do this you type cal 2007> [Name of File] this allows you to move large objects like an entire year's calender into a small, manageable file. Then to view that file, you can use the more command, and all you need to type is more [Name of File]. This allows you to view a large object such as a calender at the speed you want. This command is similar to the MS-DOS command more < [Name of File].

I found this site very helpful in order to find many commands that are similar in the Unix and MS-DOS operating systems.

Modeling The World

In the lecture notes about "Modeling The World," I learned that pretty much anything and everything that surrounds us can be modeled. Although some items may be extremely complex to model if you just attempt to follow the series of steps described in the notes nearly any problem found in our environment can be modeled.

Developing models can be extremely complex and difficult to create, however once development is completed a model can be very beneficial in explaining phenomena that occur in the world around us. Those who develop models such as Fibonacci or Hertz are regarded as geniuses and they models they create are considered stunning revelations. Without the development of models occurrences in our world would be very difficult to understand and explain.