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.

Types of Signs

In our discussions during class about signs and symbols, I have had many revelations about how these items are interpreted. These notes found on the Class Website describe the differences between icons, indices, and symbols. These descriptions of how different types of signs got me thinking a lot about how items are represented in different cultures. A Japanese Street Sign can mean the same thing as an American sign, but they can look completely different. This idea is discussed on Infoport for the January 15th post referring to the several different imitations of signs used in Shrek 2. Even though the location of that movie is taking place in a completely different world, they use many of the signs found in American Pop Culture today, showing that signs have the ability to be universal, much more than a single language can.

The picture shown above is another parody about how signs can be universal, this is a take on Einstein's Theory of Relativity, but makes it more interesting by using the modern day image of cars passing on a highway. The Binary numbers represent the M, mass, of Einstein's Theory, while C, the speed of light, represents how fast these "masses" can go. Although this is an completely unrealistic image, the use of signs in this picture allows the viewer to understand what the artist is trying to convey.

This is the theme I've picked up from these lectures so far. Signs from different cultures can look very different but still hold the same universal images. So although a group of people may not know how to speak a word of each others languages, they both are well aware of the shape of a stop sign. It shows that although there might not be a universal language, signs and symbols are. They are the best way to convey any type of information worldwide.

The Library of Babel

Although it took me a few reads to understand, The Library of Babel found on Infoport is a fascinating look into how information can be interpreted and described. This imaginary "Library" of every possible book of every possible combination of letters in Borges' story is somewhat hard to grasp, but it really makes you think about how ambiguous signs and systems of information are. I never thought about the fact that with so many possibilities language systems can be so much more complicated then they are today.

Heyy

Heyy this is my first blog post. I'm a freshman at IU majoring in possibly T-Comm or Informatics. I'm currently living in McNutt so if anybody is down to clown and around that part of campus, feel free to stop by.