Mass Storage Devices

The most entertaining (if this word is ever appropriate for a university lecture, it would be this class) part of this week's lecture is the discussion about mass storage devices; it really goes to show how far technology has rapidly evolved in the past few decades. One of the few interesting facts that I learned is why CPU chips are small. I'd always thought that the bigger the CPU chip is, the faster/more powerful it will be. Another cool fact is that USB sticks cannot be erased even if you drop them into the ocean! So yes, computer history can be exciting.

Week TERM TEST (And What I Learned)

Term test is now over, and the lecture which followed (algorithm) went smoothly.

The definition of "algorithm", according to Dictionary.com, is "a set of rules for solving a problem in a finite number of steps, as for finding the greatest common divisor". As a result, the conceptual understanding of algorithm is pretty straightforward to learn; it is basically a set of procedures. One way of thinking about it is to vision those awful chemistry lab procedures in high school - after each step, whoever is reading the report will know exactly what to do, and how to do it properly. This is to ensure that you don't end up taking a big sniff of an 18 mol/L sulfuric acid when you're uncertain of its identity. Algorithm is crucial in computer programming because when programs are designed, they need to follow a certain set of rules, and those rules must encompass a wide variety of situations and solutions.

So I just had some instant noodles before typing this. To cement my comprehension of algorithm, I will explain the process which I undertook to purchase that cup of noodles:

1) Commute to Café Reznikoff
2) Enter from the automatic door that has the sticker "enter"
3) Turn your head left upon entering, and walk straight until you see several cups of noodles
4) Take how many you need
5) Pay for it (skip this step and you may be arrested!)
6) Leave from the automatic door on the left side

This is of course a simple algorithm, and the details of many "useful" real world examples are extremely intricate. Nevertheless, I will try and develop my skills from here on.

Hopefully I'll find something else to post next week,
Until then, piece out!

First Entry - Novelty of Computing (Mostly Binary #s)

Okay, so last week our CSC104 class started to progress towards the complicated and challenging concept: how to manipulate binary numbers. Of course, when you learn something entirely new with no prior experience whatsoever, you will undoubtedly become confused. I thought I was experiencing schizophrenia or some sort of mental disorder that insisted me to question math even at its most elementary level. My initial thought process was just sheer agitation — how can manipulating the numbers 0 and 1 be so difficult?

So I thought to myself, "alright, if I can't decipher any of these numbers in class, maybe I should try Google-ing these things back home." And sure enough, I found a website whose capacity is so large that at times it is perceived to be boundless in terms of the materials that it encompasses —   http://www.wikihow.com/ . Just type anything into its all-mighty search-box like you would with Google or Bing, and BOOM, the results will pop up.

I started with the adding binary numbers part first; after all, it is the simplest and most essential. Here's what I did/where I went: http://www.wikihow.com/Add-Binary-Numbers

As seen in the webpage, those various pictures depict a straightforward approach to the procedures that one must take to accomplish adding the numbers 0 and 1 (the example demonstrated is 0111 + 1110 = 10101, just to make sure that you're on the right page).

So there you have it, my very first summary of "doing things that most kids in grade four might be able to". Honestly, I really did not understand this at the beginning. Nevertheless, it is through curiosity that we are compelled to explore or probe anything. Yeah, words of advice I guess, but I really hope this post becomes helpful to one of my (few) viewers.

With that said, I'm out!

So I Am Now Officially A Blogger?

Weeee!! I feel so accomplished!