What a twist

This week is the final week where the last SLOG is written. And what's different about this one was that we are given the task of writing down our understanding of the issue of privacy between computers while we write down our slog.

So in our supposedly second last day of classes in the department, we looked into the property values of the internet. We discussed about how the internet works with its long ranged and carefully planned networks to how files are distributed across the networks to the privacy of one's identity in the internet. Speaking of one's privacy over the internet, we looked at one's properties over the internet, which includes (but not limits to) copyrights, trademarks, patients, etc., and the process and importance of property over the internet.

Before moving on, we should look at the issue surrounding the privacy in networked computers. One of the issues surrounding the privacy in networked computers is that privacy have their limits: they come in different methods of protecting one's personal information, and depending on how resourceful the information is, and how well the information can be shared among people.

Despite how resourceful the privacy can be given and kept, sometimes even saving privacy can't be enough. Sometimes privacy can be leaked for the purpose of evidence or just for the sake of leaking. Some information, such as surveys, black boxes and 911 calls forces you at a degree to share your opinion or identify yourself to get a result in the end while others such as identification and postal code are needed to confirm one's identity.

Case in point: music piracy and illegal downloading continues to become a large conflict in the entertainment section as technology improved itself over the years, and soon people were all over their heads to maintain their property from being stolen from the public.

This is why the internet has closed and open approaches of copyrighting objects present in the internet, to ensure that no one else takes one's work and claim it as theirs.

This lesson was fascinating and again, easy to understand. The different types of trademarking to claim responsibility and rights to a property was intriguing and made me think twice about what I should upload into the internet. The fact that how most problems in the internet such as pirating became increasingly problematic was a surprising fact for me because I always though pirating was a thing that came along with the internet, like stealing an image from someone who already owns ownership to the photo in the first place.

Next was our final DrRacket lesson of the course (I think, I may be wrong. Oh well.) This one was all about filtering lists. Taking the flattening function as extra aid, we learned how to separate those who match what we are looking for in a list over those we don't need.

The lesson was again extremely easy to understand and there was no problem not to ask questions on how to solve it. It just needs to be read more carefully.

That's all for the week. Now comes the final week for the course. Let's finish it off with a bang.

Next on the Internet

This week we focused on the privacy of the internet, or in other words, the maintaining security and have it open for everybody. In order to understand the purpose of security in the internet, we (the class) looked at the pros and cons of privacy, the limits of privacy in the internet and the conspiracies and the public figures involved in internet security.
Following the discussion, we looked at how security is presented as: it's a bunch of concentric circles (think a bull's eye target) with the different levels of security represented as the levels of privacy given to the public depending on how well you know them outside.
So far the class discussion was straight and understandable: it takes the safety of the internet to a different level, and it felt like something that could've been carefully analysed by second thought if one were to reread the lesson. The concentric circles was a nice touch to the lesson, as it made the importance of privacy understandable.

Moving forward, we looked at the privacy leaks, things that breaks through one's privacy such as surveys, black boxes and even the usage of the computer, that exist in the world, taking TIVO's recorded viewing as an example as well as the required leaks, privacy itineraries that are required to identify one's identity, including credit information.

We also looked into how security in the internet is made (International connections to NSA, for example) and how one can protect himself via privacy in the internet, including (but as limited to), passwords, and pins, updated security software, and one's self awareness in in the web.
Again, this part of the lesson was well-structured and understandable. The only part of this lecture I didn't fully grasp was the structure of the security of the web, which only aided me on learning that the NSA and CEC are involved in the whole privacy thing. Despite this small flaw, the lesson  was smoothly given and I understood every word of it.

Following the privacy lesson, we looked at a DrRacket lesson, which involved flattening and putting depth in a list. The lesson was simple really: flattening involved putting one or more lists into one huge list, while depth adds everything in the list into one huge addition problem. This proved to be the case when the tutorial practice and quiz came around.

And that's all I got from this week. Here comes the final class of CSC104 (for this term) and I am looking forward to it!

A nice night for a test

This week was the second week for a test. A test where we were tested on the recent lectures that were done over the past few weeks including the history of the computer, its components from the hard drives to the introduction of the Operating System and the introduction of the network. To top it all off, a couple of Dr.Racket functions to answer from dicyphering a couple of functions to creating the product of it.

But before the fun could start, there was another lecture to get through, and this week we looked at the relationship between work and computers. We looked at how the introduction of the computer affected the nature of the workforce from labour hours to worker's rights. We also looked into the future of the workforce and how computers affect the single workman in the industry.

So, after learning about the different components of the computer, we now look at the effect it puts in real life. To kick it off, we look at the workplace. At first, I expected the class to go into a human and technology relationship concept but I looked at instead was the result of an event due to technology rather than the relationship. It was simple at first, but then it took things to a different level when the Utopia vs. Dystopia topic was introduced. It was... interesting in the beginning but it was hard for me to wrap that idea inside my for a second because it made me think about what would the future really look like under computer progression.

Next, we focused on a problem called "product of sums", which involved adding products, but looked at it in a more structural way. To be honest, it was difficult for me to wrap my head around the problem, especially when solving the problem took at least a few minutes to look at.

But before that could be resolved, the test came by to put us to the test (no pun intended) of the recent lectures and tutorials done. I would say that the test was average because I knew what kind of questions would make it to the test itself, but even then there were some questions that I had to rely on memory to answer.

But that's all for this week.

Back to Business

Well, after a week's absence, I am glad to be back. Refreshed, recharged and ready to learn, I began this week by learning the different types of networks, from the formation to its history.

The lesson itself was straight-forward: we began by learning the different forms of networking, their advantages, disadvantages and effect on performance. Personally, I found the first two formations, the round and star ones, understandable, from how it's run to its initial advantages and disadvantages. But the only formation that I need to look back on is the bus formation, because unlike the former formations, which are linear, this one relies on an abnormal trail that where should one go off at the same time another does, everything stops, every computer is given intervals so they can restart all over again. This is the only thing that separates it from the others.

Following the different formations, we looked at the history and development of the internet network itself. It begins from how computers relied on cellphones to get a connections before DARPA funded and co-created the first worldwide network for everybody to use in 1969. The governments involved in them funded it for 2 decades before the next best thing came.

By 1992, the "medieval" network was being used by everywhere by everyone all over the world. People can send emails, protocols such as file transferring and network file services were introduced and back then, open protocols were mandatory until 2012. By this point, I understood the history surrounding the network, but I still haven't gotten used to how the network today works: from its content to how it moves around. I do know who's in charge of these protocols however.

Afterwards, it was DrRacket time, where we learned how to write a Recursion function using an image. The function itself was no problem and it was easy to remember as long as I look back and remind myself out of it. But I need to remind myself that although I got used to one image and its different actions into the equations, I must now learn how to write similar equations as well, as evident to the weekly quiz I wrote.

Now with this week over, it's time to look forward to the test next week. Time to hit the books again.

On to the Next One

After the quiz from last week we continued our work in DrRacket and in class.

For class, after we were introduced to different types of computers and the binary numbers that runs the programs, we were introduced to the hardware, and its long history. We looked into how the hardware worked  using the Von Nemann model with its RAM processor, CPU, and how this PC design is enable to decode then store all the info into the different registrars inside the computer. We also learned about the issues surrounding the hardware, from its limits to malfunctions that can happen from time to time. With the recent lectures on computer designs and how they tend to run, I deducted that the hardware part was related to the computer in terms of running it, but it was still missing a few pieces before I could fully understand how the computer works. Hopefully the next few lessons would cap everything off afterwards.

Following that part we looked into the evolution of the hardware itself, from the actual model with the platter on top, to the CD roms to the flash drives. Each and every one of them were understandable, but the only thing I have to remind myself is that the disco on the original RAM is completely different to the CD rom: their drives are in circles and in spirals respectively. Apart from that, everything else is describable, easy to take notice and seems in shape to relate to other lectures taken in the past.

We moved into the DrRaket portion of the lecture where we learned how to deconstruct and reconstruct images by controlling their pixels. We learned to stretch and compress the images in respect to the amount of pixels the image has and change the opaqueness and the colors themselves in an image to produce something else. Personally, this has been so far the easiest DrRacket lesson, not because it's short, but that instead of long complex functions to shape out the final result, here we can only take what seems visual and physical of an image then simply rearrange it around. Easy as pie. Another thing I'd like to point out is that the only problem I have with the DrRacket program is that now I need to fully grasp the concept of map-image . I haven't yet to fully understand what it is, but luckily a look back from the past notes should help me clear it away. Hopefully.

That's all I have for this week. Unfortunately I won't be here next week, so I will have to make shift for the week after that and combine the two lessons together, my thoughts and my next steps for improvement if possible

First Test

This week was the week where we would have our midterm midterm test.

Before we got into the test however, we had out next lecture of the week that we might possibly look forward to in the next test.

This week, we continued our work with binaural numbers and worked on a new subject that looks at computer characters, images and sounds, as well as encryption in a computer. In the binaural case, we continued to use arithmetic with the numbers at the base of 2 with multiplication, which, again, was completely different compared to how we do it with number at the base of ten. The rules of multiplying them are similar to the common multiplying we know, but the only difference here is that we include additional operations to the equation.
We also learned that binaural numbers can be negative numbers and fractions. In terms of fractions, we can change the binary number by shifting it to the right past the binary point and reduce it b 1/2. Negative numbers can be expressed using a scheme called IEEE floating point, which uses 64 bits: 1 bit for the sign, 11 for magnitude and the rest for a reminder for a non-negative.

Next, we took a look at how images, characters and sound all created from a computer are formed. Words include the same bits that was mentioned with the negative numbers, where they form the basis of words themselves. Images are represented using pixels of vast colors and sound are represented WAN sound format, which models the sound on the computer.Finally we look at the encryption of words. This goes back to the algorithms lesson, where in this case, we create and form our own code to our liking.

So far in the course, it's been quite the joyride: first we get to understand the history of computers, the importance of algorithms and some DrRacket here and there but the new classes involving binaural numbers has now become my next challenge. Before the course, I used to think that binaural numbers were a type of encrypted numbers that represented whatever the computer generated, but after this course, I see that the binaural numbers have more than to just random numbers. I need to be aware of what else binary numbers can do so I don't mess up anything else in the course. The rest such as pixels, WAN files and encryptions seem understandable but I can't take them with a grain of salt, for they have hold more information that we might see in the future.

After the lecture, we had our first midterm test. The questions themselves were enigmatic at first, but after some careful evaluation, I finally managed to answer all the questions to the best of my prior knowledge and studies that were introduced in the test.

Finally, we enter assignment week, as we have been introduced to our next assignment, as well as finishing up the others for this week.

New and upcoming

This week we focused more into the DrRacket program and the development of the computer program.

Beginning with the computer program, we have now come to a point where computers could now be written and encrypted in two different ways: digitally and in binaural. To make sure that the class understood how binaural worked, we worked upon it. To discover that all those 0s and 1s that represented numbers and letters were actually numbers based on the base of 2 was quite a surprise to me. It made me realize that looking through the base of  10 wasn't enough to read through the lines. Even doing arithmetic with the binaural numbers took my view on computer to the next level.
On a hands-on perspective, it wasn't too hard to control, as long as the concept was easy enough to grasp upon. But even then, maybe a little more practice with the numbers should help me remind that not all numbers run through the base of ten.

In DrRacket, we learned how to alter images, numbers, words and the like. We discovered how to splice them and make something new out of them. We even learned how to create a function using "define", "big-bang" and the simple (require picturing-programs), it was time to put it all together.

We learned how to list the images, size them, reverse their orders and even learned how to pick them out based on their order. We would also learn to define several actions based on the positioning of the words and through the order of how we want the images presented.

It was interesting to say the least. At first I was quite troubled with what the next tutorial was to be done, but somehow I managed to get the hang of it. It finally helped me piece everything that we have done in the past week and put them all into action. The quiz itself was self-explanatory.

Now with the 5 weeks past, it time to look forward to the midterm test for the course. It should involve both the lectures we followed and all the DrRacket tutorials that we took, under a more difficult pace, so the studying should be necessary and as soon as possible.

Same class, different subjects

Fourth week in, and it seems like everything is against me. Not just during the class but from outside as well. Seems like I'm not out of the first year blues yet, for I have nearly forgotten to write the next blog before realizing, after finishing another subject, I had to write this down. And boy it's something I need to talk about.

This week continues not only our computational history and the different timelines and events of it, but also the use of the DrRaket program. Students such as I taking this course must understand how it works via a tutorial session. Each tutorial session gives us a hands-on practice on the program based on what we learned about its new functions in the week. And so far, this week has been the most confusing for me.

This week, in terms of DrRaket, was learning how to model photos based on controlling the definitions and values of the photos. This involves transforming the selected photos into a different piece, using the term called "big-bang". This term involves using an already defined function, checked and expected, and use it to transform the photo. We can even change the rate of the change. What I understood from the lesson was how to prepare the function via defining it first, but eventually the part that I never understood until later was how to prepare it with the "big-bang" term. I tried to fix the problem myself through the notes taken and with aid from friends but nothing got quite through with what I had in mind. Eventually through aid and asking for some assistance would that disadvantage would become my advantage.

For the lecture, we continued with a timeline of the computational program, leaving back from the loom system. We would go onto systems that ran by steam, gears and pins, and eventually, electricity. By that point we would learn the rise of the computer itself, from its efficiency power and how the social world outside changed the way we saw computers ever since then. I was clearly amazed by the power of the computer system and how much it has come through to become what it is so far.

Next week, I believe that we should be wrapping up the final parts of the computational system, and continuing DrRaket with an aggregates lesson, which involves, based on blind observation, mapping functions over lists.

Late Introduction

Where to start...

Seeing that this is my first SLOG for Computational Thinking and my first blog writing in general, I have no idea how to start off my blog in a typical and introduction-like satisfaction.

I only best way I could do so is making this casual introduction to transfer to the main topic of this blog: my first experiences with Computational Thinking.

When I first started this course, I honestly had no idea what to expect from it. I believed that this was going to be a course where we look at how programs causes the computer to "think". Well, I was half-right.

What the course was is basically looking at how the programs are created to form the so-called "thinking" process for the computer, if  I'm not mistaken. In the first week, we were introduced to several web pages that would keep us company during the course. Personally, that meant that unlike most classes that rely on Blackboard, this class is so organized that it doesn't need Blackboard to start off with. This was something that at first didn't enjoy, but soon found out that it's easier to access to the work rather than searching through page after page in Blackboard.

In the second week, we were introduced to a program called MrRacket where we get to create our own values of a program. At first it was one of the most confusing things that I've placed my hands on, but through the videos supported with the program, it becomes easier to control, albeit the program as slowly changed since the videos' introduction. Once I got in control of the program, I became fascinated with all the values that we can control, and did the best to memorize every action by heart.

For this week, we continued our work on DrRacket. While we learned to convert images, numbers and words last week, this week we've learned to "defined" them. This meant that by altering one word to do several actions at once, we can forget about writing huge functions and save ourselves time with the DrRacket program. Personally I find that simpler to convey but difficult to use. At first I had no idea how to execute such words in the program but eventually with aid from the tutors, I managed to get the hang of the concept.

Afterwards for the latter 2 weeks, we had the small quiz to ensure that we know what we are doing. Simple, as I found out, as long as we know what we are studying.

Sooner or later, more classes would reach to those in the class, but as long as it becomes something of a habit rather than a class, I would look forward to what come next.