AP Computer Science

Portfolio

September 10, 2018

Today we spent our time in class "rapid prototyping." We were given ideas to start with on post-its and a sheet of paper to map out how we used these ideas and technology to better the world.

The first rapid prototype was made with three given materials that could be used in any way that did not have to obey the laws of physics, therefore encouraging our pure imagination. My group was given sugar, air and electricity.

Originally we thought as sugar as an energy source, and quickly we realized that we could apply this idea to the energy poverty crisis that is existing in our modern world. Therefore we drew a cycle of air powering windmills that would convert sugar into electricity, powering up a small village as illustrated. A person from that village would then show the rest of the world the innovative and eco-friendly idea which would give more people access to electricity, creating an international community of air-sugar-electricity cycle users. Using sugar, or rather sugarcane as depicted in our drawing, as an energy source as well as air to power the system creates sustainability in energy production, rather than other options such as fossil fuel power stations.

Our next rapid prototype was much more detailed and had to follow a more logical narrative.

We were giving a problem that we had to try and solve using technology.

We were given "Funding social justice initiatives." My group and I decided to make a website that would promote funding in different ways. The main way was to get bigger companies to sponsor and fund the website, and the public would promote these companies as well as the website itself on different social media platforms using hashtags, retweeting, and sharing. The individual would be able to gain points according to the amount of promoting they do on social platforms. There would also be a donating option, as well as a drop down menu on many different social justice issues and their related organizations. The leaderboard would feature top people who donated as well as top people with the most points, and then there would be rewards for these people such as tickets to concerts or gift cards, which would also be sponsored. The forums would be an active community where individuals can interact with others who donated or those who are new to the website, answering questions, bringing up recommendations, petitions, and organizing fundraisers. Posters would have a rank according to their points amount and how much they donate. The forums are to encourage people to climb the ranks and form bonds with others in the community so as to promote a friendly and welcoming environment for newcomers, however as well as a competitive one that would overall be beneficial for funding of social justice initiatives.

The website would also have fun features, such as pictures, pop up messages that indicated who donated a certain amount, and an option to message a bot for help/questions. Another bot would show where general donated money is going to. There would also be an organization of the week on the home page, and a website to buy clothing/items, where proceeds would go to organizations.

September 14, 2018

Today my partner and I logged on to the Internet Simulator, a website that gives the opportunity to experiment with binary code and send binary messages to each other. We were instructed to create a sentences using pairs of "A" and "B" combinations, which can be seen below on the sticky to the upper left corner of my screen.

To clarify, it says "I hid the body." There was a pulse rate feature on the website that allowed us to time when one would send 1 bit, and when the other would receive. Our goal was to create an efficient method to send and receive and create the message without errors. Though it took many tries, eventually we succeeded, and we did so by determining that the sender would hit send at the beginning of the pulse rate, and the receiver would receive at the middle of the pulse rate. This became a lot more difficult as the pulse got faster, and it was almost impossible to send and receive within the same 0.5 second pulse. My partner and I determined that a computer would be much faster, as human reaction speeds were incredibly slow in comparison.

We later created a more complex sentence using more bits per word of the sentence, however our method stayed the same, and the only aspect that changed was the time it took to actually form the string of bits, which invited more room for error. Therefore, our second sentence was perfectly completed only 2 times and proved to be a lot more difficult, especially at the faster pulse rates.

The pulse rate was necessary so that each person knew how much time to wait for a bit. If the bit was not changed, for example from A to B, then a pulse that passes without receiving new information would produce a bit A.

September 18, 2018

Today we used shapes to make combinations with each other. In the first trial, we were only allowed to use each shape once in a three piece combination, which gave us 12 total possibilities. In the second trial, we were allowed to repeat shapes, which gave us 27 total combinations.

We then assigned values to shapes, and determined that certain shapes that were positioned before others were of a greater or lower value. The same logic would be applied to the binary number system.

September 19, 2018

The History and Implementation of the Binary Number System

The binary number system is one of the most significant developments in the history of technology, even revolutionary. The binary number system has a base of 2, which is represented by 0 and 1, and can represent any number due to the assortment of 1s and 0s. Humans used to only use the decimal number system, but as the machine developed and more technological advancements were made, the machine could not understand complex functions, forcing mathematicians to create a new number system that would be simpler for the machine's needs. Thus, the binary system with its on/off function was created. Different combinations creates different values based on a logical pre-determined system. George Boole developed this new logic on associating combinations with different values in the 1930s. The actual invention of the binary system is estimated to be around 1701, when Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz published a paper for his election into the Paris Academy, called Essay d'une nouvelle science des nombres. Technically, the binary number can increase in value, but it is understood to be in two different states by machines.

In the real world, quick examples of binary systems are the light switch in a room or even the blinking of eyes. However, the binary system is implemented in every digital piece of technology one owns, being the backbone to extremely complex algorithms and used as transistors in computers.