legal issues of algorithm.

Ok... What can I say, exam jam is near around, I will be hugely surprised if there some dummies actually come up and write a blog. Unfortunately I am that person and I am writing in journal while doing my volunteer work. I want to wrtite something interesting about the legal issues of algorithm.
Algorithms, by themselves, are not usually patentable. In the United States, a claim consisting solely of simple manipulations of abstract concepts, numbers, or signals does not constitute "processes" (USPTO 2006), and hence algorithms are not patentable. However, practical applications of algorithms are sometimes patentable. For example, in Diamond v. Diehr, the application of a simple feedback algorithm to aid in the curing of synthetic rubber was deemed patentable. The patenting of software is highly controversial, and there are highly criticized patents involving algorithms, especially data compression algorithms, such as Unisys' LZW patent.

Thank you!.

Ok! I guess this is the last journal/assignment I will write regarding to this course... Overall, I had tons of fun learning with Danny and my friend S. I am thrilled by how computers are designed in the a way similar to how our bodies/brain function... In chinese we translate computer as "electric brain". It is such a nice translation! Computer works exactly like brain (only the logic part though), through all these logic and simple algorithm, we are able to communicate and cultivate our imagination on a totally innovative canvas, the realm of internet. This is awesome to see how simple, basic steps gave rise to such complex and thorough system. I did learn many ways of manipulating pictures in this course, most importantly, the basic idea of how computer works, how does it develops and how does it continue to evolve while exerting remarkable influences on our everyday life. This article is kinda emotional and not very related to the course, because i have nothing to write... Anyway! I like this course a lot and I want to thank Danny and You, who is reading my article, for being supportive. I will see you around!.

2nd project, new approach.

What can I say, the second part of project is easier than the first one!!! It was a fun project of producing a picture that can change colors... This time I used less time than the first project. I used to do the project by going through every defination quickly and make minor changes as a whole, and turn back to little details to fix every single defination. As a result, it takes more time for me to fix every single questions. It took me around 4 hours to finish the first project! and I have to consult my friend to fix it sometimes... The second one is a lot better! This time I took a different approach by forcusing on one defination at a time. I will move on to the new defination once I have finished editing the previous one. This turned out to be very efficient since I could concentrate on one defination at a time. As a result, it took me 3 hours to finish the project! Which is a bit less and I figured out everything on my own ! Yay!!!!.

The second test was actually a lot harder than the first one... I did study hard on the second test so I didn't do that bad. I went through all the computer codes and past quizzes, read all the class notes(which are very very helpful). Sometimes my brain gets tired of understanding those asbstract concepts about computers... For example, the time sliding concept. I couldnt understand this material from the class notes. So I brought this question to Danny and he patiently answered me. Guess what, this question is on the test!!! I am glad that I ask him for what I don't understand, and I was being honest to myself that I do need a little more help... Sometimes I gotta lazy for asking questions and most of the time it's because of the ego that stops me. I have to change that way of thinking... Asking question and it definately will be rewarding for the courage to do so!.

long time no see csc.

Hi Long time nooo see my lovely blog. I just want to share some of me thoughts on the idea of recursion... I found it's very very intriguing. Recursion is the process of repeating items in a self-similar way. It's a very useful and common application in computer science. Fibonacci sequence is a classic example of recursion. Fibonaccis sequence first appears in Indian Mathematics. The sequence is defined in the following term:

Fn=Fn-1 + Fn-2.

A Sierpinski trangle is also a classic example for recursion. This special form of triangle can be formed in the following steps:

1. Start with any triganle in a plane. Equilateral triangle can produce the best visual result.
2. Shrink the triangle to 1/2 height and 1/2 width, produce 3 shrunken triangles so that each triangle touches the two other triangles at a corner.
3. Repeat step 2 with each of the smaller trangles...

To understand recursion, I realize that there is a distinction between a procedure and the running of a procedure. Procedure is like a recipe, while running the procedure is actually preparing the meal. Recursion is part of algorithm, in that sense. One has to grasp the fundamental rule in one problem to solve or create a complex recursion system.

challange...

It's been a busy week so I haven't got time to update my slog... This is the "make-up" slog. There are so many things I want to talk about... First the project, and then the tutorial exercises on chapter 15 conditionals...

First, the project is very annoying for me. The only thing I need is a clear mind and patience, patience, patience. There are many times I lost my patience and I couldn't spot the easiest and simplest error. I want to finish this project as soon as possible, because there are many things from other courses to do. But the more I think like this, the more impatient I became... I can only change my time policy by finishing as much as the first project first before going to the next one.Only focus on the present! haha.

The second thing I wanna talk about is the conditionals. It's a very intriguing topic for me. More and more I found computer is a language, and it has its dedicated, special logic... I have to follow this logic carefully, in other words, think like a computer! It sounds weird but this is the only way to better adapt to this system. I remember the tutorial exercise from last week, on conditional. The "reply" exercise was kind of tricky.. It asks me to develop a function which takes a string: Good morning/good afternoon/good evening, and reply several different phrases. I couldn't figure out the code: (string=? greeting "good morning"). I didn't know the meaning of "=？" . Then I asked my TA, she points out the string=? meaning if the string present in "greeting" equals (the same) with the string "good morning". If they are equal, the function will automatically produce "I need a coffee". This is very fun! And if all things are wrong in the function, the system will go down to the "else" condition. which means if all the conditions failed the function will produce something from "else" function...

I did not do this correctly on the quiz. Hopefully I could learn from this mistake! Condition is a very useful tactic I could use in the future.  

Csc fun and challenging.

More and more I found Csc is interesting in terms of human intelligence. I can associate the short-term memory in computer as part of our brain. We have the short-term memory center  in our heads! This is so cool when I first learned that computer shares the same characteristic as our humans. Or partly because it's a creation of human imagination, so gradually everything is connected. Biology, chemistry, universe, and the single convenient iPad I am using right now.
The quiz is getting harder, I am very ashamed that I have spent so little time on this interesting course. There are many concepts in Dr.racket that I am not familiar with. Basically i forget the past concepts when I move into a new chapter. This is not nice... I want to store them in my head forever!!!!!! So maybe I need to play around with Dr. Racket more. It s a really fun software and I feel like playing a game when i am doing assigned exercise.

Algorithms and chemistry!.

Ok... I have to admit that I am a bit off the work. I am in the mid of the night doing my chemistry hw and suddenly realized that I have not finished my blog... While I am doing chemistry, counting the number of Hydrogen can be a painful experience:　I waste a plenty of time just to make sure the number of hydrogen is correct. I am thinking... is there a faster, more convenient and accurate way to tell me the number of hydrogen? So here is the first algorithm I make...

First, I want to find a pattern between the number of carbons and the lovely hydrogen.

Second, I will draw a very simple chemical structure, like C2H6. Because each carbon must have 4 bonds, so there is only 3 "space" left for each hydrogen.

so the relationship bw carbon and hydrogen is CxH3x.

Wait, this is just a simple carbon molecule, how about the more complex ones?.

Third step, finding a more complex example to justify our problem.
Let's try an alkane group such as Pentane, it has a the chemical formula: C5H12. In this case, our rule CxH3x does not apply. We have to reconsider our method of finding right number of hydrogen.

Fourth step, list 4 different chemicals and find the pattern.
C1H4
C2H6
C3H8
C4H10
C5H12...

We found that there is a pattern between carbon and hydrogen: CnH2n+2.

Let's do the inverse step to check if we can use the formula to obtain the correct answer:

when n=1, C1H2*1+2=C1H4.
when n=2, C2H2*2+2=C2H6
when n=3, C3H2*3+2=C3H8
...
Yippie we found the general formula for Carbon and the number of hydrogen among alkane group.

But, in organic chemistry we don't just have alkane group which only contains single bonds, we also have double bonds and triple bonds.How can we judge if this chemical contains a double bond, a triple bond, or a single bond? What's the amount relationship bw carbon and hydrogen in a non single bonded compound? We will try to solve these problems in the next episode!.

2nd week.

Oks...This week right after my biology test we had our lovely test, which could be a killer if I don't have a nice tutor like S...He just understands all the material and went through everything with me before the test! I was lucky to have him as a friend.I don't know how well I did but I am going to check it out. I find CSC a very interesting course and I really wish I could spend more time on it. But during midterm everything is messed up! What else I can say, the mapping part is kind of confusing but I am getting it. We are introduced to a new idea called algorithms。 I don't really understand it at first, so I baidu (Chinese version of Google) the word and try to understand it in my mother language.

CSC is challenging and fun!.

I came to the class late,but did ok on the first 2 quizzes, which is a bit surprising. Overall Dr. Racket is a nice friend to play with. Sometimes I treat the tutorials like a game, a interaction with the computer.What I found fascinating is how can this crazy, random world is defined by only several numbers... Human imagination is the sky, the sky has no limits.
The difficulties emerge during the "hands-on" experiences. For some reason I kept making small, trivial mistakes which lead to an error in Dr. Racket. I could never write out my own functions without making mistakes... Sometimes it's very annoying to spend 30 minutes over one single function, just because I missed a "-" sign in between... I used multiple approaches to solve this problem. The most useful one, which requires more patience, is to check everything carefully, while comparing it with the "correct" ones from the websites. This is not a very efficient method comparing to working with a peer. Friends are always very keen to your mistakes... For no reason my S would always pin point out my mistakes. I need a little time to digest the knowledge on my own, while a little group work never hurts :).

I found binary number to be very fascinating but challenging at the same time... I was totally overwhelmed when my professor introduced this system... Everything makes no sense at all! But afterwards, I slowly understand the rules by tons of questions to S... He understands the thing pretty well, so he is like the teacher figure to me. Keeping asking "silly" questions is my only one to master the knowledge.