Infoport

Social Networking for Babies

2008-09-11T10:02:00.000-05:00

A host of new sites, including Totspot, Odadeo, Lil’Grams and Kidmondo, offer parents a chance to invite friends and family to join and contribute to a network geared to connecting them to the baby in their lives. Full story @ NYTimes.com

Digital Artists Handbook

2008-09-09T09:20:00.000-05:00

Thanks to ContraFactos & Argumentos the Digital Artists Handbook is here. "It is an up to date, reliable and accessible source of information that introduces you to different tools, resources and ways of working related to digital art. The goal of the Handbook is to be a signpost, a source of practical information and content that bridges the gap between new users and the platforms and resources that are available, but not always very accessible. The Handbook will be slowly filled with articles written by invited artists and specialists, talking about their tools and ways of working. Some articles are introductions to tools, others are descriptions of methodologies, concepts and technologies".

Electronics' 'missing link' found

2008-05-01T09:09:00.001-05:00

Details of an entirely new kind of electronic device, which could make chips smaller and far more efficient, have been outlined by scientists. The new components, described by scientists at Hewlett-Packard, are known as "memristors". Full article @ BBC NEWS | Technology

The team has built hybrid circuits using memristors and transistors

The Future of Computing

2008-05-01T09:06:00.001-05:00

Silicon electronics are a staple of the computing industry, but researchers are now exploring other techniques to deliver powerful computers. Full article @ BBC NEWS | Technology

This Psychologist Might Outsmart the Math Brains Competing for the Netflix Prize

2008-03-16T16:38:00.000-05:00

In October 2006, Netflix announced it would give a cool seven figures to whoever created a movie-recommending algorithm 10 percent better than its own. Within two weeks, the DVD rental company had received 169 submissions, including three that were slightly superior to Cinematch, Netflix's recommendation software. After a month, more than a thousand programs had been entered, and the top scorers were almost halfway to the goal. This Psychologist Might Outsmart the Math Brains Competing for the Netflix Prize

Wikia Search

2008-01-07T10:39:00.000-05:00

"Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, is launching an Internet search engine based on the same voluntary collaboration that drives the online encyclopedia." Full Story: Wiki Citizens Taking on a New Area: Searching - New York Times

The Fall and Rise of Music (on Plastic)

2008-01-04T21:50:00.000-05:00

Today's artists have surprising new ways to reach fans and make a living. David Byrne's Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — and Megastars on Wired. See also David Byrne and Thom Yorke on the Real Value of Music.

The Data Wars

2008-01-04T21:39:00.000-05:00

All about "scraping": Should Web Giants Let Startups Use the Information They Have About You?Full Story @ Wired

16 Awesome Data Visualization Tools

2007-05-21T08:51:00.000-05:00

From navigating the Web in entirely new ways to seeing where in the world twitters are coming from, data visualization tools are changing the way we view content. We found the following 16 apps both visually stunning and delightfully useful. Full story @ Mashable: Social Networking News

Free tool offers 'easy' coding

2007-05-15T08:28:00.000-05:00

"A free programming tool that allows anyone to create their own animated stories, video games and interactive artworks has been developed". More @ BBC NEWS | Technology

Summer!!

2007-05-06T17:17:00.000-05:00

Thank you all for a good semester! The grades are posted. Hope you have enjoyed this intro to infomatics.

Ah, the summer! I can't wait... Don't forget to check out the CD I made for I101 this year:

http://etrash.rochaweb.com/

username: apollo
passoword: thediscoking

Can I Get An Amen? by Nate Harrison

2007-05-05T14:08:00.000-05:00

Can I Get An Amen? is an audio installation that unfolds a critical perspective of perhaps the most sampled drum beat in the history of recorded music, the Amen Break.

TB-303 by Nate Harrison

2007-05-05T13:44:00.000-05:00

Bassline Baseline is a video essay (mov) that investigates the invention, failure and subsequent resurrection of the mythic Roland TB-303 Bass Line music machine in the last two decades of the 20th century---by Nate Harrison.

Links for Lecture 28: Review and Questions

2007-05-03T10:20:00.000-05:00

Lecture 28: Review
Just The Facts, Ma'am: Example Exam Questions

Oh yes, the morphed figures were done using the Perception Laboratory's Face Transformer. I have been morphed from a Manga figure into an Ape:

Manga

by El Greco

by Boticelli

An Ape

Snowflakes promise faster chips

2007-05-03T09:15:00.000-05:00

"Chips could run faster and be more energy efficient thanks to a process from IBM that copies nature's creation of seashells and snowflakes". Full Story @ BBC NEWS | Technology

SQL Tutorial - SQL reference and programming examples

2007-04-28T21:38:00.000-05:00

SQL Tutorial - SQL reference and programming examples

Web 2.0 wave starts to take hold

2007-04-21T04:20:00.000-05:00

Whether you use your computer for work or fun, the programs you use generally have one thing in common - they are stored on your PC. Increasingly though, that software is moving online. The move to put more and more of those familiar programs on to the web has been happening for a while but its latest incarnation has won the name of Web 2.0.
Fulle Story @ BBC NEWS

another note from prof. Rocha on assignment 4

2007-04-20T15:24:00.000-05:00

the new deadline is Saturday at midnight. Students who have already submitted can re-submit if desired.

---------------

I am really sorry you are having trouble with this assignment. I am also frustrated because for the past several weeks I have asked students to ask specific questions about it in class and very few did. I also warned the class that I would be on travel, so at last minute it is hard to answer all your questions. Indeed, this is a *continuous* evaluation project and so it really was supposed to be worked on during the semester.

Now my suggestions: first, look at the clue that was posted on Infoport. Then, look at the form of the algorithm that was displayed in class. Basically, you need to come up with an expression, using the operations in the table shown in class, which leads to the desired behavior. That is, those transition rules:

V(C)= 0 => 0

V(C) = 0,5 => 0,5

V(C) = 2,4,6,8 => 0,2,4,6,8

V(C) = 1,3,5,7 -> 0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9

So, what kind of expression takes the value of cell C, which we denote by V(C) and which can only be a value between 0 and 9, and produces the rules above.

Well, a freebie, since a 0 always gets to be a 0, there should be a multiplication at play (several of your colleagues already suggested this). In other words, the next value of V(C) should include something like

V(C) = V(C)* X

Where X is something else that you need to figure out based on what we have discussed in class.

Moreover, the multiplication is probably not enough. The final expression contains more than one operation (from the table). For instance something like:

V(C) = (V(C) * X) ? Y

Or

V(C) = (V(C) ? Y) * X ? 10

Where ? are operations on the table. You need to come up with one such expression that explains those tables.

Slides for Lecture 26 online

2007-04-20T09:50:00.000-05:00

Lecture 26: Information Technology in the Real World - Databases

Special Tutorial: Structured Query Language (SQL)

4th Installment Clues

2007-04-19T16:44:00.000-05:00

Since it seems like a majority of you are having some trouble figuring out the algorithm for the fourth installment here are some clues given to you by Professor Rocha to help you out:

These are the main points that we have learned about the black box from
the data we have collected.Although these have all been discussed in
class at various times, I just want to provide a brief synopsis here:

*Quadrant 1 picks up 1 number at random and applies the
neighborhood-majority algorithm to it. How to pick a random number has
been discussed in class along with the neighborhood majority process.

*In quadrant 3, the fact that even numbers go to even numbers and odd
numbers can go to any number is a MAJOR clue.Think on which operations
could lead to such behavior.

*That zero always goes to zero is also an important clue.

* Also notice that every number can go to zero.

*In Q3 there are two numbers involved.

chat bot

2007-04-17T23:03:00.000-05:00

"Meet George, 39, single, quirky sense of humour, looking for friends to chat with online. He's a profound intellect and speaks 40 languages, but is also prone to unwarranted rudeness and his banter can be slightly disjointed. George is a chat robot, or chatbot, whose descendants may become familiar faces in interactive entertainment systems, his creators claim." Full article @ BBC News

Google Mars

2007-04-17T22:58:00.000-05:00

Google Mars

Face Transformer

2007-04-17T22:55:00.000-05:00

"Ever wonder what you'd look like if you were different?

Perception Laboratory's Face Transformer

Use a good, clear, straight-on photo of yourself and it's really quite amazing!"

I loved the Manga and Chimp versions of myself. The Feminize one produced my mother with a big nose!!! Scary!!!!!!

Slides for Lectures 24 and 25 online

2007-04-17T22:53:00.000-05:00

Lecture 24: Computing Models - More on Algorithms

Lecture 25: The Limits of Computation and the Group Project

Links for lectures 24 and 25

2007-04-11T22:15:00.000-05:00

Artificial Intelligence Demos

Another Eliza implementation with description

Eliza paper by Joseph Weizenbaum

CodeBaby Demos

Alice Bot

Search the web with Ms Dewie---In Style!

Ms. Dewey does "Mary J Blige"

Hanoi Towers with 3 Disks

Hanoi Tower Applet

I308: Information Representation (Spring 2005)

Visio Web site

Dio (Cross-platform and Free)

AmiGO (Gene Ontology)