Tuesday Oct. 7
a. I
don’t have physics early in the morning, so I sleep in a little bit.
b. Stuff
I can’t remember (homework, email, etc.)
c. Go
to computer science section at 11:30. Do some linked list problems.
d. Realize
I have my honors computer science class up next. Remember that the instructor
asked us to try to solve some cryptograms before class. Panic, look at the
cryptograms and decide I don’t want to solve them by hand, whip out my
computer, and frantically modify my LetterInventory class that I wrote for CSE
143 to do a frequency analysis (“e” is the most common letter, thus if the
cryptogram is a substitution cipher where each letter is interchanged for
another, the letter with the most occurrences should map to “e”, and so forth.
Ten minutes before the class starts, I finally get my program to work, but the
simple frequency analysis yields no obvious solution.
e. In
class, we discuss the cryptograms. The ones I was trying to solve were substitution ciphers—I still don’t
know why my program didn’t work, probably not enough input—but they were an
especially simple type of substitution cipher, a rotation. (For example, a
rotation by 2 means that a -> c, b -> d, … y -> a, z -> b. )
f. The
other cryptograms were fascinating. One was a “public information” cipher where
triplets of letters corresponded to airport codes which, when plotted on a US
map, traced out “143”.
g. The
most interesting one was an image-disguising cipher where each pixel in the
original image (it was black and white, so each pixel corresponded to a binary
digit; 1 if the pixel was white, 0 if it was a shade of black) was XOR’d with a
corresponding pixel in the key, a randomly generated black-and-white image of
the same size. The definition of XOR is such that a pixel XOR’d with black
gives back the original pixel, whereas the same pixel XOR’d with black gives
the opposite pixel. Thus, to obtain back the original picture, all you had to
do was XOR again with the same random image, since if the random pixel
corresponding to any given pixel in the original image was black, two XORs
would not change the original pixel; and if the random pixel was white, two
XORs would yield the opposite of the opposite of the original pixel, which is
just the original pixel.
h. After
that I grabbed a quick Subway sandwich and ate it on the way to my intro to
honors class. This was section, led by a peer instructor. It was pretty much as
expected and not that interesting. Next week we’ll meet some professors, and that
should be interesting.
i. After
that I went Leroy Jenkins on my
physics hw that was due the next day, so that…
j. I
could go to Salsa club! I grabbed a quick burrito (Taco Tuesday at the 8!) and
ate it on the way there. Unfortunately, I got the location way wrong (all the
way across campus from where I should have been) but fortunately, I ended up at
the IMA, so I could play some basketball instead.
k. Then
I went back to the dorm and changed back into my Leroy suit to finish the
physics problems. I checked them over with Eleanor and others in the lounge.
l. Went
back up to room and finished programming assignment.
m. It
was really late, but I needed to do laundry and dishes, so I did them. By the
time I was done, it was nearly 1:30 am.
2.
Wednesday Oct 8.
a. Woke
up feeling the effects of less sleep. Went to physics and studied kinetic
energy.
b. Stayed
near physics building and studied, then did kinematics lab. Used video to data
software to analyze the motion of a bouncing ball.
c. Ate
lunch, then went to computer science. Did basic linkedlist stuff.
d. I
tried to set up the Netbeans code editor and ended up frustrated.
e. Went
back to the dorm and did some homework.
f. Can’t
remember what I did the rest of the day.
3.
Thursday Oct. 9
a. Talked
to Dad about code editor problems and he referred me to IntelliJ, an IDE I’d
heard about but had always assumed was too expensive. But I found a free
student version!
b. Went
to phys tutorial section; reviewed momentum.
c. Went
straight to CS section, where we worked more LinkedList problems.
d. Ate
lunch on the Ave with Eleanor. I had a tasty gyro. Eleanor discussed at length
the complicated system of categorization used to classify singers in opera.
e. Bought
Scantron (multiple choice bubble) sheets at the bookstore.
f. Walked
back to the dorm, forgetting my bike.
g. Answered
email, set up IntelliJ, did other homework. Tried to get some work done for my
education class.
h. Went
to the Graphic Novel Club and did comic-drawing improv!
i. Went
to showing of Moon by the Film club. It was interesting but dark and
confusing—I’m sure I missed many subtleties.
j. Got
dinner on the Ave with Jamie. We went to this place called the Burger and Kebab
Hut. The menu was insane! The two guys working to take orders, cook, and serve
must have offered 50 different types of burgers, from the Masala Burger to the
Special Eggburger (which I ordered, and which was very good.)
k.
Came back and finished up homework for education
class, then went to bed.
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