Work period! [October 29,2010]

October 29,2010. Two more days until halloween!So, today, Mr. Arkin wasn't here. We got the period to work on our assignments and do our HTML cleanup. Nothing too interesting. Kay, night.

-Cindy

Is thirty minutes enough? [October 28,2010]

October 28,2010. I went on a science field trip to Rouge Valley Conservation center today! Though it was a bit cold, we still hiked and learned about wetlands, we still observed the health of the streams and were educated on species at risk. It was quite an exciting day! The science classes got back at around two o clock, where we were given a small 'assignment' to do. We did that in the cafeteria. It was 2:30pm when I headed up to ICS, the last class of the day. Mr. Arkin had given the class a work period (which meant that I didn't have a lot to catch up on!) and a quiz. Which I took about 5 minutes into the class. It was actually quite easy, though I think I made a few stupid mistakes. Afterwards, I asked Lisa to give me a brief summary of today's going-ons. So thank you!
  For homework, Mr. Arkin assigned us the rest of the selection assignments, which we had to finish by Monday, as he won't be in class tomorrow. For tomorrow, we also have to do a "HTML clean-up." I'll figure out what it means tomorrow. :D
  Now, I will be going shopping, as stated in yesterday's blog!

P.S. Dang! Only now does the text box thing extend. Makes me wanna write more so that it'll actually be long for once. But I guess this'll be it.

-Cindy

The true path is a hard one! [October 27,2010]

October 27,2010. Today in ICS, Mr. Arkin showed us what boolean operators yielded, along with giving us half an hour to work on our selection assignments. I've gotten up to selection 9 now! For homework, we had to do up to selection 7. So, no homework! Tomorrow I have a science trip so I won't be there for ICS. I think I'll finish the selection assignments so that I don't fall behind. That's all for now I think. May elaborate tomorrow. Going shopping tomorrow! :D

-Cindy

Selectioon! [October 26,2010]

October 26,2010. A new chapter! A new skill! The programming gets more interesting! YAY!
Okay. Now that I got my rant-like thing out of the way, I'll write about what we really did in ICS today.
We wrapped up the input section by learning about arithmetic and relational operators. We made charts to show what each of them do. Now, we can use our programs to calculate math problems! ;D
Afterwards, Mr. Arkin introduced the boolean values to us. Boolean values had only two possible values, true or false. This was useful in the next section, selection, which we started today. Mr. Arkin showed us the if statement and what it does. Basically, selection only executes part of the program based on what the user inputted.
For homework tonight, we were to do selections 1 & 2, but I'm already on selection 6. A problem I encountered in selection 6 was that sometimes, when I ran the program, the first if statement would run and then freeze, an error message coming up that says "Syntax error, real number cannot be inputted" or the like. In the end, I don't know how I fixed it, but it works now~ YAY. 8D
 Anyways, programming is getting better and better. Oh and I heard that Class C got a pop quiz today. Lucky us! We didn't get one! Tomorrow I have to wake up early again! D:

-Cindy

It's a start of a- new week! [October 25,2010]

October 25, 2010. Today, in ICS (first period), Mr. Arkin showed us how to trace the execution of programs. We copied down it's explanation and then used three separate sheets of paper, labeled "Run Window", "Code", and "RAM", to 'desk check' our programs. Basically, we would write down the code in the code page and then "run" the program by hand, copying each statement out into the run window, exactly how it would appear if run. Mr. Arkin also told us to mark the location of the cursor using an _. This helped me greatly because it allowed me to keep up with the growing complexion of the programs I write.
  For homework tonight, we were to finish any outstanding assignments, practice desk checking our fragments and to preview the selection page. I've already started the assignments, so I will vigorously practice desk checking. ;D

-Cindy

Oh shoot! Memory loss? [October 23,2010]

October 23,2010. Yes, it's Saturday. I know. I totally forgot to post yesterday again. Whoops my bad. But well, here it is. Yesterday, in class (which was last period), Mr. Arkin showed us how to add color to the text and background of the run window. I also learned that there are 256 predefined colors and that each one is represented by a number. The one that pops out right now is black, which has the value of 7. If I were to type put black, the output would be 7. Cool right? :D
After that, Mr. Arkin held a tutorial sessions to bring people who were not quite comfortable with Turing up to date while the rest of us worked at the computers. Since I finished the Input assignments, I moved onto the selection assignments and I got to say, the stuff just gets better and better! :D
Selection, which is when the computer only processes select amounts of data, is very useful, as shown by the many assignments under selection. D:
I finished only finished the first assignment before we had to pack up though. That's fine, because I have a whole two days to finish this! (Not to mention a sonnet and a lab report)
For homework, we were to post in our blogs and make progress on the assignments.

-Cindy

Smaller numbers= Better learning? [October 21,2010]

October 21, 2010. Today, in ICS, Class A had a student body of 12 people! It came as a surprise to all of us, but Mr. Arkin said that the less people in a class, the more attention each of them got! That was sure true, cause when went to work on our input assignments, Mr. Arkin was always there to help whenever we needed help! I finished the rest of my Input Assignments, up to question 10, so the only homework I have tonight is this daily blog posting. Actually, if I wanted to be a good student, I would print everything out and have it all set for tomorrow, but my printer broke yet again, so I will just have to settle with the electronic copy at my disposal.
I read a little bit about selections and what they do, the whole if idea, too, so that totally gives me some brownie points right? ;D
But anyways, practically no homework today, going to write a ballad on my boring life and I hope to survive until tomorrow! G'night! :D

-Cindy

Marks! Oh wow! [October 20,2010]

October 20,2010. Today we got our marks for the super-powers autobiography we did in the middle of September. I was fairly pleased with my mark, though I feel that I should have paid more attention to details and grammar. Dang. Ah well, it was still a good start for the semester! I hope to redeem myself in the coming two months.
Today in class, Mr. Arkin went over what each of the comments meant and how to fix it. It was actually quite easy to follow! We also voted for our Grade nine rep. Again, I feel professional! For homework, we are to keep working on the Input Assignment and our daily blog posting of course! So that is what I'm working on right now. Duh.

-Cindy

Teamwork! [October 19,2010]

October 19, 2010. Today in computer studies, Mr. Arkin took up yesterday's homework and then we worked in groups to figure out the best way to solve Input Assignment 4. It was hard and confusing, but in the end, my groupmates and I came up with a solution that we can all agree on. Afterwards, Mr. Arkin showed us how to create sub-strings. It was actually quite cool!
For homework today, we were to finalize/revise/perfect Assignments 4 & 5. I'm fairly confident in mine, so I will just leave it be. Volleyball tryouts on Thursday! :D

-Cindy

A Hectic Day so to speak? [October 18,2010]

October 18,2010. Computer science last period! Today, I entered class stuffed full of junk food. All through-out the day, the many students campaigning for grade nine rep offered candy to win over students. I, being as indecisive as I am, had tried all of the exquisite foods. Yuup, it was delicious.  But anyways, Mr. Arkin had us take down a note. He reviewed yesterday's homework and told us to work on setting the decimal place as a variable. Once on the computer, it was pretty easy to figure out. Also, Mr. Arkin played the songs I had compiled today and the class was enjoyable.
For homework, we were to finish Input Assignments four and five. Four was really confusing, but with a bit of help from my parents, I got the program to work properly! And five was easy after the hardships and complexity of four! :D  Like I've stated before, programming just gets better and better! Now, our program fragments aren't so boring, what with variables, inputting and all! :]
Anyways, I wish good luck to all the grade 9 rep candidates!

-Cindy

Ack! I forgot to post yesterday! [October 16,2010]

October 16, 2010. Whoops. I went to watch a movie yesterday (Friday) night and when I came back, I totally forgot to post here. Well, better late than never right? Anyways, yesterday, in class, Mr. Arkin showed us the secret to creating a border. We were supposed to use the concatenation sign (+) as follows:
put "*" + repeat("_", 13) + "*"
I would never have thought of that! After that, Mr. Arkin showed us the what may be most interesting thing of programming so far! The input and variables. By setting different variables using names, the program can be run so that the user can input information. Quite cool actually...
This weekend's homework is to read the programming concept guidelines and the documentation template. I'm also going to play with the input features! :D
Sorry again for the late post!

-Cindy

Wish upon a star...[October 14,2010]

October 14,2010. Today we learned more about the turing language! Mr. Arkin showed us the delay function and taught us the importance of little details. We were given a simple task of creating a program fragment that will put an asterisk in each corner of the window. The only trouble was that sometimes, the top row kept disappearing! Eventually, I figured it out. I had to put . . at the end of the last row, so that the "put" action wouldn't move the cursor to the beginning of the next line. This way, there would actually be 10 rows of text and not 9 rows of text and 1 row of blank space.
For homework, we are to make notes on the variables and input pages of the programming sub-site on the education commons. We also had to create a program fragment to put a border of asterisks around a 10 x 15 window. I finished that in class though, but Mr. Arkin told me to simplify it. I will now ponder on this task for two hours. Besides that, we needed to post our daily blogs, which I'm currently in the process of doing.
Tomorrow's Studio 218! And I volunteered to be the DJ! Suicide right? I hope my class will like the songs... o-o
Anyways, it's finally Friday tomorrow! I can't wait to sleep in! <33

-Cindy

Outputing so many things! [October 13, 2010]

October 13,2010. We had class first thing today as it was a day 1. I went into class tired but refreshed, ready to trudge through the day. When we first entered, Mr. Arkin had us take down some more definitions, most of which helped us build our programming fundamentals. Next, he taught us how to use the field width and it's use. Today I learned that programming had so many rules! Afterwards, Mr. Arkin assigned to us our homework. which was to read the subprograms information page on the programming subsite and to complete Character Graphics Assignments 1-3 (task 1).
I'm going to start on that very soon. It's really interesting to type up a program fragment, run the program and see that it actually works! It actually makes me feel very professional. <33
  Anyways, sorry again for the short posts before. I'm sure you people are just heart-broken that you didn't get to read my wonderful posts. :]  so yuup.

-Cindy

Sick day. [October 12, 2010]

October 12,2010. Learned the mechanics of turing and how to use them to great effect. Homework is to complete the output assignment. I think it's a lot of work. Sort of sick right now, as I feel like I'm going to throw up. I might elaborate more tomorrow. Sorry about the shortness. =.=

-Cindy

PART-TAY TIME [October 8, 2010]

October 8,2010. WOW. First ever party of the year! It was amazing! We played games, talked, played more games, ate the fattening food everyone brought, and ended it the party by playing games! For a warm-up party, it sure was fun! I look forward to the new programming unit and the party that it'll (hopefully) ensue. So yes, blog more on Tuesday. I'm going hiking for the weekend! Happy Thanksgiving!

-Cindy

Another New Page? [October 7, 2010]

October 7, 2010. Working on science project. Very short post.
Today in class, we learned about the new unit, programming! Mr. Arkin introduced to us a program and a language called Turing, which was named after a famous mathematician. I look forward to this unit!

-Cindy

Zeros and Ones! Or is it twos? [October 6, 2010]

October 6, 2010. In class today, (Day one, by the way), Mr. Arkin taught us how to convert the decimal value of each character on the keyboard into a 8-bit binary code. He showed us the binary and decimal value of the capital and lowercase "A" and then taught us how to use that to find out the rest. It was actually very easy!
Mr. Arkin then handed out a worksheet that shows the basic codes for the more commonly used characters. But there was a catch, we had to fill in the blanks by ourselves! That took a good 20 minutes and when I finally thought I finished, Mr. Arkin told us that he wanted us to decipher his blog posting from yesterday. I took one look at it, and decided that I really wanted to go on strike. But, being the awesome and dedicated student that I am, I trudged on and finished deciphering it. :)
  So for homework tonight, we were supposed to finish deciphering it, and that's done. So today, it's just the daily blog posting! I feel so happy! :]

-Cindy

Finally done! [October 5,2010]

October 5, 2010. We're done! We've finally trudged through the muddy swamp of definitions and seen the green field past it! Today, we finished our Basic Computer Glossary up with the remaining four words. Afterwards, Mr. Arkin explained the Paradox of Booting to us and the solution to it. It was actually quite interesting. He also showed us how to convert from Decimal (base 10) to Binary Code (base 2) which the computers know how to read. We learned that the biggest number that could fit into the 7-bit code would be 127. It would have the binary code of 111 1111. I just hope I don't confuse this with math class. @.@
  For homework tonight, we have to write our daily blogs and finish up our personal basic computer glossary. I'm actually looking forward to this because I actually feel very satisfied and proud that I've completed yet another assignment. We also have to look for images! Easy right? I hope so. Anyways, I'm going to do my homework now.

-Cindy

More Definitions! [October 4,2010]

October 4, 2010. Helloo all. Yes, an actual intro for once. :]
I believe a good intro is needed for all the hard-work and effort this blog took! So yes, I'm very egotistical and am, in some twisted way, congratulating myself. Anyways, today, we wanted to conclude the Basic Class Glossary, but our heated discussions about mega, giga, and kilobytes took up too much time. So our new goal. Finish the Glossary tomorrow. We took down more notes of different computer-related terms. This time, Mr. Arkin used the projector instead of the board. He had a HTML page created and everything just for the different terms and it was very cool! :D
  For homework tonight, we're supposed to update, validate and upload our Glossaries, look for more images for the new words, search up what's after terabytes, and of course, the daily blog. But, surprisingly, I'm not too worried about the work load. Could it be because I'm finally used to the IB program's homework? Could it be that I'm not really Cindy? Could it be that I didn't get enough sleep and have a major headache? Yup. Probably that last one there.
  Tonight, after finishing typing out all the words, I finally got my definition terms to stop appearing as links! It was a matter of placing the end tag (</a>) right after the start tag and not after the actual term. Well, I guess you learn something new everyday huh. Anyways, gotta go work on my science homework now.

-Cindy

Elections? I feel professional! [October 1, 2010]

October 1, 2010. The first month of school is over! Wow. That felt so short. With all the new things I'm learning in computer class, I keep thinking that it's only the beginning of the year and that eventually, I'll get better. But boom! One month gone! Just nine more to go! :D
  Today in ICS, instead of Studio 218, we copied down some more definitions and terms for our Basic Computer Glossary. I had a few problems with my HTML validating so I asked Mr. Arkin. In the end, he helped me validate all my pages. After all that was done, we had our official class rep elections. It was a close race between Lisa and Naeem, both of whom would've been awesome reps. But in the end, Lisa won out. Congrats!
  For homework this weekend, we have to update our Basic Computer Glossary with the new terms we learned today and upload them on the web. We also have to find small icons (100px x 100px) for each of the definitions and keep them safe in a directory. Mr. Arkin also reminded us to copy down the links of where we got the pictures, so we can give proper credit to them later on. I wonder if I will have enough time to draw them...
  Anyways, this weekend, I'm pretty busy. I'm attending my mom's graduation from her classes and also going to the CNE with Ror and Lizzy on Sunday. I guess I'm really looking forward to this!

-Cindy