The bifurcation diagram is something most people haven't heard of. It's a simple mathematic equasion that calculates values over time. So what exactly is the equasion? It's fairly simple, esentially it plots sequences. Ok well it gets not simple very quickly. When this equasion is plotted, it starts off rather normal. You can see that as it progresses, it slowly increases. Suddenly though, it breaks into two. Then four, then eight and then into chaos. Each subdivision comes faster and faster until chaos starts. Then, it's all broken. A deterministic equasion is picking radomness. So what does this have to do with computers? A lot, actually. It was one of the first ways that computers were able to create random number generators. Since computers are good with numbers, it was a simple way to create random numbers. This isn't though where the interesting facts stop though. It also is a fractal, an infinite shape, it records heart rates, populations and fluid convections. It's also part of the Mandelbrot Set. What that is is a shape with an infinite perimeter and finite area. I suggest that you look into these strange phenominons as there's just too much for me to cover but it's so amazingly cool.
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Flash has been officially discontinued by Adobe and it's the end of a really important time in the world of the internet. This isn't to say though that there isn't hope. Flashpoint is an application that runs about 70,000 flash games all for free as an archive for years to come. Downloading all the games from Flashpoint is hundreds of gigabytes, about 750 to be exact. What it shows is the level of dedication the internet has for Flash. Some people may see it as decrepid or old but it does hold up well to this day. Many people talk about Flash games, and rightfully so considering how influential they are, but many people miss Flash animations, commercial usage and the sites that built around them. There are many sites to visit for Flash games. Armor games, Addicting games and especially Newgrounds were massive influences on the internet in the late 2000s. Even as late as a few years ago, sites like Cool Math Games are enjoyed by thousands of students that are bored in class. I've always hated the internet restrictions on school computers. They've always struck me as overbearing and controlling, but I understand why they were there. It was to keep adult content from kids in school. This came at a price though to students as many game sites were blocked. I know thought that students shouldn't play games in class (most of the time) but it's really a testimate to how popular Flash was as a medium that entire sites were blocked to kids to keep them from being distracted. Flash animations were massive too. From classics like Badgers to Tarboy to BFB which is practically a TV show for free, Flash's universalness can't be understated. It's really a shame that Adobe is letting Flash go because of how influential it is and I hope that Flash can one day return.
No, this isn't about a video game. This is about my search for lost media. A long time ago, 12 years ago to be precise, two videos were uploaded to YouTube. They were two parts of the same video about 'How to turn a Sphere inside out.' It's a very basic film, just over 20 mins, long when put together, and the quality was so bad you can tell it was ripped straight from VHS. I can't say why or how, but I discovered the video when I was about seven or eight. I loved that video. Something about the calm narrator or the primitive 3D animation or complex math. I thought it was really cool and I saw the whole thing numerous times. Sadly, I've never had to apply my knowledge I learned from that video into the real world but it's always been a fun factoid to remember and impress adults with.
I became determined to find out two things just recently: Who made it? and Where can I get a copy of the VHS? It seemed very daunting. There was no information anywhere on YouTube about where it came from. At the start of the video, it has a logo for a place called 'The Geometry Center'. I thought that would be a good place to start. Sure enough, their website from 1995 still existed and I snooped around. The were a department at the Universite of Minnesota and were specially created to do math and science animations with computers. Sure enough, they had a list of the films they made. In the time they existed, they created three films. One of which was called 'Outside In'. I was sure that one was about how to turn the sphere inside out. I found a list of people who worked at the center and on the film and tried to find working emails. I got very lucky. Professor McGehee was the name of the director of the center so I reached out to him. Sure enough he responded. Here is what he said: Nice piece of detective work! I may have an old tape somewhere in my archives, but it would be in my office, which I have only very limited access to right now. All our classes and seminars are remotely delivered from home, and I have to apply to the Dean for permission to enter the building. It is unfortunate for many reasons that Klaus Peters died early. AKPeters held the copyright, and I assume that Klaus had various copies. At one point he was planning to make a Web version available. I am very busy with other stuff right now, and I have no plans to visit my office. If you remain interested, try writing to me again in October. Things may have lightened up by then. Otherwise, it might have to wait until a vaccine is available. (Let's hope not!) For note, AKPeters was the publisher. I still needed some more info though and I thanked him for his kindness. The next person I reached out to was Dr. Levy. He was the director of the video and author of the book that went with it. He also responded very quickly and had more to say about how the video was created and what happened to the master copy. Here is his email: Thanks for your interest in Outside In. It's not totally lost; although the master has been misplaced, and the source files no longer run on any computer, this youtube will give you a good flavor, despite the less than ideal image quality. (I think it was ripped from VHS, but not by anyone associated with the project.) Now, for how it was made: it's all computer animation based on mathematical models; the geometry was programmed in C (if I'm not mistaken) and the rendering in a language called Renderman, running on SGI machines. It was a months-long project -- the better part of a year, I think -- involving several people: mathematicians, computer programmers and students. There was an accompanying booklet, written by me, with many illustrations. Some university libraries have it; it is called Making Waves (I'm the author). I'll see if I have any spare copies of it - I had half a dozen but gave them away. (I also have one copy of the VHS, but even if I were willing to part with it, noboby has VHS players anymore...) Best wishes, Dr. Levy With all of that information, I had only one thing left to do. Was it possible to locate a physical copy? And would it have the book with it? Surprisingly, the answer was yes! There isn't any listings online, I searched everywhere. Ebay, Amazon, ect. so I turned to the next best thing. Libraries. Specifically college libraries. A mathematics video is the sort of thing that would be there. I searched the online database of UNC since my father had a library card for the UNC. No dice. They had none. I went to Duke's catalog next. My mother is an employee of Duke so she can check out things too. Sure enough, Duke has available, a copy of the VHS with the book! And it's available for check out too! I haven't seen it yet but I was happy enough that I completed my mission. I found the tape from the YouTube video I randomly watched years ago. Texas Instrument calculators and Commodore 64s are like comparing dinosaurs to birds. The similarities are undeniable but so distant that it's hard to see how one became the other. Commodore 64s are old DOS computers from 1982. They were revolutionary in the way that the computer was in the keyboard and portable. It could also plug into your TV! But that's not what's important here. The C64 ran on a old coding style called "BASIC" which stands for Beginner's All-Purpose Symbolic Instructional Code. And what else uses BASIC as it's programming? TI calculators! It's even called TI-BASIC. I have a TI-83 Silver Edition from 2001. There is a small button on it that's very special to me. The program button or on the calculator: Pgrm. This allowed the user to make custom code in BASIC and create simple products. Sometimes it's very simple, like a program that makes you input Leg A and Leg B of a triangle and it solves the hypotenuse. Other times, full games can be make on it. Some as complex as Doom! It's funny when you think about it. In 1982, the world marveled at the Commodore 64 and BASIC programming! "Don't ya know? It's soooo much better than "FORTRAN"'!" And now it's almost 2020. Nearly 40 years later and here we are in math class. With a calculator that is essentially a small Commodore 64 with a nicer screen. The funniest part is that almost nobody knows that everyday, they use a piece of ancient computing history.
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AuthorI am an artist as anyone else is an artist (if that makes sense). My style is abstract and I also draw cartoons. I am also a voice actor for a web-series. Archives
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