Category Archives: Uncategorized

To convert a decimal fraction to Base 2…

From a great online course in Assembly programming:

http://chortle.ccsu.edu/AssemblyTutorial/Chapter-29/ass29_13.html

Converting Representation from Decimal to Binary

  Decimal Binary so far
Start 0.625 0.
×2 1.250 0.1
  .250 0.1
×2 0.500 0.10
  .500 0.10
×2 1.000 0.101
Result .000 0.101

Often you need to convert a decimal expression like 7.625 into a binary expression. To do this, first convert the whole number (7 in this case) to binary (111 in this case), append a binary point, and convert the decimal fraction to binary.

To convert a decimal fraction to Base 2:
Repeatedly multiply the decimal fraction by two. After each multiplication, copy the bit (0 or 1) that moves into the one’s place
(the place just left of the radix point) to the right of the binary fraction, then erase it from the decimal fraction.
Stop when the decimal fraction is zero.

(Note: if this never happens, stop when you have enough bits in the binary fraction.)

For our example: 7.625 is 111.1012.
In this case the conversion stopped when the decimal
fraction changed to zero.
This may not always happen.

MathForum – Binary division

Doctor Twe offers some helpful explanatory material, including:

Long Division in Binary
http://mathforum.org/dr.math/problems/jindani.6.6.00.html

which links to

Binary Subtraction
http://mathforum.org/dr.math/problems/houston.7.25.96.html

Complement of a Number
http://mathforum.org/dr.math/problems/steve.7.10.96.html

Driveway moment: Ravi Shankar Radio Expedition

Morning Edition, April 7, 2005 · Ravi Shankar, the renowned master of the Indian sitar, turns 85 on Thursday. He is considered one of the world’s greatest musicians, and continues to give concerts, tour, teach and compose.

In the latest report for the NPR/National Geographic co-production Radio Expeditions, NPR’s Susan Stamberg travels to New Delhi, the capital of India, to meet with the artist.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4578267

FreashAir: The Man Behind ‘The Incredibles’

Fresh Air from WHYY, April 6, 2005 · Brad Bird is the writer and director of the Academy Award-winning computer animated Pixar film The Incredibles, about a family of superheroes doing their best to blend into their suburban neighborhood by not using their powers.

Actors Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter and Samuel Jackson provided the voices, as well as Sarah Vowell, who also stars on This American Life. The mix of everday settings and extraordinary abilities has turned the animated characters into celebrities, and a new Collector’s Edition DVD of The Incredibles is now available.

Bird previously directed the animated film The Iron Giant. He has also worked on The Simpsons and King of the Hill.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4578508

O’Reilly article – Extreme System Administration

Do the simplest thing that could possibly work. Work in pairs.
Make testing an integral part of your work. That all sounds like
Extreme Programming, right? True–but it’s part of Extreme System
Administration too! Andrew Cowie’s “Extreme System Administration”
examines some lessons of XP and agile development and argues that
they apply equally well to system administration:

http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2005/03/31/extreme_admin.html

Catholic Doctrine on the End of Life

Catholic Doctrine on the End of Life

All Things Considered, March 30, 2005 · Michele Norris talks with Father John J. Paris, professor of bioethics at Boston College, about Catholic doctrine concerning the end of life. He discusses church teaching on the subject and a 2004 statement by the Pope on administering food and water to patients.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4568147

Vivaldi Four: Four Seasons / Gil Shaham, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/Playlist?source=WGMS&date=200502042007

Shaham_Vivaldi.JPG

Release Date: 02/07/1995
Label: Dg Deutsche Grammophon Catalog #: 439933 Spars Code: DDD
Composer: Antonio Vivaldi, Fritz Kreisler
Performer: Gil Shaham
Orchestra/Ensemble: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Number of Discs: 1
Recorded in: Stereo
Length: 0 Hours 50 Mins

This recording comes with a free CD-ROM.
The modern popularity of Baroque music is a striking contrast to its original reception. Vivaldi’s ‘The Four Seasons,’ written in 1725, was hardly noticed by music critics until it was revived in the early 1920s. Today it is one of the most recognized compositions of all time. Each mellifluent movement has worked its way into our common cultural language.

This disc, which features a CD-ROM encoding of a video for the “Winter” movement (both Macintosh- and PC-compatible), is a 1993 recording of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. This talented young group is bringing new popularity to its music through nontraditional means. The “Winter” video, which received its broadcast premier on The Weather Channel, gained the attention of a new audience.

Tipping his hat to Vivaldi, Fritz Kreisler’s “Concerto in C Major in the Style of Vivaldi” is a tribute to the emotional power of the Red Priest’s strings. Although nothing plays like the original, Kreisler’s composition is an excellent study in the elements that let Vivaldi withstand critics and stand the test of time.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000001GME/

‘Il cardellino’ – Stephen Preston, Flute

Feb 1, 2005 6:34 PM on the WCVT. Playlist contains the following entry:

VIVALDI: Fl. conc. in D, Op. 10 #3, R. 428 P. 155, ‘Il cardellino’ (A.A.M./Hogwood, Christopher; Preston, Stephen, fl.) O-L 414-685-2

album--vivaldi-lestro-armonico.jpg

Vivaldi – L’Estro Armonico / AAM · Hogwood

~ by Antonio Vivaldi, Christopher Hogwood, The Academy of Ancient Music

  • Composer: Antonio Vivaldi
  • Conductor: Christopher Hogwood
  • Performer: The Academy of Ancient Music, Monica Huggett, et al.
  • Label: Decca
  • Catalog: #458078
  • Audio CD (July 14, 1998)
  • Number of Discs: 2
  • ASIN: B000009DG0
  • Average Customer Review: 5 out of 5 stars

In addition, I found a link http://www.antonio-vivaldi.org/VIVflute.htm to an interesting review of recordings.