binary alphabet

In Israel, where I live, it is common to represent the date in the following order: day, month, and then the last two digits of the year. And so today, the date is recorded: 01/11/11. Which reminded me of the binary code, and its importance in our modern lives.

circuit board

As exciting as it is, to use the computer as an instrument for ‘word processing’ or for editing our photography… or even as a terminal for receiving information from the internet, which may include music and motion pictures as well as mail, newspapers and blogs, I think it’s important that we remember from time to time, that at the very basis of this technology which has changed our day to day world completely, is a different language than that we grew up with. It is the most minimalistic language we may encounter, based on an alphabet that has only two letters, 0 and 1. It is called the binary code.

a house of love and prayer

In computing and telecommunication, binary codes are used in numerous ways to encode data. A sentence, a paragraph, or a page can be converted into strings of those two numbers, which eventually will be translated back by the computer into text or pictures that will appear on our computer screen. Instructions relating to the text, or to the behavior of the computer, are also represented by these strings, often called ‘bit strings’. The method by which the information is transcribed may use fixed-width or variable-width bit strings. These bit strings would look like words were they to appear as a line on a page. As in the example I put here, which is a binary representation of my name:
01010011 01101000 01101001 01101101 01101111 01101110

a grape harvester

In a fixed-width binary code, each letter, digit, or other character, is represented by a bit string of the same length. There are many character sets and many character encodings for them. A bit string, interpreted as a binary number, can be translated into a decimal number. For example, the lowercase “a” is represented by the bit string 01100001, and can also be represented as the decimal number 97.

Jinjit watches the children’s feet

The earliest use of binary numbers is said to have occurred at around 100 BC. The German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz used a binary code in the 17th century in an attempt to translate logic into mathematics. After his ideas were ignored, he came across a classic Chinese text called ‘I Ching’ or ‘Book of Changes’, which used a type of binary code. this book strengthened his theory that the understanding of life could be reduced to a series of straightforward propositions. He created a system consisting of rows of zeros and ones. At the time, though, Leibiniz had not yet found a use for this system.

Jinjit’s own children, my grandchildren’s kittens

The first person to suggest the application of binary code in electrical machinery was one Claude Shannon, at MIT, who noticed that the Boolean algebra he learned was similar to an electric circuit. Shannon wrote his thesis in 1937, which implemented his findings. Shannon’s thesis became a starting point for the use of the binary code in practical applications such as computers and electric circuits. A binary system in general is any system that allows only two choices such as a switch in an electronic system or circuit.

car for sale

Braille is a type of binary code that is widely used by blind people to read and write. This system consist of 6 dot positions, three in each column. Each dot has two states, raised or not raised.

About these ads

9 responses to “binary alphabet

  1. I continue to like the photos that accompany your writing. You are a naturally gifted photo-journalist, composing and capturing engaging images! (I like the grape harvester and circuit board!)

  2. I thought it odd that I stumbled on this post the day after I led my Computer Science Overview class though an exercise in which they were able to create a Huffman encoding. (Huffman encoding uses variable length bit patterns for characters instead of fixed length binary codes.

    • This was written for people who use the computer daily, but have no idea of how it works. I don’t think there’s much to interest you. Thanks for dropping by.

  3. mensengagement

    I think this web site has got very good indited subject matter content.

  4. that’s weird …
      clicking the item random, here I am!
    I had never thought about the binary code.
    but the code Braill I had thought many times.

    My daughter has now arrived at a very bad of his life.
    Is in danger of completely losing the view.
    It ‘an immense pain and I want to confess to you because you’re a good man, patient and full of kindness.
    I do not know why but life is putting us in the face once again its severity.
    my daughter is 25 years old, and is so full of life. Fight with the sighted world since she was born.
    And we will fight again.
    Maybe now you understand better why my wind and my name.

    Thanks to exist, but do not ask me why.
    if you are the lord of the photo, it sends me a good heart and very wise
    Happy New Year .. with all my heart to you and your family

    • I am so sorry to hear of your daughter’s struggle with visual impairment. I can very well imagine how difficult this is for you too. I have often thought of the different handicaps that limit many people in this world, and how I would relate to such a problem if it happened to one of my children. Of course, almost everyone suffers from certain disadvantages, but a handicap like this is particularly heartbreaking. I’ve thought that if I were to find myself in such a situation, I would choose to be completely frank and honest with the son or daughter. But at the same time, encourage her to use the other gifts she has to try and compensate for her disadvantage. I am sure that this is the path you have chosen too. I send you my best regards and wishes, and to your daughter too. I hope that with her ears and her fingers and her nose, she will find the pleasures of this world, and much happiness, regardless of her disabilities. Please send her my regards and best wishes.

Leave a Reply


You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change )

Twitter picture


Facebook photo


Google+ photo


Connecting to %s