Computer Science

Evinda

12:28 AM

@Gilles Are you there?

Gilles

@Evinda I am

Evinda

@Gilles Are you familiar with the M-method?

Gilles

@Evinda Please don't ping random people just because they happen to be in the room, and please do not ping people to ask them questions unless they have explicitly agreed to listen to your questions. If you have a question to ask, ask it on the site.

Evinda

I have asked it... @Gilles

Gilles

Feel free to ping one of us mods if you have a moderation-related issue, or to ping someone if you want to discuss something they wrote.

But don't spam people with pings like you've been doing. This needs to stop.

Nicolas Raoul

4:04 AM

I want to store latitude+longitude points (on a sphere like the Earth), and fastly retrieve all points contained within a radius. I guess there is a better data structure than quadtree for this? quadtree would be inefficient around the poles. (By the way, would this question be a valid question here? I am new to this site)

Friendly Person 44

6:30 AM

Hello?

Raphael

8:22 AM

@D.W. Cliché, imho. And not representative; asymptotics are not even CS, arguably, but a mathematical tool (albeit an important one) we use.

@D.W. Hm, trees may be among the things that might populate the fringes or background of our design. I don't see them work as a logo. :/

Maybe we should have another thread for collecting iconic things in CS that could be used to "flavor" the design? Thinking of Academia -- it has a very pretty, colorful design that displays (in idea of a part of) academia.

@NicolasRaoul "What is a suitable data structure for task X?" is definitely ontopic, thanks for asking! Ideally, your question would explain why you have rejected "obvious" solutions, i.e. what your requirements are and why what you've tried did not fulfill them.

Nicolas Raoul

8:46 AM

@Raphael: I will post that question then. I have actually not explored many options, none is "obvious" to me, only a simple list and a quadtree.

Paweł

9:08 AM

@Raphael i can see that ;) also, CS is very hard to visualize.. it's something more than computer icon, right? i mean, computer icon wouldn't be serious enough IMO.. it has to be something abstract, less symbolic..

Raphael

@NicolasRaoul I think quadtree is a very reasonable approach for geometric sets of points. K-d trees are the only alternative I know of, maybe you want to check those out. (As a moderator, any attempt satisfies me. You saying "I found something that should work, but it doesn't because of X" makes me very happy. :) ) Good luck!

@Paweł To semi-quite Dijkstra (a famous guy in CS): computer science is as much about computers as astronomy is about telescopes.

Or, my take, physics about welding implements.

Paweł

@vzn i had an idea... programming, computers (the way it works, the way they think and the way we think) it all comes to TRUE / FALSE statements. 1s and 0s. So there might be very complicated problem related to computers, but at the very beginning it starts with 1 and 0.. that's why i was thinking about some metaphor for this. for binary code, for bits, for 1s and 0s..

@Raphael exactly :)

Raphael

@Paweł See, that's also a cliché. ;) Because in the abstract CS world, we don't really care about how many atomic values there are.

Paweł

@Raphael elaborate plz

Raphael

In TCS, most things work exactly the same no matter how many symbols you use. We talk about strings. In applied CS, we usually have a level of abstraction where the lower levels (i.e. where you would encounter binary) are also invisible.

Binary is mostly used because of engineering decisions. See also here:

15

Q: Why Do Computers Use the Binary Number System (0,1)?

Why Do Computers Use the Binary Number System (0,1)? Why don't they use Ternary Number System (0,1,2) or any other number system instead?

Incidentally, we (usually) do live/work in an (abstract) world where all statements are true or false. But that has nothing to do with using binary encodings. We (usually) use classical logic to model things, and in that world of formal/mathematical logics, every statement is true or false.

Paweł

9:16 AM

because i came up with those two guys so far:
1) it's a metaphor of bits, pixels, abstract thinking (but i don't quite like it)
2) metaphor of science (modern-looking bulb) with metaphor of computers: 1 & 0. but i wanted 1 & 0 to not look like number but more like symbols of numbers to also be metaphor of inputs / outputs..

it's very hard topic :)

Raphael

Yup. :)

Paweł

cl.ly/2k1I3i350N0K

Raphael

"metaphor of computers" -- that's probably not the place to start with, to be blunt.

Paweł

yea, i know. it sound very general. what i meant was more like a metaphor of technology

technical thinking

etc

not computers, like the piece of machine :)

Raphael

The top one looks like a wave to me. Nice design, but confusing in this context.

The lower one... I'm trying to think about ways to use the stylized lightbulb without the zero and one. (Reads like "ten" to me, btw. Not sure why. Kerning, maybe.)

FWIW:

14

Q: What is Computer Science?

This meta question is intended to be a place to direct people who ask what is Computer Science and answer misconceptions about it. What is Computer Science?

discussion scope

Not sure how helpful this is to you. Maybe going to a metaphoric space and capture the "level" of CS there is useful?

Paweł

9:20 AM

"It has strong connections with other disciplines, particularly with: mathematics, computer and electronic engineering."

5

A: What is Computer Science?

Computer Science is the science that studies computation and related issues. It has strong connections with other disciplines, particularly with: mathematics, computer and electronic engineering. There are various lists of topics which are considered part of computer science: ACM Computing Cl...

i like this as a base.. elements connected to each other. together they create one field: called - Computer Science

Raphael

The issue is that the answer depends very much on whom you are asking at this point.

Nicolas Raoul

@Raphael: Thanks for your tips! I posted at cs.stackexchange.com/questions/51616/…

Raphael

@Paweł Just look at this mess.

It doesn't help that most people outside (academic) CS equate it with programming or maybe computer engineering. We have yet to really see the craft (IT/programming), the engineering discipline, and the science to separate. I like to compare it with welding/soldering vs. mechanical/electrical engineering vs. physics. In my opinion, CS is (going to be) the physics of information technology.

Other people disagree, of course. ;)

Paweł

9:36 AM

@Raphael absolutely agree. it all comes to one sentence: that CS is connecting few values, few fields, few ideas. just like you showed me on that diagarams on google images.. i want to show that CS is connecting different fields. not saying which field exactly. it depends on who thinks about that..

how about venn diagram as a logo?

Raphael

"we can use make a visualization of a well-known computational problem" -- this makes me think "PCP", throw my hands in the air and say: a Tetris piece!

@Paweł Not a bad idea, I think. (I note with some satisfaction that this idea is part of my proposal. Nobody says Venn diagrams have to use circles...)

Paweł

@Raphael true that!

Raphael

(Circles probably suck for 32x32 icons, anyway.)

I'll add that CS also -- via technology -- connects things and people. The concepts behind sensor networks, for example, are subject to active research. Networking protocols, too. CS is also a connector of different academic fields, via concepts and technology; arguably it is the ultimate interdisciplinary science.

So, yes, I think I could get behind "connection" resp. "connector" as a theme.

(A number of "cables" plugged into a circle/polygon from all sides?)

Paweł

> arguably it is the ultimate interdisciplinary science.

strong words :) but i can agree more or less

Raphael

Physicists will certainly disagree. :D And then sit down and optimize their simulation code...

Paweł

9:46 AM

yeap, 'connection' / 'connector' is good path to follow. i'll come up with something simple a'la venn diagrams.

lol

Raphael

@Paweł Strong, but I see projects with many other departments here. Everybody uses technology to drive their research nowadays (or should), and many start using CS concepts. Bioninformatics, scientific computing and NLP are only some of the more prominent emerging areas which already have a name.

Paweł

yes, but saying that 'Computer Science' is synonym of 'Technology' is also not 100% true.. but i see your point and absolutely agree with what you're sayin

Raphael

@Paweł Nope. CS is, well, the science behind/underneat information technology. (We need a big amount of physics and chemistry for building our devices, too. Soon also biology and medicine, I predict.)

I'll quickly post the connection idea in our meta thread with a mockup or two so that people can vote. Looking forward to your mockup!

Paweł

go for it

Raphael

10:27 AM

@Paweł Done.

@D.W. Seems like you need to step up your game! ;) (And good morning, by the time you read this!)

Evinda

Hi!!! Is anyone of you familiar with the M-method?

Raphael

12:00 PM

@Paweł Thanks for caring enough to involve us, it's much appreciated! (And it's good to see that thing are finally moving forwards. \o/)

Evinda

1:52 PM

Is anyone of you familiar with dynamic programming?

Paweł

2:11 PM

@Raphael you're welcome!

D.W.

4:39 PM

@Paweł For what it's worth, I'm more positive about something that evokes 1's and 0's. Given that this is hard, that wouldn't be a terrible way to go. I kinda like the first image of cl.ly/2k1I3i350N0K, but not so much the second image (the light bulb makes me think of, I don't know, electricity or home wiring or something).

vzn

5:01 PM

@Paweł hi cant hit your images right now but think youre on the right track. & this is gonna be tricky... even very abstract CS has a branch that studies the theory of circuits. actually that gives me an idea. others are emphasizing the abstract nature of CS. what about a sort of split image where say a physical circuit is juxtaposed with an abstract circuit, one meshing into the other? such that its the same? two faces/ facets of the same thing? a sort of dual-sided blend...

am thinking, maybe there is not a "killer image/ icon/ logo" that everyone will like...

personally have always thought theres a kind of tech yin-yang thread that goes thru CS... but maybe too mystical for many here... there are many associated yin-yang dichotomies such as between theory/ applied, software/ hardware, read world vs cyberspace, etc...

↑ oops ~~read~~ real world

Raphael

5:20 PM

@D.W. I have nothing against 0/1 but I'm concerned about the brand(ing). We have enough people mistaking Computer Science for something that it is not; we don't need a logo/background/... that sends the wrong signals to the wrong people. "I'm a hacker, I'm all about ideas and bit masks, that's my site!"

If I have to decide between the two extremes, I'd rather take something pretty that has nothing to do with CS than something that makes Computer Science look like something that it is not.

The issue is probably unique among the science sites. Everybody "knows" what mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology are. Hence the branding for those sites can be more iconic/concrete/cliché. But people don't know what CS is so the same approach is very dangerous for us. Imho.

The fact that we have barely any physical objects that distinguish us from other disciplines does not help. :/

Computer Science Meta

6:12 PM

0

Q: Why do we see the Stack Overflow survey?

Our sidebar prominently links to this year's SO Dev Survey. Why? We are not a programmer or developer community. In addition, it's most certainly not an event of this site:

bug

vzn

7:00 PM

an idea loosely inspired by Rs reference to "plugs" (in the meta post). reminds me of old illustrations by george beker for a book called "basic computer games" by Ahl (1980). there are many whimsical illustrations of robots as metaphors for software/ programming. take a look! also reminiscent of new yorker cartoons. (which also might be a source of ideas. there are hundreds that come up on search for "computer"...)

Friendly Person 44

8:31 PM

hello?

Evinda

9:10 PM

Hi @FriendlyPerson44

Friendly Person 44

still there?

has a machine learning AI ever been built that goes after images of girls?

I'v only read about data ones, or ones that want a reward, but ignore OUR triggers, you think theyd have made one

vzn

10:47 PM

@FriendlyPerson44 yes (something like) this has been done in filtering software that attempts to identify "NSFW" images. etc

Friendly Person 44

10:59 PM

Because you think they'd have a show model of current achievements i.e. it not only saves actions to walk to it that got trigger for trigger but also smiles/frowns when gets bad/good triggers i.e. girl/boy tasty/sour pleasure/pain

overexchange

udemy.com/algorithms-and-data-structures-in-python

Am comfortable in python.

How do you rate this DS&algo course for beginner

?

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