These descriptions were written by students in the Fall 1996 version of 6.096 and are used with permission.
An enjoyable but often not experienced for a sufficient lenght of time, is something we call sleeping. The purpose of this activity is to regain enery lost during a previous period of time (symptoms may include headaches, weariness, unability to stay awake in lecture halls, exhaustion, short-temperedness, or other inabilities to function/interact with other humans). Generally, this activity involves a bed (a three foot by six foot padded apparatus that lies orizontally about a foot above the ground), but when an individual has gone without sleep for an extended period of time, it is possible to fall (not to be taken literally) asleep virtually anywhere. It is desirable to lay down on a bed before attempting to sleep, for increased comfort. If the individual is not very tired, sleep may be more easily obtained by not thinking of anything... Eventually the person will fall asleep, an activity during which time is not measurable - the indvidual just feels more rested/alert/energetic when awakenin g. For those individuals who have been deprived of sleep, sleep is VERY easy to obtain, and may happen at any point of time. The only requirement for sleeping is for the individual to close his/her eyes - the rest varies depending on the individual.
Every morning, the majority of individuals in human race undergo a series of self-maintenance procedures, from the time they wake up until they are ready to start carrying out their normal daily activities. A thourough body cleaning process is highly recommended before any further actions. Teeth, the calcium structures uniformly distributed inside the mouth, should be carefully brushed with utensils especially made for such purpose. A shower must immediately follow: it is a matter of rubbing a hydroxide-based solid substance against one's body and rinsing out the resulting foam, along with the superficial body dirt it helps removing. In the next step, most body parts are adequately covered with carefully-styled colored clothing material. After that, a human organism must be provided with substances that will deliver the necessary energy for all activities in the next few hours. That's breakfast, the first meal of the day, the process of feeding organic material into the body. It is basically accomplished in steps of trituration (mainly by the teeth, added by tongue movement), swallowing (throat and esophagus muscles), processing (chemical digestion in stomach and intestines) and cellular storage (cells are microscopic well-organized structures that constitute the organism of a human being).
All the steps described above, if executed to completeness, often ensure that a human body will work efficiently throughout the day.
I would like to start this week's lesson by describing an artifact that plays fundamental role in human society. This terrestrial device is used for producing a certain liquid which is essential to the survival of the majority of men and women all around the planet. Brilliantly named after this vital substance, the coffee machine is the target of description in this lesson.
The coffee machine is a very simple device that can usually be found in several different colors and sizes. Regardless of that, however, they invariably look the same to most people's eyes. The main plastic body often approximates a cubic-shaped hollow structure of dull color (white, black or beige), enclosing a small water reservoir, accessible through an opening on the top. Also inside the coffee machine, directly below the water reservoir is the funnel in which a coffee filter and the magic powder itself (triturated coffee) is placed. Water is boiled in the reservoir, diffuses through the powder and flows through the filter, now as real coffee, and ends up being collected in a recipient attached to the bottom of the device. Electrical power is provided by a cord and the boiler is activated by an easily accessible front witch. A red light (actually a light emitting diode) indicates when the machine is turned on. Further controls may include a small front valve for individual coffee servings.
Students go to class every day. Some classes are early in the morning others are late in the afternoon. In the case that the class that you are going to is you r first class of the day, then you follow these steps.
If first class of the day, then
Wake up
get out of bed
take towel
go to the bathroom
shower
brush your teeth
put on some clothes
have breakfast
leave your room
go to the room where the class is before the class starts
if you have a class before the class that you are going to
then wait until the previous class is over
then get some drinks on the way
and goto the room where the next class is before the class starts
if class is in the middle of the day but there is no class before it
then keep an eye on your watch
if it is 10 minutes before the class time
then go to the classroom
A process that every human must do is learning. It is the process that feeds knowledge into our brain, and base on that, we can improve what we do. Ever since we were born, we begin to learn, although we might not notice. We usually learn from experience. Something that was done before. We know that a fire can keeps us warm and cook food, becasue when the lightening hits a tree, the tree is burned into ashes and heat is given off. Most of these things are passed on to the young from the adults, which is also the basic process of learning.
The object I am going to describe is called pencil. It's usually around 5-6 inches long and very thin. Inch is one of the different units of measurement in length. An inch is about the length of an adult's finger neil. A pencil is made of wood and lead. The wood serves as a protective coat to the lead. It is the lead that actually do the work, which is puting down what ever a person writes. the pencil is probably one of the most useful tools ever invented. People use it to write down ideas and communicate with one another.
A binder is usually a big piece of rectangular plastic and is usually used to hold papers. This plastic is usually folded into two and a metal (which is a shiny material found on earth) is attached to it at the middle. This metal has 3 loops attached to it. ( Loops are just circular extensions of the metal used.)These loops are used to hold pieces of paper which are usually punched. The binder is used to keep those punched papers so that they do not get lost or disorganized. Binders can be of different sizes and shapes and colors. Usually students( who are the human beings going to school) use binders very often.
What's going on these days on planet Ogo? Things on Earth are pretty hectic these days, with our classes starting for school. Yeah, I had to go to this place and buy all these books... Whew! They cost so much money! :) And I bet you don't even know what books are, do you? Well, books are things that you read, usually made out of a thin material called paper that comes from trees. You remember me telling you about trees, right? Those tall plants that grow out of the ground? Well, people grind them up and press them into sheets, and then people write words for people to read. When someone reads a book, it kinda looks like they're just staring at a page (that's one sheet of paper in the book), but really they're reading it with their eyes and understanding it in their heads. Sometimes books can be so good that people just can't stop reading them, and sometimes they think that they're actually a character in the book (that's someone the book is written about) and think that the story in the book is real. But our books aren't that great... they're just about math problems and computer languages... no pictures, either. :( Yeah, and all of the pages are all bound in this cover, which is usually hard and holds all of the pages together. I had to buy several of them for my classes because we have to read them to understand what's going on in lectures. Sometimes if I don't read my books, I have no idea what my teachers are talking about! Books really help you learn things. :) Well, I gotta go now... I actually have to read a book! :) But be sure to email me soon and let me know what's new with you.
An apple is a fruit. It can be red, green, or yellow. It is fairly spherical with indentations on the top and bottom center for a stem (a thin object which holds the fruit to its tree or plant). Fruit has two functions: people eat fruit and fruit has the ability to produce more fruit. Fruit is very nutritious because it contains vitamins that are necessary for humans to live. Fruit grows on trees or plants; each fruit contains a seed that if planted could produce a new plant.
The process of eating includes biting into an edible object (a fruit or some other type of food), chewing (moving the teeth up and down in order to break down the food into smaller pieces), and swallowing (forcing the food out of the mouth into the stomach). After the food has been swallowed, it gets digested inside the human and all of its nutrients go throughout the human's body to give the human energy. It is necessary for humans to eat in order to stay alive.
How's everything on Jupiter? Things here on Earth are quite fine. School is starting, but I'm still finding time to have fun. Yeah, my friends and I are going to go rollerblading soon. Oh, I haven't told you about that yet! :) Rollerblading is an outdoor sport. People wear these boots on their feet with four wheels lined up from the tips of their toes to the back of their heels. Some people wear knee pads and helmets for safety in case they fall. But they wear them outside on the streets, but a very smooth surface is much better because it doesn't make you bounce up and down so much and there are less cracks to trip over. To properly rollerblade, you push your feet back, one at a time, and glide over the surface. It helps if you bend your knees because you can go over cracks more smoothly and not lose your balance. Some people play rollerhockey, where they wear rollerblades and carry big sticks that they swing and try to hit a ball into a goal... it's a fun game, but it's also very hard to play. Rollerblading can be kinda scary the first few times you go, but once you get your balance and feel comfortable in them it's a lot of fun. :) I'll have to take you sometime if you ever come to visit. :) Well, write me when you can. I'll email you later.
That "thing" you saw me with the previous day was what we here on earth call a football. A football is so called because you use your foot, mostly, to kick it about. It is spherically shaped and made of leather. All over the surface are regular pentagon shapes of alternate black and white colours. The pentagons are sewed edge on edge to form a neat arrangement; appart for the sewings footballs are smooth. They are used when inflated with air. This can be done to differing pressures depending on how hard the ball needs to be. Some people like to play with very hard balls, and so they pump the balls to high presures -in that case kicking the ball is like kicking a rock. I'll explain rocks to you next time.
A really beautiful thing that can be done with a football is dribbling. To dribble is to move the ball -using the foot, but balancing the ball on the shoulders or juggling it on the head and hips is allowed- in such a manner as to confuse and thereby pass the opponent while still maintainig possesion of the ball. It can be done generally by moving the ball with the outside and inside and tip of both feet while at the same time keeping balance and making sure the opponent doesn't touch the ball. It takes a lot of skill to do this well. Every football player has his own way of dribbling and some very good players make dribbling an art. For example, some pass the ball from left foot to right to left again and before their opponent is aware, they have passed him already. Others approach their opponent and then when close enough, they flip the ball from with the heel of the foot,behind their back, over their head and that of the opponent and control it onto the field after passing their opponent. Still others use their speed to manover the ball in jerky motions and then blitz past before anyone is aware.
Nordj, that's all I have for now. I've got to run for a class that begins in two minutes. I'll catch up with you later.
Not everyone is born with the same visual capabilities, so to compensate, some people wear objects called glasses. Humans have a pair of ears (located on the side of the head, the head being six inches in width and nine-ten inches in length) which are about five inches horizontal from our two eyes (through which we see through). We also have a nose which is one inch below (and centered between) our eyes. The glasses consist of two circular lenses about two inches in diameter, they rest in front of our eyes, and they are connected in the middle by a wire or plastic "bridge" which rests on the nose. On the outer sides of the lenses, there are two narrow strips of wire or plastic (one on each lens) which extend for about five inches straight, at a ninety degree angle from the lens structure (so they fit around the head). At the end of the five inches, there is a padded area of wire/plastic which is about one inch in length and is bent at a 80 degree angle downward, to rest securely around the ears . The purpose of the entire apparatus lies in the lens which, due to the way they are shaped (e.g. thickness, etc.), correct visual impairments in humans.
Today I want to describe you a lightbulb. Its main part is made out of glass, usually completely transparent, some other times coloured, but still not opaque. The glass has roughly the shape of a pear: you could get an idea of its shape if you drew two circles, one with a radius that is twice as long as the other, separated by a distance a bit longer than the sum of the radiuses. If you connect the two circles with two lines which are both tangent to both circles and consider the outside perimeter of the figure you obtain, and you make it rotate for 180 degrees in space along the axis that connects the two centers of the circles, you obtain something very similar to the glass part of the lightbulb. The light bulb is empty inside, there is no air and the glass only forms a thin layer to protect what's inside. Inside there is a very small and thin filament of a material which is made incandescent by the passage of electric current. At the small end of the bulb, there is the part that keeps the bulb in place and takes care of the electric contacts. It is shaped like a screw and it's made of metal.
Now, here is how you change a lightbulb if it, for any reason, it's not working anymore. You first open the electric circuit which the bulb is connected to, in order to avoid getting electric shock, then you hold the bulb with your hand and carefully rotate it along its axis of simmetry counterclockwise, until the bulb gets loose. You then get a new one, and place it in its place rotating clockwise.
How is life on Mars? Life here on Earth is going fine. I am writing this to you as I sit at my desk in my dorm room in front of my table fan. A table fan is designed to cool a person. A table fan is neccessary in my dorm room because none of the twelve thousand dollar tuition which my parents are paying is budgeted for air-conditioning. Air-conditioning is designed to cool an entire room or building. I know that on Mars you do not need to worry about being too hot, but here on Earth some college housing administrators fail to realize the difficulties involved with studying while sweat is dripping from one's body. My table fan provides sufficient relief from the heat but it makes reading and leaving any papers on my desk a problem. This problem is due to the nature of the fan. The fan works by spinning slanted blades around a horizontal axis. The slant in the blades of the fan causes air to be pushed through the fan as the blades turn. This air blowing at me keeps me from feeling too hot. The blades get the power they need to spin from an electric motor. This motor receives its power from a thin, black, rubber cord which is connected to an electric outlet in the wall. The blades are enclosed by a circular plastic case. This case is neccessary to prevent objects and body parts from falling into the path of the fan's blades. The fan may be turned on and off by twisting a black, plastic knob to the desired setting. The settings range according to the amount of air which they blow out. I would offer to send you a fan, Marty, but It would probably be wiser to send you a heater. Write back soon! I hope you enjoyed reading my description of my table fan.
One of my tasks today is to describe an everyday object to you. I have chosen to describe a can- pardon the formality of the description
My tasks today is to describe an everyday object to you. I have chosen to describe how to open a can.
The way one most commonly opens a can is to remove the top; this may be accomplished in a reversible or irreversible fashion. To open the can reversibly, grasp the top, often referred to as a cover, and lift it off the can. To remove a fixed top, vertically insert a sharp edge into the perimeter of the vertically oriented (can resting on one of its flat ends) can's top, and pass it along the perimeter, separating the top from the vertical edge of the cylider.
As you already know, I am attending Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). I began the process of applying to MIT by requesting freshman application materials from the addmissions office. I did this by calling the office on the telephone. The application consisted of two parts. The first part of the application was a biographical information form which I filled out and sent back to MIT a few days after receiving the form. The second part of the application consisted of a tests, activities, and essay form. MIT required an interview with an MIT graduate before I could submit the second part of my application. Hence, I scheduled my interview for a week after I received my application. I completed this second application form as soon as I could and returned it to MIT before November 1, 1995 so I could be eligible for early action. This meant that MIT could offer me admission in the winter of 1995-6 for the fall of 1996. I received acceptance through early action and decided not to apply to any other schools. I returned my final decision form to MIT in the spring of 1996 to confirm my intent to attend MIT. I am very pleased to be here at MIT now and I hope that you are also having a good time on Mars, Marty. Please write back!
This course is a part of Lynn Andrea Stein's Rethinking CS101 project at the MIT AI Lab and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
