geektorial
User24 I plan to reveal the secrets of geek, the intention is a tutorial that will guide you through geek history, to modern computing and hacking

This is all my own opinion, and may be factually incorrect, but, to the best of my knowledge, and I am open to corrections, it is true.

In this part, you will learn how computers work at a basic level.

Computers store data in binary form, that is to say, ones and zeros, these BInary digiTS, or bits are stored as an electrical charge in a circuit, or as a magnetic charge on a disk, inside the computer; if there is a current or charge, we have a value of 1, if there is not, it is zero.

great, so we can store zeros and ones, but how is this processed into what we see on our screens?

we need a way to convert binary digits into actual text, years ago, a bunch of programmers came up with what's now known as the ASCII set (american standard code for information interchange)

the ASCII set consists of 255 defined characters, as a lookup set for the binary sets, eg;

00000001 = 1
00000010 = 2
00000011 = 3
00000100 = 4
00000101 = 5
00000110 = 6
00000111 = 7
00001000 = 8
00001001 = 9
00001010 = 10

and so on, right up to;

11111011 = 251
11111100 = 252
11111100 = 252
11111101 = 253
11111110 = 254
11111111 = 255

so, by using 8 bits (known as a byte), we can make 255 different numbers

With each of these numbers assigned a character, we have a fairly large character set, encompassing a-z, A-Z, 0-9, see www.asciichart.com and press 'build' to see the first 127 of these characters.

ASCII 127-255 is known as the extended ASCII set, and contains mostly graphical characters.

so, now we can store text as magnetic charges on a disk, by using binary digits and ASCII, for instance if we read the charges on a disk and saw;

--++-+---
--++--+-+
--++-++--
--++-++--
--++-++++

(positive and negative charges)

we can convert this into binary;

001101000
001100101
001101100
001101100
001101111

and then real numbers (decimal);

104
101
108
108
111

and then finally, ASCII

h
e
l
l
o

and that's how text is stored on a disk.

any questions so far? 		030627
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User24 next installment coming soon. 030627
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kss tip: when ordering a new computer, make sure there is a clear window in the case, and everything inside is nice and neat, and there are some cool lights inside to look at. laser cut stainless steel fan covers in the shape of a skull earn extra bonus points. 030627
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pobodys nerfect re: any queestions so far

Yeah,I have one. "My cat's breath smells like cat food". :D 		030627
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blather loogic check that's a staatement, not a queestion 030627
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pobodys nerfect *questions, not queestions! 030627
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pobodys nerfect you're right of course. This is what happens when you type at almost the speed you're thinking... *throws self into the dungeon for awhile* 030627
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doormouse kinda crapped out on this one eh? 050402
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