Monday, April 29, 2019

Game of Thrones and Computer Science

I confess that I have not watched a single episode of Game of Thrones.  That doesn’t mean I am oblivious to the social impact of the show. My online social media is full of it. So when Rita Tillson Vasak linked to this Slate article explaining why a recent episode was so hard to view I jumped to read it. The article talks about data compression and how a lot of compression made it hard for a lot of people to really view the scenes.

It talks about data compression in a way that assumes the reader has a clue as to what they are talking about. It uses the term “lossy video compression” and talks about the layers of compression involved in getting the digital image to your screen. I wonder how many people read that article without comprehending it very well. Hopefully my Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles students would get it all.

We talk about compression in AP CS P. I’ve also played with lossy compression with my Programming Honors students (Lossy Text Compression Project ). I talk about compression in terms of text, images, video, and music. I think students mostly get it.

Rita suggested this article as part of review for the APCSP exam (coming in less than two weeks!) and I think that is a great suggestion. I may use it next year when we talk about compression as well. I think it is a good visual and discussion as to what can go wrong in our attempts to get the most data through the smallest “pipe” in the least amount of time.

Showing specific examples of the effects, positive and negative, of computer science technology when it also ties into a social event can make a great impression.

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