Post Race!

[Witis]

What game of tetris have you ever played that had single blocks? There are almost no Tetris shapes in the whole image, nor are there enough colors for a game of Tetris.

Shaggy you just need to use your imagination a bit more, I can't think of any other game that it resembles more closely than Tetris. =^.^=

[dclamp]

Post race.

This is how I picture you saying this:

[dday9]

That is a very accurate depiction

[Shaggy Hiker]

Can you please tell us once again the purpose the third colour?

The third color is largely there for aesthetic reasons. However, it also serves a practical purpose. There is little chance that a backyard will have a number of bricks that is a multiple of either 7 or 8 (the two viable byte sizes that can be used for writing ASCII messages). Therefore, there has to be a fill color that has no value. The alterantive would be to fill with the 0 bit color, but that gets a bit dicey, unless the number of bytes that makes up the message is at least pretty close to the size of the yard (I kept tinkering with the message until I got it right to the maximum character count possible, but that still left several extra bits, since the area was not evenly divisible by 8 bits).

The other purpose that the third color can serve is to hint at the fact that there is a pattern, and hint at how to read it. This I did by making every eigth bit red. That doesn't mean that all red bits are eigth bits as you insist on mininterpreting, it just means that every eigth bit is red. Other bits can be red, as well, but every eigth bit MUST be. If I were to make every other bit red, that would also work, because then every eight bit would be red. In that case, nobody would ever reasonably expect that the other bits carried any meaning at all, and the information density would be seriously diluted. Any other pattern of red bits is also possible, actually, but if you play around with other patterns of red bits, you will see that they quickly come to dominate the pattern as a whole. Alternating red bits might draw attention to the variability of the non-red bits, but the predominance of red bits would swamp the message. Therefore, I went with the rule that every eight bit MUST be red, and otherwise used red sparingly. All surplus bits are red (there is a string of them at the very end of the pattern due to the fact that there was not an even multiple of 8 bricks).

The information is not contained in the red bits, nor can there be any information contained in the red bits. All the information is contained in the gray and tan bits which make up the binary pattern. Therefore, only gray and tan bits are the binary pattern. A third color (red) can't be part of a binary pattern by definition. So focusing on a third color and saying that it throws off the pattern is absurd. The third color can't be part of the pattern, so it can't throw anything off. You should be able to read the pattern even if all the red bits were removed, because they aren't part of the binary message. It would be harder to read, since you would have to keep track of your place, but there is no information contained in the red bits, so they shouldn't impact the reading. Also, without the red bits, you'd have to try out N-S, E-W, W-E, and S-N reading, only one of which is correct. With the red bits, you can rule out two of those, which should cut the time taken to figure out the orientation of the pattern quite a bit quicker, but that's all it does.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Shaggy you just need to use your imagination a bit more, I can't think of any other game that it resembles more closely than Tetris. =^.^=

You say that I shoudl use my imagination a bit more, yet you are the one who can't think of any other games? How about Breakout, CubeCrash, DropBlocks, Go, Othello, or any other such game? All of them resemble my yard more than Tetris, as none of them have fixed shapes.

[Witis]

The third color is largely there for aesthetic reasons.

Tri-coloured binary aesthetics? At least you chose red. =)

However, it also serves a practical purpose.

Truly, ok, let's hear it then.

There is little chance that a backyard will have a number of bricks that is a multiple of either 7 or 8 (the two viable byte sizes that can be used for writing ASCII messages). Therefore, there has to be a fill color that has no value.

I don't quite see the problem, you just zero fill the last few unused bytes and it is then possible to determine exactly where the start and end of the message are.

The alterantive would be to fill with the 0 bit color,

Now you are talking.

but that gets a bit dicey, unless the number of bytes that makes up the message is at least pretty close to the size of the yard (I kept tinkering with the message until I got it right to the maximum character count possible, but that still left several extra bits, since the area was not evenly divisible by 8 bits).

Yeah, just zero fill those extra bytes for the win. FTW

The other purpose that the third color can serve is to hint at the fact that there is a pattern, and hint at how to read it. This I did by making every eigth bit red.

However, an 8 bit binary pattern would have needed no introduction or special markers, e.g. "Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer" - wiki

That doesn't mean that all red bits are eigth bits as you insist on mininterpreting, it just means that every eigth bit is red.

You designed your binary pattern so that red functions as a visual character delimiter, so that is their main role in the pattern.

Other bits can be red, as well, but every eigth bit MUST be.

I am not convinced that you can use red tiles for multiple purposes if doing so interferes with or destroys the message you encoded.

If I were to make every other bit red, that would also work, because then every eight bit would be red.

However, that would be a very confusing pattern indeed.

In that case, nobody would ever reasonably expect that the other bits carried any meaning at all, and the information density would be seriously diluted.

Yep, that is another way to use red to destroy your message.

Any other pattern of red bits is also possible, actually, but if you play around with other patterns of red bits, you will see that they quickly come to dominate the pattern as a whole. Alternating red bits might draw attention to the variability of the non-red bits, but the predominance of red bits would swamp the message. Therefore, I went with the rule that every eight bit MUST be red, and otherwise used red sparingly.

Red = character delimiter, got it.

All surplus bits are red (there is a string of them at the very end of the pattern due to the fact that there was not an even multiple of 8 bricks).

Here's a picture of the backyard (or at least a part of it) taken from the roof prior to building the pergola.
Attachment 114763 (Click the attachment to see the pic)

Originally you said the row of extra red tiles at the top left hand side "throw off the pattern in the picture". Further the only obvious 7 bit pattern occurs reading the pattern bottom to top (rather than from left to right or right to left) in the pic your posted, meaning that any fill at the end of your message should only occur vertically rather than horizontally.

The information is not contained in the red bits, nor can there be any information contained in the red bits. All the information is contained in the gray and tan bits which make up the binary pattern.

The red is there to trick you into thinking it is a trinary pattern when it is actually a binary pattern.

Therefore, only gray and tan bits are the binary pattern.

Go the binary bits.

A third color (red) can't be part of a binary pattern by definition.

But you made it part of your binary pattern.

So focusing on a third color and saying that it throws off the pattern is absurd.

You originally said that the extra red tiles throw off the binary pattern.

The third color can't be part of the pattern, so it can't throw anything off.

Extra red tiles laid in the wrong place can easily throw off the pattern.

You should be able to read the pattern even if all the red bits were removed, because they aren't part of the binary message.

Although a 7 bit pattern would be a tricky pattern to spot. A gap or a couple of half tiles could also have functioned as a delimiter.

It would be harder to read, since you would have to keep track of your place, but there is no information contained in the red bits, so they shouldn't impact the reading.

But the extra red tiles do, particularly as they do not seem to function as fill at the end of the message.

Also, without the red bits, you'd have to try out N-S, E-W, W-E, and S-N reading, only one of which is correct. With the red bits, you can rule out two of those, which should cut the time taken to figure out the orientation of the pattern quite a bit quicker, but that's all it does.

As long as you have some sort of delimiter, and obvious fill at the end of the message, then it makes it relatively easy to deduce how to extract and read the binary encoded characters.

[Witis]

You say that I shoudl use my imagination a bit more, yet you are the one who can't think of any other games? How about Breakout, CubeCrash, DropBlocks, Go, Othello, or any other such game? All of them resemble my yard more than Tetris, as none of them have fixed shapes.

Breakout - not really
CubeCrash - maybe
DropBlocks - maybe
Go - not really
Othello - not really

CubeCrash and DropBlocks also resemble Tetris, and as CubeCrash and DropBlocks are not very famous, most folks would only recognise Tetris in your backyard. =D

[Witis]

[dclamp]

Since I didnt read majority of the post about the binary backyard, the tiles in your backyard represent a coded message in binary? is that accurate?

[dday9]

Indeed. I believe it is an image or an egg or something. lol

[Witis]

and it features the colour red. =)

[dclamp]

I will write my name in my binary backyard.

[Witis]

It reads like you got some expensive taste there dclamp.

[Witis]

Someone will have to teach you how to eat sushi and forget about the chicken and the all beef patties, pickles, and onions on a sesame bun. 8-)

[Witis]

[dclamp]

I will pass on that sushi though... thanks

[Witis]

Sticking with the beef, chicken, and pork?

[dclamp]

Yes sir.

[Witis]

But what did the cow do wrong to deserve being put down (they use an electrical jolt to stun the cows before slitting their throats), it only eats grass after all?

[henrytrs35]

It's meat tastes great. They're just unlucky.

[Witis]

Is it unlucky or is it murder?

[Witis]

Fish tastes really nice too btw. =)

[homer13j]

If God didn't want us to eat animals he wouldn't have made them out of tasty meat.

[homer13j]

I will write my name in my binary backyard.

I like to write my name in the snow.

[Witis]

If God didn't want us to eat animals he wouldn't have made them out of tasty meat.

Yeah but the divinities also gave us intelligence so that we could work out which animals, if any, should be eaten.

[Witis]

[dday9]

Yeah but the divinities also gave us intelligence so that we could work out which animals, if any, should be eaten.

Like domesticated dogs?

[dclamp]

Road House.

[dclamp]

Post Race.

[dday9]

Road House

[dday9]

House

[Witis]

Like domesticated dogs?

You could be onto something there dday9, although why not try starting with something a bit easier like non mammals.

[dday9]

I do like fish.

[Witis]

Right on. =D

[Witis]

What else?

[dday9]

I absolutely love gators.

[Witis]

Yeah - they don't call gators one of the tastiest meals you can buy for nothing. ˚ᵕ˚

[Witis]

You got a hankering for anything else?

[dday9]

I also like a variety of birds such as chickens and ducks. Ooooh, gimme some chicken gizzards and I'll be happy!

[Witis]

Now my chickens and ducks are crying