1

Last year (I'm in 10th grade), during most unit/chapter tests, we were allowed to bring notes. We could prepare a 3 x 5 in. (7.62 x 12.7 cm) index card at home, and cram it with as many notes as possible; this index card could then be used on the test.

One of my classmates had the idea of writing in red, then over that in blue, and using anaglyph red-cyan 3D glasses (she distributed one to everyone), so we could fit twice as much information on one index card.

Since then, I've been wondering about taking that to the next level: (de)compressing text manually.

What I am looking for is an efficient text compression algorithm where at least the decompression process can be done by hand (the compression process can be done electronically).

The desirable process is this:

  1. Compress notes with a computer at home the day before the test
  2. Write compressed text on an index card
  3. Take the index card to the test
  4. Use the first 2-5 (maximum 10) minutes of the test to use the back page (which is usually at least half blank) to manually decompress the data
  5. The decompressed, readable notes are on the back page of the test, ready to be used during the test whenever necessary.
CerebralDatabank
  • 11
  • 1
    This will depend heavily on the subject of the test. If the test is about "moral advice to children" a lot of compression is possible; if the test is about "trigonometric formulas" every typographical token counts. – Christian Blatter Oct 09 '18 at 15:33
  • 1
    Instead of reinventing the wheel, learn speedwriting instead. – achille hui Oct 09 '18 at 15:35
  • Note that you'll also need to memorize the decompression algorithm. If you have a very long algorithm, the space needed on the notecard is small, but then you have to remember a lot. Depending on the subject I think the suggestion to use shorthand is a good one. Otherwise mnemonics and other methods of remembering things might be useful – overfull hbox Dec 25 '18 at 20:27

1 Answers1

0

As suggested by Achille Hui:

Instead of reinventing the wheel, learn speedwriting instead.

Speedwriting

CerebralDatabank
  • 11