i like things: I like 8-bit

Carly was nice enough to invite some friends to write some guest posts. I like going first so put on your seat belts and prepare to be blown. Mindwise.

Today we're gonna talk about 8 bit.
Some background: A bit is short for Binary Digit. This is a number that can either be a zero or a one. With 1 bit you can represent 2 things. With n bits you can represent 2^n things. They can be anything you want. Computers use bits to represent stuff like voltages, colors, sounds, and memory locations (imagine labels on cubby holes). The more bits you have, the more things you can represent. In general, more bits means more information or higher fidelity.
What's so special about 8?
Back when your parents were cool, computers were expensive and didn't have as much memory (smaller value of n). Engineers had to squeeze information into 2^n pieces for relatively small values of n. Many of the first mass-produced home computers from the 1970s had instruction sizes of eight bits. For example, if you wanted to draw colors on your Atari with 8 bits to store the palette then you would only have 2^8 or 256 colors. 8-bit video games are characterized by low resolutions, restrictive color palettes, pixelated characters, and low-fi audio.

Impress your friends: 8 bits = 1 byte = 1 octet

You know this bad dude likes 8-bit.

Today "8-bit" is colloquial term that refers any type of media meant to look like the product of old school hardware. Hallmarks of the style include big pixels and gameboy-like sounds. One visual component of 8-bit art is called isometric pixel art and it looks like this: