Explanation of Bitwise NOT Operator

Question

Why is it that the bitwise NOT operator (~ in most languages) converts the following values like so:

-2 -> 1
-1 -> 0

Answer 1

    Dim mask As Integer = -1
    '11111111111111111111111111111111

    For x As Integer = -3 To 3
        Dim i As Integer = x
        Debug.WriteLine("")
        Debug.WriteLine("'" & Convert.ToString(i, 2).PadLeft(32, "0"c) & " > Num = " & i.ToString)

        i = i Xor mask 'reverse the bits (same as Not)
        Debug.WriteLine("'" & Convert.ToString(i, 2).PadLeft(32, "0"c) & " > Not = " & i.ToString)

        i += 1 'convert to two's complement
        Debug.WriteLine("'" & Convert.ToString(i, 2).PadLeft(32, "0"c) & " > 2's Comp = " & i.ToString)
    Next

    'debug results

    '11111111111111111111111111111101 > Num = -3
    '00000000000000000000000000000010 > Not = 2
    '00000000000000000000000000000011 > 2's Comp = 3

    '11111111111111111111111111111110 > Num = -2
    '00000000000000000000000000000001 > Not = 1
    '00000000000000000000000000000010 > 2's Comp = 2

    '11111111111111111111111111111111 > Num = -1
    '00000000000000000000000000000000 > Not = 0
    '00000000000000000000000000000001 > 2's Comp = 1

    '00000000000000000000000000000000 > Num = 0
    '11111111111111111111111111111111 > Not = -1
    '00000000000000000000000000000000 > 2's Comp = 0

    '00000000000000000000000000000001 > Num = 1
    '11111111111111111111111111111110 > Not = -2
    '11111111111111111111111111111111 > 2's Comp = -1

    '00000000000000000000000000000010 > Num = 2
    '11111111111111111111111111111101 > Not = -3
    '11111111111111111111111111111110 > 2's Comp = -2

    '00000000000000000000000000000011 > Num = 3
    '11111111111111111111111111111100 > Not = -4
    '11111111111111111111111111111101 > 2's Comp = -3