Netflix

Laura Dominguez #13

Netflix

I don't know what people are all about Netflix these days. I mean, I think some of the series that are presented there are great like Orange is the New Black and House of Cards. But the amount of movies  that they have is too little and most of them are quite old. Also I think is not fear that the content of Netflix changes according to your location.  While I was in DR for vacation, I discovered that the amount of movies and series is much larger than than the one here in the US, also the content is much more up to date. When I came back from my vacation, I was so disappointed because I couldn't continue to watch some of the series that I started watching in DR.

Image source : http://whatsonnetflix.com/coming-soon/shadowhunters-on-netflix-streaming/

GarageBand

Laura Dominguez #15

GarageBand

Being able to use GarageBand in class was really fun and inspiring. I used GarageBand in my music class in high school so I was quite familiar with the program itself.  I did not find it complicated to use GarageBand, in fact, I think is an easy program to use compare to others programs, It was fun to work with my partners and make interesting sounds. I'm happy to know that some of the music that I made with my partners would be used in art.

Image Source: https://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/garageband-basic-editing/

3D modeling

Laura Dominguez#6

3D modeling

The use of 3D modeling is becoming more and more predominant in our lives. It has made things easier for architects because now they can see how their projects would look before the project is done. 3D modeling is used in lot of industries such as films, animation, designing and gaming. With 3D printing you are able to do incredible stuff and print them such as jewelry. 3D printing can also be used in the medical industry.





Image
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_modeling#/media/File:An_early_concept_design_of_the_ERIS_instrument.jpg

Cellphones then and now

Laura Dominguez #8

Cellphones then and now

Ten years ago cellphones were only used to make phone calls and sometimes to text. In todays world, there are so many things that cellphones(smartphones) can do that the real question should be, what smartphones cannot do. Your smartphone can go from an excellent camera to an efficient personal assistant. Compare to the old days, cellphones are more smaller and easier to carry around than the old cellphones. Nowadays there are so many varieties of cellphones to choose from it is incredible.

image source: http://ict9kalawknuhllers.weebly.com/stem-innovations.html

Sketchup

Laura Dominguez #20

Sketch Up

My experience with Sketch up was quite interesting because at first I did not know how to use it. So basically I was doing random stuff and pressing all the options to see which one would work. But then after making several cities and vehicles, I finally go it.  After you get it, Sketch up can be quite fun. Im a huge fan of TheSims, so using Sketch up brought back a lot of memories of when I used to play sims. It's amazing all the things one can do with Sketch up. The warehouse is full of amazing things.

Image source: http://www.snapfiles.com/screenshots/sketchup.htm

Neural- sensor

Laura Dominguez #19

Neural- sensor

In a lot of the classes I've had the opportunity see some of the students use the Neural -sensor while reciting a poem or doing some martial arts. It was a new experience to me because I've never seen anybody use a Neural- sensor. It was very interesting to heard the sound and the visual images the neural sensor was generating. I really like when Dereck was playing the guitar while wearing the the Neural - sensor.  I found it quite amazing the contrast between the music that Dereck was making with his guitar and the sound that his brain was generating. I think it would be better if someone could find a way to control the sounds that the Neural sensor makes.

image source: http://neoplainswalker.blogspot.com/2007/06/neural-sensor-on-games_1991.html

Blog 13 : Review Mon Ami Gabi

Mon Ami Gabi is well know French restaurant in Las Vegas. It is known for its delicious foods and its fantastic view of Bellagio fountain. Because of its view, the restaurant is always full with people. People wait to sit at the terrace to see the fountain show.

I went to this place the second day of Las Vegas. I had waited about 20 minutes to be seated at the terrace. I was supposed to eat breakfast here. However, because I woke up late, I could not eat the breakfast menu. Therefore, I ordered regular menus which were great. I went to this restaurant with my friend, Chloe, and we ordered three dishes. We ordered chicken and mushroom crepe, cobb salad, and today's soup. The crepe was not too bad and not too good, since it was too greasy to me. The salad was really good. It helped reducing the greasiness of the crepe. The soup was good and plain.

  Since I wanted to eat breakfast here, I planned to come again this restaurant next day, which was the third day of Las Vegas. I made a reservation at 10 am and found out that I could not sit at the terrace if I made a reservation. Therefore, I just decided to come early next day and wait. Next day, I went there at 9 :50 am, and I only had to wait 5 to 7 minutes, which was lucky. I ordered french onion soup, caramelized apple pancake, and cinnamon pancake. All of them were super delicious, and the saltiness of french onion soup and sweetness of pancakes really tasted good together. However, we could not finish the meal, since we ordered a lot. We only ate half of these huge skinny pancakes.

The overall price is not that expensive. It is about $30 - $40 per person for breakfast and lunch (no lobster tail and steak). I really love this place. I love its food, its atmosphere, and its impressive view.

Information:

It is located in Paris Paris Hotel and right across Bellagio Fountain. (Very nice view!!!)
The address is 3655 Las Vegas Blvd. South Las Vegas, NV, 89109
For reservation: 702.944.4224
Mon-Thur, Sun: 7 am - 11 pm
Fri, Sat:  7 am - 12 am
Breakfast: 7 am - 11 am

Blog 12: New York International Auto Show

I went to New York to visit The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center for International Auto Show last Saturday, March 26th. Four floors of displays showcase the newest designs and the futuristic concept cars. I was looking for Hyundai Genesis concept car for an hour, because I knew that Hyundai has right people in place to make this car. Many designers and engineers from other huge car company are now I Hyundai and that is why I had very high expectation in the latest Genesis concept car. And it did not disappoint me! I loved the design, both inside and outside. Here is a picture of Genesis concept car I took in the convention:

I also found a cute concept car from Scion at the convention. It has grill, fridge, speaker, and sink. I think this car is for people who love road trips. Honestly, I wouldn't buy this car, if I have money to buy. Here is a concept car from Scion:

The convention is still open. If you like cars and vehicles, you will love this place!

Information:

The convention center is located between 11th and 12th Avenues between 34th and 40th Streets, on the west side of Manhattan. The address is :

655 W 34th St, New York, NY 10001, US

This event is held from March 25th to April 3rd
Monday through Saturday, 10 am - 10 pm
Sundays (including Easter), 10 am - 7 pm

$16 - Adult
$7 - Child

U.S. unlocks Iphone

The U.S ended the lawsuit against Apple after declaring that it has unlocked the Iphone and therefore no longer requires Apples support. This is a major move on the part of U.S because this declaration indirectly attacks Apple which is known for its security. This will damage consumer trust in the security of Iphone and Apple won't back off from such a threat. The friction between Apple and the US keeps increasing and this provocation does not help. If Apple decides to up its security after this then the US will have to find another way to unlock the Iphone and this security war between the U.S. is not beneficial.
I hope that the U.S and Apple can come to some tacit agreement and stop trying to out do each other. This way the consumers can relax and not have to worry about the U.S government trying to find ways to unlock their Iphones. I remember that security used to be more lax before hacker groups appeared and started exploiting the holes in security. Then at some period malware was created for one reason or another and caused mayhem to the systems. This led rise to the antimalware companies and alerted programmers that security in their programs is important. White hat hackers came into being to help security of a company and led to the war between hackers and cyber security today.
While the competitions have been happening for a long time this is the first time I have seen the government announce its involvement in unlocking phones.

Another Use for VR in Education

This morning I read an article in Wired about Science education in schools today, and how it's lack of creativity is hindering the learning experience of students. The article mentions that the history of science has been a process of creating models, physical or scientific. Some of these models are hard for an amateur scientific mind to comprehend. It can be very difficult for a student to think in 3 dimensional space, and as our understanding of certain scientific models becomes more sophisticated, it becomes necessary to visualize these principles in 3D to properly understand them. For example, in a re-publishing of Stephen Hawking's "A Brief History of Time" the drawings that Hawking had written in his original publishing were changed into 3D diagrams, and presented in an easier to swallow textbook format. I believe VR can take this principle a bit further. 

Now imagine viewing a 3 diagram of an atom, or of the curvature of space-time or a chemical compound, within a virtual reality space. This could be a massively useful learning tool for students, being able to view and manipulate these models in real time. The days of using balls and sticks to present chemical bonds could be over, and students could sit in a virtual space and manipulate these components at will. Being able to get an orbital and surrounding view of something as complex as the curvature of space-time or a diagram of a black hole could make the concept much easier to grasp for a learning mind. It's almost like the scene of Bruce Banner and Tony Stark manipulating data on a virtual computer in the Avengers. Once again modern technology making science fiction a possibility. 

Love Plus

Like we discussed in class today men in Japan are marrying video games?!? CNN wrote a article about a man who married a video game character, Nene Anegasaki, from he's Nintendo DS game called Love Plus. "Tokyo man marries video game character" 

We consider how advancements in technology are altering human interactions.  Is technology lessening our day to day human interaction? Are we too busy socializing on our smart phones and missing valuable communication cues in real life? All of this plays a role in way a man would choose virtual reality instead of a living breathing human being. Is this Love Plus a way for this man to hide from himself and opt to find "true love" in a machine that he can control?

Advancement in technology have made our lives easier by giving us on-demand information, services, and entertainment. However, can we advance mankind by creating life through virtual realities? And should we?

Ex Machina: The Morality of an AI

In class, we discussed having human looking Artificial Intelligence, and how many people have used them to relieve their lusts and sexual desires. Which raises a question, is this moral? In reality, it could very easily be argued that since they are not actually humans, then they have no rights, and so we as human beings are allowed to take advantage of them.

And while it may seem right from a legal sense, I would disagree on the grounds that anything created or born in a country and that is capable of intelligent thought is deserving of the rights it is capable of understanding. And while we may not be at that stage quite yet, when will we draw the line? Taking advantage of an AI that cannot think for itself will eventually lead to taking advantage of one that can.

Not only that, but the entire concept of sexual relations have been misrepresented by this situation. The thing is, God tells us that sex should be reserved for marriage, to be held in the highest regard for someone that you love more than anything else. And even if you don't believe in God, I think most people would still agree with that sex is something special and should only be given away if both partners have previously assented. Regardless, a true AI would be able to have an opinion about their role in this matter, and so would be able to assent or deny it. If they cannot give an opinion, they should be dealt with like any other human who is not old enough to think for themselves, and should be protected, not only for the benefit of the AI but for the long term benefit of the human as well.

Bluetooth Devices - Help or Hurt?

Quite often I see and hear about people using blue tooth devices, often in the proximity of their heads. They have earpieces that you can connect to blue tooth so you can hold your phone without hands, earbuds that you can connect wirelessly via blue tooth, not to mention the vast array of new virtual reality devices that communicate via blue tooth. And it has to then pose the question, could so many radio signals and blue tooth signals be harmful to us in the long run? Bluetooth devices emit radio signals and others of the like, which essentially means that you are placing yourself in the midst of a field of microwave radiation.

Which, obviously, doesn't make you any smarter - but can it hurt you instead? Research shows that having that many radio waves around your head can, after long periods of time, lead to detrimental side effects - such as cancer, leukemia, Alzheimers, and other autoimmune disorders, as well as giving birth defects and sometimes even miscarriages in their descendants. They also can lead to biological side effects, such as blindness, deafness, and brain tumors. While these side effects are obviously a result of long term exposure, even short term exposure can be dangerous, giving things such as head aches and neck pain. Although they may have a huge benefit to people, overuse of and dependence on these devices is truly dangerous, and can be damaging in the long run.

Leap Motion

         When we used the leap motion in class, I thought it was the coolest thing. I have never used something like that before, so I was so fascinated by the whole thing. When we got to use it and play the games in class, it was the best part. Right when I got back to my dorm I went to look to see if I can buy one for myself, but they were out of my price range. The whole idea of playing the games with no touching was so cool. There was also a part of the leap motion program, where you get to “touch” different parts of the human anatomy. Which I think would be a great way to teach. This may be a game now but it will soon turn into something that people will use on a day to day. They will be using this for everything and it will be interesting to see that happen. How they can take this and make it better. Like probably install them into televisions, laptops, and even phones. Taking it to the next level will be exciting. 

Sketch Up

           Sketch up is a 3D modeling computer programing for many different. There are many things you can do with this program and many uses for it. Drawing applications that they have are architectural, interior design, civil and mechanical engineering, film, and video game design. The whole concept of the program is exciting, but it is very hard to do. In class, Professor Baldwin showed us what he created on Sketch up, but even though how he explained it, it seemed like it was going to be easy, but it definitely wasn’t. Trying to create a town was very difficult, and also creating a car that was mixed with other stuff was very difficult, but once you got the hand of it, it was pretty fun. There are also things that other people create that you can take and add to what you are trying to create. I wish this was available for everyone because this can help with people creativities. This can also help make a vision you have come true. There are endless things that you can do with this program.