Music and Motion

Realities

I recently discover an animated show called Rick and Morty. I am addicted to it. The show pushes the boundaries of what science can do. On the surface, the show seems to be targeting to kids adventures and gadgets, but every episode is food for thought. Rick, the crazy intelligent scientist travels and jumps between dimensions. Many times the producers played with the idea of time and different possible of what can occur, linking back to the String Theory. Anything is possible. All of our actions are guided by statistics. The possibility of you not going to work or school is lower than the possibility that you do. While the possibility that you drink water this instance verse not drinking water is 50/50. Once the factor of temperature comes into play the percentages shifts. You will most likely to drink water in a hot summer day.

Religion

I don’t usually like to talk about religion, because people get offended easily. I don’t believe in any religion, but I won’t say that I am an atheist because that’s little extreme. There is no evidence to prove or disprove the idea of higher power controlling our lives. Therefore I am just in between. But one day, I suddenly developed a thought to explain to myself of why some people are so devoted on an “imaginary being”. If you are someone who is very committed to their church, I recommend you to stop reading here, otherwise I welcome to my Religion Theory. One day while watching the show, South Park, I had a thought that maybe religion or the idea of God or such a place as heaven or hell keeps people in their places. The fear of going to hell control the savage beast in every one of us. It compels us to become submissive and obedient civilized humans. When the world falls from calamities, religion is the only thing that keep a person from insanity. Right on the very edge is the line that differentiates chaos and madness from peace and reason. Religion becomes the ropes that the person can use to drag themselves back to the area of peace and reason. In the story of the Greek myth, Pandora’s Box. After Pandora opens the box and let all the evil into the world, the only thing that was left was just hope. In reality when a person faces problems, conflicts, and dilemma the only thing that person can do is hope. If you disagree and found yourself insulted, all I can say is fin. I will not apologize. And I want to cordially remind you that this is only a THEORY.

Body Image

Over the course of years, people have become more accepting of body fat. We created the phrase “fat shaming” on social media on anyone who mock other base on their body size. Now the idea of skinny, lean, or thin have subsequently build a bad connotation. People use phrases “You should be happy. You’re not fat. The media have distorted body image”. Before I go any further I want to say that I always believe that a person should strive for the body that they want if they are not happy just make sure to lose weight in the correct way, which is through healthy diet and routine exercise. “Hey, if you want that Victoria Secret body, then go for it”. But you have to know that you have to eat healthy and exercise not skipping meals. I’ve seen people who weighs 400 lbs. or so, still holding fried chicken next to their mouth. THAT IS NOT HEALTHY!!!  They are on the verge of dying from diabetes. There’s a difference in telling someone, who weighs 150 lbs., to lose weight and telling someone, who weighs 400 lbs., to lose weight. The latter is not consider as fat shaming; that person will definitely die if they don’t change. Their lives are at risk. The Government produced the BMI for general public to understand the average weight based on height and age. Unless you have a medical condition, you should not be weighting 500 lbs.

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`Oscar Wilde’s novel, “The Picture of Dorian Gray,” is directed by Kristine Leadbetter in the Staller Center of Stony Brook University. It is a famous novel about a man, Dorian Gray, who is a main character of the novel don’t get age for a long time with keeping his own secret which is he doesn’t get the age on his body, but his portrait gets age on behalf Dorian Gray’s real body. Therefore for keeping his secret, he commits a crime and his portrait get the age with ugly facial appearance. So he stabs his portrait by a knife, but when the servants come up to look the Dorian’s room, they see one ugly old man who is stabbed with the knife alongside Dorian Gray’s beautiful portrait. I saw this novel when I was young, I know the story, but I never see the play. The play, which is played by students is wonderful and the actors show great performance.

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I think telephone conversations should not be allowed on airplanes except emergency situation. Normally, when we are taking the airplane, we should turn off the phone, for not interrupting airplane’s departure. So too much using Wi-Fi service, can effect on antenna signal. Also today’s many people couldn’t live without smart phone, so if Wi-Fi service on air plane is generalized, all the people in the air plane would use the service and it would interrupt other passengers’ trip.    

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Todays, can be used during the flights on the U.S territories. Transmitter of the airplane work with a ground station so it makes Wi-Fi could work on the airplane. There are currently two methods in use, Airplane Wi-Fi and Satellite communication. Many airplane provide Wi-Fi service with small fee. Transmitters communicate with the ground station through a satellite connection or using radio waves. Satellite communication use satellite antenna on the air plane and connect with satellite around the earth and ground station on the earth.   

Evolution of Horror

I would say that I am very familiar with the Horror genre after years and years of watching Horror movies. I've notice that techniques that directors use. The father of Horror, Alfred Hitchcock produced the famous Psycho that shocked all audience during the 60s. He killed off the main character Marion. In cinematography, Hitchcock uses cut and editing to direct the audience to what he want that audience to look at. He also utilizes shadows of black and white films. Now many contemporary directors like to use the frame of screen to produce an effect scare. They would do a close up of the actor’s face only to reveal the monster or the ghost. I can guarantee that 8 out of 10 movies have scenes where the camera is close up to the girl’s face while she slowly turns around in a haunted ally. Sound play a crucial role, too. The dramatic and loud sounds that accompany the appearance of the monster successfully allow the audience to feel the tension that the actors convey. In one of the scene of James Wan’s SAW, a girl is seen with a contraption in her face. The camera soon made 360 turns with several jump cut of different angles around the girl as she struggle to get out meanwhile music loud music plays. This shot made the audience more tensed without spending much money. In a more recent movie Insidious, again directed by James Wan, he use cut and editing in a different way. EH would do a medium shot of the ghost and cut to the same shot but with a sinister face of ghost. It’s subtle and last only for a second or two but nevertheless it affectively scared the audience. There are many ways to use the basics of cinematography to change the feeling that affect the audience. From the cut and editing that Hitchcock uses and the cut and editing that Wan uses produce very different effects to audience.

Giving Headlines

1. Giving Headlines have a more traditional  and yet different type of design. The play utilize the role of the audience to their storytelling. The idea behind Giving Headlines is a news report. The audience is watching satire of news reports. It talks about many of the contemporary social problems and pokes fun of it, giving a lighthearted and comedic atmosphere. This makes it more similar to the play Turns. In contrast to Fragments which is very tense and deals with darker themes. At one point in Giving Headlines broke the 4th wall. The characters in the play asked some of the audience to sign a form. The structure of the play is quite simple. The whole stage have a desk and Katherine Gorham, who's dressed in formal attire, sat behind the desk. The arrangement and costume convey to the audience that we are watching a report. The audience also get to witness the behind the scenes of the "news report" and watch the employees interact with each other. There is a transition of scene, in every change of reports we see that the character brings and takes the props along with them. The only character that remains consistently is Katherine, who plays as the anchor. Of the two plays I saw, Turns & Fragments and Giving Headlines. I prefer Turns & Fragments because it is very unique. I have never experience to be part of the play as an audience. Watching the play was an emotional roller coaster. I went from laughing and having fun a subway to scared and distressed in a dark room, which represented someone's minds. It also make me think how the public underestimated mental disorders. Most people only sympathize with people who are experiencing inner turmoil, yet the play allows the audience to give a different perspective of how it's like to live the disorder socially and mentally.

Turns & Fragments

1. There were two parts to the performance. The first performance, Turns, begins with a old women entering a subway. She greets the people around her and starts to make conversations. She talks about the shoes brand Nike because many majority of the audience is wearing Nike. In the middle, a guy holding a guitar enters and starts playing music. The old lady become energized and starts dancing with some of the audiences. As she starts to become fatigued, the music also became softer and slower. She tells audience all the years she spent taking the train and different types of people she observed. The play ended when got off the train. The second part, Fragments, begins with a man reading off a paper titled "Screen Test for Dissociative Identity Disorder. Soon another actor, played by Tiar Jamoor, starts talking. She describe the voices in her head. She went from talking to yelling. Then we see that she acknowledge and becomes the voices for couple of seconds. All the lights in the room were turn off and performers wore white mask and holding cell phones to their faces. We heard noises of several different people talking in the background while the performers walk around.

2. Both Turns & Fragments have a completely different storytelling style than the play As You Like It. The relationship between the audience and the performers are 2 dimensional and separate. Like most plays, As You Like It have an imaginary wall in between the audience and world of the play. Occasionally, a character talks directly to the audience, breaking the 4th wall. While in Turns & Fragments the audience and the performers are interactive. It was almost as if there is no imaginary wall between the audience and the world of the play. The audience takes on a character in the play. In Turns, the audience is the people of the subway. The old lady walks and dances amongst the audience and talks directly to the audience, asking "How are you today?" In Fragments, the audience became more subjective. The first half, the audience watch how a person with Dissociative Identity Disorder behave. The second half, we journey into the mind of that person. Feeling what she is feeling. And the performers guided the audience on the journey.

3. The theme for Turns is everyone have their own unique story and observing someone can allow you to understand their story. Play arrange the seats for the audience into that of a subway seats. At first everyone was confused because the spacing of the seat are so small and different. Instead of facing a particular area, the audience faces each other. But when the play begin, sounds cleared up the confusion. We heard the metal track, the wind, and the announcements of the stops. These familiar combinations allow the audience to understand that we are in a subway. Tiar Jamoor play as the old lady. She is dressed with a green shawl over her head and a small bag. When she's energized and dancing, she takes the shawl off. The act of taking the shawl off accompanying the music convey to the audience that she is ready to dance. The important part is the ending because the she explicitly tells audience her thoughts and therefore connecting the theme to entire play. The theme in Fragments is someone with a mental problem is not only a burden to that person's lives but also cause a frightening mind of chaos. The audience walks into a dark room illuminated by several red lights. the seats are also arranged in a way the all seats are scattered and facing in different directions.This set design make the play uncomfortable and unpredictable. On each of the seats is a survey titled "Screening Test for Dissociative Identity Disorder". I glance round and saw some people have their pens out, ready to answer the survey. I was also about to write something but a person stood up and began to read off the paper. The play took off and I realize that the set up allows the performer to utilize the audience individually because we are all separated. The actress effectively convey to the audience her unstable mentality with sudden burst of shouts and drastic change of character. She went from frightened to depressed to flirty to aggressive. When the whole room when pitch black with only the performers with mask illuminated and sounds of voices, the audience understands that we are in her mind and we heard all the voices that she hears. Both plays effectively made the audience feel the tension and atmosphere of the play through lights, sounds, and seating.

Fishing with drones?

Drones have been are really cool. They gained a huge amount of popularity in the last view years. I’ve programmed a Leap Motion Controller to control one, and I’ve worked on controlling one with only brain sensors. Cool stuff.

Drones have a wide array of uses, honestly, I’m most looking forward to 30 minute Amazon deliveries. I just saw another use of drones that blows my minds. Someone rigged fishing line to a drone such that they could bait the hook, fly it out with the drone, drop it directly onto of the undisturbed fish, in this case tuna, and then as soon as a fish went after the bait, the knot on the drone broke, leaving just the main line and the runs for the person waiting all the way back at the beach to real in. This is so creative –– I love everything about this. Using new technology to revise a hobby and sport as old as history. 

Seeing this kind of creativity fuse technology with everyday life is so exciting to see and expands to almost everything. It’s just a showcase of how technology changes our world in ways we would have never expected. 

Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sdUZqOoAq4&feature=youtu.be

Surviving without my laptop

My laptop is my baby. I don’t anywhere without it. Every class and lecture, overtime I got hang out with friends, certainly every vacation and trip. How could I abandon my machine. What if I get a great project idea and have the urge to code for 12 hours straight (yes, that happens). What if I just get really board? My computer is the difference between me being fully engaged, productive and in the zone, and me being completely lost. About a year ago, I went a full day without my laptop. I’d like to say I did this as an experiment, to prove to myself that I could, but if I’m being honest, I left it in my girlfriends car. 

I survived, somehow. I find it fascinating how much we’re all dependent on our machines (admittedly, some more than others).  I spend upwards of 15 hours on my laptop per day, and I know that puts me at the end of the bell curve. But, don’t most people spend at least a couple of hours on their computer, and another number of hours on their phone? And a few on the TV? It all adds up. A few generations ago, this wasn’t true at all. 

While technology is extremely helpful and revolutionary, its important to remember that there is life outside that gorgeous 15” retina display. I’m trying to work on this. 

Thinner, thinner, thinner and thinner tech

Every generation of iPhone gets thinner. Every generation of laptops get’s thinner. Every generation of iPad gets thinner. This is pretty amazing. What Apple’s engineers do to improve performance while also reducing the form factor blows my mind. That said, I think it’s gotten to the point where Apple needs to refocus. 

The iPhone 7 is rumored to be getting rid of the audio jack. I think this is a terrible idea. This would be done so that the phone can be made thinner and so that apple can stuff more tech into the form factor of the phone. I think this compromise is going way too far. The audio cable has been standard for so long, every low to extreme high end piece of headphones depends on it. I’m never going to be in the mood to carry around adapters galore. 

I’m also really hoping that the next generation of MacBook Pro’s don’t get any thinner. They are already extremely thin and light. I have no trouble carrying around my laptop everywhere I go. If Apple compromise on a proper cooling system, quite frankly I will be extremely upset. Why should I pay top dollar for high end components that thermal throttle under extremely normal use? Please Apple, realize what “Pro” means and upgrade the hardware and the cooling. Don’t compromise on performance. 

What the internet did to music

I’m usually very quick to praise the internet and everything that it brings to humanity; whether it be access to information, greatly improved communication, improved computer interaction, etc. However, one area the internet has hurt in a way is music. 

With services like Napster, Pandora, and to a lesser extent, ITunes and Spotify, people in general have moved away from concept albums and toward single songs and shuffled playlists. For a lot of instances, there’s nothing wrong with that. However, a lot of artists carefully craft their albums so that they are listened all at once in order as once piece. This greatly improves the listening experience. However, because the general population like shuffled playlists, artists in general have moved away from that approach, and I think that is a shame because my favorite music are definitely albums. A lot of people also just don’t know that that is how music is intended to be listened to most of the timed. I sincerely hope no one has done them selves the disservice of listening to a Pink Floyd album shuffled. *Gasp, the horror.*

That said, the internet in general I think has also expanded the use of music and it’s popularity. So I suppose it’s not all bad. 

Improvements to autocorrect.

Apple just filed for a patent for a new design which would let people know when they received a message containing words that were autocorrected. Basically what the system does is underline and autocorrected words in blue, and then if the user touches that word, it shows the original input and some other alternatives. 

Most people type quickly and hit send without rereading their texts. This leads to some pretty hilarious autocorrects, but most of the time it just leads to a message that sometimes even with context doesn’t make much sense. 

I think Apple’s solution is a great one. It’s simple and will make communication even easier. Thankfully, it won’t get rid of the hilarious accidental autocorrects either. 

Wearable Technology

There is a fine line between what is chic and what is nonsense when it comes to fashion. However, like every other aspect of our society technology is making its way in the fashion industry. Wearable technology is taking the fashion industry by storm. Currently, wearable technology consists of smart watches or jewelry that tracks different health trends. This past April there was a conference discussing the possibility of smart fabric. This would allow those who are wearing the fabric to possible have clothing that gives off an aroma during a certain social situation or even possibly interact with the environment.

Technology and the Church

Technology whether it be smartphones, tablets, computers, or any other device has an impact on the world around us. This world largely includes religion so it is inevitable that technology has made it's way to the Church. Technology allows for greater communication and the mission of the church is to communicate with not only God but those around you. Technology enables us to communicate with those both near and far who share similar beliefs. In addition each religion on this plant in a sense is its own community. Through technology this particular community becomes much more connected throughout the world. Social media especially amongst the younger generation allows for this sense of community, communication, and connectedness.

Why does iTunes still suck

Apple creates amazing software, somehow they pack the max functionality into products while maintaining fantastic usability and design. With one exception. iTunes is terrible and a disgrace to Steve Job’s legacy. The GUI is somewhere between “just fine” and “disgusting.” the application is often laggy and drops frames, and it even seems to lack focus. It should be a music app, that’s what it is sold as, but simple features like offline apple music playlists are often convoluted or just nonexistent. When apple announced Apple Music, and iTunes 12, I was really hoping for an improved experience, and while I like Apple Music, they seriously need to get their priorities straight and fix one of their most important apps. 

Give me wireless charging

I’m a proud owner of an iPhone 6s. I absolutely l love my phone for a variety of reasons. One aspect of some Android phone’s I'm quite jealous of, however, and that is wireless charging. I’m sure apple with at some point add this functionality to the iPhone, but being impatient, I really want it now, and without a limiting 3rd party solution. 

I see wireless charging to be extremely cool tech. Just putting your phone down on your desk and knowing that when you pick it back up, it will be charged, is extremely nice. It’s clean, it’s elegant, it’s the perfect charging solution. Sort of. For one, it’s slower than wire charging. There’s just no way around that. Further, a lot of people want to use their phone while it is charging. You can’t really do this if it needs to be placed on a wireless charging place. So I guess when I do finally get a smartphone with wireless charging, I’ll probably charge it wireless most of the time, but I’ll definitely keep a cable ready. 

Blog 25: 3D Printer in Stony Brook University

In Stony Brook University, the Stony Brook Innovation Lab has 4 3D printers and a 3D scanner. To request a 3D printing, a member of the lab has to summit .stl files to be printed. The request form has to be completed in the innovation lab. To optimize 3D design, there are certain things you should consider: overhangs, dimensions, size, design, lettering, and processing printed parts.

You can design your own 3D design by using many websites or programs. For beginner, tinkercad and sketchup are two recommended programs. For intermediate, autodesk 123D, sculptris and meshmixer are three recommended programs. For advanced, Autodesk inventor and autocad, blender, and openSCAD are three recommended programs.

I made a heart box using this 3D printer. Even sketchup for beginner is hard for me. So I used model that is already designed by other person in the 3D design website called, Thingiverse.  In the website, there are many 3D designs. Among those designs, I picked one that I liked the most, and downloaded it. Then, I requested 3D printing. It took about 10 days. The picture below is a 3D design and a printed 3D model.

Blog 24: Hewlett-Packard Company

      Hewlett-Packard Company was first founded 1939 by William R. Hewlett together with his co-founder David Packard. These founder members had just graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering. They were highly motivated by their then professor Fredrick Terman because of his innovative ideas. The company provided applications that were used by the military during the Second World War. With its first customer being the Walt Disney productions. The company has steadily grown to an overwhelming size.

           Since its foundation, the Hewlett-Packard Company has risen in the market. Its products are widely available and are remarkable in performance. The employees at Hewlett-Packard Company ensure that the consumers are satisfied by constantly updating, adapting and incorporating new technology. Hewlett-Packard Company ensures that their electrical products ranging from laptops to accessories are available. Using the innovation of the employees, the company is ever involved in trendy products. These products have the latest technology to cope up with the dynamic world. 

Blog 23: The Use of Social Media by Recruiters

I think the use of social media by recruiters in screen job candidates is necessary when the recruiters make a decision on hiring. Some candidates might get offensive that strangers look at their social media like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. On the other hand, other job candidates, who already know that recruiters look at their social media, use the social media to find jobs, inversely. They create their profiles ahead of time, and they also show off that they are also prepared to work. I think the use of social media ought to be one of steps of recruiting people. Looking at the social media is one of the best way to know about the candidates. For example, social media like Facebook tells many information such as previous jobs, schools graduated from, professional skills, and how the candidates have lived. I think the information given in the social media is more honest than that of resume.

My use of social media today cannot affect my job search in the futures, because I had deleted some posts which would affect my reputation. One of the most important dos of social media is updating the informations. From the website Times.com, it tells things to update. “Make sure your profile is complete: photo, headline, summary, skills, detailed job history, and any additional items to showcase your expertise (e.g., video, publications). Join Groups so you can stay abreast of trends and more easily network” (Ceniza-Levine). By updating the profile, the recruiters can know about me in detail. Some of don’ts should be harming my reputation by myself. Examples would be, using abusive languages to others, or uploading pictures that are too provocative. In my case, I’d already deleted all the posts that bring down my reputation when I decided which college to attend. 

Blog 22: Subscription Snack Box

Subscription snack box services are the services that give meals by mail to the customers. This service works well because there are many people who are busy to shop groceries and also there are people who struggle to find snacks because they have different taste. These people want a service like this to save their time, and to get the right snacks for them. There are many subscription snack box companies. However, I researched on graze, one of the most successful company, out of many other companies to know how this system works. First, they let customer to choose his or her favorite snacks, so they can gather data on customer’s taste. Then, they find eight snacks that suit customer’s taste and deliver to his or her workplace or house. It is a really good way to experience new food that suits people’s tastes.

 I personally do not want to get services like this, because I have time to shop groceries and I like to go to the grocery store and pick foods that I want. When I researched on this service to write this paper, first thought came to me was this. ‘Services like this will make people lazy’. I thought this way, because if these kinds of services generalize, then people would not come out of their houses and join these services so the services do it for them. Therefore, I do not want to get into this service. However, I think this service is really suitable for students who are busy to shop groceries, or for students who do not have a car to go shopping. 

Blog 21: An Emerging Company, Xiaomi

Xiaomi is a Chinese electronic company which was founded on April 6, 2010. It sells smart phones, electronic devices such as mi pad, mi TV, and mi purifier, and electronic accessories such as mi band, and mi power battery. It is a really successful company in China, even though it has been only 4 years since it was launched first. It became the largest smartphone vendor in China and is now the third largest smartphone maker in the world, according to IDC. In addition, according to BBC, just four years after it was founded, it has become the world’s most valuable technology start-up.

It already overtook smartphone markets in China, however, Xiaomi is just not ready to expand its business abroad. It wants customers in the U.S. and Europe. But, as a young company, it needs to set up more after sales support centers than expansion. Even though, Xiaomi has not started business in Europe and USA, they has been expanding their business in Asia. In addition, it recently launched in Brazil, and it was first time launching outside Asia. It has improved past four years, and it will go public, outside Asia, soon.

Blog 20: Apple watch vs. Android watch

I researched on Apple watch and Android watch. Both Apple watch and Android gear offer many good functionalities; time functionality, interface, voice control, app friendly, multiscreen functionality, fitness and health monitoring, heart rate sensor, water proof, and smartphone compatibly. Both batteries can last up to 3 days. However, it may vary by manufacturers. For example, sony smart watch is good for 2 days, but some android wear devices struggle to last a day. Only differences I found were design and price. Apple watch has a square screen and an extensive alternate wristbands. Android devices have round-shape screen, but they provide opportunities for customization. In addition, the prices are vary by manufacturers. For example, even though they all have similar function, android gears are in range of $200 to $350, and apple watch starts from $350.

I would say if you are using an i-phone, then buy an apple watch, and if you are using an android, then buy an android gear. Because apple watch only works with i-phone devices and android gear only works with android phones. If you are trying to buy a new phone and watch at the same time, then I would recommend you to get an android smart phone and gear, because there are many android gears that you can choose. On the other hand, apple watch only has one. There is no other choice to choose. In addition, throughout the research, a person who used both android gear and apple watch says that android gear is easier and simpler than that of apple watch. Therefore, if you are not good at technology and machine, then I would recommend you to buy android gear. Furthermore, android products are also much cheaper than apple’s product, even though their functions are similar. I would recommend you to buy android gear, because the functionality is as good as apple watch while price are cheaper, and android gear allows you to customize the design.  

Blog 19: Can a employee use personal email or other computer resources for work?

If an employee uses his or her personal email or other computer resources for work related activities, it may lead to negative outcome. Employers can monitor anything that employees access and it is legal to do so. If employers think an employee is suspicious, then the employers can access to his or her computer and see all of his data that are saved in his computer. In addition, if employee sends work to his or her personal email because he or she wants to finish at home, employers may misunderstand that the employee tries to steal company’s information and the employers may delete all the data saved in his or her computer.

            When an employee decides to use personal computer resources to conduct work related activities, employee should make sure not to spread the company’s information and not let someone steal the information and should agree that he or she got caught doing some illegal things, his or her personal data can be deleted. When an employee decides to use his or her employer’s computer resources to conduct personal activities, the employee should understand that George Carlin software can always access everything. The employee has to be extremely careful when he or she uses employer’s computer to do personal activities.

            At first, I personally thought that employer monitoring employee’s activities is invasion of privacy. However, now I believe that this policy, employer monitoring employee’s activities, is reasonable. Because, if I were an employer, I would like to evaluate who the good workers are and terminate the one who do not work. Through this policy, employers can find the workers who violate the company’s policy, use inappropriate language, or use for personal purpose. Therefore, I think the practice of employers monitoring employee activities on their computer systems is reasonable. 

Blog 18: Driverless Car

A driverless car is also called autonomous car. When I first heard about it, first thought came to me was it would be so comfortable that I do not have to drive. However, there are many problems to enforce a driverless car system in a real road.

If there is a car accident because of the driverless car, then who take the legal responsibility? Should auto manufacturers take the responsibility or owner of the driverless car take the responsibility? It is now testing for commercialization, but there is dispute over who guarantee safety and security. It will become intensified if someone hack into software of driverless car and make an accident intentionally. 

           

An on-board map in the driverless car can cause a problem, because roads are changed frequently. There can be a sudden construction on road and closed roads because of natural disaster. The driverless car may be confused if the road in the map and real road are different. It will be so important to update the map frequently that there will no confusion.

           

Google has developed the driverless car and it operated perfectly in general situation. However, when it enter the road with construction, it stopped running automatically and changed into manual mode. Therefore, a driver has to hold the brake and tope the driverless car. A situation like this happened twice while driving 22km per hour. To overcome this situation, there will be more specific study and experiment on developing a safe driverless car.

            

A driverless car has to give and take information about location of a car and computer server while driving. It may cause another problem because the car and passenger’s moving route may exposed. In an information age, invasion of privacy emerges as a serious problem, so security of passenger and a car must be assured.

 Even though our technology is developed enough to commercialize a driverless car, I think there are still many problems to solve before auto manufacturers sell the car. 

Netflix giving new life to old shows

Arrested Development is one of my favorite tv shows. It was canceled after 3 seasons. I thought this was a shame. Luckily, Netflix decided to pick the series up and continue making it. Season 4 has been out for a while and season 5 is supposed to come this year. I’m extremely grateful to Netflix for continuing the series. Another show that I just recently watched was Young Justice. This was a cartoon and really light hearted but it was extremely good in my opinion. It got canceled after just two seasons, even though the show directly setup for future seasons. The show is extremely popular on Netflix at the moment. There was a rumor going round that Netflix could pick it up and continue the show. 

What Netflix is doing is so catering to the fans. The ratings of a show don’t necessarily correlate to the quality of the show and the extend the fanbase enjoys the show. Netflix is an extremely profitable service, and adding original content that gives new life to shows that people really enjoy is a great way for Netflix to continue to gain on outdated business modes like cable TV. 

Youtube Drama!

As someone who spends an irrational amount of time on youtube, I’m actually pretty good at avoiding drama in the every growing community. I tend to only subscribe to creators who’s content is of a high quality and is just that–content, not drama. However, one of the channels I watch daily is a news channel, and they have been reporting about the rising amount of drama on youtube. The most recent batch of drama is about sexual assault allegations about a youtuber, with everyone in the community taking sides. That’s an extremely serious issue, so I honestly have no idea why every commenter, almost none of which have any evidence to justify anyone’s story, are taking sides. I wish that problem would be addressed privately. Another interesting aspect of the drama is that a large portion of the drama is about youtube drama. Usually I’m a fan of fractal structures but this is just ridiculous.

I’ll finish with a youtube video that sums of my thoughts in a funny manor: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAtCE3lbvNo

Why I spend so much money on my battlestation

My battle-station is my pride and joy. For the uninitiated–when I say battle-station I mean my computer set up. For me, that’s my 15” maxed out retina Macbook Pro, two external 1080p 1ms response time monitors, my custom mechanical keyboard, my custom printed mouse pad, my gaming mouse, my xbox 360 and xbox one, my astro a40s headset and mix amp, my numerous Rubik’s cubes, robotics medals and Marvel bobbleheads. A lot of people will think this is overkill, and they’re probably right. I’d like to avoid explicitly calculating how much money I’ve spent on it. But to me, no matter what that number is, it was worth it. For one, I’m extremely productive while working on it. Programming with a pleasurable keyboard, a good audio setup for music, and plenty of screen real estate makes for efficient coding. However, that doesn’t explain why I’ve put hours and hours into cable management and devotes lots of time and money into purely ascetic parts of the setup. The honest answer is that I enjoy it. It’s something I take pride in and every time I use it, I know why I put the time into it. I also think it’s worth noting that I’m getting an insane money : time enjoy ratio. A lot of people will play 300 bucks for some clothing that they will wear for a few hours. I’ll die before my keyboard does (although, that doesn’t mean I won’t be upgrading it). 

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Cold Mountain is a collection of poetry written by a Chinese mock who appreciate the connection between life and nature. He is a recluse and lives in a mountain for a long while. We find this piece in Chinese and English translation. We also added a Spanish poetry in the performance. It is a merge of everything: culture, language, and technology. Through body movement we can show people what the performers see and what they draw with the paintbrush. There’s a whole big part of improve in this piece which is totally fine. It’s all about ideas and creativities.

Up to now we worked on the tech stuff and reading the poetry with different languages. We also have that short film we shoot in the woods. I like the idea that we project films on actors. We did that last semester two and it turned out very well when actors were moving through those projections and you can see the color changing on them.

Cold Mountain is a whole new different piece than what we did last year. It’s more collective and more freestyle. I should be an interesting show to watch.

Cynthia Hu Blog

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I remember watching a film that is shooting from one person’s perspective. So as an audience, I feel like a character in that movie instead of someone who is watching the movie. I actually think that’s an enjoyable experience. It’s brand new and immersive. I thought about if the movie will be more fun when we make it into 3D, because 3D is meant to bring audience to the movie and make it more immersive. Despite that maybe it will make some audience feel dizzy, it maybe can be a fun thing to watch.

The videos we shoot in the film kind of reminds me of that film. It is even cooler because we get to see different angle of the image by moving our phone. Then we talked about making movies using this technology. It may become popular when the first person tries to do a movie with this technology because people just simply like new stuff. But I doubt it can be a trend for movie. For me I can watch a short video like this but not a whole movie. It definitely involves audience. It makes people feels like they are in the place instead of sitting in front a screen. But this is exactly what theatre is. People have different perspective watching movie and theatre. Especially now interactive theatre starting to become a trend, it totally provides immersive theatre experience that is more impressive than trying to get the feeling of being present in a scene but you are still sitting in front of a screen. People should appreciate theatre more because it provides the experience that almost nothing can replace.