Category: technology

Censorship and privacy,Is it really necessary?

frog3Leave a comment

Internet privacy and censorship is an issue that has caused much controversy in recent times. With the astronomical growth of the Internet in the last decade, cyber bullying has become an unprecedented problem. Proponents for the removal of online anonymity have argued that cyber bulling would end if people would have to take responsibility for what they say.

A major problem with cyber bulling is the anonymity of it. For example, if a child bullies another child in person, the child can tell school administration and get the problem sorted out. If a child is bullied on lets say Facebook, it is much more difficult to catch the bully.

A fourteen year old boy killed himself on September 9th at about 2 o clock on an early Sunday morning. He was being bullied for his homosexuality, via the popular blogging site Form Spring. It also happened to be suicidal awareness month.Gay Pride

A very recent issue that has reached attention is Internet censorship. This bill is being debated in Congress right now. What it will do is outlaw “illegal pirating of movies, music and other copyrighted material.” This could be a very big deal to many people.

Many people illegally download copyrighted material on a daily basis. It will be interesting to see the backlash that comes from this bill if it is passed.

Steve Jobs-REBORN

frog3Leave a comment

Our generation often labeled generation X, is known for our technological superiority over older people. This “ superiority “ has led rise to many young entrepreneurs, kids who take advantage of the changing world. From apps, to social networks the possibilities are endless.

An upstart business “man” who has cashed in on his affinity for technology is 6th grader Thomas Suarez. Getting into computers and programming in kindergarten, he has gone on to create Earth Fortune and Justin Bieber. Earth Fortune is an app that predicts the future, while Justin Bieber is a whack- a- mole style game, were you whack Justin Biebers head.

Releasing his 1st app in 2010, he has said that he has drawn much inspiration from the late Steve Jobs. He taught himself the basics of Python, C, and Java in order to program apps. Thomas has also started an app club at his school for students and parents alike because he feels people do not know how to create apps.

Another young entrepreneur is Lim Deng Wen, a 9 year old who hails from Singapore. He has been programming on computers since he was two and has taught himself six programming languages. His best selling app is “Doodle Kids”, which allows you to use your ios devices as drawing pads.

Doodle_Kids_iPhone_app.jpg

These young men embody the American Dream, a dream that gives you a chance to succeed in life, no matter your gender, race, economic standing or age.


Son of Citation Machine

kirbyfullyloaded1 Comment

WARNING: BLOOD AHEAD.  VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED. 

I’ve recently had to cite over 100 sources for two research papers and one oral presentation.

Research papers are the bane of my first semester.  They’re stressful because they simultaneously seem super easy and incredibly complicated.  On the bright side, you can research all the information you need.  On the not-so-bright side, you have to outline, organize and cite every single bit of information.

I think I would have spontaneously combusted without Son of Citation Machine.  Violent implosion is another definite possibility.

For all you high schoolers and college kids, we know citing is a major pain.

I feel bad for the dinosaurs (like my journalism teacher) who had to actually use encyclopedias and card catalogues to create their citations.

MLA:

APA:

MLA and APA are the two academic citation formats.  MLA is used to cite English and humanities related research while APA cites scientific and behavioral investigations.

There is NO WAY I would be able to cite every bit of information by myself.  I’d be dead.  As my best friend Louis says, “not -girl-gets-pimple-before-prom-dead, serious –Manny-Pacquiao-just-punched-me-in-the-face-dead.”

Pacquiao punching Magorito
Pacquiao knocks out Ricky Hatton

See that?  Those guys look the way I feel about citations.

So I used Son of Citation Machine.  SoCM is a citation-generating website.  I like it better than easybib or bibme because it gives you in-text citations and I just find the layout more professional and clean-cut.  It even indents the lines for you.

It’s free and fast and unlike bibme, you don’t need an account.  You can go back and make corrections to your citations and it gives you many options for citing your source such as a book, a web document, an encyclopedia, a newspaper article, an online journal article, a magazine article, a radio program, a television program, a lecture, a government publication and many more.

I am eternally grateful for this website and it makes citing sources 1,000,000,000 times easier.

So next time you have to write a research paper or make a Powerpoint with a works cited slide and in-text citations, skip those other websites and go straight to Son of Citation Machine.


Red Neck Sunday Activities

bedghost1 Comment

Redneck culture has become fascinating over the years.
Redneck
Rednecks over the years have evolved and adapted in these new technological times and have made advances as a culture. They sometimes take the weird and converted to something weirder. It’s an ability that makes their culture so unique and wonderfully funny to watch. seems now they can turn anything into F.U.N time.
(mature language may be heard in the following videos)


Who needs fancy Yachts.

0:52 Looked like it Hurt.

I personally love watching these interesting fellas in their native environment.

Driving at Night.

YourcupateaLeave a comment

Driving

No this is not another driving disaster; in fact it is quite the opposite. Yes, surprisingly I have accomplished something successful in my driving career so far and that is driving in the dark.

I have driven in the dark before, but not a long distance.  So as I drove from Los Olivos to Ojai carrying my sleeping family in the car I enjoyed the sights.
As I smoothly traveled along the 101 highway I looked at the numerous lights that passed me by. Thinking about their similarities to the stars and how many reminded me of fireworks you may see on the 4th of July, I really wondered at their beauty.

Surrounded by wonder, the 101 had transformed from what I had previously seen in the day, The buildings that looked shabby and worn down in the day were now transformed into houses of wonder and light. Cat’s eyes that stood in the middle of the road glimmered like shining stars and the moon shone bright in the sky highlighting passing clouds and the land around me. It was really picturesque.

Drive in the dark if you ever want to see another light.

ROV: Underwater Robotics

kirbyfullyloadedLeave a comment

When I was four I modeled for a book.  You know those progressive, interactive books for kids?  I posed for the back cover of My Little Blue Robot.  My friend Max and I stood in a hot studio for a few hours playing with this little cardboard robot.  Each page of the book contains a piece and the idea is to put the robot together as you go through the book.

Ever since then I’ve been fond of these little mechanical things.  They’re fun, easy, and don’t (usually) talk back to you.  It’s nice.  And personally, I like to make things in my free time so robotics seemed like an interesting subject.

The summer of 2009, I took R.O.V. at CIMI.  The class description said we could build underwater robots and I decided to try it.  Having no idea what I was getting into, I entered the course completely out of my element and loved it.

R.O.V. stands for Remotely Operated Vehicle.  We made simple ones at Sea Camp and the controls were already wired and ready for us.   All we had to do was make the frame out of PVC pipe and zip tie it together.

I decided to make one for my 8th grade science project.  Not so much for the science part, but just because it was fun to build.  My dad and I measured and cut all the pipe, laid out the dimensions, and glued each piece together.

We gathered a mountain of materials; zip ties, PVC pipe, drills, film canisters, propellers, a control box, piano wire, electrical wire,toggle switches, batteries, glue, scissors, a car battery, wax, wire cutters, wire strippers, screw drivers, rubber bands, an old razor phone, plastic zip lock bags, and food (of course).

This was our work table:

WARNING: Active Construction Zone

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RIP Steve Jobs

rangerthecatLeave a comment

OH MY GOD WHAT THE @*^%?

I look at my Facebook page and the first thing I see is basically “1 billion friends posted about Steve Jobs.”

Well, not really 1 billion, but about 30. And I just couldn’t believe that Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, had passed away.

I remember my first iPod that I ever owned. I remember walking into the store, getting out all my money from my piggy bank that I had saved up, and paying for my white iPod video, my new prized possession.

At that time, I did not think about the iPod itself. Someone had taken the time to invent and perfect this marvelous creation that a majority of people around the world now own and use on a daily basis. But, I do remember thinking that it was the coolest thing EVER.

Then the iPhone became popular along with Mac computers, and Apple had officially become one of the most popular electronic s companies on the market. And so a legend was born, Steve Jobs, who continued to create new things and improve already top-notch electronic devices.

He was a huge influence in the world of technology. I am sure most of these advancements we have today would not exist without him.

I don’t own an iPhone or a Mac, but I do have an iPod and I’d say it is one of the best devices I own. Too bad he won’t be around to invent more.

RIP Steve Jobs. Obviously I didn’t know you personally, but you were pretty kick-ass.

ITS A PHONE?!?!?!

backinphilly1 Comment

I thought I saw a lot of crazy things in my life. I spent a lot of time in Philadelphia and I’ve seen people yell obscene words at cops, and people throw things at buildings. People were out of their minds and I loved it. But this is a new kind of crazy. Ladies and gentlemen, the Ice Cream Sandwich…it’s a freakin’ phone. Doesn’t that look delicious…I mean useful? Simple answer is no. It just looks like some designers decided to make the phone look like what was in their mini freezer in their office. Honestly I can’t even fathom why this was made. I love ice cream sandwiches. I don’t like putting them to my ear and talking to them.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/IceCreamSandwich.jpg/275px-IceCreamSandwich.jpg

Tasty huh? Well, now you can call your family and friends before you eat it so you can brag. Unfortunately, it can only be used/eaten once.

Realistic Games

r3t5nom2 Comments

More and more we are being exposed to the visual creations that at times thousands of people work on to create video games such as Call Of Duty Black Ops, Fifa Soccer 11, God Of War III, and Dirt 3. Those four games I mentioned are the ones I strongly believe possess the greatest graphics and are the most realistic. I have played them all, I have passed them all, I have liked them all.

These games take a player into the world they are trying to depict. The gamer feels like he/she is a part of that world, like he/she is the driver of that race car, even like he/she is a soccer player playing with a team like Manchester United (which is a truly great team btw).

Graphics are a feature which gamers seek when purchasing a game. Great graphics equal a great gaming experience, for example in Call Of Duty Black Ops,

COD B.O.
The clarity in this image is lifelike, it makes you want to see more of the creators work. It is truly amazing what these game makers can create.

I never thought that characters in games would look as realistic as a real person, but damn does it amaze me.

Technology

rangerthecatLeave a comment

I have come to the realization that I have a terrible addiction. And that addiction is technology.

I am slightly ashamed to admit this, to be honest.

I am probably not helping myself much as I sit here in front of my computer screen and type this blog, simultaneously on Facebook in another window. There is an unfortunate dependence I have seemed to build for the use of technology, and as much as others may not want to admit it, I have noticed it in them as well.

The internet is out of commission around campus, and it has been for about a week. At first, everyone was bugging out because they have no access to Youtube and Facebook.

WHAT?!?!?! OH MY GOD WHAT AM I GONNA DO?!!

I freaked out for a second, but then I realized something.

I have become way to dependent on these things. When was the last time I sent a letter by mail? Or researched from a source other than the internet? When was the last time I spent a day without texting my friends constantly? It has been a long time since these things have happened. I have forgotten the value of things unrelated to technology.

A break from the internet is a good thing for us OVS students here on campus. I feel like it has given me a chance to enjoy other activities that I like but usually neglect, like playing guitar, reading a book, or even just enjoying the outdoors.

So bye for now, technology. I’m taking a break from you.