February 2008 Archives

...when you are rocking on a guitar.  F, T, F.T.K.! My first experience with Guitar Hero was during THON weekend.  Although I was horrible,  I can understand why it is so addicting if you have fantastic eye hand coordination and know the songs (which I don't).  Well, in a recent post on CNET Blogs, you can now play Guitar Hero on your phone if you have AT&T.  Each month there is a new playlist of songs including a never changing list of the favorites such as Freebird.

While this move may not seem very eventful, it just highlights to me the importance of multiple platforms.  Web sites and video games are starting to encompass all kinds of portable devices.  As designers make these transitions to different platforms, they must be cognizant of the different strengths and weaknesses of these different platforms.  For example, rocking on a fake guitar is completely different than rocking on a cell phone.

According to a recent article in Reuters, robot dogs may be the companions of the future.  In nursing homes where residents are unable to take care of a dog, researchers at Saint Louis University in Missouri tested whether a robot dog would provide a good alternative.  In comparison with a real dog, the results were surprising.  "The most surprising thing is they worked almost equally well in terms of alleviating loneliness and causing residents to form attachments," said Dr. William Banks, a professor of geriatric medicine who worked on the study reported in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association.

I think that robot dogs can help provide company to those in nursing homes.  However, nothing replaces the company of a fellow human being.   As technology progresses, we would do well do remember that humans are social beings by nature.

According to a recent article on Penn State Live,  Microsoft's DreamSpark is available to Penn State students.  What does this mean for PSU students?  Free software!  The move by Microsoft is geared to give future employees in the information technology field a leg up.  DreamSpark includes Visual Studio 2008, Windows Server 2003, SQL Server 2005 Express Edition, Expression Studio, XNA Game Studio, and Visual Studio 2005.

As an IST student in the Design and Development Option, I think this is pretty cool.  When applying for internships, I saw that most of the internships required that you had knowledge of one or more of these software programs.  Now, I can learn more about these programs and gain an advantage in the information technology field.   

In a recent article in The Daily Collegian, Adam Dodge released his Educational Security Incidents (ESI) Year in Review.  The report details information security breeches.  Penn State made the list with one incident when it inadvertently posted more than 10,500 Social Security numbers of marines.  There were a total of 139 incidents in 2007, which was up 67.5 percent from last year.  Penn State Information Technology Vice Provost Kevin Morooney said "I'm ignoring the report.  Hackers are a constant and daily threat at the university, and we have many things put in place to mitigate the risk."

I am not so sure Morooney is making the right move ignoring the report.  The report stated that most information leaks were unintentional and not because of hackers.  In the report, Dodge said, "One of the most important ways that colleges and universities can control breaches and data leakage is to educate employees about the risks and to ensure that employees understand that information security is everyone's responsibility."  Maybe because it is a fellow Dodge, but I agree with Dodge.  Morooney needs to acknowledge this and have programs in place to educate the staff about this issue.  Just ignoring the issue isn't going to prevent a Penn State employee from doing something careless.

Election vote counting machine technology has always been a controversial topic.  Here is The Onion's spin on the issue.

Diebold Accidentally Leaks Results Of 2008 Election Early

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>>Read the following and sent it to 30 people to receive a $50 gift card!

IHt's THOaN tpime!  Canp't bye tBhere ait rthe BJCt?  Chlick herde anad exyperience thMe laargest stmudent runa p!!!!!!!!hilanthropy in the world!

The Mac vs. PC commercials spawned by Apple have created a whole host of parodies on YouTube.  A article in Computer World highlighted the top ten videos of the bunch.  I personally liked the Hi I'm a Marvel and I'm a DC ... And I'm Batman parody.  Although it has nothing to do with the Mac vs. PC battle, it has Batman and therefore everything.  Watch and enjoy:

According to a recent article in New Scientist, two French scientists have developed rubber than self mends itself.  Once cut, if this rubber is pressed together for one hour, the rubber becomes one and regains its stretchiness.  Check out this YouTube video to see how it was done:

I wish they developed this technology earlier.  I remember getting a Stretch Armstrong action figure when I was a child.

Stretch was fun and lived up to his name.  Well, he lived up to his name until he broke.  That was the end of Stretch.  However, with this technology, we could make Stretch Armstrong better and stronger.  We could make him Mr. Fantastic!

According to a recent post on Crave blogs, iRiver has developed a 120MB MP3 player that will go under water at the depths of 200ft below the surface.  The headphones are secured onto the scuba mask via clips.  The iFP-380T costs $80.


While this mp3 player seems like a pretty good idea, I wonder how much battery life it has.  For 30 songs, the battery has to last very long to keep scuba Steve entertained.  I am a swimmer and have always imagined somehow listening to music or watching television while I swam.  However, I was usually contend with just replaying whatever was stuck in my head at the time.  With the iFP-380T, maybe my dreams will become a reality.

According to a recent article in BBC News, artificial intelligence will match human intelligence and emotion by 2029.  Does that mean that I will be obsolete when I am in my forties?  According to famous engineer and thinker Ray Kurzweil, the solution is simple.

"We'll have intelligent nanobots go into our brains through the capillaries and interact directly with our biological neurons to make us smarter, remember things better and automatically go into full emergent virtual reality environments through the nervous system."

While Ray Kurzweil's idea has plenty of science fiction merit, I am not sure that everyone will be on board with having intelligent nanobots in our brains.  I know that I would not be on board with nanobots floating around in my head.  It just seems not human.  Further more, if science fiction has taught us anything, it is to not get to cozy with technology.

Editing and adding information to Wikipedia articles can be something of an obsession amongst Internet users and can sometimes overshadow what is really important: the information.  The following article does a good job of putting it all into perspective as only The Onion can:

The 2008 Slam Dunk Contest was yesterday and unfortunately, YouTube did not help Rudy Gay.  However, it will help you see Dwight Howard become Superman.  Enjoy!

After my computer was having some brain farts, I was wondered "why control alt delete?"  After some research on the Internet after my computer decided to work, this is what I found:

Known as the three finger salute or the Vulcan nerve pinch, Control + Alt + Delete was created by David Bradley, a designer of the original IBM PC.  Bradley developed the keystroke originally to solve a development problem but now is synonymous with Windows and Bill Gates as Bradley points out in this YouTube video.



Bill Gates didn't seem to happy with Bradley's comments. Oh well, at least he did not bring up the blue screen of death.

Technology has answered many of life's questions.  International Space Station Science Officer Don Pettit has answered another important question.  What does space smell like?  According to Pettit, the smell of the suits, helmet, gloves, and tools of astronauts have a "rather pleasant sweet metallic" smell or comparable to the fumes of welding.  I never knew that space could actually have a smell.  I wonder what the Moon smells like....

As a manager for the Penn State mens' volleyball team, I thought I had a good pulse on what is going on with the team. 

However, I did not know that Mark Pavlik, the coach of the mens' team, is a fellow blogger!  On the Pennsylvania Volleyball Coaches Association website, Pavlik writes about what is going on with the team including results and game strategy.  It is very well written and offers an interesting perspective.  Check it out!

In an earlier blog post, I mentioned that Rudy Gay is asking fans to submit YouTube videos of dunks for the Slam Dunk Contest at the All Star Weekend.  Well, with the weekend coming up, here are some video responses:

I found this on YouTube the other day.  It is a great remake of the Dark Knight Trailer:


 
Here is the real trailer for your enjoyment.

Although many experts disagree on the definition of Web 2.0, what is the definition of Web 1.0?  According to a recent article on HowStuffWorks, Web 1.0 can be defined in the following way:

• Web 1.0 sites are static. They contain information that might be useful, but there's no reason for a visitor to return to the site later. An example might be a personal Web page that gives information about the site's owner, but never changes. A Web 2.0 version might be a blog or MySpace account that owners can frequently update.
  
  
• Web 1.0 sites aren't interactive. Visitors can only visit these sites; they can't impact or contribute to the sites. Most organizations have profile pages that visitors can look at but not impact or alter, whereas a wiki allows anyone to visit and make changes.
  
  
• Web 1.0 applications are proprietary. Under the Web 1.0 philosophy, companies develop software applications that users can download, but they can't see how the application works or change it. A Web 2.0 application is an open source program, which means the source code for the program is freely available. Users can see how the application works and make modifications or even build new applications based on earlier programs. For example, Netscape Navigator was a proprietary Web browser of the Web 1.0 era. Firefox follows the Web 2.0 philosophy and provides developers with all the tools they need to create new Firefox applications.

The concept of Web 1.0 is interesting to me because with all the hype placed on riding the wave of Web 2.0, sometimes, Web 1.0 is the way to go.  For example, informational sources such as Penn State's Home on the Web are best suited for Web 1.0 because Pennsylvania State University is the only entity that can put information on their website and the university can make sure that this information is accurate and correct.

According to a recent article on BBC News, a team of researchers from Tokyo University lead by Professor Shinichi Suzuki plan to launch paper airplanes from the International Space Station down to earth.  The planes have been treated to withstand wind speeds of Mach 7 or seven times the speed of sound and stay cool in temperatures in excess of 300 degrees Celsius.  The planes are 8 centimeters long and weigh around 30 cm. As 70% of the earth's surface is water, the professor's team estimates that a plane thrown from the space station would have only a 4-5% chance of hitting land.  That is why they would want an astronaut to release around 100 of the planes.  Why?  According to the Professor:

We think from this experiment we will be able to create new concepts and in the very near future perhaps new types of airship from this design.

I personally think this is very cool.  I was never very good at making paper airplanes myself.  If these paper airplanes can travel through the atmosphere, it would be an amazing albeit strange scientific accomplishment.  Godspeed!

Check this out!  According to a recent blog post on CNET Crave Blog, there is a search engine called Songerize that allows you to search for the song name and artist that is stuck in your head and then plays it!  It only works for main stream songs, but this is awesome!  What a great idea!

Many people speculated that 25 years ago we would be living like the Jetsons.  No one saw the revolutions in the personal computer and the Internet coming.  According to a recent article in PC World, we can expect the computer revolution to continue and invade all aspects of our lives.  Here are some of the predictions the article makes:

- expect the move to nanotechnology in 5 years for computers
- by 2018, optical computers will exist that operate at the speed of light
- wall screens
- gesture-based interfaces - think Wii remote but better
- the Internet will become a 3D world
- your identity will be your password and username
- computers will be ubiquitous and connect neighbors together
- your brain will be able to surf the web
- instead of printers, you will have a mini-factory that downloads instructions and builds what you ordered

I agree with the article that we will need a stronger network for the Internet and better privacy protections in order for any of these technologies to thrive.  I believe that the progress made in information technology in the next 25 years will revolutionize the world.  I am just excited to be around for the ride.

ESPN and the people of Madden 2008 like to simulate the NFL games before each week of the season to predict the result.  For this year's Super Bowl, Madden 2008 has predicted the New England Patriots to win over the New York Giants 38 - 30.  The player of the game for the Patriots was Tom Brady, and the player of the game for the Giants was their field goal kicker Lawrence Tynes.  Will Madden get it right?  Only time will tell.

According to an article in Scopical, Microsoft has offered to buy Yahoo! for $50 billion, 34% more of what Yahoo! is estimated to be worth.  Yahoo!, the second place search engine, has been on the decline while Microsoft hopes to arm itself in the never ending battle between Google.   The announcement was also met with enthusiasm on the US stock market, with both Microsoft and Yahoo! shares spiking.

If Yahoo! does accept this deal, I am not sure the landscape of the Internet changes all that much.  Google will still be top dog, and now Microsoft will be number two.  As long as to "google" something means to search for something on the Internet, Google will always be number one.

According to a recent article in USA Today, NASA will be sending Across the Universe, a song written by the Beatles, into space.  The Beatles and NASA have partnered together as Here Comes the Sun, Ticket to Ride and A Hard Day's Night have been used as wake-up calls to astronauts.  Paul McCartney gave his blessing by saying, "Amazing! Well done, NASA! Send my love to the aliens."

I had never listened to the song Across the Universe, but after watching a YouTube video that featured the song, I am not quite sure this is the song we want aliens to hear.  "Nothing's gonna change my world."  If alien hear this and come here, everything will change.  I understand the theme of the universe, but they could have picked a song with a little bit more energy.  After all, I doubt that Across the Universe started the British invasion.