Unbelieavable Invention

We just watched "Prenav Mistry: The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology" and I was completely shocked with such an incredible invention. This new emerging technology is just fabulous and genius. When I was watching all the characteristics and functions of it I was totally amazed and thought that I would definitely like to use one of those. This new technology is so handy and useful in an infinite number of ways. Connecting the digital world with the physical world makes everything so much easier, interacting, and almost perfect.

I feel the greatest things about the technology are how it connects the digital world with real life; how you can physically do things being connected to a digital media. It is unbelievable how you can have access to so much information with just using your fingers and connecting the whole world with anything you do. You can be aware of absolutely everything you do, and make it better in all ways. I really loved how by just touching some objects such as your hand you can see a clock, or touching a book and you can know about it. When I saw how he read a newspaper and by just touching it, he could have access to videos and see life in paper. I also liked when he could copy and paste real life objects to the computer. Personally I did not see any limitations to this great invention; I just found its benefits.

At the end of the video, this genius inventor said that it is quite cheap to make and that he will be sharing his software via Open Source. "Open Source" is a term I am not very familiar with, but it is a way of sharing the product with the public; giving access to the object's invention (its process in making/materials). It is actually giving access to the source code. I believe the pro of sharing software in this way is that people all around the world will have an easier access to it. It will not be an extremely expensive device that only rich people will have; it will have more accesibility. It will be produced in greater amounts, so there exists a possibility we will be able to have it in some years. On the other hand, the cons of having it in this manner is that the author of such a great invention won't benefit as much as he could in other ways.

Commercials

We just saw some commercials in the Internet that were very funny, touching and most of them really amazing. I really liked them a lot. I think that was so because they contained very important messages that stuck in your head while watching it, and because some of them were very funny and caught your attention. Another commercial that had a profound effect on me was one I saw many years ago from MercadoLibre.com. It was about a girl buying a kiss from a boy online, and even though the idea sounds stupid, it was the cutes commercial I had seen. It is incredible we can find it nowadays even in Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeBhs47UBJQ

Some elements I am going to use in my own commerical are:
Nice background music, a meaningful message and some funny parts. I think my major challenges will be getting words and music into the video. Basically almost everything will be a challenge for me, except the filming part which will be quite easy.

Sexting

After reading the article of "Parents sue school for role in 'sexting' tragedy" in which the parents of Jessica Logan blame school officials and peers for their daughter's suicide, I realized the wrongness in sexting. Before this article, I hadn't heard much about sexting because I haven't have experiences related to it, nor the people around me. I knew there were cases in which heartless and immoral people made use of sexting to harm others but I hadn't put much attention to it. I used to think how stupid some girls can be in sending nude pictures of themselves. Now that I put more thought into it, these girls trusted their boyfriends and it is definitely not fair what was done to them. I think these guys showed cowardice and plain meanness in what they did. Poor Jessica Logan ended committing suicide because she was unable to stand people's bullying and harrasment due to her nude picture that was sent all over. I felt compassionate towards Jessica's situation and feel totally against sexting.
I support the decision of Jessica's parents suing the school. Jessica confronted the people who harassed her and tried to take measures to make them stop. She talked with the school officials, the school counselors and even shared her story with the public. Nevertheless, despite all her efforts, people continued to bother her mercilessly. I think it was pathetic what a police officer said, that there were no security measures to protect her because she was 18. I totally believe schools should take more control about it and make it stop. It would be horrible for your provacy to be violated in that way, and have no control over it. I think it is wrong to take someone else's phone and check it, but I feel it is necessary in cases like this.

Next project

For our next Computer class project, we will be creating a short film that we will edit in January. My proposal is to create a comercial related to cooking with Lea Purpon. We will advertise a cake and sweets like that, through this video in which we will show all the procedure of the cooking and talk about the product.

New Security Measure

Facebook has implemented some new security measures and I think they are very important and valuable and people should pay more attention to it. They are new measures that help you control your information in a better way for you to feel secure. It is a form of letting you decide which information to share and with who. I think they were created due to many problems around the world. Facebook has become too popular and conflicts have arised. I've heard that some kidnappers had gotten information from this social networking place and it has been used as a means of stealing people's data, ideas, etc. I personally am not sure if they will be succesful because firstly not all people will take their time in reading about it, and deciding which informatio nthey want to share with shich particular people. Nevertheless, I think I like them because it gives more control to people about their sharing information and offers a more "innovative" FB. I really don't think it will change the way I use Facebook; I will see and use it the same way I've always have.

There have been some postings on social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook that have the ASPV community concerned. If I think about people posting videos and quotations of people without their knowing it, I feel it's wrong and needs permission first. I also think that it depends a lot on the video and the quotations. If they are insulting and humiliating in any way, of course it's wrong; but if the person would not mind because it is not bad, then I don't think people should react so angrily. However, yes, people should first give consent to someone if something about them is going to be posted, but I don't think that rule would be followed with social networking networks being so bewildered and busy. The community's reaction to the posting of student videos or work by staff members will be a complete revolt. People will be very angry and start demanding their rights and just express the unfairness felt with any way they find possible. They will definitely try to solve matters in one way or another. I don't think the school should let that happen, and forbid the staff post anything about their students' without their consentment.

Technology integrated into my education

Considering my entire academic career, I honestly haven't had the experience of technology being essential in my education. I have been in this school just my high school years and we didn't have computer class before this year. On my previous schools, we didn't use computers for projects so much. I only use them for writing papers and doing powerpoint presentations. Nevertheless, I feel I am quite acquainted to them because I use them every day.

Some specific experiences I remember from previous years are the "Type to Learn" activities in which we were tested on how fast we write in the computer. I remember I really did enjoy those activities but they were just on primary and middle school. Throughout most of my academic years, computers have been essential in writing essays, stories, and all sorts of assignments from school. Powerpoint presentations have been also fundamental in my development as a student and also the usage of the web. I don't remember having big specific projects with particular computer programs. There was just one time in which I had to burn CD's with a special program but I can't recall how to do it again.

There are many times in which I feel my teachers should have integrated technology in their lessons more. For example when they leave us projects and presentations in Powerpoint, I wish I knew more about other sophisticated programs and make something more original. Also there are some boring teachers who only speak and speak and speak. I wish they would integrate techonolgy more, and show us maybe videos, presentations or something similar. I feel many teachers don't integrate technology into their lessons because they don't know much about technology in general and how to control and use it.

Rotoball Project

I just finished my Rotoball project using Macromedia Flash MX 2004. What I most liked about it was the results. I never thought I would be able to finish it and make it look like a realistic animation. The only thing I did not like was the number of blank keyframes I had to insert every 5 marks. It was exhaustive and besides, having to trace my dog and me every time was kind of difficult. If I were to do this assignment with next year's seniors I would leave it exactly as it is. I really liked how everything turned out. Maybe a little more time for more details could have been better, but in general it was excellent.