12/4/13

There are a few pieces of technology I would like as a gift. I'd like a Samsung smart watch, mostly because I wouldn't spend my own money on one. I'd like a Contour Roam2 to go with my Contour+. I could use a S4 Active but my phone is still functioning. I want a touchscreen monitor because Windows 8.1 would be way cooler with a touchscreen and it would be nice to have two monitors. I'd also like some nice speakers and headphones.

11/20/13

I am going to review The Flaming Lips concert, the Tame Impala concert, Bad Grandpa,  Captain Phillips, Pizza My Heart, Taco Bell, the Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro, and the Samsung Sound bar.

10/28/13

The part of my current computing set up at home that drives me insane is my WiFi connection. Some days its fine but most of the time it randomly disconnects me. I think its because we have 10 devices connected to 1 airport and i'm generally the farthest from the airport. Another thing that drives me insane is my phone. It is becoming slower and slower no matter what i do.

10/25/13

There is a French company, Optinvent, is trying to compete with Google Glass. Its display is directly in front of the users view, compared to Google Glass's display above the users line of sight. It runs on Android but the voice control isn't as good at google currently. They have recently announced that they will have the display on a hinge that allows the user to switch between "glance mode" and "augmented reality mode". They want to make it much smaller than it currently is.

10/24/13

Facebook's new privacy settings doesn't change much for teenagers. All it does is allow advertisers to target their audience better. The privacy update allows teenagers to make their profiles public. They are trying to keep up with other social media's privacy so they aren't the only ones that don't allow them to be public. This has caused many people to become wary although some support the change.

The article discusses an increase of cyber bullying and sexual exploitation due to the change. I don't think that either will increase the amount of either. Cyber bullying will generally happen between people who are "friends" on social media sites so this privacy change wont affect that. People who are susceptible to sexual exploitation would probably add anyone who offers a friend request anyways so this privacy change will not increase the amount of sexual exploitation.

10/4/13

The Constitution assignment was a very good test of understanding basic html. It had many different aspects of html including headings, paragraphs, formatting, links, and images. It was a legit learning assignment.

9/30/13

The most interesting thing i saw on the internet was a gif of a kid from the 90's on the computer and then it cut to a lady in a bath tub (fully clothed) full of milk and cereal, then it cut back to the kid and he nods his head and gives a thumbs up.

9/27/13

A good web page fits it's audience's needs. It only has to do what it's audience want it to do/look like. A bad web page doesn't do what it's audience wants it to do/look like. For example, Apple's web pages are simple and straight forward because that's what Apple user's want.

9/25/13

The Samsung Galaxy Gear Smartwatch doesn't invade the user's privacy, but allows them to more easily invade other's privacy. The camera on it allows for "sneaky" shots. At this rate, there wont be much privacy left when I graduate college. The only way to have much privacy is to live offline, away from society.

9/26/13

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has many improvements from the previous model. The screen is bigger but the phone itself is smaller and lighter. It has 3 GB of RAM, 1 GB more than the Note 2. It also has a faux leather back, compared to plastic, glass, or metal. It has a Snapdragon 800 processor. It has a 13 MP camera and a 2 MP sensor, matching the Galaxy S4. It's battery life improved by .4 hours to 12.16 hours. It also improved its multitasking abilities so that two windows of one application can be open on the screen at the same time. Overall it has been improved in every way.

It would be hard for me to decide between this phone and the S4 Active. I'm not sure if I would want to have such a big phone and its hard to tell if the leather back would be better or worse than a typical plastic or metal back. I do like the idea of having a stylus with the phone. It would make certain actions much easier and more efficient, like writing or drawing on the screen. I currently have a Samsung Galaxy Rugby Pro, which I got because of its rugged features which the S4 Active has but the Note 3 doesn't. When its time for me to upgrade next December, I will be looking at the Galaxy line, but I'm not decided on which one would be best for me.

9/24/13

   Minimum spanning trees are used to find the minimum amount of anything to connect several things together. They are important because they cut down on unnecessary connections.For example, if you want to visit every city in California, you could use a minimum spanning tree to find the fastest route that connects every city together.

9/18/13

The handshake and fence post problems are very easy. In the handshake problem, because you are included in the number of people in the room, you have to shake N-1 hands. In the fence post problem, because you have to start with a post and end with a post, you have to place N+1 posts.

9/17/13

   The MP3 algorithm is a encoding format for digital audio the uses lossy data compression. Lossy data compression discards bits of the file in order to make the file smaller. Generally low to medium compression doesn't effect the quality noticeably but high compression severely effects the file. Compressing files makes them smaller.

9/13/13

   The new iPhones have been released and the 5S seems to be the same as the 5 with a few upgrades. They put a better camera and flash in it and there is a fingerprint scanner embedded in the home button. There is a new processor that collects data from sensors even when the phone is asleep. Every other feature is essentially the same.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/09/apple-unveils-64-bit-iphone-5s/

9/12/13

    20q is fairly intelligent.  It does better than a lot of humans playing the same game.  I think it could pass the Turing test, but not every time.  A computer might want to know if its talking to another computer and not a  human so it could change how it communicates in order to communicate more efficiently.

   

9/9/13

   In a world with no internet or texting, I would mostly be unaffected.  Instead of texting people I would just call.  For many people, internet based communications have a huge role in shaping their lives.  They use the internet for everything.  They would be lost and bored without the internet for a while but then they would get used to not having it.  I believe that the internet drives what we do, but it is easily reversible.

9/4/13

I most use the internet for watching movies and TV shows. After that, I use the internet for listening to music. Finally, I use the internet for emails.

9/3/13

     Exploring Computer Science is a fun, easy class.  I think I will learn a lot about computers.  The computer shopping activity was fun.  I can't wait to start programming.  It's a good way to start the school day. It's nice to not have homework.