Poster presentations

During the last week of class, com 435 students presented new technologies at two poster presentation sessions. My poster was endorsing MobiStores, which converts original print children's stories into digital stories available for children to read along with on virtually any digital device with a screen. MobiStories are designed to aid families that lead very busy lifestyles. Instead of parents limiting the time their children spend with mobile devices, now they can allow them to engage with their favorite stories on the go. MobiStories will have an impact on both parents and their children. Parents will be able to help their children develop critical reading skills along with developing their vocabulary and children will gain the extra knowledge they once might have been missing out on because of their family's active, busy lifestyle.
During the second wave of poster presentations, I saw a lot of new technologies that are worth checking out, such as the free Google Voice.

Envision Center

Last week when our class met at the Envision Center it was neat to see what they are working on. Researchers at the Envision Center showed us state-of-the-art technologies, such as the virtual room and the haptics machine.

People's Brewing Co.

The People's Brewing Company, a new microbrewery in Lafayette is ready to start distributing it's beers on Dec. 16th. People's Brewing wants to serve the Lafayette community with quality hand crafted beer and educate the area on the craft brewing industry. I'm really excited for it's opening and can't wait to take a tour of the brewing facility when they start public tours early next year.

How the times have changed

Beavis and Butthead Do America was on TV tonight and it made me realize just how much has changed since 1996. I was either 9 or 10 when this movie came out and it was really popular then. The cartoons look hand drawn whereas today everything is computer animated. South Park is all done by computers and can be quickly produced to caputure current events. I would have to assume that Bevis and Butthead cartoons from way back when took a much longer time to create as they would if they were being made today.

I cannot wait until it snows

I just found a can of window de-icer from last winter that I totally forgot I had! Last winter there was a period where everything had a layer of ice covering it in the morning and just when I bought this stuff for my car windows it never iced again. YES

Stratego

I just recently played the board game Stratego. I didn't like it too much. I thought that it took more time than what it was worth. I just read the entry on Wikipedia for the game though and that was much more interesting. I think if I were to play the game again, maybe I could use a little more strategy in the game. I didn't realize while playing what the real object of the game was besides capturing the opponent's flag. Here is the link to the wiki.

Tune your brain? Reaaaallly?

Last night I downloaded the Iphone app called Tune your Brain. It is said to tune your brain activity. It says the software works by sending a base tone to one ear, and then a slightly different tone to you other ear, which causes your brain to resonate as the tones go in and out of phase. The program allows you to set the tone anywhere from 4.0 Hz-40.0 Hz. 40 is for activating your brain, say before an exam and 4 is used to put your brain in relaxation for deep sleep. This process is called binaural beats and here is an informative Wikipedia page explaining the phenomenon.

Internet and Laundry

I am at the Levee Laundry and Tan doing laundry and using the internet! Almost like an internet cafe right?? Last night our cable went out and the power in all of the houses across the street (grant st.) went out. Today the cable works but our internet is not working. It doesn't bother me much because I am used to just using the 3g on my phone with or without wi-fi, but my roomate is pretty vocal with complaints. It did put a damper on my good old blog updating session I had planned for this afternoon. I thought voilà, kill two birds in one stone! I even get to watch the news here, hey Indy- it sounds like you need more police!! remind me to never go there again haha

Moon Landing

I was standing outside the VBS the other night( and by that I mean weeks ago) and realized that it looked like I was standing on the moon. I took a picture and uploaded it to my twitter feed. Funny yes? I thought so too! Anyways, this is leading into the topic of NASA's new back-to-the-moon program. Today, a rocket was successfully launched as a test flight for the re exploration of the moon. It is called the Ares I-X rocket.

Sweet Home Chicago

Saturday Night I went to Chicago with some old friends I hadn't seen since summer and before. I stayed at the W lakefront hotel and it was really cool in there. It was the first time I had ever even been inside the W. Not only was there a bar right when I walked in, the whole first floor practically looked like a dance club. I think there was actually another bar on one of the upper floors but that would have most definitely been out of my price range I'm guessing. My friends and I had a room on the 23rd floor and the east side of the hallway was a glass lookout window complete with telescope. Pretty sweet if you ask me. What was really cool was the cab ride uptown. Our cab was complete with credit card machine! I had not been in a cab since I was in NYC a few years back so this technology was new to me. I had cash on me but I was just so eager to try it out. I found a stock photo of one on a NYC cab website so this technology is apparently spreading throughout the country. I would also like to take the time to complain about AT&T 3g service in the city of Chicago...It is absolutely terrible. Not only will street maps not load but it is even hard to send a text message!!

Look at the Pretty Lights

Last Sunday I went to Bloomington to see Pretty Lights at the Bluebird. The Pretty Lights LED board that is usually behind the stage could not be used because the Bluebird did not have enough power for it! It was still pretty crazy in there and much more personal then when I saw Pretty Lights at Bonnaroo. I did a little research and found out what kind of equipment producer Derek Vincent Smith uses. Abelton Live 7 is used to produce the loop and I read that unlike other software sequencers, Live 7 is designed to use for live preformances and for composing and design. Pretty Lights preform live with a drummer which makes the sound so intense, it is awesome.
Pretty Lights releases all of their albums on their website for free to download. It has been said that their first two albums were downloaded 300,000 times which is 6.15 million track downloads. And all out of Ft. Collins, Co! Here is a video from one of their shows last May.

What

i hate people that take facebook quizzes and ask me to take them

I have neglected this

I do not spend enough time with my computer to update this but I am going to sit here until I think of something to write about. I'm still one of those people that spends more time with TV than with internet. I am excitedly waiting it's always sunny tonight and after that who knowwwws what will happen. I can't say I know much about technology but I have tried using an electronic cigarette finally! It was pretty cool but I still will probably not buy one. well my life is pretty boring. I'm going to see pretty lights in bloomington sunday night. I'm pretty excited I havent seen a dj in a long time, and I'm sure he is using a lot of technology! much of which I do not know about though... haha

Today I went to Vienna coffee shop and the girl working there was very rude; I will not be going back. I don't like going to Vienna anyways because it seems like a bunch of weird assholes hang out there. Every time I have walked in everyone in the insanely hot dining area all look up at the same time to stare at me. I used to go to the Village coffee house to get coffee but it was bought by Christians so now I won't go there. Yes, I boycott Greyhouse and their hidden Christian agenda(yuck). Today I also started using Twitter again (ashleylburton). I don't understand when people reply to you, why you don't see it on your main page. It just doesn't make sense to me! I need to find a way to convey sarcasm into my writing. It is not illustrated well enough, obviously. Emerging technologies really do take away from verbal communication. Tonight my roomate and I talked via twitter about a beer fridge that we were both sitting next too. Why isn't the fridge filled with Gumballhead?? I don't know why but I bet we can fix this! Schooners later...

Wed.

It is too early for this