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.