Gadgets and presence

To go along with the article I posted this weekend, here is an article from USA Today about tech and how much we text, use our smartphones, or sit on the computer and aren't present to one another. The safety and social implications are huge. And I admit I am guilty at times. After all, I read the article on my iphone's USA Today app. And then shared it with you on my iPhone.

Seems somewhat paradoxical.

Anyway, here is the article...

http://usat.me/?35825520

-- Post From My iPhone

I return...to talk about...3.0

So, I haven't written in many moons. I believe the primary reason for this is that it turns out full time work, 3 hours commuting, dating, and being an active member in God's mission make you pretty busy.


However, I have a couple minutes...so, iPhone 3.0. The biggest thought I have:

This new software will allow third party devices to be connected to the phone and communicate with applications. CANON! Listen to me! Create a remote app. Use a simple cable. Make the phone a remote for extended and distance exposures. Make it a device to change settings away from the body. Give the capability to go straight from camera to places like flickr through the phone. Allow the user to use the phone as the extention to the camera. Heck, throw some editing software on there, let a person give it some quick fixes, and share photos immediately (in many resolution formats, including iPhone all the way up to full 15 MP images). The phone's screen is already a 9:6 ratio, so it is perfect for viewing (maybe another option for live view as well).


I don't know how possible all of this is, but man if some of it comes to fruition, I will be very pleased.

Color Discrepancy Crossing Over Browsers

While messing around on the computer this morning, I was starting to check out Safari, as I've been told it deserves a worthwhile look.  Typically, I'm an exclusive Firefox user.  However, that may change.  I'm pretty sure I'm not crazy, but I see a color discrepancy on my flickr page when using safari vs. firefox.  The safari colors are a bit richer and less flat.  Not that firefox is awful or anything, but I'd never noticed this.

So, questions for you computer guys

1) Do you see it in the image below? (or am I just crazy)

2) Is this even possible?

3) What could be causing it? (same webpage, same computer, must be different browers, right?

Any thoughts would be helpful...

Impressed by MacBook

OK,

I suppose I should weigh in on the new MacBook (because I'm a tool I own the previous version). I'm impressed by this video, as they take the time to talk about manufacturing processes. As a Mechanical Engineering student, and a guy who does enjoy manufacturing, I'd say that this is a really neat process to look at. The first half of the video or so talks about that. This also is one of the reasons you pay more for a Mac. That sort of process requires a lot of capital to create. Regardless, I would applaud this company for taking the two eye perspective to design. They have always cared about aesthetics as of late, but I'd say they have finally expressed their love for engineering, which is a big deal in my book. They've shown they are a company more out to meet many people's desires and needs.

I guess this comes a long way from my posts joking about Apple, and I still will joke about them, because they are a company, and I can do that, but...this is impressive.

And to you Mr. Jobs...show us more 'how it's made.' I'd love to see it.

LHC Rap

What Punctuation are you?

You Are An Exclamation Point

You are a bundle of... well, something. You're often a bundle of joy, passion, or drama. You're loud, brash, and outgoing. If you think it, you say it. Definitely not the quiet type, you really don't keep a lot to yourself. You're lively and inspiring. People love to be around your energy. (But they do secretly worry that you'll spill their secrets without even realizing it.) You excel in: Public speaking You get along best with: the Dash

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

Human Factors

I decided since I wrote about my photo class a bit, I'd try to write about the rest of my classes in kind.

I'm also enrolled in a human factors course. "What is human factors," you may ask. It is a broad field that in many ways encompasses design for usability, safety, and efficiency. For example, today in class we looked over a broad realm of things human factors affects.

One is web design (for all you computer geeks out there). Why is facebook more friendly than myspace? Is it the design factor, the networking factor, or just perception?

Another example you could run for days with is Apple hardware/software.

We discussed flight issues with all the gauges a pilot must recognize, as well as industry applications like a Nuclear Power Plant control room.

All of these places and things must be designed for their ease of use, enjoyment of use, failsafes, etc, etc.

I know some people are taking this class as an easy A, but let me tell you, it has the potential to be one of the most fascinating courses I've ever taken here at Illinois. The material is engaging and the professor really encourages interaction with the class. So, check out Psych 358/IE 340, as that...is the class.

Good Stuff

I've been hard at work computing the last couple days. I just bought a new laptop (the bad kind) and I can now edit photos at about warp 12 compared to my old computer. I've gotten a chance to take some photos of some of the neater events this summer, so come check out this preview with me. There will be more posted in facebook albums and more importantly on flickr as time goes along. So enjoy these and keep looking.


This is a slab of steel coming out of our caster. It is very hot at this point in time, hence the orange glow.
This is the space shuttle simulator Pathfinder. This never made it into space, but it is still really neat. The photo effects I used were a bunch of messing around steps that created this painted effect that I think is just awesome.

I decided to try some more light painting. This one was one of my favorites because it is just so blunt.
This is taken from the Ave Maria Grotto in Cullman, AL. There, a monk built nearly 150 miniatures of buildings around the world.

This was taken during a Tennessee Valley Vipers Arena 2 game. It was fun, and I'd never been to an arena game. The score was a blowout though...

Arkansas and mind blown

This week, for part of it, I am in Blytheville, Arkansas. This bustling metropolis is where Nucor is having a little intern get together. Should be a good time. Anyway, I am taking advantage of the free wi-fi at the hotel and my mind has been blown. New Facebook at www.new.facebook.com. I couldn't get it to work through the hyperlink. It is up and running. Check it out and don't waste too much time. I'm not sure what I think of it yet, but it seems like a general improvement so far. Lemme know what you think.

Climate Change or Scare Mongering?

If you live in America, and you pay attention to the news, you've probably heard of a little thing called global warming. And if you're a decade or two older than me, you've probably heard about global cooling. Scientific speculation about the human influence on the world has been far spread. We've had plenty of incorrect guesswork about how things will turn out in the coming years, and yet we continue to be so sure of ourselves in how science will go. One of the biggest problems in my mind with the global warming scare is the assumed correlations between CO2 and temperature of the earth. In science, we're always making simplifying assumptions or bold predictions and hoping that they line up as correct. Then, when our theories don't pan out, we are all of a sudden dealing with ways to justify our original theory with newer ones.

This Bloomberg article speaks of a new theory that the oceans will cool us for a while until global warming strikes up again. And of course we KNOW global warming is occurring because we have the highest temperatures on record. I mean, let's not forget that we don't have temperature records for thousands of years back, and shoot, if you believe in the 5 billion year old earth, we're missing out on a LOT of history. Who are we to say that we know the cycles of our planet? What makes us and our short 120 year max time here able to know it all? I believe God made a far more complex and robust planet than we could totally screw up.

Now, is this to say I think we can do whatever and it will be fine? No. What I am saying is that I believe science makes a lot of bold predictions about things we shouldn't worry about. I mean, remember when Deep Impact and Armageddon (speaking of, the Christian Armageddon, rather than the movie, is referred to on wikipedia as "in Christian mythology" (my emphasis). Oh what perspective brings to the table) came out? I'm pretty sure everybody was sure we'd be hit by a meteor as a planet by now. And it hasn't happened yet. Sure it COULD, but we can't prevent it from possibly happening. Now Al Gore has used similar action movie footage to create a stir. I mean SURE, the planet could be getting warmer, but is it our doing? What if what we're doing actually will eventually lead to global cooling or suffocation or nuclear war?

I believe that we need not worry about global warming itself, but I do believe that we need to be good stewards of the world we have been given. This means that we should be watching how we pollute, and in a holistic way. I mean seriously, have you considered that electric cars are just taking electricity made by coal power plants (just as nasty pollution in the air)? The 'green' movement is a good thing, but the way we go about it is paramount. And let's not worry so much about the temperature, but instead about things like the amount of visibility in our cities and beyond, the quality of our drinking water, and the health of our planet as a whole.

I love when Apple's hipness is shot down

Your Head Asplode

I saw this pointed out by my roommate today, and it made super happy listening to it. It is

A Scientific Attempt To Create Most Annoying Song Ever

and it is successful on many accounts. It is so over the top that I can't stop laughing. The juxtaposition of the children's choir and the opera rapper along with the different holidays and the 'shopping at Wal-Mart' is actually pretty entertaining, even if it is as bad as the Nazi Party. Give it a listen at the bottom of the link. It's long, but ever entertaining.

Orthogonal Photography

So on flickr, my name is | Orthogonal Photography |. It's pretty hip right? With the lines on the sides and stuff, it's totally neat? Maybe it's just my pathetic attempt at trying to be cool. It's ok if it's a pathetic failure. Shoot, I've even worked on developing some sort of image to show it (seen above) in neat graphic form. None are really awesome, but the one up there is kinda neat in my opinion.

So why Orthogonal? I mean, what does that have to do with anything? Ok, so my reasons are a few fold. First, I wanted a word that described me and my goals in multiple ways. The word orthogonal describes two vectors that when multiplied, they create a zero vector. It also is another way to say perpendicular. So that's my first reason. It reflects on my nerdy side. by being a big nerdy word for lines that cross at 90 degrees (or a line that crosses a point...they're orthogonal to each other too). The second reason is that 90 degree thing. It means they're not going in the same direction. This is how I want my life to be seen. I want to be orthogonal to the world and instead following the way of Christ. This isn't to say that the way of Christ isn't anything like the world. They cross paths, but they're different enough, that his way of sacrifice is pretty different than the way of the world. Finally, I want the world to describe the photos that I take. I want to learn to take truly unique photos that show the world from a completely different perspective than we see it daily. This ends of being a form of worship for me, using God's world that is there as my subject. I think there's a lot of work to be done there, but it is a strong goal of mine. I'm sure there are other ways I could use the orthogonal term to mean something else. Perhaps it means I want to reflect the glory of God not right back up at God, but rather into the plane of this world. I'm still thinking about it, but I love the idea of where it can go without being super cheesy (perhaps it is too late for that).

Revenge of the Sith

Last weekend, I watched the original Star Wars trilogy with my roommates. What an event that was. So many memories floated through my brain as I watched the movies that were truly a part of my childhood. My identity as a nerd at heart is in many ways established by these movies. So when the new trilogy was released, I made sure to watch each at their midnight showings in the theaters. I loved them. Not that they were all fantastic by any means, but they were fun and they helped to flesh out the story. Today, I woke up and decided to watch Revenge of the Sith, the third in the series. The first time I watched it, I absolutely loved it, so I had high hopes coming into watching it again. Initially, while watching it today, I was awfully disappointed, but as I kept watching, there was a joy stirred up in me.

Warning: !Spoiler Alert!

In many ways, the movie starts out like other two movies. With this, a sense of nostalgia or the original gritty feel of Star Wars was awakened in me. And despite not having that met, I found myself being drawn in. The intensely strong deceit of Palpatine is absolutely detestable. He is so clever and appeals to all the good parts of Anakin by using the bad parts. The dialogue is clever and the storyline compelling. We get to see the transformation of Anakin to the dark side as his love is overtaken by his hate. It is so sad that this quick change is in many ways a perversion of all the good within him. The fact that a girl is at the center of the fall of the Republic seems so fitting XD. This story of a young man being taken advantage of because of his love is so powerful. It deals with a brotherly love too, as when Anakin and Obi-Wan go on separate missions, there is a goodbye that ends up being far more final than either would hope for.

On top of the conversion of Anakin, the political plot line is ridiculously clever. Palpatine started a war where he is the leader on both sides that he intended to lose on one side and win on the other for his political gain. And everyone goes along with it as he slowly converts the Republic into an Empire.

Beyond all of the brilliant plot elements, the desire for nostalgia is satiated as hints at the tech of the original trilogy abound. Whether it be in the s-foils on fighters, the red clad imperial guards, or in the actual sighting of Senator Organa's ship (the one his adopted daughter Leia later will use), it brings closure to this part of the story.

Oh man! even as I write this, I just wish I could beam into your mind the emotions I'm feeling. Such feelings well up in me as I watch this that I can't articulate them with written words.

The social, political, and spiritual messages within the Star Wars storyline are absolutely incredible and I only grow to appreciate them as I grow older. The redemption of Vader grows all the more strongly when you see who he was. If you have somehow lived in a cave and never seen these movies, I strongly urge you to get over your distaste for the cheesiness of a sci-fi movie and watch them with the eyes of someone who wants to be entertained and learn.


______________________

OH, and for something similar but definitely in a different vain:

Chad Vader::Day Shift Manager

Flickr Love

I flippin' love flickr. It is a fantastic place to share, post, view, comment, and explore photography. I even believe that it is one area where Yahoo has outdone Google. I can spend more time flipping through the beauty on flickr than I can on the dime a dozen applications in the facebook realm.

The site itself is so powerful. The front end, while not pretty, lets you get anywhere you need to be. The focus is on the picture rather than on the website. By searching for effective tags/titles of pictures you can find an image of almost anything. Say you want to see a picture taken by a specific lens or camera; just search for that item. I can learn photo techniques, get tips, and drool over how I want to work on HDR pictures, because they are some of the most fascinating things I've ever seen.

My roommate Michael is studying abroad next semester, and I was able to find pictures of the places he is going. I wanted to see sweet snowboarding pics and found them. This website is truly an artist's haven and I want to be drawn into it.


In general, photography has become one of my top hobbies as of late. I love the art that it is. I do not get a chance to create anything new...instead, I capture that which was in front of me and can alter it. It seems like I get to create the snapshots of God's creation. What an honor that is. I have a few new pictures up as well from Rock for Honduras. Check them out here.

Brawl

I know many a fanboy...

Whether it be Apple, coffee, VW, Catholicism, or Gilmore Girls.
I know people that just eat certain things up. Everybody has a favorite brand that they can't get away from if they tried. It is what we are loyal to because it makes us happy and no matter the thick or the thin of it, we want to love them.

I am a Nintendo fanboy myself.
I stood in line for 6 hours to get a Wii at midnight on release, and now, nearly a year and a half after I got my Wii, I have finally gotten to another game I can't wait to own. After getting Wii Sports in the package, and buying The Twilight Princess right away (and enjoying its epicness), I had to wait until SSX Blur, which was fun but not deep. I played Metriod Prime 3, and I liked it, but shooters just get tedious to me, so I don't own it yet. I want Super Mario Galaxy, but the money is keeping me off of it until the summer (I soooo want it too). Guitar Hero 3 is a great idea, but I'm so bad and don't have the time to get better.

However, in a little over a week (or a WiiK if you're an uber-nerd) SSBB hits the shelves on this side of the Pacific Pond. That's right folks, Super Smash Brothers Brawl. I cannot wait. I will probably not be getting it upon release, but I do know that I'm super stoked. In my mind it should have been out a month ago (and a year ago if I want to get nitpicky), but I will trust that perfection was worth waiting for. It has such depth that I can't even get into it all. It looks to be similar to Family Guy in it's cultural references. There will be so many things from games of old to games of new that I will only recognize a fraction. There are about a bazillion modes, and I can finally play my friends or anybody who fancies, online. I guess I had to just let you know how excited about this game I was. I would love to play with you too on my nice tv in my house. It is gonna be incredible.

Grades, prepare to be challenged.

LOLmendenhall

OK, so I couldn't resist showing you my newest creation creation...sorry about posting twice in one day.

New Finskie

I figured I'd get my Friday post out of the way before I get to bed, cuz I feel like I'll just run out of time tomorrow. And what is it but a simple sharing of information. Nothing going on in my life, no Rose Bowl Roadtrip recap post.

Check out the new $5 bill yo.

So let us compare, right, as this is what we do when new things come out. Although does it really matter? What happens the majority of the time is we get used to it and it never bothers us again. It happens with uniforms, logos, and even laws. That's just the way the cookie crumbles right?

Anyway, open your wallet, and check out the old $5. Who am I kidding, you probably don't have one...

Here's one. Note the total difference. The new one has a lot of security features and the biggest shocker is on the back!!! I won't spoil it for you, but it's totally mind blowing. Lemme know what you think of this atrocity that has been committed against our currency. As if it'll matter later...

Lunar Eclipse

So there's a lunar eclipse tomorrow. Who knew? I'll tell you who...my buddy Wyatt from CoLT07. He informed me of this and I wanted to pass it along. Seems like it could be an interesting event to check out. I recall the days when space stuff really just interested me. Part of me really misses those days. Wouldn't it be great to speculate about the Millennium Falcon landing in my back yard again?

I love LOLcats

OK, so they're really stupid, but I can't help but laugh at a good majority of LOLcats. Such a strange internet phenom, so why not catch the fever for a while...


moar funny pictures