Tech Tool Evaluation

Storyboardthat.com

What I like:

Drag and drop interface

Many choices to pick from in characters, setting and bubbles

Easy and fast use use without much effort

What I don't like:

People have to pay for a good version

Not creative. Just like bitstrips, pixton, etc...

You cannot move the characters how you want, like in bitstrips

I could use it to make comics

I could use it to brain storm ideas for anything I need in a fun and organized way

ujam.com

What I like:

You can create or change songs you like easily

You can change stuff from one instrument to another

Many ways to make or change the song

Creative, never seen one like it

Background music

What I don't like:

They want to insert a premium feature for which you would have to pay for.

Not completed

has some problems because of the bugs that need to be fixed

I could use it to create songs for fun

I could use it to learn how to become a DJ

Augmented Reality

What I know about the topic: I know that AR is  a way to see the world electronically and can be used in a variety of ways and in a variety of stuff like smartphones and Head mounts.

Questions:
How does it work?
About when will it be released to the general public?
What are some prototypes?
Which companies are developing it?

Links:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/augmented-reality.htm
http://www.pcworld.com/article/250453/google_augmented_reality_glasses_expected_by_years_end.html
http://www.metro.co.uk/tech/895276-project-glass-augmented-reality-google-goggles-to-replace-phones

Things I learned:
Google sent out a prototype for 1500 dollars to developers
Most of them are head ware(the future ones) like the google glasses
It will be released in early 2014 or late 2013 with a price of 200 to 600 dollars.\
Uses motion sensors, lasers and infrared
Will have 3g and 4g technology
You are able to see the world but with everything you need like the terminator glasses.

It connects to my life in many ways because I am from a generation in which technology is very important. I never thought the glasses would be in such a near future, it was something only seen in movies like terminator. To live I need technology and this will be a great advancement because it will finally unite with the real world in a really useful interactive way that will make things much easier for everyone. We live from luxuries and this will be an affordable one that will beat many and leave many people addicted like me to my blackberry or computer.

University	Bently	NYU	U.Penn	Vanderbilt
Location	Waltham, MA	New York, NY	Philadelphia, PA	Nashville,  TN
Percentage Admitted	43%	32%	14%	14%
Avg. GPA	3.63	3.7	3.91	3.49
Student Body	5,526	43,797	25,007	12,836
Finnancial Cost	$38,328	$41,606	$42,230	$41,332
Public or Private	Private	Private	Private	Private
Fraternities	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

U.Penn is a university in Philadelphia, which has Wharton in it. It is the business part of it and it is really good because it is an Ivy League and it has many things I like.

NYU is a really good university in New York that offers 183 majors and has many students that have achieveed great things.

I have a 3.6 GPA average.

What I have learned today has affected me very much, because now I know that it is better to enter a normal university first and then a great one to be the star

Google Part 4

For this I only had about 35 minutes because of a mass so I finally installed eclipse and looked at the tutorials. It is a lot more complicated than I thought. Now I am looking at this video to start making the blocks and code academy is finally paying of: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sI_TnFUBzrc&feature=related. And I need another program, which I already downloaded: http://www.editrocket.com/download_mac.html. I already started doing the blocks and will finish at home and I will try to get them into the game to make the presentation.

Now its November 13th and it is another google day because last class about 60% of the class time was taken by a mass.

Goals:

Check what I am missing and get it.
Create the block in java form.
Create the block visually.
Insert it into minecraft.
Use it.

I was wondering what I was missing and of course it was something important. It was the MCP or minecraft codder pack to modify and create mods (short for modifications) like creating a block.
Here is the link for download: http://www.mediafire.com/?rz8dnqj1bxrz85q

I am about to die. First I had to modify the mod loader text file in Edit Rocket then I had to configure the MCP file and make it adjustable for Mod Maker basic. Then, download many files and check how to see the Java JPK version in my mac because it is different than on other different operating systems. Checked thousands of videos and then had to search how to find the environmental variables on a mac because of course it is different from a PC. And until now I am starting to create the mod, but by luck the hard part has passed and this takes a lot less time. So I am going to finish it at home and make the presentation

Google 20% Part 3

Today we could not do anything because the program we needed to start coding could not be downloaded on the school computers and we did not know that we were going to do the google 20% proyect today so we did not bring the program in our computers

Google 20% PART 2

After looking at a failed attempt to create an online multiplayer game, Andres and I have decide to change to a similar but less massive thing to do which is creating a minecraft plugin using java language.

3 goals:
Find a platform to begin doing the plugin
Start learning how to use that platform
Decide what the plugin will do and learn the essentials to do it

http://www.mpgh.net/forum/32-java/417858-how-make-minecraft-plugin.html
http://eclipsetutorial.sourceforge.net/totalbeginner.html
http://eclipse.c3sl.ufpr.br/technology/epp/downloads/release/juno/SR1/eclipse-jee-juno-SR1-win32.zip

The first site was searched on google, which sent me to the next where I started downloading a program called eclipse. The program is 221 mb but it is taking too long to download.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/eclipsetutorial/files/1.%20Total%20Beginners/Version%201.0/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqZI5wEmhLQ
www.eclipse.org

The first link is a great explanation of how to use eclipse part by part but i think when I get home I am going to use the youtube tutorial and do it on my mac because this is taking too long to download and make my own plugin.

After checking several kinds of plugins like making a vending machine, a teleporter or a cell phone we decided to start with something simpler, which is a flashlight. Even though it will be a very simple plugin it will require a lot of time to of because of the coding. The idea is to create different kind of blocks that do not exist to make the game funner. But for that to happen we need to know how to change things like the block brightness to its strength and to what it can create.

Desmos

https://www.desmos.com/calculator

This is an amazing site which helps you create awesome graphs in an easy way.

First create an account so that you can save your graph.

Next, better link it to facebook if you want to share your graphs with your friends.

Now, press launch calculator so that you can make your graph.

There yo can see others great creations and it helps you to get an idea.

At first it is very hard because you have to know cool ecuations which you can find on google (if you don't know any)

But then you can change the colors and make figures like batman and stuff like that.

It is like a Ti-84.

After click safe and finally post it on facebook.


Other students may use to get help on their math things or create fun art to spend time.

This is my creation:

Digital Nation

1. I agree with the professor of MIT that with technology in class they learn less because they are not paying attention to the class.

2. I agree with Lauren when she said that technology is helping us multitask because we can do many things at a time like email, facebook and youtube at the same time so I think that is multitasking.

3. I disagree with the researcher from NASA because he says that multitaskers are really slow, but one can be multitasker for different things. Be good at some and not as good at doing other things.

4. I disagree with what the UCLA doctor said, which was that one needed more energy for google than for reading. I disagree because one spends much more time on google so you should become better on that that on reading.

5. I disagree with the narrator saying that technology is hurting us because it is helping us more

6. I agree with the programs they do about disconnecting one self with technology because that can help loosen a bit the addiction

7. I disagree that videogames take away your ability to think well

8. I agree that a kind of addiction exists between kids

9. I agree with the mom about sending his son to a middle school that requires computers because children will not disconnect so they need to learn

10. I agree that some people are obsessed with the internet

11. I agree with being a way to seeing what students do during class in a computer.

12. I disagree that parents and teachers monitor children when they want because children need their privacy

13. I disagree when Bauerlein says that children are not as smart now thanks to technology because these children are making the world advance

14. I agree that games and technology because it lets you be what you want to be for some time

15. I agree technology can help you find friends but their is a small risk factor

16. I disagree that all gamers are isolated geeks because really they connect

17. I agree that technology can drive everyone crazy or obsessed at some point

18. I agree that technology has rewritten the rules of interaction because people become more social.

19. I agree that without technology many people would die (figuratively) because people are so connect it, it would devastate them.

20. I agree that without technology the world would not be able to develop

What is the process for applying to university?

http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/universities/applying-to-university/

http://admissions.yale.edu/freshman-application-process

http://www.admissionsconsultants.com/college/ivy_league_table.asp

In this websites I learned the acceptance rate of many schools (mostly Ivy Leagues) and most of the good ones range from 6% to 12% and about 90% of them where top 10% of the class and most SAT rates are above 2000 so these are really top notch schools like most of the people know. You also not only need grades but also sports and community work because you need many things to enter colleges like these. You need to be a leader.

I still wonder what other colleges are top tier like these awesome colleges.

Game Design

I know that most of them are very complicated especially if they are multiplayer games and require a lot of time and dedicated people to do one of them while others you can do in just a few minutes. I also know that good ones require some kind of language like python, C, or Java. Most of them are Java and I know the basic of this coding language thanks to code academy.

I wonder which are good platforms to create a good server based multiplayer game and how to start doing one including the codes and graphic design. I also wonder what kinds of game designing jobs exist (even if I don't want to be one) because it is really interesting to know.

http://www.gamecareerguide.com/features/411/game_design_an_introduction.php
http://www.byond.com/developer/

Here like it is part of my google 20% project I am learning the basics to coding and making  a multiplayer game with a small world to start with that teaches me the basics

Google Day 1

My 3 Goals:
- Improve in Java language with code academy
- Start learning how to make the platform of our game
- Choose the game developer


http://www.byond.com/docs/guide/

I am learning the beginning of of a multiplayer platform with this link which has all of the information needed and I already downloaded the program and I am going to being to use it in no time. I also got to 120 points in code academy which is a great improvement
What I want to Learn next Class:

Good start to understand how a world works:
http://www.byond.com/developer/Dantom/YourFirstWorld

Google 20%

For my Google 20% project me and Andres Silva would like to do a multiplayer online server game. To do this many skills are needed but the most important one is programming and then comes graphic design because without the first one the game would have no base so there would be no game and without the second one you would not be able to see anything because it is everything we see in the game is part of graphic design. Also with programming and learning java language you could learn to do many more things like IPad apps and that would be really cool. Also you could easily learn to hack things and I would really like to do that.

To show that I learned this skills I will make just as I said before a simple but fun multiplayer game, which will require a lot of time and effort. This would show that I learned what I said in the first paragraph because like most people know making a game is extremely difficult and normally only pro programmers can do things of this magnitude. So as you can see it would show it really well because thousands of commands are needed and that is only for the start.

C/C website