RSS Feed Qustions

Why did you select the feeds you subscribed to?
     For my news and government feeds, I selected feeds that would be informative about not only
     what is happening here in the United States, but also on an international level.  It is important to
     understand where the rest of the world stands so that you can formulate a more valid opinion on
     the actions of your own government.

Was it easy for you to find feeds and subscribe to them?
     The format of Digg Reader made it very easy to find exactly what I was looking for by narrowing
     down all of the possible options into more specific categories.  I was then able to click on feeds
     that interested me, see if I wanted to subscribe to them and then just click "Add" if I decided I
     wanted to.

Which sites were your favorites?
     My three favorite sites that I subscribed to were "The World Geography",  "Funny or Die" and
     "Foreign Affairs".  "The World Geography" is all about different locations that are unknown by
     most people, such as hidden lookout points and unique beaches.  "Funny or Die" is just funny
     posts and videos.  "Foreign Affairs" is a feed about current events around the world.

What else can you use RSS feeds for?
     RSS feeds can be used for anything from being a foundation for a research paper, to looking at
     photos by professional photographers, to giving you new stories to read.

How likely are you to use RSS feeds in the future?
     I may use RSS feeds in college for research and just to stay up to date on what is going on in the
     world at an international level.

Weekly Tech Article (13 May 2016)

Eyesight Technologies, an Israeli company, is in the process of producing gesture based technology that does not require wearable accessories.  The company realized that many wearable sensors are easily lost and are unsanitary if multiple people want to use the same thing.  The solution is gesture based technology that does not involve gloves, headbands, etc.  The product can be used for smartphones, TVs, tablets and computers.  The company hopes to eventually build robot assistants that are able to respond to human facial expressions, gestures and vocal tones.

Weekly Teh Article (6 May 2016)

Dag Kittlaus, a former worker for Apple, is unveiling Viv next week.  While working for Apple, Kittlaus was a member of the team who built Siri, and now he is taking his experience to the next level.  Viv is a new artificial intelligence software, but is much more advanced than any other system out there right now: including Siri.  Viv is able to process simple questions as well as multi-layered questions.   For example, Kittlaus was able to ask Viv "Find me a flight to Dallas with a seat that Shaq could fit in," and the system was able to provide an answer.

My Goals

After graduating from good ol' Wood-Ridge Junior Senior High School, I am going to attend New Jersey City University as a Music Education major.  Throughout my time from elementary to high school, I have seen a decline in the music programs of many schools, and my goal is to change that.  As a music educator, I hope to ignite  love and respect for the arts in any student I cross paths with.  I don't expect all students to love to play music, but I at least want to change their views of it so that they will respect the programs and not allow them to decline any further.

Weekly Tech Article: 4/22

The grand prize at this year's Geneva Inventions Show was Cheah Kok-wai, a professor from Hong Kong Baptist University, who came up with a way to make phone screens more durable.  His solution: a thin layer of sapphire over the screen.  The sapphire is applied with extremely high heat and, because of sapphire's properties, transparency is not affected.  Also, the layer is thin enough that touch screens are not affected.  Because sapphires are so rare, Kok-wai is in the process of accomplishing the same goal, but with quartz instead of sapphires.  To read more, click here.

Tech Article 4/15

Researchers at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona have created a wormhole-like object to teleport objects.  A wormhole, in theory, can get an object from one end to the other in literally no time.  The sphere that the team created accomplished a similar feat.  The sphere has three layers: an outer shell that is capable of being magnetized, an inner shell that is a superconductor, and a coil inside the inner shell that is, like the outermost layer, capable of being magnetized.  The result was that when the sphere was submerged in liquid nitrogen and magnetic charges were shot at the opening on one side of the sphere, the charge was released from the opening on the other side of the sphere.  On the inside, however, there were no traces of any charges going through the sphere.  

Wki Dissection HR

1. What is the purpose of this Wiki?

          To explain inventions that replaced old tools in order to make students' lives easier.  These                     inventions were considered disruptive because students had to get used to using these new

          technologies.

2. When was the last post?

          The most recent post was on 31 October 2006.

3. How was the Wiki created/designed?

          The Wiki was designed as a table with the basic information, and then further elaboration

          underneath. 

4. What would you add to this particular Wiki?

          We would update the Wiki so that more modern inventions are included, such as laptops and 3D 

          printers.

5. What did you learn after reading this Wiki?

          We learned that technology has replaced many things that used to be used in the classroom in

          order to make learning more convenient and interactive.

6. If you had to create a Wiki with a team, what would be the specific topic(s)?

          Current events and politics.

7. How can Wikis be used in a classroom or in education?

          Wikis can be used to access information quickly and can also function as a starting point for

          research in the classroom.