Tech Article 24 March 2016

Google has started to mix machine learning with its cloud platform.  Jeff Dean, a researcher at Google, says that the software will analyze how you type and what apps you use, and using this information, analyze your data usage in a way that you would better understand.  This will give you the ability to use information that usual only bigger companies would know how to access and use.

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Tech Article: 18 March 2016

The future is now for the world of travelling.  A new form of transportation called the Vactrain is in the process of being developed.  The idea behind it is that the train is in a magnetic tube rather than on a track.  Because the train is levitating, there is no friction and allows the cart to move at extremely high speeds: 2,500 mph to be precise.  To put this into perspective, you could board a Vactrain in New York City and take it to Los Angeles in just under an hour.  This would make it the fasted form of modern transportation.

Do Now 14 March 2016

          It was a pretty normal morning on that fateful day.  I woke up, got ready for work, walked outside, got in my car. I got to work, but when I walked inside and went to check in, I wasn't acknowledged.  So I stood there waiting for a while, but no one said anything or even looked at me.  I did one of those coughs, you know, the ones where you're trying to get someone's attention because they didn't notice you or are ignoring you.  One of the receptionists looked straight in my direction, made eye contact with me, and then looked away.  I looked into a mirror hanging on the wall and was perplexed when I didn't see myself.  It was that moment when I realized that I was invisible.
          I walked outside to the streets of the city.  I knew that with my new ability, I needed to fight for the forces of good, except, rather than fighting, I figured I could just scare and confuse criminals without actually using violence.  Across the street, I saw an elderly woman getting her purse stolen.  I walked up behind the man and grabbed the purse.  Never seeing a floating purse before, the man had no idea what to do and ran away screaming.  I handed the purse to the woman, who also ran away screaming.  I guess I really didn't think my plan through very well since she was also freaked out by her floating purse, but you can't win them all.   All day I helped people by scaring off criminals.  I went to sleep that night. When I woke up the next morning, I was ready to go help more people, but I was no longer invisible.

Tech Article 3/4: DNA App Store

A man named Justin Kao was driving in his car one day and on the radio, someone said that people are born with "sweet tooth" genes that make them crave sweets.  Kao was then inspired to make the Gene App Store. Users will pay $100 to look at their genes and see what diseases they are prone to and what traits they possess.  Right now, the company is waiting for FDA and Doctor approval.

Educational Technology and Copyright Law

From the article Educational Technology and Copyright Law, I learned that almost everything is copyrighted from the moment it is made.  Anyone can choose to use whatever was made as long as it is for nonprofit educational use.  The only time you need to get rights to something is if said something is licensed, in which case the maker has certain specifications that must be met in order for their product to be used.  So basically, anything that is your original idea is copyrighted, but not everything is licensed.

The Science Museum of London now has an exhibit devoted to real life models of Da Vinci's inventions.  The exhibit features 39 models that were built in Milan within the past 3 decades.  These models include the first diving suit and the first parachute, which actually worked when tested in 2000.  The parachute was tested from 7000 feet and worked better than some modern day parachutes.  The exhibit will be open from 10 February to 4 September 2016 with admission being $14.50.

Do Now 2/22/2016

I'm sure that by this point, all of us have read, or at least heard about, Apple's customer letter in regards to the FBI's request for a "backdoor" into their products.  The FBI's reasoning is that it would only be used to gather information on the recent San Bernardino attack.  The issue that Apple has with this request, which, in my opinion, is completely understandable, is that once the government has a way into the iPhones involved, there is no doubt that they will use that same method to get into others, even if they say they will only use it once.  The other problem with this request is that it increases hackers' chances of being able to get into Apple products.  Currently, according to Apple, this "backdoor" does not exist and they are not going to create it.  If they were to do as the FBI has asked, nothing would stop hackers from getting the information needed to hack into millions of Apple products worldwide.  Personally, I agree with Apple's actions.  Giving the FBI access to people's iPhones would not be a wise decision because it undoubtedly would lead to bigger problems down the road.