Walk Like Spiderman?

"Scientists Figure Out How To Scale Walls Like Spiderman"
By: Kerry Flynn
The Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/21/gecko-inspired-gloves_n_6191728.html?utm_hp_ref=technology

Spiderman fans will be excited to hear that scientists have figured out how to scale walls like spiderman. A group of researchers have been working to try to find a way to have human beings walk on walls just as spiderman did. These researchers are from Stanford have developed a way to scale glass walls using pads attached to the person's hands. "The team is part of Stanford’s Biomimetics and Dexterous Manipulation Laboratory, a research group that previously created vertically climbing robots. The inspiration behind the design was not actually Spider-Man, but the gecko, which is able to climb up a variety of surfaces using what are known as van der Waals forces" (Flynn,1). This team has created hexagon shaped pads that are about the size of ping pong paddles in order to replicate these electric forces. Then they covered them in tiny tiles made from a silicon material found in water repellant coatings. "Elliot Hawkes, the engineering graduate student who took the climb, said the sensation felt more like climbing with hooks than sticky tape. The adhesive tiles are able to attach and detach in just seconds. The speed of movement is limited by the climber's posture, not the adhesives, and researchers said they see potential in further optimizing the system" (Flynn,1). Mark Cutkosky says the intent of this is not to climb, though he has been approached by a rock climbing entrepreneur who is interesting in the project.

"For now, the team is more interested in the technology's potential ability to move large pieces of glass without much energy and without leaving residue. It's also collaborating with NASA to create adhesive-equipped robots for capturing space debris." (Flynn,1). This is a new step for technology. 

Loud Silence

I am sitting on this plastic chair in my backyard and all I have next to me is a piece of paper and a pen. I have never tried this before, so let's see how it goes. As the minutes and seconds pass by the sky is becoming darker and darker, as the sun is being swallowed and the moon is shining above. I have never experienced a quiet that is so loud. The soft breeze sways the trees leaves and branches back and forth. I feel a sudden peace as I look above and focus on only what I see. I block out any sounds I hear and keep my eyes glued to the sky. The stars begin to appear and as I stare longer more and more stars are shown. Suddenly I am distracted by the sounds of laughing children next door and then to the sound of the airplane flying above. The sounds are so sensitive to my ears. As the wind blows a little stronger, I feel a sudden chill that runs up and down my body. I close my eyes and try to only hear. The sounds of barking dogs and the sound of the wind gets higher and higher. Nature really is a beautiful thing, that we should be taking advantage of. The wind is now carrying leaves across the floor. It is starting to become darker and darker and the sun is no longer shining in the sky. I can barely see my paper anymore, the three lights that were eluminating my paper are not strong enough for me to see. All I can hear are crickets and the wind. I start to smell the food my mom is cooking inside, I can not make out what she is cooking but the smell is strong.  Other than the crickets, it is extremely quiet now. This quiet is loud and obnoxious but there is something addicting and peaceful about it. Sitting outside in the dark made me stress free. I am not worried, nor am I thinking about anything. The only things I am focusing on are my senses and it is the most peaceful I have felt. The loud silence was beautiful. Nature is a beautiful thing that we take for granted.

Twitter Against Harassment Towards Women

"Twitter Teams with Advocacy Group to Fight Harassment Against Women"
By: Damon Beres
Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/07/twitter-harassment-women_n_6122500.html?ir=Technology

Twitter has officially teamed up with an women's rights advocacy group in order to fight or stop gender harassment on social media. They have created a new tool which just got launched on Thursday. This tool allows victims to report harassment and allows them to report on behalf of others. The victim of harassment can describe their situation in detail. They can include the date the harassment started, if they are fearing for their personal safety or the type of abuse experienced. These details are then submitted to Women, Action and Media or (WAM!). This is a nonprofit that has been working for gender justice in social media since 2004. After this information is submitted to WAM, they work to find a resolution and then send it back to Twitter. "The joint effort follows months of heated discussion under the #GamerGate hashtag on Twitter that frequently resulted in abuse toward women -- sometimes so specific and violent that it drove victims into hiding out of concern for their personal safety" (Beres,1). This tool is represented on WAM, rather than Twitter itself. A representative form Twitter said this is the one of many ways they are trying to work against abuse.  Twitter still provides the option for users to report the form of harassment they are experiencing, but it does not provide all the options WAM does. "Though WAM! says it will bring reports of abuse to Twitter, the primary focus seems to be on data collection. According to the group's press release, information collected by the tool will ultimately inform how Twitter deals with harassment of women in the future" (Beres,1). This is a new step to help raise awareness and reach out to women who feel harassed.

Twitter Fights Harassment Against Women

"Twitter Teams with Advocacy Group to Fight Harassment Against Women"
By: Damon Beres
The Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/07/twitter-harassment-women_n_6122500.html?ir=Technology

Twitter has officially teamed up with an women's rights advocacy group in order to fight or stop gender harassment on social media. They have created a new tool which just got launched on Thursday. This tool allows victims to report harassment and allows them to report on behalf of others. The victim of harassment can describe their situation in detail. They can include the date the harassment started, if they are fearing for their personal safety or the type of abuse experienced. These details are then submitted to Women, Action and Media or (WAM!). This is a nonprofit that has been working for gender justice in social media since 2004. After this information is submitted to WAM, they work to find a resolution and then send it back to Twitter. "The joint effort follows months of heated discussion under the #GamerGate hashtag on Twitter that frequently resulted in abuse toward women -- sometimes so specific and violent that it drove victims into hiding out of concern for their personal safety" (Beres,1). This tool is represented on WAM, rather than Twitter itself. A representative form Twitter said this is the one of many ways they are trying to work against abuse.  Twitter still provides the option for users to report the form of harassment they are experiencing, but it does not provide all the options WAM does. "Though WAM! says it will bring reports of abuse to Twitter, the primary focus seems to be on data collection. According to the group's press release, information collected by the tool will ultimately inform how Twitter deals with harassment of women in the future" (Beres,1). This is a new step to help raise awareness and reach out to women who feel harassed.

New Generations

When my parents attended school a while back, the technological advances we have today did not exist. There were no computers, no phones, no nooks or kindles. It was a completely different lifestyle than what we live in today. My parents always tell me how they did not have Google to look up answers or solutions to questions. They had to go to libraries and find books on their subjects to solve their questions and do research. When my parents tell me these stories, I usually laugh because they make it seem as though they lived in an ancient time period. But I realized that once I graduate and have children in the future, I will probably be saying almost the same stories to my own children. As generations pass, technology is advancing more and more. Right now I always think to myself, how much more advanced can the world get? But I know for a fact that as the years progress, technology will also. High schools will be following a new form of tradition after years pass. Technology controls everything. Soon enough, students will only need laptops for school and no longer be needing a backpack or textbooks. Students will most probably be interacting with teachers online rather than face to face. Hopefully students will continue reading all the old classical novels, however this may not happen. I feel that as the years pass, the classical novel's significance will lower and schools will no longer require them for students. These technological advances are taking away the full high school experience, but I assume after a while it becomes a normal lifestyle. The future high school students will definitely not have the same experience as we did, just like we did not have the same experience as our parents did.

New Fitness Tracking Device

"Microsoft's New Fitness Tracking Device Is a Welcome Surprise"
By: Molly Wood
NY Times
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/microsofts-new-fitness-tracking-device-is-a-welcome-surprise/?ref=technology&_r=0

Just last week Microsoft has introduced a brand new fitness tracking wristband. It also includes an app and cloud-computing technology for tracking health and fitness data. This band costs at $199 and it may be the most flexible wearable device on the market right now. This device includes useful smartphone notifications for calls, text messages, emails and calendar items. It also includes fitness tracking that has constant heart rate monitoring. All of these features are rare in different fitness bands. If this fitness band is paired with a Windows Phone the user will be open to a few more features. "You would be hard pressed to find a wearable that does as many things as the Microsoft Band and that also works across platforms. The Pebble Smartwatch works on iOS and Android, but does not include the advanced fitness features of the Microsoft Band. The Jawbone Up and Fitbit Flex have apps on iPhone and Android, but do not do smart watch-style notifications"(Wood,1). This new fitness band can sync with apps like RunKeeper and MyFitnessPal and also has built in work outs from different sources. You can only have one work out on the band at a time and it is a little hard to navigate. This band's battery life is good, especially compared to other smart watches.  "Microsoft tends toward blocky industrial design and this device is no different. It’s a thick, black rubber band with a basically uncurved display grafted on. A power button is in the middle of the band, while an “action” button is on the right side of the display. It comes in three sizes — small, medium and large" (Wood,1).  The band still needs some work done to it, but it seems like it is going to become a big deal.