Post 01A

Exam season has started, and it couldn't have come at a better time.  Perhaps the last four months were filled with some sort of joy and happiness, but it can't be said that it was all fun and games.  For starters, the web course had seen a drastic change, and it went from a fun and helpful course, to a ridiculous and time consuming course that wasn't helpful at all.

That aside, academics is not the topic of this blog, so I'll digress.  as anyone seen the new YouTube layout?  It's been there for about two weeks, and the more I see it, the more annoyed I get.  YouTube has changed its layout more frequently lately, because Google believes they can make it better in the hopes that they can trump Facebook.  It started off as an innocent tweak, really.  I never looked at YouTube as if it's a social networking site at first.  I always looked at it like a video sharing site.  That's all changed now.

Because the norm of society is to always be in the know of what Johnny from down the street is doing at any given time, everything is taking the form of Twitter and Facebook.  People don't need to talk anymore, or share photos of their vacation to Cabot.  All they have to do is put it online so that everyone can see.  What I find most ridiculous is that people don't think they're loud enough in real life, so they need to broadcast what they're thinking to everyone and anyone in the form of Twitter.  It just seems like everyone has to know about you right now, in spite of where you are and what you're doing.  With the dawn of the smartphone, I think people have managed to take that concept and brought it literally everywhere and anywhere. 

Of course, it didn't end with just pictures and simple 140 character blurbs, so that's when Facebook makes an even greater assault.  Many people have Facebook accounts, and they're practically replacements to homepages and blogs.  Every now and then, people do something (i.e..upload a photo/video, visited some place, liked something, wrote something on someone else' wall) and that is now documented as an event.  It automatically is loaded up onto Mark Zuckerberg's networks and the whole world can see.  That's the last straw really.  People have wasted so much time to go on about how they're unique and individual, but here they are, putting their personal lives into the hands of Facebook and trying to grab attention.  If you're so unique and individual, why do you need to join in with other people who believe they're unique and individual by showcasing it on Facebook?

That's perhaps what's gotten into Windows Phone 7 and YouTube.  "Events" or anything, that is new, is now posted like a news feed.  That's why the new YouTube is so annoying.  It now lists everything, like a news feed in the similar fashion that Facebook is doing.  Windows Phone 7 has been even FOCUSING onto the fact that it was all about having your friends' events appear as a huge news feed.  While I understand that catching up with the times is necessary, can someone explain to me why following in the footsteps of Facebook is necessary?  It's precisely the same reason why a lot of the population does not like the new Windows Live Messenger.  This Facebook obsession has to stop.  If it can't even give people the freedom to enjoy their favourite webpages, then I think it's intruding into people's lives.  That alone, is crime worthy of punishment.

Post 019

Apple computer may be the most valuable IT company to date, but most of what it is today, actually narrows down to one man, Steve Jobs.

Steve Jobs was more than just a CEO.  He was an innovative man, who never really stopped moving forward.  Yes, ideas for a touchscreen phone wasn't new, an mp3 player whose real specialty was its large hard drive and the clickwheel can hardly be passed as amazing, but there was a thin layer of icing on these products that make the average consumer so amazed.

There always is this unspoken exclusivity whenever it came to an Apple product.  It's like an invisible ward whenever passing the Apple store in the mall, or walking by those black tables at your local big box electronic store.  Much like Steve Jobs, these were the vessels that carried these minimalistic, yet very mysterious devices.  The one thing that made Apple so outstanding was not because their products were usually more expensive than their competitors or because it was so much prettier, but because how well they worked.

In the last few years, Apple has been rolling out with updates, refreshes and even newer generations of each product within a 12-16 month product cycle.  It was a move to declare war against the conformists.  Conformists have now done everything they can, to stand still in time, as they continue to purchase machines that never got any better ever since 2002.  Apple aimed to win these conforming consumers over, by wowing them and showing them, that machines cannot stand still.  This moved in accordance to Moore's Law, and actually explains very well, how society defied it, and tried to stay still after the advent of Windows XP.  Everyone was finally able to get their hands on a computer without freaking out at the cryptic bits and pieces of Bill Gates' software because Windows XP worked.  Windows XP sat around for at least 4 years before Vista came about and was widely rejected.  People still clung on to Windows XP.  It was madness.  It was wrong.

Steve Jobs' greatest achievement was to really show these people that there was a better alternative.  The dawn of the Information Age has caused the speed at which things should be done to take a rapid increase.  So, with that, Apple started to get an upper hand on the war. 

Steve Jobs, being just as charismatic and just as innovative as the products he oversees, have finally won the people over.  Apple is no longer just an exclusive club waiting to die.  It was a growing party.  To drive the point home, Steve Jobs even presented himself, in a minimalistic form with the turtleneck and jeans, just to embody the spirit in which Apple will work.  Every machine ever since the iPod nano has been absolutely nothing short of phenomenal.  Did they have faults?  Of course.  The release of the iPhone in 2007 was often ignored because no one was ready for it.  The MacBook Air was too impractical.  That list can grow.

However, Apple did not stop.  They only made better and better machines, with improved battery life, better form factor, yearly OS tweaks.  It was amazing.  Apple is no longer that beige box in the corner of every late 90's elementary school classroom.  Apple is now, in everyone's pockets, purses, jackets, backpacks, labs...you name it.  For this, we salute you, Steve Jobs. 

Post 018

October 4th is a day that was perhaps slightly over-hyped in my world.  Part of me had wished for a change starting in the early morning.  I had gone to bed, thinking that I could make a difference.  I would step up and really let loose a volley of well-constructed phrases that not only explained to the prof of my web components course that despite my respecting him for that PhD title that he holds, I do not agree with his teaching methods.

I wanted to tell him that he was difficult to follow.  The fact that he runs to his laptop, to the whiteboard, scribbles some random note, and decides to pass it off as teaching irks me.  I want to point all these flaws out to him, but I find myself sitting back and just giving up.  While leaning back in my seat, I raise my feet so that my legs are parallel to the ground.  Using my arms I push onto the underside of the table behind me, and start stretching my shoulder muscles.  I started to stare blankly at the screen and realize, why this was a useless idea.  He hadn't listened two minutes ago when my fellow peers tried to explain that there are nonexistent classmates on their team list.

This is what perhaps causes the biggest pain for me, as I find that I do not seem to get the motivation to make something of my education when the educator doesn't seem to give me the support I'm looking for.  Strike 1.  I'm feeling that this is becoming a write-off day.

The high point of the day must be Chevy's demonstration at Yonge Dundas Square.  Having the chance to parallel park the Chevy Orlando, and test drive the much hyped Chevy Volt, I feel that I can only shake my head at the thought of new cars.  Most new cars have New Car Syndrome.  The steering racks are all now electric-assisted power steering.  There is no feel to the front wheels.  It's like turning a very loose circle, with no feel of how much force is fighting back from the road.  That's before I get to the windows.  New cars have large windows up front and ever shrinking windows till you reach the back, where you're lucky if the designer didn't decide to put a spoiler in the middle of your rear window, cutting down the already small window to something even smaller.  I should get used to looking out of a porthole, because that's what rear windows will look like in the future.

Then came the news from Cupertino.  For months, I had been preaching of the arrival of the iPhone 5.  I spoke of a larger screen, an 8MP camera, the A5 processor, faster speeds, a replacement touch button instead of the home button, and a slimmer design.  The A5 processor, 8MP camera and higher speed came into fruition by means of Moore's Law, but the rest was all gone.  Not only was there no iPhone 5, but there was an iPhone 4S.  It was lackluster.  It was boring, it was stupid, and it seemed recycled.  Apple had spent extra time to push this out, totally trumped our expectations of a summer launch just so they can have a presentation for a machine that clearly was sub-par by Apple's standards.

Perhaps graphics will be a change.  Maybe I can ask a question that can solve my problems.  I could finally solve my headache from last night.  Perhaps I was wrong.  Not only was it difficult to present my problem when there was nothing to explain my situation, I also couldn't get any pointers to solving the problem.  This was too much to handle.

I'm dubbing this disappointment day.  It's not so bad that it'd be considered a bad day.  However, it's so difficult to comprehend how so many things can just fall short of expectation on the same day.  October 4th : Disappointment Day.....*sigh*

Post 017

The first week of September is often dedicated to new beginnings.  New school year, new friends, new courses, new classes, new profs/teachers, new schoolbag, new notebooks, new pencils.....I'll let that list run on.  As it is the first week of school for most universities, ours doesn't fail at being a regular university. 

The best part is all the free stuff being offered, along with all the clubs and student groups opening up spots along Gould Street promoting their own group.  That is what really gets a year going, along with, a whole slew of other things, including losing your way to class.

I suppose a new term is always great as it usually starts on a Tuesday for Ryerson.  Last year, it started at 10 o'clock with a peculiar professor, who's three hours of lectures are barely bearable, despite being sometimes informative.  This year, most of the people have opted to take part in a course that starts at 8 am every Tuesday morning.  Past experience has gotten most of the class to expect a particular professor, known for relative ease in course material, and even greater ease with multiple choice tests and exams, followed by simple labs and even a fun final project.  Perhaps, that dream has made this particular course too much to look forward to, because this class did not happen in the end.  Our class went by with no prof at all, and thus began the new school year.

Perhaps when people say that a new school year should always be marked with something to look forward to, I am pretty certain that they did not mean this at all.  Although, to be honest, it's not worth looking forward to, considering there really is no gain to it.  After all, having waken up at such an early hour just to know that we were down there for no reason is not entirely ideal.

What DID confuse me quite a bit though...was how accessibility has become so important, that while there were people performing on stage, singing/rapping songs...there was a person..signing the songs out.  That is a job that I won't want.  Doing sign language to rap songs....such a difficult thing to do.  What if there was explicit content?

However your first week went, let's hope it was a good week all in all.  Cause when the prof who missed our class finally DID show up to teach us, he completely messed up the course outline.  New profs....always fun to have...always confusing to go through as well.

Post 016

It's been a little less than two weeks since the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) have brought in the newest subway car, also known as the Toronto Rocket. Amazingly, today is also the first time I got to give the new train a try. Obviously, this is a momentous occasion, as this was a very high profile car, having been talked about for a long time as to it's launch. There have been speculations as to when the launch will take place, and what new features it may or may not have. So far, all these new expected features have been met. It is by far, one of the best machines the TTC owns, and frankly, it has lived up to its hype.

I'm not exactly a perfectionist in many standards. I actually cock about and give leeway to a lot of things mainly due to the fact that I'm particularly lazy. However, there are a few things that I cannot overlook, and that just might be related to why this train has also managed to be characteristically "TTC".

This train is eerily quiet. The previous T1 is forgivable in terms of noise. Aside from the slight whine the motor produces during acceleration, and a similar whine from the regenerative braking during deceleration, the T1 can be considered quiet. The Toronto Rocket has managed to trump this.

The outgoing H6 (which the Toronto Rocket replaces) is perhaps anything but quiet. There was an annoying buzz from the motor during acceleration and deceleration. It was high pitched, nasally, and furthermore, very long winded. To add to the misery of being cramped in the yellow-ish box of the H6, was the occasional generator noise, which, produces noise...but never really seems to generate anything useful to the cabin. The new Toronto Rocket has none of these problems. Gone, is the obnoxious motor whine, the ridiculous generator noises, the announcer voice that sounds like an overbearing government worker, and gone too is the ridiculous doors between subway cars that never really served any purpose.

The knocking down of the door between cars has opened up the cabin, making it seemingly more crowded, but much more open. The Toronto Rocket is by far the best lit of all the subway trains, due partially to the lighting scheme and colour choices, but also because of the brushed steel doors. It makes the outgoing H6 seem even more like a prison cell. The H6 had yellow doors, beige (possibly due to discolouration because of its ridiculous age) walls, and...to add salt to the wound....orange lighting. Couple that ridiculous appearance with an air conditioning system that doesn't work, and causes the entire cabin to smell like a dirty rag, is precisely the reason why the Toronto Rocket couldn't have gotten here any later.

That is only the inside. The outside, is an amazingly futuristic look, the brushed steel, the amazing presence, all free of the ridiculous rivets from the body panels, and free of the inexplicable smearing of red paint that exists on some H6 cars. It is a new car like this, that reminds us Torontonians that we have been traveling in cars that even by 1960s standards, would be considered as jail.

Unfortunately, this is where the bad comes in. The good, we all know about very well : the inter-car passage, the interactive display, the TV monitors, the hypo-germ seats, the security cameras, the wider doors, the quietness, and the futuristic look of it..etc.etc. However, the bad is also just as prominent, and that is precisely why I'm slightly bewildered.

First of all, the eerily quiet cabin has been ruined by the genius who forgot to grease the handlebars. The handlebars came with grip handles, which squeaked throughout the entire journey. The unfortunate part was that the problem was not localized to one grip handle, but to ALL of the grip handles. A ride from downtown Toronto up to Finch is bound to drive someone insane.

Then there's the issue with the air conditioning. Of course, it's miles ahead of the H6's air conditioning, which is comparable to being fanned by a motorized chopstick, as it made noise, and that's it. The Rocket's air conditioning was weak, and it was the sudden moment when the doors were opened did the sudden change in pressure cause the air con to suddenly spit with an extra morsel of coolness. Which brings me to question the usefulness of the overhanging boxes which house the air conditioning units and the information display screen. These boxes sit dead in the centre of the cabin, and they stretch for about 4-5 meters in the cabins, and run in various areas within the long car. It is a virtually impossible spot for tall people to stand, which is unfortunate.

Which relates to this next point : the information screens that are housed in those boxes. They do a great job of informing people of the next station, and which door will open. Unfortunately, this was never designed with blind people in mind, so a blind person will never be able to figure out which door to walk in and out of. The TTC must believe that you are not allowed to be blind to use their subway trains.

The last major complaint is the validity of the tiny 13" monitors. They are so tiny, that they are barely noticeable. They sit on only one side of the cabin, and convey very little information. Sparsely spaced, and filled with the same rubbish information as the subway safety announcements. I'm being unfair with that statement, because there is something even worse than the subway safety announcements, and it comes in the form of : "The Toronto Rocket is jointly funded by the government of Canada, the province of Ontario and the city of Toronto". Hold on a second. They are jointly funded according to the books, yes, but that is still tax payer money that has been kept in the government's reserves for too long. Torontonians have been stuck using ancient technology for 20+ years, and the TTC wants its riders to believe that this overhaul was a blessing and not an owing? I find that hard to accept.

However, I do digress from all of these negative comments, just enough to say this : the new cars really are amazing. Not only are they absolutely fantastic, but they are also worth every penny spent. Let's hope the other cars arrive soon, and no matter what happens, no idiot decides to sully these brand spanking new cars.

Post 015

The 21st post is dedicated to the newest and hottest in the electronics industry : E3 and WWDC. Sad I don't have anything to update in ages...

Let's start with Apple. Every single year, at approximately this time, we wait intently for the new iPhone. No....they can't do that this year, they just released the white iPhone 4. Gotta say...black iPhone 4 is still prettier.

Apple has made a big fuss of making your experience with your iOS device unbelievable. They have been amazing in terms of the little things. It's with time, that you realize how much an Apple product had made a perfect choice in design (unless you own an Apple product and love it already, then any subsequent release will have you saying : wow...nice move). Apple's latest updates are actually nothing short of spectacular. The details, are not worth going over...why have me talk about it when the entire world has coverage on it already. So....start here, then search it up on google if you're still interested.
It's very strange though..Apple has this obsession with saying "10 key features" throughout the entire keynote. Maybe it's a time thing...but I guess it makes sense to talk about 5% of all your new features to keep people on the hook.

E3, has some nice new releases, with Microsoft announcing new Kinect games, especially Forza 4, the new Tom Clancy game and their new Kinect Fun Lab...but what I must say is, Kinect was never really Project Natale. Project Natale debuted at E3 about 2 years ago, and without a doubt, it was amazing back then. Today, it is amazing for what it is, but unfortunately, it never really lived up to it's hype. Perhaps, it was a financial decision that changed the way Kinect is, but without a doubt, fans were slightly disappointed. Let's hope this changes things.

Sony debuted their latest PSP successor, called the Vita. *shrugs*

Now, here's the really amazing part about this time of year, is because we're all really anxious because we're dying for some excitement throughout these summer months. However, that's the sad part. We are so hyped and anxious right now, that by the time these products do come out, we'll be on edge and itching to buy one. We've been talking about it all summer, that by the time these products come out, we'll be so high strung. The worse part is, we're not alone, so by the time you are in the store trying to get your hands on one, you'll end up having to have to fight about 30 other hardcore fans, only to realize, it was sold out about 2 hrs ago, because the first batch sold out that quickly. Of course, unless you're one of those people who line up at midnight, in which case, well....I don't even know what to say considering I've never done that, so I'll have no words of comfort to offer.

Happy waiting!

Post 014

The term is nearing an end, and for most computer science students, this means crunch time.  The trend for this crunch is strangely...videos.  One particular one that caught my eye was done for CPS 621 - Intro to Multimedia.  The class was asked to make videos that promoted Computer science.  The topic isn't entirely broad, and there really isn't much room to make something entertaining, but this group have managed to take the cake.

 

What is most amazing though, is that despite all this uprising in amounts of videos computer science students are making, is the fact that they really are on par with some of the RTA (Radio Television Arts) productions.  Not all videos are perfect, but in many situations, it is safe to say, software really has made a huge leap forward, considering anyone and everyone can really make good videos.

As a little bit of a helping hand, I'll outline a few simple things to making a good video.

1.) Random actors - It's great to follow a guy with a camera and do everything with him being in the story, but throwing in a random person every now and then can really make it interesting.

2.) Don't overuse the preset video transitions - Go watch your favourite sports show.  Aside from the default screen wipe that displays the name of the station, you've never seen anyone use blinds, or star wipes, or any other corny-looking video transition.  In fact, cut shots are your best friend.  A fast paced video uses very few transitions.

3.) Simple shots - Modern cameras also have a video recording function, and in many cases, they also have a lot of very fun memory features, like the use of SD cards, flash memory, etc..etc.  They are easy to import into video editors, and easy to play with.  With short and simple shots, there isn't much of a need to make any changes.

4.) Always save - very self explanatory.

5.) Keep all your recorded video - unless necessary, don't delete any raw footage.  You never know when you need it.

Anyway, 5 simple tips...good luck, have fun, and remember...don't take vids of people who don't want to be in it..because they can beat up you.....I think