Synthesis Blog Post

By: Matthew Manross, Guozhuoyan Zhang, Chen Dai

The field of computer science has very many misconceptions about the work they do. Computer science majors do not fix your computer when it does not work. But what is computer science exactly? According to the University of Maryland, “Computer Science is the study of computers and computational systems. Unlike electrical and computer engineers, computer scientists deal mostly with software and software systems; this includes their theory, design, development, and application”. Computer science majors create and design software that the hardware runs. Software is the part of the computer that is not physical, but rather a program. These programs are made from coding in which the hardware will read and run the program, creating games, social media sites, and even websites. The field of computer science is undervalued to most people who do not realize how important this major actually is.

The field of computer science is engineering. Just like an engineer, computer science majors must master science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM for short. These four categories are what engineers use everyday to help them solve problems.

For computer science major, they focus on the software field, and they may know less on the hardware, since hardware is a tool for them to develop or program a new world. The relationship is a little bit complex, but to simplify the relationship will the same as the writer and pen maker, the writer may know few thing about pen, but they know so much on writing.

Science The purpose of science is to explore the principle of things and to solve specific problems. The implementation of information and calculation in computer systems is the main goal for this part.	Technology The computer science field works with the newest technology everyday. They program technology with any software involved.
Engineering Computer science majors must work together to create different programs.	Mathematics Programming requires math skills to complete algorithms and formulas.

As technology becomes more advanced, our everyday lives become more affected by computer science. Many things people use everyday are created by computer science majors. For example, applications are one of the many things computer science majors work on. Some common applications that people use every day are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and even Clash of Clans. Some of the more important applications that computer science majors develop are Microsoft Excel, Word, and Publisher. These applications are commonly used in almost every major out there. Without computer science majors, people would not have their favorite social media site, or their favorite game to play on their iPhone.

Dijkstra said that computer science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. Comparing with computer engineering, computer science emphasis more on calculation principle and implementation method. Science in computer field is always be partial to software engineering. From the occupation’s point of view, people who have learned CS would have the target position to Microsoft, Google and so on. However, CE and EE students would like to be a staff of Intel, AMD, etc. While considering about the deliverables from two different fields, CS would put all sorts of computing together but EE people enjoy all sorts of chips. Mathematics is the tool of abstract syntax notation and it will give help to solving problems. While writing with complicated algorithm, the basis of calculation and theory of math becomes important. For instance, data mining is mostly relying on mathematics though it would not be the main part during the process of development at ordinary times. A more practical example is that over half of the Turing Awards winners have the solid background on mathematics.

Required Skills

Environment【IDE（Idea/Eclipse, Maven, jenkins, Nexus, Jetty, Shell, Host）, Source Code Management (SVN/Git) , WEB server (nginx, tomcat, Resin)】

Environment setting up is a basic skill for all programmers but it is more helpful while software engineer set up a comfortable tools before starting job in a new environment.

Basis【Http, REST, cross-domain, Syntaxes, Web socket, date base, computer network, operating systems, algorithms, data structure】

If another process changes the underlying data without going through the cache, that might cause a problem. Not only establishing underlying data is important but also maintaining it with high performances.

Frame【Spring, AOP, Quartz, Json TagLib, tiles, activeMQ, memcache, redis, mybatis, log4j, junit】

Frame is going to influence the efficiency while coding. It is also the core of the layout application. Each developer uses frame positioning in order to change the size of the UI View and CA Layer.

Operation【financial, education, medical, automotive, real estate】

The direction of operation is significant and it may leads different kinds of style while operating.

Third Parties【Payment, Instant Messaging, maps, voice, video, images】

This skill is related to third parties’ application development. Apps can integrate various functions in them. Including media, payment and so on. The good affiliation between them would give comfortable user experience.

In general, increasing the depth is more difficult than increasing width on specific field. In breadth, as long as you can keep the interest, person will keep learning all kinds of primer. In terms of software development, it might be learning more languages, some of the framework, a variety of different category, and so on. Due to the entry level, the information about them is usually rich. Also it won't have a lot of barriers to entry.

But the depth in technology is different, person may need to know materials which is out of some own cognition or knowledge. And it requires to read books and documents in order to understand the latest progress. Simpler issue is to apply some off-the-shelf technology selection, combinations, and the ideal is to make a breakthrough beyond the level of the industry. In the process, it is likely to be stalled because of the insufficient foundation, such as some documents used in some mathematical or other theories, they also need the supplement of relevant knowledge.

Image Credit:

"Science Vectors, Photos and PSD Files | Free Download." Freepik. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.

"St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Secondary School." St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Secondary School. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.

"Engineering Student Centre (ESC)." Engineering. 2014. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.

"Is Mathematics Important in Healthcare?" Distance Learning Systems INC. 2014. Web. 06 Apr. 2016

Credit:

"What Is Computer Science?" What Is Computer Science? University of Maryland. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.

prompt 5: Observing Community

Chen Dai

This posted is related to the organization to campus organization. So here is a fantastic organization for this post, which is EGR100 teams. My major is computer engineering, and EGR is the course for engineering. 

This course is really funny, in here we gain enough basic knowledge and skill for the future project that we will need to finish, in another words this is the basic class for all engineering.

With EGR course, all the team member getting stronger, since almost everything is team work. And students in here will learn how important that friendship and group is.

Cite:http://www.pearsonmylabandmastering.com/northamerica/myengineeringlab/

Luminous Studio

Guozhuoyan Zhang

Luminous Studio is the next generation game engine which is developed by Square Enix. It is designed for multi-platform and DirectX 12.

The basis of Luminous Studio was partly coming from YEBIS 2 engine and compatible with most of the platforms. However, it differs from Unreal Engine 4 and Cry Engine 3 that it is developed and implemented within the independent research.

In 2011, Square Enix has released its first tech demo of luminous studio, which was an underground garage video rendering. The light feeling in this tech demo was closely to the reality even it was only in the process of early development.

In 2012, a real-time rendering demonstration demo named Agni's Philosophy was published in E3. The tech demo focused on demonstrating the main character and environment. The details of the character were surprising with vivid skin and hairs. The overall effectiveness was going to compare favourably with the pre render CG. The tech demo was using tessellation technology which can realize the high-level model effect in art designing environment in order to produce huge amount of polygons with less performant hardware. The total quantity of polygons in the scene of Agni's Philosophy reached to the level of next generation engine.

In April 2015, Square Enix announced that the engine will support DirectX 12, and Nvidia revealed a new real-time tech demo developed by Square Enix for the engine, called Witch Chapter 0 [cry], featuring the character Agni from the earlier Agni's Philosophy demo.The demo renders over 63 million polygons per frame, uses "8K by 8K" resolution textures, and her hair is rendered with over 50 shaders, with each strand of hair rendered as a polygon. It also portrays human crying with a high level of detail, and the quality of the real-time graphics have been compared to pre-rendered CGI animation. The tech demo took a year to produce, and was running on a PC with four GeForce GTX Titan X graphics cards.

Luminous Studio has greatly improved the research and development level of Square Enix. The engine itself has produced benign radiation effects on the other prodects of SE. In fact, FinalFantasy XIV has taken the lead in using the lighting technology during the process of A Realm Reborn.


Work Cited:

 "Square Enix Luminous Studio Demonstration - Games." IA Magazine ICal. 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2016. 

 "Remember That Gorgeous Luminous Engine Tech Demo? It Now Utilizes DirectX 12." VG247 Remember That Gorgeous Luminous Engine Tech Demo It Now Utilizes DirectX 12 Comments. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

 "Luminous Studio." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

 "Final Fantasy XV Lumnious Engine Animation Tech." NeoGAF. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

Prompt #4: Contemplating Controversy

Guozhuoyan Zhang

After AlphaGo defeated the Korean player Lee Sedol in Go, the general public raised the concerns about the threatening of the artificial intelligence to humanity.

In the current chess game, Go could be the most talented completion. There are 19 verticals, horizons and 391 points of intersection. With black and white Go pieces, it will evolve billions of variations across the Go board. It is important for humans to remember numerous Go manuals and calculate Go pieces’ mesh number in order to improve the Go level. The intuition of Go board and the judgment of the opponent are also necessary for a professional Go player.

It is not an easy thing for artificial intelligence to play Go well. At the early stage of the development of a Go artificial intelligence, an experienced players could defeat the computer easily. The AI of Go at that time was unable to conquer this Go board in computing capacity and optimization algorithm. Nowadays, after the development of the computer operation ability and deep learning ability, artificial intelligence launched the assault to human Go championship.

Both side were playing a good game. And 4:1 is the final score of AlphaGo and Lee Sedol. Many people said that the machine has defeated human brains. Be vigilant to the artificial intelligence is the hot topic at that time. However, the program of AlphaGo is definitely the quintessence of human wisdom. Even AlphaGo defeated the human championship, it is also the victory of human intelligence’ self-transcendence.

The biggest advantage of the human intelligence is the ability of thinking and innovating. Those abilities are never having the critical explanations for them by any known science reports. The artificial intelligence is hard to represent the process of human thinking and innovating. Independent thinking and self-improvement are impossible for AI to realize.

Work Cited:

"The Artificial Intelligence Revolution: Part 1 - Wait But Why." Wait But Why. 2015. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

"The Artificial Intelligence Revolution: Part 2 - Wait But Why." Wait But Why. 2015. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

"What AlphaGo's Win Means for Your Job." Fortune What AlphaGos Win Means for Your Job Comments. 2016. Web. 11 Apr. 2016.

760 MPH Trains

By: Matthew Manross

Trains are nothing special today. They have been around for a while with little change. But what about a train that goes faster than an airplane?

The company SpaceX is designing a train that is capable of going 760 miles per hour. A typical commercial airplane goes at speeds around 550 mph. This train system is called Hyperloop. This train system would most likely be built underground. This system would be a tube in which the train is powered by either high powered fans or by using electromagnetic suspension.  The train would ideally use solar panels to power the system.

You may ask whats the use of these trains if we already have airplanes. But there are many benefits to the train over an airplane. First off, the train is safer option of transportation over an airplane. The cost of riding the train would also be much lower than an airplane. Another benefit of this train is the immunity to weather. Air transportation depends highly on the weather, and flights are cancelled all the time. This train is much more resistant to weather, as it will be capable of going through snow and rain.

There are still many problems that this train faces before being a reality. Probably the biggest problem as of now is funding. The companies looking into this train are struggling with money to test and continue developing the train. To introduce this on a wide scale would require billions of dollars. it would be like america recreating all train tracks over again. The question we must ask is "is it worth it?".

Works Cited:

Hyperloop." SpaceX. 12 Aug. 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

Artificial Gills

By: Matthew Manross

Im sure we've all tried to hold our breath underwater for as long as we could, or always wanted to be able to breathe underwater. You can go scuba diving right now, but you have to carry heavy equipment and resurface to fill up on air. This year, a device is coming out that will allow you to do just that! This device is no bigger than a snorkel, but will let you go underwater and breathe!

The devices name is Triton. Its a small device that is put on your mouth. It converts the oxygen from the water into breathable air for us. This device does this by a micro compressor that extracts oxygen from the water and stores it into tanks. There are tiny holes smaller than water molecules that separates the oxygen from the water. It is powered by a powerful lithium-ion battery. The device is approximately a foot long and 5 inches wide. You simply bite down on the mouth piece and breathe normally.

Unfortunately this device does have many flaws. The first flaw is the amount of time this device lasts for. As of today, the device only has a battery life of 45 minutes. This is obviously a big downside on the device. This device also will only work for a maximum depth of 15 feet underwater. This puts a huge limit on the usability of this device. Any expedition that goes below 15 feet would not work with this device.


Works Cited:

"Click Here to Support Triton, World's First Artificial Gills Re-breather." Indiegogo. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.

Breathalyzer cars

By: Matthew Manross

We all know that drunk driving is a huge problem in the United States. We've all been told that drinking and driving is bad, but people still continue to drive drunk. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, "Every two minutes, a person is injured in a drunk driving crash". In 2014, 9,967 people died in drunk driving related crashes. But what if there was a device that would not start the car if the persons blood alcohol content (BAC) is too high?

Today there are some devices that can already do this. This device is called a ignition interlock device or IID for short. The IID will force the driver to take a breathalyzer test before starting the car. If the person fails the test, the car will not start. Of course there is many problems with this device. If the device breaks, the car will not start. This also requires time, and for people who are in a rush to get somewhere, time is important.

However, as technology advances, more efficient ways of determining a BAC) are being created. For example, a steering wheel is being developed that can determine a persons BAC just by touching the steering wheel. This would stop the car from turning on if it detects a dangerous level. This method would be way more efficient than having to breathe into a breathalyzer before starting your car.


Works Cited

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. “Traffic Safety Facts 2014: Alcohol-Impaired Driving.” Washington DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2016. 

"MADD - Drunk Driving Statistics." MADD - Drunk Driving Statistics. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.

"Congresswoman Proposes A Breathalyzer Be Placed On Every New Car." The Mental Recession. 2015. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.

Wireless Charging

Chen Dai

Wireless Charging, as it said, it means charging without wire. That is a new technology that we should be used in few years later, or we can use it now. Nowadays, many company add this function to their cellphone, just like Samsung.

So many people still getting hard with charging, because we cannot leave the charging position, because it is wired. And sometime we sill getting confuse about which line connect to each charger. But since we have the technology of wireless charging, it getting much better than before, which means we can move our cellphone as we want, and no worry about the line. That is for the home position. For more, which is public, we may having public charging. Just stand in some area, then we can charge our cellphone or other electric devices. Sounds cool?

Just like this photo, it is easy about how it work, just connect to the charger and then it will split the energy to our cellphone, just like Wifi, but much stronger. Hope we can use this tech as soon as possible. It is really convinences.

Cite:

1.http://powerbyproxi.com/wireless-charging/

2.http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/cell-phones-accessories/EP-PN920TWEGUS

3.http://www.geek.com/apple/apple-could-add-long-range-wireless-charging-to-phones-in-2017-1645971/

3D Printing

By: Matthew Manross

Im sure most of us have heard of 3D printing. Although these printers seem new, the first one was created 30 years ago. The first 3D printer was actually created in 1983 by Charles Hull. In the recent years however, they have become increasingly popular. But what exactly can these amazing machines do today and in future?

These 3D printers today are too expensive for the average person to have own, usually costing around 500$ for a personal printer. The 3D printer today also is not very useful for the average person. The main uses for the printer today are designing prototypes for companies. People today are able to create parts that broke or are damaged, such as toys or furniture.

What could the future for the printers hold? First off, we are very far away from the machines becoming a everyday household item. The fact is, these machines are too expensive right now for everyday use. However, as technology advances, this capabilities and availability of the 3D printer will also. There are endless possibilities that lie ahead for 3D printing. Some examples include 3D printed organs, Prosthetics, or even 3D printed food.

Works Cited

"You Can Now See the First Ever 3D Printer — Invented by Chuck Hull — In the National Inventors Hall of Fame." 3DPrintcom. 2015. Web. 21 Mar. 2016.

The Failure of Digital Games

Guozhuoyan Zhang

Microsoft has released a series of policies in order to generalize the full digitalization of games in 2013. The core regulation was the 24 Hour Check-In DRM policy. Microsoft required that every XBOX ONE console needed to be registered by the internet check and it would be blocked if it has not connected with the internet in every 24 hours.

The reason behind this shockable policy is sufficient. It is more difficult to crack physical games and DLCs content because of physical and sophisticated anti-piracy operation. However, once the s
ystem of console was cracked, any digital games in this system would become available. Most importantly, if the system bottom frame was cracked, any updates on the system could be replaced by the crackers and Microsoft would lose any control on this console.

With the 24 Hour Check-In DRM policy, there were lots of specific policies were released at
that time. Like the second-hand transactions of games are seriously limited. They were only allowed to trade for once and both side of this transaction should keep the friends relationship over 30 days before they are trading.

Those policies has rubbed many people of different fields in the world. But Microsoft spoke for itself with a tough attitude. One of an Xbox Chief claimed that if you can't get online, don't buy an Xbox One.

Some of the advantages that you get, of having, a box that is designed to use an online state, so, that, uh, to me is the future-proof choice, and I think people, could've arguably gone the other way if we didn't do it and fortunately we have a product for people who aren't able to get some form of connectivity, it's called Xbox 360.

if you have zero or unreliable access to the internet, that is an offline device, I mean, seriously, when I read the blogs, and thought about who's really the most impacted, there was a person who said 'hey, I'm on a nuclear sub,' and I don't even know what it means to be on a nuclear sub but I've gotta imagine it's not easy to get an internet connection.

Sony has released its evaluation in a statement that the PS4 will play used games without any restrictions or authentication. PS4 owners will not have to connect to the internet in orde
r to continue playing games.

Then the Microsoft management summit felt that a disaster is imminent. Don Mattrick was the President of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. Generalizing the full digitalization of games is mostly his proposal. However, Don Mattrick had to leave Microsoft and his successor reversed all of the digital policies and learned from Sony.

It’s too late to mend. This storm of digital games and high price of XBOX ONE leaded to the failure of the gaming market in USA. Over 10-year elaboration of Microsoft XBOX has be wiped out in a day.

Work Cited:
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/06/psused.jpg
http://media.gizmodo.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/xbox-one-360.jpg
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/bTAKSBvuT-A/maxresdefault.jpg

"Gamers Without Internet Can Stick With Xbox 360, Says Microsoft". IGN.
"Your Feedback Matters – Update on Xbox One". xbox.com.
"E3 Expo 2009: Don Mattrick". microsoft.com. Microsoft.

Glo Pillow

Chen Dai


Glo Pillow is a pillow with the function of alarm. But different to alarm, it have the ability to wake people up in a soft way.

Nowadays, people is busy with their life, so they need a actual time to wake themselves up. The easiest way is set a alarm. It is efficiency but it is kindly bad. We all know how terrible to waked by a alarm. People's mind will be unstable and easily to be angry. People will be so tired by the method that normal alarm.

The Glo Pillow will be different. It will active with out the noise. And the way that glo pillow wake up people is light. It have the function of turning up the light same as sunlight. While sunlight shinning to people's eye, the sleeper will be wake up by the function of human body. So it kindly easy to release the pressure from the alarm and it will help people to have a great time.

And the waking of sunlight is soft, not same as the strong light come to people's eyes, it have the function to turn on light 45 min before, and the beginning of light is weak. It will be stronger in


the next 45 min. So it will be so soft to wake up.

But same as the alarm it need power so USB will be the tool the user will need, it will be so conveniences. 













Cite:
1.http://technabob.com/blog/2008/04/23/led-pillow-clock-wakes-with-light-not-sound/
2.http://inventorspot.com/articles/the_glo_pillow_an_alarm_clock_thats_not_annoying_14573

Digital Games

Guozhuoyan Zhang

While the previous games were selling, the retailers could take a share of the profit and the console manufacturers would also charge tax for 17% from them. It is clear that there will be very little profit left for publishers and developers. Even like Electronic Arts is taking responsibility for developing and publishing, it can only take 40% from the retail price.

However, digital games are totally different. There will be much more profit for developers after paying the platform tax and service charge (for the console manufacturers). That is why Steam can charge platform tax for 30% above. Nevertheless, developers could also gain more money from it while comparing to physical games’ selling.

The biggest benefit of the digital game is that it will completely put an end to the second-hand transactions. Second-hand games and software have caused lots of serious problems to the manufacturers. However, second-hand software trading was judged as a legal transactions several years ago. Digital games are bounded with consoles and accounts, second-hand transactions are limited by them. On the surface you are buy a game but in fact you are borrowing a game. Even if second-hand digital games were allowed by the console manufacturers, they could only be traded through the official platform, otherwise the manufacturers can charge additional fee from players.

Image Credit:
http://venturebeat.com/2013/03/05/electronic-arts-digital-revenue-will-surpass-physical-game-sales-this-year-infographic/
http://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2015/04/15/digital-games-vs-physical-games-data-shows-interesting-numbers/
http://www.geek.com/games/nintendo-will-always-keep-digital-and-physical-game-prices-the-same-1626433/

Work Cited:
http://www.gamespot.com/forums/games-discussion-1000000/digital-vs-physical-purchases-31174868/
http://www.gamespot.com/forums/gamespot-polls-909396722/poll-digital-vs-physical-games-32226870/

Prompt 9: Recognizing Significance

Chen Dai

As we know that science is growing every day. Did it really so important to our life? Since so many technology has been defined useless. The answer to that question is yes. Infect there is no useless technology, because once people create a product it will be helpful on the new product.

For example. The auto technology, which means robot or AI. Long days ago we do not have the elevator instant what we have is stairs. But with the AI development the elevator become possible (while you press a button you will go to the right floor). And with that development we have the AI called AlphaGo.

AlphaGo is the strongest AI in the world range for now, and it still growing. With this kind of growing the future will be much auto compare modern life. In the future we will have the auto house and auto car which controlled by AI.

This is the one of so many example out of the sciences technology. But it is enough for us to explain how much important the science and technology is.


Cite:
1.http://www.theverge.com/2016/1/3/10705652/zuckerberg-building-ai-to-run-home-like-in-iron-man
2.http://mickogrady.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-relationship-between-science.html
3.https://blog.udemy.com/importance-of-science/

Prompt #4: Considering Delivery and Style

Guozhuoyan Zhang

What I found from date bases are the journal article and the newspaper article. All of them are giving discussions about the Artificial Intelligence AlphaGo from Google.

From the journal one, it has mentioned the example of the chess match between Deep Blue and Kasparov in 1996. The difficulty and complexity of the chess is compared with Go in order to show the evolution of AlphaGo in artificial intelligence field these past years. At the end of this post, it says that DeepMind group is challenging Lee Sedol who was the world champion of Go before.

AlphaGo works in two parts. When it is the computer's turn, the program first suggests moves based on the sorts of general tactics that human players have used in the past--much as Deep Blue would. Then the second part of the system sifts those moves for those that look like they might lead to a win, again based on patterns it has picked up through memorising zillions of previous games.

And the newspaper article also raised the instance of Deep Blue Vs Kasparov. To make sure that the winning of chess is realized by calculation power instead of the ability of studying. Their conclusion is that AlphaGo gained the humanlike abilities to learn and used skills like human. Deep neural networks will make AlphaGo discover new strategies itself.

AlphaGo uses two so-called deep neural networks, computer programs with millions of connections that loosely mimic the structure of the human brain. This approach has produced several artificial-intelligence breakthroughs in recent years, including computers that can identify objects in images more consistently than humans can.

In summary, both of two are raising the same examples but give different depth of analysis. The newspaper article is citing more information from DeepMind team members who designed the AlphaGo and makes it more convictive. The journal one is comparative general, and it is using a normal tone to illustrate the characteristics of AlphaGo. I would recommend the newspaper one because it provides more objective explanation to the audiences.


Works Cited

Barr, Alistair, and Jack Nicas. "Google Parent Claims Artificial-Intelligence Victory in Go Game Win; Alphabet's AlphaGo Beats Top Human Player of Go Game on Full Board, a Milestone Challenge." Wall Street Journal (Online) Jan 27 2016. ProQuest. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.

"Computer says Go; Artificial intelligence." The Economist 30 Jan. 2016: 72(US). Infotrac Newsstand. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.

Image Credit

http://thenewstack.io/google-ai-beats-human-champion-complex-game-ever-invented/

Super AI AlphaGo

Chen Dai

AlphaGo is the production of Google. He have the learning ability so that is why we called super AI.

Google a great company which is trying to change the technology for now. This company has tried on system, robot, auto-car and auto house etc. But this time they create a monster which is AlphaGo.

AlphaGo which is a AI, but different to the normal AI in the electronic game, it has a greater head which is CPU, and he have the learning ability. Several days ago he have win the Go game on the competition which the best player in the world.

 Different to the normal AI, AlphaGo had learn thousands game that happened before. AlphaGo used his learning ability to have a great fight. So every human movement will be recorded as a study material.

At the first AlphaGo keep wining. But now human player has finally win once.

AlphaGo is a super AI and google clan that the next target is StarCraft 2 which is a RTS game. Different to the Go game, StarCraft 2 need strategy to win. So there is an other challenge for AlphaGo and Google company.

So here is another story. If super AI AlphaGo win the game on StarCraft 2, what can human still do in the future? I believe that many people has watched terminator before which is a story about a war between AI and human. If the AI become super strong how could we win in the next game is a needing in concerned.

Cite:

1.https://deepmind.com/alpha-go.html

2.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaGo

3.http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/alphago-ai-1.3422347

4.https://us.battle.net/shop/en/product/starcraft-ii-legacy-of-the-void?utm_campaign=LQA_Starcraft%20LotV%20Evergreen%202016&utm_medium=Search&utm_source=Google%20US&utm_content=16982749 

 

Bone earphone

Chen Dai

Bone earphone, as it said it use our bone to made us hear music. The picture on the right is an example of bone earphone. Normally earphone use our ear drum by making vibration. And just like the normal hearing we hear it.

The way we use bone earphone is a little bit different than what we use for normal earphone. Here is the comparing of the wearing matter. Normally we put the earphone into our ear and use it. But while we using bone earphone we can just wear it out side of our ear, which means two thing. One is the bone earphone would not hurt our ear drum. Another is we can still have the normal hearing while we listen the music. But one thing is bad which is the quality of music is not that good.

 The way the bone earphone work is vibrating, but it just get a little bit different.

If you want have a music while you are driving or you want to protect your hearing the bone earphone is a excellent choice.


Cite:
1.http://www.audioboneheadphones.com/how-it-works/
2.https://www.google.com/search?q=bone+earphone&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj6nrquiZzLAhWGtYMKHStRDR0Q_AUICCgC&biw=1536&bih=747#imgrc=Q62_-JHg686HeM%3A
3.http://www.audioboneheadphones.com/

The Future of Videos?

By: Matthew Manross

You may have heard about these new 360 degree videos. Early last year, YouTube released their first 360 degree video. These videos are intractable, meaning YOU get to decide where to look and what to see. If you are on a tablet or phone with a touch screen, you can change the cameras view by moving the device up and down, or also by swiping with your finger. If you are on a computer, you can use the keys W, A, S, and D to change the view of the video.

So how do these cameras work? Basically, there are multiple cameras with overlapping fields of views, this allows a full 360x180 degree field of view. The images are then connected using a technique called "Stitching". And finally the final result is a regular video file that can be played in full 360 degrees. Shown to the right is an example of Bubl's 360-degree camera.

There is no doubt that these videos are pretty cool, but are they the future for videos? If you wanted to buy one of these cameras right now, it would be quite expensive. The video quality right now is also not the greatest, and can look kind of fuzzy. More prototypes must be designed in order for the quality of video to become better. One last serious concern is the usefulness of these videos. Are people willing to keep moving there device up and down, or left and right to look around? Most people watch videos because they are simple and do not take much effort to start up.

You can click here to see an example of a 360 degree video and decide for yourself!


Works Cited

"How 360 Video Works ? - 360 VR Video Software | VideoStitch." 360 VR Video Software VideoStitch. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

Zhang, Michael. "The First 360-Degree Interactive Videos Have Arrived on YouTube." PetaPixel RSS. 2015. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

Image Credit

http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/05/bublcam-360-degree-camera/

Prompt #6 Evaluating Sources

Guozhuoyan Zhang

In the wake of developments in artificial intelligence, scientists and entrepreneurs (like Stephen Hawking, Elon Musk, and Bill Gates) from different fields expressed concern about the future of artificial intelligence in succession. They thought that the rapid developments of artificial intelligence might threaten human society and civilizations. The threat theory of artificial intelligence becomes more popular due to those scientists’ and entrepreneurs’ influences.

However, the innate character of the argument about artificial intelligence is that whether the level intelligence can be evaluated quantitatively. The pioneer of computer science, Alan Turing, came up with the most famous Turing Test in 1950. If there is a machine that can enter into dialogue with the human and it cannot be identified its machine identity by the human, that means the machines owns intelligence.

Turing's original game described a simple party game involving three players. Player A is a man, player B is a woman and player C (who plays the role of the interrogator) is of either sex. In the Imitation Game, player C is unable to see either player A or player B, and can communicate with them only through written notes. By asking questions of player A and player B, player C tries to determine which of the two is the man and which is the woman. Player A's role is to trick the interrogator into making the wrong decision, while player B attempts to assist the interrogator in making the right one.

As the most popular method to test artificial intelligence, Turing Test possesses its own defect. Overall, the method of Turing Test is disturbed a lot by the human factors. It depends delicately on the subjective judgments of subjects and judges. Therefore, there is often someone claimed that his program had passed the Turing Test without any rigorous proof. 

On 7 June 2014 a Turing test competition, organized by Huma Shah and Kevin Warwick to mark the 60th anniversary of Turing's death, was held at the Royal Society London and was won by the Russian chatter bot Eugene Goostman. The bot, during a series of five-minute-long text conversations, convinced 33% of the contest's judges that it was human.

However, the result of this testing has always been a controversial issue. The bot only reached 30% of the judging standard and it acted as a thirteen-year-old boy who owned English as his second language. Those kinds of program settings would make the difficulty of passing Turing Test decreased greatly.

The intelligence of human should not be treated as a single object but an aggregate status of different categories. The artificial intelligence is the same: it is constituted by lots of sets. Alan Truing’s test is only limited to evaluate some specific fields like linguistic intelligence. The test itself is unrepresentative and it still cannot satify the demand of quantitative analysis of the intelligent development level.

Cited from 

Saygin, A. P.; Cicekli, I.; Akman, V. (2000), "Turing Test: 50 Years Later", Minds and Machines 10 (4): 463–518, doi:10.1023/A:1011288000451. Reprinted in Moor (2003, pp. 23–78).

"Turing Test success marks milestone in computing history". University of Reading. 8 June 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.

Prompt #1 Assumptions

By: Matthew Manross

When people think of a computer science major, they may think of a person you call to fix your computer. And who do you picture as a computer science major? Most likely a nerdy guy that loves video games. The computer science field has very many misconceptions about who the people are and what they do. 

There are two parts to a computer, the hardware and software. The hardware is the physical parts to the computer, including the monitor, motherboard, CPU, and memory. The software is the applications that run the computer including Microsoft Word, Excel, Skype, and any games on your computer. A computer science major deals with only the software part of a computer. Some jobs that computer science majors is shown in the image to the right. A computer science major's job is create and build programs to solve problems. 

The assumption of this field being mainly male dominated is very true. As we advance, you would expect the number of females in this field to grow, right? Wrong. The number of females in this field have actually decreased since the1980s. This could be due to the media's stereotypes put on this major. For example, many shows such as the big bang theory depict these majors with nerdy antisocial people.

Works Cited

• Brown, Chris, et al. "Computer Science Majors: Sex Role Orientation, Academic Achievement, and Social Cognitive Factors." Career Development Quarterly 54.4 (2006): 331-45. Web.

http://qz.com/358555/computer-science-stereotypes-are-getting-worse-not-better/

Image Credit

http://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/technology/blog/what-can-you-do-with-computer-science-degree/

Prompt #8 : Practicing your knowledge.

Chen Dai

Once we learn a knowledge, we need improve it for better using. There are two way to improve the knowledge that we already learn. The first is practicing with our hands. Another is remember it with our writing or speaking, since the way of writing and speaking is almost same we can conclude it to one thing.

First practicing with our hands.
The key point of improve our knowledge by this way is practicing, different to write the knowledge over and over again we use practicing to improve the knowledge. Just like the way we learn math. We all have the experience of taking math exam. It may be bad for some people or not, but it is not the point. The way we study for math exam is not writing those equation that we learn on the math course. We choice to solve question. As the question that we solved out we know the equation better.

Same as artifact like painting and craving. Once those student learn how to build better or how to catch other people's eye, they are not keep writing the sentences that teacher or professor talked on the class, and what they do is use those knowledge that they learn and practices then with their hands.

Second remember with writing or speaking.
As a student, we all have the experience of help ourselves to remember thing. Except using practicing we use writing and speaking, which means repeat it over and over again. On the biology lecture we learn the function of cell wall. But we can not just go to lab and check it every time. So we write the definition, add memo or speak it over and over again to make sure we will not forget it while we doing the exam. By this way, which is repeating, we improve our knowledge.

Different to the practice, we only need to repeat those knowledge that we learn then we can remember those knowledge stably.


Once we want to improve our knowledge we need to use practicing with our hands or repeat it over and over again by writing and speaking, or both. So it is better to fit with both ways.




Cite:
1. http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/may/08/working-hands-happiness-burkeman
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_(mathematics)
3. https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/happiness-in-world/200911/eight-ways-remember-anything
4. http://www.wikihow.com/Remember-Anything