Category Archives: Science and Tech

Bytes, Science and Tech

WWDC 2020

WWDC(Apple Worldwide Developer’s Conference), started on June 22 and ended yesterday(June 26th). My dad and I always found the time to watch it when we had the time and see what Apple’s come up with that year. And it always gets me so hyped up to see these awesome new innovations and improvements in devices that are already incredible. This year I watched parts of the live stream event on my own time and I was really happy that they incorporated features that can truly be useful and heighten the functionality of Apple devices even more.

Today I will be listing some of my favorite features that were announced this week during WWDC, and are soon to be released to the general public in autumn.

*Happy Kanmani Noises*

1. Scribble

I use my iPad Pro and Apple pencil a lot; it’s a seriously useful tool for drawing, designing, and writing. As well as creating quality work. It replaces a laptop with the same functionality and gives you so much opportunity to create things seamlessly, and be exposed to everything it has to offer(and there is quite a lot).

The iPad Pro is an amazing tool to create things that can make anything written, drawn, shot, or designed on there, look seamless and professional. And when creativity is allowed to bleed into our projects, then I can completely take the reins and create pieces that can be unique and special. When it comes down to a major project, the most logical case is that the end product is expected by the teacher to be neat and diligently done. Especially if it’s something that’s could effect your grade for the quarter or semester.

And even when you’re not a student, you may find yourself having to do something work related, like a presentation, or an important document. In a work setting, I’m sure you would want to make it look presentable and professional.

So when Apple announced the “Scribble” feature you could probably imagine my excitement.

Scribble essentially takes what you can do with text(that is written on a keyboard)and takes those exact features on handwritten text. The Scribble feature takes the input controls used for typed text and gives you those same options for things you handwrote on your device. Like changing the color, or even copying the handwritten text and pasting it onto a separate document, which automatically turns it into typed text. Not only that, but if you draw a shape, then it will automatically turn into a perfect version of that shape. So all of your illustrations can be clean and on point.

I’m super happy that this actually exists, because I get really meticulous when I have, say, a really important paper due, or a presentation for class. I usually spend a lot of time perfecting my designs and writing if I’m handwriting it on a digital device, and if their hasty scribbles from quickly written notes, then it’s hard to decipher them when I actually go back to study them. I’m really excited to test out this feature and use it to it’s full potential.

2. Widgets

I mostly use widgets for apps that I check in with daily, like WordPress; to monitor my blog. Or basic information like the weather, activity stats, emails, etc. I think widgets are really good for when you want just a quick glance at something, rather than fully opening the app only to have it open for a few seconds at a time. There really great if your in a hurry and you just want to quickly check out what the weather is like, or what the day’s news headline is.

On I03 14, Apple is now bringing widgets onto the Home Screen, where you can immediately have a look at your personal widget(s). Just like before, you can pick which widgets you want, but you can also choose how big or small you want it to be and have it reside on your Home Screen. I also love that you can ‘stack’ your widgets(up to ten!)so you have all of the widgets you want on the Home Screen and easy to access.

3. Automatic Switching

As a person who listens to music a lot, this literally made me want to march up to whoever came up with this an give them a big hug(although under the circumstances we are under now I don’t think that’s a very good idea). I really like use AirPods because you don’t have to deal with cords and the sound quality is great. And I connect them to two of my main devices, which is my iPad and my iPhone. But it’s such a pain to have to switch between the two devices manually.

I know, I sound like a brat, but it’s true.

I’m really happy that Apple has acknowledged the struggles of lazy people like me and have created a seamless way to transition between devices with no hassle.

4. Memoji

I’m gonna be honest and say that I don’t use Memoji that often.

When I’m texting someone(which is also quite rare actually)I usually just use words or cute stickers of my favorite characters like Gudetama(This is not sponsored). But I do use Memoji stickers sometimes, even if it’s not as often as other people. I like the fact that you can express yourself in little ways when you’re communicating with someone, and in fun and silly ways. You can make your messages personal and meaningful with a mini version of yourself.

And in IOS 14, Apple is taking Memoji and making them more expressive by improving muscle structure, as well as adding in new accessories that can shine light on your skills or career. Plus, Apple has added more face options, so you can choose the face that looks closest to how you look right now.

Ah, I can finally make my Memoji have a baby face just like I do in real life.

5. Battery Notifications

Like I mentioned previously, I use my AirPods a lot. I love that both the AirPods and the case have long battery lives, but I always forget to charge them when they are at they’re lowest energy point. So for someone as forgetful as I am, this is definitely something that will be very helpful in the future.

I hope I was able to give you a quick little overview of a few of the great things Apple introduced during their WWDC event this week. This post was really just a chance for me to geek out with you guys about the great stuff Apple is putting out. Who knows what’ll come next? If there’s one thing I want them to do, it’s to have the Apple Pencil be compatible with the iPhone. That would be incredibly cool AND useful…

Well anyway; stay healthy, stay happy, and clean all of your devices!

Science and Tech, The Best

They never cease to amaze me…

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Recently(actually last Wednesday) this years Apple Key Note event happened. The speakers(Tim Cook,etc) introduced the IPhone X( The X representing the number ten in Roman Numerals.) IPhone 8, the Apple Watch Series 3, and talked about the variety of new features in each device, as well as IOS 11 and the updates it provides for you Apple devices. But the things i always look forward to in these key notes is not the mechanism of the newly designed camera, not the sleek design, not the new updates(okay I still love those, don’t judge), but I instead am always anticipating the reveal videos they film.

I know, I know, I am a weird person. Okay I get that, but let me finish.

Apple has a way of presenting there devices in ways that no other tech company can imitate. The overture’s are so unique that it’s impossible to actually replicate that style. I mean can you imagine, let’s use the video below as an example:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUvD80mNKBM

Done watching the(incredible) video? Now imagine everything you just saw, but with like a Samsung product or some other knockoff smart watch. Odd huh? Now let me bring about the subject that I wanted to introduce in this post.

It actually hit me to write about the Apple videos as soon as my dad showed me the videos revealing the devices for the first time this year.

These videos are pure works of art and beyond what I imagined they would represent. It’s so hard to explain this but each video has it’s own uniqueness to it. For example, the latest apple watch reveal video. Have any other Apple ad consisted of only surfers, a four second show of the watch, and waves? And also the way they present the products, the start is always so mysterious, even if you read the title of the video, you never expect to see a tiny or large screen light up in what is the abyss of black(or white) that is the screen.

Okay time out for a second. I am literally binge watching every single Apple Reveal video. I am going to break the replay button.

Anyway, the artistic style and ability the people who film the videos is incredible. I mean as a flute player myself, I love the music. I mean literally when I’m working on a post or doing homework or doing who knows what on what is the black hole that is the internet my parents will look over me and to the screen and be all like, “hey watcha listening to?” And then I’ll just be sitting there giving a poker face and pulling up the other tab. And then bam, on the video dashboard they will literally see an apple watch floating in slow motion like and angel across the screen. Yup that’s right, I listen to music from Apple. Some of the music is catchy, some sound like there from the San Fransisco Sonata, some make me feel like I can do anything and everything. And this is all coming from a person who listens to emo music(whatever that is to you guys.)

All of the music is produced by them, written and site read, practiced and played. Oh my gosh it’s just. I can’t even write what I feel. If I were to meet at least one of the members in that band or orchestra the first thing I would want to say to them(embarrassingly) is:

“I AM FOREVER INDEBTED TO YOUR TALENT AND DEDICATION. I WILL NOW GO RETRIEVE MY FLUTE AND SHEET MUSIC SO YOU WILL TEACH ME YOUR WAYS OH WISE ONE.”

But what I really want from these videos is quite simple really….

THE PEOPLE WHO MAKE THEM NEED RECOGNITION.

My dad told me that the people who filmed those beta fish in the IPhone 6s and 6+ video traveled HALFWAY ACROSS THE WORLD TO GET A FEW SHOTS FOR THE VIDEO.

TELL ME THAT’S NOT DEDICATION. I MEAN LOOK AT IT. LOOK HOW AMAZING IT LOOKS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP3PeX1V2_Q

I always get this feeling that accumulates throughout my whole body every time I think about the motto Steve Jobs came up with Think Different. From the start Jobs wanted to make massive changes among people’s perspectives of the world, as well as making people just say, nothing. They become speechless. I become overwhelmed no matter how many times I watch each video.

I made this post because I’m definitely going to post constantly and plus today I had extra time on my hands because being the “good girl” I am, i decided to finish my work and didn’t procrastinate. So anyways. I’m sorry that there’s a lack of content in this post. But I hope it’s enough. Well, signing off, and as always, Think Different.

  • Below is one of my favorite videos, although all videos featured in this post are my all time favorites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1elRfYEnl8

 

Favorites, Science and Tech, Travel

Welcome to The Tech

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“Okay, everyone assigned bus seven you can board the bus.” Yelled my science teacher. I was with my friends Jacqueline, Chanel, Esther, and a girl named Isabel. Esther’s dad was chaperoning, and constantly asking things like “You girls need anything?” “Are you cold?” “Everybody stay close together.” We boarded the bus, since we were the last to board, we couldn’t exactly find seats where we were close, so we had to split up. Luckily I found a spot in the middle of the bus that was empty and no one was there(unless you count the little dust bunnies under the seat). I was super bored, there was nothing to do except listen to a bunch of boy’s bloodcurdling yells and screams. Then I remembered that I had my mom’s phone in my satchel. I took it out and started to play a game. After dying multiple times in the same level, I got really bored so I put the phone back in my satchel and looked out the window.

The world passed by, it looked like I was traveling in a time machine, watching the farms turning into factories, and the large lakes and oceans turning into tourist attractions. Finally I saw a large orange building with a very big ultramarine blue dome on the top of it all. Then I knew it was it. We stepped outside, I just stood there for like to minutes. Though I looked calm, on the inside I was screaming “OH MY GODS I AM IN THE TECH MUSEUM OF INNOVATION I CAN’T BELIEVE IT WOW THE ARCHITECTURE IS AMAZING OH MY GODS  NO ONE CAN SAY THEY LIVED LIFE WITHOUT COMING HERE OH MY GODS OH MY GODS OH. MY. GODS.”( I may have exaggerated a little bit, don’t judge me I was excited okay.)

As we walked around the building to the entrance, we started to walk side by side with my friend Jayden’s group. “You’re freaking out, aren’t you Wise Girl?” He said with a goofy smirk. “You have no idea Feline Face.” I said with a huge grin. Those were our nicknames for each other. His favorite animal is a cat, and everything he owns is literally a cat or anime related thing, hence the name Feline Face. He calls me Wise Girl, because he knows how much I love the Percy Jackson series, and he and our other friends think I am exactly like Annabeth, one of the main characters in the series. Anyway, we walked past this huge pillar that looked like it was made of Lego’s, we arrived at the entrance my eyes went wide. “Oh. My. Gods.”

Jayden smiled as I stared in awe at the structure in front of us. It was a wall of colorful tiles, that were arranged to represent molecules, and the the human DNA. My friends and Esther’s dad laughed as I jumped up and down in elation. Before we walked in, the staff that worked in the museum passed out little slips of paper. Before they explained what it was for Jayden started to blush like crazy, and then said. “Hey, my group got these tickets to see one of the interactive exhibits that is really new, and I thought you would like it so–” He handed me a slip of paper that said, ” Medical and Health Exhibit.” Each person got a slip of paper with an exhibit that was unique and new. I accidentally had received two, but everyone had already gotten one, and mine said, “Video and Animation.” Since we were still allowed to visit each new exhibit anyway, I said. ‘Well, I thought you would like this too.” I said with a sly grin. Jayden’s eyes popped as he read the title, a few seconds later he was hugging me and saying, “OH MY GOD THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!” We both parted ways as we entered.

“OHMYGODSOHMYGODSOHMYGODSOHMYGODS.” I said under my breath as we entered into the(amazing) pavilion. It was so unique, nothing like any museum I’ve seen in my life( then again, I’m only eleven.) The entire grade was supposed to meet in this large room. Mr. Vega (Esther’s dad) led us there, while my friends and I trailed alongside each other. After we got there, the rest was just instruction. Then the entire grade broke to go explore. We first went to a section called “Coding and Engineering” I saw my friend Zach( aka Zoom Zoom) and he told us about this one really cool section of the exhibit, because he has been here four times already. But I wasn’t paying attention. I saw a little area, my friends trailed alongside me, and we saw a little dinosaur in a glass case. There was a screen about the size of my face. I put my elbow on the surface below. But then I clicked something. The little dinosaur kissed the glass, in which we were looking.  I desperately searched for what I did. My friends stared in awe at the dinosaur, as I clicked and clicked more buttons.

WAIT A MINUTE, THAT’S SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN! I realized. Coding and Engineering. I just coded a dinosaur to kiss the glass. I JUST CODED A DINOSAUR TO KISS THE GLASS. That was so cool. No that wasn’t cool, that was innovative. I didn’t realize until now how much coding really changed people’s lives. My friends started to make the dinosaur do more things, like making it dance, or do a funny face. We then went to a different exhibit, where we got to design our own robots, and construct them. I wanted to create a robot that could write and compose music for any instrument to play. Of course it took a lot of coding. As I coded and designed, my other friends made cat like robots, or robots that would dance on the walls. It took ten minutes to code the robot to find musical notes from the internet and create music with it. And it took an additional ten minutes to figure out a design. But finally I was done. As my friends started to leave, I was about to disable my robot. But then one of the staff walked up to me and looked at my robot. “Wow. Impressive! How old are you?” “E-eleven.” I stuttered. I hate dragging attention to myself, so this was a huge loss for me,” The worker had a shocked look on her face and then asked “What does it do?’ I started to explain and when I finished she looked bewildered and in wonder.  “Is it okay if I could show this to my co-workers?” She asked. I stuttered in a shocked tone “Yes, of course.”

My friends and Mr. Vega must have been watching, because when I confronted them, they looked at me like I was a goddess. It was around lunchtime, so we headed back to the main room where me first met. We got out our lunches and I took out the map we were given. Since we had loads of time after lunch for more exhibits, we planned out which ones we will go on. Then I saw my slip of paper for the medical and health exhibit, I stared at it with wonder in my eyes. Mr. Vega’s expression told me we both had the same idea.  So after lunch, we were about to become doctors.

We saw a sign that led us to the health exhibit and followed it. When we got there, I was in utter shock. Inside was a huge room, dedicated to medicine, exhibits, that included designing and of course medical activity. As my friends wandered around I went to a simulation where you got to do surgery on a human body. I chose the cardiovascular surgery so it took a bit, but for some weird reason I knew exactly what to do. I didn’t notice Mr. Vega standing above me until I finished. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” he asked in unison to his thoughts. I paused and then said “Anything in the medical field, but specifically I want to be gynecologist.”

I continued to wander. I found one area where you had to design a swaddle warm enough for a premature baby to be in( premature babies have to be kept warm, or they will surely pass). I designed a material that was made from reused microfibers, that part was for the inside. On the outside a created a special fabric kind of like that material on really puffy sports jackets. But instead of the material being cool and smooth, I designed it to have more insulation so the body heat from the baby could be trapped inside the swaddle. Making sure no heat transfer happened. When I finished, it was tested on a virtual baby, that was designed to feel and act like a baby. This made sure that the swaddle was cold-proof. One of the directors for this activity watched as I finished up. The screen showed that my design was successful. “You know, the best designs go to designers and doctors, to maybe create.” I stared in shock and before I said anything he said “Looks like this ones a winner, great job kid.” Then he walked away. I walked towards my friends to go to the next exhibit.

We were now in the space exhibits. And let me tell you was only able to say one thing: OH MY GODS. There were simulators, interactive exhibits, and even a place where you could try on a space suit. I tried that first with my friends. It took each of us a while to put everything on, because the suits were actually designed for future teens astronauts. It was so big and bulky, and I felt like I was really an astronaut about to shuttle of. We even got to try space suits for trips to Mars for when teens go. The suits were way more flexible then the other ones. Since we each got a suit to where at the same time we all started laughing because one of our friends put on hers backwards. We took of the suits, and went to the space launch simulator where you got to go on a real mission.

My friends voted me as the pilot and leader, so I went to the main seat that had the controls. We put on our seat belts, closed the door and we counted down for ignition. “5….4….3….2….1…” Then we took of. It was such a weird feeling. It was so strong, I felt like I was being impaled into the seat. Luckily we go into orbit. We saw stars and nebula’s everywhere. Then we saw Earth from the distance. Put then I felt a strange feeling like I was floating. I unbuckled my seat belt, and I floated up, I saw my friends and Mr. Vega flying too. This was the best simulator I ever went on. No not a simulator, it was like a ride! I did back flips in the air.  THIS IS THE COOLEST THING IN THE WORLD, WAIT I TAKE THAT BACK, THE GALAXY! I thought. Suddenly little packets of space food ejected into the zero gravity like atmosphere. Freeze dried ice-cream. I thought not bad. I realized that they made the simulation so realistic because they used indoor sky-diving like technology. Wow, smart, I thought. Then it was time to go back to Earth, uh, I mean the exhibits.

As we got out, I felt like I was going to feel like I was floating forever. Since we were done with space, we went to an earthquake simulation that was nearby. As we got on, I felt like was going to instantly going to break my skull. The ground shook so suddenly that I toppled into the railing beside me. Wait, this is the Chile earthquake. The strongest earthquake in history. 9.5 is pretty strong. It was only a few minutes long, but to me and my friends, it felt like eternity. When it was over we stumbled  out of the simulation, and had to make sure we all didn’t fall at the same time. We had about an hour before we had to leave. So we went to all the small activities.

There was this really cool one where you designed your own roller coaster, and got to ride on it. It was so much fun, my coaster was designed to do to double flips, and then at one point of the ride, it goes super fast, and then the whole rail is just cut of, causing the coaster to soar in the air, and then land back in the rail. We then went to this really cool area, where there was this huge black screen, and we had to try to use our body heat to create kind of a mutant molecule. Then we went to a big room where we designed an earthquake proof building, using tape, woods, and of course, power tools. But then sadly, it was time to go. We still had a ton of stuff to cover, but I promised myself that we would come again soon.

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