Author: Minsik Bang

Be a Pro

TED talk project was a fresh challenge to me. Before, I have done some presentations in front of a class of a small number of people.  However, it was the first time for me to prepare a relatively long and more serious professional lecture like this. I had to put much more effort into the writing and editing the 8-minute-long script. It was not very easy to write in a light voice so it sounds easy-going and can captivate the audiences, but at the same time, it had to be very genuine and feasible.

At first, our group had a huge difficulty in arranging our ideas and putting all them together as one strong thesis statement for our project, which was that human is the best technology with emotion. However, we could come up with the best product with the helpful advices made by Dr. Pease from the CommLab. I would say that the if not were CommLab, our script would have turned out to be a total failure with random stuffs projected at the same time. The review of the script with Dr. Pease was very crucial to combine our initially randomly proposed ideas together as a one big idea to support our thesis.

Once the script was done, video recording and editing were not problems to us. We could work happily while filming and editing the video. Andy was the speaker in the video, Thomas was the editor of the video, and I was the director of the video. Andy was ready to accommodate Thomas’ and my advices as the speaker. Thomas had done a fabulous job in technical issues like recording and editing the video. And I kept trying to provide helpful suggestions for both Andy and Thomas about gestures while talking, the speed you read the script in particular parts, camera angles and etc. With a great balance as a team, we were able to finish the project with such an excellent TED Talk.

Here is our group’s video:


: ) ?

I like “smile” : )

To me, people look so friendly and more attractive when they have smile on their face.

I think there is no ugly person with smile. Again, I do love smile.

So, I chose this activity, Spot the Fake Smile. Before the test, I was confident. ” This would be easy. Ha! Who would get this kind of question wrong?” I sorted out unawkward smiles from genuine ones. However, my test result was a bit surprise. 13/20 : (

test result

I learned some interesting facts after the test. The first line of the extra information projected after the test was “most people are surprisingly bad at spotting fake smiles.” I was relieved that I was among normal people. I learned that although fake smiles look very similar to real smiles, they have slight differences due to different muscle uses. It was a small shock to me that my real smile comes from unconcious brain activity. I thought I smile the same whenever I smile, whether it is a real one or fake one.

There was a part explaining about how to distinguish real smiles from fake ones, but I did not read it. I was curious. I wanted to tell the difference between them. However, I suddenly was afraid of the aftermath. “What if I become to know when others are faking their smiles?” “Would I still want to be their friend? These kind of questions popped up. And, it was definitely not a happy thing. I think smiles are smiles, they are not slangs or insults. Whether it is a fake or genuine one, smile makes inter-relationships among people more flexible. Smile is good, so smile : )


And, and, ….. BUT

When I was reading the assigned part of the Pink’s book, I could  not move on to the next page when I read about “But out” exercise. It fascinated me at a single glance. Recently,  I have been struggling with my time management. Procrastination was the biggest enemy since I restarted school after few months of senioritis in highschool plus 3 months of vacation.

“Exchanging and for but can move you out of excuse-makingn mode into problem-solving mode.”

This line came as a fresh innovation in thinking to me who always self-defend about his laziness. So I decided to make a list of what I thought about recently:

And here is how they transformed:

I could come up with solutions to the first two problems successfully. I looked for a way to do both things at the same time, visiting family and earning credits. I decided to take some summer courses online at GPC while in Mexico where my family is. For the second problem, I decided to make some Spanish-speaking friends more to develop my language ability while not taking a class separately. However, I could not find a solution for the 3rd problem…

If you can help me with my 3rd problem, please leave comments.


Waiting for bus…

Yesterday after class was over, I was waiting for red route bus. I had to go to instruction center in the west campus for physics quiz. I was obsessed with physics in the bus stop. I think I stayed there reviewing what I have studied for about 20 minutes or so. This happened before I read Daniel Pink’s Story. Physics was the priority. After I wrote the exam, I could take breathe in and started reading it.

I chose to do an exercise, “Ask Yourself: Who Are These People?.”  I took a moment to think about when I was meeting some new people during the day. North Ave? Nah, I was busy eating. I had no time to look at others. Class? Umm, yeah I was snoozing… Bus stop! Many people passed by me when I was sitting on a stone next to the bus stop, murmuring physics equations.

GT Trolley

Here is my story:

There were two women at the bus stop. I will call them, girl 1 and girl 2. They were not next to each other. They seemed to be friends and for some reason they were not talking. But they sometimes were staring at each other and moved their eyes away fast. After a moment, they kept glancing at each other. It was sure that they fought. Girl 1 was in casual fit and girl 2 was in sport fit. Girl 1 got invited to a friend’s house and girl 2 was not notified that a friend was going to a party. So girl 2 got mad at her friend, girl 1 because girl 1 never told her about it. Girl 2 did not want to go to the party, begging and she just decided to go to CRC and play squash…

Everytime I was waiting for bus, I did kind of similar activity. I assume that everyone guesses about what others are doing. Waiting for bus is boring. This short story activity makes it a bit entertaining. There, probably, was a person who was making a story about me.

Citation

  • Bus image: http://www.gatech.edu/greenbuzz/programs/transportation.html

“Home”work: Inspiration from Talk with Dad


I spent quite a long time, I guess about 2 hours, thinking about what would be a meaningful homework. Many things were brought into my thought, but no one thing seemed to be meaningful. Researching about a topic, doing a work from a book, and etc. While I was comparing this and that, I got a skype call from my dad. It had been a while since I talked with my parents for the last time. I started conversation with my dad, starting from how was today, what I have been doing recently. And the topic naturally moved to hardships living alone apart from family and concerns about future. Basically, the conversation was an endless sequences of lament. Repeating what I said before over and over again, I got an idea for this assignment of my own invention: making a blueprint of my life.

It has been about an hour after I hang up the call. Since then, I started organizing my thoughts, writing this blog, and drawing the life map.

This is the blueprint of my life:

I know it is nearly impossible to live by a plan. You never know what will happen in future, even after a minute.  However, having a big picture is always helpful. At least, I can keep being on the right way to my dream.


My Forerunners: Gilbert, Tesla, and Edison

I had to take some time to decide who I am going to research in my professional discipline. Even though it is not a big deal about whom I write, it was painstaking decisions. And I could narrow my choices to William Gilbert, the first electrical engineer, Nikola Tesla, the inventor of safe electricity, and Thomas Edision, the most famous inventor in history.

William Gilbert

I spotted an interesting fact while researching about William Gilbert. Gilbert was born on May 24th, 1544. That’s right! My birthday is also May 24th. What a coincidence! Anyways, Gilbert was educated at St John’s College and Cambridge and became the president of College of Physicists and Elizabeth I’s own physicist. He was the first to argue that the center of the Earth was iron in his primary scientific work, On the Magnet and Magnetic Bodies, and on the Great Magnet the Earth published in 1600. In his book, Gilbert concluded that the Earth was a huge magnet by itself and that this was how compasses point north. He also correctly argued that the center of the Earth was iron. In addition, he found electric force while studying static electric electricity. His contribution to the field is not limited to building some theoretical concepts. He also invented the first electrical measuring instrument, the electroscope. Gilbert was a great physicist who drew a clear distinction between magnetism and static electricity and is credited to the creation of the word, electricity. William Gilbert, definitely, is the father of electrical engineering.

Nikola Tesla

Next figure is Nikola Tesla. If not were him, you might be being terrified with seating in front of the computer to read this blog. Thanks to development of direct current (DC) in , people’s lives became much more comfortable than before. However, DC was too dangerous to be used publicly. So supplying electricity in different method was urgent and Tesla’s work contributed to the formation of alternating current (AC). Born in Austrian Empire, Tesla later became an American citizen. He is considered to be on of the greatest electrical engineers who have worked in the US for his innovative ideas, for example wireless communication. He was a pioneer in this field; Tesla not only established the basic ideas for electrical engineering, but also inspired post EE generation to expand their viewpoint.

 

 

My last electrical engineer, probably the most eminent inventor of all time, is Thomas Edison. Ending three month of schooling, Edison was homeschooled by his mother. He first started as a telegrapher but his passion for experimenting caused him to lose his job. Then he started his career as an inventor in New Jersey, which turned out to be a huge success.

Thomas Edison

With his original inventions and business skills, Edison continued running his businesses, including General Electric. Edison, perhaps, is well known for his invention of lightbulb. Also, he was the first to turn on the switch for large-scale electrical supply network, which contributed to mass communication and, in particular, telecommunication. We should be grateful to Edison for enabling us to use our computers, telephones, TVs, and all the other electrical products at home. His words, “Genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration.” will remain in everyone’s heart forever as an engine that makes people move on.


The Big Bang in 20 years

On a sunny day without a single cloud in the blue sky, I am wandering around my new office. Recalling my past memory, I stop when I am passing next to Georgia Tech flag on the wall. All of sudden, I wonder if this was a dream or reality and so I poke myself with a pen on the desk if I could feel pain. Ouch… This is real… Wow this is like magic!

My memory flies back to a late midnight in my freshman year at Georgia Tech. About 15 years ago from now, I was doing an English assignment which was due a day before. I still can remember that night vividly. When I checked e-mail about the homework Dr. Hunter sent me, I was hooked by the last phrase “by the end of Thursday.” On Thursday night, I sit in front of my laptop to start working. Checking the mail again, I was in panic. It was commenting that was due by the end of Thursday. The actual assignment was a day before. After I realized the fact, I started working on it right away.

This is what I remember I scribbled on my blog:

Silicon Valley. This is where my company is.

I believe this world, as it already is, can never be separated from electricity. It will be the electric world. In next 20 years, I want to be a CEO in my company with a state-of-the-art technology in Silicon Valley, California. I want to be the Big Bang of 2030s like Steve Jobs of 2000s. When I was young about 5-7 years old, I used to make stuffs to make life easier with my grandfather. It is more right to say I was doing chore next

This is how my office looks like.

to my grandfather, watching what he does. My job was like bringing tools, finding bolts and nuts, etc. Still I was happy with the fact that I was helping making life more comfortable. I want to be a person who makes other people’s lives easier like Jobs and Bill Gates did.

Minsik, the Big Bang

 

After leaving Georgia Tech, I will be pursuing MBA degree at Stanford to learn how to run a business and and to look for colleagues who share dream with me and expand it. I will work for a company in my field to earn work experience and money to start business. Starting from nothing, I will found a venture company with inspiring ideas no one could come up with. Soon, I will be a millionaire, marry a lovely woman I dreamed of, have children who look alike my wife and all happy things…

Thinking back now, I have to say that the Thursday night in my freshman year in Georgia Tech was simply awesome. It was an incredible magic night. I wrote down what popped up in my head that night and everything has come true. It is amazing that I can vividly remember all these things until now. Oh right, I almost forgot to mention a more interesting fact than this magic. If I remember correctly, I think I got an A on the assignment though it was a bit late. Anyways, I have to wrap this up. I got to go to meeting with my buyers.


Play at Inventing

A sub-chapter of “Play” of Pink, “Play at Inventing” kept wandering around my head since I first read the chapter and even until now. First of all, let me remind you of this fact. This is not an exercise one can do easily. It requires time to do it. Though, I picked this one because of two sentences that touched my heart so strongly: “the best inventors are playful. the best players are inventive.” Some familiar names flashed in my head: Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, Galileo Galilee etc. They all are known for their passion for invention and uniqueness. They were the people who bravely attempted something new and became the best in their field.

Among many famous people, Yo-Hwan Lim was the first name I thought of while reading this chapter that puts emphasis on the positive effects of playing game. Lim, also known as Boxer, is like god to all game fans over the world. For more than 10 years of his career as a pro-gamer, Lim has gifted his fans numerous, inventive strategies and skills in Starcraft. His play is beyond the level of greatness. I would say that art is a better word to describe it. With his original play style and persistent dedication to game, Lim has won numerous titles and has fascinated over a million people to be his fans, undoubtedly becoming the best in game world.

However, Lim was not satisfied with solely becoming the top in his game. He wants to expand E-sports market throughout the world. As a representative, he travels around the world to call global attention to game industry. For example, he joins game promotions and events like of Blizzard to gather more people. He keeps challenging himself, never stopping inventing. I believe Lim is the perfect example of Pink’s intention in this book, the real man playing at inventing.

It turned out to be more like an introduction of a famous gamer, rather than a blog on my exercise. But, I really wanted to talk about this interesting guy and my vision which is inspired by him. Lim’s case gave me fidelity in Pink’s words: the best inventors are playful and the best players are inventive. I will not stop doing this exercise after today, but throughout years.

If you have an interest in Starcraft and want to see Yo-Hwan Lim’s awesomeness, click on this link below.

 Yo Hwan Lim – Boxer


The Inspiration Board in the Project

On Thursday, September 8th, my group for English had a meeting to work on our 5-week-long project: creation of something creative. We had talked over about what to do before in our first meeting. However, we did not have confidence in our topic selection of designing a building .So we put our brains together to look for a better option for the project. First 30 minutes passed, doing nothing. Though we did talk for half an hour, no single stuff, unfortunately, was helpful. Everyone including me in the group had a sad face like ☹. As our meaningless conversation dragged on, we were sort of angry about the situation and started lamenting on our lives in the America apart from our root, for examples, linguistic difficulty and cultural differences. We kept talking about life in the States as a foreigner and we eventually reached to the idea of creating a campaign, so-called “GT family” in which everyone from different part of the world is mixed together, forming another community here in Georgia tech. It is true that GT is already a culturally diverse community. However, we can easily spot people hanging out mostly with people who share the same ethnic background. That is the starting point of our project! We finally found a perfect topic for this project through “liquid network” of our random ideas.

To be honest, I had not read about what Daniel Pink says about in his chapter Symphony. I read it after the meeting with my group members. Reading the book back in my dorm, I realized that my group unconsciously created our inspiration board shared in our brains. While discussing, we kept bringing on something new seemingly unrelated to each other, but we eventually found link among them. Now, I feel so excited about this project with this inspiration board, hopefully my teammates as well. Working on the project, I will try to maximize the use of awesome board following Pink’s advice.


The Beginning of 5 Week Long Project

When I was first assigned with this project, I was completely lost about what I should do. Then, my group was made of pure Asians. It is not like I am discriminating my identity. Personally, I wanted some native speakers to be involved in my group since I am aware of my linguistic weakness. I, however, soon realized that language would not be a big deal. I saw hope and pleasure while working with my fellow group.

Deciding what we are going to do was totally up to us. We first tried to come up with a good idea as a group. We started spitting out random topics, but we found that the scope of our conversation was too broad and vague and decided to find our common interest first so we could narrow down the range of our ideas. After a long list of ideas, we found out that we all had interest in architecture, building an edifice. Having no one majoring in that field, we confronted a huge problem how we would do it. How are we going to present this? What are we going to produce physically? How are we going to get help from others? We kept discussing and concluded to create a house integrated with our major departments. In my case, it would be electrical engineering. We liked the idea very much. I could feel catharsis of being at the center of “liquid network” as Steve Johnson describes in his lecture, “When ideas have sex.” Time almost ran out. We wrapped up the first day of meeting, adding each other on Facebook for further discussion about the project.

After the discussion, I could recall lesson of turning weakness into strength. Our initially assumed weakness of being pure Asian group may turn out to be our strength in terms of uniqueness. We would be able to come up with something novel and fresh, different from others’. I already look forward to meet my group again to work together.