So I took BBC’s “Spot the Fake Smile” test and scored a respectable 18 out of 20. I was probably only able to score so high because of the technique of watching the eyes that Dan Pink explains in A Whole New Mind. I just thought it was pretty ironic that I managed to do so well in an activity typically considered to require a strong “right brain,” using a seemingly “left brain” methodology.
What would I do? I once told a friend that if I had a BILLION dollars, I’d still continue to walk the path I’m on now. Getting an undergraduate degree is one step towards graduate research, which is another step toward my life goal. Had I so much money, certainly the way I’d go about reaching such a goal would change. I’d simply use said money to my advantage to expedite the process.
A time constraint is a different beast altogether. If I had ten years left to live, I’d have to really examine all my decisions. Even little choices would be long term in the scheme of my hypothetical life. I’d try to most efficiently progress, and I hope that I would stop procrastinating and get down to business. If I were to be constrained to some ridiculous amount of time as one year though, I’d probably throw caution to the wind and do whatever I wanted.
Even though, as some say, time is money, I think I’d behave much more differently in these two situations. Perhaps it is because one scenario is freeing while the other is constricting. In any case, every time I think about this question, I’m only reassured that I’m doing what’s right for myself, and that gives me the motivation to move onward.
Events took a dark turn for the young boy. Forced to face his fears, he donned a mask. Only few close friends know of his dual life. He has struggled with the flightless bird, two sides of the coin, and chaos itself. Nowadays you’ll see him fighting crime in Gotham.
Image courtesy of 123rf.
I saw an old article from the Washington Post a few weeks ago that really made me laugh. It has the results of a competition the WP held to come up with “bad” analogies. These analogies are hilarious though. Just to entice to you actually look through it, I’ll share some of my favorite ones.
Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do. (Jerry Pannullo, Kensington)
The knife was as sharp as the tone used by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) in her first several points of parliamentary procedure made to Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) in the House Judiciary Committee hearings on the impeachment of President William Jefferson Clinton. (J.F. Knowles, Springfield)
It hurt the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall. (Brian Broadus, Charlottesville)
She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef. (Brian Broadus, Charlottesville)
The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant. (Jennifer Hart, Arlington)
He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something. (John Kammer, Herndon)
I took the liberty of constructing some of my own over-the-top analogies:
1. As the curtains of the stage were drawn, she froze, like a low-grade computer running the entire Adobe Creative Suite simultaneously.
2. Her puppy dog eyes made him cave in like the chest cavity of a teenage girl trying to conform to social norms.
3. The child locked in the candy store felt like a necrophiliac during a zombie invasion.
4. She looked like she had just seen a ghost, as in not any different, because ghosts are invisible, duh.
5. Plucking out hairs to shave your legs is like brute forcing a combinatorics problem. Waxing, on the other hand, is like an elegant solution.
6. Her rejection left him feeling devoid of energy, as if he were starving. Except at least if he were starving, he’d have the consolation that it’d all be over soon.
7. The hobo’s hair was reminiscent of the gulf oil spill.
8. Nothing could get through the boy’s thick skull. He was as dense as the singularity of a black hole.
9. She was one implant away from her chest being referred to as the Silicone Valley.
10. Finding a reliable team in a competitive online game is extremely rare, like a cow served at a steakhouse, still alive.
Please share some of your own in the comments if you want, cause I really enjoy these. I’ll edit in the ones I like.
Mechanical engineering may not have always been referred to as such, but has been around for a long time. Archimedes, Sir Isaac Newton, and most recently Henry Ford, have had a major impact on the world. Each possessed the ingenuity required to be a successful engineer.
Archimedes of Syracuse
Image source
Archimedes was born in 287 BC in Syracuse, Sicily and died in 212 BC. He was legendary in his ability to utilize simple machines like levers and pulleys to perform amazing feats. He was able to move one of King Hieron’s large ships with a system of pulleys; even boasting that given a place to stand, he could move the world. Archimedes was able to generate so much force by increasing his mechanical advantage, a term used to describe how much force is output, given the force input. Archimedes also developed many physics principles that are useful today, such as the mechanics of a lever, Archimedes’ principle, and pulley systems. His discoveries are not exclusive to physics, however. He also made many contributions to mathematics, another field essential to ME. It’s safe to say that even over 2000 years later Archimedes is one of the most influential people in the fields of physics and mathematics, and more specifically ME.
Sir Isaac Newton
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Newton was born January 4, 1643 in Woolsthorpe, England and died March 31, 1727. He established the law of gravity and the laws of motion which are so fundamental to the physics we learn today. He also independently invented calculus (along with Leibniz, of course), another subject compulsory no matter your major at Tech. The mechanical contributions he made such as the law of gravity and the three laws of motion are obviously fundamental to ME, but calculus is also integral (ha!) to all engineering. Believe it or not, these are only part of Newton’s accomplishments; though they do underscore his importance in ME.
Henry Ford
Image source
Ford was born July 30, 1863 in Greenfield Township, Dearborn and died April 7, 1947. Although his most notable achievement, the establishment of the assembly line is arguably a feat of industrial engineering, it was also partly possible due to mechanics. Interchangeable parts are designed to fit into more than one product and subsequently, as their name suggests, are interchangeable. Mechanical tools are necessary in making these parts with any sort of efficiency. Interchangeable parts are essential in the operation of the assembly line. Ford is one example of how engineering ingenuity can help change the world. Without Ford, who knows how long it would have been before cars would be affordable for everyone?
My main aspiration in life is to improve upon the human model. While many more people focus on how to fight illness and disease, definitely a worthy cause, I would instead prefer to increase the mental and/or physical capacities of the human through technology. The idea that humans can be improved upon using technology is called transhumanism, and although it has simply been the fairy tale of science fiction, it’s soon going to become very real.
I first became interested in technology years back due to a TED talk by Ray Kurzweil outlining the Technological Singularity:
http://www.ted.com/talks/ray_kurzweil_on_how_technology_will_transform_us.html
Kurzweil basically describes why technology improves exponentially instead of linearly, as many people seem to think. By looking at the history of significant technological improvements, it’s evident that recent history is far more dense with these developments than earlier periods. Following the trend, at some point in the near future (perhaps 20-30 years), technology will be improving so quickly that at a certain point, his predictive model will break down. This will mark the Singularity, deriving its name from a black hole’s center. It’s impossible to see beyond the singularity of a black hole, and likewise, it’s impossible for us to predict what will follow this Technological Singularity. While some of Kurzweil’s predictions are off a little, his core ideas are still sound.
Before seeing this, I had no inclination of what I wanted to do with my life. It is no exaggeration to say that this video changed my life. It made me realize that technology was my calling. After much time had passed, filled with research, pondering, and excitement, I figured out that the best way I could contribute to the Singularity would be through enhancing the human body. In the video, the use of nanotechnology in the human body was one of the more exciting examples to me. The best way to improve the body, logically, is to go in and improve the targeted parts. It makes sense, then, to utilize nanotechnology to do this.
This leads to my current situation. I have come to a technology-oriented college, and would like to study nanotechnology in graduate school. I am on track to be a mechanical engineer for my undergraduate degree. As a mechanical engineer, I have the most options open to me, should I decide at some point that I do not want to pursue nanotechnology. Most of all I am eager for the future and all that it holds.
It’s been a while since I posted about my group’s project, and since then, it’s become completely different. Instead of making a video, we’re now making a board game currently called “Outside the Box.” A group member of mine, named John Rhinehart has already fleshed out the mechanics of the game in his blog post, so I won’t dwell on that here. This post is to show you guys what our game board tentatively looks like:
I say tentatively because the board seems a bit too childish, while we want to cater to all audiences (not just children). If anyone has any suggestions, feel free to let me know in the comments.
"Can you believe this guy? He's right handed, yet he puts his pen to the left of his papers!"
"My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard."
I jumped right in for the first one, just to see what would come out. Not too impressive. I then experimented a bit with how I could ration my five lines. I kept the next two, knowing that there was no clean way I could include every feature of my face. After getting a good feel for the exercise, I asked “why not limit the lines to a line?” And so the fourth face was born. Strangely enough, despite the extra restriction, it was probably my favorite.
This five line portrait exercise might be trying to emphasize the creation of something coherent, while cutting out the excess noise that can get in the way. By limiting myself, I had to put value into each line, instead of throwing them out haphazardly. The adage “less is more” comes to mind.
Also, it just now occurred to me that the Apple Finder is a five line portrait!
In class, we’re currently beginning our invention mob projects. These projects entail each person bringing a handcrafted object and then forming groups. Once in these groups we use the objects as inspiration for a creative, collective brainchild.
I’m in a group of four consisting of Ted Dixon, John Rhinehart, Quinn Campbell, and myself. We’ve decided that we’re going to make a video showing life in the city of Atlanta. A friend of a group member is apparently an expert in parkour, so we’ll film him running through the streets, perhaps starting from the airport, and visually track his progress from 1st and 3rd person points of view. Filming will also possibly start in the morning and end at night, forming an interesting montage. I’m still not sure how our idea formed, especially considering our objects (two paper airplanes, a paper cup, and another one I can’t recall), but the potential output seems promising.
