Wiki Research

• A class wiki can be used in education when students have to do group projects. This will alleviate the stress when students have to work together and collaborate on an assignment. No more going back and forth with emails by simply using a wiki.
• It could be great to use in English class when you have a test approaching. You and your friends could make a review sheet together to study from.
• It could also be great to use in math when you accidentally forget the homework problems at school. A friend can easily create a wiki page with the math problems for you.
• The benefits of using a wiki are: great for team collaboration, creating documents for multiple people, and it's simple and easy to create/use.
• We can come up with a supposed "event" and have the whole class post what they will bring to this event.
• I do not have experience creating a wiki but have used a wiki before. However, it appears to be fairly simple on understanding how to create one.

10/25/2013 Weekly Tech Article

Intelligent Headlights Make Raindrops Disappear

• Anyone who's even driven through a heavy rain has hoped for something like this: a system that can make rain drops vanish--or at least look like they do.
• Intel and Carnegie Mellon University have developed technology that makes it happen. Each headlight projects not just a single beam, but a grid of several tiny beams (that's how the different-colored pixels are projected on the screen when there's actually an image being shown.
• A camera behind the the projector watches for raindrops, and a processor predicts their paths. Then the projector blocks out just the part of the grid where the rain is falling, darkening just the pixels in its way. Presto: a rainless view.
• http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2013-04/new-headlights-make-rain-disappear?dom=PSC&loc=recent&lnk=4&con=IMG

10/10/2013 Weekly Tech Article

The Turtle Cam

• Camera design is getting more and more interesting as its components get smaller, but there's one major limitation: cameras are always made out of cameras. Our friends over at Pop Photo put together a list of cameras made out of things that are not cameras--turtle shells, garbage cans, an egg, and more.
• Apparently the Turtle Camera does actually work. The camera itself places a large-format lens at the end of the shell where the head would normally be. There's a film holder cut into the shell in the middle. The shutter predictably works with a cable-release, so it seems safe to assume the Turtle Cam has a tripod socket in its belly. It would probably look just great sitting atop taxidermied flamingo monopod.
• http://www.popsci.com/gadgets/article/2012-07/making-camera-out-turtle-shell-egg-and-more-weird-casings

New Class Addition

New Class Addition: Wood Shop

     If I had the opportunity to add a new class to the school curriculum I would add Wood Shop. Wood Shop would give students the opportunity to express themselves artistically by use of wood as a medium. The wood creation possibilities produced by the students would be endless. My class would be held 8th period everyday in order for the the students to get the maximum knowledge of wood shop. I would plan interesting trips to Home Depot and Lowes to teach them about different types of wood and tools. The midterm would most likely be to create your own racecars to race in a competition.

     Wood Shop would be a great addition to the school curriculum. Once introduced, Wood Shop would soon gain popularity and students would want to take that class. Students in this class will be able to have fun, but also learn about wood and materials needed for creations. This class would allow students to express themselves in a more hands on approach.

10/4/2013 Weekly Tech Article

      Activist Drone Catches Pigeon Shooters

• Some gun clubs in Pennsylvania have organized pigeon shoots, where live pigeons are used instead of the typical clay targets for sport. It's illegal there, but controversial. Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK), an animal advocacy group in Pennsylvania, is now using drones to catch pigeon killers.
• SHARK files octorotor drones with video cameras attached. SHARK's drones have recorded people cleaning up after allegedly shooting pigeons in addition to allegedly disposing of dead pigeons (and burning tires, which is illegal for individuals, as there are health risks).
• Not everyone approves of these tactics, though. In Pennsylvania, someone allegedly responded to one of the SHARK drones by shooting it down.
• http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/activist-drone-catches-pigeon-shooters?dom=PSC&loc=recent&lnk=4&con=activist-drone-catches-pigeon-shooters

9/27/2013 Weekly Tech Article

Crowdfund a $65 Robot That  Runs Like a Maniac Cockroach 

• The Dash, created by Dash Robotics, is an insect-inspired simple robot kit that runs like the fastest, most rectangular cockroach ever. There's a crowdfunding campaign and beta test, with 27 days left to get one of the first 1,000 robots available.
• Dash's springy body can keep it running even after a fall from over 90 feet, and it can run straight at 1.5 meters per second, up to a mile. After years of development, the robot is entering a beta testing stage.
• Made largely of cardboard and plastic, the key to the robot is a special polymer layer sandwiched between layers of cardboard, giving the body something of an organic flexibility while still remaining cheap to produce. Dash's creators say the $65 kit can be assembled in about in hour, and an already-assembled version can be ordered for $100.
• Right now, it might just be a fast robotic cockroach that can fall 90 feet. If the crowdfunding project goes well, it will be a fast robotic cockroach that can fall 90 feet and then chase people around a quad while being remotely controlled by smartphone app.

9/20/2013 Weekly Tech Article

Robo-Maggots Will Munch Through Brain Tumors

(Gross, but great for minimally invasive surgery)

• Neurosurgeon J Marc Simard of the University of Maryland School of Medicine has been developing a prototype for a larvae-esque robot that could get inside and eat away at a brain tumor from the inside.
• The bendy maggot-bot can zap tumors with a electrocautery tool, then suction out the dead tissue. It can be controlled remotely, making it possible for the surgeon to monitor the tumor and direct the robot to certain tissue while the patient is undergoing an MRI.
• The challenge is that controlling the robot remotely can't be allowed to interfere with the magnetic field that's integral to the imaging process, so it can't have an electromagnetic motor. Right now, the robot uses this system of pulleys and and strings to move around: 

• However, this device is still being tested on both pig and human cadavers, so it'll be awhile before this bug makes it to a hospital near us.

• http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-09/robo-maggots-will-munch-through-brain-tumors