Muhil's Cup of Tea

When working on the presentation for Web 2.0 I had difficulty trying to embed a YouTube video on PowerPoint. I wanted to make it work without having to download the video off the internet and convert it to avi, etc.

So I searched for ways to embed a and ended up getting help from Web 2.0 site hah... a YouTube video.

Here's the video for embedding a video into PowerPoint without having to download it:

In the article “PowerPoint does Rocket Science – and Better Techniques for Technical Reports,” Tufte goes on to say how in the current day, numerous amounts of people in the aeronautics field are using PowerPoint for professional means and describes in what ways they present the information in vague terms. Although PowerPoint has played a revolutionary role in terms of executing a presentation, there are still many flaws within peoples’ presentation skills that result in altered meanings or indifferent concepts. Tufte explains the key faults in PowerPoint presentations that can mislead the audience and points out possible reasons for why this is so.

Tufte brings out the example of the Columbia Shuttle disaster and presents a slide used in one of the presentations. The first fault that is pointed out is the overuse of the word “significant.” In almost every bullet of the list, the word is present within a sentence. By overusing the word, the word literally loses its significance and causes the audiences to lose their connection to the importance of the terminology that’s associated to “significant.”

Tufte explains that organization is the key in a presentation. The main focus in the PowerPoint presentations is the hierarchical organization in the slides. In a paper this makes proper sense, as one is taught to structure their information from most inclusive down to least inclusive. However, when presenting in PowerPoint, this might not always be the case. By having a detailed hierarchical structure, the slide actually loses its clarity. Too much information presented within the slide causes confusion within the audience and Tufte adds to this by saying how many of the divisions are superfluous and distract from the essence of the information. Unfortunately due to these types of presentations, audiences can accidentally misinterpret the intended message of the presenter.

All in all, Tufte does a effective job in explaining how a PowerPoint presentation can go wrong by dissecting a slide into various sections and scrutinizing each individually area. By pointing out all the flaws, Tufte clearly shows how one must be careful when presenting with PowerPoint in order to avoid confusion within the audience, especially if one’s presentation is on a serious business/profession related topic. Near the end Tufte’s personal view becomes clear as he states “serious problems require a serious tool: written reports.” Personally I agree with his statement, when dealing with an important topic, the best way to execute in proper form is through a report. Although it may not be as eye-pleasing, it will convey the exact details without any of the unnecessary fluff. Tufte does acknowledge that images and/or video may be necessary to present material, so for this PowerPoint can be used. However, other than for that sole purpose, Tufte states an exemplary model for technical reports is a scientific paper or a commentary on a paper published in accredited journals like Nature.

Robotics (replacing man power with robotic power)

Take on the “pro” side

- allows mass production to facilitate global growth

- the medical field: robots may even be able to perform surgery

- robots can assist in house chores (already exists: Zoomba vacuum)

Con side:

- amount of people losing jobs

- can a robot have the cognitive mind of a human for surgery?

- what happens with malfunctions… bad production

- idiot view: “what if robots overtake humans and the world”

Movie should show:

- developmental history of robots from the 1900s

- branch into the different forms in which robotics can assist or overtake human tasks

o manufacturing for huge industries (ex: car industries… it’s already happening)

- focus into each branch of robotics

- Bring in the controversy… start displaying overview of the cons

o Focus into the main parts of the why people disagree with the advancement of robotics and robotic manipulation

- Refute the positive aspect of robotic development.

- End the movie with something leaving space for a hint of uncertainty:

o Something like: “The future of robotics is becoming clear...”

§ Show a robotic human, or any complex developments

Carbon Nanotubes

Reference Site: http://www.personal.rdg.ac.uk/~scsharip/tubes.htm

A Brief Annotation:
Carbon nanotubes are long, thin cylinders of carbon that are one of the "strongest and stiffest fibres known." They were first discovered using an evaporator in 1991 by S. Iijima. Since then, carbon nanotubes have been researched with papers being published by the thousands. The fascinating aspect of carbon nanotubes is its ability to be formed into stable structures (like graphite and diamond) and resist breaking under pressure. It also has heat generating capabilities within room temperature. Carbon nanotubes exist due to the "synthesis of buckminsterfullerene, C60."

The physical properties are currently being discovered and disputed; however, even with skeptics, carbon nanotubes show a promising future due to the applications that they are being used in. The physical properties of carbon nanotubes are highly complex but in short are both strong and durable as well as light in weight. The electronic properties of it are just as impressing due to its conductivity rates. These combined characteristics give it much potential in the field of aerospace, electrical, and mechanical engineering. Wondrous prototype inventions from carbon nanotubes are spurring into existence. Ideas such as a "space elevator" have origin bases from carbon nanotubes and mini inventions are beginning to leak out, some as unfathomable as... a paper battery.

Top Ten Favorites:

1) "Amazing Battery Made of... Paper" (Article #52)
The battery is always known to be made of metal and battery liquid however for the first time it is being made of something completely different. A battery has been created by "a team at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York" that is solely made out of paper and is made with "an array of carbon nanotubes on a silicon surface" that is covered by an "array of dissolved cellulose [which is simply paper]." The coolest part about this invention is its dividing properties. With an ordinary battery, you can only use it as it is given. If the battery is cut, the divided units will no longer work. However, with this new paper battery, if it is cut in half the battery will still work but will simply have half the power of the original battery (the 2 pieces will contain 50% of the original power). The battery will always be functional no matter how many times it is cut and the design is very unique because it can practically fit into any crevice and bend over any object.



2) "How to Erase a Single Memory" (Article #33)
“Neuroscientist Joseph LeDoux and his colleagues at New York University took an important step toward memory manipulation when they “erased” specific memories from the brains of rats.” This new procedure they’ve developed helps erase single (specific) memories out of one’ s memory. To test their research, they set up circumstance that created a memory for cats (they would use sirens and light for stimulants) and then they effectively erased memories. They might be able to take this to the next level: humans.



3) "Robots Evolve and Learn How to Lie" (Article #80)
“Dario Floreano of the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology” has observed that robots have learned how to communicate effectively with each other and skillfully deceive one another. With programmed random chance mutations, researchers tested how different offspring would react with survival tests and were all surprised to see how robots would signal danger to other robots and communicate at high levels. This sort of discovery in robots brings hope for developing highly advanced robots that can emit more human like functions.

Reference link:
http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/450373B4-C266-4E7B-ABD6-59F44372F5D4/


4) "China's Syndrome" (Article #1)
Over the past year, China has been linked with numerous food recalls in America due to contamination in the products and has also been accused of harmful chemicals that have been found in toy products as well. Along with this, there is a booming rate of pollution occurring in China due to the heavy combustion of coals and various factories. Many people worry that the exponential growth rate of China’s economy is bringing along various negative side effects as a result. The country’s population is bustling with work but there is a serious global concern over whether China will contribute immensely to global warming. Stats show that China may out beat the US in emissions very soon. This is a serious concern that is extremely important to know more about.

Reference link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tag/pollution-in-china


5) "Food Additive Doubles Kids' Hyperactivity" (Article #89)
The common preservative, sodium benzoate, is no longer just a simple preservative but is turning out to have altering behavioral effects on children according to “a team from the University of Southampton in England.” Children who were given food or drinks with sodium benzoate showed hyperactivity compared to kids who did not. This is a eye opening discovery that may lead to a serious reevaluation about children’s diets (also this could be why there are more and more kids with ADHD nowadays).

Reference link:
http://www.naturalchild.org/research/food_dyes.html


6) "Function of Appendix Explained" (Article #96)
Researchers at Duke University explained that the appendix does have a function for the body. The appendix serves as a “storehouse” for safe bacteria that come to the body’s aid during infections. When people have all bacteria depleted with illnesses such as cholera and have intensive diarrhea, the good bacteria stored in the appendix come out to help replenish the body’s bacteria. Without the bacteria storage, people have a lower survival advantage since they cannot replenish their lost bacteria. This is amazing because almost everyone thinks that the appendix is useless.

Reference link:
http://www.livescience.com/health/060530_bad_appendix.html


7) "Created: A Glass that Bends" (Article #50)
Researchers created a glass that is opaque and made out of metals that can bend in different angles. The glass originally formed cracks from bending but soon the composition of the glass was revised containing low density and high density areas so that when the glass is bent the crack that is formed is immediately dissipated. This is glass is a useful invention that can serve in mainly buildings and devices.

Reference link:
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/309/1


8) "Calculus was Developed in Medieval India" (Article #56)
Two British researchers, Joseph and Almeida, spent years reading through ancient Indian scripts to find that Calculus was discovered in the mid 16-century. Keralese mathematician Madhava is well known for his discoveries in math but people are not sure how he directly influenced Newton and Leibniz. Both researchers however believe -based on timelines- that Jesuits came to India, learned the languages and brought mathematical knowledge from southern India to Western Europe. This is interesting because this could mean that mathematical credits could have been going to the wrong people for all these years.

Reference link:
http://www.gizmag.com/go/7800/


9) "Can Vitamin D Save Your Life?" (Article #8)
Vitamin D, found in dairy products and known to boost calcium in the body’s system has been recently researched and is claimed to help the body against different diseases. Vitamin D is known to help osteoporosis (since calcium is what helps) but now researchers have found that vitamin D also helps with defense against colon, prostrate, and breast cancer, tuberculosis, schizophrenia, and many more. Researchers say that vitamin D is important for optimal health and adults should be taking 1,500 to 2,000 IU of vitamin daily. Currently, Americans only consume an average of 230 IU a day. This is really interesting because vitamin D may hold much more potential than once expected and this sort of knowledge is important in our current day society where illnesses are becoming scarily increasing.

Reference link:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/09/cancer_vitamin_d.html


10) "Dark Matters" (Article #7)
Geha and John Simon at Caltech recently discovered eight satellite galaxies that were much fainter and smaller in mass than other galaxies. Their matter was 99 percent made up of dark matter and both researchers predict that there are other satellites that exist with 100 percent dark matter. Dark matter might be responsible for creating the black holes in the universe. Within dark matter, the formation of stars might occur as well and the ones already formed may very much be from previous dark matter. This new discovery may lead to further understanding about how galaxies and our very solar system could have been formed.

Reference link:
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/science/know_l1/dark_matter.html