Blog Assignment #6

                                                         

                                                      Final Course Reflection 

 

Unlike as any other English course I have taken before, this technical writing class came out to be totally different from what I was expecting to see. I liked the approach of teaching this course, and think that research, blogging, and technology topics made it very interesting. I learned something that was interesting for me, and a great thing is that I will use a knowledge that took from this class.

I learned what is technical writing, and how to write Memo, Technical Description, and a Recommendation Paper documents. Another valuable experience that I gained from this ENG259 course is to how to do citation in APA format. Citation provide original sources for people who read read your paper, and makes the paper more effective and convincing.  In such a field like engineering it is crucial to know how to do these type of papers. As LaGuardia students we have access to thousands of articles in our Library Databases. It is a great source for finding any type of information, which helps to perform a research.

I did not know much about blogging when we started this course, but I know how to write and follow other professional blogs now. It is interesting, but most importantly is that we as engineers have to stay in touch with latest technologies, and blogging is one of the best ways to do it. Also I did not have any experience writing technical papers before, so I improved my writing skills during this course. Now I know what types of technical papers I can write and what purpose they serve. In addition, I would like to thank for that great experience that I had in this class!

Blog Assignment #5

                                                        
                                                               iPad vs Surface Pro

Mictosoft's interest to tablets traces back to 2002 when first Microsoft Tablet PC was designed to run Windows XP Tablet Edition. That tablet was bulky and heavy, and offered a technology with pen-writing recognition abilities. At that time tablets didn't interest anyone on a market, so sale of this technology was significantly less than other electronic devices in the same field. Few years later when this market was "reopened" by Apple again, all companies followed Apple with their own similar products, and surprisingly Microsoft was last of the companies who started to chase Apple. Can Microsoft take back what is belong to it, or will Apple keep a bigger slice of pie to itself? Let's compare Surface Pro vs 4th generation of iPad with Retina display.

Dimensions and weight

Surface Pro came out to be slightly longer, yet a bit lower at the same time. In this case it's just a matter of taste which proportion to pick. However, Apple is obvious winner if you take a look at thickness of two devices. Difference of 4.1 mm makes iPad significantly slimmer compare to Surface, but most importantly almost twice lighter!  Surface 907g > iPad 653g. Bigger not always better!

Display

New generation of iPad has a higher resolution screen than the previous generations. In fact, a higher resolution of tablets from other manufacturers on today's market. On the other side, Surface ClearType technology makes a picture look sharp and detailed with even lower resolution (Wagner, 2013). A pixel density of Surface is also less than iPad, which makes a difference in a picture quality.

Processor (Chip) and memory

Surface Pro is equipped with Intel Core i5 with 1.7GHz (Wagner, 2013), which is the same processor that offered in newest MacBook Air. This processor makes tablet run fast, and switch between apps easily and quickly. iPad oppose with its A6X chip that offers as much performance as it takes to run iOS 6. The only advantage of A6X against intel core i5 is the ability to drain battery life a bit slower.

Like any current laptop or even desktop, Surface Pro offers 4Gb Ram of memory, and  iPad is limited only to 1Gb Ram. Even though iPad needs less resources to run iOS 6 than Surface Pro does to operate Windows 8, this round without a doubt wins Sufrace!
 
What to buy?

The specs found in Surface Pro can be found in current laptops and ultrabooks; consequently, according price for the one of the fastest tablets on today's market is labeled to Surface Pro. Price starts at $899.00, and to be honest you can go ahead and add another $120.00 for a keyboard (Microsoft doesn't include a keyboard in the set). Unfortunately, when bed news come, they come together. Surface Pro with 64Gb and 128Gb of internal memory comes with pre-installed Windows 8 and other software, so a user gets only 23Gb and 83Gb of available memory accordingly. In this case I would consider purchase of Surface Pro with 128Gb of memory to feel free.

iPad with 32Gb has more available memory than Surface Pro 64Gb, and together with a Bluetooth keyboard it will cost you around $670.00.

Choice is always yours!


                                                                   References

Wagner, K. (2013, February 5). Microsoft Surface Pro review: too much future? Gizmodo.
       Retrieved May 30, 2013, from
       gizmodo.com/5981224/microsoft-surface-pro-review-too-much-future

                             

Blog Assignment #4

Nao and the Ladder (Climbing Skills)

This video, uploaded by The Amazel, demonstrates the ability of Nao robot v3.3 to climb a ladder. As the author stated, the demonstration was not performed at autonomous mode, and the robot's movements were programed by NAO's, Valentin (The Amazel, 2011). Despite the robot's movements were programmed it is still impressive how Nao can execute series of complex movements to complete the task. Nao demonstrates not only its capabilities but progress of robotics technology in general. This video ends with Nao cute waving at a viewer, yet I expect the robot has no idea how to get down. Unfortunately, this video does not provide any specific characteristics of Nao. It shows how Nao can be programmed to complete certain tasks. This demonstration is one of many others that show improvement in programming artificial intelligence (AI), so it suggests advanced AI in the near future.


Artificial Intelligence

In his encyclopedia article on AI from the Gale Science Collection, John Sullins discusses artificial intelligence (AI) as the science and technology. The AI aims to duplicate human behavior to robots and computational systems as a progress makes computers smarter(Sullins, 2005). Artificial intelligence already used widely in order to calculate difficult tasks much faster and precise than any person. It can absolutely replace people in some areas, which, of course, will lead to many crucial changes. It may result in disappearance of many jobs, and there are many examples when it happened. On the other hand, human-like intelligence is still weak, and cannot survive on its own or interact with real world like living creatures. Also it can perform one operation very well, but can't do anything else in other areas.


Back to Nao Specifications

Technical description on Nao Robot by Lallee S. gives us details regarding what is inside of Nao. It also describes the robot's software and how it can be programmed. Nao robot is 57-cm tall (about 22 inches), which has two 640x480 face/image-recognition cameras, tactile sensors, voice synthesizer, and two speakers. Inside of the robot is x86 AMD 500 MHz CPU, 256 MB SDRAM, and 1Gb of Flesh memory. Nao robot equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity as well. Six-watt battery provides up to an hour and a half of life of the robot (Lallee, 2010). The author claims that Nao's can be programed with SDK called NaoQi. Choregraph allows to a user to  design series of separate movements, and then putting them together into complex conditional behaviors (Lallee, 2010). This software includes C and C++i languages, and it is implemented on Linux platform. On the official website of Aldebaran Robotics, price of a single piece on today's market is equivalent to $15,000 thousands (Aldebaran Robotics, 2013).




                                                                 References

Aldebaran Robotics. (2013). Aldebaran robotics Nao H25 humanoid robot academic edition - 
       robotshop. RobotShop. Retrieved May 2, 2013, from 
       http://www.robotshop.com/aldebaran-robotics-nao-h25-humanoid-robot-academic-3.html  

Lalle, S., & Jouen, A. J. (2010). Cooperative Human Robot Interaction with the Nao Humanoid:
      Technical Description Paper for the Radical Dudes. 

Sullins, J. P. (2005). Artificial intelligence. Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, 
       and Ethics (Vol. 1, pp. 110-113). Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA. Retrieved from 
       http://go.galegroup.com.rpa.laguardia.edu:2048/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CCX3434900060&v=2.1&
       u=cuny_laguardia&it=r&p=GVRL.Science&sw=w

The Amazel. (2011). Nao and the ladder. YouTube. Retrieved May 2, 2013, from
       http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD48SLxwezg 

Blog Assignment #3

                                                     Sharing a Professional Memo

I addressed my memo paper to a traffic scenario because this is a real-life issue on our LaGuardia campus. It based on idea that students and people who work here have to commute to/from LaGuardia with awareness of traffic condition. A recent accident near C-Building when a van struck students on a sidewalk made me concerned about campus safety, so I decided to examine this problem in my memo. I came up with a solution to build two underpasses across M- and C-Building, so pedestrians could cross Thomson Ave quickly (E-building traffic light is very short for pedestrians). On the other hand, this solution would benefit traffic flow on Thompson Ave as well. There is a sample of my paper:     

"The potential “underpass M” across M-Building will allow students to get quickly and safely under busy Thompson Ave to Seven Eleven convenience store, or to a bus stop. At the same time, it will improve a traffic flow on Thomson Ave, and decrease accident risks. The extension of “underpass M” will also provide for students to get to the cellar of M-Building from either side of Thompson Ave. The goal of “underpass C” across C-Building is to secure students and other pedestrians from walking over the Thompson Ave, and to minimize accident risks."

This was a different type of writing comparing to what I did before. This paper came out to be specific, and addressing a problem followed by a solution. To provide a possible solution, I had to do research regarding traffic scenario I have chosen. I decided that building an underpass would be the best solution. Finally, I did research on underpass, its cost, and how it can solve safety issue on LaGuardia campus in order to secure students and pedestrians.

Blog Assignment #2

                                       Have you ever heard of 3D Printing?

Let's pretend for a moment we can use our imagination to create objects. For example, we can create sculptures, clothes, shoes, prototypes, household things, small production parts, or anything unique. Then it would be amazing, yet at the same time it would change the whole economy and its perspective. Things would become different from what they are now. Do you think it is awesome or scary? In any case we do not have to pretend anymore because this technology is already here, and it is called 3D Printing.

In his article Introducing Video on 3D Printing, on the http://engineering.curiouscatblog.net/2013/03/03/introduction-video-on-3d-printing/, the author presents 3D Printing and its potential in the future. 3D Printing is a process of making a solid three-dimensional object from a digital file on your computer. A digital file like that can be downloaded from the internet or created by a regular user. After the file is ready for print, 3D Printer will start adding one layer of material (polylactic acid) on the other one in different  shapes, and a virtual object will become solid. "I think the ability to print replacement parts is a huge benefit" the author says. Therefore, not only a broken towel hook can be replaced, but exact copy of patient's organ can replace the old one without waiting-list for a donor in the future. There is no need for inventory as a product can be printed when it is requested.

This 3D Printing technology is already used in variety of fields like architecture, construction, civil engineering, medical industry, footwear, and many others. We have already seen 3D printed from jewelry and musical instruments to Nike soccer cleats and "printed hybrid car of the future". I think it will be possible to design and purchase these items on the internet in the nearest future. However, 3D printing is in a very beginning now, so let's wait and see when it will be available for average consumer.

Blog Assignment #1

    

                                                      Welcome to My Blog!

       Hello everyone! My name is Philip Savenok and I study civil engineering at LaGuardia. I like to use problem solving skills to solve all various issues and challenges. Either this is a school assignment or everyday life situation. I have finished my high school in Ukraine, and I spent three and a half years at Metallurgical College of Ukraine studying mechanical engineering. Engineering field requires a lot of time and dedication, but I want to succeed it. Furthermore, I do part-time at Macy's which allows me to learn some basics of retail business.

       Technology and science are crucial nowadays, so it seems to be impossible to exist without them. I would never think I can pay my bills right from my Iphone couple of years back. Technologies make things simple, and that is why we need them. I like to read technology and science news to get updates on what is currently going on a market. I do follow one of the biggest researches that takes place near Geneva, Switzerland. This research is about colliding proton particles at high energy levels, so they result into new elements and many other cool things. There is also a Computer Science Club at B331 at Wednesdays 2:00-3:30, so you are welcome to discuss everything regarding science, technology, engineering, and other related things! 

       Finally, I do like to read books in fantasy genre, sport news, and The New York Times articles, but they do not teach you different aspects of  writing. That is why I am in technical writing class. This course provides a lot of useful and important information that will help to improve writing skills. I believe this course is a great opportunity to supplement your writing tool box!