[Review] July 26th, Tuesday

Today's fieldtrip was pretty chill. I mean, super awsm! I didn't know how our technology had developed during the past decade, and I was writing about the science of computation all along...I'm embarrassed! To be honest, by computational power, I thought our ability to create a more obedient was all there was. But there were people who made the movie scenes that seemed impossible into reality--we could drag the folders or images in and out of the computer on a screen or paper. It was just like in the Minority Report; we could do the same thing as Tom Cruise was doing on a glassy screen, pulling out video clips and watching it in our dimension. The professional worker also showed us the small electronic thing that looked like a bigger PDA, which was made by SONY. The difference between the PDA and the SONY thing was that the SONY thing didn't work by electrical lights, but it rather contrasts black and white to show the screen. Christine told us that we are going to another fieldtrip on Friday. I can't wait till I see those little machines play soccer...lol. ProJoe seemed to be working hard to get us more involved with the computing stuff. We might watch the movie ISLAND, and we might create a computer game, working with the professional gamers. Nowadays, we are busy with creating a chess program. I thought it would be easy, but it's definitely not. It's pretty tough, but I hope that it'll get more fun...

[Review] Wednesday, "the lump of the week", July 20th

I learned more stuff about programming today. Today was different; we learned the actual codes and how to commands rather than the "theories". Because of Christine's kind guide sheet, I did not have much trouble in making a text- recognizer button. I never knew I could do these kind of stuff! Yay! Although, I would appreciate more if Christine's guideline was written out of bulletpoints or numbers, so we know the next step without looking for it so hard in paragraphs.
Today was an easy-going day. Professor Joe asked us what movie we wanted to watch for Friday, and the discussion was narrowed down to two: Island and Stealth. Since we are in a computer science program, he wanted to pick the movie that somewhat related to our topic. I felt like I was wasting my summer away, not being able to do my AP homework and not being able to hang out with my friends, (probably because we did not have that much field trips and were doing work that I didnt understand quite) but it was cool.

[Review] Second Tuesday at UCSD, July 19th

Today's SDSC (San Diego Super Computer center) was a bit disappointing. The most modern computer, so called the Blue Jean, was bulkier than I thought; it was bigger and had more wires attached to it. It was big because it had many components and chips in it and needed a fan to cool it down. It certainly used less energy (electricity), which was good. But I thought it would be the turn of the 2005, or at least it would look like such computer-science revolution. What was Blue Jean so different from the others, other than using less energy, that it would be called with such a grand impression? How does the public benefit from such technology? These two questions were left unanwered. The one thing that I remember about the place was the fact that the air conditioner kept the same, very low temperature in the room. I'd rather hoped that I would see the robot's arm, moving many tapes that were stacked in a stalk what looked like a little garage. The presentation was not much informatic; The first earthquake presentation was already presented through the COSMOS discovery lectures during the first week. The second presentation was even worse; with all the queer music going on, I thought it was a mere screen saver. I just took the pamplets there and decided to read it once I get to my dorm. I don't know if the tourist just has been hired, and thus don't know much technology to talk about, or if the SDSC itself did not have much to show to the public, but it was a so-so field trip.

[Review] Second Monday at UCSD, July 18th

The morning lecture was again, more complicated. Maybe because it's Monday, and it's a fresh start again, and we didn't get to sleep in till noon like Sunday mornings. But because we had more hands-on type activities, the lecture seemed less difficult. Christine's lecture of brain manipulating the process of an image or context was pretty easy-going, as always. Some people think these doll pictures are creepy. But I think they're pretty--On the first day of Christine's lecture of an AI, I immediately connected the robots to the dolls. How cool will it be to have a doll conversing with kids? Especially for hospital kids, who really cannot go outside and associate with a lot of friends. They can have a huge collection of talking and motioning dolls and build their social skills. It would be cooler if each doll had different personalities, as they are looking different from each one another. In this way, the AI will attract many public's attention and gain a massive amount of support. I think the core of the development of the AI's depend on the public support. Although the government and many non-profit organizations are contributing partial of money to the research of artificial intelligence, it is quite hard to yet say that the AI will appear to be smart as humans. If we start making the intense connection between AI's and humans, then maybe we'll be into the research. Maybe it won't be solely about "making conversing dolls" but really about something bigger and more grand...

[Review] 6th Day (July 14th)

I liked today's lecture with Joe.
It wasn't about Java or C++, it wasn't about any of that heavy details that I needed to know in order to answer the question.
Basically, the question was, 'what differences are there between a human and a machine?'.
I answered the question in my mind with basic, fundamental answers:
Humans are made of flesh, and machines are made of metals and substantial stuff.
But what if someone out there had enough knowledge to create a machine that looked just like a human, and was formed out of cells, muscles and even tangible brain like a human?
The answer to that was hard.
What could we ask him to figure out that he's a definite machine, if he was just like a human?
Our cluster ppl came up with all these abstract answers: soul, intelligence, consciousness, creativity and so on.
But what was especially appealing to me the most was, how do we know that there are any difference between idential brains that function the same and even have the smallest particle of the atoms?
We had many answers that attempted to poke holes through that question, but there was a conclusion that we will never know the dissimilarities.
I try to be positive, and I do want to believe that we are not merely machines.
I can say that we have all our uniqueness and therefore, we have more values.
But with technology and counterpoints that strike through my beliefs, it is hardly possible to say that we are solely different from machines.
When I look back to this blog, I want to know the answer to it.
When I read this over again later, I want to be able to set off with a different, and a more sophisticated answer than what I had for today.

[Review] 5th Day (July 13th) High's and Low's

We started the day off by attending to the discovery lecture by Dr. Nick Spitzer.
His lecture of human brain system was pretty clear and informatic, although I felt like he was "talking at us" rather than "talking with us".

Today's cluster lecture was basically about biological stuff.
It is true, at first, I thought to myself, "why the heck are we learning these genes stuff for?"
But the fact that even non-technological subjects like biology and anatomy requires computer techniques and graphics shows how high the people's demand in computer technology/programming is in 21 century.
I feel like I'm getting a little bit more comfortable each and every day about my cluster topic.
When Joe asked us what a computer was, what a machine was, what a algorithm was, and what programming meant, I was totally lost.
I was filled with enthusiasm when I first came here, but my confidence seemed to be running away.
But it's getting better by bits--because Joe told us that we shouldn't be discouraged about what we don't know.
Professor said that if we found what we particularly liked and could possibly learn more to our knowledge, then cluster 1 had achieved its goal.

I'm still trying to cool off of what I've heard today (**hint, hint. not learned, but heard).
So towards victory,
YAh,YAh,Yaaah!!!

[Review] 4rth Day-- High's and Low's

I loved today's second lecture from Christine.
I did not know that an Artificial Intelligence would require so much diverse knowledge to actually pass the Turing Test and be closer to become human-like.
And the lab work was fun! I felt really into the lecture because I had the chance to actually participate in it--more of a hands-on type.

It was actually the first lecture that I was really into.
I may not be good at computer science and not experienced in it, I think these kinds of topics attract many people.

I can't wait till Friday, and I've already finished Christine's homework assignment.
YAY!!!