Today we have a small collection of shots I took with a few of my fully manual film cameras. I just love that they look like this naturally, no Hipstamatic involved.
Self Freezing Coca Cola and Supercooling
In this video the Coca Cola seems to freeze spontaneously after the man opens the bottle. Apparently it’s a special type of Coca Cola that you can only get in certain parts of the world.
[youtube j07SweYJTSM]The Coke is “supercooled” (when a liquid is brought below its freezing point without crystallizing). When a liquid is cooled below its freezing point it will turn into ice and want to expand. The vending machines in this video cool the coke a few degrees below its freezing point, but the bottle provides constant pressure which prevents the liquid from expanding and thus ice cannot form. When the bottle is open, the coke has room to expand… and ice forms.
[youtube fSPzMva9_CE]A supercooled liquid can stay supercooled until it is agitated… then it turns into ice.
Picture of the Day: Dating in University
This was re-edited from another graph (I’m sure you can Google something like this and you’ll find the original), but isn’t it an interesting discovery? It’s not 100% accurate (note: do not take this seriously), but it gives an idea of what you want to go in if you’re super concerned about having a boyfriend or a girlfriend. And if you really want a date in university, go into math!
Tech Highlights Week 3: Chromium OS, Chromebook, and what they mean for you
Some of you may not know this, but Google has already developed their own operating system. Though still in beta, the concept is indeed highly appealing. The main idea behind this new OS is that normal operating systems take a long time to boot up, and a good majority of users spend most of their time on the internet as is, so why not simply do away with the whole start up process and boot directly into the internet. This is exactly what Chromium OS does. Chromium OS is an operating system centered entirely around creating the optimal browsing experience for a user. It allows you to boot up your computer instantly and access the internet. With the increasing number and variety of web applications, it is no longer unreasonable to spend most of your time computing online. Google docs and the Chrome web store further allow a user to transfer tasks normally performed on a desktop to the online world.
So now Google says, why stop at just an operating system? Why not sell computers built with Chromium OS installed, and other desirable features for the user on the go. Thus, the advent of the Chromebook. It sounds very interesting, a computer that can start up instantly and access the web, all while supporting a 3G network connection so you can have internet anywhere you go. Plus, you wouldn’t have to worry about viruses since you’re basically only running Chrome. Other Google apps even allow you to create a virtual database of your music online*. It’d be the ultimate portable experience!
Now I’m a Google fan boy, I would probably sell them my soul/house/dog if they asked. When I first saw this, I was basically foaming at the mouth and prepared to fly to California to give them all my money. However, there is a catch. Putting aside the fact that this won’t be available in Canada for some time, the two announced Chromebook models are surprisingly undesirable. Firstly, neither are tablets*, rather, they are a Samsung Series 5 and an Acer 3G. A cursory glance over the specifications reveals nothing particularly eye-popping, though one could argue that high performance models are unnecessary based on the uses of a Chromebook. Alright, why not, but then surely the prices would be low. Well that’s where you’d be wrong, approximately $500 wrong to be exact. But then, of course, the battery life must be phenomenal right? You’d be wrong again, a paltry 6-8 hours for both, though the Chromebook website says that they will last a day on a single charge. I guess one of the new features of the Chromebook is distorting spacetime, so that the length of a day can be cut by two thirds. Cool.
My verdict? Enormous potential, but needs a lot of work. In its current stage, buying a Chromebook is simply illogical. You can pay less money for a computer with better specs, and just have it in standby mode whenever you aren’t using it. Sure you wouldn’t have 24/7 internet but you could always get a rocket stick or some such. Personally, I wouldn’t pay much more than $250 unless they make some serious changes.
Verdict:
- Brilliant idea – needs work
- Longer battery life
- Cheaper price
- Better specs
- Availability in Canada
- More models
*http://music.google.com/about/
*D: x 100000
http://www.google.com/chromebook/#
Picture of the Day: Dogs
Via Tyler Stalman from stalman.ca
iPhone Game Review: Disentanglement
My Physics 30 teacher made this neat puzzle game for the iPhone and iTouch, and I thought I would give it some light at Youth Are Awsome. The objective of the game is to clear lines and paths (sort of like Tetris) to get points. But if you get caught at a dead end you lose a life and die. Each path you create gets erased and the more lines you clear at the same time, the more points you receive. If you gain enough points you gain one life, giving you the opportunity to survive if you get “entangled” in a mess. If you’re up for a challenging mind puzzle, take a gander and buy this puzzle game only for $1, if not just try the lite version for free.
2011 ConocoPhillips Youth of Distinction Awards honour phenomenal youth
- The Advocacy award finalists, From left to right: Myself, Tori Stosky, Connor Johnson and Loraleigh Kovacik from Rogers
I love the Red Cross and all the volunteer work I do for the Red Cross, because volunteering has helped me realized that “the smallest act of kindness is never wasted.” The feeling I get when someone smiles after I have mentored or assisted them gives me a contagious smile that is hard to lose and happy butterflies in my stomach. When you are able to assist someone, in your community, in your school, or across the world, why wouldn’t you? For me, I cannot turn away the call.
It was quite the honour to attend the ConocoPhillips Youth of Distinction Awards (YODA) ceremony as a finalist for the YODA Advocacy award as a youth engagement advocate, and even though I didn’t win, I left the ceremony with profound inspiration from the other fellow youth that were celebrated for the wonderful ways that they choose to live. This simply drove me to follow my passions more fervently and enthusiastically!
The ceremony was quite elegant and wonderfully exciting, as friends, family members and loved ones filled the Safari Lodge in the Calgary Zoo on a cloudy Saturday to come recognize the wonderful youth that show passion and dedication in their lives. Videos of an interview with each of the nominees were displayed upon a huge screen, and each of the nominees of each section were called to the front of the room for a quick photo shoot and to await a year’s worth of anticipation for the announcement of the recipient of the award.
I clearly remember the filming process for my interview for YODA, and I consciously watched my nervous self on the big screen, explaining my passion for being a youth engagement advocate and why (it was my first live camera interview!) I am quite proud of myself for being able share my passion with other members of the community, and I remember smiling at the videos of nominees that clearly showed a conviction and compassion for what they believed in. Quite inspiring and uplifting.
Classy music provided a wonderful background to the rambling of various table groups that were situated around an inviting dance floor. Great performances took place, which included an interesting Bollywood dance group that twirled and jingled magnificently (my only regret was that I was sitting on opposite side of the dance floor of the dancers and did witness only the backsides of this group), a very graceful and poised traditional Chinese dancer, and highlight of these performances was an amazing beat boxer. This beat boxer created pop songs purely from using his voice, which included all computer generated beats, rhythms, and vocals; he provided them all. He could even beat box holding the microphone to his throat! (Were we hearing a heartbeat boxer?!)
YODA 2011 was a wonderful ceremony that engaged the whole community to realize that the differences youth were making incredible leaps and strides in bringing about positive change in the lives of others and in their own self growth. It was a chance to see that the changes youth brought today would affect the future of tomorrow.
Tech Highlights Week 2.5: Top 5 Firefox Addons
I’ve received a few requests from Firefox users to compile a top 5 extensions list for Firefox as I already did with Chrome. Here are my top choices:
This 100 per cent must-have add-on also works for Chrome. Using Javascript, Greasemonkey allows you to customize literally everything about Firefox, enhance YouTube, Facebook, Reddit and more! Just visit www.userscripts.org for free scripts. I might do a top scripts compilation later.
Another must-have extension. It blocks almost all annoying advertisements. It also disables video ads on YouTube and hides annoying images on any website. It is completely configurable so you can use it to block anything you want (Avoiding Rebecca Black has never been easier)
Just like with Chrome, Stylish allows you to install themes for any website you use (including Facebook).
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Performs real time translations for a multitude of different languages. Also includes a spell checker, a text to speech program and a virtual keyboard.
Tab Mix Plus enhances Firefox tabs and allows you to duplicate tabs, control tab focus, undo closed tabs, and much more. It also includes a full-featured session manager.
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Honorable mentions:
Integrated Gmail – Makes everything in Gmail collapsible <–+–>
Colorful Tabs – Makes tabs colored
Photo of the Day: Sunrise
One of the key aspects of photography is timing. I took this photo back in November at 7 a.m. when I was getting ready for school… I am not usually a dedicated enough photographer to wake up this early for a picture; so you could say that it was a lucky shot!
A NEW PLANET?
Yes, that’s right, it’s possible that our NASA scientists have discovered a ninth planet in our solar system. It has been named “Tyche” pronounced tay-kee. The name was found from the Greek goddess of fortune, chance, providence and fate. Tyche was said to be the daughter of “Oceanus” and “Tethys” with an evil sister named “Nemesis” for her being, well, a nemesis. When people wondered why it was named after Greek mythology instead of Roman like all other planets, it was explained that there was an object in space named Nemesis. That object was supposedly the reason for “periodic mass extinctions on the Earth.” (To read more about it, click http://space.about.com/od/sunsol/a/Nemesis.htm)
The name’s origin is even less fascinating than that of the facts of this newfound world (but to find more out about the fate goddess, click http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/tgodsandgoddesses/g/Tyche.htm); Tyche is apparently FOUR times the size of Jupiter. Apparently NASA members have been arguing since 1999 for which of Tyche’s existence, and they still haven’t come to a decision.
Photo of the Day: Cranston fire
This is a photo I took during my internship with Metro Calgary in 2009.
May!
For many of us, May marks the beginning of Spring! However, as the snow clears and green is finally visible in Calgary, May is also significant – it marks the revival of many environmental youth initiatives. Below are some of the projects that the Sir Winston Churchill Earth Club is involved in. There are many new environmental projects and I would strongly advise everyone to partake in one of them, they’re fun! 🙂
1. Green Youth Gathering
This half day event takes place in Bowmont Park, students from varying high schools across Calgary come together to meet and explore Bowmont Park. Activities involve picking up litter around the park, helping to remove invasive plant species with a famed Calgarian (who was instrumental to the formation of parks in Calgary) and a hot dog and marshmallow campfire roast afterwards. It’s always extremely fun and entertaining to come.
2. Yellowfish Road Project
This project, sponsored by Trout Unlimited (http://www.tucanada.org/) attempts to raise awareness about our water quality. This project involves a short lecture by members of Trout Unlimited and an afternoon where high school students can interact with elementary students to draw yellow fish on storm drains in the community. More information can be reached via: http://www.yellowfishroad.org/
3. Adopt-A-Park
This program involves organizing students to go to a local park to maintain our natural spaces. The project takes place over a half day where participants will fight off invasive species, clean trails, pick up litter and prepare the park for summer users. The Sir Winston Churchill Earth Club will be hosting the program at Nose Hill Park. More information can be found at: http://content.calgary.ca/CCA/City+Hall/Business+Units/Parks/Get+involved/Volunteer/Adopt+a+park/Adopt+a+Park+Calgary.htm
4. Recycling
Organizing an efficient system of recycling (both traditional and electronic) is an easy and painless way to help the environment! Raising awareness about recycling can stem the flow of paper, plastic and glass into the City’s landfills.
SaM’s Serving of NeRd: Cannibalicous Quiz
Have you ever wondered what you would taste like to a cannibal? Now is your chance!
No, I am not advertising a band of test-tasting cannibals that shall advise you on your flavour (as…um…fascinating(?) as that would be… :O). However, it is an interesting question.
There is not any (if there is a minor amount, it is very negligible) real science behind this, but I do find it humorous. Take this quiz and see what you would taste like to a cannibal! Apparently I’m a spicy fish 😛
A truly magical night in Vienna with the CPO
I love music composed in Austria because it is usually known as warm, heartfelt and extremely moving. My favourite Austrian composer Beethoven was celebrated for his music that sensationally captured the spirit of Vienna. The Night in Vienna concert was performed by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) and incredible solo violinist Jonathan Crow, which created a truly unforgettable and magical night!
The whole concert had an amazing an old French feeling of that of a black and white film. The Viennese music that completely filled the concert hall with tones of sentiment evoked images of a boat ride going steadily down a canal, the playfulness of mimes, and of cobblestone alleyways- from the music performed, the audience immediately developed a warm sense of what Vienna had been and still is.
The music played in the Jack Singer Concert Hall this night was definitely created for lovers. I personally love music where you can feel that the composers wrote their pieces with someone in mind. The romantic atmosphere created by the fantastic CPO was absolutely charming and relaxing, and the addition of Jonathan Crow made me believe that love was a very beautiful feeling. A true serenade of predominately soft finishes but with lively spirit asserted by drums and cymbals, the CPO had almost succeed in wanting to stand and waltz. However, the music was not entirely charming and affectionate in a solitary regal sense; no, Viennese music was to be enjoyed on the streets of Vienna and around the world, played to lovers in restaurants at candlelight.
Photo of the Day: Untitled Shoot
I find this one funny, because when I import my photos with Lightroom, it asks me what the name of the photoshoot was. Since I only took a few pictures for this, I didn’t bother naming it. Lightroom then just named the picture “untitled shoot-3343.jpg”. Get it? It’s a potato shoot! 😀 Click to zoom in and get a better look.
