The Forgotten Crisis

Infographics is the art of translating text information into creative visualizations of a specific topic. Ours was timely. It was about the still looming problem in our beloved home Zamboanga City: the Crisis.

Turning seven months old, 'The Forgotten Crisis' is growing numbers to date. Growing and worsening all the same, the Zamboanguenos are hasty to break free from the string of tragedies that hit them. The armed rebel conflict between the government forces and MNLF has caused tremendous damages physically, morally, and psychologically; then came the days when the rain seemingly did not want to stop, slowly flooding the already miserable camp at the several put up evacuation centers in the city.

There were malicious thoughts on the sudden occurrence of the crisis. Many are forming theories of a conspiracy going on somewhere within the systems of the three-week long crisis. These may or may not be the brutal truth. But the figures that entail this do not lie.

Adobe Illustrator for the win

It's the first time I used Adobe Illustrator and it was amazing so far. 

Take a look at this boring and traditional image of a key. Its oldness adds up to the plainly put up drawing.

 But then, vector graphics hit the trend plus a little creativity and voila! 

This is a key. A funky one at that. :)

Then here are more shapes to practice on: 

Adobe Illustrator: Bringing life to radically boring images since 1986.

What are Vector Images?

Same as object-oriented graphics, refers to software and hardware that use geometrical formulas to represent images. The other method for representing graphical images is through bit maps, in which the image is composed of a pattern of dots. This is sometimes called raster graphics. Programs that enable you to create and manipulate vector graphics are called draw programs, whereas programs that manipulated bit-mapped images are called paint programs.

What is the difference between vectors and 

rasterized/bitmap images?

Unlike JPEGs, GIFs, and Bitmap (BMP) images, vector graphics are not made up of a grid of pixels. Instead, vector graphics are comprised of paths, which are defined by a start and end point, along with other points, curves, and angles along the way. A path can be a line, a square, a triangle, or a curvy shape. These paths can be used to create simple drawings or complex diagrams. Paths are even used to define the characters of specific typefaces.

How do you create vectors?

There are many ways to create a vector: One way is to start with the 

(a) Type Tool(b) Shape Tool     - Rectangle Tool
     - Rounded rectangle Tool
     - Ellipse Tool
     - Polygon Tool
     - Star Tool
     - Pen Tool   

After finishing the vector activity, I realized that a person who doesn't know how to draw can definitely feel visually artistic through the use of this wonder application: the Adobe Illustrator.

References:

1. http://www.techterms.com/definition/vectorgraphic

2. http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/V/vector_graphics.html

3. http://www.wikihow.com/Create-Vectors-in-Adobe-Illustrator

Typography Art

Typography Art has been the trend in this especially creative visual generation that we have come to know. It is the arranging and setting of text to form budding images and or an idea.

I created my first typography art. It's none other than.... an image of Jesus Christ!

I can never thank Him enough. For all the days I have depended on Him and Him alone, you could say this is a simple tribute I could offer to Jesus. 

The text I used were lyrics from Hillsong United: Still, Here I am to Worship, All about Jesus, At the Cross, and Above All.

It's pretty basic actually since it is my first time to do typography art, this has been my exploration of the Pen Tool in Adobe Photoshop CS5. 

Before I did the actual work, I thought it was tedious work.. and I was right! You have to trace lines in order to form that desired wave of text. This consequently makes several texts in the layer box, which could reach hundreds if you don't merge layers.

Typography Art is cool and without a doubt creative. I'd love to learn more about this and the dimensions of the magical Pen Tool. 

Multimedia and its Social and Ethical Issues

When we talk about social and ethical issues related to multimedia systems, the two most defining problems are the exclusivity of the copyright clause and a computer user's appropriate use of the internet.

Copyright refers to the legal protection for people who express ideas and information in a variety of forms. The most common forms resemble the data types that are used in multimedia system: writing, visual images, music and moving images. Computer software is also protected by copyright laws. It is important that when you use data that is not your own it is acknowledged correctly and the author recognised and/or compensated.

Here is a simple guideline as to what can be done with copyrighted works:

Appropriate use of the Internet is an issue of concern throughout society and many organizations monitor online activity users and have guidelines that users are expected to follow. Now that multimedia content is so readily available online, there is even more unease about whether people are being responsible while, for example, at work or school. Many organizations, therefore, have guidelines regarding, for example, the creation, transmission, downloading of any offensive or obscene material.

The typical user has access to almost anything in the internet. A kid as young as four years old could take his self-discovery into a whole new and malicious level. There have been numerous instances of users to upload sexual content and other forms like this. Utmost internet monitoring is the solution here.

Some may abuse the power of voicing out opinions and proclaiming the latest happenings in their lives. Social media, like Facebook and Twitter, depends on user-input. But some have gone overboard in posting status updates like they own your news feed.

The internet is a free place but there must be limitations on the disclosure of probably not-so significant information in one's life.


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Reference:
http://www.hsc.csu.edu.au/ipt/mm_systems/7-4/social_ethical_issues.htm

Elysium

Sometime in the future, citizens were classified to be either the filthy rich or the slum poor. Max, the protagonist, is one of the poorest of the poor. He grew up on the overpopulated earth, together with his childhood friend Frey, dreaming that one day they’ll fly to Elysium. Elysium is an earth-orbiting space station specifically designed and manned for the privilege of the well-made residents. Max is under parole and had to work in service. An incident led him to reach means to survive. He made a deal with Spider with an exchange of conditions. Eventually, Max was able to save Frey and her daughter in the hope of bringing earth and Elysium together.

 Throughout the film, major technological advancement is the theme. Robots replaced human work: police, parole officer, servants, etc. Their weapons were of the most advanced features. Flying drones have accurate positioning signals. Men were noted to be wearing exoskeletons to enforce superior strength. And my favourite – the panacea med-bed, instant detection and healing of citizens. No down payments, personal data fill up, and what have you.

If only the most striking part is in question, then no need to ask more. When Max was at risk of dying due to radiation deterioration, he accepted whatever deal he made with Spider in order to live, this includes screwing him up an exoskeleton. That part of the movie totally shaken the peace in me. The visuals made it seem knives were piercing Max’ body and screws were spiraling down deep in his flesh. It is shocking to know that he could still live after that harsh operation.

Past, present, or future, politics is still undeniably dirty. There will always be a large gap between the marginalized and the rich. The movie Elysium only magnified the situation but the reality is not far from it. To add in this bizarre reality is the advancement of technology in our lives. Technology has made a big impact on us that it is impossible to detach from it. 

Fifth Generation Computers: Artificial Intelligence

More than ten years ago, the Fifth Generation Computer System was still a plan waiting to be developed into a full technological advancement. The Fifth generation computing devices are still in development, though there are some applications, such as voice recognition, that are being used today. The use of parallel processing and superconductors is helping to make artificial intelligence a reality. Quantum computation and molecular and nanotechnology will radically change the face of computers in years to come. The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and self-organization.

The computers under this use super large scale integrated chips. Computers will be able to recognize image and graphs. Fifth generation computer aims to be able to solve highly complex problem including decision making, logical reasoning. They will be able to use more than one CPU for faster processing speed. Fifth generation computers are intended to work with natural language.

Fifth generation computers are in developmental stage which is based on the artificial intelligence. The goal of the fifth generation is to develop the device which could respond to natural language input and are capable of learning and self-organization. Quantum computation and molecular and nanotechnology will be used in this technology. So we can say that the fifth generation computers will have the power of human intelligence.



The other properties of fifth generation computers are for parallel processing, it used superconductors, used in speech recognition, used in intelligent robots, and used in artificial intelligence.

1. http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_Software/2002/FiveGenerations.asp

2. http://latesttech-asm.blogspot.com/2011/06/fifth-generation-of-computers.html

3. http://www.scribd.com/doc/47799750/Fifth-Generation-of-Computers

Computers are life-savers

How can we use computer and communications technology to minimize the effects of calamities such as earthquakes and super typhoons?

Natural calamities and even disasters caused by man are inevitable, but closely responding to them when signals of proximity increase can still be helped through the power of technological innovation. It seems today that all can be answered through the help of computers and communications technology. Human beings are geniuses, therefore nothing shall hold us down, not even the wrath of Mother Earth.

Let us take for example the most recent devastation Central Philippines met: Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda). Days before, PAGASA notified the country of a very fierce typhoon coming our way capable of inducing a storm surge. Just by this, we can formulate a lot of questions already. (1) How did PAGASA become aware of this super typhoon? (2) What in the world is a storm surge? There is only one answer for these: computers.

Government agencies like PAGASA, though not state of the art, depend highly on the functions of computers and technology to monitor the forming, movement, and what-have-you of natural phenomena from low pressure areas to super typhoons, and by PHIVOLCS  from volcanic eruptions to earthquake intensities, and so on. The second question is answered when one look it up a search engine through a computer. Confusion was one of the reasons why residents in the affected areas have not prepared as much as they should have.Through computers and communications technology, there will be awareness promotion spread throughout. As long as internet connection is provided and phone signals are strong, then people should have no excuse to not know what to do during calamities.

By now you can tell that without the invention of computers and communications technology, things would have been worse and totally out of hand. Nobody could have the least bit prepared for it, people could be leisurely spending their time at home without any preparations whatsoever. Those affected, without cellphones and recording devices, could not have let the whole world encounter the real deal during the typhoon's landfall. And after that, relatives lost could have never been found if telecommunication companies and news outfits didn't cover them.

We have a lot to thank computers for. Some lives may not have been saved when the need arose, but a multitude more have been spared because of this heaven-sent technology.