Randy Pausch. “The Last Lecture, Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”
Randy Pausch is a professor of Carnegie Mellon Computer Science. He is also interested in virtual reality, where you make a world in a cyberworld. For example, he is the inventor of 3D animation software called Allice. Currently, he is 47 years old father with 3 kids. They are 2, 3, and 6 year olds. However, Randy Pausch has Terminal Pancreatic Cancer and was told in August 2007 to expect to have only remaining three to six months of good health. Then he was given to do a last lecture before he die. September 18 2007, hundreds of people came all the way to CMU to be part of his last lecture. With a welcoming standing ovation in the beginning of the lecture, he did his inspirational last lecture infront his students, his family, and his friends.
He began his lecture by saying “when there is an elephant in the room, introduce them” and he showed his CAT scans about his tumors. Also he said he apologize to people who thought that the lecture was gonna be gloomy one. In order to prove that he is healthy other than tumors inside his body, he also showed some clapping pushups. His “Last Lecture” was full of humour that I began to forget that he is suffering with cancer.
The lecture was not about his cancer. It was more about telling people to achieve their childhood dreams. He mentioned some of the childhood dreams that he had. Here are some of his childhood dreams.
-Being in zero gravity
-Playing National Football League
-Authoring an article in the World Book of Encyclopedia
-Being Captain Kirk
-Being an imagineer with Disney
-Winning a stuffed animals from amusement park.
In fact, he achieved all of his childhood dreams.
Here is some of the stuff he mentioned on his last lecture.
“The brick walls are
there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us
a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the
people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”
“It’s not about how to achieve your
dreams. It’s about how to lead your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care
of itself. The dreams will come to you.”
“These slides (he showed some slides) are a little bit dark, but when I was in high school I
decided to paint my bedroom. [shows slides of bedroom] I always wanted a submarine and an
elevator. And the great thing about this is they let me do it. And
they didn’t get upset about it. And it’s still there. If you go to my parent’s house it’s still there. And anybody who is out there who is a parent, if your kids want to paint their bedroom, as a favor to me
let them do it. It’ll be OK. Don’t worry about resale value on the house.” Painting a room is to spread out children’s imagination”
Also before he ended his speech, he said that the speech is not for the people who was watching the lecture, but it was for his 3 kids, where they will see this lecture when they grow up.
I have my own childhood dream. I wanted to become a Taxi driver, wanted to live in a deserted island and try to survive by myself, wanted to participate in marathon, and I wanted to become an airline pilot. I thought I was never gonna achieve my own childhood dream. However, after this inspirational speech, I decided to do my best to achieve my childhood dream before I die.
Top 10 Songs by the Arctic Monkeys
As some of you know, the Arctic monkeys is my favorite band of all time. It seems to me that all the musics that they produce are rich in sound and unique. Among them, I have chosen top 10 songs.
10. Fake Tales of San Fransisco
9. I Bet that You Look Good on the Dance Floor
8. Only Ones who know
7. When the Sun Goes Down
6. Teddy Picker
5. Brianstorm
4. Dancing Shoes
3. A Certain Romance
2. From the Ritz to the Rubble
1. Leave Before the lights come on
“Fake Tales of San Fransisco” is quite a good song. However I rated it 10th because it sounded more like Franz Ferdinand’s style, which I don’t really like because they sound little bit like a joke. “I Bet that You Look Good on the Dance Floor” has a good guitar solo. However, Alex’s vocal sound was hard to hear because of the drum and guitars in the background. “Only Ones Who Know” is quite a slow and romantic music. I actually loved it, but there are other songs that are much better. I used to be addicted to “When the Sun Goes Down” and I really enjoyed it. Its rhythm is really addicting and it is kind of a song that will be stuck in your head for a while. However, after I watched the music video, I started to hate it because when ever I hear this song, it reminds me of the music video. “Teddy Picker” is quite unique. It has a repetitive guitar sound on the background and Alex sings extremely fast. This grabbed my attention and made it special for me. That is why I really enjoyed the song. “Brianstorm” is more like hard rock. In the beginning, the blasting sound rocks your head and then the lyrics of the song is quite funny. Also the bass solo is one of my favorite part of the song. I am able to play “Dancing Shoes” on guitar pretty well. I love the solo part of the song, and if you listen to the lyrics carefully, there is a message from Alex, telling you to try to dance with another person. (Well that’s my opinion) The title is weird but listen to it. you will really enjoy it. “A Certain Romance” has an amazing introduction at the beginning. Then, it gets into a quiet and rhythmic guitar sound. Whenever I listen to it, I always think of the Central Park. At the end of the song, Arctic Monkeys plays a blasting melody. “From the Ritz to the Rubble” starts with Alex’s solo. Then drum and bass joins in. This music is something that is hard to explain, yet it still is really good so. “Leave Before the Lights come on”. No.1 on my list. I used to hate this song. However, as I listen to it numerous times, I began to sing the lyrics and now, I listen to it all the time. If I were to recommend a good song by the arctic monkeys to another person, I would recommend this song.
Of course, this rating is my own personal opinion. If you have different opinion, just share it with others by commenting under this article. Thanx 
Music Artist Struggle
Before I walk out my house, I always grab 2 useful devices. They are my cell phone and my MP3 player. As soon as I step outside, I put the headphones on my year and listen to numerous songs by different artists. Most of the artists that I listen to is well known artists that my friends also listen to. For me, I never listen to a music made by non-famous artist. However, what makes those artists that I listen to, so famous?
Many artists are struggling these days because of music sharing programs that are popular to many people these days. Their musics are constantly being downloaded illegally because we are living in the age of the internet. Also many artists have difficulties of spreading their existance. However things are not working out. They try to perform on a radio station but soon their work is quickly spread through the internet. Tours or concerts that they perform are unsuccessful because their names are not spread through the world. For them, the world is unfair.
Famous artists on the other hand is doing pretty well. Even though some people download their music off the internet illegally, some people download their music off itunes, which is legal music downloading program, to give some respect to the artist. Also the tours that they make around the world is generally successful. The way that they became successful is simple. In order to be successful for music artists, instead of caring about the money they make, they need to care more about satisfying the listener who are spending their time and money to listen to them.
The band called The Arctic Monkeys, which is my favorite band of all time, was famous around the internet because of their unique name and their extraordinary songs. People loved it. Their names and songs quickly spreaded through out the internet. Soon, people from all around the world desperately wanted to see their live performance. After a few performance, the arctic monkeys began to record limited amount of demo CDs and gave them away for free to the people who came to their performance. People who received their demo CDs uploaded them on their computers and shared it through out the web. If it was a different artist, they would be furious about this behavior. However the Arctic Monkeys did not mind. In fact they thought it was a better way for people to hear more about them. Arctic Monkeys began playing through the radio station and people began to know more and more about them, until they became one of the top bands in Britain.
Arctic Monkeys’ attitude made them feel more closer and closer to the people who are their fans. Their attitude is what other artists should follow. In fact, I believe that for the artists, making other people to share their music isn’t always a disadvantage for them. It is actually a huge advantage to them, since more people will know their name and more people will enjoy their music and will come to their live performance. Then if they really enjoy the artist’s music, they will purchase their music in appreciation of the artist’s work.
Audio Spotlight?! GENIOUS!
YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE HOW AMAZING THIS NEW TECHNOLOGY IS!
Were you ever annoyed by one of your family member, listening to a music through a speaker with a blasting volume? You could make them wear their headphones. However they hate wearing headphones and you guys have a huge argument. Well, there is a hot newest technology that will solve this problem.
Audio Spotlight is a speaker made by Holosonics, that converts the “sound” or “sound wave” into a laser like beam and shines it into a certain area. By doing so, only people or object that the “Audio Spotlight” is shining at is able to hear the sound. This allows the people who are on the area of “Audio Spotlight” to be able to listen to a music, while people out of the area to do their own business without being distracted by the music. Now, museums, library, and even some advertisements are using technology. Click “HERE” and you will be able to watch a video about the Audio Spotlight.
I strongly believe that, there are numerous ways that this amazing technology will benefit us. Earphones will no longer be needed because of the Audio Spotlight. Also individuals will be able to watch their own favorite television show without distracting others. If Audio Spotlight is attatched to every seat on the airplane, people will be able to move freely without all the plugs from the headphones that you used to wear. This new technology will provide us with both freedom and entertainment.
How to Pair a Device Using Bluetooth
Hello bloggers! I read through the keywords that you guys searched to access my blog. Then I realised that most of you used keywords such as “bluetooth” “samsung s5″ “ipod samsung” “facebook” or “cyber- bullying” It is quite surprising how unique all those keywords are.
Anyways the number of people who accessed my blog because they had trouble with pairing or connecting a device using bluetooth was outrageously high! Don’t worry, because I am here to help you
For cell phone to bluetooth headset (For me, I use Motorola RAZR with Jabra Bt620s):
1. Press and hold the Multifunction button in the middle of a headset. (The button may be different, depending on the device you are using. If you are having trouble of finding the right button, look at the manual of the device you are using.) The light will glow blue. For Jabra BT620s, you hold “call answer/end button” (left side) for at least 10 seconds untill the blue light constantly appears.(It is important that you hold the button and do not let go) This mode your headset is in right now is called “Pairing mode”
2. Go to bluetooth setting on your cellphone
3. Find Handsfree menu
4. Click “Look for device” button (The cellphone will search the headset for you, so let it do its job)
5. When the cellphone finds your device, click on it (The cellphone will pair it)
6. When cellphone is paired, it will ask for a pin number or password. Usually most of the pin number of the headsets are 0000 (zero, zero, zero, zero) Type the pin number and press ok
7. your cell phone is now paired with the headset
For samsung s5 with Jabra Bt 620s (Samsung s5 CAN NOT be paired with “Bluetooth Headset”. It can ONLY be paired with “Bluetooth Stereo headset”)
For samsung s5, it is extremely easy to pair with another device.
1. But your bluetooth stereo headset on pairing mode
2. Go to bluetooth menu and samsung s5 will turn on bluetooth menu itself
3. Click “Stereo Headset”
4. Let samsung s5 to search your device
5. Once it detects the device, click on it (It may or may not ask for pin number)
6. Your samsung s5 is now connected to stereo headset. If your samsung s5 is also connected to the cellphone, you can listen to a music through s5 and you can also receive calls using your stereo headset.
This is basically the way you pair your bluetooth device. If you still have a problem connecting your bluetooth device to another device, just leave a comment and I will do my best to find a solution for you. Thanx
People Under 18 Should Not be Allowed on Facebook
Facebook is a social networking site that allows users over the age of 13 to share photos, keep in touch with friends, and make new acquaintances. Opening a Facebook account is exceedingly effortless. All one has to do is provide one’s full name, one’s e-mail, and one’s birthday. I strongly believe that People under 18 should not be allowed on Facebook. Once you are a member of Facebook, not only do your friends look at your account, but people from all around the world are able to access your profile page and it will be dangerous to people under 18. Facebook also caused numerous “cyber-bullying”, and there are numerous dangers that you might face.
Members of Facebook are part of the “social network”, which means that everyone who is part of Facebook is able to access each other’s profile, either directly or indirectly. Social network might be an advantage to numerous people. However, if a personal profile falls into the wrong hands, an individual might be in great danger. For stalkers, Facebook is becoming a useful tool. “It’s making it so much easier for people who want to do stalking to stalk.” By Igor Hiller, 17, a freshman at University of California, Santa Barbara. Herpes
Facebook is also the main cause of “cyber-bullying” on Facebook. Students can spread rumors about different individuals without difficulty. Also, they can make an anti-group for certain individuals. In Toronto, there was an incident, that resulted the suspension of 11 male and female students because of cyper-bullying. They were suspended because they violated the school’s code of conduct. Last week, in surry, a 14 year-old boy was a victim of homicide, and police speculate that cyber-bullying may be linked.
There are numerous materials that might not be suitable for people under 18. Unless other people mark them as spam, the contents are still left on Facebook. Also, there are some applications that are not free and require credit card. These applications might attract young Facebook users to deceive their parents in order to use the applications.
Social network is useful in many ways, especially to make new friends from all over the world. However, strangers from all around the world are also able to obtain information about a person, which means anybody’s personal information could fall into wrong hands. Also, numerous cyber-bullying conclude in violent ways and there are lots of information that are unsuitable for people under 18. Therefore, I strongly believe that Facebook should not be allowed to people under 18.
Bluetooth Danger
“Bluetooth is one of many modern technologies that are commonly being used. Bluetooth is basically a short distance (within 10m. range) data transferring technology. It is quite convenient. However, the data transferring speed is slower than WIFI, used for wireless internet technology. Bluetooth is commonly used for communicating via cell phones that are paired with Bluetooth headset. This enables Bluetooth users to make a phone call, without using actual cell phone, but just by using a Bluetooth headset.” By John Pyun http://john.pyun.11-12.collingwood.org/?p=26
Bluetooth is designed to make people’s lives more convenient. However in modern days, Using bluetooth may cause further inconvenence to you and put you in distress. Hackers are now able to hack into your phone without you noticing it.
In order to “pair” a bluetooth device with another bluetooth compatible device, you need to type the same password both devices. This method was added to bluetooth technology to protect privacy. Officials thought that this would initially block hackers from violating the privacy. However, it seems to me that hackers won.
There are devices that are able to pair with or hack to other devices without typing passwords. Once devices are connected, they are able to cruise through each other’s systems freely. Your phone will not even show that it is connected to other device. This hack is called “Blue-Jacking” Now, you may not relize the importance and seriousness of this issue. However they will know your contact lists, and are able to make phone calls without you knowing.
These hackers usually call a certain number that utilizes certain charge per minute. Therefore, if the hackers call this number using your phone, they will earn money, while you will have to pay this number.
Now, don’t panic if your phone is bluetooth enabled, since there is a way to prevent this. 5/7 of the people who use bluetooth enabled phones don’t actually use bluetooth; however, they still leave the bluetooth service on. If you turn the bluetooth service off, then the Hacker won’t be able to pair with your phone.
Our world is constantly fighting against hackers. This war between the hackers seems unstoppable and endless. However if we try our best to prevent our selves from being hacked or try our best to catch these hackers, we will slowly move a step closer of winning this battle.
