Video quality is superb but a little work on the audio and  typography. My final verdict…”two thumbs up”.

Exploring the microscopic world comes cheap. These photos were captured using a cheap camera (around 4 Megapixels) and a microscope. No special lenses are required. Just a little bit of improvisation.

Here’s How…

What you need…

1. A cheap used microscope from eBay around $65.
2. Used Nikon Coolpix or equivalent digital camera from eBay around $20.
3. Masking tape
4. Plastic wrap spool
5. Ruler and pencil
6. Box knife

Procedure:

1) Set up the microscope with a specimen.
2) Using a ruler, approximate the range of camera’s focus on the specimen.
3) Cut the paper spool to build the lens adapter.
4) Connect the eyepiece and the adapter with a masking tape.
5) Place the camera on the adapter.
6) Now you’re ready to rock and roll.

Coming soon…

Connecting a D-SLR camera to a microscope.

According to Michael Geist, who teaches Internet and technology law at the University of Ottawa. “In Canada even today, taping a television program is an act of infringement, making a backup copy of a DVD … that’s an act of infringement…”

It's illegal to backup your purchased DVD movie in Canada

Does this mean that, protecting my investment is stealing just like snatching the purse of a  poor old woman on a broad daylight ? You must be kidding me!  How about  music CDs,  software programs, video games or music purchased online? Does the same rule apply? After running a lot of searches on Google, I found out that in Canada, we can make backup copies of CDs only once. Making a second copy  would be illegal.  To  paint a real world scenario, making a backup on your rare favourite music CD collection is okay. If you decided to make another one for outdoor use, that’s considered illegal even it’s for personal use. Another scenario is, if you have seven mp3 players in the family and you want to install the same music on all, five copies would be considered  illegal . This only applies to medium that doesn’t have a TPM  ( Technological Protection Measure). For example, music purchased online and most of the CDs. For movies, video games or software on DVD or Blu-Ray, making a single backup copy is not allowed. The reason for this is, in order for you to make a copy, you have to defeat  the copy protection that is set in place. In other words, you have to hack it. This technique is commonly known as ripping or DVD rip. And the beauty is, you can download a software that has the capability to decode the encryption algorithm of DVDs for free. The bad news is, you are not allowed to use this in Canada to backup your treasured DVD collection. If you’re favourite DVD movie is damaged because it’s prone to scratch and oxidation, you have to buy a new one which will make the record companies very happy.

DVDShrink decrypts the encoded security in a DVD

And how about the blank CD levy. For every blank CD sold in Canada, 29¢  is collected  to help offset the alleged losses due to music copying. If you puchased a 100 blanck CDs in a spindle, you’ll be  paying $29 dollars more because of the levy. The question, what if you used these CDs for other purposes like backing up your own files. The beneficiary of the levy is the  Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) and they had collected almost $242M between 1999 and 2007. There’s no levy on DVD blanks. That’s why you’ll find DVD blanks  a bit cheaper than blank CDs.

In contrast with audio blank CDs, blank DVDs are not levied

It’s apparent here that when it comes to consumer interest, the Canadian copyright law is not that reliable.  We hope that someday there will be a change particularly on making backups of purchased digital media. But when ? Should I backup my CD/DVD collection by breaking the law while waiting for an amendment ? Who will protect my investment ? Tell me.

Reference:

http://www.cipo.ic.gc.ca

http://www.michaelgeist.ca

http://www.digital-copyright.ca/

The LHC is a 27 km long circular path located in Geneva, Switzerland. If you follow it underground, it is filled with tunnel and the tunnel is filled with extraordinary powerful magnets. The sort of magnets that you might find yourself inside if you’re getting a MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) at a hospital but even more powerful. They’re superconducting magnets, so they have to be kept at absolute zero temperature. The magnets are huge and needs to be precised in microns. What happen inside is, proton is going to be accelerated to very very high energy such that they are moving apart with in a million of the limiting velocity, the speed of light. The protons will be zipping around the circular path in about a millionth of a second. Two beams of subatomic particles called ‘hadrons’ – either protons or lead ions – will travel in opposite directions inside the circular accelerator. These particles will be brought together and collision will occur. In those collisions, it will reproduce the conditions occurred millionth of a second before the Big Bang. It’s very close to the origin of the Big Bang. From the very tiny hot fireballs that are created will emerged sprays of particles that will be moving very fast. Different particles and complicated patterns that encode information about what’s going on in a world at a very very short distances or at quantum level.

The LHC is a monument of curiosity as opposed to superstition. It was built by cooperation rather than command. It’s not just big for sake of vanity. It’s big because it has to be big and to do what it meant to do. And that is, unlocking the mystery of the universe.

Radical And Not Conventional

Breaking the rules can be educational and enlightening. Challenge conventional knowledge and ideas.

Silent But Deep

Grandma said “An empty can makes a lot of noise”.

Idealistic But Realistic

The world should be…. peaceful and unpolluted. But we need plastic.

Thinker Not A Follower

I like to think first before buying the idea.

Striving But Not Mediocre

I rather do it the hard way.

That’s already five, right?  Thanks for your comment.

My instructor last term asked this question in the class… “What do you want to be when you finish the Interactive Multimedia Developer Program, a designer or a developer?”. I thought maybe that my teacher was trying to decode if you are right or left brain dominant. I said that I want to be both, a designer and a developer. Then the teacher advised me that I have to decide which one of the two I have to concentrate on.  But it makes me wonder about the point behind the question. Maybe if you’re an artist, you can’t be a mathematician. Or, if you’re a Photoshop wizard, you can’t be a programmer. There’s actually a correlation between arts and numbers. One example is fractals. Fractals basically are beautiful patterns that are generated through mathematical equations.  Renowned artists like Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Raphael made use of mathematical relations such as the Phi in their great masterpiece.  I think these two skills are not contrary but they’re indeed complimentary.  The designer and developer skill is a potent combination. You can do a lot of cool stuff using these skills. These will be my main highlight in this blog.

I’m very much fascinated about how computer interacts with things like bread toasters, plants, lamps and of course humans.  This is the field of computer interfacing. When I was working as a Computer Application Developer abroad, I built a prototype that will provide a proof of concept on how a cell phone can be used to buy a can of soda in a Pepsi vending machine. The idea is, the user will dial the number printed on the vending machine and a soda pop will be dispensed as if you inserted a coin.  My greatest challenge in building the system is the design of the  circuit that will allow the dumb vending machine to communicate with the computer.  And of course hard work really paid off.  Other projects I built were, voice controlled robot and controlling your home appliances using TCP/IP. Building this kind of project takes a lot of effort but they’re really fun.

Science fiction movies is sometimes a source of inspiration on what you want to build or develop next.  The movie “Minority Report”  in where Tom Cruise operates his computer like a traffic policeman in the middle of a heavy car traffic draws my enthusiasm about new ways on how humans interact with computers. We interact normally with computers via mouse and keyboards. It would be cool if we communicate with computers the way we communicate with our fellow humans. And that is, through voice, human gestures or body language.  That is one of the main reason why I took the Interactive Multimedia Program. The technology, knowledge and tools are already available to make science fiction a reality.

In this blog, I’ll show you some of the application I’m toying with particularly in the field of computer interfacing and interactive art.  To cook our recipe, a myriad of software will be used such as Flash, Adobe AIR, After Effects, AS3, C# and little bit of hardware hacking. So stay tuned.

Servo Poserio