Mind Museum

I think that the Mind Museum is a good attempt to make the children nowadays interested in Science. I agree that as children scientific ideas and lessons should not just be said in front of their faces. In that way, a lot of them will lose interest in Science and forever judge it as boring and dull. Mind Museum has obviously thought of this and found a way to draw the kids' interest in Science.

When the Mind Museum people, I forgot what to call them, went to the auditorium, they showed us a couple of tricks with scientific explanations. First of all, I felt like a kid, which is a good thing. I think everyone was very interested in what they were showing us. The people at the back, including me, even stood up just to see cleary what they were doing. I learned a lot of scientific things in both experiments. I think that the goal of the Mind Museum works for both kids and adults. I don't know. It worked for me.

PALAROAN, GRACIEL M.
2013-60784

MIND MUSEUM

I’d be lying if I don’t admit that the name Mind Museum intrigues me. Furthermore, calling themselves “mind movers” is without a doubt an effective strategy to invite the audience in checking them out and what they have in store for them.

I like the male mind mover’s view on science as something that should not be force-fed on children. (Well since he represents the Mind Museum, then it’d be more correct if I say the Mind Museum’s view.) If they discovered that science is something that can be enjoyed, the inculcation of what they learn from their discoveries would be more far-reaching in their psyche. I believe in its utmost importance because among the young, the kid young, science appeals not to a lot. Science was not a part of the nice things in my childhood, if nice could describe the stuff that I enjoyed and loved as a child. Wherever it developed its image of being boring and tedious, I couldn’t blame it. Formal science has always seemed unpleasant to me. This is why I commend the Mind Museum’s approach.  

Another remarkable stint of the mind movers was their attempt to simplify scientific terms to the audience. It didn’t quite work out for us, though, because we were in college and apparently we have encountered (and practically mastered but not really) the terms mentioned many times already.  However, since they were trained to speak to people far from our age, years younger than us, I think it is worth acknowledging.  

The male mind mover really had commendable public speaking skills. He can engage the audience in what he is discussing. However uninteresting his subject may be, he knows how to call our attention, to summon our curiosity in it. Altogether, I strongly believe in their techniques as being crucial in the world of science. 

Apple Czarline C. Cruel

2013-59992

TIME TRAVEL: The Truth

I believe that there should be a meaningful purpose for pursuing the coming to reality of time travel. Having the power to travel through time signifies having the ability to control destiny, another form of playing God. Along with the expansion of scientific knowledge among humans is the inevitability of the increase in desire to be in more control of the world.

If the project becomes successful, the complexity of its concept alone will make it one of the most remarkable and universally transformative breakthroughs of science. The mere understanding of time cannot be perfected by theorists; what more the interconnecting webs of studies associated with time travel that must be considered.

Theorists must deal with the resolving the issue of the impossibility of synchronizing watches throughout the universe, attributed to the fact that there is lack of uniformity of time everywhere. Time passes at varying rates in different places. If the path to settling the foremost obstruction is in haze, then the others that follow could bring even more complication.

Another issue that is to be dealt with is the manipulation of spacetime fabric, since we live in a four-dimensional world.  Gravity creates a huge impact on it as it bends the spacetime. Stronger gravity means slower time. Because nothing travels faster than light, the goal is to make time be that nothing. To do it entails massive amounts of energy, to the point that its achievement seems implausible.

As with any other, scientific and technological advancement, the harm to society that time travel, if improperly exploited, projects to society remains a threat.  

Apple Czarline C. Cruel

2013-59992

Group Project: Molecular Gastronomy

MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY

GROUP REPORT BY GROUP 8, SO GR8

STS THX

ABSTRACT

The advent of Molecular Gastronomy, or the investigation and application of scientific processes in the context of cooking, has revolutionized the world of cuisine. This report provides an overview of the rich history of the practice, from its inception under Nicolas Kurti and Hervé This to its current worldwide popularity. It also gives a brief description of the many processes and techniques used under Molecular Gastronomy, such as Spherification, Emulsification, and Molecular Mixology.

“I think it is a sad reflection on our civilization that while we can and do measure the temperature in the atmosphere of Venus we do not know what goes on inside our soufflés.”

- Nicholas Kurti

A. INTRODUCTION

Basic scientific principles and concepts form an integral part of nearly every aspect of the human experience. Hunger and sustenance, perhaps the most primal human urge, is no exception; the very act of cooking and preparing food is wholly dependent on physical and chemical processes. Molecular Gastronomy is, quite simply, a celebration of this relationship through the application of conventional scientific techniques to both improve regular cuisine and create works of culinary art that are completely unprecedented and unique.

B. HISTORY

The term Molecular Gastronomy was coined in the 1980-1990’s by a Hungarian physicist named Nicholas Kurti and French chemist Hervé This. The scientists’ goal was to debunk the mystery behind the physical and chemical processes that occur in cooking, thereby empowering cooks to improve their own culinary skills. There were many key events that made Molecular Gastronomy to what it is now. The first of these occurred in 1967, Kurti gave a talk entitled “The Physicist in the Kitchen". In 1984, Harold McGee published the first edition of On Food and Cooking. In 1992, Elizabeth Thomas, with Kurti’s assistance pioneered a series of workshops called “Workshop on Molecular and Physical Gastronomy” (Raiswell).

               

Molecular gastronomy blew up on the world stage in the late 1990s and early 2000s, as all kinds of chefs began to experiment with the science of cooking. Adria and Blumenthal were joined by other notables such as Pierre Gagnaire, Homaro Cantu and Grant Achatz, some of whom created their own kitchen laboratories for molecular gastronomy. (Lersch).

Today, some of the well-known names associated with molecular gastronomy include Homaro Cantu of Moto Restaurant with his edible paper and the Miracle Berry, Ferran Adria who is dubbed the "Salvador Dali of the Kitchen" and is also known for his foams,  Wylie Dufresne, the owner of wd-50, Grant Achatz, owner of Alinea, and Heston Blumenthal, owner of The Fat Duck based in the UK.  In the Philippines, restaurants inspired by molecular gastronomy have also emerged such as Vask in Bonifacio Global City, Zenses Neo-Shanghai Cuisine in Makati and Iscreamist in Quezon City, which both experiment with liquid nitrogen (Starchefs, 2014).

B. METHODS

SPHERIFICATION

Spherification is the process of making spherical consumables using edible liquids. Products of Spherification often possess qualities similar to that of caviar, however, the process can be used in the formation of other foods, such as eggs, gnocchi, and ravioli. The techniques used to create the spheres vary: from creating a thin gel membrane that coats the sphere, allowing the liquid to keep its spherical shape, or having the sphere completely gelled all throughout (Spherification Technique: The Basic Guide to Spherification).

EMULSIFICATION AND FOAMS

When two or more substances, such as oil and water, are not capable of blending into a homogeneous solution, they are immiscible. Emulsification, paves the way to this incapability, turning these heterogeneous substances into a homogeneous mixture, using an emulsifying agent. These kinds of mixtures have different chemical properties which do not allow its particles to dissolve, so these particles just remain suspended. Foam is similar to emulsification in the need for a surfactant (“Emulsifying Technique”). However, while emulsions trap solids or liquids inside a mixture, foams trap air inside the mixture. The term foam is still a general term and still has many different types. One such type of foams are called airs. Airs are dry foams and are made up of bubbles which are typically large. . Aside from classifying foams into wet and dry, it can also be separated into light and dense foams. Airs are again an example of very light foams while whipped cream is for dense foams. Its density depends on the wetness and the coarseness of the bubbles. The common tools used for creating foams are whisks or immersion blenders, whipping siphon, mixer, milk frother and aquarium bubbler (“Guide to Modernist Foams”).

MOLECULAR MIXOLOGY

The method of creating cocktails with the use of molecular gastronomy tools and techniques is Molecular Mixology. It is a unique practice of incorporating science in the techniques of drink mixing (Colleen). Molecular Mixology promotes various modern ways of cocktail presentation, for example using foams, powders, liquid nitrogen, gels, mists, heat, solidifying liquids and atomised sprays which enhance the drink’s aesthetic appeal. Other recipes used by molecular mixologists include jellied wines, cocktails frozen by liquid nitrogen, and adding flavored foams, bubbles and smoked aromas to the drinks (O’Neil, 2006).

C. CONCLUSION

Even seemingly mundane and conventional methods of cooking such as frying or boiling make use of scientific principles similar to those used in the most advanced spherification or mixology techniques of Molecular Geometry. It is thus strange that very few people are aware of, or are appreciative of, the unimaginable relevance of science in their kitchens. This is precisely why Molecular Gastronomy is so important: beyond creating fantastic new recipes, it raises a higher level of awareness and wonder of the role science plays into our lives. The techniques, processes and even equipment used in Molecular Gastronomy are highly varied and diverse, yet there is one main thing which links them together. All these discrete, separate factors share in the true core of Molecular Gastronomy: the recognition and celebration of the beautiful and inextricable relationship between food and science. At the end of the day, science has elevated human sustenance from a mere biological activity to an art form; thanks to Molecular Gastronomy, cuisine will continue to progress, innovate, and elevate itself alongside our rapidly evolving society.

D. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ak, Ajmal, 2012. Molecular Gastronomy. http://www.slideshare.net/ajmalagm/molecular-gastronomy-12029401. March 16, 2014.

Culinary Schools.com, 2014. What is Molecular Gastronomy?: A Definition & Short History. http://www.culinaryschools.com/what-is-molecular-gastronomy-definition. March 16, 2014

Cantu, Homaro, 2013. The Power of the Miracle Berry. Huffington Post: The Blog. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/homaro-cantu/miracle-berry_b_2775033.html. March 18, 2014.


"Emulsifying Technique." Modernist Cooking Made Easy. http://www.modernistcookingmadeeasy.com/info/emulsifying-technique (accessed March 19, 2014).


Go, Jeatte. 2014. Iscreamist review - quezon city -  what chemists eat. http://learningtocompute.blogspot.com/2013/04/iscreamist-review-quezon-city-what.html. March 18, 2014

Golangco,Vince, 2010. Molecular gastronomy and liquid nitrogen at Zenses neo shanghai cuisine. Food and Restaurants. When in Manila. http://www.wheninmanila.com/molecular-gastronomy-and-liquid-nitrogen-at-zenses-neo-shanghai-cuisine/. March 18, 2014

Graham, Colleen. Molecular Mixology. About.com Cocktails.http://cocktails.about.com/od/mixology/g/molecular_mix.htm. March 15, 2014.

"Guide to Modernist Foams." Modernist Cooking Made Easy. http://www.modernistcookingmadeeasy.com/info/modernist-techniques/more/culinary-foams-technique (accessed March 19, 2014).


Lersch, Martin. History. http://blog.khymos.org/molecular-gastronomy/history/. March 16, 2014.

Molecular Gastronomy History. http://www.molecularrecipes.com/molecular-gastronomy/molecular-gastronomy-history/. Molecularrecipies. March 16, 2014.

Molecular Recipes.com. 2012. Molecular Mixology – Gels, Paper, Caviar and more! http://www.molecularrecipes.com/molec.../molecular-mixology/. March 15, 2014.

Moore, Brett. Ferran Adria. About.com Gourmet Food. http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/chefbiographi2/p/ferranadriabio.htm. March 17, 2014.


Museum of Science and Industry Chicago. Fast Forward... Inventing the Future. The Innovators: Homaro Cantu. http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/fastforward/the-innovators/homaro-cantu/. March 17. 2014.

n.d., Heston Blumenthal Biography. The Fat Duck. http://www.thefatduck.co.uk/Heston-Blumenthal/Biography/. March 18, 2014.  

O’Neil, Darcy. 2006. An Introduction to Molecular MIxology. Art of
Drink.http://www.artofdrink.com/2006/04/molecular-mixology.php. March 15, 2014

P. Lee, M.A. Rogers; June 2012; Effect of calcium source and exposure-time on basic caviar spherification using sodium alginate; Vol. 1, Issue 2, Pages 96-100; AZTI- Tecnali; International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science; http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878450X13000073; 10 March 2014

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Imelda

Tenmatay, Jerico Charles B.
2010-78004

While watching the commentary, I cannot help but wonder what the director of the film was trying to communicate. I get it that it was giving a pseudo-biographical look at Imelda's life especially during the Marcos era but it left me confused because the film was shifting its bias from one perspective to another. Regardless, it was interesting to see how different people perceived things over the events that changed the nation. In some ways, it is quite tragic because they all firmly believed that they were doing the right thing.

Music and Science

Tenmatay, Jerico Charles B.

2010-78004

I find it interesting to see that there are actually a lot of scientists that have artistic pursuits and it's not just in music. Obviously there are a lot of sci-fi authors but there are also a lot who are pop culture icons, and host TV shows and internet blogs. In this era of geek culture, I think it would be quite easy for a scientist to dip their toes on artistic media once again especially now with the interactive medium of video games.

All the Time in the World

Tenmatay, Jerico Charles B.
2010-78004

This twilight zone episode is a grim reminder for us that we are only as strong as our weakest link. As we are relying more and more on electricity and internet technology to handle our daily lives and entertainment and start to forget more practical or simpler methods to do the same thing, we become more susceptible for the possibility that it can go out overnight and just as easily with a simple accident.

Once it goes out, we're become helpless and all that boundless access to information and knowledge is lost.

Radio Play Adaptation of Isaac Asimov's Nightfall

Tenmatay, Jerico Charles B.

2010-78004

In all our efforts to seek out and learn the unknown, we are also afraid of it because we do not know what lies beyond it. The end of "Nightfall" alludes of the possibility of us being overwhelmed by that fact. The more we know, the more we realize what we don't know. Answers to questions lead to more questions. Over the course of human history, we keep realizing how wrong we are and we can't keep ourselves from asking if our whole existence was either a happy accident or simply a lie.

But in my opinion, this constant strive to know, to understand, to debunk and discover new things about the world is just as exciting as realizing how wrong we were to begin with. We discovered how utterly insignificant and lucky we really are in this universe but it opened our eyes to newer possibilities and opportunities over the grand scope of outer space. Who knows? maybe in the next 100 years or so, we will discover extraterrestrial life, learn to communicate with it and finally find a way to travel in space and search for new frontiers.

Blade Runner Director's Cut

Tenmatay, Jerico Charles B.

2010-78004

Blade Runner presents many themes that are up to interpretation but the one that I would like to talk about is the argument of what it means to be human. Many science fiction stories tackle that concept in interesting ways and would always feature characters that struggle and question what humanity is.

Are we defined by our makeup or our actions? Would a human construct or analog be considered a human being? Does intelligence play a part in determining that? Or is it simply self-identification and nothing more?

It's a interesting concept because it questions who we really are. It argues against the notion in most sci-fi stories that once we attained advanced technology, human beings are still a unique, special and exclusive group of individuals born into the world to exert dominion over lesser beings. Would clones be classified as lesser beings even if they are technically human? Would sentient artificial intelligence posing as human beings be considered human if they exhibit human emotions and reasoning? And if they are considered human, do they have the same rights as true human beings?

These questions are answered in different ways over the years. This movie is one such answer to it.

Rhetoric of Cancer

Tenmatay, Jerico Charles B.

2010-78004

Cancer is an example of having too much of a good thing. Mutations happen everywhere and all the time because it's part of the way things change and evolve into something different. It doesn't exclusively have to be with living organic beings because it happens to ideas as well. Some mutations fail quickly and fall by the wayside or become obscure relics of a past need while some remain, develop and ultimately become part of us (if we are talking about genetics) or our culture (if it's memetics).

But too much change over a short period of time or change focused in a wrong place is a bad thing. One thing to note about cancer, much like change, is that it is uncaring, unforgiving, and unaware. It simply happens for a reason, sometimes logical, other times not, and when it does happen, regardless, it does so indiscriminately and without mercy because it is what it does. We simply have to do something about it.

Reaction Paper: Isaac Asimov's "Nightfall"

Familiarity has a strange effect on human perception and appreciation. We take the beauty of things like the night sky and the stars for granted, simply because we have lived with them all our lives.  This is precisely why Isaac Asimov’s “Nightfall” is so haunting: it opens our eyes to the possibility that what we consider commonplace and mundane may drive others to unbearable joy… or insanity.

In “Nightfall”, we are exposed to a world bathed in eternal sunlight, to which the idea of darkness is unimaginable and insufferable. Yet what interests me about the plot is that it is not darkness per se that the characters fear, but rather the element of the unknown represented by it. Clearly, there is nothing biological about the darkness that drives people mad. It is simply that they are so familiar to light that they cannot understand what darkness is; thus a world of darkness is the ultimate unknown, the ultimate nightmare. This isn’t limited to the Asimov’s fictional world, however. In everyday life, we see how things like the future, death, and even love can create so much fear in people precisely because they are unpredictable and unknown. Like the cults in the story, we create theories, superstitions, even religions to explain things like the afterlife and the future because we need some sort of mechanism to process this great “unknown-ness”; our minds might be, in a certain way, incapable of comprehending such huge, unfamiliar ideas. Without such mechanisms to create that sort of familiarity, we would probably go insane as well.

At the end of the day, familiarity may act as a blinder to us, preventing us from realizing the true depth and wonder of the world around us, but perhaps it is a necessary blinder. Without the ability to render our world mundane and mentally palatable, we would not be able to live life as usual. That’s why stories like “Nightfall” are so important; they allow us to momentarily disconnect ourselves from these blinders and view our ordinary (and perhaps extraordinary) world through a much more wonderful and terrible perspective, while letting us draw back into the ordinary light of day after closing the page.

Marco Del Valle
2013-20474

REACTION PAPER (no. 7): MIND MUSEUM

        Science is wonderful thing that keeps our minds eager to know more.  Last February 18, 2014, speakers from the Mind Museum had a talk in our class.  They expounded on the concept of creative science communication which they practice during museum tours. 

Our speakers are part of the said museum and call themselves Mind Movers.  Indeed, what an appropriate term this is to describe what they do.  They showed us some example using simple household materials such as a money bill, water a container of a gallon of water, and fire.  Through these simple materials, they executed mind-boggling experiments that catch the audiences’ full attention and spark their curiosity.  Then, they explain the science concepts and processes that were involved in that experimentation. 

Personally, I find the concept of mind moving very fascinating.  The audience get to have fun and at the same time gain new knowledge.  I love the fact that with these enjoyable experiments, they promote educational learning.  Hopefully, with the gained awareness, people of today use it for the improvement and development of our society. 

Thea Selina G. Morales

2013-59204

THX

Let It Flow: The Science Behind Super-Hydrophobic Coatings (Marco Del Valle Individual Project)

Check out my recording of the "Let It Flow" parody here! https://soundcloud.com/marco-del-valle-2/let-it-flow-frozen-parody-sts

Remember the last time you got mud on your shoes? How about the last time you lost a beloved gadget to water exposure? Well, the development of super-hydrophobic coatings can spell the end to these problems, as well as many others caused by the bane of rain, mud and snow. This Frozen-themed infographic booklet shows the history, mechanisms, risks and applications of super-hydrophobic coatings, and shows you how they can help you 'let it flow".

Individual Project: OLED TV

Denz Joseph R. Borrero

2009-37801

The television had been a part of our life for almost a hundred years. From black and white tv to color tv. From CRT to Flat screen TV. Now we have LCD and Plasma TV. The latest technology now is the OLED TV. OLED has been used for smartphones and monitors. The main attraction of OLED TVs is its ability to have a curved shape. Two of the mainstream companies that sell TVs are some of the pioneers of selling the new technology. LG and Samsung each have their own version of OLED tvs. 

The main difference between OLED and LCD tvs are the structure by which it shows images. LCD makes use of liquid crystals which needs a backlight. The colors change as it passes through the crystals. OLED on the other hand uses diodes which do not need a backlight anymore as the diode itself emits light. One comparison which can be seen clearly is the difference between the two is the color black. Since an LCD tv need a backlight, it cannot achieve the true black color, while an OLED is capable of showing a true black color since it does not turn on the diode. Some of the advantages of OLED are its slimmer thickness, lower power consumption and wider viewing angle. Despite these advantages, it might still be too early to tell that it will be the better choice when choosing a television. It is still a young technology and has not yet proven its worth, especially since as of now, it is more expensive the LCD tvs. Its lifetime is not yet fully tested so it will really be something of a newcomer. Because it is also able to show true blacks, in effect, the whites also become dimmer. Of course, the viewing experience is the important factor in choosing a television. One of the considerations for that viewing experience is the occurrence of burn-ins or an afterimage in the screen. With its main advantage as a curved tv, there is still a large room for improvement for OLED tv to become a real competitor for LCD tvs.

References: Diffen. 2013. LCD TV vs OLED TV. http://www.diffen.com/difference/LCD_TV_vs_OLED_TV.

Quain, John. 2013. TV Buying Guide 2014. Types of tvs explained. http://www.tomsguide.com/us/tv-buying-guide,review-1943-2.html.

Denison, Caleb. 2013. OLED vs. LED Which is the better TV technology. http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/oled-vs-led-which-is-the-better-tv-technology/#!yW8yD.

Imelda

It would seem that Mrs. Imelda Marcos spent her lifetime successfully beautifying herself. She deemed herself a goddess that people looked up to and emulated. Beauty was everything to her; she equated it to love and life.

I find her self-obsession a bit adorable, but learned to slightly despise it at the juncture of the Filipinos suffering while she drowns in her shoe and gown collection. While it is true that a female non-celebrity owning four hundred shoes is not reprimanded for being so as much as a celebrity like Imelda is, I think the fact that the mass censured this situation should be attributed to her being the president’s wife. The mass readily assumed that part of what she had used to hoard footwear came from the Filipinos’ money. Nevertheless they loved her, practically worshipped her, and the female population blindly idolized her.

I believe that what she and Ferdinand shared was as real and genuinely magical as she describes it to be. Apparently there were people who saw their public relationship a kind of theatre show with all the manifestations of affection they exhibited in front of the whole nation. There might have been some truth in that but even in Imelda’s methods of professing love for her husband, beauty conspicuously flourished.

I like Imelda most for being romantic and poetic, for caring so much about aesthetics. Since I am not sure of what Imelda really meant by her famous quote, “It is easier to be beautiful because it is natural”, I will not decide on whether I agree with it or not. It sounds quite appealing but misleading. I am also not fully knowledgeable, or maybe I am informed of the well-spread, but not firmly accepting of Imelda’s motive in participating in the mass’s normal activities like planting rice in the ricefield.

Apple Czarline C. Cruel

2013-59992

Japan : the Robot Kingdom

          The technology in Japan has one of the greatest innovations around the world. One of the reasons for this is their desire to make and produce machines that will help the human in every aspects of our life, in the field of robotics. In one of the mountains of Fuji, there is one person successful in making humanoids. Like in Japanese animations, Kogoro Kurata has made a large humanoid robot he named as Kuratas. Kuratas measured about 4 meters,with movable limbs all controlled by the person inside him.

         Another proof of Japan’s innovation is Asimo, made by Honda, in Japan. He recognizes the people’s faces registered in his program,he can understand multiple utterances, he can to multitasking, and He gives way to people. All of these functions are because of his artificial intelligence. He can think on his own without human interference. Their mind is based on actual human brain, how we think and how we respond to things. He has sensors in his hands also based on real human hands. He can sense the hardiness of every object he handles and touches so he can adjust on how hard will his grip will be on the object. He can open a very tight lid of a bottle and put the liquid in a very soft or fragile paper cup. His invention and improvement was led by Satoshi Shigemi. He led Asimo’s innovation for 16 years now.

        Asimo was once compared to petman, who was made by the US. Starting from their roles, they were different.  Petman is made for military assistance and combat. While Asimo is very flexible. He can work in different types or kinds of field.  While in terms of functions, still for me, Asimo is the better one. He can still do some things that Petman can’t.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHSaUs0_A_4

This is just one of the proofs that Japan is really the leading country in terms of robotics. Just like what Schodt told 10 years before: “Japan is the Robot kingdom of the world.”

sources:

Sabavinoc, Selma, 2014. Regarding Robot cultures | Japan Society | http://www.japansociety.org/robot_cultures. Mar. 3, 2014

Rafferty, Kevin, 2014. Beware, Robots are coming | Japan Times| http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2014/01/27/commentary/beware-the-robots-are-coming/#.UxxLJIaQZLA. Mar. 3, 2014

The Alley

Beside the pile of concrete blocks and cements stood frozen the figure of a girl whose mind helplessly drowned in an eddy of emotions. The dying colors of the autumn leaves painted her ashen face. The footsteps of the boy whom his voice desperately but futilely tried to reach faded like an echo. Here she was, pretending she didn’t mind being treated as if she was a wind, a ghost, a ghoul. In the hush of the dusk she whispered to herself, “I will forget. Soon I will forget.”

Slivers of sunlight percolated the room through the blinds that covered the glass windows. The alarm went off after just after about three lines of the song. A lithe, fair-skinned girl in her teens rose from a cluttered master’s bed and trudged to the bathroom to prepare herself for the day. The swell in her eyes did not abate; her hair looked more like an enlarged bird’s nest rather than a teen’s hair. Her head throbbed, her whole body ached. She straightened up in front of the mirror, heaved a deep sigh and let last night’s events overwhelm her. This would be the last time that she would have to swallow the pain and accept the gashes in her throat. Today, she was having Cris erased from her memory.  

Sarena arrived at the firm’s office off twenty minutes earlier than she was expected. The secretary led her to the laboratory where the process would be done. It was spacious, the floors were gleaming, but it made her claustrophobic with all the machines, hospital beds and computers. A small pile of papers inserted in a folder awaited her signatures and utmost comprehension. Meanwhile, a white, aged, balding doctor named Dr. Ziak spoke to her about what was about to be conducted. He then asked Sarena to lie on one of the beds, now only chitchatting but managing to avoid touching on the subject on why she decided to push through the operation.

Dr. Ziak first extracted a drug from a vial labelled succinylcholine and injected it to Sarena’s arm. This would serve as the muscle relaxant. Next he put her to sleep with a general anesthesia. He deliberately placed electrodes on her scalp, allowing a managed electric current to flow in her brain.

Sarena’s right hand and left foot twitched- a result of her brain experiencing mild seizure. There were two gentle knocks the door before an auburn haired doctor in her twenties entered the room and faintly smiled at Dr. Ziak. They stood silently beside each other, their eyes glued on the feeble-looking body of a lass lying unconsciously on the white sheets. Minutes later, the lass opened first her right eye, then the left. She did not move for a few moments before propping herself up on the bed.

“Are you alright?” Dr. Ziak sounded more like a surprised stranger that had just seen a toddler fell from her bicycle.

Nonchalant, Sarena blinked multiple times at the auburn haired doctor. She bowed her head and forcefully squeezed her eyes, shot a glance at Dr. Ziak, subtly asking him what occurred in the short period that she was unconscious.

“You’ll be alright now, darling.” From across that serene chamber, the voice of the doctor seemed that of a roaming soul in pursuit of communicating a verse she has long wished to tell. It was pure, not unlike the psyche of Sarena at the moment.

Dr. Ziak took four steps towards her and began feeding her with reminders. She merely nodded in response. When the two doctors were certain that she could take care of herself, they allowed her to leave. Upon going home, she recorded the day in her journal and slept the whole night through.

The following day, Sarena resumed the routine she established before the operation. She found it indescribably lonely to be alone, but oddly, more satisfying. Everything was going well until the dreams she had immediately after the erasing process became recurring and exhausting. She wrote more frequently, trying to piece those dreams together.

She wrote in her journal:  

“A guy keeps on appearing in my dreams. I know him; I pretty much remember his face. And these dreams aren’t just stuff going on in my head when I am asleep. They’ve always felt real, like they did happen a long time ago. I can’t convince myself otherwise. There were dreams of us hiding behind library shelves to exchange poems while nibbling on cakes I baked. Us getting lost in a city we’ve never been to before.

I’m fine with them really, but there’s this dream in which we were briskly walking in an alley. Or maybe I was chasing after him. I’m not sure. No matter how many times I had this dream, I just couldn’t paint it in my head perfectly. He stopped and turned around to face me. So, so suddenly I thought I was going to crash on his chest.  There was little distance between our faces. “Leave me alone,” he breathed out, making sure he paused after every word so he could hear the words dissolve my insides.

The thing here is, though, I’ve never met this guy before. I don’t remember ever seeing him for the first time and being introduced to one another! My life right now is one big mess of strangeness.”

When her sister’s birthday came, the tradition of baking apple pies and making strawberry shakes to share continued. That afternoon, she boarded the train going to the town where her sister lives and there, leaning on the walls in the corner, was the guy in her dreams. Her face lost all its color and her heart almost leaped out of her chest. She did not take her eyes off of the guy, carving his face in her head and inhaling the reality of the moment. A sudden flash of black and white images penetrated her now swimming head.

The guy tightened his grip on the girl’s hand, playfully swaying it while humming an indiscernible tune.

“Here we are!” He removed the girl’s blindfold and embraced her from behind. No one said a word for three seconds. The crashing of the waves replaced the hum. The sun began to leave, as if it waited for them to arrive before sending sparkles to the sea.

“Happy anniversary.”

The train halted to a screech. The raindrops pelted the train’s roof. It was time to walk to her sister’s home.

On the way back to her apartment, Sarena noticed a kindle huddled in the intersection of walls in an alley. Out of pity welling up in her, she marched towards the cacophonous kittens looking for shelter and warmth. Before she could bend her knees to check on the kittens, her eyes were immediately diverted to the dank, dark alley, to the familiar stony path in front of her. She remained frozen for three seconds before a seemingly apparition of Cris assembled beside her. The dishevelled guy with an unusually sharp nose sped ahead of her, away from her. The guy in her dreams whom she believes she’s met before, who refuses to be remembered, to be recognized. She became numb on the pavement. In a vehement splash, what occurred fifteen months ago in that same ground rendered her knees powerless, dead. The memory of Cris leaving transformed into being completely her in the aftermath of the tragedy. Everything else was fog exhaled by people who attempted to connect to the glass windows of her soul. At one point, she was fully conscious of what she has conquered some time ago, but she willfully chose to dump this consciousness in hopes of living in peace.

With tears quickly trying to escape her eyes, she began running without knowing where she’s headed to. The trees, the people, the cars, the skies disappeared as the world converted into a blur.  Sobbing her way out of everything, she subconsciously ended up in Lacuna. She barged in, looking for the doctors that operated on her weeks ago. Dr. Ziak and the auburn haired doctor were on separate tables, the faces of whom buried in their laptops.

“I had my memory of someone erased, hadn’t I?” she screamed, still bawling. Dr. Ziak held her shoulders and guided her to a chair. He moved in front of her and looked her apologetically in the eye. With trembling voice, Sarena spilled the story.

Afterwards, it was Dr. Ziak turn to explain.

“You had your memory of some guy named Cris erased through electroconvulsive memory. It doesn’t guarantee eradication though. Your memory of being introduced to each other was successfully wiped off. But your breakup, all the other things you remember about him, your dreams with that guy- they were far too deeply rooted in your consciousness, in your being, to be erased.”

The auburn haired doctor butted in.

“As the electricity methodically obliterates the chain of memories, an awfully significant amount of time is spent on the interference with the storage. I hope you didn’t see it as a waste. Also, more importantly, the consuming desire to be stripped off of those possessions is because of your fear of the memories, the fear of continually being dismembered by the immensity of that collection. In the period of your life that you endured without him, you somehow internalized the underlying purpose of the tragedy. Either way, you are left with a void and abysmal hole in your world. Would the breathing spaces take the place of the vibrant past?”

REFERENCES:

http://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/electroconvulsive-therapy, March 8, 2013

http://healthland.time.com/2013/12/22/erasing-painful-memories-with-shock-treatment/, March 4-9, 2013

Apple Czarline C. Cruel

2013-5992

The IPOD Nano: A Story

Tyrone Caballes 

2009 78604

Individual Project

Once upon a time, there was a nation made up of tiny molecular beings called the Nano-Machines. They were a very happy bunch of people and they all always sing and dance and enjoy their days. Some would say that they would even dance their whole life away, never missing a beat, never batting an eye, never a sad frown from their faces. It was a real Utopia for anyone who has lived in our world.  Anyone who had experience the pain of sacrifice and the hurt of heart break would believe this nation to be impossible and a dream for the dreamers who never wake. It was perfect society.

The one thing they love most among everything else that they love is the gift of songs and instruments: in short, they love music the most. There has never been a time in the history of the Nano Machines that there was no music. From the time the first of them was conceived in the labs of their creators, Brahms and Wolfgang and Mozart and Chopin had sung them to life and so as music was there in their before, as will it be in their during and after. They are the result of the geniuses inspired by notes and melodies and in their fanaticism to music and their creators they have been itching to give back something to them.

What could they, the Nano Machines, give their creators that would involve their appreciation and love for music? How else could they out innovate the great innovator of their time? What could they give them that they have not already made and conceptualized before? The answer, to their outstanding yet expected disappointment is “None”.

Being as one in mind with their creators, they thought to themselves, if we cannot be original, might as well innovate something that would better serve the masters more than the original. They all approved of the idea. Now, the problem is what could they innovate? Again, since they love music, they thought of how the newly reproduced IPODs have done wonders attaching the world of music to someone’s side! So they put their attention on IPODs! What can we do with it? It is black, it is kind of think like a cassette with almost endless recordings. What can we do with it? Their research began.

One after another the ideas came up: A Walking IPOD, A Flying IPOD, IPOD Attached on One’s Eye Glasses, IPOD Attached to One’s Ears. One after the other, the proposals was met with disapprovals. What can we give them that is more practical than this? That was the challenge to all of them all!

The day was ending and as obvious as the stars, it dawned on them that the way to be practical was to make it compact and as easy to carry as possible. From the dawn of the next day until it’s dusk they worked. They achieved their gift for their father and what gift it was!

THE IPOD NANO

Piracy: The Gray Area of Society (Individual project)

Tenmatay, 2010-78004

Piracy: The Gray Area of Society

            If you've ever been interested in any kind of electronic medium, you've probably heard of piracy. It can be also found in advertisements, news, public service announcements, and it even spreads through word-of-mouth. Be thankful for it because without it, we would be deprived of many of life's distractions, and possibly, a world full of the pleasures of art and music.

            Then why is it so hard for it to garner visible support? Sure it's illegal but so is gambling in many parts of the world and we know it exists everywhere. Why do copyright agencies, try as they might, still seem so lenient when it comes to regulating their own laws? Or in some cases, impose too many security measures? Do economic dependencies play a part in all of this? Are people really concerned about what they leech off the net, legally or illegally? Is it really that harmful to society? And if people do support it, to what extent? But more importantly, is it a symptom of a service and distribution problem between content creators, publishers, and consumers? This topic of discussion is pretty common nowadays but it has become so rampant that if one tried to persecute anyone who has pirated anything, may it be from the Internet or otherwise, that person would have implicated just about everyone.

            Piracy essentially centers upon one word: Access. Why should we buy something that requires a lot of hassle to get if we could get it faster and easier though other means? The Internet is an immeasureable hub of connections and given enough time and effort, anything that is dumped in the internet can be found and retrieved. That means images, audio and video streams, published and unpublished literary works, software, and of course, confidential and copyrighted data. However, the Internet is only one part of the whole. We in the Philippines know the other parts very well: Bootleg DVDs, VCDs, and CDs that contain anything from the lastest games and music to the latest video-cammed movies. Taken together comes a fact that becomes quickly obvious: Piracy is everywhere.

            With this power of almost unlimited access, does it seem too powerful? Of course it is. So many companies are losing money and eventually go bankrupt because of piracy and prevalence of digital media. Blockbuster Inc., a well known retail chain of movies and video games, has recently filed for bankruptcy blaming piracy for their loss in revenue. Demigod, a MOBA (Multiple Online Battle Arena) game released in 2009, experienced a very disasterous case of piracy; out of the 138,000 gamers who played the game online, only 18,000 bought the game legitimately. This caused the game's developers, Gas Powered Games, to underestimate their user base and it led to their game servers crashing and again, loss in profit and revenue. P2P (peer-to-peer) networks make free distribution of copyrighted music as easy as opening  µtorrent, Limewire, or any BitTorrent client, typing the name of the song, hitting search, and downloading.

            It is precisely because of these situations that security and anti-piracy measures, as well as copyright laws are enacted and implemented. These can be as benign as laws prohibiting copying copyrighted material under penalty of fines and imprisonment, or as aggressive as local ISPs (Internet Service Providers) cutting service to users who are suspected pirates.

            But would piracy eventually make the electronic medium as an inefficient means to earn profit. That is actually not the case. Piracy does not mean free stuff. Just because you pirated something, it doesn't mean you didn't, haven't or will not pay for it in other means. Other people pirate things to try them out, some pirated programs take additional effort just for it to work, and, on the subject of companies losing money, according to David Rosen on his blog Wolfire Blog :

The average pirate downloads a lot more games than the average customer buys. This means that even though games see that 80% of their copies are pirated, only 10% of their potential customers are pirates, which means they are losing at most 10% of their sales. (…)

Let's consider the following scenario. Because game pirates can get apps for free, they download a couple new games every day -- or about 500 games in a year. On the other hand, normal gamers tend to play the same game for a longer time -- buying an average of 5 games per year. (…) Given these statistics, if the market consists of 10 million gamers, then there are 500 million pirated game copies, and 90 million purchased game copies, From the perspective of every individual game, 80% of its users are using pirated copies. However, only 10% of the market consists of pirates.

            And finally, publicity. Due to the nature of piracy, things spread fast and gain reputation. That's partly the reason why games, movies, TV series and production programs are very popular today. These are quality products but a video game costs $60 (usual retail price at release) + tax, and Adobe Photoshop CS5 currently costs $699 + tax + shipping (if you prefer shipping). Multiply that with our current exchange rate, factor in our economy, and we get about 60% of the population of the Philippines being able to afford buying them on their own for at least one time and only a small fraction of that being able to continually buy those products and their successors for a long time, and those people might not even be skilled or interested enough to use them. Moreover, there is the risk that what they get is not what they wanted and that equates to lost money for them.

            But can we blame them and, by extension, ourselves? The world isn't big anymore. Back then, piracy was just smuggling imported goods from place to place. It's has always been an isolated case before because it takes a long time to move those goods from country to country, town to town, etc. Now with the invention of the Internet and the Global culture, just about everyone wants to know and get into what is popular to the majority. What's more is that getting to them doesn't involve copious amounts of time and energy. From Hollywood movies and TV shows, hit songs, the latest apps, popular video games and eBooks to the most wanted animé, and state-of-the-art computer programs. The whole world is connected to each other now and it comes to no surprise that third-world countries such as ours experience the most problems when it comes to buying these imported products. What makes it all the more frustrating is that losing access to these materials would ironically slow down their progress because anyone talented enough to make use of them effectively are usually the ones who don't have the means to get them.

            Now think of those aforementioned goods and remind ourselves of how we got some of them, and how much of an impact it had in our lives. Our favorite movies, TV shows, and animé, the ones that we sometimes bring around with us to cheer us up when we feel down and needing inspiration. Music to make our lives lively and enjoyable. We make friends and become relatable when talking to other people by referencing what is “in” or current. Programs like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe After Effects help develop our creativity. Some videos on Youtube come from pirated material; the videos there, especially music videos and clips from movies, are not distributed by the ones responsible for them, yet you don't see all of them taken down by their proper owners. It's this gray area of society that is worth noting when talking about piracy. Can we get all of these items and integrate it into our lives without going drastically poor in the process? We can't. Doing all things legally would only limit our potential to learn a lot about the world. Like it or not, inspiration is still inspiration. Some people make wrong use of it but most people make good, if not better, use of it.

            For what it is and for what it's worth, piracy is good. Better and easier access to material will always be good. Sure it's illegal and I'm not advocating its legalization because, by design, it is illegal. What I'm going for here is us to recognize it for its merits. It's not all bad. Piracy keeps everything current and relatable for everyone. However, we should always find ways to give back because pirating a product is a bad way to treat developers who spent money and worked hard to create a good product. You can purchase the product later once you have the means or promote it for others who can buy it. Support the creators and developers. Piracy is just that; it's a service problem and it is normal to accept that we all do it because there's no helping it right now. But it shouldn't stop there. Once a better distribution service comes along, support it. It helps everyone.

Sources:

[1] Crocker, Ronnie, 2010. “Has digital age killed the video store?” Chron. The Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/business/article/Bankrupt-Blockbuster-gets-reality-check-in-1699093.php. 3 Feb 2014.

[2] Chalk, Andy, 2009. “Demigod piracy running high.” The Escapist Magazine. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/91001-Demigod-Piracy-Running-High. 3 Feb      2014.

[3] Hameed, Bilal, 2008. “P2P Piracy Costs the Music Industry $69 Billion in 2007.” Startup    Meme Techology Blog. http://startupmeme.com/p2p-piracy-costs-the-music-industry-69-billion-in-2007/. 3 Feb 2014.

[4] Raphael, JR, 2009. “ISPs Join RIAA's Fight Against Piracy: Is Your ISP One of Them?”     The Official PCWorld Blog. PC World Communications, Inc. http://www.techhive.com/article/161978/riaa.html. 9 Feb 2014.

[5] “What is DRM? Digital Restrictions Management”. Defective by Design. Free Software       Foundation. http://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm_digital_restrictions_management. 3 Feb 2014.

[6] “What is a Rootkit?” WiseGEEK. Conjecture Corporation. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-rootkit.htm. 3 Feb 2014.

[7] Rogers, Matthew, 2010. “Irish ISP begins three-strikes program to cut file-sharers' broadband        connections.” Download Squad. AOL, Inc. http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2010/05/24/irish-isp-three-strikes-file-sharing/. 9 Feb 2014.

[8] 31 March. “Virgin Media first UK ISP to adopt 3-Strikes-and-out on illegal downloads [Updated]”. Cable Forum. http://www.cableforum.co.uk/article/394/virgin-media-first-uk-isp-to-adopt-3. 9 Feb 2014.

[9] Jayasuriya, Mehan, 2008. “Cox To Internet Users: Three Strikes and You're Out”. Public    Knowledge. http://www.publicknowledge.org/news-blog/blogs/cox-internet-users-three-strikes-and-youre-ou. 3 Feb 2014.

[10] Hrusa, Joel, 2010. “Ubisoft Patches Assassin's Creed 2 DRM, Allows Local Saves”.        HotHardware.com, LLC. http://hothardware.com/News/Ubisoft-Patches-Assassins-Creed-2-DRM-Allows-Local-Saves/. 9 Feb 2014.

[11] Rosen, David, 2010. “Another view of game piracy.” Wolfire Blog. http://blog.wolfire.com/2010/05/Another-view-of-game-piracy. 3 Feb 2014.

[12] 2012. “Why are Video Games So Expensive”. Bright Hub, Inc. http://www.alteredgamer.com/free-pc-gaming/21118-why-are-video-games-so-expensive/. 9 Feb 2014.

[13] 2010. “Philippines Population below poverty line”. IndexMundi. http://www.indexmundi.com/philippines/population_below_poverty_line.html. 3 Feb 2014.

[14] Fulford, Adam, 2009. “Rising Popularity of Anime”. EzineArticles. http://ezinearticles.com/?Rising-Popularity-of-Anime&id=2994930. 9 Feb 2014.

[15] Tito, Greg, 2011. "Valve's Gabe Newell Says Piracy Is a Service Problem". The Escapist.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/114391-Valves-Gabe-Newell-Says-Piracy-Is-a-Service-Problem. 10 Feb 2014

[16] Tassi, Paul, 2012. "You Will Never Kill Piracy, and Piracy Will Never Kill You". Forbes.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2012/02/03/you-will-never-kill-piracy-and-piracy-will-never-kill-you/. 10 Feb 2014

[17] Colwill, Tim, 2013. "'We see pirates as our competition, we don’t see Steam as our competition”: GOG.com on hatemail, torrents, and sharing games legally". Games.on.net. http://games.on.net/2013/07/we-see-pirates-as-our-competition-we-dont-see-steam-as-our-competition-gog-com-on-hatemail-torrents-and-sharing-games-legally/ 10 Feb 2014