Found Character 01

 

Inspiration

My inspiration is actually very simple, just like when I was a child, I would think of the clouds in the sky as the appearance of some monsters. Here is a picture of a dandelion I picked while walking my dog in the garden.

Don't those black dry leaves at the bottom of it look like the legs of some monster? Plus those countless petioles. Makes me feel like a Cthulhu-esque monster. Lots of tentacles and weird shapes.

Sketches

I first drew a rough shape based on my photo. And the nose and mouth of the glasses are added to the original center position. Those rhizomes made me think of some electrically charged elements, while the tentacles underneath made me think of many spiny structures. Its mouth is like that of an octopus or squid, with a huge cavity and full of teeth.

More Theory

Depending on the properties of the dandelion, this monster doesn't need to be huge, but there are many, and it has the ability to split. Just like when a dandelion is blown by the wind, many seeds are born and multiply. To sum up, this is a large number of monsters that appear in groups. They can firmly grasp the prey with their tentacles, release an electric current to paralyze the prey, and then eat the prey with their mouths.

Final Post-Rick

        The rapid upgrading of science and technology has undoubtedly brought a lot of convenience to our life. It can make the distance between two people no longer far, it can allow you to receive purchased food or express delivery at home, it can observe your health and heart rate, and it can monitor every move of criminals.

        During the time I left China, my girlfriend and I were separated by a very long distance, with a time difference of 12 hours and a time difference of 13 hours during winter time. Thanks to modern technology, mobile phones allow us to talk or video chat anytime. When my sun sets, the sun on her side rises, which is also a kind of romance. When she catches a cold, I can use Chinese software in the United States to find and deliver cold medicine to her, and it can be delivered to her home in half an hour. When it's her birthday or Valentine's Day, I will buy her a gift one or two days in advance, and she will receive the gift I bought for her on her birthday or Valentine's Day. None of this would be possible without these technologies.

        Of course, modern technology also has many risks and problems. People become overly dependent on technology, because technology many workers lose their jobs, technology makes life more risky, it monitors your daily life in real time, the evolution of AI may be more risky.

        "Head-down family". This refers to some people who use smartphones and other portable devices with their heads down for a long time anytime, anywhere, and often never leave their hands. For example, during their daily walks and subway rides, they keep looking down at their mobile phones. I think this is a very common phenomenon in contemporary times, and the personal safety problem of this phenomenon is obviously very serious. You are walking on the street wearing earphones and looking at your mobile phone. You don’t know what’s going on nearby, and your head bumps into a street sign or a car accident.

        Unemployment, which is also a serious problem facing today. Technology replaces people's jobs because they make fewer mistakes, can do more delicate work, and they don't need to rest. For example, the current AI painting can put anyone's face on a video or picture. Some time ago, I saw a news that someone took a picture of a woman on the subway and turned her into "naked" with AI painting. . AI itself is mindless, depending on the intentions of the person using it for good or bad.

        The evolution of AI is endless, they can upgrade themselves or update themselves. It can be seen that the current AI has become more intelligent. It can control your home appliances, answer your questions, and become emotional. It's scary how certain appliances could be a way for you to be killed if your home's systems are hacked. I watched a movie "M3GAN" before, which tells the story of Megan, a life-like toy doll with a high degree of artificial intelligence, who is designed to be the best playmate for children and the most reassuring ally for parents. In the end, it became a killing machine in self-evolution. This is a science fiction film, but no one knows that science fiction films may one day become reality.

presentation2 note

 Five eyes

• create in 1946
• intelligence-sharing alliance (US UK Australia Canada  )
• A mass detection program  

The rise of propaganda

• the effort to manipulate other people's beliefs
• still used today and is still relevant in today's world
• targeted toward groups of varying size at the local, national, or global level 

Disinformation

• false information deliberately and often covertly spread in order to  influence public opinion or obscure the truth.

how to spot a audio deep faker:

• Unnatural eye movements
• Mismatch in color and lighting
• Compare audio quality
• Body movement 
• Awkward physique

vertical integration and media

• creator and the distributor of the product
• Netflix Disney Fox News Coca-Cola 

news deserts

• the result of systemic failures to meet the needs of all communities

AI

 The video tells the story of AI and robots replacing human beings. It is undeniable that robots can be more accurate and have greater potential. What can be done by 10 people can be done by one machine.

Because AI can do better than those in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, this view is deeply engraved in people's brains. So people generally think that AI can do better. It's clear that AI is getting smarter now, and some see it as a threat. They know everything about our lives. Use AI to control appliances and more.

The video shows a serious contemporary problem - unemployment.

AI

PROS:

• One machine, one AI, they don't need to rest. They can work through the night on a full charge. There is no doubt that this is far beyond human.
• AI has more precision and can even calculate costs and losses. Simply put, machines are less likely to make mistakes.
• objective function (make more money)
• AI can upgrade itself to better serve human beings.

CONS:

• "We use google to search things, but we don't know if google is searching us". Privacy
• Your information, private data, and location are all monitored in real time.
• digital exhaustion
• Your information will be recorded. Accompanied by the disclosure of privacy.
• Technology sharing issues. People from different countries live in completely different social environments.

AI can be used for good or evil. Then it is the person who uses it, or a government, or a country that decides these.

Blog Post #7

 Netflix by Kielan O'Day

1977: Founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in California (purely a movie rental service)

2000: Falldown of blockbuster (Chance to by Netflix)

2007: Netflix began offering subscribers the option to stream some of its movies and television shows directly to their homes through the internet.

2010: Netflix introduced a streaming-only plan that offered unlimited streaming service but no DVDs.

2016: streaming service was available in more than190 countries.

CNN (cable news network)

Created on June 1, 1980 in Atlanta, GA

Originally became big on the scene once their piece about the attempted assassination of Vernon Jordan

Created by Robert “Ted” Turner.

It became the first 24-hour all-news service according to Harold L. Erickson from Britannica.

BLOG #6

 After I briefly browsed these websites, I found that each country hides a lot of information that is not good for its own country. All major media outlets are biased towards their own country. I read a piece about China warning the US to use balloon reconnaissance in Chinese territory. It contains the speeches of Chinese officials at the press conference, which obviously will not appear in the mainstream media in the United States.

in 2001, a US surveillance plane collided with a Chinese plane off the coast of Hainan Island in the South China Sea. The collision killed the Chinese pilot and forced the American plane to land in Chinese territory. This information was also reported in China, and it was a very important diplomatic event at that time. China has accused a U.S. reconnaissance plane (the U.S. Navy EP-3 electronic intelligence reconnaissance plane) of deliberately crashing into a Chinese J-8II fighter jet. The United States said that the collision was caused by the loss of control of the Chinese fighter jets. As for the U.S. plane landing on Chinese territory without permission, the U.S. side stated that another fighter jet took him to that airport. In the end, the United States did not apologize positively, and China returned the American pilot and plane.

Obviously, news that is unfavorable to the country and that will shake the power of the country will not be allowed to be published by the mainstream media. Mainstream media has greater influence, more readers, and higher trust. Like many scenes in movies, the boss tells you not to pursue this matter anymore, and you want to be a partner of justice. The result is that you harm yourself and those around you.

I can often find some very interesting information on these unknown websites, which let me know more about the things in the whole world. Nowadays, the publication rate of international news around the world is getting lower and lower. People can only see the good things in their own country, but they don't know the real history and the real process of many things.

Diffusion of Innovations

Diffusion theory, also known as innovation diffusion theory, is a theory of the spread of innovations, ideas, and technologies through one or more cultures. The theory has been widely studied by sociologists, psychologists, and anthropologists. Diffusion theory states that there are many qualities in different people that lead them to accept or not accept an innovation.

For example, Nokia used to be the number one mobile phone brand in the world for 14 consecutive years. At the same time as the rise of smart phones, they underestimated the future of smart phones. Now the emphasis is on innovation rather than following the development of the industry. So they fail. 

The fall of Nokia actually represents the end of an era. It's not just the rise of the smartphone. The word innovation is deeply engraved in the minds of the new generation. The rise of Apple is the beginning of a new era. Within three days, sales of the second-generation iPhone 3G exceeded 1 million.

I had an Apple mp3 in the early days, which I could use to listen to songs and watch some stored videos. I didn't get one when the first iPhone came out in 2007, and my family still has Nokia's and Samsung's. When the second iPhone was released, my father and mother bought the latest iPhone, and that was when the iPhone wave started. I remember getting my very first ipad at the time, although it's a relic now. 

Why didn't my family choose to buy the first iPhone? In fact, the biggest reason is that it is more expensive. And most people were still using push-button phones at the time. People are used to this method of operation, and sudden innovation makes it difficult for people to adapt to a new era. (at least for my parents' generation) As times change, people are gradually brave enough to try new things.

And there are pros and cons to this phenomenon. The birth of the Apple mobile phone allows people to take clearer photos, makes people's privacy more secure, and improves people's experience and quality of life. The accompanying disadvantage is that the positioning of the mobile phone and the tracking of the software make people's lives completely transparent, like a rotten fruit that looks fresh from the outside, but the inside has long since rotted.

link: The Brief History of Smartphones (thoughtco.com)