laua-medienlabor

[laua-medienlabor]

Reflection of this semester

Though it was a really hard semester, we survived. At first I didn't know what to expect from this course and wasn’t necessarily the most motivated person when we started. After a while I got more and more into it, realizing that it probably would've been very different if we weren't in a pandemic not being able to do anything hands on.

I think we all got a tiny taste of what the next semesters are going to be like. But it was a good introduction to all of it. There was a little bit of everything. I think what caught my interest the most was (as you can probably tell by looking at my blog) AR & VR. I just think that these two are most likely to be used a lot more in the future, which is why it did not feel like I was doing “school work” when I got informed and posted my blog entries.

I think the reason I didn't do a project like everyone else is because I’d rather learn and watch how something is done in real life than having to figure out everything on my own. I did the weekly tasks and spend some time in the holidays looking at the presentations, but I was never really into programming and coding which is probably why there is not a lot of it on my blog.

In conclusion: I think we all did the best we could considering our situation right now and really tried to do as well with the course as we could. It’s just another difficulty level when even the face to face conversations have a screen between them.

[laua-medienlabor]

Virus

a virus is like a code that is constantly copying itself so that the pre-existing settings in the computer get destroyed or start malfunctioning. In the worst case scenario your whole device will shut down and you have to go and get a new one. One of the first doctoral thesis’ about computer viruses came out in 1984. Each month approximately 6000 new computer viruses are being found. The biggest damage that viruses have caused are estimated to be worth 30+ billion dollars. In 1990 there were 50 known viruses, nowadays were at about 50.000.

[laua-medienlabor]

Trojan

I think we all know the story about the Trojan horse where the Greeks hid inside and and took over Troy because the trojan people thought it was a gift. Well, a computer trojan does the same. you might thing you're downloading a normally paid app for free and BOOM - tens and thousands of viruses on your computer, a new search engine, a new browser. The mastermind behind it was John Walker in 1975. It was first used to fill up somebody's computer storage without the person knowing what takes up all the space. SO it was created with a malicious intend. 

[laua-medienlabor]

Why do we trust cookies?

Every single website asks if you accept their cookies, sounds nice, but that's not it. If you’ve ever done research about something and then gotten tons of ads for it - that's the reason. People constantly think they’re being stalked without their permission and that there’s an FBI man in their phone (going back to Snowden for a sec), when in reality its just them accepting the default settings on every single website they visit. If you take 1 minute you can manually decide which cookies you allow and which ones you don't (you can never be 100% sure if that's also the only ones they'll use, but at least you did your part).

[laua-medienlabor]

The chip inside this electric game-model car is Arduino. What you need to build it is: Wireless contro

lAutomation

Motors control

Robotic

CNC Machines

LEDs

and more.

It is cool because in the end result there's also a robot hand which can be used. Most parts of it are 3D printed which comes in handy (also for our blogs). I do not not what you would use this for, especially with the hand attached to it, but I think it could be a lot of fun playing around with it. 

[laua-medienlabor]

This was pretty much a revolutionary invention. Charging other phones with phones?? Samsung really outdid themselves right here. With the built-in-NFC they provided in their newer phones they were able to add this feature. The best part about it Is that it does not only charge Samsung devices, but every device you would normally be able to charge via NFC as well.

My cousin in Iraq saved my phone from dying plenty of times when I was there in 2019, which is also how I found out that this function even exists.

[laua-medienlabor]

Apple’s MagSafe charger was introduced in 2020, saying that it'd connect to the iPhone 12 magnetically and charge up to 15W faster. It uses NFC to charge your phone which reminds me of some of the latest Samsung phones that can charge other phones when this function is enabled. Based on the 2021 iPhone rumors - and them already removing the charging bricks from last years iPhone - i think they'll remove the charging port in general and make people buy this charger which!! only charges your phone really fast if it also is perfectly aligned with the place it has to be on. 

[laua-medienlabor]

Wireless technology

This is one of the most advertised new aspects of technology. Headphones? Make them wireless! Phone chargers? No need to plug the phone in, just lay it down! I’m not the biggest fan. Headphones I can stand behind but the whole chargers thing, and less USB inputs and all of that is just a marketing strategy to sell more. At first there were no headphones in the phone boxes anymore, randomly at the same time where bluetooth headphones became very popular. Also, they removed headphone jacks.. what was that all about? Now it’s rumored that the next iPhone won't even come with a charging port. Who knows? Maybe in 10 years you have to buy the touch screen individually too.

[laua-medienlabor]

PSA

These posts are going to be so awkward since none of them know that I am doing this.

[laua-medienlabor]

Stefan’s project(s)

From Snapchat filter to animation to everything else. Stefan might have the most diverse project as its more than just one. I think it is really cool how he animated his little character and got it to do things, again, also considering the little amount of time we had to learn these things just theoretically.

Also that he did not just do that animation, but also one, that is promoting his band. I think it could be cool seeing more artists being THIS involved in what they do, cause as we can see, he has more than one talent.

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Melanie’s project

I can’t believe that she really worked with Arduino without us really being able to work with it hands-on due to the lockdown restrictions. She must’ve invested a lot of time in perfecting the project because as you can see, it works perfectly. The items connected with the cables start making sounds as soon as you touch them. I think she’s really advanced considering we’re in our first semester and she’s already made such an astonishing project. Just leaves me to think what she's going to do in the following semesters.

[laua-medienlabor]

Hannah’s project

So, Hannahs project is really interesting since it kind of promotes recycling and sustainability in some ways. A lot of us have tapes that just don't work or that we don't use and she's morphing it into something completely new. Her project is something I just know I’d see at a museum and play around with it for a long time.  The further away your touch is from the chip, the quieter is the sound - the closer it is, the louder it gets; depending on which part of the knitted tape you press. There are 4 speakers and if you press the top right part of the tape, the top right speaker is going to be the loudest and the bottom left one is going to be the one with the least amount of volume. If you press the chip in the middle, Every speaker is going to have the same volume. 

[laua-medienlabor]

Raphael’s project

I think it is not necessary for me to say that it is very noticeable how much time he has invested in his project and how thoughtful it is.

You always see these types of apps, where restaurants offer you “cheaper food” near their closing hours, but you rarely see an app like the one Raphael has come up with. Not in Austria. The fact that it is so well thought-out and you can even chat with the people offering the food and customize what kind of food you want and the fact that the app is working is just amazing. I just know that if it were me the whole thing would've gone wrong. Honestly, props to him.

[laua-medienlabor]

Alexandra’s project

Once again, a brilliant idea. Visualizing sign language??? Why have I never seen anything like this before? I mean sure, you can put subtitles over a video but when you're talking in real life it would be such a cool idea if you could just (without being insensitive) scan what the person says and communicate with them. I think it is also remarkable that she went out of her way and made the Hand statue for this project instead of just scanning her own hand. I’m very impressed that the people who were absent in that class are the one’s using Wikitude successfully(!) and making up amazing projects with it.

[laua-medienlabor]

Susanne’s project

I’ve never been more impressed with the combination of digital and analog like right now. Well, she has shown us the project once before but my point still stands. The scanning of the tape and playing her own track over the tape and making the whole thing interactive just shows how much effort she has put into this project. I think due to the timing and if I remember correctly some other issues the project hasn't been perfected (which it doesnt have to be for the course anyways), it is very remarkable what she has done in such a short amount of time.

[laua-medienlabor]

Veras project

Going in the order of our Moodle-website, Veras blog was the first one. After taking a quick look I've got to say that her project is really cool. She’s taking the knowledge she already has and paired it up with something we have learned in this course and made something of it. I heard from here and there that Vera works with clothing items and all that but I didn't think that it’d be this advanced. I’m truly impressed and kind of jealous that I didn't come up with something like that. Especially the Wikitude idea I could've used with basically anything so now I am a little frustrated. Still, a great project idea which I could see being used to promote band merch etc. Like exclusive music or videos if you buy the merch and scan it.

[laua-medienlabor]

Critiquing my co-students projects

I have to get to 60 posts so I thought since our projects had to be approved for this course by our professor I have to be able to use their project in mine. Basically I have my blog. I didn't think I’d just do the blog but then there were too many ideas and we got to see a lot of new unknown things which was a little overstimulating for my brain which is why I personally thought I should maybe rather stick to just writing the blog posts and making the most of it (which I hope I am doing and it doesnt seem like I’m just doing whatever).

My video idea was, as I said, a little to basic for this class and I wouldn't have been able to do the required tasks thanks to this impeccable pandemic and I don't just wanna throw out anything and say “I’m done”, even though our projects didn't need to necessarily be done by the end of this semester.