Sensors are mechanical devices which are used to visualize measurements of various things. The dictionary defines sensors as mechanical devices sensitive to light, temperature, radiation levels, or the like, that transmits a signal to a measuring control instrument. An example of a sensor that I can think of is the Geiger Counter. Geiger Counters are used by professionals such as HazMat personnel and Fire and Police first responders to measure radiation emissions and the amount of radiation absorbed by an object or animal. Geiger counters cannot detect neutron radiation, laser energy, or microwave energy. Another example of a sensor used in everyday life is a speedometer. The dictionary definition of a speedometer is an instrument on an automobile or other vehicle indicating the rate of travel in miles or kilometers per hour. Speedometers are used by pretty much everyone who drives or operates some kind of vehicle, in real life and in video games.
With the TI cc2650 SensorTag, you can measure data on many things and then visualize that data in a chart. An example of this would be measuring the ambient temperature in a room at different times and then putting that data on a line graph to measure how much heat is being pumped through an air conditioner at certain times during the day. Something else that you can measure with the SensorTag is the the temperature of light on a specific object; and you'd probably measure this if you were doing an experiment on the temperature of darkly colored objects when exposed to sunlight versus the temperature of lightly colored object when exposed to sunlight. You would then be able to take the data from that experiment and visualize it using a bar graph. Using sensors to measure environmental data can improve your life in a multitude of ways, the most obvious way being so that you can know what you need to change about what you do in order to better preserve the environment. I say this because when people are confronted with hard data on something like the weakening of the ozone layer and how spraying aerosol cans contributes to it, they're less likely to continue using aerosol cans as much as they were previously.
0 Comments
A little while ago, I listened to an NPR TED Hour talk on copyright, where they discussed things like how nothing can really be considered original and how copyright laws are outdated and stifle creativity. Most interestingly, they talked about sampling in music and how artists tend to borrow from existing songs to put their take on the song and make it their own. I'm not really sure if this can be considered relevant or not, but while I was listening to this part of the talk, I couldn't stop thinking about the Amen Break. If you're not in the know, the Amen Break is considered to be the most used drum sample in music history; and even if you don't know it, you've probably heard it a million times. I'm no stranger to copyright laws, (being a hip-hop music producer and YouTube content creator kind of requires you know the ins-and-outs of it) and I know how easy it is to get taken down by Content ID-ing or a DMCA claim. You need to be careful when using copyrighted material, especially on YouTube (their copyright dispute system is kind of a joke), but this also applies to most other areas. You always need to find permission, and if you can't get it, either move on to something else, or give credit to the original creator. Always do your research on if something that you want to use is copyrighted, because this will save you from a lot of frustration and even potentially lost money. Never under any circumstances violate copyrights from big companies (Disney, Viacom, Warner Music Group, etc.) because they will go straight for your throat—and your wallet— if you get found out. And lastly, don't pirate. You'll just be adding to America's problem of prison overcrowding and putting more money into the pockets of those who benefit from it, while at the same time having to pay up to $150,000 in fines for each file. I think that much of copyright law is ridiculous, and needs to be updated to meet the needs of the internet era. But until that time comes, we'll just have to keep looking out for ourselves and our work, making sure that we don't infringe and aren't infringed upon.
|
Categories
All
Archives
May 2018
|