The Future is (Almost) Here

A few weeks ago a visiting friend expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming release of the Leap Motion controller. However, I'm not always in the tech loop so I just proceeded to give him a blank stare.

Leap Motion controller?

OMG THIS EXISTS?

Apparently, I had somehow missed the news that we'd progressed to the Minority Report age in terms of computer interaction. Needless to say, I quickly jumped on the bandwagon and about 15 minutes after watching the introduction video I had put in my $80 pre-order for a ticket to the future. I lay in bed that night with visions of Tony Stark dancing in my head.

I am Iron Man and you can too.

About 2 weeks of painful waiting went by and finally IT arrived. It took all my self restraint not to rip the box out of the hands of the apartment frontdesk person while they made me sign for my delivery.

omgomgomgomgomgomg

A word of warning. Don't try this out for the first time in public. Obvious? Perhaps.

What I expected:

Organizing my Facebook pictures has never been easier.

What I got:

NNNGGGGHHHHH

Brief (but somewhat related) tangent:

So I don't know how many of you have played the game Surgeon Simulator 2013. Basically your hand movements are mapped to your keyboard and mouse clicks which means picking up a pencil takes all the finesse and skill of docking a spacecraft.

SS2013 is best classified as a "rage" game due to the sheer stupidity of your fat hands as you try to delicately cut through organ tissue during a heart transplant. Also, your patient is slowly bleeding to death because you were such a butterfingers and dropped the drill right into his chest cavity.

Half the time I'm using the Leap Motion I feel like that- frustrated by the simplest of tasks. My fingers become clumsy sausages pawing at the air. And rather than clicking on a link I end up scrolling down the page and highlighting all the text and copying it to my clipboard. Because yeah. It's intuitive like that.

Also, you can only interface with special Leap Motion apps which are available for purchase in their Airspace app store (mind you, some are free). There's around 70 something apps currently available, including games like Fruit Ninja. Having just spent $80 on the controller, I wasn't particularly inclined to spend extra $$ on apps so most of the stuff I've been playing with either came with the controller on install or was free for download in the app store.

I figured that you wouldn't simply be able to plug and go with the Leap Motion but I wasn't quite prepared for an app store. At this point, I'm more intrigued by the SDKs available for download on the Leap Motion website.

Before you go and laugh and say "haha, I told you the future was a lie," let me clarify by telling you that I'm not actually disappointed by the Leap Controller.

Sure, the technology is new and there's definitely room for improvement but in those moments when the controller and your hands are in sync, it's a beautiful thing. I think this was a great "leap" (haha, sorry) forward in terms of new ways to interface with computers. So yes, it's going to be buggy and maybe a bit clumsy and awkward. But that's how most tech is in its early days. Just look at touch screens.

Here's an article by ars technica that explains it all quite well:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/07/hands-on-with-the-leap-motion-controller-cool-but-frustrating-as-hell/

Someday.

2 hours and 1 iced latte later....

This would all be so much better if I spaced out my adventures and life updates between blog posts (I just might do that) but I suppose this can just be a recap of the past few months or so.

So where have I been?

May:
So the great thing about cities is that they're always full of surprises. You never know what you'll find just by walking around the city. When I'm on my own I tend to stick with what I know and usually I'm on a mission, either shopping or meeting up with friends. But I spent a few weekends wandering around the capital with some friends and they were the ones to convince me to stop inside the Portrait Gallery. I probably never would have gone inside on my own. Forgive me for being an uncultured butt, but the Portrait Gallery? You're basically signing up for pompous renditions of men with wigs and ridiculous facial hair. Also, my knowledge of American history is pretty pitiful.

Dat mustache.

This man taught me the word mutton chops.

Well, I was wrong. Because instead I got REAL men with absurd facial hair.

There's a great courtyard area in the center of the museum which gives you that outdoor feel but it's actually just a huge indoor area with skylights and trees (new favorite study spot? If only I still had schoolwork). But they had apparently decided that area was also a great spot for some old-timey dancing. I know there's a name for this type of thing but you'll have to forgive me because it's slipping my mind...

OH, WHAT A MARVELOUS BALL, MR. DARCY.

Psh, clubbing is too mainstream.

And yes. I danced with them. All the gentlemen look so proper but the truth is they're all flirtatious old men which made the entire thing hilarious. Don't be fooled by their suit tails and cummerbunds. 

June:

Occasionally I get in touch with my heritage and I'm called to the yearly Greek festival by the promise of souvlaki and loukoumades.

Now, I was not a fat child. But as a little girl I would eat loukoumades like a portly french kid eats macaroons (I stole that phrase, I'm not original okay?). There were simply not enough fried sweet dough pieces to satisfy me. 

And just so you understand the full experience, this is what you would usually see walking up to the loukoumades booth:

These overbearing Greek women want to feed you until you explode.

Well, I'm older now but since loukoumades only come into season once a year I have no problem getting seconds. Or thirds. 

After successfully giving myself type II diabetes, I then ventured into the church. The wonderful thing about the Greek Orthodox tradition is how much detail we put into our churches. They're truly works of art:

There's always the smell of incense too which makes me feel oddly at home.... and hungry for more Greek food... 

The bad thing about showing up on the last day of the festival is that everyone has already gone through all the pastries and you're stuck with the leftovers.

UNACCEPTABLE

 Okay trivia time.

 


What do these movies have in common?





Why, only JOHN WILLIAMS of course.

I had the great pleasure of seeing him conduct the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra  and it was absolutely breathtaking. The playlist for night includes pieces from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Schindler's List, Strange Encounters of the Third Kind and one of the openings from the Olympics. The poor guy is probably 80 years old and we applauded him back out on stage for 4 encores. I feel so lucky to have seen him perform and of course I have to give credit to the BSO who did a beautiful job playing all of Williams' pieces.

The Meyerhoff Theater

Best Thai Food on the East Coast?

I may have just found it at this restaurant called X-ing 

First off, this place is pretty tiny so you're going to need reservations at least a few days in advance. You honestly feel like you're in some strange antique store because nothing matches. You've got an eclectic collection of chairs and tables and odd knickknacks everywhere. 

Wait, is this restaurant or a house?

 Also, there is no menu. You're basically going to get whatever is they've cooked for you that night. But I can promise you that you're going to love it.

What am I eating? DON'T CARE.

In fact, we ended up with 2 appetizers, 4 entrees and dessert which was PLENTY for 3 people. I cannot stress just how amazing the pumpkin curry was. So if you're feeling adventurous definitely try this place. It's also BYOB so bring along a bottle of your favorite wine!

July 4th Weekend:

I may have mentioned this before but I have a close friend in DC who also has a blog (http://confidenceiskeyblog.blogspot.com/) and for the holiday weekend I got to spend time with her and her family in eastern MD. This post is getting exhausting so here's a recap of that trip in pictures:

FIREWORKS

CATS

SEAFOOD

 And it was amazing.

 So where am I now?

Hoping for an endless summer....

Shameless Fangirling

My exposure to film classes in college meant that I was exposed to a lot of actors from years gone by. But movies have preserved their good looks and charm and so time has not stopped me from fangirling over some of these guys even though, sadly, many of them have passed away or are in their twilight years. This post is a kind of tribute to some of my favorite actors from another generation. I know these guys must have broken some hearts.

Paul Newman

(1925-2008)

Known For:

• Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
• Cool Hand Luke
• Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
• The Sting

People always talked about his eyes and for good reason. Paul Newman had the most intense baby blues I've ever seen and he definitely caught my attention in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Cary Grant

(1904-1986)

Known For:

• His Girl Friday
•  Notorious
•  North by Northwest
•  To Catch a Thief
•  Charade

Now, I don't find Cary Grant attractive per se, but he is the epitome of manliness by Hollywood standards. He's got a certain charm that commands your attention when he's on screen. He's sharp, spry (he WAS a former acrobat), and clever in his films. And the ladies always fall hard. He was paired up with film stars like Audrey Hepburn, Eva Marie Saint, Ingrid Bergman, and Grace Kelly. It must have something to do with that cleft chin...

Clint Eastwood

(1930-Present)

Known For (earlier films):

• Rawhide
• A Fistful of Dollars
• The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Not much to say on this one other than I love his older films like Gran Torino and I was shocked to see what he looked like in his younger years. I definitely have some catching up to do on Clint Eastwood's early films, especially classics like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Laurence Olivier

(1907-1989)

Known For:

• Rebecca
• Spartacus
• Lots of Shakespeare stuff 

I first saw Laurence Oliver in Rebecca (a Hitchcock film) and was blown away by his performance. But Spartacus is still on my to-watch list.

Jimmy (James) Stewart

(1908-1997)

Known For:

• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
• It's a Wonderful Life
• Vertigo
• Rear Window

Now Jimmy Stewart isn't exactly dreamy but he gave such great performances in Vertigo and Rear Window that I couldn't very well leave him out. He's a great actor and did justice to both Hitchcock films. Next stop is Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.

Anthony Perkins

(1932-1992)

Known For:

• Psycho

As if anyone doesn't remember his chilling role as Norman Bates in Psycho. What amazes me is how he can be both attractive and terrifying at the same time. For Perkins, Psycho was a big step in his acting career and it definitely showed that he was capable of some fantastic acting. Originally, they were hesitant to cast him as a crazy lady killer since he had always been in roles which played off his looks and boyish charm and they didn't want to tarnish that public image. But he had no trouble transitioning into the character of Norman Bates, especially with Hitchcock's guidance - the disturbing difference between the top and bottom picture proves that.

Martin Sheen

(1940-Present)

Known For (earlier films):

• Apocalypse Now
• Badlands

Confession - for the longest time I thought Charlie Sheen and Martin Sheen were the same person. And I was thinking, damn, this guy never ages. But lo, I'm actually thinking of Martin who is most well known in his early years for his performance in Apocalypse Now, one of my favorite movies (funny enough, it has Marlon Brando in it as well). The deal was sealed when I saw him later in Badlands by recommendation of my screenwriting professor.

Charlie Chaplin

(1889-1977)

Known For:

• City Lights
• The Gold Rush
• The Great Dictator 

I've only seen clips of his films (mainly The Goldrush and City Lights). But what shocked me was what this guy looked like underneath his acting persona. He was a handsome fellow and he was QUITE popular with the ladies.

Dick van Dyke

(1925-Present)

Known For:

• The Dick Van Dyke Show
• Mary Poppins 
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

I first saw him in Mary Poppins when I was very small so Dick Van Dyke didn't actually appear on my radar until I was older and watched an episode of the Dick Van Dyke Show. His charm and his hilarious antics really captured my heart. While you wouldn't call him "hot" he's got a certain boyish mischief about him that makes him endearing and so entertaining to watch.


And finally, saving the best for last.....

Marlon Brando

(1924-2004)

 Known for:

• A Streetcar Name Desire
• The Wild One
• On the Waterfront 
• And later, The Godfather

Insanely attractive, non? This was part of his first screen test.



He always played an excellent bad boy- his characters were rough, almost brutish but surprisingly vulnerable at times and he just oozed this sexual charisma. This man was made for the big screen. I'm just sad I've seen all his movies.... although I do regret watching Last Tango in Paris.

Me:


And now you know.

Life TODO Part I - Not That Kind of Pie

<life updates>
I've just finished up with a three month long project at work which means the past week was a little melancholy for me. I've gotten pretty chummy with my teammates and I'm going to miss working with them but now I'm off to new places with new people. I'm sure I'll feel the same way after the next three months goes by and I'm moved around again.

But before we parted ways and after presentations were over (read: when we weren't in full panic mode and trying to kill each other) a few of us were hanging around the office, chatting, and we got on the topic of goals and cool things we'd like to try out.

The result of all this office chitchat was a bucket list. Well, more like a to-do list of things I'd like to accomplish before my 27th birthday. One important thing you should know about me is that I love lists. I will make lists for the sake of checking things off. In fact, if you look at my Google docs, they're all lists of restaurants I want to eat at, movies I want to see, places I want to go etc.
</life updates>

So, I just wanted to use this post to elaborate on one of the items on my "bucket list" and go into detail on projects which might inspire you to make your own long term to-do list.

Item 1 - Get a nerdy hobby. 

Exhibit A.

This is hardly a lifestyle that anyone should strive for. In fact, the human race would quickly die out if we all embraced this level of tech obsession. Whether from lack of exercise, a decrease in babymaking activities, or the invention of Skynet, that is up to you to ponder.

But when you're working in the technical field, you'll often find yourself surrounded by coworkers who have a myriad of nerdy hobbies and who love to tinker with all manner of electronic equipment. They're the ones who come in on Monday morning bragging about how they dismantled/configured/hacked/pimped out their, or an unfortunate friend's, iPhone. Or how they spoofed the MAC address on their modem to match their neighbor's and stole their internet. What noobz. (ISPs like Comcast look for duplicate MAC addresses now, so don't bother trying this. Unless, of course, you keep tabs on when your neighbors aren't home...). There's also cool things like battery firmware hacking so you can make your adversary's computer burst into flame (theoretically speaking, of course).

Then you have the other half of the workforce who feel that spending eight hours a day in front of three computer monitors is enough, thank you, and would rather do something else with their free time. Like drink or run marathons. These are the people who come to work to collect a paycheck.

However, there is something to be said about learning outside of work, other than proving your technical prowess (read: l33t haxx0r skillz) to your office cube-mates. It's about rediscovering your curiosity and sitting down to figure something out for the fun of it which is quite different from those times when your boss dumps a project in your lap and you can feel every tick of the second hand on the office clock like a sledgehammer to your soul. Remember how adults used to tell you to do something you love? Yeah. How did it come to this...?

By exploring work-related interests outside of work, you're forcing yourself to remember why you liked this stuff in the first place. In fact, you liked it so much you had 4+ years of schooling on it and spent countless interviews convincing HR reps that it was your ultimate passion in life.

So, to cutting to the chase, you've obviously figured out that I'm not talking about cultivating my World of Warcraft skills here. I'm also not talking about this:

Exhibit B. 

I decided to start cheap and slowly build up my set of tools and gadgets. But I also wanted something a little trendy and fairly easy to get started with.

So I just bought this adorable thing:

Delicious.

What is it? Say hello to the Raspberry Pi!

Great, you say. Now what IS it?

Well, it's basically a single board computer. It's got connections for video, audio, keyboard, mouse and power (of course). It uses an SD card for memory and you can install a special flavor of Debian on it called Raspian, although there are other OSes you can install on the initial boot of the device such as Android.
In short, it's a tiny computer that you can program to do your bidding.

The fun part is I get to plug it into my giant TV and use it a kickass monitor. However, while it's fun to use it like a normal computer, there are much more creative things you can do with it than check your email and read wikipedia articles. 

This is one of the cooler applications I've seen:

http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/4271

Be sure to watch the video!

If and when I build anything awesome, you can be sure I'll post it. I've definitely got robots on the brain.

Next stop, PiBorg!