Blog Assignment #6

       Before I took this course, I had no idea how technical writing is different from the rest of writing styles. Therefore, as a student majoring in mechanical engineering, I was really motivated to to learn new concepts and methods that distinguish technical writing, simply because I'm going to be using this style for the rest of my life.
 
       First, I built a huge vocabulary of technical terms. These terms are very important to use in a technical document. Also, I learned how to construct a coherent technical essays by implementing the right transitions between ideas, and dividing the essay into specific parts that develops certain idea. Moreover, I discovered new genres of essays that can be used for specific objectives such as Memo ( convincing essay), technical description ( descriptive essay) and recommendation report ( both convincing and descriptive essay). More Importantly, over this course, I understood that my language should be clear and simple, because we're most likely addressing our documents to non-specialist audience.

     Second, we went over techniques that help us to conduct efficient research and look for reliable sources. For example, www.Sciencedirect.com  is one of the data bases that is widely used by technical writers to find trustworthy sources for their research. I extensively used this database and other sources this semester, and I was impressed by the amount of scholarly papers available in it. 

    Finally, I definitely learned numerous techniques that well help me to be a better technical writer.  Besides the things that I've already mention, we emphasized the importance of giving credit to whoever provided data for us in order to avoid plagiarism. We went over the format that must be followed to write a good APA citations and the importance of paraphrasing. Therefore, my writing improved so much through all the assignments that we had during this course.
   

Assignment #5

    Considering professional reviews for specific products before purchasing them is definitely a good method to build an idea about it. However, normal users can provide some good opinions that based on hands on testing. Personally, I usually look for either sort of reviews before buying anything. Nevertheless, in this post, I'll be analyzing two  reviews about two of the most sold cars in the market: 2013 Ford fusion hybrid vs 2013 BMW X1.

http://reviews.cnet.com/suv/2013-bmw-x1-xdrive28i/4505-10868_7-35602742.html

      First, I'll start with the review of Jjacobus who criticized the "premium" interior of the car. He said, "It was sparse and felt more like a Honda than a BMW" (Jjacobus, 2013). Moreover, he didn't appreciate the price of the BMW X1, considering that it is just few thousands cheaper than the full-option X3. In contrast,  Avanbeek emphasized the positive things of the car. He stated that the car is very stable in turns, and it makes negligible noise. He also said that the space inside the car is well used and the its size is just about right (Avanbeek, 2013).


http://reviews.cnet.com/sedan/2013-ford-fusion-hybrid/4505-10865_7-35430050.html

      On one hand, The first comment that I'm going to go over first is Cbscowards's. He actually appreciated that such a powerful car uses as less as 45 MPG. However, he demonstrated that this is a normal thing for a car that uses hybridization technology. More importantly, he didn't understand why the it consumes a big amount of gas when the car pulls away (Cbscowards, 2013). On the other hand, Kdc174 claimed that the biggest problem that this car has is the temperature adaptation of the car. He argued that the car takes long time recover its normal temperature during the cold weather, so it needs a relatively long time to kick in compare to other hybrid cars (Kdc174, 2013). 

 

Blog Assignment #4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8bqzjZvSmc

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL.Science&userGroupName=cuny_laguardia&tabID=T003&searchId=R3&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=4&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3463000012&&docId=GALE|CX3463000012&docType=GALE

http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?sgHitCountType=None&sort=RELEVANCE&inPS=true&prodId=GVRL.Science&userGroupName=cuny_laguardia&tabID=T003&searchId=R3&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&contentSegment=&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=2&contentSet=GALE%7CCX2275200056&&docId=GALE|CX2275200056&docType=GALE

       The video for nao robot technology that I chose is accessible through the link above. This video chose some nao robots playing soccer the most popular game in the world. More importantly, it demonstrates the ability of a nao robot to locate the ball through very advanced precise sensors. In addition, it shows their ability to move toward the ball and kick toward the goal considering the existence of the opponent robots that will prevent them from heading to the goal. All these things are not easy to program and build it in a robot. Further, what struck me most was their ability to stand up after falling down. It was just amazing how developed these robots are. I believe this video is very optimistic, because it not only show the incredible features of these robots, but it also suggest that this technology is still in its beginning, and it’ll definitely move forward. Who knows, this technology may change our relationship with robots in the future. This video was published by a fan of robotics and the new technology called SuperRoboHead. In my opinion, this does not affect the reliability of the video, because even if there are commercialization purposes, I’m convinced that this is an amazing technology.

        According to Michael Bandele (2010), artificial intelligence is machine that can be programmed in a way, so it can be implemented somewhere to handle certain mission.  He also declares that AI main purpose is to develop the functioning of certain object in an intelligent manner for the good of humans and the society.  Moreover, he stated that, “The goal of computer simulations is to develop programs that take into consideration the constraints of how humans perform various cognitive tasks and incorporate these constraints into a program” ( Bandele, 2010).

       Peggy Thomas affirms that Machine learning is highly difficult. That’s because building a good model is really a creative act. As an analogy, consider what it takes to design a robot. You’re balancing lots of constraints such as budget, usage requirements, space limitations, etc. However, trying to create the most precise and beautiful artificial intelligence you can. A creative engineer will find a great solution. Mathematically speaking engineering is solving an optimization problem and creativity can be thought of as the ability to come up with a good solution given an objective and constraints (Peggy, 2005). Furthermore, He said that, “In the 1960s AI experts promised a robotic maid in every home. That has not happened, but AI experts are optimistic that it will” (Peggy, 2005). 

References:

Bendele, Michael S. "Artificial Intelligence." Salem Health: Psychology & Mental Health. Ed. Nancy A. Piotrowski. Vol. 1. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2010. 184-188. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 4 June 2013.

"Everyday AI." Artificial Intelligence. Ed. Peggy Thomas. San Diego: Lucent Books, 2005. 41-53. Lucent Library of Science and Technology. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 4 June 2013.

  SuperRoboHead(2011, November 5). NAO Robot Is Amazing Soccer Player. Retrieved  May 28,2013, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8bqzjZvSmc.