Ends Lecture 4/21/09

These are some notes from class about what should be in my final essay.  I need to make sure it is a reflection of who I am, and I need to show how I can utilize what I learned in class.  I need to make it personal to myself, my major, and my life.  The word limit is 1000 but can add pictures.

For the team final I need to show how we see the future.  It can be humorous or can include anything we talked about in class.  We need to demonstrate what we got out of this class.

Focus on the future: 

The video, "did you know 3.0" was an eye opener to how fast the world is changing, so we have got to get going, and be prepared.  As a country we always think we are the best, but we are being lazy and staying in our comfort zone.  This is causing us to get left behind, we are not at the head of change and innovation anymore.  

There are four groups of people:  1.  Are we going to contribute to make the future we want to happen?  2.  Are we going to just wait and see what future will happen?  3.  When the future arrives, are we going to ask what happened?  4.   “huh, something happened?”  I read the book George Orwell’s 1984 my freshman year of high school and I have always thought their look into the future interesting.  

 I liked what Dr. Vanegas said about the cat.  You can’t sit a cat on a hot stove twice. Cats aren't stupid!    I think the boiling pot syndrome is a classic saying and more people should pay attention to it, including me.  Change temp fast the frog will jump out, if you gradually heat up the water, the frog doesn’t notice.

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant.  We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.

                                                                        -Albert Einstein

Nothing ever is everything is becoming –John Danvers ;nothing is actually static.

Rather than just seeing people as they appear, one can also focus on who they are becoming.    Ex) susan boyle

I wanted to cry when I first saw this video, My priest sent it to me and I thought it was awesome!  She should be someone people look up to, not someone like Britney Spears.

The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, READ!

 

The job market is changing, it is globalized and America is not the only source of trained workers.  We need to be learning and preparing for our next job because most jobs that we have now will not even exist in 20 years. 

The five pen computer was amazing. I never expected that!

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail -Ralph waldo emerson

Soft Innovations Part 2

My four innovations were an 'always warm hat', a hot wing machine, a personal cart, and the feeder pro.

Soft innovations Part 1

My ideas were a stick shift cover, a airplane gum dispenser, an easy find livestock ear tag, and bicycle alert.  I got all of these ideas at random moments where they just popped into my head, luckily I had just learned in class that when you get an idea write it down, so I did and I actually remembered them for once!

Ends Lecture 4/16/09

Idea challenge presentations:

The Governator:

This helps prevent accidents that are from differences in speed, helps regulate fuel emissions, there will be no more speeding tickets, and no more dangerous highspeed chases.  I like the idea but there are a few flaws I would have like clarified, like how are you going to pass somebody or slow down if there is an accident if you are not in control of your own car.  Could this be seen as a loss of our freedom?

The Feedback Meter:

This is environmentally friendly because it conserves our energy usage, and it will save you money.  I thought this was the best idea yet, it is cost effective, has a large market, a need is met, and would be just plain awesome and convenient to have. 

The Duct tape Key Chain:

This was a good presentation; they were the first group to actually sell their product after class and to throw prototypes out to the audience, which really gets their attendance.  It was neat, but I really don’t use tape that much.

The Hoffice:
This was a good use of space, but I don’t really think this is possible, I guess it would work in large cities or near a large airport where people only stay the night.  What would people store their things during the day would be the major problem. 

Smork (the smart fork)

I think this would be a great product to sell because the biggest issue today is obesity and everybody is looking for a way to help lose weight or stay at a healthy weight.

Interflow Gloves

This is definitely something I would buy I am always cold!

www.Hotspot.com

This is a good idea, but I think it would be better as an application on a phone.  Now that we have iphones taking over it would be better to sell this idea to them. 

Intelligent Blood Bag

Was a really practical idea and would be something that hospitals would invest it, and I believe it could save lives.

Bottle buddy

I like this idea, but I feel that there are so many ideas out there like this that it would not really get noticed and would be hard to sell.

Fish eyes

Cool and fun idea, I thought the video presentation was attractive and humorous and was one of the few to catch the attention of the whole class. 

High Ride

This would be a fun mode of transportation around campus, but I think it would be a bit dangerous and really expensive to install.

Wall tattoos

Was a really good presentation but I didn’t really like the product, and I think it is too similar to the fathead posters.

 

Ends Lecture 4/14/09

We finished the lecture on knowledge production.  What I thought was interesting was that universities are still in a medieval setting, which I never actually noticed.  The other point was that higher education institutions focus on giving credentials rather than educating their students.  

I don't really see this soo much in major universities and professional schools, but I do see it in our lower grades.  All the schools want is the teachers to teach to this TAKS test which is a minimum requirement exam.  How are kids going to pass a minimum requirement if they are never taught anything but the minimum?  I would love to take a class and not even mention TAKS to them the whole year and just push them and let them learn the subject, then see how they do.  I bet a hundred dollars they will do better because the test will seem easy compared to what they have been doing. 

 Dr. Vanegas also showed us academicearth.com.  I had never heard of this before and I was in shock all this information was just sitting there on the internet!  

Ends Lecture 4/9/09

More Idea challenge Presentations!

Ends lecture 4/7/09

Rodney Hill came, and that of course means a really fun lecture.  He spoke to us about old culture paradigm, basically where women are today and the battle of the genders.  He showed usa few videos that were hilarious.  I recommend looking them up on YouTube if you have not seen them:  Why men don't ask directions, newspaper, budlight history, how men screw up romance, blonde, Instructional Video 1.  He went through a history of women's rights and one realize's how far women have come.  I thought it surprising that universities are having trouble with reverse gender discrimination.  This is due to the fact that more women qualify, so to have equal gender ratios universities have to accept males with lower scores.  I see this with veterinary school here at Texas A&M which is now 70% female.  Also I see it in my classes, my chemistry professor noticed that most of the highest grades on tests were girls.  Dr. Hill also told us a shocking statistic that 80% of new businesses are managed by women.