My Internets Have Been Alive All this Time

It's been awhile again, like usual. So let's spark this shit.

C.C.-Ya: Sabathia and New York Agree to 6-Year Deal. Yahoo story here.
- Not too much to say here. Does it hurt? Yes. Did we see it coming? Yes. Did we hope the love we showed him in the Mil this summer would dissuade him? Yes.
In the end though, C.C. isn't a sell out and he's not stupid. Look at the Brewer's pitching rotation. I'm sure he sees what we all see right now; there isn't one. It's one thing to be a teams ace and work horse, and have a solid core of supporting pitchers, but it's another thing to watch Ben Sheets succumb to injury yet again, Manny Para malfunction at the end of the season, Eric Gagne to be Eric Gagne, your closer to retire and your pitching coach to leave for the Texans - a team that didn't even make the playoffs last year.

Does it suck. Yes, major. But can we really blame C.C.? No, not really.

If nothing else this will ignite salary cap arguments in Milwaukee for a few months while the state of Wisconsin suffers through a lack of football playoffs and consequently blame Aaron Rodgers. (which of course, will be unwarranted)

Next:
And I'll be saying this all year. (I've in fact been saying it for the last three years): LeBron James is the best player in the NBA. (Oh and he's probably a championship away from being equal to the other illustrious number 23. )

But seriosuly, did anyone else watch him play last night? Holy Shit Batman! The Cavs are damn good! Take a look at his one man dunk contest last night at Ball Don't Lie.

Or just watch this:

Yea, Kobe is good. I get that. And Flash is unreal again this year. (In fact probably better than Kobe right now, but of course that's because of each team's supporting cast) But LeBron, is blocking shots that knock out bystanders in the Bradley Center. (Sorry Ramon Sessions) I want to go into this in depth later, so I'll stop there, but seriously, if you're reading this, and you're a Mavericks fan, don't even try and start that bullshit about Dirk for MVP again. It makes Devin Harris and I sick.

Next:
Rap-Culture. I love it, but it confuses me. Here is my latest question:

Have you seen the commercials for Common's new CD: Universal Mind Control?
Well here it is:

It makes specific mention to the fact that the track samples an Africa Bambaataa song. The actual Common track is the title track, Universal Mind Control and it's produced by Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes. It's a decent track (the best on the CD is probably Gladiator) but none-the-less, an ok track.






Orginally Universal Mind Control was supposed to be dropped this summer, but it was continually pushed back, and finally hit stores yesterday.

Also this summer, an indie MC, Three-1-Zero (his Los Angeles area code) released an online concept album for free where every track has something to do with the '99 Laker Championship team. The best song is arguable Corrie Blount, but visit this link and listen to Shaquille O'Neal

Notice anything? Of course you do. This track and Common's both sample the same song. I know this isn't particularily noteworthy within the realm of hip-hop and rap, but if you look closely you'll see that Three-1-Zero lists his track as also being produced by Pharrell. So my question is: Did he get a leaked copy of Universal Mind Control, or did Pharrell sell the same beat to two people. Clearly one is more financially viable, but is this common place? Does this happen often. And is it good or bad? I'm not sure. I like 310's track better, but that's just one opinion. I'd love some comments on this, but no one really reads this, so we'll see. I just thought it was interesting.

Last:
So last year I wrote a story on a research lab here at the University of Iowa, called the Operator Performance Laboratory (OPL). They currently have contracts from the Navy and NASA to develop Human Computer Interface Mechanisms for pilots. The essential idea is to create computers inside planes that can determine when a pilot is stressed, or tired, or even amped up and then adjust the plane's controls accordingly or even switch to auto-pilot. I never published the story because in all honety I was lazy. However, I did recieve an A on it in my journalism class.

Relevance: This story was posted at Wired.com yesterday.
Here is my original story:>

Nathan Ley

Alexander A01

098 Staff Writer

Ent2 Draft

12/3/07

Operator Performance Laboratory

A commercial airline pilot yawns. His breathing slows. He blinks a few times in succession. The computer in his plane, sensing he’s becoming tired, automatically switches to autopilot. Although this may sound like science fiction, the work of University of Iowa engineers could make this scenario possible.

In February, research engineers in the Center for Computer Aided Computer-Aided Design’s Operator Performance Laboratory received an $887,628 research grant from NASA to develop pilot-avionics interfaces. These include operations like autopilot, balancing controls and other electronics meant to help pilots. Last month, their work was the centerpiece for the U.S. Navy at the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference in Orlando, Fla.

Founded in 1997 by Tom Schnell, an associate professor in industrial engineering specializing in human factors/ergonomics, the lab specializes in what Schnell called human-interface mechanisms primarily within aircrafts. These include flight decks, airborne sensor systems, unmanned aerial vehicle systems, and automotive-user interface systems.

The main goal of the Operator Performance Lab has always been safer air travel and pilot performance. The work being done for NASA, along with the work being done for the Office of Naval Research, is focused primarily on the investigation of a pilots alertness and state of mind along with and his or her ability to take appropriate action.

Key to that investigation is the neural avionics (aviation electronics) project run by University of Iowa research engineer Mike Keller.

“The neural avionics project is a multi-year effort to quantitatively assess pilot workload, stress, fatigue and potentially situation awareness using physiological signatures,” Keller said. “Basically, this means we're trying to let the aircraft electronics know how hard the pilot is working. If the pilot becomes overloaded, the electronics may take steps to help alleviate the pilot’s load.” The research can also be applied to make training more effective, Keller said.

“Training, particularly in the military, is a costly endeavor. Ensuring that the pilots gets the most out of every minutes is critical,” Keller said

Keller said the lab was in no way trying to make airplanes fly on brainwaves. He and Schnell have both been misquoted before and they described the idea as being “totally impractical.”

The lab owns and operates an A36 Bonanza (a general aviation aircraft) in which most of the neural avionics research is conducted. The rest is conducted in aircraft owned either by NASA or the Navy, or using the various flight simulators the lab owns and operates.

Keller said the goal of the avionics research is to develop algorithms (defined instructions for completing a task) that describe operator state including physical condition and mental status.

“We’re trying to develop a way or ways to convert all of the information we receive from our sensors and come up with a rating to describe how hard a pilot is working, how stressed and fatigued he or she is, and potentially what the level of situation awareness is,” Keller explained. “Once the classification algorithms are functional, we will explore countermeasures to mitigate against undesirable pilot states. We will also integrate with existing training modules to provide more effective and targeted training.”

Although the overall results of the lab’s research won’t be seen for another four years, Keller said they are seeing progress.

“We’re starting to use classification algorithms and we completed successful flight tests on the Bonanza and an F-35 simulator that was featured in the Navy booth at the conference we attended last month,” Keller said.

So what exactly does the future hold for these advanced pilot avionics?

“Eventually, the plane should be completely aware of the pilot’s cognitive and physical states,” Schnell said. “We want to know everything we can about the pilot’s current state at whatever point in time and have the plane be able to help with his or her workload. It is highly possible that a pilot will leave to use the restroom and return to find that the computer has made a list of his or her tasks and begun working on them.”

The gear currently used to map pilot’s condition is relatively extensive, consisting of sensors placed on the entire face. Schnell said, however, the goal is to eventually have sensors within the plane and lasers that would monitor the pilot and send information back to the sensors.

“As the research progresses, the gear we use will get smaller and smaller,” Schnell said. “Although most of our grants come from NASA and the military, the end results are primarily for commercial flying, and those pilots can’t be distracted with by large gear.”

Although the University of Iowa may seem an unlikely place for this research, Schnell said other labs of the same kind have nowhere near the capabilities of the Operator Performance Lab. It has garnered numerous awards, including a best paper award from the October 2006 Augmented Cognitive International Conference and they were featured in a documentary produced by the Discovery Channel.

Recognizing the importance of the lab, on Oct. 16, the Iowa City Council voted to expand the airport hangar they occupy by 25 percent, proposing an increase of 14,000 square feet in office space and 18,000 square feet in the actual hangar space.

Schnell said the lab’s increase in size will allow his entire team to work in one area and not only produce quicker results, but become overall more productive.

Lates.