Why I wrote this blog...aka goodbye post

As I am signing out from my first blog I would like to give a little bit more background as to why I chose my topic for blogging.  I have always been an avid fan of Disney and all that they do.

 This slight obsession might have not come out in my blog completely as I tried to keep up with the technology based side of Disney as a requirement for my Communicating Science class.

 I also chose this topic as my dream job would be to be an Imagineer for Disney but unfortunately I have not been lucky thus far to even get a response from my tries to become apart of the Mouse Family but I have not given up hope!  I hope you enjoyed reading about some of the new technology that Disney has to offer and how they are ever-changing. 

With the new generations of kids wanting more thrills and "cooler" technology it is my guess that Disney will keep up with all of this to keep everyone happy.

So, I realy would like to thank all of my readers and hope this blog interested you to keep up with all of the awesome stuff Disney does in the future.

Disneyland Tokyo Reopens

After the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that first started on March 11th, 2011 the Japanese have something to look forward to...the re-opening of Disneyland.  Now, yes it is a small step in a huge need for a lot of work in the country but it shows that in some ways things are getting back to normal.

47 days after the quake on April 28th, 2011 the resort was able to reopen.  The park was even able to have a grand opening of a few attractions, the Easter Wonderland Parade and the Nightfall Glow Parade. The Disneyland however did have its minor setbacks and not being able to open all the of rides including Thunder Mountain Railroad that still needs work on some of the damage.

Before

After

Some other important factors that the park needs to take into account is the problem of rolling blackouts and also needing to conserve power.  This change has been done by the park and hotels having reduced lighting, limited air conditioning, restricted escalators and turning off electric hand dryers. The resort plans will also offset the consumption by installing three generators. 


Disneyland did lose $245 million and only drew 17,000 visitors on the first day back in operation, but it should be expected to have a slow start after this horrible disaster.

Random Post: Soccer Ball Energy

Just imagine if the energy from this ball in this guys face could harvest energy...well the other day I stumbled upon this article and I found out you can and from my love of soccer I thought I should share it with my fellow readers.  Below is a video about the soccket ball which was developed by three female Harvard students.  This ball can store up enough energy in 15 min to power a LED light bulb for up to three hours. 

In the US this ball would most likely just be a luxury item  but in other developing countries it could be of some major help.  Even in the video below the kids are talking about the ball powering their ipod or to charge their cell phone.  I feel like this sort of advertising would only work in the US.  But on a second thought what if kids were given the ball and had to power their video games with it, but make it so they can only power their video game for as long as the kid has played with the soccer ball outside.

Now, I know what you are thinking how could a soccer ball power a light bulb or anything really.  Well, how it is done is by using a coil, magnet and a capacitor.  As the children play with the ball, the energy on the ball will be transferred and the coil will slide across the magnet.  This energy is then stored in the capacitor much like charging a battery.   When enough energy is stored there is a socket and the ball can be used much like an outlet on a wall here in the US.  

This idea is new and probably not going to be very economical for the countries that need it but the inventors of this product has thought about that.  They have decided to set up a buy one give one program much like the TOMS shoes.  This will work when say someone here in the US will buy one of them another one will be given to someone in need.

Roller Coaster Safety

You hear stories about people being stuck upside down on a roller coaster for 4 hours and that someone lost their memory on the mind eraser, but if you think about it, you don't really hear about any of this very often.  It turns out this is because roller coasters are actually the safest rides at all theme parks.

The reason why theme parks do this is simple, they invest so much money in these rides that any repeated problems could put them out of business. 

Roller Coasters are inspected every day before anyone is allowed to go on the ride.  Yes, I know it is a pain having to wait in line watching the ride run a few times before you can go on it, but safety is a priority and better the ride break down with no one on it anyways.   Each morning before a park opens maintenance workers will go through making inspections.   A few of the operations they go through are...

Lubrication:  tracks need to be properly lubricated otherwise the friction can decrease the life span of the roller coaster.

Train inspection:  All roller coasters have an area where the bottom of the coaster can be checked out for any problems or missing bolts.

Obstruction Removal:  It is a necessity to remove any and all objects from the tracks to ensure no problem with the running of the ride.  This is done by the worker walking the track and making sure that there are to be no foreign objects on the tracks.

Testing:  As I mentioned earlier there is a ride testing before opening, and also before reopening a ride if there were any problems during the earlier days of operation.

It is nice to know that these thrill rides are only a way to scare you and there really isn't anything to be scared about.  I never had a problem getting on a ride before but now I know that I should feel just as safe getting on one.

Creepy Animation

Mars Needs Mom was supposed to be a fun animated movie but apparently too real is a bad thing.  Below it the article written by Ryan Nakishima an AP Business writer.

Too Real Means Too Creepy in New Disney Animation

Computer animation has a problem: When it gets too realistic, it starts creeping people out.



Most recently, moviegoers complained about the near-realistic depiction of humans in Disney's 3-D flick "Mars Needs Moms."


A theory called the "uncanny valley" says we tend to feel attracted to inanimate objects with human traits, the way a teddy bear or a rag doll seems cute. Our affection grows as an object looks more human. But if it looks too human, we suddenly become repulsed.
Instead of seeing what's similar, we notice the flaws — and the motionless eyes or awkward movements suddenly make us uncomfortable.
"Mars" may have plunged to the bottom of this valley of fear.


"People always comment on things feeling strangely dead around the eyes," said Chuck Sheetz, an animation director of "The Simpsons" and a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. "If it gets too literal, it starts to feel false or has a strange effect."


Skin texture that is slightly off can especially leave people feeling unsettled, said Patrick Markey, a psychologist and director of Villanova University's Interpersonal Research Laboratory.
The near-realistic animation style championed by producer Robert Zemeckis uses motion-capture technology, where actors are covered with dots and skin suits and have their performances captured on computer. The dots provide the frame, and the rest is filled in with computerized graphics.
AP

In this film publicity image released by Walt Disney Studios, the character Milo's Mom, voiced by Joan Cusack, is shown in a scene from "Mars Needs Moms." (AP Photo/Walt Disney Studios) Close"Mars" creates humans that are more realistic and detailed than Zemeckis' earlier attempts in such movies as "Beowulf" and "The Polar Express" — which were also criticized for inviting this discomfort. The greater detail might have made things worse.
Doug McGoldrick, who took his two daughters to see the movie, said the faces of the main characters "were just wrong." Their foreheads were lifeless and plastic-looking, "like they used way too much botox or something," said the 41-year-old photographer in the Chicago suburb of River Forest, Ill.
Marc Kelley, a 32-year-old pastor in Allegan, Mich., who went with his two young children, said he found the renditions of characters "all annoying in their own way."
Indeed, when the mother of the main character Milo mentioned the word "zombies" at the start of the movie, it conjures up a feeling that the characters themselves are undead.


Animation experts say the key to success is to be only authentic enough to tug at our heart strings.
The best example of this was "Avatar," the 2009 blockbuster that made $2.8 billion in theaters worldwide. The humanoid, but blue-bodied Na'vi were alien enough not to trigger our inner rejection mechanism.
"My own personal opinion is try to stay away from photo-real with a human," said Greg Philyaw, the business development director at Giant Studios, which captured the performance of human actors for their digital re-creation in "Avatar." "Subconsciously you know what you're looking at isn't quite right."
The Walt Disney Co., by its actions, has already voted against the super-real animation format


Last March, it said it would shut down the Zemeckis-run company ImageMovers Digital, which made "Mars," to cut costs. Several months ago, Disney also nixed a plan to fund and distribute Zemeckis' "Yellow Submarine," a half-finished work he is now free to shop to other studios.

Disney would not comment for this story, and Zemeckis declined interview requests through an agent.




It is very interesting in the sense that something too real or life-like is not appealing considering that animation has really developed over the years.  Maybe this means that the world just would not be ready for robots that look like humans.  Actually, I think the small outcry over this proves that.  How weird would it be to not know if it was a robot walking the street and you didn't know it?  All right I know this may be taking it a bit far but with all the crazy technology we have gained over the last decade it could really just be around the corner.  


As Nakishima states only be as real to tug at the heart strings is a relative way to explain it but I do completely agree with it.  This may be a stretch but look at Dobby from Harry Potter, he looks real but not too real and you really do feel for the poor little house elf.  Maybe overtime, this idea of too real will fade but in an industry designed to entertain the public, you have to give them what they want.

Disney Going Green

From my senior design project, Low Cost Residential Energy Efficiency, I have learned a lot of ways for homeowners to save a little bit of money and energy in their homes.  From this, I wondered if Disney has been doing anything about this.  Well, it turns out Disney has been and over the last 5 years has reduced energy consumption about 9%.  With Earth day just past and with all of the hype over the Disney Earth movies, it is nice to know that they are doing a little bit at the parks to help out with this.
Here is the video...

This video focused on mainly making changes like not turning on rides to early or changing the the LED lightbulbs, but the biggest part to take away from this is pay attention to detail.

Paying attention to the little things even in a home can save you big bucks on the energy bill and be better for the enviornment.  This was actually a part of my Senior Design Project, by making little changes to their home and being aware what is going to save you money is half the batte.  For example, yes turn off your faucet when you brush your teeth but not just to conserve water but to conserve the energy to heat that water as well.  Overall, it is just nice to see that yes a big corporation will in turn save money from these changes but it the future they will also help the enviornment!

WDW Monorail

In Orlando, Florida, the Disney Parks are separated from each other and there is a monorail that connects them and actually can directly take people from certain hotels directly to the parks.  It is really an ingenious way in order to keep traffic down around the parks.  The monorail first was opened on October 1, 1971.  Now, with a few new modifications since the original, the train can reach a top speed of 55mph and runs for 14.7 miles.

The monorail system takes approximately 50 million guests to and from the parks each year.  It have three main services, the express, resort and epcot. 

The structure of the monorail is of concrete beams, with a polystyrene core to allow for a lighter weight. This weight difference is from the different densities of the two materials.  Concrete has a density of 2.24g/cm^3 while polystyrene is 1.05g/cm^3.When designing such a system the weight needs to be taken into account as the structure is suspended in the air.  With the stronger and denser outer material, the weight bearing beams can be just as strong with not as much weight.  You may ask why not just use the polystyrene for the entire beam.  This answer is simple, the concrete has a strong compressive strength and is more durable than the polystyrene so the two together are the only way to get the best of both worlds with a strong lighter structure.

Each train of the monorail has a capacity to hold 364 passengers with up to six trains running at a time.  The trains run on eight 113 HP motors connected to a 600 v busbar system.  This busbar system consists of thick copper or aluminum strips that will conduct electricity to the motors.  A switchboard will be operated to allow for the different amounts of power to the monorail.  I could not find much more information on the operational part but I will try and find out more and keep you posted.

Magical Portholes

Inside the Disney Dream, the Imagineers wanted to make sure every visitor had the same experience with having a port hole in their room.  This is included even with the rooms that are inside the ship.  If you were on the left or right side of the boat or in the captains terms, port side or starboard they could have the same view.  This is done actually pretty simply by just having a fake porthole placed in each room and then having a camera feed to the port hole which would be a live feed.  But being Disney they took that one step further and decided to make them magical.  This was done by adding a picture of a Disney character onto the video feed.  For such a new concept, it really is an easily implemented idea that can make everyone on the ship feel as though they got a full view of the outside of the ship.

Video Blog: Harry Potter vs. Mickey Mouse

Touchbiance Interactive Floors

On the new Disney Cruise ship, the Disney Dream, there are a lot of new technologies.  One of these new technologies is a system called touchbaince.  This new system is an interactive projection system.  It allows people to control images.  I have seen this technology in my local mall at the Colorado Mills but Disney has set it up on their cruise ship.  These images can be displayed on a wall, screen, ceiling, floor, or really any surface.  The system reads the body at 30 times per second and the image has a pixel sensitivity of 19200 pixels.  This system is based off a Windows software and uses a projector to make the interactive game possible.  On the Disney Dream,

On the Disney Dream, this interactive floor in an industry first with having this technology on a cruise ship.  Also, it was taken one step further when Disney took the interactive game technology and allowed  for an interactive adventure.  This is done by a group of kids flying over the streets of London with none other than Peter Pan or riding the ocean waves with Crush.  I mean Dude, this is awesome.  Also there is an interactive game with a maze for children to get a ball through a maze(source).  This touchbiance technology is relatively new and Disney has already took it to this new level.

Touchbiance is not just for fun and games, it could also take window shopping to a new level with interactive windows.  But the main idea of this technology was originally for advertisements.  Take a look at what they have already done with the technology.



Disney Dream: New Cruise Ship

So I found this online the other day and it is pretty cool at all the technology that goes into a cruise ship.  I am still trying to find some more information about it, so hopefully I can add more about this giant cruise ship that can carry up to 4000 guests.

Pluto vs Goofy vs Planet?

First off, there has been some debate throughout the years as to why Goofy can walk and talk and poor Pluto can't.  Well turns out there is one little explanation to this question.  Pluto was actually a minor character and created in 1930 while Goofy didn't show up until 1930 and was a main character.  So it looks like poor Pluto lost out and it the dog while Goofy is the man.

Now, on a little bit more serious note, why was Pluto lost of being the name of a planet?  It turns out that a planet is by definition  is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.  Yes, that is a mouthful.  Anyways, there turned out to be another rock mass out past the orbit of Pluto's that was bigger than Pluto.  This planet is known by 2003 UB313.  The basic concept was that if you consider Pluto a planet then so is this 2003 UB313. 

With the use of new research and observatories, Pluto was found to actually be a part of the Kuiper Belt and not actually a planet in our solar system.  The rules for what a planet is changed from this discovery and they follow three main concepts shown below.

■It needs to be in orbit around the Sun – Yes, so maybe Pluto is a planet.

■It needs to have enough gravity to pull itself into a spherical shape – Pluto…check

■It needs to have “cleared the neighborhood” of its orbit – Uh oh. Here’s the rule breaker
 
From this it can be seen that Pluto is no longer a planet because of the nearby neighbors it has is the Kuiper Belt.  This is one thing that I had a hard time getting over, I mean how is My(Mercury) Very(Venus) Excellent(Earth) Mother(Mars) Just(Jupiter) Served(Saturn) Us(Uranus) Nine(Neptune) Pizzas(Pluto), going to help kids remember the planets with out Pizza/Pluto on the end?  I guess this will be a test of the younger generation.
 

 
**I do know that Pluto was not named after the Disney Character, it just made things a little more interesting.  It was actually named after a Roman God of the Underworld.

Movie Ratings is not a Science

I may be the only one but I thought there was a pretty clear way as to how movies are rated. But after going through both the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and the film ratings sites, I learned this is not the case. I understand that there are a lot of subjective ideas used to decide the films ratings. This includes a group of parents that are supposed to rate the movie in a way that they “believe” a majority of fellow parents would rate the film. Also, this group only consists of 8 to 13 parents! I don’t know if this is enough to establish a clear rating especially in the jumps from each rating. Below is the answer to Who Decides the ratings from the MPAA website…

Parents decide the ratings. An independent board of parents rates each film. Their job is not to determine if a movie is "good" or "bad," but to rate each film as they believe a majority of their fellow parents would rate the film — taking into account sexuality, violence, language and other factors. The purpose of the ratings system is to provide clear, concise advance information to parents about film content so parents can determine what movies are appropriate for their kids while preserving freedom of expression for filmmakers and the film industry.

The only part of this rating system I agree with is the fact that it is concise and a parent can quickly decide that a movie may not be good for their child or maybe even one that they may enjoy themselves. A rating system is in a place but with the subjective process of it I don’t really know if it is doing the job it needs to be doing.

Cell Phones for Kids?

Cell phone technology has greatly changed throughout the last couple decades. I remember when my mom had a cell phone the size of a loaf of bread and now they can easily fit in your pocket. Disney had his on this cell phone technology a couple of times throughout the years. One of its first services was geared toward the younger generation with kids probably under the age of 10. These phones could be set up to only have certain numbers attached to them such as Home, Mom’s cell, 911 etc. These phones and the service was discontinued in 2007. Recently, Disney just came out with a phone that has some of the same features of the original phone but looks like a real phone. The age group here Disney is trying to hit is between 11 and 15. For this new phone, Disney has partnered with LG and the phone has features in which parents can limit the time spent on the phone as well as only let it be used during certain times of the week. Also, with a feature called “Family Monitor”, an allowance of minutes, text, and picture messages can be set up. When that limit is reached both the child and the parent will be alerted and from there a decision can be made either to add more to the phone or let it just reset the next month. (source)

Overall, I think that this technology is good but what age is okay for children to have cell phones? I did not get my first phone until I was a freshman in high school and some of my friends did not get one until they could pay for it by themselves. This is a huge issue because why does a kid need a phone, it is just taking away from childhood and the one on one contact that these kids need. I see kids running around with iphones and I just don’t understand what parents are thinking giving kids them. I think Disney is doing a good thing here making it possible to supervise their kids’ cell phone use but I don’t know if it is a great idea for kids to get it at such a young age. This may sound a little cliché but these kids are growing up too fast!

3D Movies not so simple

Have you ever wondered how 3D movies work?  Well, I have been curious especially since I learned that the first 3D movie was "The Power of Love" which started playing on September 27, 1922. Yes, that does say 1922.  Now, obviously 3D movies have changed a lot since then, making them better for the tech savvy generation of today. 

Back in the 1920s, a simple technique was used to make the 3D movies.  The movies were made it two different colors and those corresponded to the two different colors of the 3D glasses tricking the eyes into thinking that the objects were popping out of the screen.

Today the 3D experience is a little different using a new technology of polarization.  There are two different methods of this polarization, linear and circular.  Both of these techniques are somewhat similar and they work by only allowing certain types of light through filters.  I am going to try and explain this is a way that makes sense to me.  When the film is made they use a camera that take two different images that are separated by the distance equal to the distance between an average eye.  This is so each eye can have a different filter in front of it(ie the lenses).  Each lense will allow for certain light waves to come through while the rest are reflected away.  In linear polarization one lense will be vertical and the other horizontal.  This allows for different lights to get through to each eye. 

Another way to look at it is thinking of it as the kids toy which only allows the blocks to go through each hole(see below).  Certain blocks or light can only go through each whole or lense.  Through this technique of polarization the 3D experience is made.

and the winner is....

Last night in the 83rd annual Academy Awards, Disney won 4 Oscars from their 13 nominees:

Best Animated Feature Film:  Toy Story 3
                                              
Best Original Song:  "We belong Together"  by Randy Newman from Toy Story 3

Best Achievement in Art Direction:  Alice in Wonderland

Best Achievement in Art Design: Alice in Wonderland

For the full list of winners and nominees go here.

Toy Story was also featured in many of the spoofs during the awards, and I found this one the most entertaining as I have seen and love all of these movies (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1, Toy Story 3, The Social Network, and Twilight).  So please enjoy.

New app from the Vault

It is said that 57% of consumers surf the web while watching television (Nielson Data).  Disney wanted to capitalize on this by making it possible to have an interactive way that can keep a family involved with the movie and use some newer technology.  Disney is doing this with the new release of Bambi from the Disney Vault.  Disney is going to do this by having a new app called the second screen.  This will allow for families to synchronize their movies to an ipad or apple computer and play games and have the synchronized screen change as the movie goes on.  This could be random puzzles that need to be unscrambled or some facts about how the movie was made.  Disney does understand that in 10 or so years that discs will be obsolete because everything will go digital however they are planning for the future with these interactive tools.

Now, I understand that Disney is trying to meet the needs of the consumer but I would like to take a look at why it isn't enough just for someone to watch a movie.  A comment on the website from the second screen article stated that the lady wanted to use the new movie interaction for her grandson with a short attention span.  Are movies not interesting enough with the new generations?  Or is it actually a good way to keep kids interested in the movies?

Evolution of Disney Characters

I have metioned in some previous posts that Disney is always changing and imagineering new ideas.  Here is some proof just from the change in look of the characters over the years.

MICKEY MOUSE

GOOFY

Getting an Idea Patented

So in my last blog post I talked about Disney's new patent, for interactive cakes.  From this I wondered what exactly it takes to get a patent.  Well first of all, what is a patent?  Well, a patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor for a limited period of time in exchange for a public disclosure of an invention. 

So say you came up with an idea now what do you do? (A longer list can be seen from this site)

Step 1: Evaluate your design
Step 2: Prepare a drawing or paper of your idea
Step 3: Higher an attorney*
Step 4: Choose your patent type
Step 5: Apply for the patent
Step 6:  Wait for your patent approval or denial

*This can be done by yourself but is highly recommended to higher a patent lawyer as the law is very tricky

Now lets go a little in depth


Step 1 and 2 are somewhat easy to understand.  Just make sure that you have your design done in a way that people can understand what your product is and what exactly you designed.  For example, with the Disney design they had the picture of a cake with a projector on it and that was their patent design drawing. 

Step 3  Higher an attorney-  Honestly I would have never guessed there was such thing as a patent attorney but there are a lot of issues that need to be taken into account. For example, you have to make sure that the idea has not already been used and that there is only credit given to those that deserve it.  Meaning that someones name is not put on it that never worked on the project.  Considering this, when coming up with an idea it is very important to make sure that you keep data and proof of the progress in making the design.  This can be as simple as a design notebook like the one used in senior design here at CSM. 

Step 4 Choosing your patent type-  There are three main patent types, a design patent, an utility patent and a plant patent.

A design patent is an idea of a functional product for example it can be jewelry, furniture or beverage containers.

A utility patent is an improvement to an already functional product which could be a new type of self-fastening diaper or a new recipe.

A plant patent is the rights to a new breed of plant for example it could be a banana that is resistant to a new virus.

Step 5  Applying for the patent and Step 6 waiting for the approval.  This is where an engineers technical writing skills would come into use, but lets be honest no engineer really enjoys writing and if a lawyer was hired, then the lawyer would fill out this application. However, it is recommended that the patent application be checked over by a lawyer anyways as the patent can take up to years to get approved and this process can go in full circle if the patent is rejected.

So it really can be a lengthy process in getting an idea patented and is a costly endeavor.  The price to get an idea patented yourself can cost around $3000 while if done correctly and with a lawyer can be upwards of $23000. (Fee pricing estimates)

Playing with food taken to a new level

Disney has a new technology that makes it ok for you to play with your cake.  They are making new cakes that will have projectors and interactive characters that can tell when a piece of cake is cut as well as telling a story.  With the projector the cake will always be whole by filling in the missing pieces when removed.  So in my opinion watch out Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes, new cakes are coming to town and with the business of cake making these interactive cakes may be the new fad. 

The patent is called Projector Systems and Methods For Producing Digitally Augmented, Interactive Cakes and Other Food Products.  Below is a picture of the new technology.

I can't wait to see this technology in action.   Do you think that it will be the new cool thing or is it just a projector on a boring white sheet cake?  Also the idea of the cake telling a story, seems like the cool part,  I think this technology can be really cool like could you imagine having say a sports cake with a little you running around the field. 

Evaluation #1

So for my communicating science class, I have to evaluate my blog so the content in this post is not really relevant to any Disney Reader.




Blog Requirements

1-Imagineering: What is it?—Intro Blog (2 comments and one response from me)

2-Disney Fingerprint technology—First Blog post (6 comments with 2 responses from me to most posts)

3-Blog Self-Interview—In class assignment

4-Disney Bags Harmful to Children—Framing blog (2 comments)

5-Talking about Science –Focused on ideas from reading in class

6-Roller Coasters: How do they work?— Blog post (2 comments, 1 response by me)

7-Random Post—Why is there ice on the inside of my windows? (2 comments)

Commenting

I have commented on about 6+ other blogs and have kept up with responding to blog posts on my wall.

Following Blogs

I haven’t directly followed any blogs completely, I just look on commforge and try and find articles that look interesting but hopefully I will start following more blogs completely but right now I am keeping my options open.

A few blogs that I find very interesting are…

Commforge
Scan me in
Path to the subconscious mind
It’s not just fun and games

Throughout my blogs I have tried to use different forms of multimedia focusing on pictures and hyperlinks and thus far using one video. Also, I have added a slideshow with pictures and plan to keep adding more photos to make it an asset to the blog. I have tried to engage readers by asking questions in my blog and commenting on others.

I hope this is a good enough evaluation of my blog.  Thanks for reading!

Random Post: Why is there ice on the inside of my windows?

So it has been very cold here, in lovely Colorado for the last week or so, and I have had this issue with ice forming on the inside of my windshield.  So picture this while others have been scraping the outside of their car I have been awkwardly scraping the interior and a windshield from the inside is not very easy to scrape, the angle just does not work out. Has this ever happened to any of you? Anyways, I was curious about this phenomenon and did a little googling to find out the answer.  So it turns out this happens  because the inside of my car is wet from the snow that I have tracked in. This snow, turns into water and then evaporates and condenses on the much colder windows causing the frost and ice to form.  Next time, I might just have to shake off my shoes a little bit more before I get into my car to keep this from happening again.  Overall, I hope my issues with this, will help you in preventing this problem from occurring in your car.

Roller Coasters: How do they work?

(This is Splash Mountain which is located at Disneyland)

Have you ever heard the statement what goes up must come down? Well, this idea is used in making roller coasters. Conservation of energy is a physicist’s basis when designing a rollercoaster.


Most roller coasters start by being dragged up a hill by a chain lift, as the coaster is getting pulled up it is gaining more and more potential energy, which is known by the equation PE=mgh where m is the mass of the coaster and people, g is 9.81m/s/s or better known as the force of gravity and h is the height that the coaster has been pulled up.

At the top of the first hill, the coaster will have the most potential energy and this will drive the coaster for the rest of the ride. This potential energy will be converted throughout the journey of the ride into kinetic energy and friction. Kinetic energy which is known by the equation KE=.5mV^2 where m is the mass and V is the velocity, while friction is the energy heat lost through the ride.

This conversion of PE to KE is how the roller coaster will run until the end of the ride where the brakes will engage. To show this idea it look at the picture below in which is shows where the KE will be the highest meaning the most speed.

Talking about Science

Science communication is a very important but if nobody is interested in the ideas then what is the point? In the article by Sarah Davies called Learning to engage; engaging to learn: the purposes of informal science—public dialogue, Davies talks about engaging the public and thus make science more interesting. Davies refers to this idea as, public engagement with science and technology, better known as PEST which is a fantastic acronym if you ask me. Anyways in this article Davies focuses on informal communication of science. This can include museums, discussion groups, dinners, etc. These venues of communication have a way of making the outcome of the ideas impact the individual. (An example of one in Colorado is Cafe Sientifique)


This informal communication relates to Disney and how they share their information with the public. Both Davies and Disney believe in keeping people involved and interested. For Disney, they add whimsical entertainment to their rides and attractions. For example, in The Circle of Life movie at EPCOT, there are well known characters from the Lion King conveying the need for environmental preservation.

Another ride in which Disney uses a different type of communication is in The Living with the Land Boat Ride. On this journey, a person will have 13 min of information dumped into their lap. However, this ride is showcasing the different ways that scientists plan to help the farmers worldwide to produce the foods they need.

These different forms of information make people more engaged into scientific information and can allow for a more valued way of communicating science.

Disney bags harmful to children

I know Disney is supposed to be happy and all but it is important for a company as big and kid oriented as Disney to know what is going into all of their products that have their name and logo on. It was found that 17 times the federal limit of lead was found in Disney Themed Shopping bags sold at Safeway (for the full article go here).

This is bad on a few levels because one the legal limit has been set for about three years and the fact that these bags are used to carry food. Disney said that it was a third party contractor that made the bags but in any case it has their name plastered all over the headlines. Now, this is not good for Disney but it is a mistake that can be learned from and Disney is taking steps in the matter. Disney has licensees and manufacturers that must test all products before they are shipped but if it is found that they were tested properly, maybe more testing will need to start being done.

Disney has to make sure that this doesn't happen again and knowing how great a company Disney is, I know they will do everything to not let it happen again. Now, I am not in any way shape or form saying that Disney products are unsafe but being aware of regulations and what is put into any product is really important. Regulations are there for a reason and seeing that this could happen to Disney should give awareness to knowing that not all products can be assumed safe.

Blog Self-Interview

What is the purpose of this blog?

The purpose of this blog is to bring Disney Technology out in the open and explain to people all of the technology changes that have happened over the years. Also, this blog has a hidden purpose as I want to work for Disney one day so I need to understand the technology and why not do it in a fun way for a lot of people?

Who is the imagined audience(s) of this blog?

The imagined audience is anyone but mainly the geeks that want to know how stuff works. Also, it is intended for the people that have questions behind the technologies of Disney and their implications.

Have my posts matched up with my purpose/audience? What/who might I be overlooking in defining my purpose/audience this way?

I feel like I framed my last post to what I have already wrote about as to what audience I am seeking. But I think I have overlooked the newer generation of kids as most of my posts have been focused on my childhood which could be considered to be 10 years ago.

What can I do to encourage more reader participation with my blog?

I can do this by asking questions and making my blog fun to read with pictures and videos but also keeping the content engaging by not "dumbing" down all of the information.

How can I expand my audience in this class? Outside of this class?

I can do this by letting people know that I have a blog, but most importantly I can read other people's blogs on Disney. In doing this I can comment and start a communication with them about certain topics.

How would I characterize the tone of my blog?

I would characterize my tone as colloquial, being very informal and trying to keep my posts more as a conversation rather than stating things (we will see how long this lasts).

What do I hope to get out of writing this blog?

I hope to learn a lot about Disney technology and also be able to explain that technology in a way that others can understand it and become interested in it like I am.

What would I like others to get out of it?

As I said I would like them to learn to love Disney and Science just like I do. Woohoo!!

What are the strengths of my blog/my blogging?

The strengths of my blogging are to making it fun to read and picking topics that a lot of people can come into contact with.

What are the weaknesses?

My blogging needs to get better with not shortening my ideas and being able to write what is in my head on paper. Also I am not very computer savvy so I need to work on the lay of the land of how to run a blog.

Have I used a deficit model in my writing, or something else? How would I know?

I would like to think I have not just used the deficit model in my writing more of a discussion, and I would say this because I do have comments on my posts...so far and this means that I am hopefully not just dumping information of some poor lay people.

How have I characterized (implicitly or explicitly) science, engineering, and/or technology in my blog?

I have explicitly stated that my blog is about science, engineering and technology because of the title "designing" and the way I believe I have focused my posts thus far.

How have I characterized myself?

I think I have characterized myself as a familiar friend, writing all of my posts in the first person.

Disney Fingerprint Technology

After just browsing around on articles about Disney, I came across one that was very curious to me.  It was about the 10-day tickets or any multi-day pass at Disney Theme Parks and how they keep from the person reselling the ticket.   (The original article can be seen here)  I found out that it is done from scanning a person's finger.  Disney  does this to ensure the same ticket holder is using the reduced price ticket. 

However is this infringing of their rights?  I think most people would probably say yes, because that was my original feeling.  But after learning more about the system,  I found that it was not really taking a fingerprint but more matching points of the finger to a number to ensure the same person was using the ticket and also the data would be disposed of after 30 days when the ticket expires.  Understanding this shows that Disney is just making sure that people are not cheating the system by reselling their tickets.  Now, though Disney is not taking a fingerprint they do have technology of this recognition software that the government is interested in for homeland security. I think that it is crazy that a company that makes kids toys and entertainment has this kind of technology.  So I ask you, do you think Disney should be able to use this advanced technology in their themeparks?  Or do you think this technology should even be allowed to be used anywhere?

Imagineering: What is it?

     Since I am looking at the science and engineering behind Disney, I might as well just use the word Imagineering, which is a portmanteau of imagination and engineering.  From a child I always thought that Disney had coined the word Imagineering but it turns out it actually was first used by Alcoa in the 1940s and Disney did not adopt the word until 1952.  I realize that Disney did not come up with the concept but they have perfected the phrase with their actions of Imagineering stuff.  I mean look at Disneyland and see all of the Imagineering that has been done to keep the park up to date even though it is what first opened in 1955.  From 1955 when it opened with 18 attractions, it now has upwards of 55 attractions and each one being better and more technology advanced than the last one.  (For a full timeline of Disneyland attractions go here)
    I first heard of Imagineering as a kid on The Disney Channel and from then on I thought it would be the coolest job.  That is most of the reason behind setting up a blog and I know I have not done a good job at explaining what and who Imagineers at Disney are but watch this video below and you can find out!