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.