TechKnowledge: Killer Robots, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and Self-Driving Cars

Imagine a world where armed robotic police officers patrol the streets, autonomous drones fill the sky, and most cars on the road drive themselves. It sounds sci-fi, but this future might happen sooner than you think. Almost every month, new technological and legislative developments bring these autonomous machines closer to our world.

In the United Nations, the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons is meeting to discuss a potential ban on killer robots. These are defined as machines that are capable of taking a human life without intervention from a human operator. Currently, robots that are capable of killing on their own are possible to construct, but not used in military practice. Even drones used by the United States military require human operation. The four day United Nations meeting is a first step toward international action against these potentially deadly robots. The council will meet again in November to further discuss the issue.

Mixed Up: All u need. all u Want. (last post)

Mixed Up is back one last time for my final high school post! I have been working at Sunset Media Wave from the beginning and have loved every afternoon I have spent here. All the people are wonderful, it’s at a great location and the work that is done here is phenomenal. I’m excited to see what new and old members post in the future. Until then,  enjoy my latest mix. This playlist features a combination of rap, EDM, and hip-hop. Listen to this mix and let the sounds evolve in their respective order.

You can catch my previous playlist here.

Bye for now!

Max Rico

Let’s Code: To Be A Hero: Chapter One

Welcome back to Let’s Code. This is both a great and sad post. This post is the reveal of an in-depth text-based adventure game I produced at Sunset Media Wave during this session, but this post is also to be my last for a long time. I hope whoever has been keeping up with my column has learned a lot about basic coding. I wish you luck in possibly making your own great games in the future. Now without further ado, I present to you, “To Be A Hero: Chapter One”.

 

Sunset Tutorials: Speedpaint

This post isn’t really a tutorial since you can’t really teach people how to speedpaint. However, here are my insights and tips for speedpainting.  If you’re not familiar with speedpainting, it’s the process of making a quick digital illustration that conveys the general concept, without finishing all the detail work. They usually take about an hour to do, though it varies from person to person. What I like most about speedpaints is that they reveal the raw state of a drawing before it gets polished up. Also, you don’t really need to have an idea to start off—it might begin as a weird shape that develops into an awesome creature. Another thing about speedpaints is you don’t need the painting to be perfect, and you don’t have to feel like, “I spent 10 hours on this picture and it still doesn’t look right.” You don’t need to worry about these things because everyone understands that a speedpainting is more of a demo, not a final product.

Tales from Trains: Empty Cars

Words by Anna Smith

Is This Loud Enough? x Fashiondairy: Flower Child

 
“The violets in the mountains have broken the rocks.” ~ Tennessee Williams

“If dandelions were hard to grow, they would be most welcome on any lawn.” ~ Andrew Mason

“I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers.” ~ Claude Monet

“When you have only two pennies left in the world, buy a loaf of bread with one, and a lily with the other.” ~ Chinese Proverb

“Bread feeds the body, indeed, but flowers feed also the soul.” ~ The Koran

“Earth laughs in flowers.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Photos by Jasmine Toy, photo subject by Yu Ling Wu, words by famous people.

I Shutter When I See You: A Place of Love

 

“Dear Wonderful Person,

Please take care of this succulent, it came from a place of love and fond memories. I hope you can enjoy this plant as much as I have.

– Previous Owner ♥”

On the corner of Haight St and Clayton St.

I was buried in my phone, as usual, checking to see how long it would be until my bus arrived. I saw her out of the corner of my eye. I would not have seen anything if she had not done a double-step and jerked back to the corner, instead of passing me entirely. She placed this package of life on the uneven pavement, letting it be perfectly offset by the natural art behind it, and took a couple steps around the corner. She had my full attention now, though I tried to be discreet. I watched as she stared at the plant for a couple seconds. It looked like she was willing herself to move away from this little piece of her heart, instead of grabbing it and placing it somewhere else or taking it home with her again. I guess she decided she had made the right decision as she turned slowly and headed out of my view, her black, high-waisted skirt swishing behind her, Doc Martens treading the pavement.

The Wave: 2014 Promotional Video

Hello lovely Sunset Media Wave readers! This is Riley Kubota, the unofficial DJ, official Environmental Vibes Expert, and Professor of Sneakerology here at Sunset Media Wave! Have you ever wondered what we bloggers do BEHIND THE SCENES? Have you ever thought about joining, but were intimidated by all the awesomeness? Well WONDER NO MORE!!! I created this video with people like you in mind, especially those who may be thinking about applying to Sunset Media Wave! I hope you guys enjoy it! (If you don’t, we will ban you from the internet. NBD.)

Oracle Drive: Summer Fortuna

Once again, thank you for consulting Oracle Drive. Summer is nearly here, and for readers who are swamped with A.P. testing, studying for finals, and similar end-of-the-year schoolwork, the promise of two months’ worth of peace and vacation is like a gift of manna. If you’re graduating in a few weeks, rejoice for you will never have to see those assholes again  be tearfully signing yearbooks and taking farewell self portraits on your mobile cellular devices. In seasons of embarkation (such as summer) I, Teiresia Nostradame, Seer PhD, will guide you through the tides of change. What will the summer hold, and what will come afterwards? It is my destiny to pull back the veil of your future. Behold!

This is the last post I will make for this column, but fear not! My next book, Oracle Pages: A Compendium of Assorted Fates for the Next Decade, will have horoscopes for each season for the next ten years. It will hit the shelves next fall, so be sure to get it. In fact, you will. Even if every bookstore in the world burns to the ground, my compendium will find its’ way into your hands. It is inexorable. It is written in the stars…