The Polytechnic Reporter

THE POLYTECHNIC REPORTER
The Voice of the Student Body of the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
oSTEM Expands on Both Campuses
Club Names New Board Members
BY CHRISTIAN CABRERA
oSTEM (Out in Science,
Technology,
Engineering,
and Mathematics) at NYU
was created in 2013 by a few
students looking to change
the focus of their existing
LGBTQA (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Ally)
club. The
transformation from Poly’s
LGBTQA club to oSTEM
started a little over a year
ago. Previously, Poly’s LGBTQA was a social club that
held bimonthly meetings. It
focused on the gay experience at Polytechnic by creating a more inviting community for those students.
The secretary of oSTEM
at NYU, Hunter Cavat-Gore,
said recently, “Four years
ago, there was no active gay,
lesbian, bi and transgender
club on the Polytechnic campus.” Courtney Spellman,
the president of oSTEM at
NYU, worked alongside the
club’s adviser, Peter Li, and
her peers to create the initial
gay and lesbian club. When
they first started it, it had a
very small membership base,
no club room to themselves,
limited funding, and low attendance at club-sponsored
events.
“We felt like we could do
more so we made a transition
into the oSTEM club,” CavatGore said. oSTEM at NYU is
one of over 50 chapters of the
national oSTEM Inc., founded in 2009. It’s the first organization of its kind to dedicate its mission to advocating
and providing opportunities
Continued on Page 5
Top, from left: Janine Niekerk, Courtney Spellman, Hunter Cavat-Gore, Robert Fung, Suzie
Su, Peter Li, and, kneeling, Jonathan Lee.
A Lesson for Us All:
Author Points Route to Success
Poverty need not keep us down, says this young innovator
By JOHN MAIR
Picture a world where
you can't readily charge your
phone at any given moment.
Scratch that —picture a world
where you don't have access
to electricity or even a secure
supply of fresh water. Such
is the case for a number of
third world countries. Every-
one is more than aware of the
abysmal living conditions in
impoverished nations and we
often see many efforts on the
part of the developed world
to assist these countries.
What we don't often hear of
is effort on their part to remedy the situation, but that's
exactly what William Kamkwamba did. He took matters
into his own hands.
In 2002, Kamkwamba, an author and inventor,
built a windmill in his MalaContinued on Page 4
Incubator Firm in Forefront
On 'Vertical'-Farming Efforts
By RICHARD GOLDFELD
What if you could turn
your idea into a reality? For
example, consider an idea that
comes from just watering your
plants and then evolves into
your own start-up company.
Dreams can come true. “I took
the leap and succeeded,” says
Jason Green, founder of Edenworks.
Edenworks is a product of the NYU-Poly incubator.
It’s a start-up company that is
redesigning and creating “self-
sustaining eco-systems,” says
Green. Edenworks is completely changing inner-city
farming by bringing the technology of aquaponics to the
rooftops of Brooklyn.
Aquaponics is a foodproduction system that combines the cultivation of plants
in water with nutrients supplied by a separate tank with
aquatic animals whose excreContinued on Page 3
INSIDE
Editorial....................................................2
Grooming Tip...........................................3
Student Spotlight......................................4
Tech Tip: iPhone Battery..........................5
Internship Opportunity............................5
Faculty Profile: Luciano Medina..............6
Grad Assistants Seek Contracts................6
Smartwatch...............................................6
Tech Tip: Cloud Storage...........................7
Wafels and Dinges....................................7
Windows 10 is here.................................. 8
Restaurant Review: Junior's................... 8
2 | Tuesday, October 28, 2014
THE POLYTECHNIC REPORTER
THE POLYTECHNIC
REPORTER
Editor-in-Chief
NATHANIEL GRAMMEL
Executive Editor
MARUFUR BHUIYA
Managing Editor
ALI NAGI
Deputy Managing Editors
JOHN MAIR
JOHN HENRY
Staff Reporters
RAKINUR ALAM
DANIEL LUCI
MOHAMMAD JONAID
CHEONG FAI WONG
CHRISTIAN CABRERA
ALEC BAUMAN
EVAN MOSKAL
RICHARD SCHALL
RICHARD GOLDFELD
MICHELLE GBOLUMAH
MOHAMMED N. HOSSAIN
Design, Layout and Editorial Director
JESSIA LEONARD
Faculty Adviser
LOWELL SCHEINER
The opinions and views expressed in The Polytechnic Reporter do not
necessarily reflect those of the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering. The opinions expressed in guest editorials are not necessarily the
opinions of The Polytechnic Reporter or of NYU. All submissions should
be e-mailed to the editor at ngrammel@nyu.edu
Editorial
The Rogers Hall Elevators:
Can’t Anyone Fix ’em?
If you’re part of the NYU Polytechnic community, you’ve probably been
inconvenienced by the disconcerting
elevator situation in Rogers Hall in recent weeks. From day-to-day, one or
more elevators have been out of commission, with the most important one
being the large- capacity freight elevator. True, as of this writing, they’re all
operating, but we’re holding our breath
that there won’t be another breakdown
in the near future. This situation has
become a serious issue of late, as students have been arriving late to class
and, what’s more, it’s no fun having
to walk up six or seven flights to get
there if you’re unable to squeeze into
one of the elevators that are operating.
You may have noticed a public service announcement by James Burgess,
the facilities and construction management director, saying that mandatory
service for the elevators would continue until Oct. 17. Well, I’m writing this
piece on Oct. 22 and, thankfully, all
four are operational now, although, believe it or not, Elevator 1 has no lights
and so is, essentially, still out of service.
But this should not be a problem without a solution. This newspaper sent an
email to Burgess requesting an amplification on his announcement. We did not
receive a response. All we want to know
is why these elevators are continually
performing so abysmally and what’s being done to bring an end to this continuing annoyance. It’s especially troubling
when, as occurred last week on Elevator
1 with nine people inside, one of them
gets stuck between floors. And trapped
they were for over half an hour. Luckily, none of them were claustrophobic.
To Our Readers:
The Reporter is an independent newspaper and none of the money spent to
produce and publish it is provided by
Polytechnic or NYU.
Students who were interviewed for
this editorial are not a happy lot. Nick
Spyropoulos, a junior majoring in civil
engineering, said, “Since there have
been only one or two elevators available for weeks, the wait times are
long and I usually end up being late
for class.” Another student, Ed Klementowicz, a junior majoring in biomolecular science, expressed his dismay this way: “We pay a lot of money
to go to this school and do not have
working elevators. It’s a disgrace.”
This is not, by the way, a recent
problem. During the last academic
year, Elevator 1 was out of service for
five months, you may recall. It’s clear
that the NYU Polytechnic community is not only concerned but at this
point also thoroughly frustrated with
the recurring elevator breakdowns in
Rogers Hall. How long must we wait
until the school provides four consistently operating elevators, ones
that we can rely on all day, every day?
One cannot rationalize this matter by blaming it all on a continuous
stream of heavy traffic. If crowded elevators can operate trouble-free day
after day in office and residential buildings throughout this city, we should
expect no less here. Public service announcements in themselves won’t resolve this unfortunate predicament.
-AB
THE POLYTECHNIC REPORTER
Tuesday, October 28, 2014 | 3
A Grooming Tip for the Ha(i)rried Student
By EVAN MOSKAL
Whether you’re looking for a retro pompadour,
the 80s Wall Street look, or
just a simple trim, the booming barber scene in Downtown
Brooklyn will most certainly
have you covered. Old school
is in these days and more and
more young men are blocking
off time in the morning to attain those classic looks. The
barbershops around here, old
and new, are catering to this
new trend among the “Millennials.” Students interested in
getting a classic, clean haircut
or even just a well-executed
trim are encouraged to get
away from the $8 chop shop
down the street and to check
out the Clinton Street Barber
Shop near the promenade, The
Barber on Pearl in Dumbo on
Pearl Street, and the Cutting
Edge Barbershop on Montague Street. Whatever your
needs, you can find a barber
at one of these spots that will
more than satisfy.
Let’s start with Clinton
Street. This hole-in-the-wall
shop, just a five-minute walk
from campus, has a streamlined system without making
you feel rushed. This shop’s
selling point is its speed and
versatility. They work with five
chairs and five barbers. Each
one is filled regardless of the
hour. Whether you’re looking
to get in and out in 20 minutes
or stay around and have a cup
of coffee with the owner, Sergey, Clinton Street will deliver.
Cost: about 15 bucks for a haircut and shave.
A less-known gem
close to the East River in
Dumbo is Barber on Pearl, just
a short walk from the Brooklyn
campus. This shop is literally
located under the Manhattan
Bridge and has an authentic
Brooklyn feel. The cobblestone
roads and the high brick walls
give Dumbo a rustic feel and
those who emerge from Barber on Pearl look as cool as the
area. With haircuts ranging
from $17-$20, it can fit into a
college student’s budget while
giving you a clean, sophisticated look (if that’s what you’re
going for). There’s a perk here
as well: a complimentary cold
beer while you wait, but only
if you’re of the legal age (21),
of course. Take a stroll down
Brooklyn Bridge Park afterwards if you haven’t been there
yet. You’ll be impressed.
Cutting Edge Barbershop on Montague Street gives
one the traditional haircut experience: no bells, whistles,
or perks. Cutting Edge keeps
the price competitive – $15 –
and provides a relaxed atmosphere. The place is open 7
days a week so it should be
quite easy to find a time that
fits into your busy class and
work schedule.
Edenworks
From Page 1
tions are then filtered back,
completing the closed-loop
system. “We are using this idea
to redesign how New Yorkers
will get their food in the future,” says Matt LaRosa, cofounder of the company.
Where did Edenworks,
as an idea, begin? It started
two and a half years ago. Green
was just watering plants in his
apartment when he noticed
that they were being destroyed
by various bacteria and aphids.
Traditional gardening wasn’t
working, so he looked into “alternative growing techniques,”
one of which was aquaponics.
“After doing some research, I
realized there were only DIY
kits, no full products. I started designing a system for my
apartment, when I realized I
could sell a modular system,”
he says.
“The idea gained traction at the New York University Inno/Vention competition,”
he said. The competition is one
in which various students from
across NYU’s disciplines come
together to turn their dream
Edenworks’ prototype greenhouse in Brooklyn.
idea into a reality. “I then
started working at the NYUPoly Incubator in Dumbo and
started to interact with inves-
Jason Green, founder and CEO of Edenworks
(left) and co-Founder and head of fabrication,
Matthew LaRosa
tors,” Green said. Edenworks
became a reality after receiving a Green Grant, a $20,000
award, from New York University. The Green Grant allowed
the company to start financing
its efforts into building a working prototype.
“We are increasingly
successful,” Green said. “We
are meeting technical milestones.” “When we first started, vertical farming was not
practical, and it will still be a
long time before we can completely turn around the food
market.” Vertical farming
uses buildings as the medium
to grow plants. Instead of the
usual crop field, a skyscraper
can be just one giant vertical
farm.
Edenworks indeed is a
success story. It has won multiple grants since its founding and is currently building a
prototype greenhouse in Williamsburg. Starting one’s own
company is not an easy task.
“You have to figure out how
you’re going to be the most effective each day,” says LaRosa.
“Your day ends up being as
productive as you really make
it. Real hands-on work experience is infinitely more valuable
than what you can pick up in a
classroom. Running your own
company and having people
work for you is an entirely different flavor of experience. "You need to be different from your potential
competition; our construction
practices are carried out with
sustainability in mind.”
Edenworks itself is not
the only thing that needs to
stand out. “Our personalities
on the team complement one
another very well,” LaRosa
said. “Our different points of
view lead to eureka moments,
inspiring us to solve problems
together. I would call the team
an eclectic group of problemsolvers.”
Edenworks today is a
fully operational company of
nine employees that has come
out of New York University’s
incubator program.
4 | Tuesday, October 28, 2014
THE POLYTECHNIC REPORTER
Kamkwamba
From Page 1
wi village. Just 15 years old
and equipped with nothing
more than a science textbook titled "Using Energy,"
Kamkwamba used materials from a nearby junkyard
to build the windmill. His
village was dependent
almost exclusively on farming. It experienced drought
regularly, and that year was
particularly bad, he said.
His parents couldn't afford
to pay for his education,
so he had to rely on books
from a nearby library. He
couldn't read well at the
time, he said, and had to
depend on diagrams. He
saw a picture of a windmill
on the cover of a book, and
thought it would be a good
source of energy to power
an irrigation system for
his village. "I didn't want to
become a farmer like my father," he said.
Kamkwamba made
these remarks at a lecture
on September 25 in the
Pfizer Auditorium as part of
Poly's First Year Dialogue
Talk. The theme this year is
"Currents of Change," with
Kamkwamba's talk entitled
"Harnessing the Power of
Energy." He is the co-author
of "The Boy Who Harnessed
the Wind: Creating Currents
of Electricity and Hope,"
which was the summer
reading assignment for discussion among incoming
freshmen this fall.
In his talk, Kamkwamba
discussed
the
turmoil he faced along his
path to success and why his
steadfastness allowed him to
achieve his goals.
Kamkwamba comes
from a family of seven siblings, he said, of which he is
the only boy. "I didn't want
to look weak in front of my
family," he said. Such is the
reason he sought to help his
village. He was determined
to complete his task, despite
the sneers he got from villagers as he pillaged through
the garbage for spare parts
for the windmill. "You aren't
going to be able to find a
wife -- nobody wants a crazy
man," his mother told him.
His mother had reason to
worry: The junk in his room
nearly covered his bed at one
point.
His curiosity, he said,
was born long before this
boyhood venture. When he
was much younger, he disassembled his parents' radio "to
see the little people inside."
Much to his surprise, there
were a number of different mechanisms inside that
didn't yelp when he pinched
them, and through the process of reverse engineering,
he was soon able to fix radios
for everyone in the village.
Soon after his completion of the windmill, the
world took notice of his story.
He was invited to TED Talks,
interviewed by bloggers, and
contacted by journalists. He
left his village for the first
time to take advantage of
these invitations, in hopes of
bringing back money to his
village. "I didn't know what
to expect," he said. "I had
never even seen an airplane
before."
People started to take
an interest in Kamkwamba's
endeavors. Donations of
money and materials were
offered to him during his
travels. Between these donations and his speaking fee, he
gathered the funds to build
a second windmill in his village, along with two holding
tanks in order to have a supply of fresh water. "These
utilities would be useless if
they weren't properly maintained," he said. Since he
wouldn't always be there, he
taught the villagers how to
fix the pumps, powered by
the windmills, on the water
pipes. His recent contributions to his village include
eight new classrooms for a
local grammar school as well
as the installation of solar
panels on the roof of his old
high school.
Thanks to the funds
from his speaking tours,
Kamkwamba was able to
study environmental science
at Dartmouth, from which he
graduated in June. "I want to
focus on renewable energies,"
he said. Biofuel is his latest
fascination, primarily due
to the deforestation around
his village and most parts of
Southeast Africa. Aside from
small amounts of kerosene,
renewable energy like biofuel
is the only source his village
has for cooking and fertilizer,
he said.
Kamkwamba's initial
motivation, he says, came
from his grandmother, who
was a brickmaker in his village. Making bricks was
considered a man's job, and
he always wondered why
she did it. "When your jacket
catches fire, you don't wait for
someone else to put it out,"
she told him. Her motivation
inspired him to help his family and his village. "In your
life, you will face many challenges," Kamkwamba said.
"Don't allow those challenges
to take your dreams away."
As for his immediate future, he will be working for a
design firm in San Francisco.
Student Spotlight: Meghan Clark
This young woman has achieved success not only in her major (CS), but in
extracurricular activities as well
By RICHARD GOLDFELD
Meghan Clark has always enjoyed living in Bensonhurst, but there was another
part of Brooklyn that had to
be explored. And that part was
Downtown, where Polytechnic
resides.
Clark, a junior in computer science, was drawn here
to attend an open house in the
summer of 2012. There, Clark
spoke with several computer
science professors, and their
conversation piqued her interest in programming. Even
though she had had no previous computer science experience, “the professors assured
me that I would be able to succeed,” she says.
And succeed she has,
not only in academics, but in
extracurricular activities as
well. Currently, Clark is the
vice president of Academic
Success on the Student Council. She is also a mentor in the
mentorship program, a service ambassador for the Poly
Project, as well as an orientation leader on the Polytechnic
campus and a Welcome Week
leader at the Washington
Square campus.
In addition, she is currently working on starting a
monthly event with computer
science professor Linda Sellie, graduate assistant Crystal Dilonez, and computer
engineering student Sabrina
Fletcher. The purpose of this
event, she says, is “to promote
connectivity between female
students and faculty in the
computer science and computer engineering departments.
This will allow women to feel
more empowered in the engineering field, which is dominated by men.”
Clark first became acquainted with Sellie after volunteering to assist in a Cyber
Security Program for Young
Women, “a program for high
schools girls each summer
to introduce them to computer science and cyber forensics to encourage them to
pursue a career in the field,”
said Sellie. In the first part of the
summer, Sellie said, “Meghan
organized ice-breaking and
team-building events, encouraging the girls to collaborate.
In the second part of the summer session, Meghan volunteered to step in to teach networking. Our other instructors
are college professors, but
Meghan excelled nonetheless.”
When
Clark
isn’t
scampering around the various NYU-Poly buildings to
carry out her various responsibilities, she can often be found
in one of the far corners of
Magnet. “It’s a big, open, quiet
study space,” she said.
THE POLYTECHNIC REPORTER
oSTEM
From Page 1
for gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender people in STEM
fields. oSTEM Inc.’s official
mission is “To educate, empower, and engage a diverse
community. To identify, address, and advocate for the
needs of LGBTQA students
in the STEM fields. We fulfill
these needs through mentorship connections, networking
opportunities, strategic collaborations, and professional
leadership
development.”
The transition to a chapter
of oSTEM was a decision
made toward improving the
gay and lesbian experience
at the Polytechnic after students graduate. By creating
connections between NYU
students and employers, as
well as other gay and lesbian
students across the country,
oSTEM at NYU hopes to have
a far-reaching impact on the
careers and lives of each of its
members, says Cavat-Gore
The NYU chapter provides a link to everything
the national organization
has to offer (workshops, career opportunities, networking, etc.). Toward this end,
Spellman says, the club promotes diversity on campus
and hosts events that provide
career development experiences. It also hosts social
and what she calls fun events
where members get to know
each other in a welcoming
environment. One social
event that has carried over
from Poly’s LGBTQA club
is the annual outing to “The
Rocky Horror Picture Show”
around Halloween. This is
an event where members are
urged to dress up as their
favorite characters from a
popular 1975 gay and lesbian
friendly movie.
Apart from social events,
the e-board members also
run professional events with
guest speakers. This year’s
e-board members include
Spellman; Cavat-Gore; Janine van Niekerk, vice president; and Malcolm Lewis,
treasurer. These officers help
run the biggest annual event
for oSTEM, the national conference. In a recent interview, Spellman expressed her
excitement over this year’s
oSTEM national conference, scheduled for Nov. 7-9
at Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
“There will be keynote speakers and interview opportunities with organizations such
as the CIA, Google, GM, Raytheon, GE, Chevy, Lockheed
Martin and at least 20 other
organizations,” said Spellman. “This will be a great
time to meet hundreds of
other STEM students and
graduates from around the
United States.”
The e-board members
hold bimonthly fundraising
events to raise money to pay
travel expenses to the national conference for members
needing such financial assistance. If you’re interested
in getting more information
about oSTEM at NYU, join
the Facebook group oSTEM
at NYU or visit its website,
www.ostemnyu.com.
Tuesday, October 28, 2014 | 5
Dow Jones News Fund
Announces Paid Summer Internships
In Digital Media and Print Areas
The Dow Jones News
Fund is accepting applications
now for its 2015 paid summer
internship program. To be
eligible, students must be in
their junior or senior year or in
graduate school.
Positions will be filled
in the following areas: digital media, business reporting,
news editing, and sports reporting.
These paid summer
internships are competitive.
All applicants must take an
editing test to demonstrate
specific skills, including, of
course, a good command of
the language. Following a
brief training period, successful applicants will work either
online or on the print side of
a newspaper, depending on
their choice. The newspaper
will be determined through a
selection process in place at
the Dow Jones organization.
Those interested should register immediately at the firm’s
website, www.newsfund.org
click on the “Programs” tab,
then on “College Internships,"
and register as an “Intern Applicant.” Following this, applicants should contact Prof.
Lowell Scheiner of the TCS department, who will administer
a one-hour test covering gram-
mar, current events, digital
knowledge, and text editing.
He can be reached at ext. 3642
or at lscheine@poly.edu.
Tests will be sent to the Dow
Jones news organization,
where they will be scored.
They must be postmarked no
later than Nov. 3. Interested?
Register today; then take the
test as soon as possible.
Tech Tip: the iPhone 5
Battery Replacement Program
Here’s a fully charged solution
for your dying iPhone battery
By Michelle Gbolumah
Did you just charge
your iPhone 5 completely to
100 percent but, all of a sudden, the battery level is at 80
percent? Is your iPhone 5 dying prematurely at a 40 percent or even 50 percent battery
level? Do you desperately need
to replace your phone battery, but do not want to pay
around $80 for a new one?
Short battery life or the need
to be charged frequently is a
problem that happens to a very
small percentage of iPhone 5s.
Fortunately, there is a costfree solution to the problem—
the iPhone 5 Battery Replacement Program.
If your phone is experiencing this problem, follow
these steps to have your battery replaced:
First, your phone has to meet
eligibility requirements. If
your phone was sold between
September 2012 and January 2013, falls within a certain serial number range, is
in working order, and has no
damage—such as a cracked
screen—your phone battery
can be replaced free of charge.
To learn whether or
not your phone’s serial number falls within the eligibility
range, use the serial-number
checker on the iPhone 5 Battery Replacement Program
page on Apple’s website. If
your phone meets the eligibility requirements, you can
choose one of three service options for battery replacement:
an Apple-authorized service
provider, a retail store, or the
company’s technical support.
Before receiving your new
battery, prepare your phone
for the replacement process
by backing up your phone’s
data to iTunes or iCloud, turn-
With the iPhone 5 Battery Replacement Program, whether
your phone's battery life functions normally from day to
day no longer has to be a matter of "luck."
ing off “Find my iPhone,” and
erasing your phone’s data
and settings. Finally, get your
iPhone 5 battery replaced, and
have a normally functioning
phone once again.
6 | Tuesday, October 28, 2014
THE POLYTECHNIC REPORTER
Faculty Profile
Luciano Medina
By RICHARD SCHALL
Grad Assistants,
Researchers
Seek a Contract Here
By JOHN HENRY
NYU Polytechnic researchers and graduate assistants gathered here and
in front of the New York
Municipal building on Oct.
22 to call for a contract with
the university, the first of its
kind that would include this
group.
Most graduate assistants
and researchers now earn
about $11 an hour. They are
seeking a waiver of tuition,
a competitive wage, and improved health care benefits.
Negotiations between the
union that represents graduate students, Graduate Students Organizing Committee
of the United Auto Workers,
and the university have been
under way since last February. The university has not
yet made an announcement
regarding the issue.
Smartwatch:
Worth the Splurge?
By MOHAMMED N. HOSSAIN
In 2008, Luciano
Medina faced a tough choice.
He could continue his career
at EJ-Electric as a project
manager for exciting projects
related to Yankee Stadium
and Citi Field or he could accept an offer that Polytechnic gave him to return to the
school from which he graduated with a bachelor’s degree
in electrical engineering, this
time as a professor. He took
the offer, and now Medina is
a professor in the math department, one who is quite
popular with his students,
who consider him friendly
and approachable. “I’m very
close to my students,” he
says, “I’ve mentored various undergraduate students
through the NYU-Poly summer undergraduate research
program.”
Among the courses he teaches are Calculus 1 and 2, Linear Algebra, and Multivariable Calculus. Does he have a
favorite course to teach? Yes,
in fact, he does and it’s Linear
Algebra. Medina says that it’s
his favorite to teach because
of the difficulty of the course.
“It really tests my teaching
skills,” he noted. “There’s an
art to teaching and, thank
goodness, I believe I have it.”
Since coming back to
the university, Medina has received his master’s degree in
mathematics and his Ph.D.
As for his research,
Medina has investigated the
physical model of the Quantum Hall Effect. This phenomenon, he explained, is the
discovery of a voltage that was
perpendicular to what was expected, due to strong magnetic
fields and low temperatures.
Medina’s efforts toward the
Fractional Quantum Hall Effect (a piece of the larger theory that looks at the electrons in
the system) have resulted in an
existence and a “uniqueness
proof” of this voltage as well
as a method of calculating the
magnetic flux of the system; it
would prove to be a huge step
to modeling the effect of this
phenomenon, he said.
His research resulted
in his Ph.D. thesis in the spring
of 2014. His paper, “Vortex
Equations Governing the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect,”
was submitted to the Annales
Henri Poincare journal and is
currently being peer-reviewed.
Medina has taken it upon himself to add some sort of numerical computation to the theory,
but he says he hasn’t seen such
a method yet.
Medina is very passionate about his work and
says that is what led him to the
position he is in today. “What
interests me most is being able
to apply math, to be able to do
research in a field that I’m interested in. Math, to me, is like
a tool. I get to use it to explore
the different fields of science.”
Being passionate is
something that Medina stresses to anyone looking to find
a calling. “If you’re very passionate, then you’re going to
spend time on it; you’re going
to enjoy it, whether it’s difficult
or not,” he says, “and that will
lead you, usually, to success.”
Today’s tech market is
rife with different smartwatches but many are still skeptical about the technology. In
recent years, many different
manufacturing
companies
have been trying to get the
technology “right.” Currently,
there are some very impressive
technologies packed into this
watch, but not without flaws.
The smartwatches that
are available today are highly
fashionable; they replicate a
regular watch in terms of style.
There are rectangular and
circular faces made of metal
and plastic. Some even have
customized plastic or metal
straps. Smartwatches are ca
pable of connecting to your
smartphone via Bluetooth. Unfortunately, most of the popular smartwatches are compatible with Android systems and
not iOS devices. Some of the
more impressive features of
these devices include checking the number of texts and emails just by a simple glance at
your watch. Also, you can read
the full text or e-mail messages with one or two touches.
Although you can’t directly
talk through the device, you
can still answer and place calls
while your phone is tucked
away in your pocket and con-
nected to your headphones.
Some watches allow you to see
and hear step-by-step directions to a destination.
But all is not positive
in this field. There are a number of drawbacks that manufacturers are still working to
eliminate. Unlike a traditional
watch, where you do not have
to worry about your battery,
a smartwatch requires you
to recharge the battery regularly. Also, there are limited
apps you can install on these
devices. The apps that already
exist have numerous bugs.
As for price, the well-known
brands range from about $150
to $400.
Although smartwatches are already flooding the
market, we’ve yet to arrive at
the golden age for these devices. However, at the rate
at which new and improved
watches are coming out, it’s
safe to say that we’ll be seeing
some impressive technology in
the years ahead.
To buy one or not this
stage of the technology is a difficult decision. To put it another way: would you buy an
electric car today? That technology, too, like that of the
smartwatch still leaves much
to be desired.
THE POLYTECHNIC REPORTER
Tuesday, October 28, 2014 | 7
Tech Tip: Data Storage in a Cloud
If you are not familiar with the benefits of this technology, here’s a
primer for you
In today's world, everyone relies heavily on technology. People keep important
documents, pictures, videos,
and other digital information
in computers, phones, and
various storage devices. Unfortunately, technologies, unlike
humans, have short life expectancies and tend to fail or even
get lost. What would you do,
in fact, if the device that holds
all your important information
suddenly disappears? With
cloud storage, there won’t be
any need to panic when your
device fails or the file vanishes.
So, what exactly is
cloud storage? No, it's not actually located inside the cloud.
Here, “cloud” refers to datacenters located around the
world, places filled with networks of computers where we
can store our data. With cloud
storage, not only is your data
safe from system failure, but
you can also access it remotely.
Oh, I forgot to mention that it's
free--up to a certain limit.
There are many options to choose from when it
comes to deciding on which
platform to back up your data. Dropbox,
Google
By Rakinur Alam
Drive, Sky Drive, and iCloud
are just few of the popular
ones. I personally prefer Dropbox because of its simplicity.
What follows are tips on how
to begin using it to back up
your data:
First, open your Internet browser and go to www.
dropbox.com.
Click on the sign-up
button and fill in the information required to register.
At the top right-side
corner, click on the download
button.
Once downloading has
been completed, install the
downloaded file.
Open Dropbox, and
login with the information you
used to register.
You can now store any
of your documents in Dropbox
by simply clicking and dragging or copying and pasting
the files into the Dropbox folder or icon.
Storing data in Dropbox is different from storing it
in your local storage device. When your informa-
tion is inside Dropbox software, the chance of its getting
lost is very slim. In fact, you
can burn your computer, spill
coffee over it, or leave it unattended so that someone can
steal it, and not worry in the
least about the files it houses
being lost.
One other key point:
Besides being backed up, your
files are now accessible remotely. Consider this: Have
you ever gone inadvertently
to a meeting or class without your laptop or tablet con-
taining your presentation or
homework? Well, if so, with
Dropbox, you won't have to
suffer embarrassment or even
accept a penalty for not having your homework. Thanks to
Dropbox, you can easily access
the document from anywhere.
All it takes is a computer connected to the Internet.
To sum up, I would
recommend you back up your
data in a cloud, whether you
use Dropbox or some similar
tool. We live in a world where
technologies are advancing
rapidly. It is not uncommon
for technologies to fail or get
lost. With your data backed up
in the cloud, you won't have to
worry about moving to a new
technology or losing important
data due to a technical flaw.
You may argue that Dropbox is
also based on technology, and
therefore could itself fail. True
enough, but chances of that
happening are as rare as winning the lottery. Nonetheless,
if something is really important and you can print it, do
so and keep a hard copy of the
document in a safe place – the
old-fashion way.
Food Truck Is Latest Eatery Spot in Downtown Area
Yes, a truck whose fare is Belgian wafels, of all things
By Cheong Fai Wong
There are lots of dining spots in Downtown Brooklyn and now add another
one—this in the form of a food
truck featuring unique cuisine:
Belgian waffles. The company,
Wafels and Dinges, sells desserts such as waffles with ice
cream, chocolate fudge, and
fresh-fruit toppings. Its food
truck parks on the corner of
Lawrence Street and Myrtle
Promenade every Thursday
in time for everyone’s lunch
break. And, wow, does it attract a crowd—and not just
NYU Poly students, but scores
of workers in the MetroTech
complex as well. The vendor,
Joe Kurtz, says he decided to
come here because the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, a
non-profit organization seeking to improve the community, asked the company to do
so. “The business is successful
right now but, of course, a lot
depends on the weather,” said
Kurtz.
This reporter interviewed students who have
sampled Wafels and Dinges’
fare. Daniel Park, a sophomore majoring in electrical
engineering, says he bought a
liège wafel for $6. A liège wafel
is soft and chewy, he said. Park
said he walked by the truck and
the food looked very tempting.
“You can’t buy Belgian food
like this around here,” he said.
Another student, Anthony Mekhanik, a sophomore
majoring in electrical and computer engineering, also bought
a liège wafel, one served with
nutella and strawberries and
a sweetened hazelnut chocolate spread. Price: $6. He said
he never had this before and it
looked appealing to him. His
only complaint: a bit pricey, he
said.
A truck selling what
looked like “delicious” food is
what enticed Jimmy Kim, a
sophomore CS major, to give
it a try. “I like variety in food
choice, and I’m especially
pleased when I can get Belgian
waffles in Brooklyn,” he said.
For someone who had
tried Belgian waffles previously—in his high school cafeteria—Kibria Islam, a sophomore CS major, also thinks it’s
nice to have a delicious dessert
once in a while, something totally unexpected, he says.
Waiting in a long line
to buy a waffle was not a problem for Roshni Natarajan,
who’s studying for her master’s degree in electrical engineering. She bought a WMD
waffle for $8, she said. She
never had this before. As she
put it, she just couldn’t walk
by the truck without making a
purchase. And, she adds, she’s
glad she did.
Enjoying something new: from left, Daniel Park, Anthony
Mekhanik, Kibria Islam, Jimmy Kim.
8 | Tuesday, October 28, 2014
THE POLYTECHNIC REPORTER
Microsoft ReleasesWindows 10:
It Corrects Flaws in Prior Versions
By MOHAMMAD JONAID
recently
Microsoft
gave us a first look at its new
operating system—Windows
10. This operating system will
cover all of Windows’ hardware and is said to cure the
flaws that haunted Windows
8 ever since its release. Microsoft intends to release an
OS that is more intuitive and
reliable and will help customers update from Windows 7 or
older systems. Here’s a brief
summary of what was shown
at the recent press conference
held in San Francisco.
The natural name
would have been Windows
9, but Microsoft named it 10
to suggest that this version is
not incremental but, rather,
something unique that is a
completely new experience for
customers. Windows 10 was
originally aired on a desktop
computer, but it will be applicable and embedded in all
of the company’s products:
tablets, computers, and cell
phones. People will no doubt
be wondering whether there
will be a start menu. The answer is yes, says the company,
and it closely resembles that of
Windows 7 and previous versions. It combines the menus
of Windows 7 and 8.
Will you have to switch
between two apps? No, says
Microsoft. With Windows 10,
“We want users with mice and
keyboards to have a familiar UI—a taskbar and a start
menu,” said Joe Belfiore, a
corporate vice president. With
Windows 10, Microsoft brings
back the windows; in other
words, users will be able to resize and drag the apps around
the screen. The interface resembles that of Windows 8;
this might confuse a few people. Some complained about
being concerned about what is
opened and what isn’t in Windows 8. In Windows 10, there
is a feature similar to OS X’s
mission control. The feature
lets you zoom in and out and
see everything that’s opened
on the PC. You can also have
multiple desktop configurations and switch between
them. So, if you have two apps
on the screen, exactly the way
you want them, and then open
some other app, you will still
be able to come back to those
two original apps without resizing them.
Windows 10 will be
touch-enabled. Users will still
be able to use touch to scroll
and pinch to zoom on lap-
Junior’s
By Daniel Luci
tops and tablets. The Command Prompt is still present
in Windows 10, and Microsoft
has brought back CTRL+C
and CTRL+V so you can copy
and paste in a directory listing from another app. With
this new feature, Microsoft is
trying to address the diverse
range of users who will be installing Windows 10.
Now to the big question: When will it be launched?
In the middle of next year,
says the company. But before
its release, Microsoft released
what’s called a “technical preview build,” a trial version.
The company has not yet addressed the price.
Top: Start menu: On the left, apps are displayed in a Windows 7
style; on the right are the “live tiles.”
Bottom: Control center in Windows 10
Control center in Windows 10
Restaurant Review
So you thought Junior’s was going to leave
Brooklyn. Well, it’s not. It’s
staying here for good. Originally, its iconic building was
in negotiations to be sold for
some $45 million to condo developers -- and don’t we have
enough of these skyscrapers in
Downtown Brooklyn already?
Its owner had a change of
mind and now the well-known
eatery will stay put. This said,
the Reporter returned for a
follow-up visit to this restaurant, which was originally reviewed in this newspaper several years ago.
If you’re looking for
an escape to a classic American atmosphere, Junior’s is
the place for you. The Marvellete’s “Please Mr. Postman,”
along with other hits from the
60s and 70s, played through
the speakers as dinnertime patrons carried on cheerfully. Junior’s, on the corner of DeKalb
Avenue and the Flatbush Avenue Extension, is easily identified as you pass it by its glittering bright lights, reminiscent
of diners that were popular
throughout the country several decades ago. A very pleasant
way to start your meal here is
with the complimentary serving of coleslaw, pickles, pickled beets, and rolls as soon as
you’re seated in this large dining establishment.
I finally ordered fish
and chips, a standard dish at a
diner. Sad to say, the quality of
the fish was not the best. The
portion was oversized, which
is understandable (considering its high price). In fact, it
was impossible for me to finish -- it could have fed my entire family. The fries that came
with my meal were a bit soggy,
not quite as good as the ones
supplied by fast-food joints
around here. If you have another option for the side, go for
it.
The dinner also came
with a Caesar salad, which was
good. For dessert, I tried the
carrot cake cheesecake and it,
too, was good, exactly what
you would expect from a bakery claiming to sell the number
one cheesecake in New York.
The total for my meal was
$37, including the tip, making this dinner impractical for
the typical college student. To
sum up, I’d say, based on my
experience at least, it’s only
worth going to Junior’s for the
cheesecake or the cookies -- in
short, its superb baked goods.
As for its ambience,
the place is spacious, the lighting is soft with overhanging
chandeliers, and the booths
are comfortable.
Dakota Calvert, a student in integrated digital media at NYU, gave me her view:
“It has a chill atmosphere and
good music, but the food is
overpriced and certainly average at best.” Another student,
Paige Linehan, a sophomore in
business and technology management, noted that she went
there once and had a different
take on the food: “I would definitely recommend the cheeseburger if you’re looking for a
burger and you’re sick of Five
Guys and other fast-food places. Junior’s is pricey, but the
food I had was certainly worth
it. Just don’t expect a dollar
menu when you go there.”
Final word: If you’ve
already eaten and crave a delicious dessert or simply want
to experience “New York’s
Best Cheesecake,” well, by all
means, visit Junior’s; otherwise, keep your wallet full and
find some less expensive place
to dine.