How Atomic Fingerprinting could put an end to all counterfeits

Salih Abdullah 2 Comments

Professors from Lancaster University have made a way to “fingerprint” an item, so it can never be counterfeited.

The Scientists there have come up with a relatively simple tactic to show if an item is a counterfeit. Basically, they intentionally fabricate flaws into the object. For example, they would remove an oxygen atom from one, or remove a few carbon atoms. Then, after the flaw has set, they would incorporate it into an inkjet printer, and print onto a hologram that can be used as a label of some sorts.

Robert Young, one of the people who worked on these, said this

“I’m really satisfied by how simple it is … We’re expecting the first products in market in the first quarter of next year, in 2018,”

Overall, I think this a very important invention, that could end an industry that costs the world half a trillion dollars annually.

 

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My trip to Pakistan

Salih Abdullah 2 Comments

I went to Pakistan on the 11th of April and came back on the 28th of April. While it was a relatively short trip, I still had a fun time. Originally, it was going to be just my mother who was going, but my parents decided to let me go as well.

Our first flight was at 3:30 PM, and so I left school at around 1:00. We then went home to make sure we had packed everything we needed and went to the airport. Originally, our flight was supposed to go to Calgary, then to Toronto. However, they told us that we would be going to Edmonton instead, and were to stay at Edmonton airport for 6 hours. Because of the fact that they told us at the last minute, and that we were staying there for 6 hours, we received a $30 coupon for any store inside of the airport. The 6 hours were quite uneventful, and we boarded our flight easily.

Then, we arrived in Toronto, where we stayed for around a day. My aunt lives in Toronto, so we just stayed at her house for the day. We boarded our flight that went straight to Lahore and prepared for the gruelling 14-hour journey.

Once we arrived in Lahore, we were there for a couple of days and explored the city. Then, we boarded a bus and went for a six-hour ride to Peshawar, where the rest of my relatives live. Nothing really happened in Peshawar, except I got a bad case of food poisoning and had to take three different antibiotics. I stayed there for around two weeks and was over all of a sudden. We took the same route for the way back. However, we stayed in Toronto for over 24 hours on the way back and went straight from Toronto to Regina.

Overall, it was a very fun trip, and I can’t wait for the next time I go.

 

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High School Requirements

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For High School in Saskatchewan, you must have 24 credits with five or more credits having to be earned at level 30. You must have five English class credits, two science credits (one social science, and one science), and two math credits. For Grade 10, you must take 10 courses, in which you must have two English courses, a Social Science, two Practical Applied Arts (PAA), one Physical Education class, and one Math class.

In my school, I have to take these classes:
English A10, English B10, Workplace Math 10, Foundations, and Pre-Calculus 10, Accounting 10, Personal Finance 30L, Islamic Studies 30L, Wellness 10, Information Processing 10, Science 10, and History 10.

The class I am mostly looking forward to are probably Science 10, as I really like Science, and hope to go into a career that focuses on science, mainly chemistry or biology.

Overall, I look forward to Grade 10, and the rest of High School

 

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My BluePrint Blog #2

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My BluePrint is very interesting and can tell you a lot about yourself. On the website, there is a feature that tells you what your recommended careers are. My two recommended career paths are Epidemiology and Pathology. Epidemiologists study diseases, and what groups of people are at the highest risk. The aim of an epidemiologist is to reduce the risk of an outbreak. Pathologists study the nature of diseases. They research how diseases develop, change, their strengths and their weaknesses. Also, Pathologists manage labs and present scientific findings. They help improve the diagnosis of a disease. Sometimes, Pathologists even perform autopsies.

Personally, I believe that Pathologist is a good match, as I got 83% on compatibility. My main interests, knowledge areas, and motivations in life are a good match to a Pathologist’s.

Overall, I find that this website is very helpful on what you want to be when you grow up, and gives you a sense of clarity.

MyBluePrint Blog#1

Salih Abdullah 1 Comment

My Blueprint Blog #1

My Blueprint surveys are very informational and provided key information about myself. Their quizzes and tests are very informational and they provide a paragraph of information for each characteristic. There are five overall tests, with their subjects ranging from your learning styles to your motivations in life.

Learning Styles

When I did this quiz, I found out that I was a Visual Learner, and that I retain the most information if I see it often. Visual learners often benefit from taking notes and should highlight/underline key info.

Personality

I have done personality quizzes a few times before and always got the same thing. However, this time I got something a bit different. This time, I got INTP, which stands for Introverted, iNtuition, Thinking, and Perceiving. I also found out that there are many famous people who are INTP, such as Albert Einstein, and Abraham Lincoln.

Interests 

For my interests quiz, I got The Futurist, which has the two primary traits as being Investigative and Artistic. The Futurist works with ideas, information and materials

Knowledge

My three top subject areas are Sciences, Computer Sciences, and Physical Education. Personally, I can see the correlation between the sciences and computer sciences, but I have no idea how I got physical education. I got an 89% match on all of them.

Motivation 

My motivation for life is said to be recognition. The quiz also says that I look for a job that has many achievements and is recognised across the world as being important.

Overall, these quizzes were fun to do and it was an interesting time looking through the findings.

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Moving to Canada

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In 2015, I moved to Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. We had the first thought of leaving in 2013/2014, when my father received a job offer. He, said that it was a good opportunity, and that we should all go. At the same time, my brother was finishing high school, and was applying to different universities. Originally, he planned on going to Kent University, but my father said to him that he was planning to go the next year to test out whether we would be able to adapt to the difference in culture, climate, etc. My brother decided to apply to the University Of Saskatchewan, and got accepted. Next, we had to decide where in Canada to move, as he had gotten multiple offers in multiple different cities. There were offers from cities ranging from Toronto, to Calgary, to Vancouver but of all places, he picked Regina. Like, no offence to him, but of all places, he picked Regina. We could have been in a big city, like Vancouver, but he chose Regina. Where is the logic? I don’t mean any offence to the people of Regina, but what? Really? Anyway, we decided on Regina. My father and my brother moved to Canada in the summer of 2014, and we came to visit Regina in the winter of 2014. Then, we decided that we were going to move. On the 20th of July, 2015, we landed in Regina, and we were officially residents of The City of Regina. We lived in an apartment across the street from where we live now. We bought our house on October 15th, and moved in on October 20th. Overall, moving to Canada was an interesting journey, and I am happy to be here.

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The Momo Challenge- Blue Whale V.2?

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Photo Credit: freestocks.org Flickr via Compfight cc

The Momo challenge is essentially just an anonymous user hiding behind a weird picture, telling kids to kill themselves. The challenge is aimed at children aged 8-12, where they’re most susceptible to threats, ranging from ‘cut your hair’ to ‘kill yourself and your family’. She threatens to curse your family and will come in the night and will kill you while you’re sleeping. The challenge was created a year – two years ago, where it would just message people telling them to kill themselves. The challenge’s popularity died down, and people stopped caring about it. However, the people behind the Momo hacked the cartoon show Peppa Pig and put this song in the episodes.

Personally, I believe that the media is making a big deal out of nothing. While it is tragic that some children have carried out the tasks that Momo asks, it was a much bigger problem around a year ago, where it resulted in many lives lost. I don’t believe that it is worth worrying over right now, compared to last year. The only reason it’s gotten this much publicity all of a sudden is that it has now transferred to Youtube Kids, even though it has been on the main Youtube app, which is easily accessible by all, for over a year. An article by CNN says:

“So this has been around for a while. And the reason that it’s probably getting the kind of scrutiny and attention that it’s getting is because of its appearance in younger kids’ content,” she says. “And because of that, and because of the accessibility, coupled with the frustration for parents, I think it’s just a fever pitch of, ‘Here’s one more thing that YouTube is exposing kids to and not taking any accountability around.'”

Overall, I personally believe that, while it is a threat, it was a much bigger threat before, and the fact that there was virtually no news about it is messed up.

 

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Going to Spain (twice)

Salih Abdullah 5 Comments

I have visited Spain twice in the course of two years. I have gone to Madrid once and Barcelona once. My father originally went to Barcelona for a conference. When he came back he said that he really liked the city and that we should go. Flash forward a few months, we were boarding a flight to Barcelona. The hotel we stayed in was Hotel Diagonal Zero. It was a very comfortable hotel and would recommend it. In Barcelona, we visited many landmarks, such as the Sagrada Familia, The Camp Nou, and other important places.

About The Camp Nou:

The next year, We decided to go to Madrid, as our past experiences in Spain were pleasant. We went to a hotel near the city centre. Personally, I enjoyed Madrid better, as there was much more of it to get lost in. There was also nice ice cream.

Overall, I enjoyed going to Spain, and hope to visit it again in the future. It was an enjoyable experience, and one of my favourite vacation spots I have ever been on.

Madrid Skyline:


 

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Creative Commons (CC)

Salih Abdullah 1 Comment

Creative Commons is an organization or group that provides free licences for images. Creative Commons is important, because if there weren’t Creative Commons, finding images to support your opinions in media such as videos, and blogs would be extremely hard. Copyright is a big problem, and if you were to not adhere to Copyright laws, you could potentially lose all the money you made off of that. Even worse, different companies can come in and take the revenue for media that includes content that doesn’t even belong to him. Overall, Copyright is a very serious problem, and you should be aware of how to combat it. There are many different types of Creative Commons.

One example is CC-BY, which means that you can you can remix or share the work, but the original maker must be credited. Another example is CC-BY-SA which means that it is the same as the previous one, but all other derivatives of the images must carry the same terms. The third term is CC-BY-ND, which means that you cannot make any derivatives of the original image. The fourth CC-BY-NC, which means that you can remix the images, but cannot use it for commercial gain. The second-to-last law is CC-BY-NC-SA, which means that you can change it and use it non-commercially, but they must credit you as the source. The sixth law, and the strictest of all of them, CC-BY-NC-ND. This law says that you can download and share it, but can’t use it commercially, or change it. You also must credit the original image maker as the source.

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