Category Archives: Technology

Local Color, Technology

E-Sports and P.E. Merge

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Hey knights, do you loathe exercise but love video games? Boy, do we have news for you! As of the 2017-2018 school year, E-Sports will be introduced as a physical education class, along with P.E. What does this mean? It means that students without a sport will not have to labor through a grueling PE class for 55 minutes a day. You will have the option of either taking P.E or immersing yourself in a hands on class with some of the best gamers in Orange County. That’s right, you can learn to play games such as Call Of Duty, Counter Strike Global Offensive, Overwatch, and so many others. The world is becoming more and more technological, with Foothill taking the next step.*
Technology

Apps to apply to your lonely Valentine’s Day

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Valentine’s Day can either be the most romantic, or most depressing, day you could experience. If you’re all by your lonesome on the 14th, cheer up! Technology is always here for you. Luckily there are a few apps that will allow you to vicariously have the most lovey dovey of Valentine’s all without a date. The HUG! App allows you to receive and send “hugs” to friends through your phone. To receive a hug you simply place your phone on your chest and feel your phone vibrate, simulating a hug. The app allows you to send different kind of hugs, as well as keep track of how many hugs you have collectively received. This app is only available for iOS users. The Goodnight app allows you to anonymously talk to strangers at night. You can chose to talk to people in your area, and make conversation for seven minutes, free of charge. For iOS users only. To be more straightforward, there are multiple apps in the app store under the key word of boyfriend or girlfriend that would satisfy your lonely ways. My pocket boyfriend (with the thrifty price of $0.99), My Virtual Boyfriend, and Dream Girlfriend, simulates having a significant other. The best part about this is that you can construct the perfect boy or girl to keep you company. Not a single flaw in this relationship. There are apps just for talking to a bot, if that suits your fancy. Cleverbot and SimSimi are here to keep you company. Apps like My virtual Boyfriend, Talk, and Mystic Messenger are alternatives that can get a little more affectionate.
Technology

Pokemon Sun and Moon Review

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For me, Pokémon games started to take a nose dive in quality when Pokémon X and Y came out three years ago. It seemed like the Pokemon company really stopped caring, and my interest in the games started to die down. This year, however, was Pokémon’s twentieth anniversary and they came out with their newest titles, Pokémon Sun and Moon, which has revived my love for this series. The game is a breath of fresh air because it steers off course from the other main series games to try new ideas, which work great. A big change in the game is how they got rid of HM’s, and replaced by certain rideable Pokémon. This game lacks the gym leaders and badges of the other titles. Instead it has other leaders called trial captains. The player has to help the trial captain or play some kind of game to progress through the trial. One may have you defeat three Pokémon, another trial might have you play a guessing game. The final task of a trial is to defeat the totem pokémon, an uncatchable Pokémon that guards the trial area. Once the trial is completed you do not receive a badge, instead you receive a Z-crystal. The trial captains are an amazing example of how this game has a lot of good characters and throughout the trials, you get little glimpse into their personalities. Even after you finish a trial, you can still learn more about them by going into their own homes which gives more insight into their past and other hobbies. The story is one of the game’s biggest strengths. Character development in this game is the best it’s ever been with the main characters of the game Lillie, Hau, Gladion, and Lissamine. All these characters are fleshed out through the story and change in the end for the better, or maybe for the worst. When you meet the main characters for the first time and talk to them throughout your journey, it really does feel like they’re your friends and you’ve made a connection with them. The premise of the player being a kid new to this region hasn’t been done since Ruby and Sapphire, and it was executed very well here. The way the progresses is too linear for my taste and most of the side quests given to you before you beat the game are quite lackluster. I haven’t really been enjoying Pokémon in recent years but this really did revive my love for the series. This game is definitely worth your time.
Local Color, Technology

Claudia Korea: World Leader in Robotics

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Claudia Korea is a member of a nationally ranked robotics team, and she goes to Foothill High. The Foothill Robotics team consists of three students: Claudia Korea, the lead programmer and designer of the team, along with Tim Jang, and Kevin Tang. The team is currently ranked 15th out of 60,000 teams in the world, and has not lost a tournament this year. Along with three other teams at Foothill, Claudia’s team competes in VEX Robotics competitions. VEX Robotics is the world’s leader in educational competitions, but also creates robotics parts and science curriculum for schools.  Recently, the Foothill team placed 15th in the world. There are different awards one could win at the competitions: Excellence Award, Skills, and Tournament Champions. In the past year, Foothill’s team has won one Skills Award, two Excellence Awards, and five Tournament Champions. Claudia explained that the team’s main goal is to make it to the World Championship which will be held in Louisville, Kentucky, in April of 2017. Claudia joined robotics a little over a year ago, when she was a junior. Claudia originally started out because “I really like programming and I wanted to see how manufacturing and programming come together. Originally [robotics] was a class but I started staying after school, which motivated my team, and the other teams saw how fast our robot was being built so they started coming after school.” She said that robotics is definitely a team sport, and one of her favorite parts of competitions is “being exposed to new teams” and meeting new friends. Claudia is going to major in computer science. “I am hoping to learn more about the mechanical side of robotics.” Claudia said. So far, Claudia has made four robots; each time she learns from the past one’s mistakes. For example, one of her older robots “was so slow we made everything as fast as possible,” and her newest robot can move all on its own. Claudia’s robots range from “shooting foam balls into nets” to having forks in them and tossing separate objects. Claudia leads the team in improvement, excellence, and different competitions.
Arts and Entertainment, Technology

Driftin’ Through the Light

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Released on March 31, 2016, Hyper Light Drifter is a 2D pixel-style action role-playing game developed by Heart Machine on Steam for $20.00.   The game follows the Drifter, a hero suffering from an unspecified illness. The Drifter’s condition mirrors lead developer Alex Preston’s experience with congenital heart disease. In fact, the original release was delayed more than a year due to Preston’s health conditions. Preston received many letters of encouragement during this time and he ultimately altered the story of Hyper Light Drifter so that the problem was not only just of one character, but one shared by many. He wanted to create Hyper Light Drifter “to tell a story he can identify with, expressing something personal to a larger audience, so he feels more connected and have an outlet for the many emotions that crop up around life-altering issues.”   With excellent ratings (9/10 from Game- Spot) I finally bought the game during the Steam Summer Sale in June and tried it out. To put it simply, I fell in love with Hyper Light Drifter.   The music, excellently crafted by Richard Vreeland, better known as Disasterpeace, fit perfectly with every moment of the game and brought waves of nostalgia reminding me of when I played The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past as a kid. As an aspiring video game artist with a reverence for animation, the flow and smoothness of each cutscene, obstacle, character, and environment almost made me cry. The design of the world is fascinating. With a compelling story told only through beautiful pixel-perfect visuals, I suggest anyone who is a fan of story-driven indie, pixel-style, and/or role-playing games with a challenge pick up Hyper Light Drifter and experience it for themselves. Be careful out there Drifters