| Tuesday, April 1, 2014 7"[nOI-Ogy]i*i:#;“ -.; Austin Gonzalez OPINION EDITOR Editor’s Note: While this is clearly an Opinion piece by our fab Opinion Editor, this is also a fitting _Tech[nology]News piece, which is located in AéE. Submit Tech[nology]News pieces to editor@technewsiit.com. Remember the days when every phone had a different charger? Well, the Euro- pean Union (EU) has recently created a draft law that will force all cellphone manufacturers to use the same charger, and has leaned in fa— vor of setting the MicroUSB as the standard. No comment has been made yet by Movie Review: Apple, being the only substantial phone maker likely affected by this change in the EU. Most Android phones will see no difference as most already take advantage of the MicroUSB for charge and data transfer. Most manufacturers already use the industry standard of the MicroUSB without the need of a law regulating that it’s now man- datory. Isn’t it an amazing process whereby consumers know what they want, and actively purchase those things? Even more amazing perhaps are companies’ abilities to evaluate' incoming mar- ket data and translate this into products ori- ented towards the consumers wants. This law is coming pretty late to the party; it’s the equivalent of screaming “NAP ' TIME” at midnight when all the kids are al— ready asleep. For better or for worse, Apple has favored property parts and cables. Boasting its faster data transfer speeds or the first capable of reversible heads, . Apple clearly doesn’t want or need the MicroUSB. Apple consumers want to buy whatever Apple is selling and that’s fine. As' much as I can appreciate one charger to rule them all, I think this has got to be one of the dumbest laws I’ve ever heard of. (EU in favor of single, universal cell phone charger Years from now when our kids read “Ridicu- lous Laws from Former Conglomerations” this one will find its way in there. Of all the things I need a governing body to look after, my cellphone charger is one of the least important. The law has been pro- posed for (supposedly) the right reasons. Chargers account for 51,000 tonnes of e—waste every year and proprietary cables can be a ploy to force you to buy more. I can’t help but feel that someone has received a large sum of money for supporting this superfluous law. Hopefully this draft law will be voted out of existence for its uselessness. ‘Monument Men’ monumentally unremarkable Austin Gonzalez ,OPINION EDITOR lohn ' are smiled Bill i\rlurrav, Matt Damon, Goodman. and tier 4e Cloon into this ultimately l. ckluster portraval ofthe recovery ot the Ghent Altar. l. \VOt‘lll \\Vttl‘ ll, this movie begins with what could've been a bet in the midst o great movie about the value oi‘ art, but ends with an audience unimpressed. but not neces- sarily disappointed. Flat. this picture inert, boring, unsati '\ " s created for [hr 1 rase “its not bad, but certainlv not any good". "1 his is a movie where the whole is not greater than the sum of the parts. ’lhere are pockets oteinotions, reasonably enjoyable moments ot'joy. humor, romance, but noth- ing to really tie the story together. 'lhe movie is based on historical fact with men on a mission. How hard could it be to sell ast‘ory about the Allies (not to m tion Americans) being awesome during \,\ orld War II? The movie was severely over-cast- ed. This nidvie could‘ve been much greater, had it featured a cast comprising of rising actors. With so many acting powerhc ses nothing short oi greatness was to be expelttd. .\.s an indie def velopment this could have been an amaying picture, but a Hol» blockbuster it teels like Tit million dollars lywood the thin ot' a budget is miss 1g. Monument .\len sim» ply needs improvement on the most critical fronts a film. ’lhe locations and cinematograpln' are nice enough. but the plot and characters are never fleshed out. 'Ihe emotions are stale and hol- low. , ’lhere is a clear disre- gard for how an audience would react to what‘s playing an the screen. started with a classy picture and a classv re— You‘ 1‘ latable cast and then theres no follow through. On the whole, Monument Men is a nice detour for the barrage of cynicalapoca- lyptic “the world and everything in it is awful" movies that have been flooding theaters, but there‘s nothing to I wouldn’t recommend seeing this film. B ad movies at least give you some— thing to talk about. 'lhe onlv thing I keep thinking of is how there‘s nothing to discuss in this movie other than the fact that it’s so devoid of inter— Image courtesy ofscreencrushcom ‘ esting objects! There are movies good movies, bad movies, and apparently this Isa movie that is the embodiment ot‘meh. ‘Hackerspace' Pilsen promotes DIY projects Utsav Gandhi CAMPUS EDITOR Unbeknownst to many, a small, enter- prising group of HT alumni have initiated some influential change right here in the immediate Chicagoland vicinity of our campus. Combining technical expertise with a passion for community mobilizing and an entrepreneurial flair, a group of “doers” have started a “hackerspace” on the south side of Chicago (in Pilsen.) They are seeking “hackers, tinkerers, hobbyists, crafters, artists and doers” to help cre- ate a social, educational and collaborative space for the benefit of the larger community. They have reached out to faculty in the Architecture Department, IEEF.@IIT, as well as Professor Matt Bauer himself to spread some awareness Located at the Mana Arts Lofts at 2233 South Throop Street, number 214, they have plenty of equipment for woodworking, electronic and bicycle maintenance, as well as prototyping; but are also currently looking for several com- mon objects: an eyewash station, fire extinguish— ers, lockers, desk space, a couch, tables, “hacker” magazines, a projector, and an assortment of me- chanic tools, woodworking tools, metalworking tools, a mill, a second drill press, lathe, bicycle service stand and tools, sewing machine capable of sewing materials like canvas, nylon and denim. _ Their goal is to promote DIY (“do it yourself”) projects ranging from traditional (metalworking, woodworking, arts and crafts) to technological (software development, electronics, 3D printing, robotics.) They have three levels of dynamic membership, including working pro- fessionals, students, artists, entrepreneurs, and unique self- starters. The initiative started as a group of alumni from diverse disciplines (MMAE, Archi- tecture, Computer Science) coming together to replicate another hackerspace that exists on the North Side, ‘Pumping Station I’, as an outreach space. Most of them come in from Greek, phil— anthropic and Camras backgrounds during their time at HT and their professional backgrounds have also enabled set up some promising relation- ships with Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Public Library system as well as entrepreneurs in the city. They have also instituted a member- ship structure with three tiers: a donation level, starting hacker level and full membership. Anyone is encouraged to check out the space by attending their weekly general body meetings (every Wednesday evening at 7:30 pm.) at the hackerspace location, to volunteer in many possible roles they have available, to provide monetary donations or even to teach a class pro- vided the interest and resources exist for one of the hackerspace’s many activities. Since March 2012, the group has been forging friendships with innovators all over Chicago, who continue to diversify their mem- bership. In Iuly 2013 they moved into their first space, the 1000 square feet studio in the Mana Fine Arts Building at Cermak and Throop, but have also launched a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. They have envisioned a plan that sepa- rates their space into three major areas. Seeking to improve the surrounding community and inspire young adults to find a safe space to explore and grow, they have big expan~ sion plans and hope to service the greater area of Chicago in the future! Check out this campaign at igg.me/at/ sshchicago, their website at sshchicago.org/, on Reddit at http://redd.it/20235i, and on Facebook at facebookcom/sshchicago OOOOOQOOOOOCCOOOOOOOOOOCCOO‘OOOO00.000.000.000...Photosby&courtesyofjessicaFong —