North Central College Media 200 Class

Two Minute Technology: GPT-3 What is GPT-3? Third generation Generative Pre-trained Transformer, or GPT-3, is a neural network machine learning model trained using internet data to generate any type of human-like text. Developed by OpenAI, it requires a small amount of input text to produce large volumes of relevant and sophisticated machine-generated text. GPT-3's deep learning neural network is a model with over 175 billion machine learning parameters, making it the largest neural network ever produced. To put things into scale, Microsoft's Turing NLG model had 10 billion parameters. As a result, GPT-3 is better than any prior language-prediction model, since it is able to generate text that is convincing enough to seem like a human could have written it. Below are two example conversations using GPT-3 technology. The first video is a conversation on existential themes between two AI's. The second video is a conversation between a person and AI. What can GPT-3 do? T...

  My First Theatre Production by Erin When I first tried theatre, I didn’t know that it would become one of my biggest passions. I just thought of it as another activity for me to try. The first theatre production I was ever in was The Music Man Junior. This was with the theatre company I mentioned in previous entries that rehearsed from May to September and had performances during a weekend in September. This production was in 2011, so I was not even in middle school yet. Before the production even started, I went to see a local high schools production of The Music Man. I decided after seeing that production that I wanted to be the mayor’s wife, which is a big role. It was also an especially big role for someone who had never done theatre before. I didn’t end up getting that part. I got a much smaller role. My role was a young girl, about the actual age I was at the time, who got piano lessons from the female lead role. She also had a crush on the female lead’s little brother. I o...

  In the midst of trouble animals always know when something is going wrong or when it's about to happen. This is called fear conditioning which is when you can see in every animal on the planet. This has a lot to do  with their sense of their flight or fight mode. But more scientifically  it has to do with manipulating activity of specific neurons of the zebrafish brain.  There have been many times we as humans have seen this either live or recorded on some type of media outlet. It's things like this that we all don't actually truly understand. This sense that these animals get is truly incredible because humans can  get the same ability as these animals do. Many Scientist  d o a lot of research on rats when it comes to collecting data because they are the closest thing to humans. This is where more information can be used on other a nimals as well. Animals are great at remembering feelings and understanding this by keeping this as a resource they use to...

     A few years ago, a man named Lantz Wheeler introduced the baseball world to the Core Velocity Belt , the newest tool that pitchers can use. This new tool is unique considering most pitchers’ tools revolve around the arm, but this belt focuses on the lower body mechanics of the pitcher. Legs are often an underlooked aspect of pitching, but “using your legs” is one of the first cues that a pitching coach will say. Sometimes, you don’t need them . Ninety-nine percent of the time, you need to use your legs as much as your upper body.       Trusted by MLB pitching coach Ethan Katz , the belt is an ideal tool because it gives instant feedback. Thanks to the tethers that the belt uses that allow different levels of tension, a pitcher is really able to have that “feel” that pitching coaches want them to have when they say “using your legs” is key.       The belt allows an increased feel in hip/shoulder separation if used alone. Paired...

     When I am doing work or getting ready to study for a test I like to listen to music because it helps me get into a good groove to study. When I’m studying I tend to get distracted easily so, instead of getting distracted by my phone I turn on some of my favorite music and jam out while studying. I find it much easier to study when I have that music going on in the background. (  When you study, you’re using your ‘working memory’ – that means you are holding and manipulating several bits of information in your head at once.   Shutterstock)       Music is also helpful because it keeps my mind from wandering too far off the subject that I am studying for. Music makes studying easier because it can put me in a better mood or wake me up when I am studying. Overall I find that music makes studying easier and it allows me to focus better.  When looking at studies it has been shown from florida national university that using mus...

  Bradley Novak Professor Paul Santucci 10/26/2021 Blog Six   Knowing Your Opponent             Studying your opponent’s habits and tendencies can give you an edge like no other. Knowing your opponent takes your defense to the next level. Watching film, looking over playbooks, and just watching them play can give you the competitive edge that you may need to win the game.              My favorite part about being an infielder is playing someone on a shift. For example, when our baseball team plays each other in the fall, there are some players who can only hit one way. So, the entire infield shifts to one side anticipating a ball hit in that direction. My favorite example of one of the best anticipators is Dennis Rodman. He would watch film of his teammates and other teams that they were playing to study how balls jumped off the rim so he could give hims...

All of my teachers in high school said comments to the class like "if you think this is hard, wait until you start college." After hearing this statement multiple times in high school, it made college classes seem very intimidating. I won't lie, walking into a college class for the first time is scary, but when you think about it walking into a classroom your first year of high school was scary too. After the first couple of days of going to class, I got used to the new aspects of attending class at my school. A Classroom at my College At my school, we have four classes per semester, and these classes either meet on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays or Tuesdays and Thursdays. A nice part of college is that you are in each class for a short amount of time during your day, and any free time you have to spend on homework. I personally do not participate in a sport or have a job this year, so I have more free time than other freshmen. The amount of homework I have for each cla...

 

Two Minute Technology: Deepfakes Earlier this year, a series of videos of Tom Cruise started to circulate on TikTok of the actor doing random and surprising stuff; goofing around, playing golf and showing off a few magic tricks. If you don't remember or haven't seen these videos before, I've included a short video compilation of them for you. Despite the movie star hair and trademark cackle, this is not Tom Cruise. He never filmed these videos. What you just watched may seem like a doppelganger, is actually an example of a deepfake developed by AI and visual effects specialist Chris Umé and his stand-in actor Miles Fisher. While the act of creating fake content is not anything new, deepfakes leverages powerful techniques from machine learning and artificial intelligence. What are Deepfakes? Deepfakes are synthetic media in which a person in an already existing image or video is replaced with someone else's likeness; usually manipulated in a way to deceive people. A...

       For the seventh film this month, I watched ‘ Halloween Kills ’ (2021) which is currently in theaters and free on Peacock for premium members. The Halloween movies are one of the most known monsters franchises of all time. It is also the time of year where we can binge the whole series to be festive with the upcoming season. I was hyped to watch this one because I’m a huge fan of the last film that was released in 2018. ‘ Halloween ’ (2018) was scary and had perfect moments with built up anticipation. The story paid homage to the original from 1978 but stayed independent enough to stand on its own. Because of my high expectations based on the previous film, ‘Halloween Kills’ had some big shoes to fill. Right off the bat I was surprised to see how the story picked right back up from the exact moment the last one had ended. I liked how this film was a continuation of the same night from the 2018 film. Movies that stick to events that happen over the course of the...

  Bradley Novak Professor Paul Santucci 10/22/2021 Blog Five   Having a Practice Plan   Having a practice plan and a work ethic going into the off-season can either help you or hurt you. The off-season is the most important part of a baseball player’s journey to great success. Practice with a purpose or don’t practice at all is what my dad likes to tell me. Come to think of it, he is right in so many ways. There is fielding, throwing, hitting, and running that are involved. And you can’t forget about lifting weights.      The key to the off-season is really looking back at your season and looking at what went well vs what didn’t go so well. If I hit for a batting average of .250 with baserunners on base, I might go watch game film and see how I handled pitches in certain batting counts. Evaluating ground ball fielding is crucial. It’s a great strategy to focus on during the off-season, getting my fielding percentage up and being equally dangerous on both si...

As of the last few years, baseball has seen a massive influx in the use of weighted balls for training, both in pregame and offseason settings. Whether these weighted balls are baseballs with varying ounces (3oz-11oz) that contrasts the typical 5oz baseball, or rubber plyoballs (100g-2kg), the new addition to a pitcher’s repertoire is one that can’t go overlooked. Weighted balls help develop arm speed, help with body timing and patterning, and build good habits to develop velocity. Driveline , the leading company in the blend of baseball and technology, produces both types of training tools. A solid set of weighted baseballs should be 11oz, 9oz, 7oz, 6oz, 4oz, and 3oz, paired with a 5oz baseball. A solid set of plyocare balls should be 2kg, 1kg, 450g, 225g, 150g, and 150g.  Each pitcher’s routine is different , but your self-crafted routine should always start with the heaviest balls, then work down to lighter ones. Below is a step-by-step guide for plyocare balls that I have fo...

 Blog 4 of my daily life.  As school wrapped up for our fall break, I was able to return home to see my family. I had so much fun at home just spending time with them and telling everyone my experiences at school so far. This was also my very first time getting on an airplane to as I went home. I know college is about a lot of new experiences and I’m always getting new ones through the week. Riding on the plane going home was a nerve wrecking experience at first just because of me having a fear of heights. After me doing it, I realized that I don’t want to drive to or from school anymore to go home. Flying is so much quicker and convenient, I made it on time to a wedding just from flying right after my class. Overall going home has been great but the cold weather is starting to come in heavy so now it’s time to start getting prepared for that as well.