and want to learn how to create one yourself then you’ll want to join us for our fun and unique series of video game design classes. We’ll walk you through a creative journey to create your own 2D video game from scratch. The fun starts by learning fundamentals of video game design. Design and build your own video game with your own made up characters and levels. Develop your game by learning the basic mechanics of game design, including object oriented programming. Through game physics application, you’ll be introduced to scripted programming and platform gaming.
In all our classes, we emphasize a creative and inventive for fun and innovative video games. All this and you get to take home your own personalized video game to share with family and friends.
Please join us for loads of fun learning the fundamentals of programming and video game design, an experience of a lifetime unearthing your creativity and technological skills!
Can one even create a perfect society or will society always be corrupt? Is a utopia or dystopia the right answer?
These two fictional extremes provided a stark contrast to modern reality. Readers and viewers have fascinated by their often visionary concepts. Anyone interested in science-fiction or modern fantasy has stumbled upon stories that paint the future in a decided color.
A utopia is a perfect world. Utopian fiction depicts a future in which humanity has reached a state of balance and peace, and where all life is maintained. In utopia problems like war, disease poverty, discrimination, and inequality do not exist. There is no more suffering or injustice. The word Utopia comes from Greek roots meaning either ‘no place’ or ‘good place.’ The word utopia was originally coined by Sir Thomas More when he wrote Utopia, where he described an ideal political state in a land called Utopia.
Characteristics of a Utopia:
peaceful government
equality for citizens
access to education, healthcare, employment
a safe living environment
hope
A dystopia on the other hand is a world in which nothing is perfect. The problems that plague the world are often even more extreme in dystopias. Dystopian fiction depicts a future in which society has fallen into decline and ruin, and where life and nature are recklessly exploited and destroyed. Dystopia is a play on the made-up word ‘utopia’ using the root dys, which means ‘bad’
or ‘difficult.’
Characteristics of a Dystopia:
usually a controlling, oppressive government or no government
extreme poverty or a huge income gap between the richest and the poorest
propaganda controlling people’s mind
freethinking and independent thought is banned
Utopian fiction is usually taken over by groups or often dissatisfied. Dystopias are a way in which authors share their concerns about society and humanity. They also serve to warn members of a society to pay attention to the society in which they live and to be aware of how life can go from bad to worse without anyone realizing what has happened. Examples of fictional dystopias include Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games, Anthony Burgess’ A Clockwork Orange, Louis Lowry’s The Giver, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, George Orwell’s Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Tell us what some of your favorites are. And can we ever exist in a utopia?
A small gallery of images from the OC Science Olympiad that we helped to sponsor on February 14, 2015 on the campus of UC Irvine. This was one of California’s regional Science Olympiads close to our facilities. The Science Olympiad is broken up into regional, state and national competitions for students who are keen learners of science and technology where they get to spend a day displaying their projects they have been working on for months in around 40 different categories. Take a look at the some of the pictures we took of our booth and around UCI where all of the students “camped out” throughout the day in-between competitions to rest and get some snacks!
Some of the most exciting jobs in the world may just lie in the sciences.
From studying the earth we live in to the skies above us, the sciences are all about exploration and delving into the unknown.
Most jobs today require a bachelor’s degree, and an increasing number of jobs are looking for a master’s degree or a doctorate. Thankfully, all of this hard work will be paid off with an attractive salary that could range from around $56,000 to $95,000 a year, with some of the highest earners making six figures. Here are the top ten jobs in science (based on the projected job growth):
1. Environmental Scientist-research issues relating to natural resources, plants, animals and humans. They address global climate change and population growth.
-Earnings: $56,100
2. Hydrologist- study the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth and other planets. Their research helps other scientists, governments and businesses understand what pollutants are affects the water supply.
-Earnings: $66,260
3. Geoscientists– spilt their time between working in offices or laboratories, and working outdoors. They study the physical aspects of the Earth, its composition, structure, and processes, to learn about its past, present, and future.
-Earnings: $72,660
4. Medical Scientists-conduct research aimed at improving overall human health. They often use clinical trials and other investigative methods to reach their findings. Most work in offices and laboratories.
-Earnings: $61,680
5. Biochemists and Biophysicists-study the chemical and physical principals of living things and biological processes, such as cell development, growth, and heredity.
-Earnings: $76,320
6. Atmospheric Scientists –study the weather and climate, and how it affects human activity and the earth in general.
-Earnings: $77,150
7. Materials Scientist-is a field that deals with the discovery and design of new materials. They determine ways to strengthen or combine materials or develop new materials with new or specific properties for use in a variety of products.
-Earnings: $74,610
8. Physicists –study the properties of matter and motion. This includes researching the universe’s origin or developing new scientific tools, depending on their specialization.
-Earnings: $94,240
9. Astronomers-study the characteristic and behavior of the sun, stars, galaxies and planets.
-Earnings: $95,740
10. Biological Scientists – observe and study all forms of life, from microscopic organisms to humans, in order to better understand how these organisms develop and interact with their surroundings.
-Earnings: $76,320
Mark Zuckerberg and soon Steve Jobs will have their own movies, but who has yet to feature in a film with either a STEM or Humanities focus?
by Cameron Yanoscik
Over the years, film directors have turned to the colorful lives of well-known individuals who have made an impact in some brand new way. These are the people who constantly challenge their contemporary beliefs and ideas by doing something so extraordinary they continue to influence our lives today.
Up to this point we have re-discovered and delved more deeply into the lives of such illustrious people as famous writers of fiction, scientists, mathematicians, activists and presidents to name but a few among the diverse cast of characters. These have included film adaptations of the lives of Jane Austen (Anne Hathaway in Becoming Jane), James M. Barrie (Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland), Howard Hughes (Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator), Harvey Milk (Sean Penn in Milk) and even fictionalized versions of people such as William Randolph Hearst in Citizen Kane. The year 2013 saw Disney shedding some light on the filming of its classic Mary Poppins when Tom Hanks walked in the shoes of Walt Disney and Emma Thompson likewise as the author P.L. Travers in Saving Mr. Banks. Recently the films Selma and The Theory of Everything have been in the spotlight for portraying Martin Luther King, Jr. and Stephen Hawking, respectively, and have been nominated for Academy Awards.
So now you may ask, who’s next? Whose life’s work will now be shown on the small or silver screen with all of the joys and pains that come with it? To start off the conversation, I have provided a list of some well-known people from the last two hundred years (some you may not have even hear about!) and why I think they deserve a film of their very own.
Here’s a list of possible candidates (you can be the judge!):
–Alexander Grothendieck (German-born French mathematician)
In the wake of such brilliant minds on film such as that of Alan Turning played by Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game, more mathematicians and scientists should be featured in the realm of cinema, like Alexander Grothendieck who died last November. For those who may not know him (personally or on the web), Grothendieck made advancements in the field of algebraic geometry among other mathematical theories during his professional career before becoming a recluse for decades from the time of his retirement to his death. It would be interesting to see his life in pre-World War II Germany and his illustrious career in France, all without being a French citizen until the 1980s!
–A.A. Milne(British writer of the Winnie the Pooh stories)
So many movies and TV shows, predominantly made by Disney, have been produced about the most famous teddy bear, but what of the author who created him? A.A. Milne touched our hearts when he started to write about his own son (the real Christopher Robin)’s special stuffed companions and turned them into full-fledged stories. A.A. Milne’s life and his relationship with his son and Ernest Shepherd, who illustrated these beloved stories bringing the likes of Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore to life would be something worth watching. (And the song for the ending credits… Return to Pooh Corner by Kenny Loggins).
–Isaac Asimov (Russian-born American sci-fi writer and biochemistry professor)
One of the great science fiction writers of our time! Who wouldn’t want to learn how a biochemistry professor took to writing such great stories! Asimov’s vision of the world as seen in his robot stories like the collection in I, Robot would be fascinating to uncover (How did he come up with the “Three Laws of Robotics” after all?). Especially with the continued resurgence of more movies in this genre, it would be wonderful to see Asimov’s thinking process in creating his stories as well as his earlier scientific research in Boston. Some scenes that should be in the movie could include how he came about “psychohistory” in his Foundation series or how he wrote mystery stories and limericks outside of science fiction and popular science (gasp!).
–Ray Bradbury (American sci-fi, fantasy and mystery fiction writer)
The prolific writer of such classics of fiction such as the dystopian masterpiece Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, Dandelion Wine, Something Wicked This Way Comes and The Halloween Tree to name a few, Bradbury is definitely one person who has experienced much in his lifetime (Did you know that he wrote Fahrenheit 451 in the basement of Powell Library at UCLA?). The author, among other achievements, also worked for the Disney company to come up with the design, among other projects, for “Spaceship Earth” at Walt Disney World. Similar to other author movie bios such as the life of Beatrix Potter (aka Renee Zellweger) in Miss Potter, a director could go crazy portraying the imaginative world of Ray Bradbury and his creative genius. The title, taken from the words of Mr. Electrico, a carnival entertainer he encountered as a boy who ultimately changed his life, would simply be, “Live Forever!”.
–Alan Kay (American computer scientist)
A man who was a jazz guitarist before he worked with computers, Alan Kay is a cool dig. He has worked for the Apple company and as a Disney Imagineer and pioneered work on object-oriented programming, for which he is most known for. He has also contributed to the “One Laptop per Child” program so his work with mobile learning is appropriately relatable to our time. It would be great to see an innovator such as Alan Kay portrayed on film. (Seriously, anyone who can read 150 books by the time he was three years old is worth learning more about!).
–Linus Pauling (American chemist and peace activist) Mr. Pauling balanced his work in both scientific research as well as his humanitarian efforts. His scientific efforts bridged many different fields, in particular teaching chemistry as a professor at Caltech, along with new research, among others, in physics, mineralogy, psychiatry and biomedicine. Beyond winning a Nobel Prize in Chemistry, he also won the Nobel Peace Prize for his involvement as a social activist after World War II denouncing the US’s involvement in developing nuclear weapons. A director could decide to focus on his advancements in chemistry as well as the several decades he devoted himself to promoting peace in our world.
–Alfred Nobel (Swedish scientist, engineer and innovator)
Yes, what of the man who gave the ubiquitous name to the “Nobel Prize” after giving away most of his estate to establish these awards? Alfred Nobel was a dynamic man in his own right ,having been an author, scientist and inventor, with so many patents under his name that he should be analyzed for all he is worth by a film director! For someone who traveled and did so much, all without having attended a university, it would be amazing to see Nobel in action such as conducting one of his many scientific experiments. This film would ultimately be a blast! (Did you know that he invented dynamite?).
–Nikola Tesla (Serbian American scientist, engineer, inventor and futurist) Edison did a lot but so did Tesla too beyond giving us the name for the ultra cool car! (On a side note, Tesla even worked for “The Wizard of Menlo Park” at one point in time)! The radio, AC currents, the Tesla coil and X-Rays were all mind-breaking innovations in due part to Tesla’s intense focus as an engineer and inventor. Bringing his ideas and his inventions to life on screen would be amazing to behold, especially with modern CGI technology enhancements! David Bowie was great as Tesla in the dark magician’s tale of The Prestige, but now Tesla, the quintessential “mad scientist” and inventor of gizmos should have his own electrifying movie of his own. Adrien Brody is my man of choice!
–Frank Lloyd Wright (American architect and interior designer)
The architect behind the Fallingwater house in Pennsylvania and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Mr. Wright should have a movie showcasing his wonderful career full of his architectural designs. If anyone has watched an episode of Da Vinci’s Demons and seen all of the blueprint drawings flash across the screen to show what Leonardo is thinking…that is what I have in mind for showing Wright’s thinking process in designing his many buildings. We have seen images of his works so many times; don’t you think we need to see how the man came up with them?
–Edward Gorey (American writer and artist)
-Last but certainly not least, I have chosen one of the great artists of the bizarre- Edward Gorey. With all of his gothic sensibility filling numerous pages with his macabre little stories accompanied by a menagerie of sweater-wearing cats, Edwardian gentlemen and mourning Victorian ladies, a movie should be in the works. In his lifetime, he had already supplied the animated opening sequences to the hit PBS series Mystery! so that should not be a problem! Now it’s a time to learn more about the Chicago-born native (and his many cats dwelling in his Massachusetts home) and why he came up with such creepy rhymes such as “A is for Amy who fell down the stairs” from The Gashlycrumb Tinies. I can see it now, “Amphigorey the movie” starring…Johnny Depp!
Now I like to hear your opinion. Do you think these characters stand a chance in Hollywood? Let me know by writing back in our “subscribe” section what you think and who would be your top choices to “see” in a biopic as well as the lucky actors and actresses who would portray them. (P.S. A biopic about Steve Jobs is coming out this fall!).
If you enjoyed this article, then look for more upcoming features!
Some of the people mentioned in this article students will learn about in great depth at the summer camps at UCLA, Boston College and the University of Chicago. Read more about our math, science, humanities and career tracks here!
A utopia is a perfect world. Utopian fiction depicts a future in which humanity has reached a state of balance and peace, and where all life is maintained. In utopia problems like war, disease poverty, discrimination, and inequality do not exist. There is no more suffering or injustice. The word Utopia comes from Greek roots meaning either ‘no place’ or ‘good place.’ The word utopia was originally coined by Sir Thomas More when he wrote Utopia, where he described an ideal political state in a land called Utopia.
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