Author: Derrick Au

Tech Club A few weeks back I visited a club where we used LEDs and circuit boards. When I was there, we started with a brief introduction of what are LEDs. Apparently LED stands for “Light Emitting”. The use for LED are illumination and indication. That we decided that we use the LEDs for indications. On the table, they placed a few small red, blue and green LEDs along with resistors and something called a “breadboard”. The breadboard had many holes just like bread, hence the name “breadboard”. I also noticed the LEDs had two small connectors attached at the bottom. This kind of reminded me of the LEDs flashing in my phone showing me notifications and what not. We started connecting wires and the blubs on the boards. Some places that were connected made the LEDs EXTREMELY bright but some made the light dim and faded out. However I was warn if there was too much voltage going through the LEDs it permanently damage them and can be prevented with some resistance wires. Moments later we use a computer program that integrates the use of LEDs sort like giving data out. For example, if an action is triggered or completed then one of the designated lights will light up or shut off depending on what choose it to be. I think I had better understanding of how LEDs works and how I can incorporate this into some coding in some other classes.

This week I went to the Museum of the Moving Image located in Astoria, Queens. Here you get to see the history of film making and entertainment industry.

When you enter the museum there are three floors. On the first floor you get to see an old screening of black and white movie. Not much to see here. Once you pass that, you’ll enter into a different part of the museum. Movies props and some famous actors are displayed on walls and display cases. Here you also see vintage posters of movies that I never heard or seen before. However there were some that caught my eyes. A section dedicated to star wars with its figurines and posters.

Next was makeup that artists used on actors for special effects. It was surprising how makeup can create realistic injuries, scars, or unnatural skin tones. Along the way there was a small movie theater that play a film on World War II. Not that exciting to be honest.

On the next floor you see a timeline of what is used to film or record. Judging from what I saw, I think today’s cameras are more advanced and more portable from the old days. As I ventured in there was a section on how live TV is broadcasted. For example, on a live baseball game there is actually a command center that give out commands to different camera operators. This basically means they can control what people see on live. After that I was given a chance to create my own “movie”. This movie is actually a moving image where you take picture of images and take them along as you move them. Overall this museum is great experience especially if you bring a friend along and you get to learn a thing or two.

On Friday I decided to visit a workshop called the “CPA Fair with PwC”. When I arrived there and peeked in, there were many individuals in business attire. In this workshop students at Baruch who are interested in getting a career in public accounting. They can come here to possibly get an internship or a job from the participating employers like “Citrin Cooperman” or “1800Accountant”. This workshop is beneficial for all because it can be quiet difficult to get a job or internship in public accounting when some businesses wouldn’t accept you. So by joining this workshop you get an internship and gain some experience. Although this workshop is for public accounting I feel is not for me. There wasn’t really anything interesting at the fair to be honest.

Unlike other workshops, this is not worth spending a day here unless you are majoring in public accounting or you have nothing else better to do. At the gym there were lot people were lined up at booths with their resumes and being interviewed at the booths set up. Even though I have no reason to be here, I thought it would be interesting to look around what the recruiters had to offer. There were many public accounting companies I have never heard of. For example, “The New York City Board of Education Retirement System” (BERS) helps workers employed by the city by providing retirement benefits to them. Is it guaranteed? I don’t know.

Hopefully I research about other workshop next time because apparently you need to look professional at the fair. Being the only one in casual attire, I was the odd one out. However, the fair shouldn’t take for granted because they can open opportunities that you can’t get by yourself. But this CPA fair wasn’t really for me.