Driving around AutoDesk in 3-D w/out Glasses

Autodesk Gallery at One Market

1 Market St, Suite 200

San Francisco, CA 94105

(415) 356-0700

So lounging around the house watching the news one afternoon, I caught a news story about a company called Autodesk, a San Francisco based company that recently created a virtual driving simulator that was open to the public. I recall hearing that the driving simulator was to recreate an existing south access road to the Golden Gate Bridge, also known as route 101, and redesign this Doyle Drive:

To this envisioned Doyle Drive:

So anyway, I went to their gallery on the second floor, which I was required to sign in just for security purposes. Now I was allowed to take pictures of anything, but the only thing that I was not suppose to take a picture of was a Tesla car that was displayed in

the room. They didn't give a good explanation why, the desk lady said there was a sign that said to not take pictures of the Tesla car. So I took many other cool pictures of the place with my cool camera phone:

[It's a 3-D television, but you don't need special glasses to see the 3-D images. The technology is sort of ideally similar to the Nintendo's 3DS, but it's subpixel rendering is unique that it gives the viewer's eyes that 3-D image.]

[Colorful strands of crayons organized in hexagons, clustered in a circular tube, which are used as strings used in the new Bay Bridge. Love the choice of colors and design of the structure.]

[This is the car simulator that anyone can drive where you drive San Francisco's newest gateway to the Golden Gate Bridge. You can't drive all around SF though and when you crash, you have to restart.]

[And what the simulator looks like when it's active.]

[Patents. These are some of the patents probably created by people who worked in Autodesk or patents known to use AutoCAD, which can be used for drafting.]

I heard people speaking all sorts of languages from people in the lobby, realizing that the company has international recognition, only to realize that it's mostly famous for its software like AutoCAD, which is almost like the rich man's version of Google SketchUp. Luckily, college students can actually download many of the Autodesk software for free if you register your student email to their website and you'll be able to digitally download their catalog, but not order a CD, which sounds reasonable.

Autodesk Education Community

My experience with exploring the gallery was something more amazing, due to the fact that the employees were very relaxed and took their work serious at the same time, which I feel every work environment should be when everyone is working in a multinational corporation.

And if you wanna see the rest of the photos I took, please check out my gallery of pics including 3D printed models and structures and Legos.
[Link]

My trip to the de Young. . .nah, I'm going to the California Academy of Sciences (Part 1)

California Academy of Sciences

55 Music Concourse Dr.

San Francisco, CA

94118

(415) 379-8000

I planned my trip for a couple of months to go to the de Young Museum on a weekend a couple months back after hearing about a Bank of America program where you can get free admission to certain museums with a Bank of America or Meryill Lynch credit/debit card (Musuems on Us). So as I got to San Francisco, I took a bus to get to Golden Gate Park, which took about a half-hour to get to the park until I realized we were there when I saw a bunch of greenery as tall as the street lamps, which I knew that in the city, you'll only see plenty of green foliage when you're at a park. Since it was also my first time to the park, I also planned to explore the other locations that the park had to offer after I was done exploring the de Young.

As I walked closer to the museum, I was given a beautiful view of an Music Concourse Bandshell, an open plaza that was situated between the de Young and the California Academy of Sciences, which I didn't realize that the science museum was so close by. I started to have second thoughts about going to the art museum and instead going to the other museums, as I had more intentions to explore more interactive art and sciences than passive art. I wanna feel the bumps and ridges of Claude Monet's paintings, the water lilies or even the statues that can't be touched, but I understand the museum's no touching policy, which means if I were free to touch the works, everyone else should.

[When I observe paintings for a bit, I imagine was if it were candy. It reminds me of Skittles, with its variety of colors and flavors, from orange, cherry, lime, and so much more, that you can almost lick the painting, only to realize that you can taste the acrylic on your tongue and you come back to reality. Good thing I only did that to the acrylic painting in my room.]

So I opted to go to the Academy of Sciences, which I will never regret going, even though they charged me $25.00 for admission, which was not bad with a student discount. Anyway,

I had my camera and video camera, took a couple of videos posted on Youtube and pictures that showed what my experience was like:

So there was this board where you can write suggestions of what to do to create a more sustainable environment on a piece of paper, which you can also reuse as well. I decided to write a message using all of the papers hanging on a metal rod and this is what I got.

I did not draw any of these pictures, I left them as they were and wrote a message with letters somewhere around each of the papers.

[Link leads to a series of photos on my personal FB page]

I spread a message at the Academy of Sciences

I finally get close up and personal with a gecko, sticking on the glass wall of its exhibit. I got my face very close to the glass, carefully examining its hands as I reflect back to the first project I did where I photoshopped a part of my body beyond its capabilities.

My overall experience with the science museum was pretty fantastic, from getting inside the greenhouse, housing some of thee most luscious trees and fauna, housed with exotic animals, including the butterflies, which flew all over the greenhouse. Although there are more photos and videos that I took, I can possibly post the rest of my Youtube and personal page (Facebook).

Drenching to the Sound of Rain

Gray Area Foundation For The Arts (GAFFTA)

998 Market. St.

San Francisco, CA 94102

(415) 843-1423

I like the sound of rain, but I never want to get wet in it for too long. Unfortunately, I did so and with my backpack as well as I walked back and forth, waiting for someone to open the door to GAFFTA in the Tenderloin District of San Francisco. I got off at the Powell BART station, searching for the place, with no luck at all. It was around 8:30 A.M. and I couldn't find any place that was open, except for a donut store, which I took refuge and bought some donuts. I can remember the taste now of those donuts. It reminds me of a coffee store that smells of coffee, like Starbucks, but the inside didn't look trendy or had any shades of brown in its interior.

As I walked into the GAFFTA building, I was welcomed with continuous lite noises of mechanical machines, which I didn't realize that they were part of the showcase of artworks done by an artist named Zimoun.

After a couple of minutes being inside GAFFTA with the continuous sounds of mechanical noises, it was actually quite comfortable to the ear, almost like a white noise that puts you at rest.

As you hear the sounds of cotton balls hitting boxes on the floor, plastic wires hitting boxes in a circular motion, or 361 metal wires continuously rotating all due to a DC motor, including with all of the works applied, the noises cancels out singular ones that we may feel to be irritating when heard for a long period of time, like when florescent lights make high-pitched noises.

Here are some photos that I took when we took our field trip: