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Khamis, 22 November 2012

Yuna - Google Blog Search

Yuna - Google Blog Search

<b>Yuna</b> Takes Us On Her GALAXY Wonderland | Hype.my

Posted: 22 Nov 2012 07:00 PM PST

Building on the success of the first project, the award-winning "Sparkle Project", Samsung and Yuna will now embark on a journey aided by the GALAXY Note II, bringing everything special about Malaysia to life.

"GALAXY Wonderland" is what it's called, and it promises to be a musical voyage brought to life on Samsung's latest flagship, the GALAXY Note II. Celebrating Malaysia's identity through its culture, places, and art, Yuna will once again work with a host of creative collaborators as well as her fans to paint a Malaysian wonderland through the eyes of its people.

To take part in this creation, Malaysians can submit their stories about their inspirations on GALAXY Wonderland's online portal here. Yuna will then use these personal accounts to find her own creative spark to write a new song. These beautiful representations of Malaysian stories will also be incorporated in a music video featuring Yuna's new song and produced with the GALAXY Note II.

This creative collaboration with Samsung is special, and it made winning the AIM award possible. I'm very happy to be on board for the next project, and I can't wait to see the GALAXY Wonderland space brought to life by everyday Malaysians.

- Yuna.

For more information on GALAXY Wonderland and the new Samsung GALAXY Note II, please visit GALAXY Wonderland's portal here or visit Samsung Mobile Malaysia's Facebook page.

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[Interview] A Few Things <b>Yuna</b>-ver Knew! | PoachedMag

Posted: 21 Nov 2012 06:00 PM PST

Having recently completed a 3-month summer and fall tour in the United States, playing over 50 shows, we at Poached Mag were lucky to be able to catch up with the talented Yuna for a quick chat about her music and her experiences in the music industry abroad.

How do you feel about being a Malay woman in the international music industry?

I feel that it's just a matter of being yourself. When people say that I'm a Muslim singer, it's on point and it's who I am. I am proud of it and I don't try to run away from it. I'm a very positive person, I don't think about all the negative stuff. I just take things as it is, and the main thing is that I get to be myself and I'm happy being myself!

You worked with Pharrell recently, so do you have any future collaborations coming up?

Working with Pharrell was an amazing experience. I never thought that I would be so lucky to work with a huge producer like him. To be able to meet him was life changing because I've learnt so much from him and I got to experience a lot of things. I recently just met up with one of my favourite guitarist Mike Einziger. He plays for Incubus and hopefully we get to work together in December. We're still planning! We met up and there was chemistry and a really good vibe, and I feel like we can make good music together so I'm excited!

You mentioned that you learned a lot of things from Pharrell, what is one thing that you can take away from that whole experience?

I've written songs for like 5-6 years and I was never able to have fun like or fully enjoy what I do. I was still reserving myself. With him I'm just able to enjoy music and explore music. I really get to play with music. You can do a lot of things with it! What I learn from him is to just to be brave enough to try new things, and still be able to keep my own identity and my own style musically.

Do you feel like you can experiment more when you're in the US rather than in Malaysia?

It's not to say that I don't get to experiment in Malaysia, I always get to work with a lot of people and talented musicians. But America has a huge music industry and you get to meet a lot of people. It's not just all these big names you get to work with, but even all these independent artists that are just like me and just starting out. They want to work with someone. That's their culture in the music industry. They always want to work with someone new and someone different. And I'm lucky that I get to experiment with music with so many people.

How different is it performing in the US and back in Asia?

It's kind of the same. People react the same way to music. If people hear good music, they will enjoy it. The only thing different about it is that over there, these people are probably listening to my music for the first time and listening to me performing for the first time. So it's all about the first impression and I get a little bit nervous. But I enjoy performing for both crowds, and I always enjoy coming back to perform for my local fans.

So what do you think would set you apart from other artist?

I don't know… maybe I have more clothes on? (laughs) I think probably that I write my own songs, which is one of the most important things that separate an artist from other artists. It's the ability to write your own songs. And have your own identity and your own idea of how you want to look like instead of being just cookie-cutter. I feel very blessed to be able to do that and to start out that way. I wasn't in reality TV shows and people don't know me from a competition. I started out on my own and we had my own ideas. And people could see me for who I really am and they remember me for that. I would like to think that people are drawn to me because of the identity that I have.

Is there anything on your bucket list? What more do you want to achieve?

I think the best thing that I can achieve is the Grammys. Being nominated would be enough for me. I don't know if I'm on my way there but I'm working hard. However, that's not my main goal. I'm just working hard to share my music with as many people as I can. I think being a singer-songwriter, that's all you want. You just want to share your music and make people happy and make connections with people. I feel that in life that's why you have friends. You need to be surrounded by people and you need to have connections with people. And I'm lucky to be able to do that for a living.

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Check out our review of Yuna's recent concert here in Singapore.

Images courtesy of Qamarul Asyraf

Biology teacher Debbie Frazier contributes to creation of interactive <b>...</b>

Posted: 22 Nov 2012 05:27 PM PST

Not a scientific calculator — a science calculator. A device with the ability to research helpful, relevant data for a student struggling to understand or remember a concept from biology. This is Inquire: an iPad application based on the Campbell Biology 9th Edition textbook.

In addition to working at MVHS, biology teacher Debbie Frazier is also a biologist at Stanford Research Institute International, the company behind the project. She was recommended for the job by biology teachers Andrew Goldenkranz and Renee Fallon, both of whom worked for the company last summer and saw Frazier as a natural fit for the position.

Though Frazier's busy schedule already consists of her commitment to being a full-time teacher, wife and mother of two children, as a self-proclaimed "workaholic," she agreed to take on the innovative new project.

The goal for the project is to create a "science calculator" that would function similarly to a mathematical one, except it would receive and answer questions as words rather than as numbers. Frazier describes Inquire as a "neural network of science." Just as ideas within the human brain are interconnected and form neural networks, each idea presented in Inquire is connected to form myriad concepts.

In an introductory video found on the offiicial Inquire website, the application is demonstrated, and it's key features are shown. Over the summer, biology teacher Debbie Frazier began working on this project that aims to provide an interactive textbook to students. Screenshot taken by Yuna Lee.

Inquire specifically focuses on biology, the subject that the founders decided was the easiest to map. "Mapping" the content is similar to creating a flow chart: project developers attempt to find the most logical thought process behind a student's question and mirror that in the program in order to find the most relevant information. However, in order to create the application, the concepts involved in biology need to first be organized. This is where Frazier comes in.

Specifically, her task is to draft concept maps by finding the relationships between key ideas in order to form one large network. Frazier's familiarity with the original textbook and her graduate study of biology makes her an expert on staff. According to Frazier, in her first experience with the project, she saw inconsistencies with the concept maps that had already been created and sought to mend the gaps in knowledge so that the application would better answer student questions.

However, the textbook is not only limited to simple questions. It will also be able to answer complex commands such as "Compare a mitochondria and a chloroplast" with organized information such as a table comparing the functions and structures of both organelles.

"[Inquire] puts at the fingers of students material they might otherwise memorize," Frazier said. "It shows them, 'You don't have to memorize this. Instead, what you should get is a deeper understanding about why it is that way or what might be involved in a new scenario you never heard about before.'"

Recently, Frazier reduced her involvement with the project because of her commitment to teaching. Her most recent contributions include presenting the project at conferences and recruiting new potential members. However, she is still greatly interested in the state and future of Inquire. She anticipates that in the next 18 months, all the informational maps on biology will be properly entered into the program and that in a couple years — following the completion of a prototype — the application will be tested by students attending universities.

Students at De Anza College have already tried the application. The study showed that students who studied with the prototype for two hours did marginally better on homework and quizzes, with all students receiving passing grades.

"So what's exciting is that in a couple years, I think we'll prove that again with a larger audience over a longer period of time," Frazier said.

Frazier claims that she could not be more excited for the project and believes that Inquire is truly an innovation in the field of artificial intelligence because it has universal application. The "calculator," or concept map idea, could, in theory, be applied to any subject: from science or mathematics to French and history.

"I think this is the right direction," Frazier said. "We need to move away from memorization and move towards deep, rich understanding and application of what we know. I'm excited that this could lead to that. I think that could have huge ramifications on education."
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