#makaut_mar_point

[anshitachoudhury]

Learning of foreign languages with certification

[anshitachoudhury]

OUTRUN THE DEMON!

Joe Duncan was thirteen when she had become partially deaf because of a car accident in which her mother passed away. Since then, she had a hearing aid so she could hear and talk. She had been alone mostly all her life, befriending solitude.

After her mother’s death, she was sent to an orphanage where she lived for 5 years before she had to set off on her own. Another 4 years passed, she had turned 23 and had been a student in psychiatry since she graduated high school. It had always been her passion. She had always loved reading stories about serial killers to understand their behavior. To pay for her rent and schooling, she had to do a part-time job in a bar.

One day she saw a guy in her class who she had never seen before. He had brown hair, he was tall and thin. He was wearing glasses that covered up his black eyes. He had a badly cut beard and was wearing a black sweatshirt. He was sitting in the back, not talking and nobody seemed to notice him. She didn't pay more attention. Another day, she saw that same guy sitting in the bar where she was working. He was reading a book but he often looked at her surreptitiously.

She was intrigued. Now, she would see him every day on the bus, in her neighborhood, on the other side of the sidewalk, at the supermarket and even at the cemetery when she went to see her mother.

On October 28th, she had a day off so she went to the supermarket to buy some groceries. On her way home, she realized that she had not seen the guy all day. It was cold outside because of the wind, the sky was cloudy and the leaves were falling off the trees. After a long walk, she went home. As she was tired from the walk, she decided to take a nap. Taking off her hearing aid, she closed her eyes waiting for sleep to engulf her.

She woke up with a jolt and immediately put on her hearing aid but it didn't work.

Something felt wrong so she went downstairs and noticed the front door was not locked. Panic took over her so she ran to lock the door and when she turned back, she saw the same guy who followed her everywhere running towards her. He slapped her in the face so she pushed him in defense and hid behind the kitchen door. She was paralyzed in terror. Her heart started beating frantically and in the mirror, she could see the man coming slowly towards her into the kitchen. When he walked in, she stabbed him in the collarbone and tried to run away but before she could escape, he ripped a piece of her shirt.

She ran for 20 minutes before she arrived at the police station. There she told everything to the police about how she was just attacked by the man who was following her for days.

A few hours later, investigators came back with the security footage of the school, the bar, the supermarket and even of the cameras she had installed in her house. Inside the house, there was no trace of someone breaking in but something did happen, there was a knife stuck into the wall, a piece of shirt on the floor and more importantly, there was blood in the hall and the corridor.

Joe and the police started watching all the footages but then, what they saw was unbelievable, on all the videos Joe was alone. In the psychology class, no strange man, in the bar she was just staring at an empty chair, in the supermarket no man either but what happened in her house was even more horrifying. At the beginning of the tape, she was sleeping but when she woke up, she broke her hearing aid and went downstairs and opened the front door. Suddenly, she turned back and slapped herself hard in the face. After that, she pushed herself into the void. Then, she ran to the kitchen, took a knife and hid behind the door.

After a few seconds, she stuck the knife into the wall and ripped her shirt before running away. The police could not believe what they have just seen. Neither could Joe, she was white-faced and she was breathing very loud. She started being aggressive; screaming that it was not the truth and hit a policeman who was trying to stop her.

After that, another officer arrested her and handcuffed her. A month later, she was in a psychiatric hospital, the doctors have diagnosed a mental disease.

She was still saying that the man was still there and was trying to kill her.

A few days later, she was found dead in her room by a nurse. On the tape which was in her ward to record her activities, they could see her talking to thin air, then beating herself to death.

For a few seconds on the video of her death, they could notice a shadow in front of her.

[anshitachoudhury]

TECHNICAL REVIEW OF AMAZON ECHO SHOW 10:

By Anshita Choudhury

Amazon’s Echo Show lineup of devices has gone through several design changes since its launch in 2017. The biggest one is the 3rd Gen Echo Show 10 that just recently launched.

Design & Hardware

While the new Echo Show 10 doesn’t have the spherical of the Echo (2020), it does takes inspiration from past Amazon devices. The fabric-covered main rotating base that houses the speakers and other internals looks like the Echo Studio while the display looks like it’s a Fire Tablet. The Echo Show 10 has a 10-inch HD display that can be manually tilted. The biggest feature of the device is that the screen will rotate so it can stay in view. When it does rotate, it’ll be silent, thanks to the brushless motor.

If you prefer the Echo Show 10’s screen to stay in one place, just say “Alexa, turn off motion”, “Alexa, stop following me” or you can use the quick setting by swiping down on the screen. On the top of the screen you’ll find a volume up and down button, mic mute/camera button on & off and a physical camera shutter. The front of the screen has a 13MP camera that should be great for video calls. The 13MP can also be Home Monitoring, meaning your Echo Show 10 can basically become a security camera when you’re not around. This is part of Alexa Guard that has a free version and paid Plus option that adds Activity Sounds, sounding a siren and more.

Inside the Echo Show 10, you’ll find the device is powered by the Amazon AZ1 Neural Edge processor. The chip helps provide fast and accurate wake-word and keyword detection to make Alexa more responsive. The processor is also found in the Echo (2020) and Echo Dot (2020).

In most cases, Alexa is fairly responsive, but there have been times where I say “Alexa” and the device doesn’t respond. That could be more to do with the mics featured on the device. For sound quality, the Echo Show 10 has dual, front-firing tweeters and a powerful woofer. While the device is larger than the Echo (2020), the speaker can get fairly loud and fill a room. Plus the Echo Show 10 can automatically adapt the sound to your space. The Echo Show 10 is available now from Amazon.ca and it comes in Charcoal and Glacier White.

Software

If you’ve used any of Amazon’s other Echo smart displays, then the interface on the Echo Show 10 will seem familiar. To get started, you won’t need the Alexa app. The entire setup process takes place on the device itself including connecting to Wi-Fi and your Amazon account. While it does make it easier, I found the on-screen keyboard to be awkward to type on because there’s a giant Echo logo in the middle. I wish the Echo Show 10 had a setup feature like the Echo (2020), where when you open the Alexa app, you’ll get a prompt that it’s found an Echo device nearby.

The interface of the Echo Show 10 is almost a copy of the Alexa app on your phone. The main screen will show you the time, date, weather and wallpaper. When you swipe to the right, you’ll be taken to an Alexa menu that is divided into six areas; Communicate, Music, Routines, Smart Home, Video and Alarms. Communicate is where you can call (video or audio) your friends and family via their Echo devices or the Alexa app via the Drop-In feature.

Music is where you can control media playback on your devices and see all your linked music/podcast services. Routines are all the routines you’ve created to start different automations. The Smart Home section of the Alexa app shows you all the Echo devices and smart home products connected to your Amazon account. Video lets you watch content from services like Prime Video, Netflix and moreb and finally, Alarms are where you can make alarms. The Echo Show 10 can rotate a fair bit but to help it not bump into anything, there’s the Device Mapping feature that is done in the setup processing. With Device Mapping, you’ll choose where your Echo Show 10 is placed and how far you want it to rotate. There’s also the option to choose its idle position. All the Device Mapping settings can be adjusted later on to suit your preferences. As mentioned earlier, you can disable motion on the device by using quick settings, voice commands or putting on the camera shutter. If you’re out of the range of motion, the device will show a message that it can’t move with you.

Like other Echo products, the Echo Show has Alexa built-in and that gives you access to several skills.

Final Thoughts

The new Echo Show 10 is a great Alexa-powered smart display with a cool rotating screen and room-filling sound.

Pros

• Large and bright display

• Great sound quality and can get fairly loud

• The new design is unique

• The rotating screen is cool and silent (but also creepy for some)

• Built-in Zigbee hub for better smart home capabilities

Cons

• Alexa has some trouble hearing

• Expensive compared to other Echo Show devices

• Required a sizable surface area

.

.

*Writing of Technical Review Article and publishing online*

.

.

Name: Anshita Choudhury

College: iLead Kolkata (289)