Minecraft: The Artificial World

 

Within a few years, Minecraft has become one of the world's most popular games, mainly by word of mouth and despite the lack of a big marketing budget. Minecraft is a sandbox video game developed by the Swedish video game developer Mojang Studios. Since its release in 2009, the game has been in the minds of everyone. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java programming language. It was first made public in May 2009 before fully releasing in November 2011, with Jens Bergensten then taking over development. Minecraft didn’t have any carefully planned strategy to make people attracted to it or for sales.

 

 

Minecraft is often described as a ‘sandbox game’. It means that it’s a virtual place where players can make their own worlds and play in their own way using different blocks, resources which are found on many places of the world.

 

The game is played on multiple platforms. You can play on a computer, mobiles, tablet, XBox, Nintendo Wii or Playstation. It is growing in popularity day by day, especially among the young generation. 

 

Minecraft is a game basically with no rules. It doesn’t come with a set of instructions, or a required objective – players can build and explore in their own way. It can be compared to or I compare it to an artificial world.

This means that Minecraft fans have a lot of flexibility in terms of how they play. Users can recreate an existing fantasy world or build a new one from scratch, they can fight villains and seek adventure, and they can play alone or with friends. It can also be played at any level. In a lot of popular games, you need a certain amount of skill to move on to the next challenge. This can be frustrating for young kids who don’t always have the abilities or unrestricted time required to make real progress in a game. In Minecraft, children can create their own adventures at any level of play.

 

Minecraft’s focus on creatively building and exploring could help children build their problem solving, planning and organization skills. And kids who play with their friends might find it improves their ability to work as a team. Some parents of children with autism have credited the game with improving their children’s social skills and communication abilities – there is even a Minecraft server specifically for young people with autism.

 

 Minecraft’s plan on creatively making and exploring could help children build their planning skills, or problem solving skills. Students or childrens playing with friends may develop their ability working as a team, improving cooperation.  There is also a special Minecraft server dedicated for young people with autism. Parents of children with autism have credited the game for improving their children’s social skills and communication abilities.

 

The educational offshoot of Minecraft officially launched in 2016, though the game was used in schools for years prior to that, thanks to grassroots efforts from various teachers dating back nearly a decade. Minecraft is different from other educational games because other games sometimes are boring. On the other hand, Minecraft is More Entertaining.

 

The educational version of Minecraft is functionally identical to the base game; it looks and controls the same, and you can still play in groups and build things. But the educational version is slightly more directed to what to do.

In one lesson, students are asked to explore a beehive, where they learn about bee castes by helping out worker bees and feeding larvae. In another, they’re given time to explore a shipwreck at the bottom of the ocean, and then asked to write a story about how the ship ended up there. There are also build challenges where teams have to work together to recreate things like a Mars rover, coral reef, or a human eye. In most cases, there are before and after elements: kids will read or watch videos on a particular subject as a primer, spend some time in the Minecraft lesson, and then follow that up with a discussion or written assignment.

We can see that Minecraft is not a normal game rather it’s very interesting than other ones. So, you can have a try and experience what you make in this artificial world.

 

Written By-Augustine SparshaSarker (Class:8/Section/Asteroids/Roll:14)

Windows 11: The Successor of Windows 10

Ajmaeen Abbas Amio

Windows 11 was unveiled at Microsoft's big event on June 24, with many new additions to features and a huge jump in the UI of the Operating System. One of the most successful products of Microsoft to date is the Windows Operating System. Windows has evolved a lot since its first release, Windows 1.0 in 1985. Windows 10 was announced in 2015 and Microsoft said that Windows 10 would be the last version of Windows ever. But this year Microsoft broke their statement and launched Windows 11. It brings a lot of new features to Windows in addition to the features which were already present in Windows 10. 

The Major ChangesWindows 11 are The UI change and the features. 

The Windows UI has changed significantly in comparison to Windows 10. The theme changes that have taken place in Windows 11 are given below:

• The New Transparent Glass Theme: In Windows 11 everything has a transparent glass vibe unlike Windows 10. In Windows 10 there was Transparency Mode but in Windows 11 it has been enhanced a lot more.

• The new Centered Taskbar: Windows 11 has brought one of the most requested features in Windows 10 which is the Centered Taskbar. Previously in Windows 10, the start button and all the app icons pinned to the taskbar were aligned to the left of the taskbar. But positioning the icons in the centre gives it a better vibe and is also useful for people using ultrawide monitors. Because they need to go all the way to the left side of their screen for accessing the apps and windows button of the taskbar. Besides the start menu of the taskbar has also gotten a significant change.

• The New Icons: One of the most significant changes of Windows 11 is the system icons. The icons of Windows 11 have changed a lot from Windows 10. The new icons are more colourful and minimal. 

• The Rounded Corners of Apps: In Windows 11 every single app has rounded corners in the edges to give it a minimal look.

• New and Improved Window Snapping: Microsoft has stepped up their game this time by adding more functionality to Window Snapping in Windows 11. Now, if we hover the cursor over the maximize button then we can see 6 different snapping layouts which are much easier to use than Windows 10. It is a small change but very helpful as manually snapping windows holding the whole window is often not the best experience. 

• Widgets and In-built Microsoft Teams: Microsoft has now introduced widgets in windows that will display much information indifferent cards. Besides, Microsoft Teams is now built into windows and is not needed to be installed separately. Previously, Skype used to be Preinstalled in Windows 20 but now in Windows 11 Microsoft Teams has also taken its place.

• Android App Support: Windows 11 will support Android Apps which can be downloaded from the Amazon App store which will be available inside the Microsoft Store. So, now more emulators will be necessary to run Android Apps in Windows.

Current State of Windows 11: Currently Windows 11 is available to download for Windows 10 users by enrolling in the Windows Insider Program which is free of cost. But, they are all Beta and Dev builds which are not stable and are only recommended for people who want to test out Windows 11 early for further improvement. Besides, Microsoft is also providing the official Beta and Dev channel ISOs from their website so that testers can do a clean install of Windows 11 and start testing it.

The Good sides: Windows 11 has a new simplistic vibe which most people currently prefer. Besides Windows 11 has also taken some security measures permanent like TPM and Secure Boot. Besides, the native Android App Support has also made people excited. So, overall Windows 11 is quite exciting and everyone is waiting for the official stable build to launch so that everyone can download it.

Besides, Microsoft announced that Windows 11 will be a free upgrade for the Windows 10 users as what happened for Windows 10 for upgrading from Windows 7, 8 or 8.1. 

Bad Sides: Windows 11 is not only filled with goodness but has some bad sides too. Windows 11 will not be supported on most old PCs and Laptops because of their hardware. According to Microsoft, Windows 11 will support Intel 8th Gen CPUs or newer and AMD’s CPUs with Zen 2 cores or newer. That means many Laptops and PCs aren’t going to support Windows 11 unlike they did in the case of Windows 10.

Hopefully, Windows 11 is going to make it to all the public users in the world within October (rumoured) of this year. It has some nice improvements over the already popular Windows 10. Everyone is quite excited to try it out.

Under Display Camera: A New Revolution!

Augustine Sparsha Sarker

What are Under Display Cameras:  

It is a camera that’s hidden behind the display panel

of the phone. It is also known as UPC/USC.  

How it works:- 

It includes placing the front camera sensor under a portion

of the screen, usually closer to the top edge, with

technological advancements allowing the screen to go

from displaying colours when in use to going transparent

when the camera is needed. It's quite similar to Optical

Fingerprint Sensors. 

The first phone to have it:-

The first phone to have an under-screen camera was the

 ZTE Axon 20 5G. 

Now, both Xiaomi and Oppo have also demoed this

technology.  

Is It The Best:- 

The image quality isn’t the best since the

light has to pass through the display to the

sensor. And this transmission isn’t very ideal.

Companies are reworking the display tech to sort

this issue. Another point is Durability. It may be

in concern because of the scratches which are

accidentally caused. 

I think the normal display cameras are better

than an under-display camera because the quality

of the under-display camera 

somehow gets hampered. Then If the screen gets

scratches near the camera, it would be difficult to

replace the camera. So, as for now, Normal Display

Cameras are better. 

Written By-Augustine Sparsha Sarker (Class:8/Section/Asteroids/Roll:14)

Black Clover: Is it really worth the time and Praise?

Ishraq Zaim

Black clover is an anime that includes a magical world, dangerous wizards, and epic battle scenes. The story is about a boy named Asta, who was abandoned in front of a church in a remote village named 'Hage'. A child named 'Yuno' was abandoned at the same time as him in front of the church, and the father took them in. Since then, Asta and Yuno were inseparable. Ever since he was a child, Asta was bad at giving up, even when the odds were against him, and Yuno was a little timid and used to cry a lot. But after something happened when they were a child, and Yuno dragging a battered Asta back to the church, things were never the same among them. Asta's attitude didn't change, but since then Yuno never cried. Then, both of them started to share the same goal: to become the next wizard king. Yuno's magic slowly starts to advance, and soon enough, his magic becomes strong. But Asta's magical power never awoke. After some time, Asta realised that he won't be getting magical abilities anytime soon. But that didn't stop him. He decided to improve his physical ability for a change, not giving up. He was sure that once he received his grimoire, he would have some magical power awaken inside him. A grimoire is a book that everyone gets at the age of fifteen. Every year, on a specific day, people who reached the age of fifteen go to the 'grimoire tower' where grimoires are kept, and with them, they can create, use, and fight using different spells, alongside increasing their magical abilities. Finally, the day came when they both became fifteen. Everyone received a grimoire, and Yuno received a grimoire with a four-leaf clover on it, while others usually got three-leaf clovers. It was said that the four-leaf clover belonged to the first wizard king, who saved humanity from extinction by killing a giant demon. But Asta received no grimoire and was mocked by everyone. It was then Asta started thinking about giving up. But when he was going home, they were attacked by a banished magic knight, who turned his back on the kingdom. The banished knight used his chain magic to capture Yuno, and it was then Asta received a grimoire, and the truth was revealed about him. The three leaves of a clover represent faith, hope and love. With a fourth leaf comes good luck. But Asta then received a tattered, old grimoire. Here, the truth was unleashed. With a fifth leaf in the clover, it represents a demon. Asta's old clover, which glowed red, had a black, five leaved clover on it. A black, heavy sword came out of it and he slashed through the magic, negating it. So, turns out the sword negates magic, and Asta, who has no magic, is the only one who can wield it for this. Now, he joins the magic knights and is a step closer to achieving his goal. 

I decided not to spoil any of the main parts, so aside from that, yeah. Usual shounen anime backstory. But aside from the backstory, I think the anime went well. It is full of twists and turns, and the fight scenes were epic. So I think it is a good watch if you like shounen and action. In my opinion, this is one of the best fantasy shounen anime. Now, there was much hate speech on the internet about the art style during the fight scenes which changed starting from the witch forest arc and also about how the main character didn't get the complete spotlight, and why all of the episodes were not action-packed, but here’s my response to all of them. If all the episodes were completely action-packed, and the main character was given the whole spotlight, then the anime would be bland, and at a point, people will be really confused, like 'what the hell is even going on ??' another one called blood blockade battlefront did the same mistake and that’s why at the end it becomes confusing. So, I think this was necessary. And about the art style: This is a type of art style we rarely see in anime, and sure, while you might say that the art style looks dumb after that arc, it’s a unique art style. I liked it. Instead of giving the usual anime battle art, they did something different for a change. I like that.

In conclusion, yes. This show is worth the time and praise, I suggest you sit back, relax, and enjoy the show when you get the chance. You won't regret it.

The Josephites’ Mirror: A journey begins…

“Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge,” said Khalil Gibran. Every great step taken in history was not without perplexity. And so was the way for us to begin this amazing and exciting journey of opening our newspaper “The Josephites Mirror” to reflect the issues around the world and simplify it to the interest of general students.

 After the past failed attempts, On August 9, 2021, our respected English for Today teacher Uttom Halder sir was explaining to us the history and basics of Newspapers and magazines. Then he came up with the idea of opening ournewspaper. Then afterwards, we informed him about our previous attempts of opening a newspaper for our school. Then he encouraged us to try one more time under his supervision. Being moved by his assertive words of encouragement, we agreed to try again. We tried harder and better this time, and used our knowledge gained from past mistakes. On August 30, 2021, our core committee was formed with Uttom sir as our editor and Arunabh Chakravorty and Moeen Uddin Ashrafee as sub-editors. With the tireless effort of the core committee and under the guidance of Uttam sir, we successfully launched our newspaper “The Josephites Mirror '' on the 23rd September 2021.

 Finally, I would like to thank all our core committee members, Augustine Sparsha Sarker, Safir Zaman, Samin Zaman, Tashdique Ahmed, Hasinul Abrar Naeem, Ihteshamul Islam (Dhrubo), Ishraq Zaim, Shayan Zaman, Sheikh Mohammad Azmayeen Tajwar and Masnoon Haider Chowdhury, for their tireless work and excellent support. A wonderful journey awaits ahead of us. 

Teacher’s Department:

Editor-

Uttom Halder

Students’ Department:

Co-Editor:-

Arunabh Chakravorty

Moeen Uddin Ashrafee

Assistant Editor:-

Augustine Sparsha Sarker

Safir Zaman

Creative Director:-

Masnoon Haider Chowdhury

Board Member:-

Samin Zaman

Tashdique Ahmed

Hasinul Abrar Naeem

Ihtesamul Islam(Dhrubo)

Ishraq Zaim

Shayan Zaman

Sk.Md Azmayeen Tajwar

Save the kids: A New Scam!

Arunabh Chakravorty

[Disclaimer: This Article does not encourage people to trade or invest in any sort of Cryptocurrencies, rather the opposite. It is illegal in Bangladesh under the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947; Anti-Terrorism Act 2009; the Money Laundering Prevention Act 2012. The Josephites’ Mirror family strongly suggest their reader not to trade, invest or hold any sort of cryptocurrency. This article just behold the lesson of “Pump and Dump”]

According to Investopedia,” A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend.” In the past few years, we have seen so much hype in the cryptocurrency world abroad. Many people just think Cryptocurrencies are like lotteries. If you invest you are bound to get rich. For these reasons in this sector, there are a lot of inexperienced investors or people with little to no financial literacy. And some money sharks try to exploit this inexperience. In Bangladesh, many inexperienced investors want to trade in cryptocurrencies but they don’t know the other side of the coin(a.k.a the dangerous sides). It is indeed “harder” to counterfeit transactions due to its blockchain technology. But there are parties with artificial names who conduct these transactions, where there is a high risk of breaching the laws related to money laundering. Also as in the Stock Market where there is respective regulation to monitor irregularities(i.e Security and Exchange Commission), in the crypto world, there are not many regulations and that's why we can notice big bubbles growing and bursting. One of the recent notable scams is the “Save the Kids” token scam. From Pumping Money with the publicity of a famous online celebrity to dumping the money within days, this is the story of “Save the Kids”.

What is “Save the Kids”?

According to Investopedia Crypto Token means, “The term crypto token refers to a special virtual currency token or how cryptocurrencies are denominated”. They are their virtual currency with their blockchains. And that is basically what “Save the Kids” was a virtual token. But the marketing point was they are going to donate to a charity. This message was spread with the hands of famous YouTuber, twitch streamers, esports players etc. The notable ones are Ricegum, FaZe Clan Member:- Frazier Kay, Jarvis Khattri, Nikan Nadim, and Teeqo etc. 

If anyone took a closer look at the “Save the Kids” logo, it is eerily closer to the oldest charity “Save the Children”. There are several red flags on their way in investment but they blindly trusted because of the referral of their favourite online celebrities. Some investors thought the token would rise to the top or investors with little to no financial literacy but still invested due to the hype. This is more true for the underage investors who invested through their parents or legal guardians money.

What is “Pump and Dump”?

According to Investopedia, “Pump-and-dump is a manipulative scheme that attempts to boost the price of a stock or security through fake recommendations.” So in simple words Pumping is to boost up the price of any stock or security, in this case, a Crypto Token with fake but a person with “huge” accountability. In this case, the online celebrities played the role to pump the price of the stock with huge recommendations to their audiences. How the dumping case works is the person with the most securities holder can increase the price with pumping and then sell all of it, which will plummet the price of security or token. 

In the case of “Save the Kids” Token, within 1 day it got half a penny rise with each stock thanks to the marketing and taking the volume to almost $600,000 but afterwards nothing but disappointment. The line went nothing but down with a 60% fall in price. This downtrend indicates a motivated or planned manipulation. And thus written in the history of Cryptocurrency another bubble, the “Save the Kids” bubble.

Conclusion:

FaZe Clan removed the 4 alleged members involved with the case. Investigations are going around and if proved guilty the alleged members can go behind bars. But due to Cryptocurrency’s nature of anonymity is harder to trace back transactions, oftentimes many crimes happen without giving justice due to this. This story gives us the lesson of ”Pump and Dump” because it happens not only in the Crypto world but also in other financial activities. Of Course, things like Stock Exchange have regulations like Security and Exchange Commission to monitor such irregularities but once lost can be hurtful, so learn the basics of 101 financial literacy

[This is solely based on my comprehension and understanding of this topic. I am no expert and lack enough experience. If you find any information or my opinion incorrect, please let me know (in the comments) in kind words.]

Reference:

https://www.insider.com/faze-clan-save-the-kids-cryptocurrency-scam-controversy-2021-7

https://www.investopedia.com/

https://www.thedailystar.net/business/news/cryptocurrency-trading-not-allowed-all-bangladesh-bank-2140141

https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/save-the-kids/

Electronic Vehicle is taking over!

Moeen Uddin Ashrafee | Augustine Sparsha Sarker

The flow of electrons is taking over the combustion of gasoline and oxygen. Didn’t get it? Ok, it means the EVs are taking over internal combustion cars. The future of road-going vehicles is rolling towards electric motors. So, how will the future be for the electrified road-going machines? Will car culture become a memory of the golden days?

In the night streets of America, you are walking along the footpath. All of a sudden you hear two engines trying to roar louder than its rival. Two noisy muscle cars racing down the streets trying to get the lead.  The screams of the engine are like the beats of the heart. Yes, I am talking about the western Car culture. 

The concept of car culture is new to most of the SouthEastern Natives. The reason is simple: there are not many or not at all real “Racing” cars here. And taxes are too high to import them. Honestly, Where 150 horsepower front-wheel-drive Premio is enough to flex on the road, you can’t expect car nerds working day and night to build their dream car?

So, What is car culture? Car culture is a culture that celebrates cars; cars with screaming engines and smoking tires.  The car enthusiasts tune their cars to perfection. They put their blood, sweat and tears into building the cars they will be proud to own. It’s not only a hobby, but it’s also a passion, it’s an art, a craft, a marvel piece of engineering taken to the next level. Turbos and superchargers spooling up to breathe air in, engines revving up louder than the roar of a lion, tires squealing and creating smoking while struggling to handle the immense amount of torque, large spoilers gripping the cars down to earth, etc. are the essences of car culture. 

Impact of car culture:

Car enthusiasts plays an important role in the automotive industry. Tune-friendly cars or driver’s cars are usually popular among the car community. Ford, Toyota, Mercedes, BMW etc. companies usually provide such Muscle cars and drift cars. Aerodynamic coupes are also a popular choice nowadays. Usually, Stock cars are tuned to get the desired performance.

The main purpose of tuning is usually to squeeze out as much horsepower as possible from the engine. To achieve this result, Large superchargers or turbos are added, extra down-pipes are added, and ECUs are reprogrammed. Gearboxes are also tuned or changed to handle the extra horsepower and torques.

As a result, tuning shops are opened, tuning parts are manufactured. Thus, Car tuners are playing a huge role in building the automotive economy.

Why are Companies making EVs?

Well, the answer is simple “To save the world.” EVs don’t pollute the air as the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) does. An ICE car produces  4.6 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. There are 1.4 billion cars all around the world. The total amount of CO2  emitted by the cars is very huge. On the other hand, EV s make zero CO2 emissions at the car level there are reliable ways to produce electricity.

So, save the planet from the point of no return, the parent companies are forcing the car companies to make EVs instead of ICE cars.

  

Impact of EVs on car culture:

To put in the simplest words, Car culture is gonna die if its future is electric. 

Didn’t understand? Let me explain. ICE cars run on the combustion of gasoline and fuel.  So, the impact of combustion can be increased with more mixture of fuel and air. It can be achieved in various ways. Different people do it in different ways to achieve desired results. So, to tune up your car you need knowledge and experience, things money can’t buy. But this is not the case for EVs. They are perfect from the factory and their motors cannot be tuned. So, here more money means a better car. As a result, no tuning needed means no knowledge needed to tune it up. So, there will be no enthusiasts working or learning to build their dream cars. As result tuning shops and manufacturers will run out of business.

The Future:

So, is the Golden Era of cars going to end? Most probably. The melody of the twin-turbo V8s will remain as a memory of the good old days.

 We will tell stories of screaming V8s tearing down the streets to our grandchildren.