eiraaaaaaa's blog

Humorists in society today.

2011-02-28T08:40:00.000-08:00

Humor, under countless circumstances, has been proved to ease tensions and lighten up the mood under tense situations. Pieces of writing that utilize humor or irony often tend to be more effective than one that is more serious and straight-forward. As Alain de Botton stated in his book, Status Anxiety, in 2004, humorists’ main goal is not merely to entertain people but also to communicate messages that are difficult to be communicated other ways. With humor, these “risky” messages can be subtly sent to the audience yet not cause riot or protest. Humorists, similarly to satirists, as Alain de Botton stated, use irony and humor to pass on a message that would be ultimately impossible or dangerous to pass on to the audience. With the addition of humor to serious problems in society, humorists poke fun at the situation yet at the same time allow the situation or problem to be identified and acknowledged by the audience. Not only this but humorists and satirists often also used reverse psychology on the audience by providing a completely absurd solution to a situation. Humor also eases the tension in situations that may not be desired to be dealt with.

While poking fun at situations, humorists also introduce and make the audience realize the severity of an issue and that action must be taken to resolve the issue. As many issues may be sensitive and hard to touch on in society today, as there are many sensitive topics, humor is often used to, in a sense, casually bring up a topic and help recognize that change must be made. While poking fun at the topic, it may help ease tension between the writer and the audience. As some issues, as mentioned by Alain de Botton, may be impossible or dangerous to bring up, by using humor, it may help the audience feel like they are having a discussion about it rather than being interrogated. A formal document on the severity of an issue, demanding change, may often make the audience feel as though they are being commanded or interrogated. Under such circumstances, it is only natural for the audience to fight back and feel pressure, as well as a need for them to escape from such a situation. It is extremely rare for people to cooperate under circumstances in which one is being pressured or interrogated. With the addition of humor, the acknowledgement of a situation becomes more of a casual and enjoyable situation rather than one that is frowned upon and dreaded. The same sense applies to other situations in psychology. When put in an environment that is encouraging and enjoyable, performance of an individual significantly enhances. However, when one is placed in a negative environment, where one is discouraged and pressured, an individual’s performance significantly worsens. Bringing this back to humorists, we can see that with the addition of humor to serious topics, it can lighten up the mood, making it a much more positive situation for both the reader and the audience, giving them brand new motivation to make a change.

Reverse psychology, used frequently all over the globe today, in parenting and in various other places, is also used by humorists to stir up change and action. As many of us have experienced in the past, our parents often use reverse psychology on us in order to get us to act the way they want us to act. As funny as it seems, many of us failed to realize that this was happening or simply wanted to rebel against what was asked of us. The same psychology applies today when humorists use it in their writing. As used in a Modest Proposal written by Jonathan Swift, the author offers a completely absurd solution to an issues that arose in Ireland. Swift used reverse psychology in a sense by proposing that the solution to the problem was to devour the children. Literally devour them. Furthermore, adding to the irony, the piece was titled, a Modest Proposal. By offering a completely absurd solution, yet providing a shockingly strong basis, Swift hoped to gear the audience away from his absurd idea and help then acknowledge that change needed to be made. It is without a doubt that this reverse psychology is effective, as it has proved itself to be under countless circumstances.

As certain issues may cause emotional unrest and are extremely difficult to be brought up directly, humorists often perfect the job by throwing in humor and easing up the tension to make things easier to deal with. As Alain de Botton claims, the aim of a humorist is not merely to entertain but at the same time, convey messages that would otherwise by impossible and dangerous to convey. It is without a doubt true that humorists help achieve this job and help audiences realize a certain issue. With the addition of humor, audiences can more easily accept issues and are generally more open to ideas that would, if done in any other way, spark more issues and riot. Alone with humor and irony, humorists often also use reverse psychology, as seen in A Modest Proposal written by Jonathan Swift to provide a completely absurd solution, ultimately swaying an audience in the opposite direction. I stand strongly and firmly to the belief that Alain de Botton has, in which humorists serve a vital function in society today as they loosen up situations and created a less tense situation where people are more likely to respond to in a positive way and show cooperation.

Technology and education.

2011-01-23T05:36:00.001-08:00

Technology, for most people, is a crucial part of their daily lives. Portable laptops and cellular phones with built-in internet has truly changed all aspects of our lives today. The use of the internet, in specific, has made so many aspects of our lives easier, yet comes with plenty of dangers. Many online social networks have allowed people to reconnect with childhood friends or family. However, these social networks certainly come with a down side. Our reliance on technology and our sense of need to use the latest gadgets or join the latest social networking sites has truly shaped our everyday lives. Our dependency on such technology has deteriorated our people skills and gradually built up to the loss of other rudimentary skills.

As schools begin to integrate more and more technology to its education, students are gradually losing the basic skills that should have been learnt in their elementary years. With first hand experience, I can confidently say that this is true. The introduction of technology to education, has resulted in the gradual deterioration of other basic skills in a child’s education. Although the integration of the internet has provided much more simulations and models for children in their early education to help them better understand certain concepts or ideas, the internet has also had various bad effects of a child’s education. However, right now, technology is the main focus of my argument, not the internet. Technology has deteriorated our writing skills and our simple writing skills. With advanced technology, we are now able to type into a computer and have it auto-correct our mistakes in spelling and in grammar. Without the integration of technology, we have to thoroughly understand the rudimentary basics of grammar and spelling. On the computer however, the computer will inform us when our sentences are not complete, when they are fragments, or when we have simply spelt a word wrong.

The rapid advancement in technology has yet again, added to our reliance and sense of need to dive into the newest gadgets and follow the trend. Although the gadgets that were previously created already contained the functions that are necessary for our needs, people still constantly wish and look for more. Such has been the same with social networks. As much people wish they could say that they aren’t affected by peer pressure, at the end of the day, we all are still affect by it. When all your friends join Facebook and begin to talk about how great it is, it is only natural that you do the same. Such social network sites have its fantastic effects as well as deteriorating effects. Facebook, first launched in 2004 as a private website/service, now has up to 600 million active users. 600 million really has no effect on people anymore, until we put it into perspective. 500 million, is the total number of people living in “absolute poverty” in Asia, Africa and Latin America put together. These network sites have allowed us to connect with people on completely the opposite side of the globe and reconnect with people we haven’t spoken to in years. However, it also makes you completely exposed. Sure, some may say that it has its privacy settings, but at the end of the day, your information is still on the internet. It has made finding out information about other people so much more easily. To add to that, apps have been made recently to track the places that people have been. This adds to the danger of the safety of oneself. Such societal pressures to dive into the latest gadgets or networking sites has made us prone to the dangers of having less privacy in life. As we grow more and more used to using highly advanced technology, it’s hard to imagine yourself going a day without using it at all. Our true people skills have deteriorated as people gradually spend more and more time interacting through technology, rather than face to face.

The internet has made things so much easier for us, yet at the same time, so much harder. As education becomes dependent on the internet, students have been able to find answers more quickly on the internet and saving themselves the trouble of actually thinking about their assignment. It has increased the occurrence of plagiarism. As thousands of sources are found online, more and more children become lazier and choose to simply copy and paste, rather than do their assignment. It has become much easier than it was in the past. Many may argue that it is beneficial, and I, by no means argue that it’s not. I simply state that it certainly comes with several downsides. It is said that it has made researching much more efficient and convenient, and yes, I agree. However, it has also made it much easier for you to obtain the wrong information or information that is not reliable. Take the world famous encyclopedia for example, Wikipedia. Wikipedia is open to the public and allows its members to edit any page that is on their server. Sure, many of the pages consist of several reliable sources or authors, it still allows the public to post any information on the site, whether it be true or not. This information will stay on the site, until another member views the page and realises the faults. Such websites have now been labelled an unreliable source in educational assignment due to its “openness” to the public. This has deteriorated students’ skills to distinguish a reliable source from an unreliable one. Over time, students’ have also lost the simple ability to look up information in libraries and rely strongly on the internet.

With such convenience in advanced technology, students and next generations are slowly losing their rudimentary reading and writing skills. Such advances are also leading to our strong dependence on technology in our everyday lives. The internet and our reliance on it has led to our worsening interacting skills as well as worsening rudimentary education in the coming generations.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

http://www.thesocialpath.com/2010/07/putting-facebooks-500-million-in-perspective.html

China's inflation problems...

2010-12-11T08:30:00.000-08:00

Since a long time ago, China has always had issues with its population which, at many times, led to other problems. China's population boomed and then subsided. As the Chinese government encouraged population growth and their population to have babies, the population quickly grew. With cultural preferences, the Chinese population preferred males and often orphaned female babies. This led to many problems and issues, some of which include unemployment and inflation. However, as many people in the world know today, China has developed greatly and extremely rapidly. As it developed as such a rapid speed, it quickly began to grow an extremely strong economy. It also began to grow a reputation of being one of the world's greatest economies.

In recent years, the inflation rates in China have grown extremely rapidly and hit a 5.1% high. With inflation, poorer families in China to spend up to half of their entire incomes on food for their families. In October, the central bank showed the first interest rate rise in approximately three years. The rising of interest is to help the inflation issue in China. With this inflation in China, families all over the country are experiencing extreme pressure and stress to maintain their families, having to spend up to half of their entire income of food alone.

Link to article: China sees inflation jump to 5.1%, a 28-month high

Need to save money?

2010-12-05T05:12:00.000-08:00

In today's society, we find ourselves looking for every opportunity to help us save money. We go for the brand of cereal that costs 50NT less than the other, or try to use the coupons that save us money. Only a very small percentage of the world does not really worry or have to worry about saving money. From studies in Environmental Science, it is estimated that in the next billion people who are born, 99% of those people will be born into poverty. So, I believe that it is legitimate for people to be worrying about the money they spend, because every penny counts. However, being smart with your money and being stingy are two completely different things.

A recent article produces ways to save money. The first tip is to know when your car really needs an oil change. Most car dealers tell their customers to change their oil every 3000 miles. However, you only really have to change it every 5000-10,000 miles. The second tip tells that you should buy sheets with lower thread counts as they are cheaper and better. They are better, in that they can be washed and dried faster as well as take up less space and cost less. THe Third tip is a pretty simple one. Don't leave fans on in rooms that are empty. There is no reason to have a fan on in the winter as it is already cold. Leaving those fans on, add greatly to your spendings. In places that have drinkable tap water, drink it by all means. It is not true that tap water is necessarily worse than bottled. The next tip is to take simple trips rather than lavish and expensive ones. Camping can be just as fun as flying to another country. The last tip, says that people should try to cut down on the cable and satellite plans that they have.

Link to Article: Financially Fit

China stops people from leaving?

2010-12-05T04:14:00.000-08:00

China has long had a reputation for its control over its people. The banned use of facebook and search engines shows the strong control that the government has on its people. Recently, a Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei has been stopped from traveling outside of the country. Ai Weiewei was supposed to travel to South Korea but we stopped by police who claim his travels to be a threat to their national security. As many people would claim, Ai Weiwei claimed China's decision to restrain him in the country as "really silly". Ai Weiwei is not the only one who has been stopped from leaving the country. Mao Yushi was also stopped from leaving the country.

China has always been very controlling over their people and what their people choose to express. People have randomly disappeared after expression of their opinions or views. Mr Liu, who was a leader in he Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, was sent to jail for 11 years simply because he authorized a document which demanded a multi-party democracy rather than a communist.

This to me, is absurdity. I believe that every person on this planet has the right to express their own opinion, even if it does not run parallel to other people. I also believe that people have the right to be where they want to be, and if leaving the country is the case, then so be it. Limitting what people are allow to say, see, or do is absolutely ridiculous in my point of view.

Link to Article: Artist Ai Weiwie stopped from leaving.

What can a tiny chihuahua do... really?

2010-11-21T06:16:00.000-08:00

I have never been able to tolerate chihuahuas. Personally, I found and still find them extremely annoying and useless. In my opinion, the most damage a chihuahua could possibly do is so minor cuts around a person's ankle. I used to be extremely scared of large dogs due to the stories I had heard about what they can do (when I was a child). In movies, I'd always seen the police officers with large dogs with the capability of doing a lot of damage and imagined that that would be the kind of dog that every police officer should have if they were to catch all the bad people in the world. However, recently, it has been proved otherwise in western Japan. A chihuahua, weighing 3kg, has passed the exam to become a dog in the police. This chihuahua, Momo, has been put to be part of the search-and-rescue team in Japan. As the author of the article mentions, the advantages (the only advantages, I believe) this chihuahua has over other larger dogs is that perhaps it can squeeze into smaller spaces. My initial response to this article was amazement. I did not image that the police force would ever want to train a dog that small and in my view, harmless. However, after reading this article, I can see some sense in using such a small dog. It can only be trained for 1 purpose, which is the one expressed in the article.

Link to article: Tiny chihuahua set to join Japan Police

Like heights? Not as much as her..!

2010-11-14T07:41:00.000-08:00

I always enjoy seeing the most unlikely people go out, take risks, and basically do something that they would not ordinarily do. I believe that today, most people are too caught up in the fast pace of life that they are trapped in the same routine day in and day out. Business men wake up, get dressed, have breakfast, go to work, drive home, and go to bed. Students wake up, get dressed, eat breakfast, go to school, go home, do homework, and then go to bed. For most people, this cycle repeats for months, and most likely, years. We're like zombies, in a sense. I find it extremely disappointing to see people do the same thing day in and day out, because to me, that is not living. Living is experiencing new things and seeing the world. If you live your life isolated, in the same place, and doing the same things everyday, you have not lived. It's the little things that we don't usually do, the special events that creates memories that remind you and other people that you are alive and healthy. It is too easy to get caught up in the same boring, repetitive lifestyle which will eventually make each of us boring, depressed, and bitter. To me, it is essentially the youth at heart that keeps someone truly young. Most people say they want to go sky diving or bungee jumping before they die, but how many actually overcome their fear of heights, or simply work out the time to do so? Not so many.

I was extremely happy to see that a 77 year old granny in Spain is still out and doing things that other people would not usually be doing. 77 year old, Montse, has already skydived 903 times in her entire lifetime. Montse has skydived all over the world and has a true passion for it.

Want to feel alive? Go out and take some risks! Not stupid risks, but reasonable risks!

Link to article: Skydiving Granny Proves You're Never Too Old.

Are all kinds of ice-cream really bad for you?

2010-11-14T06:22:00.000-08:00

No, the answer is no. Not all ice cream is bad for us. Most parents discourage their children from eating ice cream without really fully understanding how it is exactly "bad" for the child. While being in Asia, the myth of ice cream being bad for your body is extremely strong and is still widely believed. In Asia, generally, the idea is that anything cold that you consume is usually bad for you. For example, children are not supposed to drink cold water after exercising on a hot day. Parents often tell us this is bad and that it will harm our bodies, but they almost always fail to explain why. I'm sure other children and teenagers feel the same way as I do; annoyance. The reason for this feeling is because we are never presented with solid evidence or a valid argument as to why eating ice cream or drinking cold fluids after exercising is bad for our bodies. Surely, eating ice cream all the time is bad for you, as it is with anything else. Overconsumption of anything may be harmful to the body. Parents may be worried of children consuming too much sugar and thus becoming hyper. However, I previously read a study/report on the effects of candy/sugar on children. Although most people believe that candy makes children hyper, in reality, it does not.

I stumbled upon this article that lists some of the healthier ice creams that we can consume. This article listed a few of America's healthiest ice creams which include some from Haagan Daz, Ben & Jerry's, and Baskin Robbins. All of the ones that were mentioned in this article had very few calories and were extremely low in fat. As we know, those three ice cream companies produce extremely good ice cream. For all you ice-cream-lovers out there, stay healthy and happy by eating some of those ice cream flavours!

Link to article: America's Healthiest Ice Creams and Yogurts On Shine.

Cholera death toll jumps in Haiti

2010-10-24T20:24:00.000-07:00

Haiti has recently caught the world's attention starting with the earthquake that left Haiti close to completely destroyed in January earlier this year. This was a devastating event that arouse awareness worldwide. Many people were shaken by this event and were extremely sympathetic to those who were hurt or to the families who's relatives were killed in the earthquake. Already being a country that lives mostly in poverty, people were generally more sympathetic when they were aware of the event. I, too, was felt sympathetic to these people due to this terrible event that occurred. Like many others, I did not really know much about Haiti, but merely knew that it was a country in poverty. After hearing that they experienced such a disastrous event, I felt even worse for them. Recently I came across an article that states that the death toll for Cholera in Haiti has yet again, risen. The death toll has passed 250. The article states that more than 3000 people in Haiti are infected with Cholera. Sudden outbreaks of Cholera were occurring all over Haiti while officials try to maintain it and keep it under control. Cholera is a disease that causes diarrhea and vomiting which then leads the sever dehydration and may rapidly lead to death if it is left untreated. The article states that many of the hospitals in Haiti have been overwhelmed with people. Haiti, as reported, is still suffering from the devastating consequences of the earthquake which killed up to 300,000 people. This article really caught my attention because I find it very sad to hear of such disastrous outbreaks. I feel sympathetic especially because of how unlucky Haiti has been recently. Just during 2010, Haiti has suffered greatly not only from the earthquake but now from the Cholera that is killing many people. I do however, find it very comforting to see many countries work together to help a country that is in such need, financially, to rebuild itself. Humans, I believe, are generally selfish, yet with incidents like these, we can see the care and empathy that humans can have. I feel extremely bad for Haiti and its victims either from Cholera or the earthquake and am very happy to see people trying to help them in every way they can.

Link to article: Cholera death toll jumps in Haiti

Deep void yields new fish species (bbc.co.uk)

2010-10-17T03:18:00.000-07:00

The deep sea has always been an intriguing subject to me and has never failed to interest me in all different aspects. From my elementary years of education, I was introduced to the mysterious world of deep marine life. Whenever I came across an article regarding new finds from deep seas, I never fail to click on the article and read it. To me, it is intriguing that we, human beings, have roamed the world for so long, yet still fail to understand, or even encounter all life that lives on it. To think that deep down underwater, there still exists species that we have never encountered before, absolutely amazes me. Coincidentally, I came across an article on bbc, titled "Deep void yields new fish species". Without hesitation, I clicked on it and began to read.

BBC's article opens by stating that biologists have recently discovered a new species of fish in one of the world's deepest trenches where we previously believed was deserted and contained no life. These creatures were found in the Peru-Chile trench. It is more than 8000 meters deep, while the fish were found at about 7000 meters deep into the trench. The article states that they found cusk-eels at 6000 meters deep. Never had scientists encountered such creatures before and had to bring such species up to land to truly understand them. The article then goes on to discuss the science behind many matters and claims that researchers plan to visit other parts of the world to gather more information about deep sea life.

Link to article: Deep void yields new fish species

Gender pay gap progress 'grinding to a halt'

2010-10-11T06:43:00.000-07:00

This article deals with the issue of the pay gap between genders. The article opens by stating that women on average are earning 16% less than men and even less and women age. It later brings in an interesting fact that all schoolgirls outperform boys. A study, titled "How fair is Britain?" is a study that gathers data and surveys that then produces reports for Parliament every three years. This study states that Britain is one of the most tolerant to diversity but least tolerant to discrimination, whether it be racial or gender discrimination. However, these reports have shown warnings that racial and religious prejudices may be increasing. It states that Britain is generally positive about the economic contributions of immigrants. However, at the same time, they express that they are concerned about the amount of immigration for the nation. The aging population was also stated to be creating what they called a "chronic disadvantage". This is when many middle-aged couples are unable to after two generations at the same time. These generations are their parents and their teenage children. This article states that the pay gap between disabled men and other men is less that the gap between men and women. The gap for disabled men and other men was 11% whereas the gap for women is 22%. It was estimated that men and women who were from the highest social class were capable of living for up to 7 years longer than those from lower social classes. It also states that obesity in the United Kingdom was rising, and that 2/3 of gay/lesbian/transsexual students were being bullied at school. This article states that people are a lot more susceptible to injustice and inequality in society today. Due to recession, demographic change and new technology, the separation between insiders and foreigners continue to widen.

This article caught my eye, because I've always been slightly interested in the inequalities in society and how we've tried to lessen these inequalities and strive to a move equal world today. We all know that throughout history, women have been deprived of several rights and have strived and fought to gain their rights. I found it shocking to know that there was still such a large gap between the pay of men and women today. Quite honestly, I'd have expected that in out time and age that the gap would a lot narrower than it is right now. The statistics that were shown truly surprised me, for I thought there was only a slight gap or no gap at all. I believe that this kind of inequality and injustice to not only women, but to those of different ethnicities or religions should not exist in our time and age.

Link to article: Gender pay gap progress 'grinding to a halt'

Malaria funding 'falling short'

2010-10-03T19:36:00.001-07:00

This article deals with the issue of malaria funding in various countries where malaria is common. It states that only 21 or 93 countries where malaria is common is receiving the necessary funding to stabilize the issue. As we usually would assume, most of these countries lie in Africa. Research teams found that malaria funding has increased up to 166% since 2007. They warn that the sustaining of this funding is extremely vital. If the funding is stopped, there may be a resurgence of malaria. If this resurgence occurs, the $9.9bn will have been wasted. Africa now receives adequate funding for malaria, yet the other countries still do not receive the necessary amounts. 12 of the 21 countries that are receiving enough funding are countries in Africa. Many of the countries though, still do not receive nearly enough to eradicate or at least stabilize the issue of malaria in their countries. Many scientists realize the importance of this funding and state that many countries with smaller populations and larger parts of their population influenced by malaria should be the focus of their attention. The article states that if the money that is given to these countries is not put to good use, the money that is donated will be wasted and gone to waste. It also states that powerful countries such as China and India, who have their own space programs should donate money and become large donors in the funding of malaria. Scientists are trying to figure out why the funding of malaria has become so low. One proposal is that maybe many countries are trying to fund their own malaria programs.

I personally believe that malaria is an extremely important issue. I stand strongly to some of their beliefs. Specifically, I think that if the money that is funded to countries that have serious malaria issues is not used properly, the money would have been wasted. I also believe that many countries that have more stabilized economies should put more of an effort into helping minority countries that do not receive the necessary funding for the eradication of the diseases within their own countries, needless to say sustain a stable economy. I believe that other countries with more stabilized economies have the ability to help with the funding yet the only thing stopping them is the lack of motivation. I believe that if countries encouraged its citizens to donate, with the little donations from everyone, the country would be able to make large donations to those countries in need. All the little bits add up to become something bigger and something that could actually make a difference to the countries in need. I think many people don't realize the importance of the issue and the damage that the lack of funding is doing. I think if people really understood how little effort or money they have to donate, they would actually do it. If they realized how little money they had to donate to save lives, they would be willing to help. I think the major problem is that many people read the news and brush off issues such as these, not realizing what they can do to help.

Link to article: Malaria funding 'falling short'

Gulf oil spill volume estimated from video

2010-09-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

As we all knew from previous reports, lots of oil was spilt into the Gulf of Mexico, but how much was really spilt? This article states that U.S scientists have assumed (from watching footage of the oil spill) that about 4.4 million barrels of oil has been spilt into the Gulf. They have also claimed that the volume of oil that is gushing out everyday is enough to fill 4 Olympic sized pools everyday. How, you might ask, they estimate the volume that is gushing out everyday? Timothy Crone and Maya Tolstoy, marine geophysicists, use a technique called optical pluming to estimate the volume that is coming out. This technique analyses the velocity of the oil that is coming out from the video footage. This technique was originally for the study of volcanic areas in deep ocean. By knowing the velocity, states Dr. Crone, you can then multiply it by the area of the opening, which will finally give you the volume. UK's National Oceanography Centre states that the most important part of the oil spill is not the size and amount of the spill, but rather then environmental impact.

I completely agree with the statement that the National Oceanography Centre when they say that the most important part of this oil spill is the impact it has on the environment, rather than the size or amount of the oil that has leaked out. Sure, I believe that the amount that is spilt out also influences the damage that is done to the environment, but more importantly, I believe that the damages that are being done are more important. As many other news articles have stated, ever since the beginnings of the oil spill, fingers have been pointed and everyone blamed each other. In my opinion, I believe the world was too occupied with looking for someone to take the blame when they should have been stopping the spill. If efforts were made to stop the spill earlier, I believe less hard would have been done. Millions of animals have died, as we are aware of through various articles. Marine ecosystems and lots of fish, seagulls, turtles have died from the oil spill. After I read this article, I was shocked to realize how much oil had really been spilt over the past months. At the same time, I was also shocked that the amount of oil that is gushing out has not lessoned at all either. Not only has it done harm to the economy, it has done immense damage to the world around us. I hope that the oil spill will end soon and the environment will be relieved of all the damage being done to it.

Link to article: Gulf oil spill volume estimated from video

Huge diamond in space discovered!

2010-09-19T07:56:00.000-07:00

Diamonds, an item that always appeals to women, are extremely pricey and come in small amounts. I heard about this article and could not believe what I just heard. I had to find the article myself and read it myself to actually believe it. This article states that scientists have discovered a large (gigantic) diamond in space that is a 10 billion trillion trillion carat diamond. Yes, I found that hard to believe at first too! Astronomers have claimed that to grade this diamond, you would need a jeweler's loupe the size of the sun. This diamond is located 50-light years away from Earth, in the constellation Centaurus. If you take a moment to think about how heavy the heaviest diamond you held was, it will be nothing compared to the weight of this diamond. This diamond is 5 million trillion trillion pounds. This huge diamond is a crystallized white dwarf. After a long period of time, a star dies and the hot core that is left behind is what we know as a white dwarf. It is assumed that once the sun dies, it too, will turn into a white dwarf, eventually crystallizing and turning into a gigantic diamond in our solar system.

After I read this article, I was extremely excited and could not believe that I had just read. To imagine that there was a gigantic diamond floating around in the solar system and no one who claimed it was just absurd. It made me both happy and sad at the same time, actually. I was happy that there was this huge diamond floating in our solar system, yet sad that there was no way we could possibly get to it. I was at the same time, captivated by my stupidity to devote the rest of my life to building a rocket ship. I suddenly thought of the movie "Despicable Me'', and his plan to capture the moon, firstly by shrinking it and then bringing it back to Earth. I suddenly was thinking how crazy it would be if they shrank the diamond and expanded it once they brought it back to Earth! I'm sure most of you that read this article after me will be just as amazed as I was! Enjoy reading it!

Link to article: Astronomers Find a Huge Diamond in Space

Africa 'needs billions more aid' says Blair commission

2010-09-12T21:53:00.001-07:00

A commission set up by ex-Prime Minister of the UK, Tony Blair, set out to find solutions to the poverty problems that are widely spread across Africa. Since 2005, amazing progress has been made and major reductions in poverty have been apparent. However, this has made reduction of poverty in other areas of Africa more challenging. The commission claims that there has been major economic growth and a sudden influx in trade due to the high demands for Africa’s natural resources from other powerful nations such as India. Two reasons that make the poverty reduction yet more challenging is the fact that we, together, are all facing a climate change crisis, and the rising food prices. This article states that even though many aspects of health have enhanced and advanced in Africa, many others have degraded and gotten worse. For example, although more children than ever, are going to primary school today, more children than ever are undernourished.

To be honest, when I first read this article title, I thought “oh, another news report about Africa.”. I think that in society, we tend to label things to often and in time, forget the actual importance of certain situations. As the poverty in Africa has been a problem for many years, most people tend to become numb and ignorant to this matter. It could almost be thought of as a really hard problem in math class. Once we start working on the problem and go through its millions of steps, sometimes we lose track of what we’re really looking for or the meaning of the solution. It’s almost as though we lose hope after a while and give up because it’s taken so long and we don’t see a sudden boost or advancement. After I read this article, I realized that Africa was advancing extremely quickly and with the help of other nations and their efforts, Africa could grow to be strong and prosperous. After reading this article, I am extremely joyous to hear the advances that are being made in Africa and strongly believe that with the help of other nations, Africa could grow to be a global power.

Link to article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11279630

Iran woman who faces stoning death to be lashed - Yahoo News!

2010-09-06T06:12:00.000-07:00

This article reports on a case that is very unique in my opinion. A woman was sentenced to be stoned by death after she was caught on camera unveiled. Then, a young man claimed her as his mother. The young man made a mistake though, while the sentence was still due to be carried out. After many other nations heard about this death sentence which was "the height of barbarism", many nations began to fight for the unfortunate woman. Foreign nations went very far to help this woman and would do almost anything to help her lift the death sentence. French Foreign Minister travelled to Iran to plead for her case and soon later, the stoning sentence was abolished yet other death sentences may be set in place again. Personally, I think that death by stoning is truly "the height of barbarism", as put by Bernard Kouchner. I believe it is one thing to have a death sentence and complete different thing to make the accused suffer before their death. I think this kind of behaviour should not be allowed in all nations today, yet sadly, it still does. With the strengths of different cultures, people often accept that their governments have this power of cruelty.

Original Post: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100906/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iran_stoning

Study Hacks

2009-12-14T00:04:00.000-08:00

Monday 7:30pm - 11:30pm (or later, depends on the workload)

Tuesday 7:30pm - 11:30 pm (or later, depends on the workload)

Wednesday 9:30pm - 12:00pm (or later because I get home later that night)

Thursday 7:30pm - 12:00pm

Friday none or 10:00pm - 11:00pm

Saturday 8:00pm - 11:00pm or later

Sunday 7:30 pm - 11:30 pm

This usually will vary depending on the workload. On Wednesdays, I usually get home a lot later so I stay up a lot later.

How was nuclear war avoided?

2009-05-31T18:19:00.000-07:00

This question can have multiple answers, in my opinion. The Cuban Missile Crisis was one that was extremely close to nuclear war. This could have led to a World War due to the situation the world was in at the time. One cause that I support is that both sides of this conflict were empathizing with the opposing side. Both sides didn't want to go to war and were extremely uncomfortable in this stressful and pressuring situation. The leaders of both countries took a step back at this situation and still had their eyes open to new opinions and listened to others rather than just think about what they wanted to do. They tried to negotiate and come up with another conclusion rather than full out nuclear bombing. They tried to have a "quid pro quo" situation which means in direct translation "what for what". Basically it states that both sides have a give and take to this whole situation. I think that this is the most part of the reason that the Cuban Missile Crisis didn't turn into a nuclear war.

Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

2009-05-03T18:52:00.000-07:00

Two atomic bombs were dropped by the US in 1945. One bomb, “Little Boy”, was dropped on Hiroshima on September 6th, 1945. The other, “Fat Man”, was dropped two days later on September 8th, 1945. These bombs caused massive destruction and deaths in Japan. There was a total of 220,000 people died from these bombings. Many of these people did not die instant deaths. 15%-20% of these people died from illness and injuries from radiation poisoning. Approximately 560 of these people died from leukemia and solid cancers. The brutality and cruelty of dropping these bombs is seen widely as being unjustified and no needed, although many see this as the factor that stopped the massive war the world was in.

Whether or not the atomic bomb was to be dropped is a topic that has been debated for decades. Many people oppose the decision made by Harry S. Truman, though I stand for his decision. There are countless debates on this topic, and still, no conclusion has come of them.

Even though many lives were taken by the United States with this bomb, many more lives would have taken if the war persisted. I personally agree and support him for dropping the first bomb. I can’t say that I also stand for him dropping the second bomb. I agree with the opposing side that there was no need for the second bomb to be dropped because a demonstration at somewhere that would cause less damage would suffice. As said on many sites, a demonstration for the second bomb could have been enough in Tokyo. If the United States really wanted to show their power and what weapon of mass destruction they were in possession of. I think it was better that the United States set this bomb on Japan because many of Japan’s attacking styles were inhumane. They would fight until they were the last people standing in the Pacific. They also had kamikaze attacks, which were basically suicidal attacks. You could say that the bomb was kind of an awakening for the world and for the world to come to its senses.

Benjamin Button Ted Talk

2009-03-05T17:20:00.000-08:00

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was a movie about a baby who was born to age backwards. His appearance would be the age of a 70 year old, but his mental age was his real age. As everyone around him grew old, he grew young, if that makes any sense. Brad Pitt was the staring actor in this movie, and the real challenge to the creators of this movie was that, they had to create an "old" Brad Pitt and make it look realistic.

The Benjamin Button Ted talk was extremely interesting. Well, to me, at least. It was amazing to know that the old man's head was completely made from a computer. It was crazy to think that they could make it so realistic. They didn't even know they had that piece of technology to use. They were lucky to have stumbled across the technology that they were using. I had no idea how they got Brad Pitt to look so old. I thought it was just make up on his face. I hadn't thought that it could have been computer generated.

How does this all connect to science?

I think this is similar to what we are studying now. Meiosis and mitosis. What they did with Benjamin Button, was they took every possible facial expression that Brad Pitt could make and put that in the movie. They created a load of old different "Brad Pitt"s. It was just like meiosis, where there were many different combinations to choose from, and you had to pick the right one, to get the right result. The creators first had to see all the combinations(expressions) that Brad Pitt could create, then go from there.

Link to the Ted Talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/ed_ulbrich_shows_how_benjamin_button_got_his_face.html

Joy Luck Club 心得

2009-02-12T06:55:00.000-08:00

我們在AP Chinese 課上看了一部電影叫做Joy Luck Club. 中文名字是喜福圓. 在這個電影裡, 它展現出了很多不同的中國文化以及習俗. 在裡面也展現出了很多不同以前的傳統. 比如說, 在它們那個時代實, 女孩子經常都不知道她們會嫁給什麼樣的男孩子. 她們得父母都會事先幫她們決定她們的未來. 很多的父母也會在女兒滿幾歲的時候把她們賣掉. 她們會把女兒賣到別人家去然後就不管她們了. 當然, 她們會心疼,但是在那個時代, 她們很窮, 就別無選擇. 我覺得當時的女人都很可憐. 很多女人都被嫁到很不好的家庭. 很多她們嫁給的男人都對她們很壞. 那是後不像現在說要結婚就結婚, 要離婚就離婚. 那時後,離婚是非常不對的. 因為這樣, 很多女人嫁到不好的男人身邊之後都會自殺. 當時, 女人也都沒有被人家尊重. 很多的有錢男人都可以有很多個老婆. 總而言之, 我覺得, 當時的女人非常可憐.

SMASH DAYYYY! feb.10/ 2009

2009-02-10T05:39:00.000-08:00

Brief Summary :)

Basically what we did for smash day this time was we had to make a periscope. Of course, we had our limitations. Our mission for smash day we that we needed to find out what was in a box, which was on top of a table. The box was imagined to be an island, and in this island, there were treasures that we had to find. The surface of the table was water. Obviously, we couldn't be above the water, or people within the island would see the periscope and we wouldn't be able to see into the island. So basically, we had to build a periscope with the given supplies and find out what was in the box. The first group to find out was granted a "Free Homework Coupon". This was a coupon that could excuse the student/s for one assignment. The given supplies were: scissors, 10 pieces of paper, a piece of cardboard, and some tape. Once the time was reached, we had a 10 minute "spy" time. This was when the groups had to find out what was in the box.

Reflection :)

We started out with the most common idea. We made a tube with reflecting mirrors within that. We thought that everyone else would probably have the same idea, but we were wrong. They still had reflecting mirrors, just not in tubes. We hadn't modified our design a single time. We basically had one idea from beginning to end and stuck with it. Well, yes, maybe we did modify it once. That was when we found out that it didn't work. We found out it didn't work when we were in "spy time". We couldn't see a thing. We knew we should modify it, when all the other groups were giggling, whispering, and writing what they saw down, while we were staring into a mirror that projected nothing but blankness. We decided to change the design when my partner, Connie, turned around, looked at me, and said "I think we should do what they are doing...". At this point, we started to crumple the periscope into a big long stick with a mirror on the end. While we were crumpling, I turned around to my other partner and said "Change of plans.".

If I were to help someone who was doing this experiment for the first time, I would ask them if their design would really be stable enough with the given supplies. In other words, would you need someone supporting your design as you looked through the periscope? If so, you'd probably want to change your design. I'd probably say something that's really easy to say, but really hard to do. "Think of alternate possibilities, before it's too late.". That's probably what I'd say. I know it's really tempting to just go ahead and work on it. You have all this confidence built up on the one design, you don't stop to think of alternatives that might work better. So basically, stop and think, then act. :)

Response to article // language arts

2009-01-29T09:49:00.000-08:00

This article basically explains how Germany had to pay back all their debt after World War 1. It explains how Germany had to pay back each nation. It also talks about how Germany had to restore different nations, for example China. Basically, it explains how Germany had to repay each nation and how it went through to get that done.

This article explains, in great detail, how Germany went through the steps to repay and rebuild the damages Germany and its' allies had caused. It also details on conditions Germany was in after the war.

This relates to my topic because my topic is talking about what the results of the war was on Germany. Our topic lies greatly on economical changes, probably because that might have been one of the biggest changes. That is not the only change though. There were many drastic social and political changes, alongside the economical changes.

Article Chosen : http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Articles_118_-_158_and_Annexes

BBC "Israeli Arabs torn by Gaza Violence"

2009-01-14T19:19:00.000-08:00

Many civilians are in a very difficult position. Even though they are actually citizens of Israel, Palestinian, they are emotionally part of Gaza. As one interviewee states, "We are citizens of Israel," she said, "but we are Palestinian. Emotionally, we are part of the people in Gaza." This has put the citizens into a very hard position. They are forced to "support" one side of this conflict. These people have moved to Gaza before the state of Israel was even created. If they are actually citizens of Israel, but have lived all their lives in Gaza, which side should they support? Danny Ayalon from the Israel Beiteinu, has accused some Israelis of the lack of loyalty. He said, "Israel is a very small country, six million Jews, surrounded by 250 million Arabs. If they connect with Palestinians on the other side of the border, then we have a problem." During this conflict, Israeli police have brought in citizens who have committed no crime, but just wanted to remind them to work within the law. One man said, "They are scared, that's my reading," says Ameer Makhoul, who was taken for questioning by a senior officer last week after organising a series of anti-war protests.

"He told me: 'you are terrorist, you are supporting the enemy'.

"But they cannot tell me how to behave. I am not an immigrant. I didn't come to Israel - Israel came to me."

Incidents like this have alarmed some Israeli lawyers, who fear that basic civil rights are being infringed.

Leah Tselman sees it as part of an ongoing erosion of liberties, one that is corroding the very fabric of her country.

"I cannot promise to my children that they will grow up in a liberal democratic society," she says.

"Every Arab is seen as the enemy. There is no trust. I can see only a very dark horizon ahead, and we don't know where it goes."

I can't detect any bias while reading this article. Like other BBC articles, I think this one is pretty neutral.

Resource: BBC News.

All in text citations and resources from : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7828118.stm

BBC "More than 1000 killed in Gaza"

2009-01-14T18:55:00.000-08:00

Palestanian deaths have passed 1000 in the Gaza. As stated in the article by BBC, nearly 1/3 of the dead in the Gaza Strip are children. More than 5000 have been killed. The Minister of Health in Gaza has said that 1013 people have died in this conflict that started 19 days ago. Most of the injuries and deaths are those of women and children. These numbers may not be exact and correct, because Israelis had refused to let international journalists in. Egypt have tried to issue a ceasefire, but Hamas (those in control in Gaza) have said that a ceasefire can only be compromised if there was a halt to all Israeli attacks and a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops. Last week, the UN security council had a resolution, which was an immediate ceasefire, but both Hamas and Israelis refused to take that. Rockets have been launched, machine guns have been used for these murders in the Gaza Strip. BBC reporter states, "In another development, a newly-released audiotape said to feature the voice of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has called for a holy war to stop the Israeli offensive in Gaza." I don't think there is any bias in the article. They seem to be very "equal" to both sides. There isn't an obvious tilt to one side.

Resource: BBC News

link to the article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7828884.stm

Reflection of Movie - Taiwan Culture Class

2009-01-04T23:25:00.000-08:00

Reflection on the video

1.How do Paiwan people show their respect to the animal they hunted? These people show respect by putting them into their clothing and art. The made carvings of the animals on their houses.
2.Why archery is so important to Bunun people? How did fathers train their children to be an archer? Archery was the main type of hunting. It was the most efficient way to hunt. They used animal ears as targets.
3.Why are bats welcomed by Ancient Chinese culture? But in western societies, why do people regard bats as nuisance? In Ancient Chinese culture, bats are thought to bring good fortune and chase away evil. In Western societies, they are considered disgusting beings.
4.This video shows a lot of living extinct animals in Taiwan. Please choose one animal that impressed you the most and describe its habitat and its way to survive in the natural environment? I thought the shrimps were the most impressive ones. They were able to kind of escape and make their way up the river and hide somewhere where humans can't get to them

Reflection on Taiwan Culture class - Movie

2008-12-06T02:47:00.000-08:00

1.Saisiyat people choose their surnames from plants, animals and natural phenomena. In your country, do you think a person’s surname has special meaning which can reflect your own culture and why? No, I don’t think so. The reason is because a surname is passed down generation after generation. It should have some meaning to some extent, but I don’t think there’s that much of a meaning. If a surname is passed down, you are given the name. You can’t choose what has meaning to you. Maybe another name as more meaning to you.

2.Lily is a symbol of RuKai. For Taiwan, a hundred-step viper is significant in their society. In your country, do you have any symbol that represents your country and what does that mean? I don’t think there are any significant symbols. For Wales, you can see the Daffodil everywhere because that is the national flower of Wales. I think that might be one of the symbols that represents Wales. :)

3.On Beinan’s traditional weddings, you can see a prospective bride climbing a giant swing. And tribesmen swing her until the swing sails like kites. In your country, do you have any special ceremonies that are held on weddings? Please explain it. I’m not sure. I don’t think there are any special ceremonies. I think there are only banquets that are held for the wedding, where many special guests are invited.

|Orchid Island| Tao Culture

2008-11-26T01:29:00.001-08:00

(1) Please indicate the importance of the ocean to Tao. Ocean is a big art of their childhood. Supplies their daily needs. Helps with exercise, and educates them with weather.

(2) It takes a lot of time for Tao people to build a boat. How do Tao people make a boat? Do you think it is worthy or it wastes time? Why? No, not really. Because I don’t think its the most strategic boat. It’s not as advanced as other boats today. A good think is that is does keep their old culture. They need 23 trees to make a boat. Waste of resources.

(3) Explain the boat launching ceremony. They toss the new boat in the air to symbolize how the new boat will break the waves as it sails out. They also do a ceremonial dance around the boat.

(4) Explain the flying fish calling ceremony. They kill piglets and retain their blood. They then dip their fingers in the blood and put their hand in the sea, and watch the blood wash away. This then lures the black flying fish to the shore for them to fish. They light a flame on the bow of the boat, which is said to lure the black flying fish. They use one of the black flying fish to lure migrating predatory fish. They then sing to bring good luck and ward of evil spirits.

(5) How do Tao people live in harmony with the natural environment? They don’t really destroy their environment. For example, while making their boats, they only cut down 1 or 2 trees in the same area. They try to keep the environment in its natural form.

(6) The houses Tao people build are so special. Please compare their houses to those houses in your own country. Their houses are houses that were built a long time ago. The people were really angry when the government wanted to tear down these buildings because the history of these building would be long lost if they did tear the buildings down. Their houses were generally smaller and way darker inside than our houses today.

Tao people view eating a sea snake is a taboo because it lowers social status. In your own culture, do you have any eating taboos? Do you believe in it? Why? No, not really. We just eat what we want to.

So far only one big handmade boat is kept in Tao tribe because of modernization. Thus, some Tao people try to preserve their art culture. Please describe a vanishing art culture in your country that you would like to preserve.

People try to preserve their ancient, tradition language. For example, Hakkas and Taiwanese language seems to be slowly disappearing. Young people these days don’t use these languages anymore, and it seems like the elders are the only ones still speaking this language today.

Geographic Luck

2008-11-19T06:11:00.000-08:00

What was it that gave the Europeans an advantage in conquering a large amount of the world? Why wasn’t it another country that is still really strong today, such as China? It all comes down to basically one answer, simply stated in two words. Geographic luck. Geographic luck means being in a fortunate location with plenty of natural resources and abundant methods for development. A country already in an advantageous position. Countries on the same latitude allowed them to grow similar crops. With easily grown and healthy crops, people were able to stride forward with colonization. Animals played a big role in geographic luck too. The reason for this is because animal labour lessened the amount of human labour that was needed, which would give humans time to do other things. As they tried to move along to conquer other countries, they took certain diseases with them, such as smallpox or malaria, which were extremely deadly to outside countries.

The plants that were grown in Europe at the time were very easily tended to, and high in nutrients. With the benefit of having these plants, they were able to spend less time tending to crops and more time building up other parts of their colonies. They were able to develop whole civilizations. Then they moved on to create steel and guns, which provided a tremendous advantage in warfare. For example, in Papua New Guinea, the only crops that they had were taros. Taros were plants that were grown under the ground and were scarce. They were big, but they needed to be picked out one by one, which took a lot of time and manual labour. Also, they took a long time to grow. They would not store for a long time either. In Europe, it was a different case. They had wheat and barley, which grew fast, could be easily tended to, and was plentiful. It was also highly nutritious.

Animals were another vital factor in making the Europeans the first to conquer so much of the world. Certain animals provided both labour and food. In Europe, people had animals such as cattle and horses, which could be used for a great source of labour. These animals could be used for ploughing fields which would be a very hard task for humans to do on their own. This ties back to geographic luck because these animals were native to this area of the world. People found the animals in their natural environment and took advantage of their discovery. Cattle and horses were native to Europe, so Europeans had a great advantage in governing these animals. Some places less fortunate like Papua New Guinea only had animals such as pigs, which did nothing except provide people with a good source of food. By using ‘superior’ animals to their advantage, Europeans were able to do other things to develop their civilizations. For example, if the Europeans were able to let their cattle and horses plough their fields, it would provide them with more time to do other things, such as create different weapons and develop their society. The Europeans then had an advantage, because they had developed a great commodity, steel.

Diseases, as we all know, can be extremely deadly. With the help and aid of technology today, we are able to survive diseases that people had never survived in the past. This was another great tactic that the Europeans used to take over a large portion of the world. As Europeans were able to create steel in their society, they were also able to invade other colonies. As stated before, diseases were extremely hard to survive in the past. The Europeans used the diseases that they were immune to to eradicate the native population in different places. Malaria and smallpox are examples of these deadly diseases, which were one of the key factors that allowed the Europeans to conquer so much of the world.

Why were the Europeans the first to conquer so much of the world today? It can be broken down into three key factors. Food, animals, and diseases. Food was a primary factor because easily grown crops gave the civilization more time to develop. Animals reduced the amount of labour that humans were required to do in their society. The time saved by using animals for certain manual labour tasks was put to good use in development of important materials and weapons. In conclusion, the reason the Europeans were the first to seize major areas of the world can be summed up in two words. Geographic luck.

| Food Cultures | western and taiwanese differences and similarities

2008-11-16T23:09:00.001-08:00

What affects each food culture?

British food was previously influenced by the Romans and in the medieval times, the French. Many different spices were taken into Great british when different invasions from other countries. Spices such as cinnamon, ginger, pepper, etc. were brought. The tea tradition was adopted from Eastern Asia (China).

What are the similarities or differences between two food cultures in terms of characteristics of cuisine, cooking techniques, the art and etiquette of dining and local snacks?

They both have some kind of special placement for food. They both have a large variety of styles of cooking. For example, they deep fry a lot of food too. The only difference that is really obvious is that chinese foods have more steps in cooking.

What is your reflection?

I don't really have much thought on all this because I'm not really interested in this. I think all this is basically common sense. The thing I did learn was that tea drinking in Europe was brought from Eastern Asia which was pretty interesting.

Fish and chips

Oyster Omelette

reflection on performing at "dong men market (ghost mall)"

2008-11-15T01:56:00.000-08:00

I'll start off this blog entry by stating what exactly we did at "Dong Men Market" that day. Well, after lunch, at around 12:30, we all left for a video shoot at the Dong Men mall. We had already choreographed our dances before hand in the class room, with our locations given. What I mean when I say our locations given is we had all been assigned different sites, such as the escalator, the roof and the alley. Our group was assigned the escalator site, so to prepare for this before hand, we choreographed on the steps in school.

How did the site of DongMen alter the choreography that you created in the classroom?

I'm not sure about the other groups, but I thought our choreography didn't change much

because we already knew that we'd be doing that dance on the escalator so we all practiced

on the steps. It kind of did change our dance a little bit, because the escalator was not as wide

as we thought it was. Also, it was longer than what I imagined. I thought it was really cool,

because it was so old and dirty, it created an extremely eerie feel to it.

Now that you know this site better; If you were to go back to Dongmen what would you add or subtract from your choreography to make it stronger?

After knowing the site, I think it would have certainly been in our advantage to have more people on the escalator. It seemed a bit empty to have only about 6-7 people at the escalator. If we had more people, the part where we piled people up would have looked way better that it does now. I think it'd also look better if we had everyone dressed up in a similar way, whether it's the same clothes, or simply just the same colour. I don't think I would want to subtract anything from our dance piece, but only add to it.

Overall, I thought everyone did an amazing job dancing and filming that day! :) Great effort!

Reflection on Performing, Learning, and Teaching movements :]

2008-11-15T01:40:00.000-08:00

Reflection Questions: Performing, Learning and Teaching Movement

Reflect on your first solo performance in front of the class.

I was extremely nervous and embarrassed when I went on, but after I finished it, I realized it wasn’t that bad at all. It was a good experience and I learnt a lot about other people, and realized everybody’s dance was distinctly different. Each with their own style. It was cool! :)

Reflect on learning another person's Cultural Portrait:

What was helpful to you in learning their piece? What was not? I learnt more about their style and their personality. During dancing their piece I realized that the little things they did were really hard to capture, such as a certain way people walk, etc.

-How did you achieve clear communication?

I’m not really sure how to explain how I achieved clear communication. You really need to see us working together to see if we really did achieve clear communication. From my perspective, I think we did, because we slowed down and explained the moves out to each other rather than just doing the moves and not explaining them.

-How well did you work together?

We worked together pretty well. It was really fun teaching my partner my dance because he had his own distinct dancing style and it was fun watching him put that into my cultural dance.

Reflect on teaching your piece to another person:

-What helped you accomplish your task?

Really slowing down and explaining each move to each other was really helpful. Rather than just speeding through it, we slowed down and taught each move slowly.

-How was the communication?

I think the communication was pretty good between us. It was easy for us to explain the moves to each other.

-What was challenging?

The challenging part was trying to help him memorize my dance and also to lose a bit of his own dancing style and use my characteristic. Because, while he was learning my dance, you could see distinctly his style in my cultural portrait.

Reflect on our choreographic experiences thus far.

-Think about what you have learned that will help you in the future as you continue to choreograph both solo and group pieces. How can what you use what you have learned in this class to help you in other classes and in the future?

I think it’s good that everyone has their own personality, but I don’t think that’s always a good ting during group dances because during group dances, we need to look like 1, joined. But if everyone is different, it’ll look bad. In solo dances, I think it’s brilliant to see everyone’s characteristic distinctly through their dancing. For future reference, I would just remind myself that sometimes its important to show your own dancing style, like in solos, but in group dances, maybe try to have the whole group look like 1.

[BBC news] Africa's Worst War | DR of Congo

2008-11-12T21:23:00.000-08:00

This article is about the horrific wars in Congo. It was stated in the article that there are about 3.3 million people who have been killed in these appalling massacres. Another horrifying fact that has been made from these massacres is that almost every single family in the Democratic Republic of Congo has lost someone in the war, whether its an adult or a child. The IRC (International Rescue Committee) had also stated that only about 10% of these deaths in the massacres were violent deaths. "The IRC said that only about 10% of the victims died violently, with the vast majority dying from starvation and disease due to the activities of the various armed groups operating in the country.", stated the IRC.

Another factor that has kept them from keeping peace in Africa, is the fact that there are ethnic clashes between Lendu and Hema. Therefore, this has always made this will always be a block for peace.

A day after the peace treaty was signed in South Africa, a massacre was reported in Bunia.
"This is really hell. We are not secure, even here . Anything could happen," Emmanuel Ralonji said in Bunia, not far from the scene of the massacres. - Taken from article on BBC news.

I think a lot of people would unintentionally be biased when reading this article. The reason for this is because people tend to feel worse for the people dying before they even understand the real situation. It seems like that's just what people naturally do.

Source:http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/2928127.stm

First prototype in attempt to make an energy bar :)

2008-11-12T20:43:00.000-08:00

FIRST POWER CHARMS MADEEEEE :]

I'd like to start of by basically describing this project, so the people who aren't involved in this project with our class can understand this too. The point of this project was to create energy bar that has a low number of calories, and gives you a lot of energy. It requires a lot of research because we need to realize what kinds of foods are better for the body at what time. For example, we needed to look at what types of foods were better for your muscles before exercise.

For our project, unlike the other groups, we made our energy bar as energy balls. There wasn't really any point of making it as a ball, because it would still have the same amount of nutrition. Our first prototype can be said to be pretty successful. Our ingredients were almost all correct. There were a couple ingredients that needed to be changed because they didn't really fit. What I mean when I say they didn't really fit is that they tasted a bit weird when they were put together. We have to change the type of grain the we are using in the energy bar, because it left a bit of a bad aftertaste when you ate it.

Another thing we had to change was how we coated the ball in chocolate. It seemed like the chocolate got hard again after it melted (while we were still melting it). Therefore, it was really hard to coat it. We have to find another type of chocolate so it would make it easier for us to coat it. We want to make the chocolate smoother when it's melted so we can just dip it in.

Overall, I thought that the first prototype was really successful :)

Next time, we will try to make our "after exercise" energy "balls". :)

Obama: "Change has come to US"

2008-11-09T01:34:00.000-08:00

This article is an article written by "Sky News". It is an article talking about Obama's victory in running for the presidential election. In this article, it quotes many parts of Obama's victory speech. Not only does this article talk about Obama's victory, it also talks about McCain's failure and how he felt about that. This article talks about some things that happened on the day of Obama's victory speech. For example, Mr. Bush had made phone calls to both McCain and Obama. To Obama, he congratulated and promised a smooth transition in January, when Obama takes over the position. To McCain, Mr Bush stated that he was proud of McCain for giving it his all. Also, that he was sorry it didn't work out for him.

The significance of this article was basically to explain what has happened in the United States with the elections.

I don't think there was any bias detected while reading this article. Once again, the writer seemed to keep his writing as neutral and as accurate as possible.

SOURCE: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20081105/twl-obama-change-has-come-to-us-3fd0ae9.htm

Money Laundering Scandal Of Taiwan With Previous President.

2008-11-02T19:16:00.001-08:00

This article about the money laundering scandal in Taiwan. The former president was accused of taking the country’s money and storing in personal bank accounts both in and outside of Taiwan. It is a scandal that the former president Chen Shui Bian has started. Previously, Chen’s son and daughter in law had arrived back in Taiwan stating the they were in no way part of the money laundering scandal that is occurring in their family. Later on, Chen admitted that his wife, Wu Shu Chen had wired $20 abroad. Later on, when confiscated by the media, Chen’s son and daughter in law admit that they had done exactly what Wu Shu Chen had asked them to do with the money and did not ask questions. It was said that this money that was wired was the leftover money from political campaign donations. This scandal had not only shocked the public, but also made the public outraged.

The significance of this article is to describe in detail what had happened with the scandal and also what different members involved in this scandal have to say about it.

I don’t think there is any bias in this article, because it does not include any personal opinions and does not write strongly for one side. It keeps the situation as neutral as possible and as accurate as possible.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/WireStory?id=5645801&page=2

Reflection of Bizarre foods of Taiwan

2008-10-26T23:59:00.000-07:00

In Taiwan Social Studies class, we watched a couple videos on the bizarre foods of Taiwan.

I don't really know what to say about these videos. Some of the food the this guy has eaten, I haven't even tried before. I've never even thought of trying it, and I've been living on the island all my life.

He tried bizarre foods like the goose tongues and goose heads. I've seen people eat them but I've never tried it myself. I still probably won't try it even after watching the video. I don't think anyone can say anything to make me eat that. You could call me narrow minded, but I'm pretty sure it takes some serious guts to eat that kind of thing.

Another thing I thought was extremely foul was the chicken testicles. There were 2 kinds of testicles that he ate. One was black and the other one was white. Again, I would never dream of eating that kind of thing. I, personally think it's foul and sick. Like I had said previously, I think it would take some serious guts to eat these chicken testicles.

Another thing that he said was really good was the oyster omelette, and I had tried that before. I thought it was pretty good. I think it makes eating it partially better when you don't know what's in it. For example, I'm not really sure what the glutinous and chewy stuff is on the omelette, but I still eat it.

He ate stuff like chicken uterus, chicken butt, and chicken testicles. He also ate stuff like solidified blood, intestines, etc.

Overall, I thought the stuff he ate was pretty nasty

Continuation for "Is a car living?" debate.

2008-10-02T06:06:00.000-07:00

I think that the car is not living, essentially because it does not fit into the evolution of life. The car, is actually a creation from the human beings. So, people on the opposing team could picture this as a brach off from the humans. But, the evolution of life as we know it, evolves on its own. Yet the car on the other hand, needs us to change it. Humans are actually the ones making the car better, filling its flaws. Therefore, the car is being more mutated rather than evolving on its own (it sounds more clear when explained verbally).

Also, there was a slight debate about whether or not all living things must consist of cells. I say yes, all living things must consist of cells. The opposing team had stated that a virus, is not a cell, yet it is living. The problem with this statement, is that there is not yet a definite answer as to whether or not a virus is living or not. It lives on other living things, but that does not necessarily mean that it is a living thing itself.

Also, one of the 6 characteristics of living organisms was to be able to respond to stimuli. Yes, I agree that a car can response to some stimuli to some extent. For example, letting the alarms go off when damaged. But, I don't think that is essentially what "response to stimuli" means. I think to be able to respond to stimuli means that you are able to be aware of both internal and external changes are occurring and are able to adapt to these changes. I personally don't think that if a car's windows were being broken consistently that it would adapt a super strong piece of glass on its own. Even if it were to get better, it would be entirely a human's responsibility to develop that super strong piece of glass.

Another statement that the opposing team had, was that cars did have some sort of reproduction. As we know, there are only two kinds of reproduction, sexual and asexual. As we stated this fact, the other team argued back that cars did have DNA and were able to reproduce in the help of human beings. DNA, as we know, can not be made. Every single strand of DNA is different. The opposing team stated that the blue prints of the car were essentially its DNA. But, to prove this wrong, we argued back that humans had created this blue print, and designers designed the cars. Also, the opposing team explained how the car was reproducing in the help of humans. They gave an example of a bee helping with pollination. But that is a complete different situation, because the bee is actually helping pollinate these flowers. Not constructing them like humans were in factories. Last time we all checked, bees did not make flowers like humans made cars.

Biology '08 9/25

2008-09-25T05:02:00.000-07:00

What is the "rule" for living things?

I think the fundamental truth for all living things is that they must be made of cells. Also, I think a living organism must be able to metabolize its own food, and it must be able to reproduce. I think that a living thing must also be able to adapt to its environment. For example, if a cup were living, it would be consisted of cells, which it is not. It would be able to reproduce, which it can not. Therefore, these fundamental truths state and prove that a cup is not living.

string theory - my opinion

2008-05-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

I personally am not an expert at this, but Mr. Loken wanted us to propose our feelings and our opinions on the string theory. As I said, I do not know a whole lot about the string theory but my sense is that the string theory isn't real. As one of the people said in the "The Elegant Universe" movie, if this can't be proved like all the other theories can, then it's just a philosophy. I don't think it is possible to have everything in the universe made of vibrating strands of energy.

Although, I do think it's extremely fascinating how this theory works. Teeny tiny little strings making EVERYTHING in this universe. Every little thing we know being made up of small vibrating strands of energy.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

2008-04-16T23:35:00.000-07:00

This is a dystopian or utopian novel that we read in Language Arts class. This novel starts out by introducing how Jonas, the main character, was feeling. He needed to go home and share his feelings with his family about his day. It also introduces the idea of being release. In this novel, there are several ceremonies for children reaching certain ages and once they reach that certain age, they receive certain items representing their responsibility and independence. In this community, there is no colour, no music, and basically, no real feelings. For example, in this community, there are absolutely no cars, therefore the only transportation tool they had was a bicycle. Once the children reached the age of 9, children would be able to receive their own bicycles, meaning they could be able to go where they wanted to. Finally, at the ceremony of 12s, the kids are assigned jobs. Jonas received the assignment of the Receiver. This was an extremely important job, because this job was to carry all the memories from the Giver. The Giver is the person who really carries all these memories of pain, happiness, love, etc... The Receiver's job was to carry these memories, once the Giver was tired and old. Jonas's first memory was the memory was racing down a hill of snow, on a sleigh. His first real memory of pain was sunburn. The Giver decided to give him that as the first memory, because he knew there would be more pain and more painful things coming to him in the end. One day, Jonas had asked the Giver what exactly release was. His father was a nurturer and had often release children. The Giver sadly showed him the videos that had been taken from the room where they "released" people. Jonas found out, his father was no better than a murderer. I think the reason his father could kill these babies so easily was because he had no real love, no real emotion in him that was stopping him. Jonas got really upset at that and found out his friend, Fiona was being trained to release people. She was only 12 years old, and was being trained to kill infants. When these people that carry memories run away, out of the community, they release the memories that they had. They can also transmit memories to other people.
One day, Jonas couldn't take it anymore and wanted all these "fake" people to be able to feel emotions, real anger, or love. He wanted these people to have these memories he had. Gabriel (Gabe) was Jonas's baby sister (not really, she was brought back from the nurturing centre). Jonas took Gabe with him, packed food for a week or so, and left on his bike. He made sure nobody, but the Giver knew about his plan. They managed to escape, but they had people searching for them for days. Outside of the community, was where they really experienced heat, snow, and fear. They had been riding for days, in the cold snow. Gabe was extremely cold, so Jonas transmitted some heat to Gabe to keep her warm. They went up a snow hill and saw there was a sleigh waiting for him. It was just like the one he had seen, in the first memory given to him. They went on the sleigh and they slid down the hill. As they slid down the hill, Jonas saw in the distance, a house with christmas lights, with warm lights shining from the windows, and a family, just the the one he had seen in his memory of love.

Could he just have been hallucinating when he saw this image?

Or was it the real image, that he had found the "real" world?

My response to the dilemma of The Giver's ending, is that Jonas had had an image just before his death. I say this, because the memory of love seemed to be the one that was carved in his head, the one that was embedded in his memory. Most of all, it was a feeling he had never felt before, the feeling of being loved. I say this because already, it seems a little bit weird how there is already a sleigh at the top of this hill, waiting for him. That was one memory he had first had. As he rides down the hill, I think he suddenly had a image of the best memory that he had ever received, love. Just before his death, he seemed to have a quick flash back of the memories that were most meaningful to him. Jonas said he had heard the people in this house singing. This book seems to have lots of christian symbolism in it, so I think the author might have wanted us to interpret these voices as the voices of angels singing. It could have symbolized angels taking Jonas and Gabe to heaven.

Vilayanur Ramachandran - TED talk response.

2008-04-15T07:07:00.000-07:00

I thought it was extremely fascinating how the phantom limb worked. Vilayanur Ramachandran had explained to the audience in the TED talk, that the phantom limb was a body part that was extracted from the body, yet the patient could still feel it’s presence. For example, a man had his arm severed over 10 years ago, yet he could still feel it there, he could still feel the pain in his arm, his clenching fist. Now think, how could that be possible? It’s not connected to the body in any way. It shouldn’t have any feelings because there are absolutely no nerves connected to the body anymore. Can you believe that?! Half of these patients say that they can still move their phantom limb, but the other half say that they can still feel the pain, they say that it’s paralyzed. Usually, with those who can still feel the pain, the reason for that was because they had their limb severed to get rid of the pain, but after that, he gets a phantom limb with the same pain! Vilayanur Ramachandran created a way to get rid of this pain. He called this the mirror box. What this was was a cardboard box with a mirror in the middle. The man puts his phantom limb in one side, and the real limb in the other side. What happens is, Vilayanur Ramachandran tells his patient to look at the mirror, while making a gesture with his fingers. Obviously, the mirror is going to show what you are doing with your real fingers, but the patient thinks that the phantom limb is alive again. This relieves his pain!

Another thing Vilayanur Ramachandran talked about was the Capgras delusion. The Capgras delusion is when a man/woman is perfectly fine, perfectly sane, but looks at his mother (or anyone else) and can not recognize them. They can recognize voices, but can not recognize visuals. For example, he could look at his dog, and think, “hey! that looks like my dog, but it isn’t!”. Why does this happen? Vilayanur Ramachandran said that normally, visual signals comes in and go to the visual areas in the brain, then after processing all of that, it goes to a part of your brain that is called the fusiform gyrus. The fusiform gyrus is basically where the brain can process faces. Then it goes down the autonomic nervous system, which triggers your heart to start pumping faster. What could have happened is that this man/woman has accidentally cut this nervous system. So, he can still recognize the face but he will think, “hey, if this is my mother, why don’t I feel a warmth, or fear in her?”. So, that was what Vilayanur Ramachandran said his idea was behind this mystery.

I thought his ideas were extremely fascinating, how people are almost all synesthetic, but we're just in denial about it. For example, Vilayanur Ramachandran showed a picture of a blob, with round edges, and another with sharp edges. He said, one of them was kiki, the other one was buba. As soon as we see those to pictures, we automatically think, kiki is the sharp one. I thought that was extremely amazing, how humans make that connection immediately when they see that, except for those who are mutants.

here is the link to the TED talk... see what you think :)

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/184

engagement evaluation :|

2008-04-13T07:03:00.000-07:00

community contributor

I think for community contributor I deserve a 1.5 because even though people don't always choose to ask my questions about physics, when they do, I always try to help them. For example, in class I usually work with either Auggie or Jenai. Most of the time, they understand the information before I do, but when I get it first, I always try to explain it to them. For instance, while we were working on more motion problems, Artie was asking my questions about how to do those questions. I helped him translate the words he didn't understand and explain to him which equation to use. I don't always participate in class discussions, but I do participate when I'm in smaller groups.

active learner

I think I deserve a 2 for active learner, because almost all the time, I am focused in class. I think I deserve this, because I was always trying to improve my grade. I kept redoing my assignments that were green or red, to get them to a blue. I tend to get frustrated and easily confuse myself when it comes to a problem I don't understand, but that pushes me to get the answer. That's why I don't give up really easily on problems. I get motivated if I can't find the answer to a problem. The bad thing about this, is I get annoyed when people talk to me or ask me questions while I'm working on a problem I don't understand. So, that pulls my community contributor grade down a little bit.

effective communicator

I think I deserve a 1 for Effective Communicator, because I don't really know how to explain something I'm not confident on. Physics, is something I am not confident on because I don't know a lot about it, and I am still improving. I also tend to give up easily on explaining something I'm not interested in to other people. On the other hand, if I explain something I like to other people, I keep trying until they understand it.

person of high character

I would give myself a 2 for person of high character, because even if I am not focused, I won't distract other people. When I am not completely focused in class, I'm usually off in my own world, but that hardly ever happens in physics class, because it's still early in the morning, so I don't get tired yet.

critical thinker/problem solver

If I had to say, I would give myself a 1.5 for this section, because it usually takes me a while to think about something from a different angle. For example, while we were doing the challenge problem, it took me a while to get to which equation we should use. I kept on thinking about how to get the final position, but I didn't realize that we needed to find a lot of other things until Jenai mentioned it. For instance, we needed to find the time using the speed we calculated using the photogates. I protested in the beginning as to why we needed to find the time, then Jenai explained and I understood. After that, then I started to think out side of the box.

first blogggggg! :)

2008-03-12T20:19:00.000-07:00

This is my first officiallll bloggggggggggggg ~~ ooooo so nervous!! :)

I don't really know what I should say...

Here's just some of the stuff we did this year, and I'll update you peeps laterrrr :)

We studied various graphs this year such as acceleration vs. time graphs, or velocity vs. time graphs. We used motion detectors to help us understand when the graph accelerates or where to stand to match a certain graph.