Friday, February 20, 2009

ol

>My Thought:

I was thinking if Google Books was an actual library I would be a VERY happy man!
____________________________________________________________

Anecdote:

Leroy Robert Paige (1904-82) US baseball player:
One night Paige was pitching for the Kansas City Monarchs against the Lynn Frasers. At one point in the game he asked all his outfielders to leave the field, upon which he casually struck out all three batters to finish the inning!

______________________________________________________________

Poem:
Time
Time passes by on swiftly silent feet,
Or drifts, unnoticed, fraught with deep content;
The happiest moment seems the one most fleet,
But, burdened, marches slowly, shoulders bent.

Time, in each guise, relentless, presses on;
Adversity, in tow, may lead success;
Night may be parent to a shining dawn,
And gloomy fragments presage happiness!

Top 5 WEB 2.0 SITES I Found:


1. seeqpod: A Google like search engine to find podcast! I did some hefty searches and all pulled up some decent results! Granted I still think the site needs to iron out some glitches and add some features!


2. Roxer: A cool 'on da spot' website builder! While still beta it offers a beginner an awesome live drag and drop interface! With all that they offer free hosting and paid hosting if ya don't want the limitations!

3. last.fm: Ok another music site, but, this one has all the features you could ever want or need! It allows you you to build, save, and then stream your own playlist.

4. Comic Sketch: A cool site to draw, r
ead, or even just watch people draw comics!

5. GO2WEB20: A cool website to find even more websites!

_____________________________________________________________

Cool Project:

No project this time, but a cool website! Hack-N-Mod is a cool directory of projects people have built! This site also has hundreds of links to different sites and resources.

______________________________________________________________

Though My Window:

Don't forget to send me your window!

______________________________________________________________

Funny Pictures:

Can you be more hated?? Phew, hope he doesn't have bad foot odor!

Do you have dirty floors?Did your baby just start crawling? Then your in luck! For only 18 easy payments of 95.95 turn your baby into your own personal mopper and kiss those dirty floors goodbye!


Wednesday, February 18, 2009

My Thought:
What makes you who you are? Is it what you feel, or think inside? What you consider your self worth? Or is it how other people label you? What stereotype you fall under?

The mind works by stereotypes. The brain does not have the time to organize and completely analyze things, and for this it stereotypes objects. Depending on factors such as self-esteem, morals, or social status, emotional markers (or a persons “status”) corresponds directly to how the brain stereotypes incoming information. So instead of “seeing” a person with black cloths an makeup our brain automatically puts him under a group called “goth” or “emo”. Depending on what a person's “status” is, dictates how this person may feel towards the other person.

Will this feeling be hostile, indifferent, or contentment? It all corresponds to the emotional markers a person has made for this stereotype. For example if a child only sees disgust shown by authorities of influence (parents, television, friends) emotional markers of this feeling will be made. These emotional markers are like “quick references” so a person does not actually have to “feel” (which involves far to much time) a response instead a “fake” emotion is produced. If the majority of a persons markers are of “disgust” he feels disgusted, or if the majority is of “contentment” then he is content and etc. etc.

The above example of the apple is very good. If the person has been brought up around an environment full of signs of disgust and/or hostility towards fruit, exponentially against apples then this person has “learned” that particular stereotype for apples. Now, later on if this built in stereotype can be overcome this person may actually find the apple very enjoyable!

But what happens when this stereotype is overcome and the person is put in the same environment that promotes his original markers? If he has not produced enough “enjoyable” markers than even if he knows its wrong he will most likely regress back to his original stereotype. This regression is caused largely by survival instinct of “belong or die”. We all want to be accepted by our peers in someway or another, and so will lapse in what they “know” and what they “learned”. It takes a person of admirable quality to stand when survival instinct says sit. People who dare to break their stereotypes and say no, this is wrong, or even just decides to change are true heroes in todays society. For many do not have the strength to forgo such adversity.

_____________________________________________________________________
Anecdote:

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Austrian psychiatrist, founder of modern psychoanalysis.
Cigar smoking is often thought as a symbolic activity, the cigar itself frequently interpreted as a phallic symbol or emblem of masculinity. Freud himself was a inveterate smoker of cigars. One day a student asked him if a cigar had any particular meaning to him. Freud thought a while and finally answers with a puff of smoke; “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.”

____________________________________________________________________

Someone:
Lucien Fabre (1889-1952):
The French author of Rabevel and critic of Einsteins theory of relativity.

____________________________________________________________________

Cool Mobile Site:
I'm on a website Fotochatter a lot! I have met some cool people and freaky people but its a cool mobile site to hit up when your bored and on the go!
____________________________________________________________________

Go Green!
Or at least a little closer anyway!
Where does most electricity go in the average American household? Lights, idle appliances, and hot water! What to do what to do?? First off loose yesteryear's incandescent light bulbs! When first introduced in the mid-90s compact florescent lights had major drawbacks! Not quite producing a true white, short life span and lack of quality standards! Oh and don't forget the 20 dollar price tag for ONE! Now, however, prices have dropped dramatically, quality is not an issue, lifespan is close to 3 years, and they produce as good/better color than incandescent bulbs. Average annual savings for replacing a 60 watt bulb with a 30 watt florescent equivalent is close to fifty dollars! Times that by the average American home of 8 bulbs?? FOUR HUNDRED dollars! Think about the amount of coal that saves per year for replacing just one?? THat close to a half ton of coal a year or one car for a month!

Now what about that water heater? There are many options! first you can insulate your heating tank and your water pipes to prevent the heat from escaping! Second, you can turn down the thermostat a few degrees saving you around 30 dollars a month (360 dollars on average every year) The next option is to buy a tank less water heater that heats water as you need it! Or you could DIY a solar water heater!


What about those appliances draining your electricity? There are adapter that can limit and/or eliminate ghost drain! While a problem it won't save you or the planet very much each month.

Even with the money barrier of solar panels you should look into it as an option! There are many competitive companies looking for business! While this is true the initial cost of a BASIC system can range past 10000 dollars! A cool alternative is that you and a friend can DIY a solar project and hire your local electrician to hook it up for you (safty be first!!)


Here are the probable savings you could get:
Part Origin Cost

Solar Cells Ebay $74.00*
Misc. Lumber Homecenter Store $20.62
Plexiglass Scrap Pile $0.00
Screws & Misc. Hardware Already on hand $0.00
Silicone Caulk Homecenter Store $3.95
Wire Already on hand $0.00
Diode Ebay $0.20+
Jones Plug Newark Electronics $6.08
Paint Already on hand $0.00


Total $104.85

With something like this the main costs of your own system can be chopped down to two thousand! In addition to tax breaks you could have a dirt cheap system in no time!

____________________________________________________________________
A TOTALLY DO NOT TRY AT HOME PROJECT:
JUNKYARD JET
THIS LOOKS TOTALLY GNARLY HAHA!