Writing tips

Writing is something that I feel like I am not very good at, and I have a lot of anxiety whenever I have an assignment or paper that I have to write is due so I spend a huge amount of time procrastinating and not getting any work done. I stumbled across these tips and thought they were a good idea.
here were a few bullet points from the link

• Write before you feel ready — because you might never feel ready. It's amazing how people magically feel ready when there is an imminent deadline.
• Don't wait to have a clear picture of the paper. As you start putting down your ideas, you may actually clarify them.
• Snack write — work in short, frequent bursts instead of waiting to sit down for big blocks of time. Those blocks hardly ever come, and when they do, they don't usually get used very productively.
• Set specific times in your schedule for writing — don't leave it to chance, because chances are it won't happen.
• Writing means putting new words on the page or substantially rewriting old words. It does not mean editing, reading, referencing or formatting — and it definitely does not mean composing e-mails.
• If you refrain from writing because you worry that what you write won't be good enough, try noting the adage that to write well, you first have to write.
• To really increase the quality and quantity of your writing, get feedback from mentors and colleagues — it can be painful, but it works. 

I think points 1 and 2 are the most helpful for me to remember next time I have an important paper to write. But I also think blogging more would help with my anxiety with writing because I think with blogging as a platform it is much less formal, leading me to worry less about formatting or word selection as much as writing a paper would

Genetics

So here is the deal, my genetics course is tough! so I thought hey why don't I start a study group?

so I did... 

and little did I know that thirty two people would sign up! I totally did not even expect that! I don't even know where to start on how to plan and organize a meeting for so many people.

and you know what is even worse? I don't even feel like I have a solid grasp of all the material we are covering, so how am I supposed to lead a study group! When I first thought about starting this I thought I would get like ten people max, and half of the people crap on on stuff like that so I thought I was only looking at a group of 5 people or so that I could talk stuff over with. but now I have 32 people I gotta worry about now half of that is 16!

I do not want to cater to these peoples expectations.

not what I signed up for

Electronics Projects Phase II

So I feel like I have been really busy with things lately and have not had as much time as I would have like to devote to electronics stuff, I mean between school, work, keeping up with friends, who has time!? It is sometimes frustrating and kinda sad that I don't make the time for the things that I would like to do like blogging or playing guitar or throwing pots or all the other sort of things I loved to do but for whatever reason haven't made the time. One of the barriers I think I have run into is the fact that when I sit down to do something on my spare time after school or work I tend to be somewhat mentally drained. This makes it hard for me to sit down and devote mental energy to a project so I end up surfing the net or end up doing other mind numbing activities.

But lately I have been imagining up some projects that I really want to do.

The first one that I would like to try and tackle involves my bike and some cool material called electroluminescent wire, which from what I have looked at is a neat material that has a lot of potential for some interesting projects. What electroluminescent wire or EL wire allows you to do is have a thin, flexible, light emitting wire that gives off a cool light effect. What I would like to do is mount some EL wire on my bike and pair the EL wire with another cool component called a Hall Effect sensor which is a sensor that detects the presence of a magnetic field and will subsequently vary an output voltage essentially, acting like a switch. Interestingly Hall Effect sensors play an unseen but major role in the timing of internal combustion engines. Hall Effect sensors are also used on bike computers and allow you to measure your speed and distance while on a bike.
So how I envision this whole project to work involves:

1. getting the EL wire mounted on the bike with the proper voltage and connections
2. using the Hall Effect sensors to activate the EL wire as I move.

to give you a better picture for how this works I whipped up something in paint real quick.

here we see the EL wire mounted on the bike in three individual sections. One on the fork and down tube, another on the top tube and seat post, with yet another on the seat and chain stay (colors are just used to differentiate between each section of EL wire, I am thinking of having all the sections be one color). I would like to have each section of EL wire to be independent of each other with each section linked with its own Hall Effect sensor on the fork (independent as to its ability to be activated, not powered). The small colored circles on the wheel represent the magnets needed to activate the Hall Effect sensor which are mounted on the fork which are represented with dashes. 

By having each section independent of each other it will allow each section to respond to my speed, with each section lighting up after the other one as the magnets on the wheel trip the sensor on the fork.

The other project I would like to try out is building a FM transmitter with a modest amount of power. as posted earlier, I like the idea of starting my own radio station. I don't know how serious I am about actually broadcasting on a regular basis, I just like the idea of learning and building my own radio station.

But to even get started on some of the steps in these projects I feel like I need to learn a lot more and I don't know where I can get the hands on practice and theory I need to get these going. I know there are a ton of resources online or at the library, I would just like to have access to have someone guide me along a bit and teach me. 

But alas I don't think that will happen so I should just go for it and quit worrying about screwing something up! 

the name Caesar, pronounced see-zer in English, was pronounced kai-sahr in Classical Latin, think of German with their kaiser.
This title was adopted to invoke the glory of classical Rome and in fact was not even a title till after Julius Ceasers reign ended

71% of national debt happened during GOP presidencies; 28% under Dem presidents

GOP Presidents Dem Presidents
$9.5 trillion           $3.8 trillion

Total debt is $14.3 trillion.
$1 trillion of debt comes from before Reagan (NYT doesn't make clear who created that debt).
$13.3 trillion accumulated from Reagan to Obama.

71% of the $13.3 trillion was under GOP presidents.
28% of the $13.3 trillion was under Dem presidents.

(Source: NYT pieced together data from Treasury, OMB, Federal Reserve Bank of NY, and more)

It should also be mentioned that the dems are not always the best, they are not "pure as the driven snow" and have their fair share of blame. it is just interesting to note how the GOP has become the party of "strong fiscal policy" when I have a hard time seeing that through.

Flying over planet Earth

A time-lapse taken from the front of the International Space Station as it orbits our planet at night. This movie begins over the Pacific Ocean and continues over North and South America before entering daylight near Antarctica. Visible cities, countries and landmarks include (in order) Vancouver Island, Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Fransisco, Los Angeles. Phoenix. Multiple cities in Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. Mexico City, the Gulf of Mexico, the Yucatan Peninsula, Lightning in the Pacific Ocean, Guatemala, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and the Amazon. Also visible is the earths ionosphere (thin yellow line) and the stars of our galaxy.

Why the U.S. was downgraded

Why the U.S. was downgraded:
• U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
• Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
• New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
• National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
• Recent budget cut: $ 38,500,000,000

Let's remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:

• Annual family income: $21,700
• Money the family spent: $38,200
• New debt on the credit card: $16,500
• Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
• Total budget cuts: $385

Living within your means: if you can't afford to buy something twice then you can't afford to buy it