5 things learned at the symposium

When I made my way to the symposium I made it there just in time to catch one poster because all the others were being taken down. However it was John's so I learned a lot
1. Over the summer John worked with a professor studying Differential Photometry ( Studying light from different asteroids.)
2. John told me he learned that you can view asteroids with astronomy not just the stars.
3. Also you can see changes in the universe through studying the light things give off
4. When studying the asteroids 10 Hygiea and 9 Metis, they used a CCD camera in Australia to make their observations.( I assume they used it through online usage)
5. The rotation periods of 10 Hygiea and 9 Metis were 26.9 hours and 5.6 hours respectively, they discovered this by using a method called Fourier transforms.
They also observed signal noise, which they measure through the amount of light that the asteroid gives off per rotation.
Also I got a nice little picture of our wonderful classmate John

Essay 4 Progression

Thus far on the final essay of the semester I have made some progress but not as much as I would have liked up to this point. I have done most of my research on my topic, gathering a well rounded group of sources to help back my thesis statement. Also I have finished the opening paragraph which I feel draw's the reader in and clearly states my thesis. The rest of the paper however is not in the works yet. My motivation level to write the paper has been low but hopefully I can watch  some college basketball and get the ball rolling. I need another source on the history of March madness ( year it started, possibly number of views each year etc. ) and that will make the paper really get going because i'll give the basic history and also the basic rules of the selection process of March Madness. Hopefully I can get the paper really started soon and will have a great draft ready for class on Wednesday.

This is How We Live

First of all, I want to say  I really enjoyed this article. Ellen Degeneres really captures the problems we create by trying to make things "simpler". I really agree that things we create are sometimes made for lazy reasons or just seem pointless. However, not all technology is like that, some things are very useful and not pointless. The examples she uses however ( powerbars, moving sidewalk, CD packaging) all seem very useless and either create more of a struggle or are just people being lazy. Who can't walk the extra distances that moving sidewalks  span across? Are we really that lazy as a community that we need to stand still and let the ground move us to our next destination? Ellen makes great points and I really agree with her, also it was extremely funny!

Pearls before Breakfast

After reading Pearls before Breakfast, I really had to ponder if I would have stopped myself to listen to Joshua Bell. After some thought i feel I would of only because my mother played a lot of classical music and I was in a very musical house so I think i would of stopped to see this brilliant man at work. After thinking about that, I wondered how so many people could go by without even acknowledging such great music. Easily someone could tell that this was quality music so not even turning to look at Joshua? I was in shock that this really happened. Are people really that busy and in a rush to not stop for at least one minute to watch this man at work and give him something?(even though he really doesn't need it.) I ask this, do you think that you would of stopped to listen to him or just been another passer by? Something to ponder over.

Progression on Community Project

Thus far on my community project I went to Plymouth South to observe the traveling fan base at the game, this past friday I went to marshfield in hopes there would be a big sample of both parents and students to get more notes. Luckily there was a big following up to the game and the rain wasn't a huge affect because it stayed off during the game. I got a lot on how kids dressed for the conditions compared to parents, and also how they spoke to one another and also how they cheered. It was a great game so i got distracted but i got a ton of information that will help on my paper. I also got a quote about burning down marshfield which made me laugh. All in all it was a productive game.

Community Project Progression

Working on my project so far has actually been quite successful. I have decided that I want to observe the community of the traveling fans of the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High school football team. The team this year is in the top 5 of the state and has a very dedicated fan base. I myself use to be apart of this fan base but never really observed and saw the differences in the parents and the students. So far, I went to the D-Y vs Plymouth North football game and sat 20 minutes in the parents section and then 20 minutes in the student section, I got a good amount of notes but the biggest game of the year is coming up and I am going to go and do more observing. This has been a great experience so far, I really get a better feel for how people react to the game and the differences in dedication the parents show compared to the students. It should be interesting to see this turn out at the next game

Myspace Outrage 10/7

 After reading Myspace Outrage by The Onion, I was bursting out in laughter at how real the article seemed and how this actually could of been a real article because that's how some people react about it. Social networking sites have become such a big part of society people have become very attached. The Onion has captured this in a comical sense by making fun of how people would react with this type of " disaster". My favorite part was how they talked about fake Red Cross relief sites made for people who couldn't bare without myspace. I feel the Onion captured perfectly in the direction our society is headed as a whole and also made one of the funniest articles I have read in some time.

It Takes a Tribe

 In David Berreby's It Takes a Tribe I found it very interesting on the many different mentalities that humans have when becoming part of a "tribe". The author made a very good point when he states people try to group themselves in the "us" and "them" categories based on where they choose to go to school and even as low as between a small difference in majors. I very much agree with what David is saying because as humans, we want to feel accepted and part of something. We do this by joining groups, clubs, teams, or even as simple as living in the same area as someone. We try to distinguish who we are as people by what groups we are in, and David Berreby shows many examples of this. However, I don't feel everyone acts like this and that we can make decisions on where we want to be, not how others make us act.

Ideas for collage

I think a list of possible ideas for my collage could be

1. Family
2. Basketball
3. My Gym family ( One condition training center) worked there and spent most every day there

Those are the 3 major ideas i could have because they have made the biggest impact in my life thus far.