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T.C.K's: Song analysis.

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Another summer day 
Has come and gone away 
In Paris and Rome 
But I wanna go home 
Mmmmmmmm 

Maybe surrounded by 
A million people I 
Still feel all alone 
I just wanna go home 
Oh I miss you, you know 

And I’ve been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you 
Each one a line or two 
“I’m fine baby, how are you?” 
Well I would send them but I know that it’s just not enough 
My words were cold and flat 
And you deserve more than that 

Another aeroplane 
Another sunny place 
I’m lucky I know 
But I wanna go home 
Mmmm, I’ve got to go home 

Let me go home 
I’m just too far from where you are 
I wanna come home 

And I feel just like I’m living someone else’s life 
It’s like I just stepped outside 
When everything was going right 
And I know just why you could not 
Come along with me 
But this was not your dream 
But you always believed in me 

Another winter day has come 
And gone away 
And even Paris and Rome 
And I wanna go home 
Let me go home 

And I’m surrounded by 
A million people I 
Still feel alone 
Oh, let me go home 
Oh, I miss you, you know 

Let me go home 
I’ve had my run 
Baby, I’m done 
I gotta go home 
Let me go home 
It will all be allright 
I’ll be home tonight 
I’m coming back home

This song shows, under my point of view, what is to be a 

third culture kid. this, because it mentions traveling through 

many places and cities, and taking many planes. in other 

words, it shows us a situation of constant journey. The lyrics 

of the song shows us how someone who is somewhere 

away from home doesn't feel like local, but he feels like a 

foreigner. This is just the way many thisrd culture kids feel, 

because they live in many countries that are not his home.  

T.C.K's

Punk for a month: Activity!


1-The way someone looks like tells us something about that person, what he likes, whathe is aiming to, etc. I said "something" because in many times, a person doesn't wears what he actually likes, but what the others use. We can still judge people based on how they look like, for our protection. For example, when we see someone suspicious walking next to us during nigh time.

2- She was expecting them to reject her. In some way, we might even think she wanted her friends to leave her alone. This, because she arrives to the table with an agressive attitude, and she never explains why she did what she did. Maybe she should have told her friend the reasons that pushed her into the decision she took, and she should have also asked her friends for comprehension, instead of walking away without saying anything about her change.

3-I can imagine that when she changes to the what she was in the past and stop being a punk, those new friends she made are going to reject Julie, just the way her old friends did when she turned punk. 

4-I think she changes interiorly. We can see she is now more self-confident, and she feels that now she is important to others. Before turning punk, she used to think she wasn't nobody in society, but after she turned punk, she feels that everyone knows who she is, and that she is now important, that she is now someone, as she said. This shows us that changing something as simple as the way you dress actually changes the way you are. Under my point of view, this is because you are changing into what you like, into what you really like, who you really are.

Personal response: Surrogacy in India


“The Akanksha clinic is at the forefront of India’s booming trade in so-called reproductive tourism — foreigners coming to the country for infertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization. The clinic’s main draw, however, is its success using local women to have foreigners’ babies. Surrogacy costs about $12,000 in India, including all medical expenses and the surrogate’s fee. In the U.S., the same procedure can cost up to $70,000.”


We have seen how technology and science, all around the world, have improved during the past years, and we can clearly see how it keeps moving forward into things we probably weren't able to even imagine just a few years ago. But, what do I mean when I say sience and technology is moving forwrd? Sience is giving us now solutions to problems that have been around mankind since the beginning, such as deseases, food issues, or other problems that a person might need to solve during a normal day. Now, what we see in this  quote is the case of surrogancy in india, i mean, women who "borrow" their body to fertilize and crate a baby. This child will be given to couples that can't have children because of natural conditions. Under my point of view, this is simply wrong. Mainly because you turn women into a useful "thing" (eventhough they are volunteers).  Those women no longer have children for their one,  instead they are being used to create life and then give it to someone else. i believe this is completely wrong and unethical. I would also like to add that, because this is a paid process, surrogacy mothers are actually selling their bodies, and their babies, that, eventhough they come from an unknown father, those cildren are still their sons.

Individual oral activity!

Individual oral activity here!

Robot "Triple H": Home Helper for Handicapped !

What problem or challenge does the robot solve?

There are many people that lives in a handicapped situation. Many of this people would like and enjoy to live by their own, just like a normal person would do. This is what our robot is for. It is basically a home helping robot, that will allow people with physical disabilities to live on their own, without the cost of a nanny or a nurse.

What are some of the functions you will program your robot to carry out?

Basically, the robot will order the house, putting everything back on its place. The robot can also bring things to the owner, things that the user can't reach.

What materials will it be made out of? Why?

It will be made out of light metals, like aluminum. It will also have plastic parts. This in order to have not a noisy and heavy robot, but a light and stealthy one.

How will the robot sense its surroundings?

The robot will count with a variety of sensors in order to know where he is. It will also have scaners, so it can recognize what he needs to grab and where to put it. Cameras similar to the kinect cameras are used to have a better and more detailed view of where he is moving through.

How will it move and respond to the environment?

As I said before, the idea is to create a robot that doesn't invade the owner's house. Because of this, the robot will try to avoid crushing with persons, and when it is not ordered to work, the robot will turn into a stand-by mode.

How or why is a robot better equipped to handle this challenge than a human?
I'm not sure if it is better equiped. The advantages are that this robot works all week and doesn't need rest, or food. Other advantage is that hiring a person to help handicapped people implies money, but with this robot, you only pay at first (the price of the robot). On the other hand, this robot doesn't cook, so the owner will have to hire a nanny, but just to cook, and not during all day.

What specific functions will the robot carry out? What components will the robot include that help it carry out these tasks?

As I mentioned, the robot's main function is to order the house and bring things that the user asks for. In order to do this, the robot counts with omnidirectional wheels, and four folding arms that grab carefully what the owner asks for. It was a huge memory, in order to learn everything that's in the house, and where to put it or find it. There is also an application for smartphones that allows the user to select something he wants, and the robot will go and bring it to him.

What will the robot look like? Will it look humanlike? Why or why not?

The robot will actually look like a box with several arms. This, because it's the most practical way of doing it. With this design, the robot is more efficient than with a human form. In other words, it develops better his task the way it is designed.

How will the robot’s appearance influence how people interact with it?
Because it look more like a machine than a human being, it will be treated like that, a machime. People won't feel really attached to the robot, because it looks more like a tool than ike a "friend"

What limitations does the robot have?

The robot might be slow, because the technology to make a fast working robot doesn't exist yet. Other limitation is that the robot can't go up through a stair, but that is not actually a huge problem, because people with physical probles won't live in a place with stairs.

About stem cells...


Stem cells are a class of undifferentiated cells that are able to differentiate into specialized cell types. Commonly, stem cells come from two main sources:

1-Embryos formed during the blastocyst phase of embryological development (embryonic stem cells) 2-

2-Adult tissue (adult stem cells).

Embryonic stem cells are derived from a four- or five-day-old human embryo that is in the blastocyst phase of development. The embryos are usually extras that have been created in IVF (in vitro fertilization) clinics where several eggs are fertilized in a test tube, but only one is implanted into a woman.

Scientists and researchers are interested in stem cells for several reasons. Although stem cells do not serve any one function, many have the capacity to serve any function after they are instructed to specialize. Every cell in the body, for example, is derived from first few stem cells formed in the early stages of embryological development. Therefore, stem cells extracted from embryos can be induced to become any desired cell type. This property makes stem cells powerful enough to regenerate damaged tissue under the right conditions.

Stem cell research: Gene control


1-Why did the German scientist decide to study the fruit flies at the larval stage?

They do this in order to watch how the flies develop.

2-How does the mother fly activate the control genes?

She leaves on the eggs different chemical messages, that indicates where the head and the tail goes.

3-What is the role of control genes?

The control gene's role is to tell the cells of the body which organs and structures they should become, and when.

4-Which of the two species are closer to humans?

Actually, how the gene control works in both species is the same as in human beings. Although, the zebra fish because his body plans are closer to ours.

The kite runner

visual interpretation here!

Biofuel process of production

Biofuel is considered to be the most pure and the easiest available fuels on the planet. One of the key features of biofuels is that they are better than other forms of fuels like petrol or diesel that is manufactured by most of the big oil manufacturing companies.

There are various forms of biofuels and most of them are made through a detailed process having various stages. Most of the animal fats, vegetables and oils contain glycerine. In the process of manufacturing the biofuels, all the fats and oils are turned into esters, separating the glycerin. The process through which the glycerin is separated from the biodiesel is known as transesterification. This process also uses lye as a catalyst in the whole process. Some of the chemicals which are used in the manufacturing of biofuels are ethanol or methanol which brings into use methyl esters. Methanol is derived from fossil fuels while ethanol is derived from plants. 

Biofuel Process of production (www.esru.strath.ac.uk)

The process of manufacturing biofuel can be classified in the following stages.

Filtering: In this process, waste vegetable oil is filtered to remove all the food particles. This process generally involves warming up the liquid a little. After warming up the liquid, it can be filtered with the use of coffee filter.

Removing of water: All the water contained in the residual gangue has to be removed which will make the reaction faster. The water can be easily removed by making the liquid boil at 100 degree C for sometime.

Titration: This process is carried out to determine the amount of lye that would be required. This process is the most crucial and the most important stage of biofuel manufacturing.

Preparation of sodium methoxide: In this process, methanol is mixed with sodium hydroxide to produce sodium methoxide. In most of the cases, the quantity of methanol used is generally 20 percent of waste vegetable oil.

Heating and mixing: The residue is heated in between 120 to 130 degree F after which it is mixed well. It should be remembered that process should be done carefully avoiding splashing of the liquid.

Settling and separation: After mixing the liquid, it has to be allowed to cool down. After the cooling process, the biofuel will be found floating at the top while the heavier glycerin would be found at the bottom. The glycerin can be easily separated by allowing it to drain out from the bottom. The person is left over with pure biofuel which can be used for various purposes.

There is also another process, in wich it is used biomass to produce ethanol. The way this ethanol is produced can be separated in three main steps. First, there is a grinding process in wich the biomass is reduced to biomass feedstock. This makes easier to handle the material, and more efficient the production. Then, the hemicelluloses fraction of the biomass is broken down into simple sugars, this, because of a chemical reaction called hydrolysis. Finally, the mash is fermented with the yeast bacteria, in order to turn sugar into ethanol. After this, there are other processes that aim to purify the ethanol.

http://biofuel.org.uk

For more information, click here!

Study questions: The kite runner

Chapter 1-4:

1)Compare and contrast Amir and Hassan, noting their backgrounds, how each boy interacts with his father, and the circumstances surrounding their birth.

They both grew up with out a mother, so they both were educated by their fathers. The fact that Baba and Ali are friends allowed them to be raised almost as brothers. One big difference is that, while Amir is a rich Pashtun, Hassan is a poor Hazara. This difference creates a very special friendship between them.

2)Discuss the origins of the ongoing conflict between Pashtuns and Hazaras. What effect might this have on Amir and Hassan’s relationship?

First of all, Hazaras is a persecuted ethnic group. They are actually opressed by the Pashtuns, Amir's ethnic group. So the relation between them is more like master-servant, just like their fathers.

3)How does Amir feel about Baba? Examine information about Baba, and discuss how Amir and Baba’s differences affect their relationship.

They love each other as a father and son should, but Baba is a little bit disappointed of Amir, because he is different, and he can't stand up for himself. Under my point of view, Amir know this, and that is the reason why he tryes to be like Baba.

4)What does Baba say is the only sin? Explain his theory and whether Amir is able to understand it.

The only sin for Baba is stealing. He thonks that any other crime is a variation of this, such as stealing a man's life.

5)Examine Baba and Ali’s relationship. How is Amir’s relationship similar to theirs? What impact do their ethnic backgrounds have on these relationships?

Because of theur ethnic and cultural differences, the relation they have is a relation between a master, in this case Baba, and a servant, in this case Ali. The fact of being from groups that hate each other, the relation between the boys is similar to the relation of their fathers, Baba and Ali.

6)Discuss the significance of Hassan’s favourite book, the Shahnamah?

Under my point of view, this book is really important for Hassan because when they read, he feels like they are friends, and that he is not a servant. This because Amir is helping Hassan, and they have a good time, just like friends do.

7)Assess the role Rahim Khan plays in Amir’s early life.

He was somehow a father to him, because he supported him in what he liked. For example, when he reads the short story that Amir wrote, and the he menrions in a note to Amir that he have a special talent. Something Baba would never do.

Presentation glog!

http://benja97.edu.glogster.com/video-game-addiction

Video games: Talk !

Hello everybody! Today I’m here to talk to young people about video games, but not the good and entertaining part of this type of gameing. I am here to inform you about the negative consequences that this activity can bring to your life. First of all, let’s talk very briefly about video games. Invented in 1958, "Tennis for Two" was the first video game in history. As the years passed, video games evolved. They became more sophisticated, with better graphics and longer stories and game modes. These days, video games allow us to get into a new world, to interact with people all over the world, to be someone else. This is what is making people addicted to them. They can be and do whatever they want to; there are no limits. Disturbing as it may sound, doctors have qualified video game addiction as a disorder.  But, what kind of consequences may an addiction like this generate? There are many answers to this question, but I am going to focus in the one I think is the most harmful one: social consequences, such as isolation.

The correct definition of isolation is a state of separation between persons or groups. At this point, you may be asking yourself, how can video games make a teenager separate himself from society? Once again, there are many answers for this question. First, video games capture the total attention of players in such a way, that an excessive amount of time playing will lead the player to be obsessed with video games.  Some of them get so obsessed with their game of choice that people no longer want to be around them. This may give the gamer a feeling of being leaved aside, and he may feel also offended because of this. Commonly these situations lead the player to spend more hours playing, because it is something that he enjoy, and it is a place where it’s easier to engage social relationships (of course, not real ones).

Players may also spend a lot of time playing instead of sleeping. The lack of sleep may make the person irritable, and difficult to be around. Also, this situation decreases the energy that the person could use to interact with others. We may also add that some video games can turn the player into an aggressive person. Once again, this specific situation makes the person someone difficult to be around, and hard to talk with, because he is constantly attacking (not necessarily physically, but also in a verbal way) others.

Either through physical or psychological consequences, video games turn the player into a person who cuts relations with society. I am already at the end of this talk, I say goodbye to everybody, hoping you enjoyed this talk. 

Task: video game addiction

Last class, we watched a video called "Play", that reffers to the human dependencie to video games, and how addictive this are for the ones who play them. This video must be taken as a referene for our next task, within other sources we must select.

Subtopic: isolation, how people addicted to games step aside from society.

Text type: Talk

Sources: http://www.video-game-addiction.org/social-consequences.html
                          http://www.livestrong.com/article/278074-negative-effects-of-video-game-addiction/
                       

Personal response

“Advertising is everywhere you look, whether it is in the newspaper you pick up daily or on that billboard you see while driving down the highway. Some people may say that they are not in fact influenced by the advertising that is thrown at them each day, and that they do not fall into it, but everyone does.”

Advertising is actually everywhere you look. At the present day, advertising is an important part of our society; it actually shows as how we are, or what we like, our tendencies and interests.  This is why we can’t avoid its influence. The whole society is being guided by the new tendencies and products shown on advertisings, which is, for me, a bad and also a good thing. I believe this “force” that convince us on buying certain products is somehow a bad thing, because it shows you in a hidden way of course, that if you don’t follow what advertisings show, then you are not part of society. For example, clothes we use. The way people dress have been changing with the years, as enterprises what it to. If advertisings of clothing market shows us what is coming up next in clothes, then we will probably buy those clothes in order to feel that we are part of society.

If we look at the bright side of advertising, they allows us to be informed about the direction different tendencies are taking, and they also shows us a variety of products that we can have access to; we are able to pick one product instead of others that are similar, to decide what we like, and to see what people like, because as we said before, advertising is a mirror of society.  

Ad. for a new mobile phone

TV commecial analysis

What we clearly see in this TV commercial is that it is a commercial from the car company "Volkswagen", advertising about the "Golf" model. We apreciate a very strange setting for a car commercial: a market of fruit and vegetables. More specifically, the tent of one of the sellers. Because of this, we see objects that we can commonly see on a place like this: a lot of baskets filed with fruits and vegetables and a sort of green table in wich some of this baskets are. But we aslo see something quite strange: a volkswagen "golf" on top of one of this tables, being selled just as the other products from the market. We can also highlight the presence of two characters: a woman, probably buying what she needs for the week, and the seller, who is giving the woman the products that she is asking for. Apart from this characters, there is no appearence of a celebrity.

This elements that appear in this commercial are part of a very strange story. The woman arrives to the tent of the seller asking for some apples and other stuff. After this, she asks to the seller for the volkswagen "Golf", and he shows the car to her. finally, the woman buys the car at a very low price, just as if she were buying other vegetables.

Of course, we can deduce from this commercial that the message is to show that the price of the "Golf" is so incredibly low, that it is as accessible as buying fruit. We can also deduce from this that it makes this car an option for people interseted in cheaper cars, probably with a small or none family. Maybe also for young people. We don't see a lot of visual techniques in this Ad, just a general view of the market at the end, in order to show the car (how does it looks), and the car being exposed on the market table, to convince the one who is watching the commercial that it is really accessible because of its price.