This is an "enlightening" video... or at least very interesting. Please take the time to watch it; it's entitled 21st century enlightenment.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC7ANGMy0yo&feature=player_embedded

Here is an Ode I wrote:

An Ode To Hope

Hope,

Drop by Drop

you fill

my heart

with comfort,

making my glass

half full.

Like a shooting star,

you glimmer-

a light in the darkness.

Ever changing,

Ever fleeting,

Ever returning.

Hopre,

You make your bed

in the song of the morning dove

carried by

the wind,

drifting into my senses.

Hope,

you life the voices

of the downtrodden

into the voices of the courageous

and the resolute.

Hope,

emanating from within

the depth of sorrow,

like ripples on a dark pond,

You fill my soul with understanding.

A Prayer in Spring

Robert Frost (1915)

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day; And give us not to think so far away As the uncertain harvest; keep us here All simply in the springing of the year. Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white, Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night; And make us happy in the happy bees, The swarm dilating round the perfect trees. And make us happy in the darting bird That suddenly above the bees is heard, The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill, And off a blossom in mid air stands still. For this is love and nothing else is love, The which it is reserved for God above To sanctify to what far ends He will, But which it only needs that we fulfill.

Springtime

With the coming of spring, nature wakes up from a time of hibernation. Flowers begin to bloom, opening upward to the warmth of the sun. Along with this, people can begin to awake from a time of dreaming, putting their dreams from wintertime into action with renewed energy. Nonetheless, it is important that these dreams have a firm foundation so that they may be attainable and not just "castles in the air."

Math has evolved and continues to evolve.  It is vital to the sciences, to technology, and even the medical field. Here are some mathematical definitions.

The binary code is "a representation of information using a sequence of zeros and ones. It is the basis for calculations in all digital computers."

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For example, 

In English:

"As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain; and as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality." 

-Albert Einstein

"Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas." 

-Max Wilhelm Dehn

In Binary Code:

0010001001000001011100110010000001100110011000010111001000100000011000010111001100100000011101000110100001

1001010010000001101100011000010111011101110011001000000110111101100110001000000110110101100

001011101000110100001100101011011010110000101110100011010010110001101110011001000000111001001100101011001

1001100101011100100010000001110100011011110010000001110010011001010110000101101100011010010111010001111

00100101100001000000111010001101000011001010111100100100000011000010111001001100101001000000110111001101

11101110100001000000110001101100101011100100111010001100001011010010110111000111011001000000110000101101

11001100100001000000110000101110011001000000110011001100001011100100010000001100001011100110010000001110

10001101000011001010111100100100000011000010111001001100101001000000110001101100101011100100111010001100

00101101001011011100010110000100000011101000110100001100101011110010010000001100100011011110010000001101

110011011110111010000100000011100100110010101100110011001010111001000100000011101000110111100100000011100

100110010101100001011011000110100101110100011110010010111000100010001000000000110100001010011000100111100

100100000010000010110110001100010011001010111001001110100001000000100010101101001011011100111001101110100

011001010110100101101110000011010000101000001101000010100010011101010000011101010111001001100101001000000

110110101100001011101000110100001100101011011010110000101110100011010010110001101110011001000000110100101

110011001011000010000001101001011011100010000001101001011101000111001100100000011101110110000101111001001

011000010000001110100011010000110010100100000011100000110111101100101011101000111001001111001001000000110

111101100110001000000110110001101111011001110110100101100011011000010110110000100000011010010110010001100

101011000010111001100101110001000100010000000001101000010100110001001111001001000000100110101100001011110

0000100000010101110110100101101100011010000110010101101100011011010010000001000100011001010110100001101110

 

An "algorithm is a step-by-step procedure for carrying out computation" or achieving a goal
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"Boolean algebra is a logical calculus named for mathematician George Boole, where alphabetic symbols are used to represent logical variable, 1 and 0 are states, and, AND, OR, and NOT are the basic logical operations. NAND and NOR can be represented by combinations of AND, OR and NOT."

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Doomsday?

Even though I believe that humankind's collective mission is to create heaven on earth using science and technology, some predict a doomsday resulting from technology. Technology has, no doubt, affected and changed the development and lifestyle of billions of people around the globe. Traditional advertising is suffering a massive decline. While cell phones have earned an 18.1 % increase and computers have earned a 9.2% increase, newspapers have suffered an 18.7 % decline, television has suffered a 10.1 % decline, radio has suffered an 11.7 % decline, and magazines have suffered a 14.8 % decline. Furthermore, while ten million individual visitors visit abc, NBC, and Fox News each month, 250 million visit myspace, you tube, and facebook each month. These three news channels have existed "for a combined 200 years," while none of the three mentioned websites even existed six years ago. What does the future have in store? According to reports, "the mobile device will be the worlds primary connection tool to the Internet in twenty twenty." Furthermore, according to Ray Kurzweil, "what used to fit in a building now fits in your pocket, what fits in your pocket now will fit inside a blood cell in 25 years."

If I were to conjure a doomsday, here's what it might look like:

It is the hour when day turns into night- when disaster strikes and the world is turned upside down. It was predicted, but not always believed. It is the hour when the prophecies come true. The earth shakes, the ground ruptures, yet the initial effect is slight in comparison to what is to come. The subsequent results throw the world into chaos. They say that the lucky ones were those who went first, taken down by the initial blow.

Even though the disaster struck in _____, billowing through the largest city in the world on a wave of destruction, no one knew the measure of the damage. They say it was caused by the collapse of a protective force field- a fairly new technological creation. It collapsed exploding into millions of invisible fragments that wedged into various nooks and crannies. One displaced the brain of a mega-robot, causing the whole thing to combust. The explosion gorged a whole in the earth's surface, causing further cracks to spread along the ground. Meanwhile, buildings burst into flames and scores of people ran out screaming.

Communication was virtually unavailable, except for those with the icom (i.e. the icommunication device of the astreal effect) in their pocket. The icom is the size of a rice grain. It is the result of years of mental labor by the USSS (Underground Simulated Science Society). Picking up on particles of an unseen realm, the chip can be used for communication to anywhere in the universe without the use of old-fashioned satellites. When we first got word of the disaster, our robotic disaster preparedness team gathered supplies- including food/water electronic simulators, modern-day crowbars called vibe-electro manipulators that manipulate invisible vibrations to remove large chunks of rubble, and metal re-oxygenators to mechanically work the body until it can sustain life. Jumping into the aerodynamite transporters, the team arrived in _____ after leaving ____ on the other side of the earth 2.3 seconds later. However, upon arriving, they found the chasm had slowly been growing, spouting lava in massive spurts. However, there was silence. Throughout the following months, the economy suffered, war broke out, water stopped flowing, and the madness continued. The worst part was the crazy people who broke out in cries of ear-piercing horror in the middle of the night. Everything was magnified in my ears. The rest of the time, their was silence, stinking with the smell of fear.

Then, the robots went crazy. They broke out into tantrums of madness. One by one they entered into a state of rage. They were imbued with our intellect and the strength of monsters. It was as if the "Land of the Apes" gained a parallel with the robots.

And then, one day, it ended.

The end wasn't the end.

The universe enveloped me in a starry blanket.

I walked into what should have been nothingness.

As the end wasn't the end, the "nothingness" wasn't nothingness.

It was the immensity of the universe, and with that I woke up from my dream to the beauty of the world.

I pulled the blanket down and knew what I needed to do.

Works Cited:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2jDOkzrVew>

The Radio and How it Changed The World




Throughout the history of humankind, communication has been a vital key to survival. Over time it has evolved along with the levels of human consciousness. From sounds, to images, to writing, communication has become more and more technologically oriented. It is especially necessary in emergency preparedness. Thus, with the invention of the radio, humankind progressed one step further, aiding the creation of a global community.
"Radio has transformed society three times, not to mention giving birth to the entire field of electronics. Perhaps no invention of modern times has delivered so much while initially promising so little." The radio has not only been used by the public for entertainment and news, but also by the military and government. During World War I, the radio allowed ships to communicate using the Morse code. The airwaves used by radios were also "useful for point-to-point traffic between ships at sea and other clients untethered by cables." Later, the military found other uses for the radio. "Governments started to understand the radio’s immense potential, not only for communications but also as a weapon: radio detecting and ranging, better known as radar."
Eventually, broadcasting was discovered. Families gathered together around the radio, listening to their favorite radio programs. As radio technology advanced and improved, it could even play music- a common fact in today's day and age. Before the invention of the television, the radio served as a prominent entertainment source, especially in America during the Great Depression. It also enabled the community to access the news. While the first inventors of the radio envisioned the radio as a useful tool in "one-on-one communication tasks," they never expected it to become the "major mass entertainment and information medium, earning many millions of dollars in revenues annually through commercial sponsorship" that it did.
In disasters and emergency preparedness, the radio has played a vital role. Many are unaware that in instances where power is unavailable- limiting communication- the radio may be the only way to receive information and news. Furthermore, throughout the years, the radio has become more compact, varying in sizes. Therefore, it is also more transportable. I firmly encourage having a working emergency radio in one's house.
The radio has not majorly had any negative affects on society. Perhaps it may bring some sad news, have too many commercial advertisements, or some emotional- even annoying- talk show hosts and hostesses, but it has served society in many positive ways. It acts as a companion for those traveling in the car. It supports us in times of disaster. In America, it has been an intricate part of life since its creation and it has given birth to many modern day conveniences. Once an idea, the manifestation of the radio has truly been one of the most important technological advances in society.

Works Cited
Gugliotta, Guy. How The Radio Changed Everything. May 31, 2007. Discover. March 13, 2010.
Radio. March 12, 2010. Wikipedia. March 13, 2010.
Radio's Vital Role In Times Of Emergency. 2009. Radio Heard Here. March 13, 2010.

Technology Lab: Working With Gadjets

The Power of Us

Together, we can work together to make positive change- spreading unity, joy, and happiness! It is the only way! We CAN achieve harmony through self-transformation and Love. When one abandons selfish ego, God willingly gives back to us. Thus we can tune in with God on a daily basis. We need to do our VERY best in daily life, putting our whole-hearted soul into everything we do and constantly keeping in mind that God has his own wish. "A great reward shall be given to the one who maintains the heart of making his best possible endeavour, allowed by his present circumstances, for the Divine Plan" (Yokoshi Prayer Book, pg 173).

Balance

By balancing the spiritual essence of fire and water in the two dimensional cross, humankind can develop harmony with the universe and the Creator. By combining humans' own power with the power of God, we can achieve heaven on earth.

I believe the sun is rising, representing the dawning of a new age.

Transformation Through The Arts

One way of spreading the movement for harmony and heaven on earth is through the arts:

music,

"art,"

literature,

acting,

and even comedy.

Through these elements, we can spread various messages for positive change within ourselves individually and globally. But we can also share the beauty of the world. Through the movie and movement, "Playing For Change," the transformative power of music is shown.

Let Us Sing Together

We Are One

By understanding social, global, and individual ethical beliefs, one can gain greater insight into the spirituality of oneself and one's culture. We must break the bonds of our egocentric views, becoming global citizens. Through uniting our positive ethical beliefs in love and harmony, humankind can further come together to create heaven on earth. But what other steps must we make? What is the progressive movement of humankind? Where have we come from, who are we, and what is our collective destiny?

Ethics: Part Three

Barbara is a surgeon working at a major hospital. One day, she is caring for five young patients who are all dying because of the failure of a different organ. Barbara can save all five patients if she kills one healthy old man who is visiting the hospital for a routine check-up, removes his organs, and distributes them to the dying people. Is it permissible for Barbara to kill the man?

~

Forbidden

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Permissible

~

I rate this scenario a "1;" it is forbidden for Barbara to kill this one old man, even though she will be saving five young patients. This act is much more direct than the scenario of the train driver, stated earlier. The old man, does nothing wrong; he is healthy, solely visiting the hospital for a check up. But he is old and the patients are young, dying when, (we assume) they could have their whole life in front of them to help society. What has the elderly man done to deserve such a fate? How do we know he isn't a dedicated civil servant, living happily after giving back to the world? We know nothing about the patients or the old man; thus there is a sense of disconnection. Yet, by killing the old man, Barbara enacts a much more direct type of murder than in the first scenario. She is CHOOSING to take someones life. Thus, one may feel a greater sense of connection to the man in harms way than in the first scenario.

Ethics: Part Two

Andrew is a train driver. One day while he is driving an empty train back to the station, the brakes suddenly fail. The train is running fast down a track towards five workmen. If it hits them, the train will kill the five men. But Andrew can push a button to steer the train down a side track where there is only one man standing. Is it permissible for Andrew to push the button?

~

Forbidden

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Permissible

~

I rate this scenario as a "4;" it is more permissible for the train driver to kill one man rather than five. When pondering such a situation where there is a level of disconnection between oneself or the train driver and the people in danger, one tends to consider which choice will cause the least amount of damage. Even if one man's life versus five seems less damaging, one does not know anything about these people. The five men may be criminals or men just trying to make a living. One is also oblivious to whom the one "sacrificial" man is; he may be the best man in all the world for all we know. In this scenario, the train driver is caught between a rock and a hard place; killing anybody- as indirectly as it may seem- is a unrighteous task. Nonetheless, this sense of disconnection causes one to rely more upon logic, trying to do the least amount of physical damage. Who are we, that we are put in such situations, where we must judge the fate of another's life? How can we change this sort of reality?

Ethics: Part One

#1- 4

#2- 1

#3- 3

#4- 1

#5- 6

#6- 5.5

#7- 1

#8- 2.5

#9- 1

#10- 3

#11- 1

#12- 4.5

#13- 2

Day One: My History

"Call me Ishmael. I live in a boat," floating on the deep blue ocean. My boat is pink. Today I arrived in the Mediterranean, after being abducted by aliens and exploring the lost planet of Abdulala. I am a pirate to be; I even have a treasure chest filled with snackwells. A few minutes ago, I was so exited about being a pirate, I decided to go out and practice sailing. But as I steered the wheel, a giant sea monster- named Nessy- with 10 heads, one eye, a mile long tongue, and ten legs attacked my ship. She was teething; that's why she ripped off half my rigging, leaving me afloat for five minutes. I was forced to communicate with a whale- I have extensive knowledge of their language- who gladly transported me to the floating island. I was on my way to finding my "personal legend."

After eating all the cookies in one day, I realized I had no more food for the remainder of my long voyage- I was riding the floating island whose wheel is steered with the guidance of the wind. Eating all my cookies was probably a very bad idea, but I was so exited to finally be out on sea, I didn't plan ahead. My stomach began to growl; I felt it clenching, begging for food. What was I to do without food in this new voyage which lay before me? So, sitting on my behind, I contemplated the world... and the best way to fix some mushi sushi- a delectable dish of the native floating islanders. It contains a center of melted chocolate mixed with a spice made from coconut shavings. The inside is wrapped in layers of thinly sliced brussel sprouts, native to the island. I takes quite a developed and exquisite sense of taste to enjoy, but gladly, I have such a quality. But after eating so much mushi sushi, I became so fat, the natives awarded me the honor of being a sacred sacrifice to their gods. Immediately understanding my dilemma, I dove into the ocean. I floated for miles and miles until finally finding a way to hoist myself up over a log floating in the water. But then I felt the water growing faster and faster beneath me and I knew the doom that was ahead of me. As I came nearer and nearer to the largest waterfall in all the world, I prayed to God I would live. With that prayer, I went over the edge... and boom!

I was transported into space!

...

There I met some aliens and and they gave me some squished human brains that they picked up on their vacation to earth. (Later I found out, it was actually soaked chestnut shells, which they name after their likings.) They had large ears, and huge feet, and when they laughed, little pink bubbles came out of their noses. (This is how I came to name by most recent boat The Pink Bubble.)

After spending a week with the aliens, I awoke to find myself lying on the bank with the waterfall to the North. That fall hurt!!!

Then I remembered the last thing I had eaten had been cookies!

I was famished.

Watching little stars circulate around my head just like in cartoons, I thought I was going to die any minute. What was going to do???

...

Well for starters, I decided to fulfill my dream of running up and down the beach while eating a papaya and trying to blow up a balloon. It always sounded like fun- my friend had done an experiment on it in the 7th grade. Also, I decided to light Cheese-Its on fire and see how many tadpoles I could catch with my toes. I was surprised how much energy I had for a dying man, but life provides us with great miracles! This land was very interesting indeed; the soil glowed bright purple and the tree leaves were always on fire. Then I found out, I was actually being cared for by aliens. The aliens I was staying with, Yougombel and Kitchmapay were very welcoming and kind. There is quite a strong language barrier that we are working to get beyond. I wonder how long I will be stranded here? It is quite exhilarating! Apparently, the aliens leave their planet once a month to bombard others and get their food rations. It seems quite strenuous and superfluous but it works for them.

...

After such adventures, I decided to get going. Saying farewells, I left Yougombel and Kitchmapay. Upon walking for twenty minutes, something hit me...LITERALLY! It was a pink flying blowfish, with little butterfly wings. I named it Chubchub, after the great heroic pirate who use to be my invisble best friend (until we had a falling out that is). It still pangs me to think of him, but I felt it was time to move on. I felt the best way to this was to name my newfound friend after him. I concluded Chubchub was a good omen- after all, he flew right between my eyes, which meant I needed to watch out for something coming my way. Chub (as I called it) was about the size of a round grape. It had little purple bumps and turned different colors depending on it moods. It taught me about life, love, and the pursuit of happiness, as well as its world where everything eats butterflies and poops rainbows. (I hope to go there for my retirement. But I'll first have to become one with.......