Action List: 3.29.2011

1. Of the students shown from Patrick Henry High School I think that i would mostly relate to Zach Peterson. He wants to become a microbiologist and help find the cure of diseases such as cancer. One of the more interesting students shown is Salome Zamora. He wants to become a marijuana baker. It seems weird that anyone would want to do that. I guess it just goes against some of my ethics. I think that one of the more deluded students would be Tri Le because he is showing a typical aspiration and just doing exactly what is expected.
Ten years from now I would see myself in a completely different situation then I am now. I know I want to be in the medical field but am not sure which occupation to choose from. To most people a doctor would be typical but I am leaning more toward a biologist or something of that sort. But for now I am undecided which job to take and aspire toward.
2. In the article "A soccer Phenom Puts the 'I' in Team" Indi Cowie seems very competitive but still urges on to be different in what she does. Instead of playing her sport normally, Indi practices different tricks to "wow" her audience and make them want more. Because she does this and puts all the attention on herself, Indi has not made herself very popular in her school. Some of the students might even be jealous. One of the students at Indi's school named Allison Lynch said "Indi’s an under-the-radar flier, not one of these alpha females strutting around school like a peacock." So I guess in a normal environment at school she is not as 'alpha' but it seems to me that during a soccer game she wants all the attention. The author of this article also said that "Cowie sees herself as belonging to a world where legendary attackers like Diego Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney are celebrated for their talent and, yes, their selfishness." From this sentence you could also see that she looks up to the soccer superstars of today and probably even wishes to be like them when she gets older. Indi's mother even said that the environment become too "toxic" and that there is "so much jealousy." This is a very interesting article and gives me inspiration to do something like her.

Really cool timeline in the protests in the Middle east so far

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/mar/22/middle-east-protest-interactive-timeline

The Hound of the Baskervilles Chapters 4-6 (p801-823)

In chapter 4 (Sir Henry Baskerville) Mortimer and Henry Baskerville arrived at Holmes' apartment. Henry told Holmes that when he arrived in London, he received a letter at his hotel telling him to stay away from the "moor." From this letter, Holmes was sure that someone was following him and the writer was using a hotel pen and newspaper clippings to write it. Henry was then asked about anything strange that happened to him and he replied that when he went to shine his shoes, someone stole one. After that, the men left and Holmes rushed to find who might be following Henry and he found him staking out in a cab but once he spotted Watson he left. From the cab, all Holmes was able to observe was the number 2704.

In chapter 5 (Three Broken Threads) Holmes went to Henry's hotel and had a hunch that the thief of the boots was involved in the case. Henry also announced that he was going to Devonshire and Holmes told him that he might need a bodyguard and told Watson to accompany him. Then, as he was getting ready to go, Henry's shoe reappeared. Holmes also suspected that a man with a full black beard was there and found out that a man named Barrymore fit that description. At the end of the chapter they contacted the cab company and found that one of the men called himself Sherlock Holmes and directed a driver.

In chapter 6 (Baskerville Hall) Watson and Henry leave. At the train station they meet police officers looking for and escaped fugitive but after some talking they finally get to Baslkerville Hall. At the hall Barrymore announced his intention to start a business with the money he inherited from Sir Charles's death.

The Hound of the Baskervilles Chapters 1-3 (p781-800)

For a while not Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has written short stories on a variety of mysteries. Out of his complete collection The Hound of the Baskervilles is his third long story with actual chapters. In chapter 1 (Mr. Sherlock Holmes) Sherlock Holmes and Watson are in their office at their apartment when Watson sees a cane on the floor that does not belong to either of them. This means that someone else was there once. So, Holmes lets Watson theorize about it for some time. His theory was that an old doctor was awarded that cane after years of good work. After Holmes listened to Watson, he also gave what he believed the origin of the cane is. He said the the cane is a practitioner's and given to him for a retirement gift and that he owns a dog. Then he said that the man he described looks like the same person at his front door. So, the man came in and his name was Mortimer and everything Holmes said was true and he told Holmes that he had a problem that he needs help with.

In chapter 2 (The curse of the Baskervilles) Mortimer showed Holmes and Watson a manuscript that tells about the myth of the Baskerville curse. The curse was brought upon because of a man named Hugo Baskerville who made a deal with the devil to have help to find a girl that ran away after he kidnapped her. So, Hugo ended up killed by a beast and that beast has haunted the Baskervilles since. Then Mortimer told that the beast had just killed Sir Charles Baskerville.

In chapter 3 (The Problem) Mortimer told Holmes that he wanted to know what to do with Sir Henry, the heir to Charles. So, Holmes told him to bring Henry and began to smoke. Later that night Watson went back to Holmes with a map of the Baskerville moorlands and they talk about the case for a short period of time. Then, to end the chapter, Holmes played his violin.

Etymology so far.....

Boy! I have done allot of reading since this class started. Before this blog and class, I have never read a book for fun in my high school career. This class motivated me to read and gave me an incentive to have fun doing so with the blog. I have over 50 posts on my blog and it is always increasing more every day. Hopefully this blogging experience will have a role in my life in years to come.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes The Adventure of the Second Stain (p761-780)

The Adventure of the Second Stain is the last of the series "The Return of Sherlock Holmes." In this two very important men went to Holmes for help. Lord Bellinger, who is the Prime Minister, and Trelawney Hope, who is the Secretary of State for European Affairs went to him because someone had stolen a document from Hope's dispatch box. This document is very important to them because it is possible that if reveled, war will come about. Hope told Holmes that it disappeared from his house when he left for four hours but the strange part was that no one knew he had it. So to try and solve this case, Holmes went to some spies for help but he found out that one was murdered. Next, Inspector Lestrade called Holmes to look into the murder because he saw that the murdered man bled on the floor and drugget but stain was not there. Then out of pure luck, Holmes pulled the carpet and found a hiding place for documents except it was empty. Then he found out where it was put. He went to Hope's house and to Lady Hilda to get her to confess to what she did but because Holmes did not want high action to happen, he helped her put the doc. back into the dispatch box and when Hope checked it he saw the document.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes The Adventure of The Missing Three-Quarter & The Adventure of The Abbey Grange (p727-743)

In The Adventure of The Missing Three-Quarter, a man named Mr. Cyril Overton went to Sherlock Holmes for help in finding a man who disappeared named Godfrey Staunton. He is the best player on Overton's rugby team and without him they will lose. Before he could not be found, Staunton was visited in his hotel by a man with a note and when he read the note, Staunton left. Since then, he was no where to be found. Later Holmes went to the hotel and found the man who had the note. He was also worried and his had was shaking when he gave Staunton the note. Holmes then looked through the telegrams that Staunton made and found that there was at least one other person involved with him. After that he went to the telegram office and found that Staunton was addressing the letters to a man named Dr. Armstrong and he decided to visit him. When he did, Holmes asked some questions and then showed one of Staunton's papers to him. After that Armstrong was mad and kicked him out. Later when Holmes investigated more, he followed the doctor and found that Staunton was there and so was his wife who has died over tuberculosis.

In The Adventure of The Abbey Grange, Holmes woke up Watson and went to a murder scene. The man that was murdered was Sir Eustace Brackenstall. Lady Brackenstall said that at 11 o'clock she walked around the house and saw a man who had just climbed in with two younger boys and they knocked her out. When she woke up Sir Eustace went into the room and ran at the men and they killed him. After it was found that the men shared some wine and took a silver plate. One of the investigators there thought that the men were the Rangdal gang and Holmes was annoyed that the case was already solved so he went back home with Watson. But at one of the stops, Holmes decided to go back and Holmes had been sure that the gang were not there. After investigating more, he found the height of the murderer and wrote a letter to find a sailor then went back home. Later the inspector went back to Holmes' house and told him that the gang had been caught. The sailor also showed up at his residence and was surprised to not be arrested. All Holmes wanted was to know what happened so he told him. The sailor loved Lady Brackenstall and when Sir Eustace found out, he attacked him so the sailor defended himself and ended up killing him. Once Holmes heard all he wanted, he let him free but then the sailor gave himself up and faced trials.

AT&T bought T-Mobile for $39 billion!!

Breaking News!!! AT&T is buying T-Mobile USA. This is good and bad for many reasons. For one AT&T has created a bad reputation over a number of years with their dropped calls and it is unexpected so far if this purchase will help. The good news is that AT&T will now be the countries largest cell phone provider by allot. By buying this company, they will also have a much broader coverage and have 95% of Americans on their network. There is also a high chance that the cell phone bills will now be much lower for people who are in contracts with them. All in all I really hope good comes from this.

Country Boys

On Friday, our class watched the movie "Country Boys" and noticed their language has an understandable but slightly different diction. Throughout this movie one of the main characters named Chris gave a few examples showing how the word choice is used because he lives in the south. He said "Allot of people have thought that you was nothing but a failure" while in Indiana, and average person would say "Many people think that I am a failure." He also went on to say "Everyone thinks him stupid because how he speaks" when a Hoosier would say "Everybody thinks that he is stupid because of the way he speaks" The sentence structure that is used in these sentences have a sense of slang in them with the integration of simple words.

There are many reasons Chris might have this poor diction. As seen in the movie, he is poverty stricken and in a poor society. He has also been put into a poorly structured school system and is given a seventh grade education while he should be acquiring a high school education. His family members have also lived through similar experiences and because they raised him, Chris was taught a poorly developed diction.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes The Adventure of the Three Students & The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez (p696-727)

In The Adventure of the Three Students, Sherlock Holmes is in a university town and a man named Mr. Hilton Soames went to him with a problem. His problem was that someone was in his hffice and looked at the exam he was going to give. He said that he left for tea and when he got back, his door was unlocked with a key in it and the tests were moved. Soames found out that his servant Bannister went to his room to look for him andSoames wanted to find who did it because the tests are for scholarships and only three people are taking it. The names of the students are Daulat Ras, Giles Gilchrist, and Miles McLaren. So, Holmes went out to find out about them and visited them. Then on the day of the exam Holmes found out what happened. Gilchrist was the only person that knew the exams were in the room and he confronted him. So, Gilchrist told Soames that he would not take the exam and go to South Africa where he used to live.

In The Adventure of the Golden Pince-Nez, a man named Inspector Stanley Hopkins went to see Holmes to tell him about a murder. The man that was killed was Willoughby Smith. He doesn't have known enemies, and a good background. Hopkins did not know why anyone would want to kill him. The maid also said that Smith's last words were "the professor-it was she". The weird part about this is that the professor is a man not a woman. There was allot of evidence but so far no one to accuse. Later, they found out that the murderer entered Smith's study from the back door from some footmarks. Then they saw that Smith's hand had a pair of glasses in them. From that pair Holmes found out that the murderer is a woman, has allot of money and has been to the eye doctor a couple time recently. After some more investigating and a visit to the study again, Holmes found the woman he described hiding in a bookcase. She said she didn't mean to kill Smith and was trying to get some documents. So, to get out of trouble the woman named Anna committed suicide.

Let Kids Rule the School

This is a very interesting article by the New York Times which presents some good ideas and approaches to take with education. This school's school within a school might just work here. As having school with this school on top could help students learn more with more freedom. If we have this school there might also be the problem with some students that still will not give any effort. So, flaws will always exist but its a good idea

V for Vendetta in Kinetic Typography

This is a very weird passage from V for Vendetta. THERE ARE SO MANY WORDS THAT START WITH THE LETTER V!!

The Return of Sherlock Holmes The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton & The Adventure of the Six Napoleons (p667-696)

In The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton, a woman named Lady Eva Blackwell hired Holmes to get letters from a blackmailer named Milverton. When Holmes went to him, Milverton wanted 7000 pounds to give the letters because he knew they would break Blackwell's engagement. So, Holmes attempted to bargain with him, but he would not accept any less than 7000. When that happens, Holmes promises to get the letters back by doing anything he can. So, he disguised himself as a plumber and went to Milverton's home to learn some information. Eventually, Holmes found out where he was hiding the blackmailing papers and goes back one night to try to steal them but fails but while he was there Mrs. Blackwell also entered the room as a supposed maidservant and shot Milverton. By the end of the story, Holmes found out that she was getting revenge on Milverton because her husband died because he reveled her secrets and he was brokenhearted. At the end Holmes got out of the house without being seen and the next morning he was contacted by the inspector for help in the same case he was involved in.

In The Adventure of the Six Napoleons, Inspector Lestrade went to Holmes with a problem about a man who shattered plaster busts of Napoleon. The next day another bust happened but along with them, there was a murder. So to solve this case, Holmes tries to mislead the villain by putting false information in the paper. Later, Holmes found the shopkeepers that sold the busts and found out who they sold them to. There was also a picture found in the murdered man's pocket and the shopkeepers recognized him as a former worker named Beppo. After that, Holmes went to the manufacturers of the busts and found that there were part of a six. The police also identified the murdered man and found that he was part of the Mafia and wound up dead trying to kill someone. Holmes then predicted where the next bust would be and found Beppo there. After Beppo was caught, Holmes bought the remaining busts and broke them finding a gem.

The Return of Sherlock Holmes The Adventure of the Priory School & The Adventure of the Black Peter (627-667)

In The Adventure of the Priory School, a man named Thorneycroft Huxtable went to Holmes and asked him to go to Mackleton with him to investigate a kidnapping of one of the children in the school he is a principal of. The child that was kidnapped was a ten year old boy named Lord Saltire, and his father put a big reward out for anyone who can find him. Another boy named Heidegger was also missing and he took his bike with him. So, Mr. Huxtable told Holmes all the information he knew and he agreed to go back with him to Mackleton. Later in the story, the police found Lord Saltire's hat with gypsies and locked them up even thought they said that they had found it on the floor. By this time, Holmes found where Heidegger's bicycle tracks ended and he also found him dead next to them. After some investigating, Holmes finds out that Lord Saltire's father wrote him a letter to leave the school and hide because he was being threatened. The Lord's father was being threatened by his other son, James Wilder, who was born out of wedlock. Wilder threatened to kidnap Saltire if his father did not change his will. At the end they caught Wilder and he was allowed to leave and go to Australia. This is not my favorite of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Also this family has some problems that should have been resolved earlier.

The Adventure of the Black Peter is somewhat better than the previous story. It starts with a police detective named Stanley Hoplins going to Holmes for help in a case he is in. Peter Carey was murdered with a harpoon. This man was very violent and had such a bad reputation that his daughter was happy when he died. He is a salor and lived away from his family in an outhouse and was harpooned there. The only witness of the crime was a stonemason named Slater who said he saw the shadow of someone in the window. At the scene of the crime Holmes found a notebook that was initialed C.P.R.. Holmes later found out that it was most likely a stockbrokers. He also finds out that someone tried to break into Carey's cabin but did not succeed. So he predicted that the burglar would come back and as predicted a man named John Hopley Neligan decided to break in. When they caught him, Neligan told them that he had nothing to do with the murder and was looking for clues to find his lost father. Holmes believed him but kept him in contact and later found the real killer. He was a sea captain named Basil. At the end all three of these characters were involved together in some way and Neligan was released because his father was involved not him.

"Up" FOR REAL!!!!!

Have you ever seen the movie up! Well if you have, National Geographic has done what was thought to be impossible. This is a clip of their new show "How Hard Can It Be?". In this clip the cast actually created a 16 by 16 wooden house and installed hydrogen balloons to the center. It is very interesting and a must see for anyone. http://gizmodo.com/#!5779676/the-video-of-the-real-life-up-house-flying-away

The Return of Sherlock Holmes The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist (p612-627)

In The Adventure of the Solitary Cyclist, a woman named Violet Smith went to Holmes for some help. He father had just died and left her mother and her poor. She told him that there was an ad in the paper that was looking for them. When they answered the ad, Miss Smith met Mr. Carruthers and Mr. Woddley. They told her that they had come from South Africa and her uncle had died, leaving them his money. Carruthers later gave Miss Smith a job as a music teacher and paid her double what is usually paid. After some time Woddley tried to get closer to her and eventually tried to marry her but she rejected him. She also told Holmes that when she would ride her bike to the train station to see her mother, a man would follow her. After he heard the story, Holmes sent Watson to the city Miss Smith was in but he didn't find out anything new. Later, Holmes received a letter from Miss Smith telling that Carruthers had proposed to her and she had told him no. Holmes then knows that the situation could get troublesome so he decided to pay her a visit. When he got there, Woodley ends up starting a fight with Holmes and losing. After that happened Holmes went back to his home but when he arrived there, he received another letter telling that she is quitting her job and going back to her mother. When Holmes knows this, him and Watson go back to the city and find out that she had been kidnapped. So, they found the man who followed Miss Smith on her bike and found out he was on their side to find Woodley who had captured her. They eventually did find her and Miss Smith was being forced to marry for the fortune she would get from her uncle but Holmes stops it and saves Miss Smith. At the end Woodley went to jail with a man named Williamson who was his partner in crime.

Skin Touchscreen Keyboard "Skinput": Appropriating the Body as an Input ...

It is amazing what technology can do and unthinkable what the world will be like in 20 years

3.1 Diction Exercise.

a. gristle, flesh, snapped,explosives, inexorable, leap, crave, barrels, triggering
b. diction: candid, apathetic
sound: remorseless, contentious
c. The remorseless and contentious eloquence of Brian Turner's "Here, Bullet" portrays a grim and candid image of this man's languid attitude towards his assailant.