Wednesday, November 26, 2014

I Can Be A Computer Engineer

This is my response to the "Barbie Can Be A Computer Engineer" book that has been circulating the internet.  
All of my information is accurate, so please hire me!
tibsar@gmail.com
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Tuesday, October 21, 2014

#4

"Come over"


"Yeah, I wanted to mess with your dev board."
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Sunday, July 20, 2014

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

How to be Instagram Famous

Instagram continues to be a popular social network, after quite a few years.  So you want to become Instagram famous?  Here's how:

1. Post quality photographs 
No one wants to look at a grainy or blurry photo, so don't bother posting them!  Instead, post sharp photos that make the subject clear.  The higher quality the better!  If you can, try to take photos on a better camera than your phone, since the photos come out a lot nicer in quality. However, if you only have a phone camera, do your best to make sure that the picture is sharp. 

2. Tag away
Make sure you tag the photo!  This is basically like sharing the photo all over Instagram, giving you a much wider audience. However, make sure the tags are relevant to the photograph.  People won't like a selfie tagged #whale.  Chances are, if someone is looking at that hashtag, they want to see some whales, not your face. 

3. Like other photos 
Like other photos, and lots of them!  Lots of times, if you like a lot of someones photos, they will like a lot of yours back, and possibly even follow you. 

4. Comment on other photos 
This goes with the liking of other photos. Commenting is very personal.  If you are willing to take time to comment on someone's photo, there is a good chance that they will check out your photos and like them or follow you.  So make sure you expand your presence through likes and comments! 

5. Post frequently
Don't let your presence die out.  Post as frequently as possible.  However, do not just post to post.  Try to keep the photos high quality, while posting often enough for your followers to not forget you.  Don't forget, every post that is tagged gives you a much larger presence in the Instagram network.  




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Thursday, July 10, 2014

Joining the Bandwagon

I am happy to announce that Tibsar is now on Twitter and Facebook!  
Show your support by following @tibsarblog and liking Tibsar 

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Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Something Big is on It's Way

I just thought I would announce that I'm working on something BIG.  I cannot reveal when it will be posted yet, but keep checking back for updates!
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Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Healthy Living: A Choice?

In America, the obesity rates have been going up. It has gotten to the point where, according to Judith Warner, two-thirds of American adults are considered obese. The solution to this “crisis” has been heavily debated in many different arenas, including the White House. Some suggest that it is the fault of the food industry, with help from fast food chains. These fast food chains are extremely popular in America. You can find a McDonald’s practically everywhere. The food that they serve is cheap in price yet rich in calories. Some argue that these companies need to label their products better, showing everyone exactly what they are eating. They claim that measures like these will lead to the end of the crisis. The obesity crisis in America has been blamed on the food industry while in reality it is the responsibility of individual consumers to know what they are eating and to utilize this knowledge when deciding whether or not to add healthier alternatives to their daily diet.

A typical day in the life of an American consumer is filled with choices: paper or plastic, stairs or the elevator, credit or debit, fast food or store bought. Each of these decisions has its own sets of pros and cons. When deciding what to eat, though, the consumer may not know all of the pros and cons. This is why it is up to the consumer, if they so choose, to educate themselves on what is going into their body. Not all consumers may care what they eat or about their level of health. This is their decision. But in the case of those that care about their health, educating themselves is pertinent. Proof of the need for educating oneself can be seen at any fast food chain in America. For instance, David Zinczenko, the editor-in-chief of Men’s Health magazine, states that while researching the calories in the food at a local fast food chain, he found that their salad was listed as only 150 calories. However, by digging deeper he found that the after adding in the full packet of dressing that is served with the salad along with the noodles and almonds, the calorie count soared to 1,040 calories for the meal. While it may seem like the fast food company is concealing the actual calories that would be consumed by someone that eats this salad, the information is in fact available. All one would have to do is go to the restaurant’s website or use a simple Google search. The consumer can educate themself, and with the help of the multitude of resources on the internet, it’s easy. Educating oneself on what is going into one’s body is one of the best decisions a consumer can make when it comes to eating healthy.

Deciding to educate themselves on what they are eating is not the only decision that a consumer must make. Once they know the calorie count of the foods that they are eating, they must decide whether or not to substitute some of these foods with healthier alternatives. For some people, this may be the most difficult part of living a healthy lifestyle. Rather than going out for lunch every day during work, for example, the consumer can instead pack their lunch. Also, parents can teach their children to pick healthier foods when given the choice. In Will Haygood’s article, “Kentucky Town of Manchester Illustrates National Obesity Crisis,” a small town in Kentucky is highlighted as an example of the obesity crisis in America. In this town, about half of the population is overweight. Haygood argues that this is because of all of the fast food restaurants in the town. However, the people in the town of Manchester, Kentucky, have choices in their meals. They could eat at home rather than eating out for at least one meal every day. They can educate themselves on what is in their food, and then decide to make a change. Charlie Rawlins, a 20-year-old in that town made the decision to change, and has lost over 65 pounds because of it. Change is possible. It does not require “bringing [the] government between you and your waistline” as Balko puts it in his article, “What You Eat is Your Business.” In this case, regulation should be done by the consumer rather than the government. It does not take much to pick an apple over French fries, or making a sandwich over eating out. It is up to the consumer, not the government, to regulate what they eat and make healthy decisions.

Today, obesity is a rising problem in children and adults alike. Consumers have been deciding to make fast food a staple in their diet. As a result, people have been taking in calories that they didn’t know that they were taking in. Some argue that the government needs to intervene to fix this crisis, while still others argue that it is up to the individual. Many blame the food industry for the high calorie counts in their foods. While the food industry may produce unhealthy food more and more, they do this to make money. If there was less of a demand, the industry would change to whatever society was willing to buy. As it stands right now, much of society is okay with these high calorie foods. However, the availability of healthy food alternatives is there. All a person has to do to eat healthily is research what is in the food that they are eating, and then replace some of the unhealthier parts with something better. With the help of the internet or calorie counting applications that many consumers can download on their smart phones, this is easy. It is the responsibility of the consumer to regulate what they eat and make healthy food choices.

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Liberal Arts Degrees: Can They Bring Success?

   As it continually becomes more difficult for college graduate to find jobs, many students are looking for ways to ensure themselves of employment.  Students look to engineering degrees, thinking these will guarantee them a job, all the while others flee from liberal arts degrees, as they do not consider them useful in finding a trade.  Society tends to think that liberal arts degrees are useless in today’s world.  This raises the question of whether or not the majoring in a liberal arts field can result in finding a job pertaining to the average student’s studies.  Before this question can be answered, I must differentiate between a liberal arts education and a liberal arts major.  For the sake of this essay, I will be referring to a liberal education as it is defined by the Association of American Colleges and Universities: “a general education curriculum that provides broad learning in multiple disciplines”.  This means that liberal education does not simply prepare a student for one particular trade or field.  Liberal arts majors, not to be confused with liberal education, will be defined as specific programs of study that would fall under a Liberal Arts degree, such as Psychology or Philosophy. While students majoring in liberal arts tend to have a more difficult time establishing a career, many are still able to find jobs because of particular advantages liberal education can provide to its students.

            While it is true that students of all fields have trouble finding jobs in today’s economy, unemployment rates for college graduates with liberal arts degrees are significantly higher than those for graduates with other degrees.  According to a study done by Georgetown University, 11.1% of graduates with arts degrees and 9.4% of graduates with humanities and liberal arts degrees are unemployed.  Compared to the 7.5% rate for engineering majors and the 5.4% rate for education majors, 11.1% is significantly higher.  Many argue that all majors are created equal, yet these figures prove that that is not the case.
 While the figures are focused on the amount of people not working, the flip side shows that the majority of the graduates get jobs.  This leads to the question of what kind of jobs these graduates get and whether or not they pertain to their studies. Many liberal arts majors do not work in the field they focused their studies on.  For instance, an English major may end up working in public relations or publishing rather than in writing or teaching.  So while the students are getting jobs, they generally are not jobs that pertain directly to their majors.  Also, liberal arts majors tend to have “multiple careers” in many different fields, while students with degrees in other fields tend to stick to one career.  While liberal arts majors can find jobs, it seems to be harder than it is for those with degrees in other fields.  Also, these jobs may not be directly related to their degree and can cause them to switch careers many times in their lives.
            While liberal arts does not produce many jobs, liberal education does have many benefits for its liberal arts students and for students in general.  Students studying under a liberal education are required to take classes in a wide range of fields and topics.  Liberal arts students study under a liberal education tend to be well-rounded and versatile when it comes to finding jobs, even if these jobs may not be what they were studying.  This is what helps the liberal arts students that do find jobs since they tend to have more options than those in engineering based fields.  However, these options tend to be less in demand.  Many students in engineering or other trade based fields, however, predominantly take courses solely related to their field.  This gives them a fairly narrow range of what they can be employed in, although, to their benefit, the demand for what they have studied tends to be high. 
Liberal education would benefit students in all fields.  Sanford J. Ungar found that companies were looking for potential employees that could “[better] communicate orally and in writing,” a skill that an English major would possess.  David Foster Wallace describes the skills that liberal arts students possess as knowing “what to think about.” On one hand, majors producing graduates qualified in only one skill would benefit from liberal education.  If universities required their students to take a certain number of liberal arts classes rather than simply having liberal arts colleges, students would be well rounded while still skilled in a trade.  This would help students be proficient in many things rather than slightly proficient in many things or extremely proficient in one thing.  As Ungar said in his essay, “No one could be against equipping oneself for a career,” showing that universities should be doing anything they can to help their students get a career.  If that means making their students better in more fields while still training them in a particular field, it is the universities job to do that.     
            Students majoring in liberal arts degrees can expect to have a hard time finding jobs when they graduate.  Students majoring in fields that are directed towards trades will more easily find a job and a career, especially since these jobs are in high demand.  However, these majors may lack writing skills, whereas liberal arts majors would be proficient in such.  In order to fix this, colleges should incorporate a liberal education where students are required to take courses in many fields in order to broaden their skill set.  Also, in order to prevent one field from being harder to find jobs in rather than others, liberal arts majors should either be eliminated or altered to incorporate certain skill sets that would help their students obtain jobs.  In a time of economic turmoil for the United States, students need to do all that they can to prepare themselves for their career after school.  
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The Media's Contribution to the Suez Canal Crisis

The Suez Canal Crisis, which occurred in 1956, was a “humiliating end” to the imperial influence of France and Great Britain (The Suez Crisis: An Affair to Remember). The Crisis began when Abdul Nasser, President of Egypt in 1956, decided to build the Aswan Dam. He felt that building a dam would help his country irrigate during drought. Nasser approached the United States, the Soviet Union, and the World Bank to find funding for the dam. The United States intended to help fund the dam until it found out that Nasser had also asked the Soviet Union. The United States then rescinded their offer to help financially. This resulted in Nasser needing to make up for lost funds, which he did by nationalizing the Suez Canal. The canal connected the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea and made the trip considerably shorter and cheaper for ships. The canal had been both Britain and France’s main source of oil at the time. When Nasser nationalized the canal, Israel, France and, Britain joined together to attack Egypt in an attempt to make Egypt allow ships from all countries to travel through the canal. In response, Egypt sank the 40 ships that had been in the canal. The media in Egypt, Great Britain, and the United States reported stories about the Suez Canal Crisis that were not completely true. These stories were exaggerated and contained inaccuracies about the event.


The British media portrayed strewed stories of the Suez Canal Crisis to the people of Britain. The press, newsreels, radio, and the D-Notice System was used to push the media’s viewpoint on the Canal Crisis. D-Notices were “official [requests] to news editors” that asked them not to broadcast or publish particular pieces of a news story for reasons of national security (D-Notice). Anthony Eden, the Prime Minister of Great Britain during the Canal Crisis, used D-Notices to control what was being presented by the media. Newsreels were also regulated by D-Notices. Newsreels were short clips, played in cinemas, that presented the important news of the time. At the time of the Suez Crisis, people went to the cinema to see a movie very often, so newsreels had a large audience. They were considered part of the entertainment industry, so the newsreels tended to be non-controversial, pro-government clips. The British Pathe newsreel, Israel Invades Egypt – Britain Acts, shows the view on the Suez Crisis that was portrayed by the media. The newsreel shows shots of Egypt, along with shots of British soldiers boarding warships. It said that the “world [waited] tensely” to find out if Britain would gain control of the canal again (Israel Invades Egypt – Britain Acts 1956). This made it seem like Britain was not the only country that wanted to see the British flag over the canal and that everyone was on their side. This newsreel and many others contributed to the skewed message portrayed by the British media during the Suez Canal Crisis.


British newspapers and radio broadcasts also manipulated its stories to spread its conservative, pro-Britain, anti-Nasser message. The use of the radio propaganda against Nasser “increased sharply” during the time of the Canal Crisis (Calhoun). The BBC, or the British Broadcasting Corporation, was responsible for many of these anti-Nasser broadcasts. Newspapers in Britain wrote against Nasser’s decision to nationalize the Suez Canal. Many of the leading British newspapers, such as The Guardian, The Express, The Mail, and the Times of London, were influential in what the American press reported during the Suez Crisis. The Guardian refers to the event of British troops leaving Egypt as an “unhappy story” (Guardian). By using an adjective such as “unhappy” the paper told the reader how to feel about the event. The major papers often "compared Nasser to Hitler" (Calhoun). The British and the American public would have had the atrocities committed by Hitler in their recent memory when reading these papers, causing it to have much meaning to them and much of the public to be influenced to dislike Nasser. The use of newspapers and radio broadcasts would have greatly influenced the opinion of the British public during the time of the Suez Canal Crisis.


The American media used its influence to turn the American public opinion against Nasser. The media started a “disinformation campaign” in which they gave the public limited information and portrayed Nasser in a negative light (Calhoun). America was not the only country that had started a disinformation campaign, though. Israel also started one, which directly influenced the American media. Of all of the American reporters in the Middle East-North Africa region, "forty percent" were reporting from Israel (Calhoun). Because of this, much of the information reported from Israel was influenced by the disinformation campaign, and therefore altered based off of what the Israel government was willing to release and how they wanted the story to be portrayed to the public. At times, this caused the information that was being reported to be opposite to the information that was confidentially being collected by the Central Intelligence Agency. The American media was influenced by the Israeli and the British media, causing it to many times be inaccurate during the Suez Canal Crisis.


Time Magazine wrote many articles on the Suez Canal Crisis that condemned Nasser and supported the decisions made by the United States government on the situation. Time Magazine was read by many people during the Suez Canal Crisis and had a large audience, causing it to have much influence on public opinion. One of the articles written by Time during the Crisis reluctantly admitted that Nasser had won the Suez Canal from Britain, but concluded by stating that there would still be a “price that Nasser [would] have to pay” (Through and Around Suez). The article refused to admit that Nasser winning the canal would be beneficial to him and argued that there would be such a loss in revenue that it was almost not worth winning. Another article states that Nasser’s actions would cause him to “end by willing his own downfall” (Nasser’s Revenge). This article opened with a quote in which Nasser tells the United States that he hoped that they would “choke to death on your fury” (Nasser’s Revenge). This quote along with the title, “Nasser’s Revenge”, would have immediately caused the American public to have a feeling of dislike towards Nasser. Yet another Time article described Nasser as a “brash young dictator” whose control of Egypt lead to the loss of allies and profits (Nasser Reacts). Time Magazine’s articles on the Suez Canal Crisis helped shape the public opinion of Americans and caused a general dislike towards Nasser.


The New Republic was another popular magazine that shaped a negative public opinion about Nasser. One article stated that Nasser played “the same role” as Senator McCarthy during the McCarthy trials (Halle). The article claims that Nasser is willing to do anything to extend his power and is therefore a threat to the international order. Comparing Nasser to McCarthy in this way would have the same effect on the public opinion as comparing him to Hitler did. Simply by reading that Nasser was similar to McCarthy in any way would cause Americans to dislike him. “As Nasser Sees Himself”, also published in The New Republic, states that one of Nasser’s “warmest admirers” had disclosed Nasser’s plan to build an empire. America felt that if Egypt became an empire the Soviet Union and Communism would grow. For this reason, Americans would have wanted to do everything in their power to prevent that from happening, and therefore would not have supported Nasser. Another article referenced a previous article published in The New Republic that had referred to Nasser as a “dangerous fellow” (If Nasser Wins). The article is now saying that the previous article had “[underestimated] just how dangerous” Nasser actually was. The article continues to explain that if Nasser won the fight over the Suez Canal, he would help the Soviet Union and supply them with oil. At the time America was extremely against the Soviet Union, so this immediately would have caused Americans to side against Nasser. The New Republic used a multitude of articles to push the American public opinion to be against Nasser.


Unlike the media of Great Britain and the United States, the Egyptian media manipulated the events of the Suez Canal Crisis in a way that made Nasser seem heroic. The Egyptian Gazette told the story of the entrance of a train filled with the Egyptian police force into Point Said. It describes massive celebration and the train being decorated with “flowers and photographs of President Abdul Nasser” (The Egyptian Gazette). The Egyptian public saw Nasser as a hero that got them the Canal that they felt that they deserved and rid them of the British presence in Egypt. Before Nasser took office, Egyptians had felt like “second class citizens in their own country” because of the British (Trueman). The Egyptians had felt that Nasser had given Egypt back to the Egyptians. After being under the control of Britain for many years, the it is not surprising that with the help of the media, the Egyptians would be looking for a way to have freedom and independence. Nasser gave them this freedom, and in return they gave him their support. The media showed Egypt that Nasser was the savior that they had been looking for, which would have caused the Egyptian public to support Nasser’s actions and the nationalization of the Suez Canal.


When the British left the country and the Canal was won by Egypt, the media made Nasser seem like the country’s savior, a stark contrast to the picture of him presented in the American and the British media. Great Britain’s media portrayed Nasser as a dictator, while American media portrayed him as a communist. The media of each country used its influence to get its image of Nasser and the events of the Suez Canal Crisis to its population. By doing this, very different pictures of Nasser were painted to the public of different countries. The media was able to use its resources and its audience to influence the people to think the way that it wanted them to think. In the cases of Great Britain and America, the image that it wanted to show was a very negative one. However, in the case of Egypt, Nasser was shown as a hero that was helping their country find its way to freedom. These feelings created in the public are in direct response to the media.


The Suez Canal Crisis was a time of much conflict for Great Britain, the United States, and Egypt. Egypt’s President Abdul Nasser’s decision to nationalize the Suez Canal was not taken lightly by Great Britain, who had, up until that point, held control of the canal and received the profits. The United States became involved when Egypt received financial aid towards the building of the Aswan Dam from the Soviet Union. The media in the three countries greatly influenced the public opinion during these events. The media in Great Britain, for example, used D-Notices, newsreels, radio broadcasts, and newspapers to influence its public. The British media made Nasser seem like a dictator that had taken away “their” canal. The American media also portrayed Nasser in a negative light. They used major magazines such as Time Magazine and The New Republic as well as newspapers to influence the American public. These publications made Nasser seem like a communist that was against America and would do anything for his own profit. The American people reacted according and had a strong dislike of Nasser during the Suez Canal Crisis. The Egyptian media, on the other hand, made Nasser seem like a hero. Egyptian newspapers told stories of the Egyptian people celebrating Nasser. The media portrayed Nasser as a savior that brought Egypt its freedom and gained back the canal that was rightfully theirs. The Egyptian public loved Nasser and revered him as their President. The public opinion in these countries were influenced by the media. The media had specific images of Nasser that they wanted to portray to the people, and published their stories accordingly. The public was strongly influenced by these stories, which is shown in the way that the events were the same all over the world, but three countries had very different views of these events and the people involved in them.


Works Cited


Calhoun, Ricky-Dale. "The Musketeer’s Cloak: Strategic Deception During the Suez Crisis of


1956."CIA.gov. Central Intelligence Agency. Web. 14 Mar 2013.


"D-Notice." Wordnik.com. Wordnik. Web. 14 Mar 2013.


Halle, Louis J. "The Eisenhower Approach--Mccarthy & Nasser." New Republic 136.14 (1957):


7. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.


"If Nasser Wins." New Republic 135.14 (1956): 10. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Mar.


2013.


Israel Invades Egypt - Britain Acts 1956. 1956. Film. 14 Mar 2013.


"Last British troops withdraw from Egypt." Guardian. 24 Dec 1956: Web. 15 Mar. 2013.


"Nasser Reacts." Time 68.13 (1956): 23.Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.


"Nasser's Revenge." Time 68.6 (1956): 21. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Mar. 2013.


"The Suez Crisis: An Affair to Remember." Economist. 27 Jul 2006: n. page. Web. 14 Mar.


2013.


"Through & Around Suez." Time 69.21 (1957): 31. Academic Search Premier. Web. 14 Mar.


2013.


Trueman, Chris. "The causes of the Suez Canal War of 1956."historylearningsite.co.uk. History


Learning Site. Web. 14 Mar 2013. 
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Wednesday, July 2, 2014

2048


Although it is starting to die down in popularity, I still love the game 2048. So I thought I would share my current progress with the world.  Have you beaten me?  Comment with your high score!

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Monday, June 23, 2014

Make Room for KD2GTM

I decided to try something new this summer, so now I am a proud new member of the ham radio community!  To start my journey into the ham world, I needed to get my license.  This was the easy part. I downloaded an app that tested me on the questions that would be on the Technician exam and practiced online at hamstudy.org.  From there, I found a testing location and a date and went at it!  Despite getting asked if I was in the right place (apparently teen girls are not the usual test takers), everything went smoothly.  It took only three days for my call sign to appear in the FCC database.  So what now?  I am currently shopping for radios, but there's so many options! I'll let you know what I pick. In the meantime, I downloaded HamSphere 3.0 and am using that to transmit!  It's awesome!  You can talk to people from all over the world, and even receive there QSL card.  QSL cards are basically the trading cards of ham radio.  You generally trade them with anyone that you communicate with.  I designed mine tonight.  What do you think?


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Monday, June 2, 2014

So You Want to Join a Sorority. . .

It's your freshman year and you're gonna be here for the next four years, in this town. 
 For the average teen girl, college introduces a lot of choices.  There's the basic everyday choices, such as skirt or shorts, or flatiron or straightener.  Then there's the harder questions, what clubs to join, who to hang out with, what guys to date, and the inevitable, "Should I join a sorority?".  Many girls are turned off by the idea of a bunch of girls hanging out together all the time, doing each other's hair and nails.  Let me assure you, should you choose to join a sorority, this is not what you will experience.  Before I tell you about my experiences, there's some things you should know about me.  I am a computer engineering major.  Basically, this means that I'm a nerd.  I know how to program, I know how to build circuits, the whole nine yards.  As if that isn't enough, my boyfriend and I are building a laser projector. . . for fun.  Long story short, I am not the stereotypical sorority girl.  However, in my freshman year of college, I decided to check out the five sororities on campus: Alpha Sigma Alpha, Zeta Tau Alpha, Sigma Sigma Sigma, Alpha Xi Delta, and Delta Phi Epsilon.  I went through formal recruitment, which was a long process of learning about each sorority and getting a feel for the personality of each.  The single most important thing I learned through formal recruitment was that each sorority has its own unique personality.  Soon after I learned that each individual chapter of each sorority also has it's own unique personality.  So the chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha at one school may be completely different than a chapter at another school.  This is why it is important to meet the members of the chapter at your particular school.  Formal recruitment let me find the chapter that I fit with the best personality wise.  To be clear, I have nothing against the other sororities at all!  They were all amazing!  I just fit with one more than the others.  Once I decided where I felt I fit, I waited, hoping that the sorority felt that I fit with them as well.  I received a bid, and then went through the pledging process.  The pledging process is very rigorous and time consuming! Do not join a sorority without planning to put your all into it.  In the end, it is worth all the time and the effort put into it, I assure you.  So to sum it all up, if you are thinking about joining a sorority, go through recruitment!  It cannot hurt in the least bit!  You can potentially find your sisters for life.  And if you choose to not join a sorority, there is no loss for you! So take a chance!

Lastly, in case you're wondering where I ended up, here's me (left) and my big (right) on big little night! 

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Sunday, June 1, 2014

Twin Telepathy: Does It Exist?

This is one of my older pieces.  Enjoy.


All twins have a connection with their twin sibling.  This connection could simply be blood, the connection that all siblings have, but evidence suggests that there can be a greater connection; twin telepathy. Twin telepathy is when one twin can “assess the thoughts or feelings” of another twin without the other twin giving them any signs (Fierro).  Through telepathy a twin can sense what the other twin is thinking or feeling, even if they are not in the same place.  It acts as a “sixth sense” between the twins, although there is scientific evidence and theories to back it up.  In fact, it has been “documented by scientists and researchers alike” giving it more credibility than many seem to offer it (Deshmukh). Twin telepathy is a phenomenon that has mystified people for ages, yet there are still definite signs that it exists. By getting past how twin telepathy is stereotyped and looking at personal stories, scientific theory, and academic studies, fundamental evidence emerges supporting twin telepathy.
            To fully understand twin telepathy, it is pertinent to know the biological background of twins. Twins can be either monozygotic or dizygotic.  Monozygotic, or identical twins, are formed when “a single fertilized egg . . . divides” causing there to be two eggs with the same genes and almost identical DNA (Segal).  This makes the twins look very similar and have similar mannerisms since they were created from the same egg. Dizygotic, or fraternal twins, “are conceived and delivered together” but are formed from two separate eggs (Watson 18).  This makes fraternal twins the same as any other brother or sister, except that they have the same birthday as each other and that they were raised together. Telepathy tends to occur more in pairs of identical twins, yet it is noted in fraternal as well. 
The closeness between identical twins genetically plays a large part in why they experience telepathy so often. The genes of identical twins are the same, and the DNA has minor differences.  This is why identical twins look and act so similarly, and therefore, is an important element in twin telepathy.  Many claim that this closeness gives identical twins a “heightened extra sensory perception” (Deshmukh). Extra sensory perception is “an ability to acquire information without relying on physical senses or previous experience (Fierro). Since the twins are so close they are able to know how the other twin is feeling without their physical senses.  Because twins are so close genetically, they are considered “biologically ‘interchangeable’” making them able to experience telepathy in the way of knowing how the other twin feels without having any way of knowing (Segal 16). Out of identical twins, “thirty to forty percent” are likely to experience telepathy (Slaughter 28).  This is a huge percentage in the world of science. Compared to fraternal twins, identical are “twice as likely” to have experienced telepathy at some point in their life (Stephanopoulos).  Although there is a large difference, fraternal twins are still shown to experience it in lesser ways. Identical twins experience telepathy more often because “they share a closer genetic connection” (Fierro). This connection lies in how they are almost exactly the same genetically, making them incredibly similar. They are so similar that scientists even use them as “human guinea pigs” for research and studies.  The similarity in the DNA of the identical twins makes “their brains process information identically” (Stephanopoulos). This is backed by research that shows that twins have “almost identical brain wave patterns (“Having Twins or Triplets”). Twins’ brains working in the same way explains how many twins know how the other would respond to something, or more commonly, how it is common for twins to complete each other’s sentences. The identical genes that twins share play a huge roll in twin telepathy and the study of it.
Twin telepathy has been noticed for ages and as a result, it has been stereotyped.  Due to stereotypes, many people see telepathy as impossible and not worth scientific study.  However, by getting past the stereotypes, telepathy is seen as a more realistic phenomenon. Many people see it as a supernatural power that allows twins to read each other’s minds along with other odd powers.  However, this is not what twin telepathy truly is.  Studying real occurrences of telepathy helps to combat these stereotypes. Telepathy mostly occurs when one of the twins is in an “[a time] of pain or distress”, as shown in many personal stories (Slaughter 28). These are times such as life or death situations, or other important events in a person’s life. This contrasts the common belief that twins can “connect” to each other whenever they want.  Telepathy is stereotyped to be something mystical that the common person would never    experience.  However, this is far from true. There is evidence to support the theory that “most people have telepathic techniques” (Deshmukh). This does not mean that people should be experiencing telepathy on a daily basis, it simply means that the ability is there, but most people “have tuned their body to ignore [the] signals (Deshmukh). Although people have the ability, they just don’t listen to it, or let it work.  This is shown in the stories of telepathic experiences between dogs and their owners and mothers with newborns.  In many stories the closeness between the dog and the owner, or the mother with her newborn allowed them to sense when someone or something close to them was in danger, and they acted on those senses. Many people “exhibit some degree of ability” allowing them to connect to another person (Slaughter 27). Twins just tend to be more “in tune” to this ability.  This takes telepathy out of the paranormal and into the common, explainable experience that it really is. 
            The strongest pieces of evidence supporting twin telepathy are personal stories.  Thousands of personal accounts can be found in books, on the internet, and in movies.  That many people could not all be making it up.  Among these stories is the story of the “Jim Twins.”  These twins were raised apart and never even knew about their brother. However, they married women with the same names, named their children and their dog the same, built a circular white bench around a tree, and other oddly similar things.  When the twins met each other they were dumbfounded about everything that they had done alike in their life (Powell 22).  All these similarities could simply be a coincidence, but the chances of that are astronomically low.  However, there is another viable explanation; twin telepathy.  As stated before, since they are twins they have almost identical brain wave patterns.  This would explain why they named their children and their dog the same names, along with both building a circular bench around the tree.  Scientists have studied many identical twins that were raised apart as the Jim twins were and found that they are “about as similar as identical twins reared together” (Segal 76).  This shows that identical twins have a connection, even when they do not know that each other exist.  Scientists go as far as saying that being raised together makes only “a small contribution to personality” explaining why the twins are so alike (Segal 75).  In fact, twins raised apart “can end up more similar” to each other than they would if they were raised together.  This is because many times when twins are raised together they feel the need to make themselves unique and to stand apart from their twin, causing them to act or do something differently than their twin simply because their twin does it that way. The amount of personal stories of twin telepathy show that it is an actual occurrence.
            Researchers have many stories of documented twin telepathy as well. In one of these stories one twin was hooked up to a polygraph while the other twin had his hand dunked into ice cold water in another room.  The polygraph showed a change at the exact time that the event occurred, even though that twin did not feel a thing.  Another study was conducted by Robert Sommer, Humphrey Osmond, and Lucille Pancyr.  They interviewed pairs of twins to find out how many had experienced telepathy before.  In the end, out of thirty-five participants, twelve said that they “could communicate telepathically” (Powell 21).  This is not a small number when it comes to science.  Other odd stories have been documented as well.  In a more extreme case, a girl broke her ankle in a bike accident.  Her twin sister started to experience swelling on the same ankle that her sister broke even though she had done nothing to hurt it.  Another account says that a brother sat down because he had a shooting pain in his heart.  He later found out that his twin brother had gotten shot in the heart. All these stories shows how telepathy “happens frequently . . . during crisis” (Powell 22).  When one twin was in distress or needed the other, the other twin could feel it or sensed it.  Fraternal twins also report experiences of telepathy.  Christina and Michael Pepe have always been able to tell when the other was going through a hard time.  Without even discussing it they would know to meet each other in the living room to sleep there together and get through the night. Marissa and Sal Picheria know what each other are feeling without any indication. Fraternal twins being raised together and having the same experiences may play a part in them being able to experience telepathy as well. Scientific studies and personal stories together back up twin telepathy.
            There are many scientific theories behind twin telepathy.  One of the most credible ones is that the similar brainwaves cause the twins to act so alike and experience telepathy. Another credible theory is that because twins are so alike, they have “[close] social bonds,” making them closer than other siblings would be (Segal 97).  Twins communicate with each other “in different ways than . . . normal siblings” (Deshmukh). These ways are especially shown when the twins are young.  When twins grow up together they constantly have the other twin there with them, making them really close to one another and social with each other.  This is shown when twins create “cryptophasia or idioglosia”, which is a language that they create when they are younger that only they can understand (Having Twins or Triplets).  This language shows the closeness between the twins and helps the theory.  Since the twins could understand each other when they were little, it makes sense that they would be able to know the feelings of the other twin without anything signaling them to why that twin feels the way they do.  These many different theories provide a basis for twin telepathy.
Another more complicated theory is starting to form with the new technology that has been made available in the world of research and science.  Scientists have found that cells can be “entangled, or coupled” (Powell 25).  This means that the cells are two different cells, but they have a unique connection.  Since they are entangled, they must spin in opposite directions.  They could be thousands of light years away from each other, yet they still have to maintain their spins of opposite directions.  If the spin of one of these cells is altered even minutely, the others spin changes too even though they are not near each other.  The cells are connected in a way that cannot be seen and yet the connection is still there. Scientists hypothesize that twin telepathy could be related to this concept of entangled cells. When something happens to one twin, it affects the other twin no matter how far away they are or how subtle the change is, just like how the entangled cells work.  Again, like the entangled cells, the connection cannot be seen yet it is still clearly there.  With time and further advancements in science, this theory could be proven to be true.
            Twin telepathy has been noticed for ages, and as a result has been disputed and stereotyped.  Yet there is strong evidence backing twin telepathy in personal stories and scientific research.  People see twin telepathy as psychic powers between twins that allow them to read each other’s thoughts and know exactly what the other twin is thinking and feeling.  However, this is not what twin telepathy really is.  Twin telepathy is simply twins being able to sense how the other twin is feeling at certain points in time.  The thousands of personal stories that can be found show that telepathy is not a hoax.  These stories provide clear evidence that twin telepathy exists and happens all the time.  Scientific research also provides a strong backing for twin telepathy.  Research has shown that twins can definitely communicate with each other and that there is a connection.  Science has also provided many theories for twin telepathy. One of these theories is that telepathy is involved with entangled cells that communicate with each other.  Another is that the similar brain waves between twins cause them to act the same and therefore know how each other are feeling.  And yet another theory states that because twins are so alike they can communicate with each other in ways that other siblings and people cannot.  All these clues build up to provide a solid backing for twin telepathy and prove that it does in fact exist.

 ***THIS IS MY WORK.  THIS IS TO BE USED SOLELY FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES AND IS NOT TO BE REPLICATED IN ANY WAY***

Works Cited
Deshmukh, Indrajit. “Twin Telepathy”. Buzzle.com. 02 July 2012. Web. 26 Feb 2012.
Fierro, P.P. “Twin Telepathy: Do Twins Have ESP?” multiples.about.com. 2001. Web. 27 Feb
            2012.
“Having Twins or Triplets- Interesting and Fun Facts.” Twins UK. 2008. Web. 25 Feb 2012.
Lackman, Jon. “Dugon, Haus You Kinikin, Du-Ah.” Slate. 2011. Web. 27 Feb 2012.
Powell, D. H. “Twin Telepathy and the Illusion of Separation.” ESP: Enigma: The Scientific
Case for Psychic Phenomena. Walker Publishing Company, INC., 2009. Web. 24 Feb 2012.
Segal, Nancy L. Entwined Lives, Twins and What They Tell Us About Human Behavior.
1st ed. New York: EP Dutton, 1999. Print.
Slaughter, April. “Twins and Telepathy: The Connection that Reaches Beyond DNA.”
            Paranormal Source. Feb 2012. Web. 27 Feb 2012.
Stephanopoulos, George. Chang, Juju. “Wonder Twin Powers?” Good Morning America (ABC).             (2011): 1. Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 25 Feb 2012.
Watson, Peter. Twins: An Uncanny Relationship?. New York: The Viking Press, 1982. Print.
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#3

"Please drive safely, I don't want you to get into an accident and die or something" 

"I will, otherwise I wouldn't get to see you again!"
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Wednesday, May 28, 2014

#2

I'm anything for you, you know that.
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Friday, May 16, 2014

#1

You wear pink a lot, therefore pink is beautiful. 
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Monday, January 20, 2014

Dorm Room Survival Tips

It's the time of the year when high school seniors decide what college or university they will be attending for the next 2-5 years.  This decision is huge, as it determines what your dorm room will be like.  Searching "dorm room" on Google brings up the following results: 





I'm here to tell you that these photos lie.  They 100% lie.  If this is what you are expecting, you will find yourself disappointed. The rooms depicted above have clearly never had college kids living in them.

However, do not fret!  There are some things you can do to make your dorm room as close to the photos above as humanly possible. 

1. Set up a cleaning schedule 
No one likes living like a slob.  However, in college you will be really busy.  There will always be better things to do than cleaning.  DO NOT FALL INTO THIS TRAP.  Set aside one hour once a week to straighten.  If you stay on top of the mess, you won't even need that much time.  The rooms are small after all! 

2. Storage, storage, and more storage
Bring storage bins!  You can find lots of cute ones online or in stores.  You will not regret this!  And make sure that you have extra storage!  At college you come home with A LOT more things than you came with.  There is always some event handing out t-shirts, backpacks, or hats, and these things need a place in your dorm.  Check out Target for cute storage ottomans. 

3. Set roommate guidelines
There's many types of roommates. Some are best friends, some are enemies, some are in between.  No matter which type of roommate you get, there will always be things that they do that get on your nerves.  In the beginning it won't be bad.  It will be something you can tolerate.  You will be living with this person for the whole school year!  It will get on your nerves quickly! So talk to them in the beginning about guidelines for each of you. 

4. Open your door
BE SOCIAL.

5. Do not date someone on your floor
The first people you will meet at college will be the ones living on your floor.  There will probably be someone that will catch your eye.  Do not date them though!  This can lead to awkward situations for both of you!  At first it may seem great, but eventually you will want your space, and it will be hard to get that with them living right there.  Also, if you broke up you would have to deal with seeing them every day.  It's not fun.

6. Make friends with your RA 
Being friends with the RA will always have perks.

Have any survival stories?  Post them in the comments!

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Monday, January 6, 2014

101 Ways to Ask Them to Prom

Believe it or not, it's getting to be that time of the year.  Time to think about who you're asking to prom and of course, how you're asking them.

If you are really desperate to find a prom date, try Prom Date Depot.  I take no responsibility for the dates being sketchy. 

Now for the creative part.  101 ways to ask your date to prom. Let the list begin: 

1. Cookie Cake 

2. Crayon Poster

3. Locker Surprise

4. Puppyposal

5. Horseposal


6. Fishposal

7. Starbucks Cup

8. Pizzaposal

9. Garage Surprise

10. Candles

11. Fortune Cookie 

12. Sticky Note Assault

13. Mud

14. Message in a Bottle

15. Cake Poposal 

16. Pretzelposal 

17. Pokemon 

18. Ice Sculpture 

19. Road Signs 

20. Phone Case 

21. A Bus

22. Track Hurdles 

23. T-Shirt 

24. Duct Tape

25. Lollipops

26. Scantron 



27. M&M's 

28. Cookies

29. Bumper Banner 

30. Hockey Pucks 

31. Box Office 

32. Draw Something 

33. Roses 

34. Baseball 

35. Candygram 

36. Photo Booth 

37. Bracelet 

38. Flower 

39. Sidewalk Chalk 

40. Nerf Gun Note 

41. Sunburn 

42. Flash Mob 


43. Ping Pong Balls 

44. Beer 

45. Presentposal 

46. Videogame 

47. Snow 

48. Swim Caps 

49. Pokeball 

50. Water glass 

51. Balloons 

52. Sign for Swimmer 

53. Catposal 

54. Sushi 

55. Lacrosse 

56. Tennis

57. Reasons in a Notebook

58. Sailboat 

59. Cake

60. Skywriting 

61. Softball 

62. Mix Tape 

63. Math 

64. Breakfast 

65. Graffiti 

66. Red Solo Cups 

67. Whale

68. Harry Potter 

69. Condoms 
Please, please, please DO NOT DO THIS

70. Disciplinary Referral 

71. Taco Bell 

72. Hangman 

73. Minecraft 

74. Donuts 

75. People 

76. Bacon 

77. Bleachers 

78. Newspaper Article 

79. Shadows 

80. Cupcakes 

81. Mustache 

82. Bunny 

83. Boxes 

84. Fortune Teller 

85. Skateboard 

86. Fishing 

87. Sparklers 

88. Seaweed 

89. Flower Petals 

90. Puzzle 

91. Change Phone Contact

92. Rings 

93. Spongebob 

94. Chest 

95. Owl 

96. Walking Dead 

97. Calculator 

98. Eggs 

99. Ice Cream 

100. AMERICA 

101. Seashells 


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