Note to everyone, please read!!! :)

Hello, and welcome to my humanities class blogger! There are some things that I would really like you to check out, and please please please help me out by checking them out~ :P


Anyway, on the right hand side (or the left side of the screen), there is a survey/poll question called What type of presentation do you wish to see me present the case studies with?~ Please vote, and take note that you can choose more than one option! Second of all, after reading each case study post, please click on the link at the end of the artifacts that links to a facebook discussion forum to post comments about my blog post! Third of all, keep track of my posts by "following" me!!! Last but not least, feel free to check out my other humantities class portfolios like youtube, facebook, or twitter! You can find the links to all three of those on the right side (once again)~

Thank you for taking the time to read this, enjoy this blog and...ummm...have a nice day!!! :P


Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Presentation Reflections

Reflections: 
What I liked about everyone's presentation that I've seen (all of 9th grade presenters except for Holly because I had to leave early, the F block in class presentations, and the open presentations)~~

ALL OF 19TH CENTURY HUMANITIES PRESENTATIONS:
Samantha – Consumerism: She made the topic of fashion seemed a lot more interesting and had a confident style of presenting. Samantha seemed very interested and engaged in her topic, which is awesome.

Nathan – CO2 Emission: I liked how Nathan made a seemingly boring and obvious topic, CO2 emission, sound very interesting and “alive” as well, containing information we didn't know about before. I especially liked his depictions, the paintings looked really professional.

Allen – Overpopulation and Earth's “sickness”: Allen's prezi was really creative and arranged in an organized but not boring way. The images included were really clear, looked really cool while having a somewhat cute and comical effect, and provided very obvious messages.

Ilya – Russia (low birthrate): I liked Ilya's fun and relaxed attitude when presenting. He was very clear about what he was talking about, and his care for the topic made me care about it too. Ilya presented information that I had no knowledge about at all, so I learned a lot from his presentation.

Daniel Liu – Overpopulation: Ichia's very on-topic humor made his presentation more interesting and fun, as well as very easy to remember. The many photos included were really good, and the information he chose to present was very important and interesting to know.

Bob – Native Taiwanese Tribes: I liked how Bob tried very hard to make it seem like he's not nervous at all, and his ability to present clearly with the appropriate speed and volume even when he's nervous. Also, it's clear that he knows what he's doing and has explored his topic pretty well.

Kuan – Hong Kong: Kuan's slide designs were very colorful. He researched a lot of information, provided a lot of photos of Hong Kong, and explained the stats clearly for all of us to understand what he was talking about.

Francois – Teenage Problems: He chose a very great topic that we can all relate to easily, without the need to try, and used creative photos and wording to reveal his message. I found the information provided as well as the fun example about Kuan laughing at his new hairstyle very original and easy to understand/connect to.

William – Terrorism in Israel: William made a seemingly obvious topic sound very complicated with his pretty thorough research. His voice projection was loud enough the whole time, and he seemed to have worked really hard to provide us with this information, as well as his own analyzations on whether the killing of Osama Bin Laden would change anything or not.

Cathy – Understanding Human Beings: I love the topic Cathy chose. It's very human, it helps us learn about other humans along with learn about ourselves. She was confident, and presented with great enthusiasm, making us all laugh a little and I felt very relaxed, while I learned a lot and enjoyed her fun style of presenting.

Kyning – Leisure Time: Kyning's presentation made me think about the leisure time I spend, and question myself: is my leisure time increasing or decreasing as I grow older? Am I like the statistics shown in Kyning's presentation? Leisure time is a very relate-able topic.

F BLOCK IN CLASS PRESENTATIONS:
Daniel Chen – Sleep: Confident, humorous introduction. Interesting topic, and seemingly easy and obvious, but contains very valuable and detailed information and statistics. Daniel talks in a serious tone, but cracks us all up with the creative wording and photos included. Ironically, it woke me up.

Kaho – Japan: Interesting aspect of Japan, including teenager interests and things that definitely relate to our age group, things that I would never have thought of researching. Nice photos, like the ones about food, make me hungry. This presentation covers a lot of different aspects about Japan.

Anne – Overwork: Very creative and relate-able topic, including nice infographic and video. Very precise analyzations about different forms of education as well. Also very sneaky in trying to tell Mr. and Mrs. Kinzer what students would like teachers to be. XD

Peter – Manga: Nice introduction, referencing Kaho's presentation and the two questions about manga. Nice manga plot. Very humorous. Very memorable presentation told in a form of story, which makes information easier to remember. He has a strong feel for his topic, supports manga.

Angela – Rabbit Test: This topic and the way Angela describes it, lets us know that this is a very serious problem. I like how she connects this topic to cruelty of humans and how unfair and selfish we are. Her tone of voice is powerful and appropriate, she seems very emotional and confident.


Kelly – Hawaii: I love how Kelly dressed up very “Hawaii”! She showed a lot of enthusiasm and energy. She covered many different aspects of the topic Hawaii. Love the food! Yum! The Hawaiian dance lesson was awesome as well! It's obvious that Kelly put a lot of effort into creating this presentation.

Jasmine – Ecuador: Very cute and fun introduction, making us all participate and become engaged with what she is talking about. Nice idea relating the average temperature of Kaohsiung and the average temperature of Ecuador. Jasmine presented in a way that's really full of enthusiasm.

Jill – The Opium War: Creative photos to prevent a “long, boring historical” presentation. Jill included a lot of information to provide a thorough history about the Opium War, including the who, what, when, where, why, and how. Detailed explanations.

Alex – How Art Influences the World: Powerful introduction! It's easy to tell that he has a great passion for art. His point, that art is often ignored as important, is very clear and supported with powerful statistics and arguments, as well as interesting style along with confidence. I was inspired by the message in his presentation! Nice ending sentence.

Stephen – Indonesia: Nice photo and information included. Nice organization of topics. He seems very thorough in his research topic. Nice comparisons to show us that the Indonesia government spends too much unnecessary money on transportation. Nice interview videos, nice questions asked.

Christie – Los Angeles Crime Rate: Interesting topic to choose! Nice introduction and comparison of Arnold as movie star and as governor! Nice map to show where the illegal immigrants go to in the United States. Interesting presentation that kept me awake throughout the whole thing.

OPEN PRESENTATIONS:
Sabrina – Education: Sabrina's simulations were very clear and show what her message is really well. I liked how she got us all involved in the presentation by handing out the “recipe”... the blank piece of paper that we had to write our creative recipes on. Also, the instant noodles looked very very attractive. The last part, lighting the matches, was a great idea that symbolizes a lot of things.

Neil: Neil's presentation was very different and unique. Listening to the relaxing music was great, and the contrast that he made us see between the relaxing music and the New York City traffic jam was creative. The way he brought us back to the “right mood” with the relaxing music was very humorous. I also loved watching trailer in the end.

Herbert – Culture: The videos are really well made and used. It's very smart to interview teachers, because things like culture requires background knowledge, and the most epic answers, “culture is important because it's not important” and “to grow bacteria”, are absolutely hilarious. It was a great idea to play the video and talk over it, because of the bad quality of the sounds.

Tracy – Education: Tracy's presentation was very interesting. It was a topic I was interested in, the difference between western and eastern education, and the good and bad effects of it, as well as possible solutions. Tracy's presentation makes me think, and sometimes want to debate with her about it, because it's easy to relate to, and presented in a way that we can all connect to.

Mr. Kinzer – The Edge: Mr. Kinzer's presentation included very well-taken photos. The poem that was presented was very cool and I liked it a lot. This presentation inspired me a lot, and made me think about things form different perspectives. It was also very humorous and related to our daily lives as 19th century humanities students as well as just being human. The message behind it's great.


Overall:
I think I learned more than a lot from these presentations. Even though some classmates presented on topics that I wasn't interested in, most of them took the presentation beyond excellence no matter what the topic was, and they kept me awake, inspired me, and taught me a lot. Even though the “open” presentations were expected to be better and all, the “all” and “in class” ones were also really professional! I didn't just learn from the presentations, I also enjoyed them a lot more than I thought I would. I'm really glad that there was this free and interesting assignment that allows us all to research topics that we would never have in other classes, and have the opportunity to learn unique things while being able to use our creativity in a way we have never used it before.

Friday, May 27, 2011

Case Study 5: TETRIS TIME :)

Case Study 5: Tetris


Global Issue + Infographic!


Global Issue: Succumbing to the Tetris Effect and Other Forms of Video Game Addiction?


What is tetris effect? Tetris effect is a term for a form of video game addiction, first defined as “after-images of the game [tetris] for up to days afterwards” and also “a tendency to identify everything in the world as being made of four squares and attempt to determine 'where it fits in'.” This is when someone spends sufficient time on a video game and the images pop up in thoughts and dreams. Tetris is known as a pioneer of casual games, and a pioneer for causing the tetris effect. In fact, in the advertisements for Nintendo tetris, the concept of “cool” and “in power” was based on seeing tetrominoes whenever you see anything in your surroundings. They were right, because that's the effect tetris has on a lot of the people who play it.

There is no doubt that there are good things about games that cause the tetris effect or the tetris effect itself; and there is also no doubt that other forms of video game addiction might create some benefits, but many problems arise because of video game addiction. There are cases of deaths caused by this, including exhaustion or murder... The invention and rise in popularity of video games are not ancient history. “Video games” is a recent term. Crimes related to video game addiction started to be a lot more widely committed less than a decade ago. It's definitely still a big problem now. In 2009, a three-month old kid in Korea died of malnutrition after his parents became too busy raising a virtual kid in an online game. In 2010, a mother was sentenced for shaking her baby to death because the baby's crying interrupted her when she was playing Farmville. Also in 2010, a teenager killed his mother while she was sleeping because she took away his PlayStation.

There are many bad things about video games, how they harm your eyes and lead to various forms of addiction. Most of the time this is bad, but due to the huge imprint it leaves on people, it helps people suffer from less PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). This is how video game addiction helps. Also, these extreme cases don't happen everywhere. Many people nowadays go online a lot, but there are many limitations to a lot of things that stop people from committing the extreme crimes mentioned above. Also, in countries like South Korea, China, the Netherlands, Canada, and the United States, prevention and correction methods are issued. These nations have government operated clinics to treat people who suffer from overuse of online or video games. There are also organizations who post on message boards, chat or skype meetings, and other methods they use to heal and support the people they're there to help. There is global awareness of this very current issue, and hopefully it will improve the conditions.
---Tina Wu, grade 9 :)
This image shows a person, tetris effect, and an ongoing game of tetris. It shows that even when a person is sleeping, tetris effect can still take over the brain, making the person have an ongoing tetris game in their minds during sleep. This is what it means to be addicted, and tetris effect doesn't just happen with tetris players, but also players of other video games.
Newspaper (Op-Ed):

Video Games Might Not Be Good For You, But That's Only One Side of the Story


There are many reasons that video games like tetris are harmful to us. After long periods of time spent on video/online games, our eyesight will be damaged, and we might be addicted to them. Addiction has been and still is a serious problem, and many crimes such as murder have been committed because of that during the recent years. Still, I believe that there is a point in the development of tetris, the pioneer of casual games and the game that the term tetris effect was named after.
Tetris effect is a term that means when you spend a sufficient amount of time playing a video game, you will see images from that video game in your dreams, thoughts, and mental images. This first occurred in tetris players, because video games just started becoming popular at the time. Tetris effect causes many negative but also positive effects on people. It makes people addicted and basically insane, while also provoking mind development, or help support people with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder).
The main benefit of the game tetris in this world is the entertainment that it brings to people. A lot of people play tetris to relax themselves or to feel happier. The happiness of people is what humanity has been striving to achieve, and tetris, making people forget about everything else and concentrate on playing it, has brought happiness to a lot of people. Also, playing tetris leads to more efficient brain activity, increasing cerebral cortex thickness. This is why tetris is said to be able to improve critical thinking, reasoning, language and processing skills. In other words, your logic and intelligence will improve by playing tetris. Tetris is also a good tool to reduce flashbacks, and scientists have been trying to see if it will help with people who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Last but not least, tetris, like all other interests such as playing instruments, academics, athletics, or anything that requires attention and concentration, will increase one's patience. When someone treats tetris seriously, they will have goals, to improve at tetris or to reach a certain rank or send a certain number of lines at tetris battle; they will have patience, to keep playing and playing, or to connect it to other interests, practicing and practicing; they will have ambition, the heart to improve and the heart to win; and they will dedicate their time into thinking about tetris, creating a hardworking attitude that people create when they really want to be better at something. This is definitely a great way to teach someone the correct attitude.
You might say that spending too much time on tetris is not good for you, but spending too much time on anything is bad. Studying is not a bad thing to do, but spending too much time studying is not good. Eating fruits is not a bad thing to do, but eating too much is not good. Socializing is not bad for you, but spending too much time socializing is not good. Playing tetris is not bad for you, but spending too much time on it might cause post-addiction troubles. This is when things are about balance, not about itself. This is when things are “harmful” because they are potentially harmful. This is when the world is not absolute, but relative. Is tetris bad for you if you don't spend so much time on it that it causes you to not be able to do anything else?
I believe that things are created for a reason. Nowadays, entertainment is emphasized greatly. The only reason that it's emphasized greatly is because it's good for you. Maybe not physically, but mentally. Everyone needs a break from work or from school, and these forms of entertainment, such as television programs, movies, and video games, help you relax and stop thinking about stressful things; they help you escape for a while so you don't get too overwhelmed. In the beginning of the school year, one of our 19th century humanities class assignments was to present about the fundamental question: “What does it mean to be human?” A lot of people said that the purpose of living is to have fun. We live to survive, and to fulfill our desires to be happy. Tetris is made to do that, to help you relax, have something fun to focus on, and to increase the efficiency that your brain works at while enjoying a fun game.
If you still think tetris is harmful, think about it. Tetris can potentially make people smarter and think faster, potentially improve logic, potentially help people with PTSD, potentially help us relax, potentially cause bad eyesight, and potentially cause addiction. These are the potential effects of tetris, what might happen to tetris players, but they're not what will happen to tetris players. I hope it's not hard to realize that it's not the game of tetris that's harmful, it's how much time someone spends on it and the way that they think about it that leads to the harmful things.
---Tina Wu, grade 9

Link to Documentary!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlmLeoiVhnA
Enjoy~~ :)

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Case Study 4: It's Time For Africa!

Jambo~ Learning about Africa? Hakuna Matata! :)


Eyes on Africa:
My Presentation-Swahili


Swahili Prezi:



Sunday, February 20, 2011


Europe During the 19th Century!


Otto von Bismarck vs. Bill Gates



Otto von Bismarck:
Otto von Bismarck was born into aristocracy. In his early years no one would have imagined his future political power. He became a lawyer at 21 and was a heavy drinker. His life was changed when he was thirty; he changed from a atheist to becoming quite religious. He was married and involved in politics, becoming a member of the parliament (substitute). Prussian King Wilhelm handed the government to Otto von Bismarck.
“The great questions of the day will not be decided by speeches and resolutions of majorities… but by blood and iron.”
This quote was debuted during a meeting in the September of 1862. Blood and iron was often used to refer to his policies, since he extended his rule using realpolitiks, which is government based on practicality rather than morality. The Austro-Prussian war demonstrated his cunningness, gaining more land over Austria, though they were allies against Denmark originally. The Franco-Prussian war arose due to the Ems Telegram, a telegram published by Bismarck after Spain’s monarchy was offered to a German Prince, causing France to declare war on Prussia. From 1871 to 1890 Bismarck ruled over the unified Germany, industrialzing society, and modernizing it’s economy. After Kaiser Wilhelm died in 1888, Bismarck was forced into retirement by Wilheim the second. By doing so, Wilheim did much to undo Bismarck’s work and caused many of the fuses for world war one, awaiting to be blown up.
Bill Gates:
I find that the story of Microsoft is much similar to Prussia’s. Similar to Bismarck, he was quite successful in his educational career… until he dropped out of college
Bill Gate’s initial dream was to have a Microsoft running desktop on every household. Microsoft essentially made life easier for people, using developed and purchased software. Yet along with his visions, he is renowned for fighting illegal battles in courtrooms by seeking to monopolize the software market. He’s also nobility (like Bismarck) because he was knighted by the queen of England for his philanthropy. Both were leaders that constructed great empires with great influence with the various concerts their respect eras existed in. Ironically, both empires could be said to have reached their downfall with the transit of power, though Microsoft not as prominent as an example – Bismarck to Wilhem II and Bill Gates to Steve Ballmer.


Mazzini and Stallman



Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini was born in Genoa in 1805. He showed intellectual precocity as a child. In university he was seen as being negtle and generous while being involved in literary pursuits. In 1821, many revolutionaries sought refuge in Genoa, and he dressed in black to mourn for his country. He felt that Italy was just a geographical expression. He joined the Carbonari society in attempt to spread efforts of liberty. He was exiled to Spain and he designed Young Italy, which argued that through coordinated uprisings, Italian princes would be rejected and Austrian dominance would be lost. He moved to London and after learning English lived through journalism.
Richard Stallman/ GNU project:
The GNU Project was a project intended to be free and based upon the mass collaboration of hobbyists and users to evolve. It started the development of the GNU OS in 1984. The founding goal was to create an OS that could support software even if not free. GNU means GNU’s Not Unix. Along with the GNU manifesto, Richard Stallman listed the goals of the GNU project, as well as benefits from the users. Proprietary modifications won’t be allowed, and it is his intent for users to share. Sharing programs also increases animosity between programmers. This allows software buyers to not conflict between friendship and the law, in the case of programmers. This creates a larger group to go to for support, including yourself and not limiting yourself to one individual company. If a program is restricted, it restricts the full potential of the program and reduces its usefulness. By Richard Stallman’s experience, programmers will still program, even if there is less pay.
In essence, it seems to follow Mazzini’s trail of thoughts, in the case of software. He believes that people can attain freedom if we are to work in collaboration (in this case the writing of programs, distribution of software etc, as Mazzini’s Young Italy movement was distributed in branches amongst Italy, for organized uprisings against authority to reach liberty. Richard Stallman is rising up against proprietary software.) The sharing of information and collaborated efforts of the people in society is the foundation of their philosophies in regards of freedom of society.


Thomas Malthus



Thomas Malthus
Mr. Thomas was born in February Surrey, England, and was homeschooled. His father was a Utopian and he attended Jesus College, graduating in 1788. He was an important figure regarding the theory of population growth. He believed that population increased at a geometric constant, while food was an arithmetical increase. Positive checks on population, however, could prevent the population from rising too much.


Napoleon and the French Revolution/ Jasmine Revolution



Napoleon
Napoleon was born in Ajaccio, Corsica in August 1799. He was born into a wealthy family, though compared to their relatives they were considered poor. He entered the military academy of Brienne in 1779 by merit. Napoleon went to the French Revolution, where the officer class was demeaned. He looked patron to patron and soon Baras made him into a high military officer. After the failed campaign in Egypt, he took part of the Brumaire coup and became a member of the Consulate. Power was wrapped around him due to political skill and of course luck.
Jasmine Revolution:
After Mohammed Bouazizi, a computer science grad, was snapped under a police officer’s orders, he threatened to burn himself. He was jobless as a computer science grad, he had to sell fruit in a local market place, with police officers constantly harassing him. He did burn himself, on Dec 17. He became a martyr for the Tunisians who rose up angrily against President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, the dictator of Tunisia. The government had become corrupt and unemployment and inflation rocketed. Bouazizi’s death was compared as “The drop of water that made the whole up overflow.” Revolution itself is the most part that is untouched with democratic movements and its governments have deployed military or oppressive force to keep chage at bay. The rulers of Jordan, Yemen, and Egypt sought to quell their own societies discontent by promising to lower princes of food and fuel. Due to the fact there was not a leader in the Jasmine Revolution, it resulted in chaos after it occurred. The reason we chose the Jasmine revolution is because many things can be found similar to Ben Ali and Napoleon Bonaparte. Ben Ali, for the first two decades of his rule built up an educational system, protected women’s rights, and removed Islamic radicalism. They had free education until 16. In France, 1804, Napoleon stabilized French Society by allowing political and legal equality of all adult men and made societ merit based on advancement in education and employment. Ben Ali promoted tourism because of their lack of oil, as France had lacked natural resources.  80% of people in Tunisia owned households almost the same as in Europe. Yet the main problem faced by both countries at the moment was the increase of unemployment. However, France during the French Revolution and Napoleonic era lacked a single weapon of revolution: The internet. Tunisia revolted using the internet, and spread awareness through the web. Both dictators expect the people to not mind much that he suppressed opposition and muzzled the media. Now, people in Tunisia are talking openly in cafes, discussing uncencored newspapers, and a quote from Ben Ali ties it all together. After the revolution he quoted from William Wordsworth PreludeI, “Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive,/
But to be young was very heaven.”


Guiseppe Garibaldi



Born into a family in the fishing industry (not an industry back then, his dad was a fisherman, he went to sea at the age of 15, much to the protest of his mother. He was soon involved in the Young Itally movement in the early 1830s and was devoted to the liberation and the unification of Italy. When they failed to overthrow the Piedmontese government, he was exiled to South America. He lived in South America over 12 years, fighiting for rebel movements in Brazil and Uruguay. His signature is his billowing red shirt that the rebels wore. Mazzini was exiled in London, and in 1848, revolutions broke out in Europe and Garibaldi returned to Italy. He fled to Switzerland after his troops failed in Milan. Garbaldi then went to join a conflict in Rome, where Italian forced battled French troops who were loyal to the pope. He failed and fled, and his South American wife died. He then landed in Sicily during May 1860 and defeated the Neapolitan troops, then took over Naples. He seeked a peaceful unification and turned conquests to the piedmontese king. Italy was finally unified when Italy took over Rome, and he was considered a national hero. He died on June 2, 1882.


Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx



Friedrich Engels:
Engels was born in 1820 in Barmen, Germany. His father was relatively wealthy and worked in a textile business and wished Engels would follow his footsteps. He sent him to be a clerk at a manufacturing town and thus he never had a college education. He was active in radical causes at the age of 20 and would meet Marx in 1842 and invested in his friends original intellectual wagon. He worked as a farm manager in the 1840s and wrote “The Condition of the Working Class in England” He moved in 1850 to support Marx, who was kicked out of Brussel for revolutionary activity. The first Volume of Das Kapital was published in Marx’s lifetime. It was Engels who organized Marx’s notes and published it afterwards. He believed Marx’s principles were scientifically supported. He died in 1895.
Karl Marx:
When Karl Marx was missing with members of the working class, Marx was shocked by their poverty but impressed by their sense of comradeship. He is noted to be one of the first to consider the poverty of workers against the economic engine of Capitalism.
Socialism TODAY:
Capitalism allows a tremendous advance over societies, so many people view capitalism as a sacrifice of morality for production. Back in the 19th century it seemed that Capitalism cured the problems of disease and poverty with new technology, but today it is still a existing problem. The problem with capitalism is not production, but distribution and awareness. Over production with ineffective distribution is thus the main issue with capitalism today.