So, after my horrendous computer glitches, I finally have a site with images! Woo hoo! Thanks Jim Groom for the tremendous amount of help! (however I still don't have a functioning laptop... or any of my files minus what was on my site). It's been a long weekend.
Anyway, from here on out I will be discussing my INTERNSHIP over winter break! No more image stories, video commentary, or anything fun like that :(
rip ds106
Showing posts with label ds106. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ds106. Show all posts
Monday, December 13, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
DS106 Reflections
DS106 was probably my favorite non-major elective that I've taken. I didn't need it for an art credit or anything like that, but I was intrigued especially because it was a computer science course. I had already taken CPSC 110 (because the rest of my family are computer geeks, I needed to take intro to comp sci in order to understand dinner conversation), and I thought another comp sci class would look good on grad school applications. I was kind of hoping to learn some more coding and programming skills, so maybe the fact that this class is classified as a computer science course is somewhat misleading.
Leading up to the semester, Amy and I had been trying to figure out what we would be doing in this class. Well, looking back I'd say we were completely wrong. The class got off to a somewhat slow and frustrating start. The two articles we read were interesting, but I think I would have appreciated them more at the end of the semester. Setting up my blog was slightly difficult for me, but after a meeting or two with Prof Groom, I got it all worked out.
I think my soccer theme worked out really well. My teammates loved being featured and I would post the article onto their facebook pages. I would actually get comments from my other friends saying how they saw my blog and thought it was really cool. Getting feedback from non classmates was probably the best because they weren't getting graded for reading and commenting! My mom also commented here and there... but I'm not sure if that counts. Unfortunately our season didn't go quite as long as we had hoped for, so that kind of cut my blog short. Last year we had a thriller of a tournament, upsetting the first seeded team in penatly kicks, coming back to tie the championship game with less than 2 mins left, and going to TN for the NCAA tournament. I was hoping to be able to share an awesome story like that, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. At least I have a crazy ankle injury to share, although I'm not sure how interesting that is to anyone else lol.
As for the assignments, I definitely had some frustration producing some of them! The videos were especially hard for me. I remember downloading tons of different converters, and I finally got it right after several hours of struggling with it. Meanwhile, I kept getting a pop up saying that I'm running out of disk space on my computer. My computer was running so slowly, and It was nearly impossible to edit the video. Immediately after I finished the first video project, I deleted everything I had downloaded in hopes of freeing up some space and having my computer run at a normal speed again. I'm sure you could imagine my frustration when I heard we had yet another video project.
Despite my frustration with the video, I really liked adding the commentary. I thought that project was a lot of fun. The Mash Up was pretty challenging for me. I had so many ideas that I wanted to do, but didn't quite have to right technology to make it all happen. If I had unlimited amounts of time to complete that project, I would have been very meticulous and worked for perfection. After struggling with the converters, I was slightly fed up and started to become unmotivated. I really liked making the google map project, even if it was boring for other people to watch. I liked Wes' idea of exploring somewhere new, instead of discussing somewhere familiar. The audio stories were pretty cool, along with the image stories. I think the best part about the image stories is that they are short and sweet. Anything that is longer than 5 minutes looked a little daunting to watch, and I know half of my stuff was longer than that. Maybe if they were shorter more people would have read and commented.
As for reading other peoples blogs, I really enjoyed many of my classmate's projects. I REALLY wish I knew who everyone was in person though! There were times where I would get caught up in checking out everyone's new posts, that I would stay up really late reading and commenting. I loved doing it! I think if I had taken this as a summer course when I had a lot more free time, I would have been able to read and comment more often. This course along with several upper level bio and chem classes is maybe a little bit of a time crunch. Also, after spending hours fighting video converters, the last thing I want to do is read someone's blog or even think about ds106...
Overall, I really enjoyed this class and producing my blog. I'm glad that I was exposed to flickr, twitter, audacity, and windows moviemaker. What other class would require you to make a twitter account?? I already have and will continue to recommend this class to my friends. I think one aspect of this class which made it so successful was Professor Groom's enthusiasm. I think it was because of his excitement that we were able to produce some pretty sweet projects. So, thank you for pushing us and setting the bar high. As for the fate of my blog, I'm going to continue to update it over the next month while at my physical therapy internship in Reston. This is so my faculty advisor can keep up with what I am doing to give me credit for the volunteer work.
Peace out ds106, it's been quite a ride!
Leading up to the semester, Amy and I had been trying to figure out what we would be doing in this class. Well, looking back I'd say we were completely wrong. The class got off to a somewhat slow and frustrating start. The two articles we read were interesting, but I think I would have appreciated them more at the end of the semester. Setting up my blog was slightly difficult for me, but after a meeting or two with Prof Groom, I got it all worked out.
I think my soccer theme worked out really well. My teammates loved being featured and I would post the article onto their facebook pages. I would actually get comments from my other friends saying how they saw my blog and thought it was really cool. Getting feedback from non classmates was probably the best because they weren't getting graded for reading and commenting! My mom also commented here and there... but I'm not sure if that counts. Unfortunately our season didn't go quite as long as we had hoped for, so that kind of cut my blog short. Last year we had a thriller of a tournament, upsetting the first seeded team in penatly kicks, coming back to tie the championship game with less than 2 mins left, and going to TN for the NCAA tournament. I was hoping to be able to share an awesome story like that, but that's the way the cookie crumbles. At least I have a crazy ankle injury to share, although I'm not sure how interesting that is to anyone else lol.
As for the assignments, I definitely had some frustration producing some of them! The videos were especially hard for me. I remember downloading tons of different converters, and I finally got it right after several hours of struggling with it. Meanwhile, I kept getting a pop up saying that I'm running out of disk space on my computer. My computer was running so slowly, and It was nearly impossible to edit the video. Immediately after I finished the first video project, I deleted everything I had downloaded in hopes of freeing up some space and having my computer run at a normal speed again. I'm sure you could imagine my frustration when I heard we had yet another video project.
Despite my frustration with the video, I really liked adding the commentary. I thought that project was a lot of fun. The Mash Up was pretty challenging for me. I had so many ideas that I wanted to do, but didn't quite have to right technology to make it all happen. If I had unlimited amounts of time to complete that project, I would have been very meticulous and worked for perfection. After struggling with the converters, I was slightly fed up and started to become unmotivated. I really liked making the google map project, even if it was boring for other people to watch. I liked Wes' idea of exploring somewhere new, instead of discussing somewhere familiar. The audio stories were pretty cool, along with the image stories. I think the best part about the image stories is that they are short and sweet. Anything that is longer than 5 minutes looked a little daunting to watch, and I know half of my stuff was longer than that. Maybe if they were shorter more people would have read and commented.
As for reading other peoples blogs, I really enjoyed many of my classmate's projects. I REALLY wish I knew who everyone was in person though! There were times where I would get caught up in checking out everyone's new posts, that I would stay up really late reading and commenting. I loved doing it! I think if I had taken this as a summer course when I had a lot more free time, I would have been able to read and comment more often. This course along with several upper level bio and chem classes is maybe a little bit of a time crunch. Also, after spending hours fighting video converters, the last thing I want to do is read someone's blog or even think about ds106...
Overall, I really enjoyed this class and producing my blog. I'm glad that I was exposed to flickr, twitter, audacity, and windows moviemaker. What other class would require you to make a twitter account?? I already have and will continue to recommend this class to my friends. I think one aspect of this class which made it so successful was Professor Groom's enthusiasm. I think it was because of his excitement that we were able to produce some pretty sweet projects. So, thank you for pushing us and setting the bar high. As for the fate of my blog, I'm going to continue to update it over the next month while at my physical therapy internship in Reston. This is so my faculty advisor can keep up with what I am doing to give me credit for the volunteer work.
Peace out ds106, it's been quite a ride!
Moving to Blogger
So, I've finally moved everything over to blogger. It was a little tricky, but nothing terrible. I received an error when trying to import everything, but I found a site http://wordpress2blogger.appspot.com/ which was super easy to use and worked perfectly! So, now I need to work on my background. I think pink hummingbird doesn't exactly fit the whole soccer theme. And just as I was becoming extremely familiar with wordpress, I have to switch it over.
However, I'm slightly confused. I still have my godaddy.com thing, so my domain name is good. Is switching over to blogger sufficient to keep everything running? I don't need to pay/sign up for anything else? How will my site.stratcat.info page be affected? Any thoughts??
However, I'm slightly confused. I still have my godaddy.com thing, so my domain name is good. Is switching over to blogger sufficient to keep everything running? I don't need to pay/sign up for anything else? How will my site.stratcat.info page be affected? Any thoughts??
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Installing ThinkUp
Well, I believe I have successfully added ThinkUp to my site. Only problem.... I'm pretty sure the wordpress app only applies to Twitter! Problem because I haven't posted anything since our last dailyshoot assignment. I was kind of excited to see all the facebook data since I'm a facebook junkie, but I can't seem to access any of it.
Anyway, I created a separate page for this application, because I wasn't really sure what it would do. I started off my downloading a random plug in (which is why my header is gone, bye umw soccer!), The first five I tried said they would screw up my header, so I just decided to change it and be done with it. So, once I got a random plugin (it was actually a twitter plug in ha-ha), I went to editor, erased all of it, and c/p the thinkup data. I'm getting ahead of myself.
So BEFORE all that, I went to the ThinkUp site, and clicked the download for the wordpress app. I opened the file folder, opened the PHP document, and when prompted, I clicked the option to open it with Notepad. From there, I copied the entire text that appeared in notepad, and pasted it into the plug in editor. As a side note, this sounds like it took 2 minutes. It took me about 30 before I figured all of this out. phew.
So next, in order to figure out what to do, I opened the ReadMe file for ThinkUp. There, it tells you to go to Settings in wordpress, choose ThinkUp, and edit the settings to include your twitter name. It also gives you things to paste into a post (things with [brackets] around them, not really sure how they work). So I posted the brackets into my new ThinkUp page, and fingers crossed went to check it out. It came back with, There are not recent tweets from StratCat. Success!!
Doesn't sound like success, but at least I know it works! So I went ahead and tweeted something. Still hasn't shown up on my page, but I'm not sure what the turn around time is. Anyway, yay for archiving nothing!
Anyway, I created a separate page for this application, because I wasn't really sure what it would do. I started off my downloading a random plug in (which is why my header is gone, bye umw soccer!), The first five I tried said they would screw up my header, so I just decided to change it and be done with it. So, once I got a random plugin (it was actually a twitter plug in ha-ha), I went to editor, erased all of it, and c/p the thinkup data. I'm getting ahead of myself.
So BEFORE all that, I went to the ThinkUp site, and clicked the download for the wordpress app. I opened the file folder, opened the PHP document, and when prompted, I clicked the option to open it with Notepad. From there, I copied the entire text that appeared in notepad, and pasted it into the plug in editor. As a side note, this sounds like it took 2 minutes. It took me about 30 before I figured all of this out. phew.
So next, in order to figure out what to do, I opened the ReadMe file for ThinkUp. There, it tells you to go to Settings in wordpress, choose ThinkUp, and edit the settings to include your twitter name. It also gives you things to paste into a post (things with [brackets] around them, not really sure how they work). So I posted the brackets into my new ThinkUp page, and fingers crossed went to check it out. It came back with, There are not recent tweets from StratCat. Success!!
Doesn't sound like success, but at least I know it works! So I went ahead and tweeted something. Still hasn't shown up on my page, but I'm not sure what the turn around time is. Anyway, yay for archiving nothing!
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Homage to Sport Science
So, as much as I would LOVE to recreate my own episode of sport science, I do not posses any of the technology needed to do so. However, I do own equipment to do basic physics experiments in my kitchen! With the help of my family and a few friends, I've created my own Kitchen Science video.
I left a lot of this unedited in order to truly capture the essence of my family dynamic. I hope it gives you a good look into the Strat family, because not only am I obsessed with science, as much as I hate to admit it I'm a big fan of my family's quirky nerdiness, too.
I left a lot of this unedited in order to truly capture the essence of my family dynamic. I hope it gives you a good look into the Strat family, because not only am I obsessed with science, as much as I hate to admit it I'm a big fan of my family's quirky nerdiness, too.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Ankle Update
So there have been a few more twists in the adventures of Karen's ankle. I went to my pre-op appointment last week where my doctor was going to read my MRI and CT scan. He determined that it is inconclusive what exactly is giving me pain (either the extra bone or the sprained ligament) so therefore he wouldn't perform the surgery. He then told me to wear a walking boot for 8 weeks to heal the ligament. I obviously was not very pleased with this conclusion! I went from being able to have a simple surgery to fix my problem to not even knowing what is wrong with my ankle anymore!
I decided to get a second opinion from my teammate's ankle doc, whom she really likes and recommended. So this new doctor took a look at all of my images and took a few more x rays. She determined that the ligament (which I've been wearing this stupid boot for a month now) is not what is giving me pain (which is what I've been sayin the whole time! I didn't even know that ligament was injured). She also pointed out chips of bone in the ankle joint which have come off of my tibia and fibula (the two leg bones that make up your shin), but those aren't the problem either. She thinks that the extra bone definitely broke off of my talus, and has reattached itself. However, it's possible it could have reattached itself in a different position, therefore getting in the way of my ankle's range of motion and causing me pain. The procedure to fix this would be to simply remove the extra bone, approximately 3 weeks recovery, which was the original surgery I had planned on getting all season.
OR, she thinks that I actually fractured my talus and since it went undiagnosed it wasn't allowed to heal properly. Normally, bones take 6 weeks to heal, especially in young people. It's possible that it never fully healed and the blood supply could be cut off to the bone (bones have a lot of blood vessels running through them). She said worst case scenario, if I keep running and doing high impact things my talus may actually collapse on itself. Scary. The procedure to fix this would be to actual drill into the bone, which would stimulate bone growth and ossification. I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure that would mean at least 6 weeks in a non weight bearing cast, plus more recovery time on top of that.
So, next week I am getting a bone scan. I wasn't really sure exactly what this entailed, so I went to WebMD. "For a bone scan, a radioactive tracer substance is injected into a vein in the arm. The tracer then travels through the bloodstream and into the bones. This process may take several hours. A special camera takes pictures of the tracer in the bones. This helps show cell activity and function in the bones. Areas that absorb little or no amount of tracer appear as dark or "cold" spots, which may indicate a lack of blood supply to the bone (bone infarction) or the presence of certain types of cancer. Areas of rapid bone growth or repair absorb increased amounts of the tracer and show up as bright or "hot" spots in the pictures. Hot spots may indicate problems such as arthritis, the presence of a tumor, a fracture, or an infection."
So based upon the bone scan, the doctor says she will be able to determine what treatment will solve my problem. I went to the hospital today to pick up the initial x rays I had done the night of the injury. The two men working there were somewhat confused as to why I needed x rays that were taken over a year ago.... I told them it confused me, too! Hopefully these can help rule out some more possibilities of the mysterious ankle injury.
I decided to get a second opinion from my teammate's ankle doc, whom she really likes and recommended. So this new doctor took a look at all of my images and took a few more x rays. She determined that the ligament (which I've been wearing this stupid boot for a month now) is not what is giving me pain (which is what I've been sayin the whole time! I didn't even know that ligament was injured). She also pointed out chips of bone in the ankle joint which have come off of my tibia and fibula (the two leg bones that make up your shin), but those aren't the problem either. She thinks that the extra bone definitely broke off of my talus, and has reattached itself. However, it's possible it could have reattached itself in a different position, therefore getting in the way of my ankle's range of motion and causing me pain. The procedure to fix this would be to simply remove the extra bone, approximately 3 weeks recovery, which was the original surgery I had planned on getting all season.
OR, she thinks that I actually fractured my talus and since it went undiagnosed it wasn't allowed to heal properly. Normally, bones take 6 weeks to heal, especially in young people. It's possible that it never fully healed and the blood supply could be cut off to the bone (bones have a lot of blood vessels running through them). She said worst case scenario, if I keep running and doing high impact things my talus may actually collapse on itself. Scary. The procedure to fix this would be to actual drill into the bone, which would stimulate bone growth and ossification. I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure that would mean at least 6 weeks in a non weight bearing cast, plus more recovery time on top of that.
So, next week I am getting a bone scan. I wasn't really sure exactly what this entailed, so I went to WebMD. "For a bone scan, a radioactive tracer substance is injected into a vein in the arm. The tracer then travels through the bloodstream and into the bones. This process may take several hours. A special camera takes pictures of the tracer in the bones. This helps show cell activity and function in the bones. Areas that absorb little or no amount of tracer appear as dark or "cold" spots, which may indicate a lack of blood supply to the bone (bone infarction) or the presence of certain types of cancer. Areas of rapid bone growth or repair absorb increased amounts of the tracer and show up as bright or "hot" spots in the pictures. Hot spots may indicate problems such as arthritis, the presence of a tumor, a fracture, or an infection."
So based upon the bone scan, the doctor says she will be able to determine what treatment will solve my problem. I went to the hospital today to pick up the initial x rays I had done the night of the injury. The two men working there were somewhat confused as to why I needed x rays that were taken over a year ago.... I told them it confused me, too! Hopefully these can help rule out some more possibilities of the mysterious ankle injury.
Monday, November 22, 2010
My Obsession: Sport Science
So, I would like to share with everyone a show that I love called "Sport Science." Barely any of my friends have heard of it, so I really wanted to spread the word. This show is a fascinating mix between athletics and physics. They slowly break down all of the minor components of the physiology that goes into simple (and not so simple) athletic movements. The show brings in all sorts of professional athletes, most of which are pretty famous, and has them run the tests for the scientists to analyze. There is a lot of interesting and unique technology that provides all of the data. So here's a taste of a few of my favorite episodes, in order to let you get a better feel of this show.
Who can squeeze tighter, a boa constrictor or a wrestler giving a head lock?
Who can run backwards faster, a sports car in reverse or a corner back?
Who can run faster forwards, an ostrich or a wide receiver? (they seriously had an ostrich)
How well can a receiver catch a football in a variety of circumstances, including being hung upside down?
What types of lies can a golfer hit a ball out of? Sand, popcorn, jello, spaghetti?
Who can punch harder, male or female boxers of the same size?
How much can a person eat in food eating contests?
How difficult is it to bite off someone's ear like Mike Tyson did?
How force is required to break a backboard?
Who can run faster, a zombie or a golfer? (just kidding, that ones from you J Groom)
What's really embarrassing, is that I recalled all of these episodes from memory... in about 2 minutes. Anyway, to pay homage to this great show, and maintain the theme of my blog, I really want to share this episode. It compares the force of blocking a punt in football to standing in a wall and blocking a shot in soccer. As a defender, it's REALLY important to block shots. Granted no one we play against can kick the ball as freakishly hard as the pro in this episode, but it still sucks to be so vulnerable! Hope you like it! You can find more clips of episodes on youtube if you're interested!
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Meet Dubs
Meet Marianne Dubinsky, also known as Dubs. She attended Blacksburg High School where she ran track and played soccer. She is now a junior at UMW and plays defense for our team. Her freshman year, she gained all-conference honors after scoring two goals and adding one assist. She also started all 19 games. Dubs didn't play her sophomore year, but this past year she consistently started, playing both midfield and defense.
Marianne is a jokster. She tells the best jokes, always has a smile on her face, and wears a lot of colorful clothes. She's just a fun person to be around! She's very smart and a hard worker, both on and off the field. The past week we have been doing baseline fitness testing. Dubs tore apart the 1.5 mile run, finished 40 seconds faster than the 2nd best time. So far she can do the most pull ups on the team, too! Dubs is an athlete, that's for sure. I'm not sure what her major is, but I do know at one point it was math, then chemistry. I also think she wants to go into food science. Maybe her mind changed after she had been working at McDonald's for a few weeks (she worked at mcd's across from jepson before they started the renovation on it). Basically, dubs is awesome. How many of your friends have worked at McDonald's?
Marianne is a jokster. She tells the best jokes, always has a smile on her face, and wears a lot of colorful clothes. She's just a fun person to be around! She's very smart and a hard worker, both on and off the field. The past week we have been doing baseline fitness testing. Dubs tore apart the 1.5 mile run, finished 40 seconds faster than the 2nd best time. So far she can do the most pull ups on the team, too! Dubs is an athlete, that's for sure. I'm not sure what her major is, but I do know at one point it was math, then chemistry. I also think she wants to go into food science. Maybe her mind changed after she had been working at McDonald's for a few weeks (she worked at mcd's across from jepson before they started the renovation on it). Basically, dubs is awesome. How many of your friends have worked at McDonald's?
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Fan Fiction: Part 2
So, I just spent an hour at seaco with Amy, where we were brainstorming our obsessions. I learned that Amy LOVES Gilmore Girls, french fries, some book series about a bounty hunter, the twilight books, Outback, The Notebook, Mean Girls, Taylor Swift.... the list goes on! She immediately would get extremely enthusiastic and would slightly bounce up and down in her seat from excitement. I, on the other hand, racked my brain for something that would make me jump for joy like her. We decided that I love eating, but don't like to cook. I love dancing, but don't know much about music. I know nothing about celebrities or movies or tv shows. I'm pretty lame, apparently.
Something that I really like to do, on the other hand, is explain to Amy (despite her lack of interest) the biology and chemistry behind all sorts of things, mostly fitness related stuff. Such as why bones heal faster than ligaments, why lactic acid is produced in muscles, even how we have evolved from monkeys. Once I even explained to her why ice cream gets slightly less sweet and becomes gritty over time. I love talking about this stuff! It was around this time, that my mind took me back several years ago to an AWESOME show that I would record on DVR all the time. This show is "Sports Science." I don't think any more episodes are being produced, but for the one month where I think I watched every one of them, I loved it. So there is my obsession: analyzing the science behind everything, but more specifically the science of sports. All of which, was captured in a TV show. Amy's gonna be mad, I'll probably dig up a lot more stuff to explain to her!
Something that I really like to do, on the other hand, is explain to Amy (despite her lack of interest) the biology and chemistry behind all sorts of things, mostly fitness related stuff. Such as why bones heal faster than ligaments, why lactic acid is produced in muscles, even how we have evolved from monkeys. Once I even explained to her why ice cream gets slightly less sweet and becomes gritty over time. I love talking about this stuff! It was around this time, that my mind took me back several years ago to an AWESOME show that I would record on DVR all the time. This show is "Sports Science." I don't think any more episodes are being produced, but for the one month where I think I watched every one of them, I loved it. So there is my obsession: analyzing the science behind everything, but more specifically the science of sports. All of which, was captured in a TV show. Amy's gonna be mad, I'll probably dig up a lot more stuff to explain to her!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Movie Mashup- How to Train Your Mean Girl
I definitely struggled with this assignment a bit. The windows move maker didn't have all of the features that I wanted, and this limited me on how much editing I could do (within our time frame and without me going nuts). I had tons of ideas in my head of where I wanted things, what order, a second added here, a couple seconds deleted, but I couldn't quite make them a reality. I got pretty close, but I'm not completely satisfied with the outcome. Hopefully you can pick up on my idea of "How to Train Your Mean Girl." On a side note, if you haven't seen How to Train Your Dragon... GO SEE IT. It's absolutely one of my favorite movies. I wanted to use it as my video (not audio) but it didn't quite make sense that way. Hope you like it!
Monday, November 8, 2010
Don't surf under the influence...
I stumbled upon this quote in my "quotes of the day" on my computer....
"The Internet is like alcohol in some sense. It accentuates what you would do anyway. If you want to be a loner, you can be more alone. If you want to connect, it makes it easier to connect." -Esther Dyson
I thought this completely applied to our class, and I also think it's very true. I had no idea who Esther Dyson was, so I decided to use the wonderful tool called wikipedia to look her up. She is a journalist and commentator on emerging digital technology, an entrepreneur, and a philanthropist from Switzerland. Other than that, there's not much else about her besides her very interesting view of both the internet and alcohol.
On another note...(this is slightly a different spin on what the quote is saying) is it possible to become addicted to the internet? Do we rely on it, and have we become dependent of it? Is it possible to have "internet-ism"? Is there such a thing as being on the internet too much? Of course there are no rehab centers for over-use of the internet.. should there be?
One thought jumps into my head initially, that kids (or adults) stay up waay too late playing video games, tweeting, facebook stalking, etc. I think it's definitely possible that some people are addicted to the internet and technology. Is this just the new social norm or is it becoming an actual problem?
"The Internet is like alcohol in some sense. It accentuates what you would do anyway. If you want to be a loner, you can be more alone. If you want to connect, it makes it easier to connect." -Esther Dyson
I thought this completely applied to our class, and I also think it's very true. I had no idea who Esther Dyson was, so I decided to use the wonderful tool called wikipedia to look her up. She is a journalist and commentator on emerging digital technology, an entrepreneur, and a philanthropist from Switzerland. Other than that, there's not much else about her besides her very interesting view of both the internet and alcohol.
On another note...(this is slightly a different spin on what the quote is saying) is it possible to become addicted to the internet? Do we rely on it, and have we become dependent of it? Is it possible to have "internet-ism"? Is there such a thing as being on the internet too much? Of course there are no rehab centers for over-use of the internet.. should there be?
One thought jumps into my head initially, that kids (or adults) stay up waay too late playing video games, tweeting, facebook stalking, etc. I think it's definitely possible that some people are addicted to the internet and technology. Is this just the new social norm or is it becoming an actual problem?
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Booted.
So, I recently spoke to my doctor who will be doing my ankle surgery. I got an MRI two weeks ago as a pre-surgery procedure, so my doctor could have a better idea of what's going on in my ankle before he cuts me open. Initially when I got the MRI, he read it very briefly at his house and said that there wasn't much to talk about it. However, when I spoke to him on the phone on Monday, he says that the MRI shows that I have sprained ligaments in my ankle! He told me it was my deltoid ligament, see the picture below, but I have absolutely no pain or swelling there which is why I'm kind of confused.
Anyway, my doctor told me to wear a walking boot in order to heal the ligaments. He made me an appointment to get a CT scan (think 3D x-ray) to take a better look at the extra bone I have. He's now not sure if I really need the surgery (I think I do) so he wants to reevaluate me after the CT scan next monday.
So, I'm kinda bummed because well, first off, the boot is really annoying and people stare at it. But I'm also missing out on our teams 2v2 tournament, soccer tennis tournament, and a few other fun things. Also, I wanted to be able to go running and to the gym before my surgery. Looks like that won't be happening :( On the bright side, this twist gives me more to blog about!
Anyway, my doctor told me to wear a walking boot in order to heal the ligaments. He made me an appointment to get a CT scan (think 3D x-ray) to take a better look at the extra bone I have. He's now not sure if I really need the surgery (I think I do) so he wants to reevaluate me after the CT scan next monday.
So, I'm kinda bummed because well, first off, the boot is really annoying and people stare at it. But I'm also missing out on our teams 2v2 tournament, soccer tennis tournament, and a few other fun things. Also, I wanted to be able to go running and to the gym before my surgery. Looks like that won't be happening :( On the bright side, this twist gives me more to blog about!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Meet Tina Brehm
Tina is our AMAZING goalie! She's probably one of the most important players on the field, and she's one of my best friends, so she gets the next bio :)
Tina is a junior from Springfield, VA where she attended Robert E Lee high school. She played soccer, basketball, volleyball, AND football! Yup, she was their kicker, but during practice she worked with the wide receivers. At UMW she is a double biology/psychology major and plans on going to veterinary school. Tina is probably the nicest person on the planet. She is extremely selfless and very caring. At practice, if you forgot socks...Tina has extras. Need sunscreen, a hair tie, a band aid, tissues? You ask Tina and she will ALWAYS have it. Tina is kind of a big deal. Here are some stats from our 2009 season where she was our starting goalie as a sophomore.
Tina gained first team all-conference honors after posting 8 shut outs. She had 101 saves and a .808 save percentage (81% of shots on goal were saved). She allowed only 24 goals all season, with a 1.16 goals-against average (in an average game, only 1.16 goals were scored on us). She made 12 saves in the CAC tournament quarterfinal win over St. Mary's, and a career-high 18 saves against Salisbury in the semifinal game. Basically, Tina had an awesome season. I'm so glad we're the same year because I don't know what I'd do on the field without her!
Tina is a junior from Springfield, VA where she attended Robert E Lee high school. She played soccer, basketball, volleyball, AND football! Yup, she was their kicker, but during practice she worked with the wide receivers. At UMW she is a double biology/psychology major and plans on going to veterinary school. Tina is probably the nicest person on the planet. She is extremely selfless and very caring. At practice, if you forgot socks...Tina has extras. Need sunscreen, a hair tie, a band aid, tissues? You ask Tina and she will ALWAYS have it. Tina is kind of a big deal. Here are some stats from our 2009 season where she was our starting goalie as a sophomore.
Tina gained first team all-conference honors after posting 8 shut outs. She had 101 saves and a .808 save percentage (81% of shots on goal were saved). She allowed only 24 goals all season, with a 1.16 goals-against average (in an average game, only 1.16 goals were scored on us). She made 12 saves in the CAC tournament quarterfinal win over St. Mary's, and a career-high 18 saves against Salisbury in the semifinal game. Basically, Tina had an awesome season. I'm so glad we're the same year because I don't know what I'd do on the field without her!
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
2010 CAC Tournament
So, we tied St Mary's last Saturday, 1-1. Not a bad game, but it really would have helped our standings to have won. Anyway, all of the regular season games are finished, and we are ranked 6th. Here are all of the standings:
1- Stevenson (6-1-1)
2- Frostburg (6-2-0)
3- St. Mary's (5-2-1)
4- York (5-3-0)
5- Salisbury (5-3-0)
6- Mary Washington (3-3-2)
7- Marymount (2-6-0)
8- Hood (1-7-0)
9- Wesley (1-7-0)
As you can see, the top 5 teams are all really close. I'd also like to point out that yesterday we played Hood. We lost 1-0. They packed five defenders in the back! Essentially, the game didn't matter for standings at all. Win or lose we would be 6th, and they still don't make the tournament (top 6 make it). Sooo I'm not going to say we didn't really try that hard, but we were kinda nonchalant going into the game. And there goal was pure luck. Jus sayin. However, from here on out, it's do or die. If we win, we advance. If we lose, the season's over. Wish us luck!
Anyway, here's the break down for the tournament.
1 and 2 both get byes in the first round, so they are guaranteed a semifinal game at home. 3 plays 6 (at 3), and 4 plays 5 (at 4). So, here you can see how higher rankings are important, because it means you get home games. That means no sitting on a bus for several hours, no eating on the road, and no obnoxious fans. We will be traveling to St Mary's this Saturday. I think there is a very good chance we can win this game, but I don't want to talk about it too much because I don't want to jinx it! We're planning a slightly different formation, and I think it can definitely work.
Last year, we were 4 and St Mary's was 5. It was a soaking wet, muddy game. We won in overtime 2-1 and advanced to play at Salisbury, who was ranked first. More on the tournament last year later....
1- Stevenson (6-1-1)
2- Frostburg (6-2-0)
3- St. Mary's (5-2-1)
4- York (5-3-0)
5- Salisbury (5-3-0)
6- Mary Washington (3-3-2)
7- Marymount (2-6-0)
8- Hood (1-7-0)
9- Wesley (1-7-0)
As you can see, the top 5 teams are all really close. I'd also like to point out that yesterday we played Hood. We lost 1-0. They packed five defenders in the back! Essentially, the game didn't matter for standings at all. Win or lose we would be 6th, and they still don't make the tournament (top 6 make it). Sooo I'm not going to say we didn't really try that hard, but we were kinda nonchalant going into the game. And there goal was pure luck. Jus sayin. However, from here on out, it's do or die. If we win, we advance. If we lose, the season's over. Wish us luck!
Anyway, here's the break down for the tournament.
1 and 2 both get byes in the first round, so they are guaranteed a semifinal game at home. 3 plays 6 (at 3), and 4 plays 5 (at 4). So, here you can see how higher rankings are important, because it means you get home games. That means no sitting on a bus for several hours, no eating on the road, and no obnoxious fans. We will be traveling to St Mary's this Saturday. I think there is a very good chance we can win this game, but I don't want to talk about it too much because I don't want to jinx it! We're planning a slightly different formation, and I think it can definitely work.
Last year, we were 4 and St Mary's was 5. It was a soaking wet, muddy game. We won in overtime 2-1 and advanced to play at Salisbury, who was ranked first. More on the tournament last year later....
Friday, October 22, 2010
Homecoming.
The weekend is finally here. After what felt like the longest week ever, it's finally Friday night. Tomorrow's game against St. Mary's is huge. We're currently 3-2-1 in conference. With two more wins (tomorrow and next tuesday at Hood) we will be 5-2-1. With this record we will most likely be ranked 3rd in the conference. Assuming we win, there is only one game which will throw this off. Salisbury and Frostburg (the two teams we have lost to) are playing each other tomorrow as well. I have a feeling frostburg will win this one. They are currently both 5-2. So, it really doesn't matter who wins, but someone has to win; it can't be a draw. If it is, three teams will be 5-2-1. Stevenson has just about clinched 1st place, but 2nd-6th are still up for grabs.
If that was too confusing, go to the CAC website which will sum up all of the standings.
Soooo.... 1) it's homecoming.
2) we need your support!
3) why wouldn't you come to this game? Maybe you want to go to the guys game, and watching two full games of soccer sounds awful (I admit it, it can get kinda boring). However, if you hydrate yourself properly and are shouting obscenities it probably will be pretty fun.
4) I will personally guarantee that I will wreck someone tomorrow. And I have a good feeling that Amy will score.
5) they just painted an eagle onto our field, so all you artsy people should come check that out
6) Let's have some school spirit, I'm only asking for one weekend, that's not too much!
If you want to see some of this
then be there tomorrow, 1pm at the battlegrounds.
If that was too confusing, go to the CAC website which will sum up all of the standings.
Soooo.... 1) it's homecoming.
2) we need your support!
3) why wouldn't you come to this game? Maybe you want to go to the guys game, and watching two full games of soccer sounds awful (I admit it, it can get kinda boring). However, if you hydrate yourself properly and are shouting obscenities it probably will be pretty fun.
4) I will personally guarantee that I will wreck someone tomorrow. And I have a good feeling that Amy will score.
5) they just painted an eagle onto our field, so all you artsy people should come check that out
6) Let's have some school spirit, I'm only asking for one weekend, that's not too much!
If you want to see some of this
then be there tomorrow, 1pm at the battlegrounds.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
U-10 girls team supports the Eagles
A local under-10 girls team came out to our game vs York last weekend. They got to stand on the sidelines and be ball girls for our game, and we did a meet-and-greet with them afterwards. They recently won a tournament in Virginia Beach and wore their 1st place medals to our game! One of the players, Madeline, her mom is a chemistry professor here at UMW. She is currently me and two of my teammate's biochemistry professor, and Amy has her for general chemistry this semester, too. They were a great group of girls, hopefully they will make it out to a few more games!
First, please notice that I'm sitting at the front left with my leg sticking out to the side.
Second, please ATTEMPT to find me. You can see my leg sticking out, but I literally vanished. And yes, getting jumped on by five 10 year olds and several 20 year olds is extremely painful.
First, please notice that I'm sitting at the front left with my leg sticking out to the side.
Second, please ATTEMPT to find me. You can see my leg sticking out, but I literally vanished. And yes, getting jumped on by five 10 year olds and several 20 year olds is extremely painful.
Erin Reynolds, #3
Erin Reynolds is a freshman forward at UMW. She is from Oakton, VA where she attended Oakton High School (same as me!). Erin was also on the swim team for the cougars and advanced to the state swim meet three time. Erin is undecided on a major, but will be working with the elementary education program.
So far this season Erin has one goal against NC Wesleyan and two assists, one of which came in our recent match against Stevenson (video below). Erin is playing through an ankle injury which will require surgery after the season. Once she's up to speed, she, as our head coach said, "has the potential to be an All-American." Erin will be doing a lot of great things for our program, and we're so excited to have her as a key component of our team.
Erin will receive the ball on the far side of the field from a throw in, dribble towards the end line, and cross the ball across the goalmouth to junior Becky Clark. This goal tied the game at 1-1 in the beginning of the second half.
So far this season Erin has one goal against NC Wesleyan and two assists, one of which came in our recent match against Stevenson (video below). Erin is playing through an ankle injury which will require surgery after the season. Once she's up to speed, she, as our head coach said, "has the potential to be an All-American." Erin will be doing a lot of great things for our program, and we're so excited to have her as a key component of our team.
Erin will receive the ball on the far side of the field from a throw in, dribble towards the end line, and cross the ball across the goalmouth to junior Becky Clark. This goal tied the game at 1-1 in the beginning of the second half.
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