I am so ready for this. I have been working towards this for four years and now it’s becoming a reality. There are less than two weeks of school left, it’s soon going to be time for me to say good bye to all of my friends and move on. I’m leaving home because UC Davis is too far away to go back and forth, no more delicious food that my mom makes everyday. This is what saddens me, I am going to miss all of my family that i have lived with and had so much fun with. All those tears that I cried when I fought with them, all that anger, happiness. It’s all coming to an end. One chapter is closing and a new one is opening. But before I go I need to gather all the things that I need during the summer, rest and play around with what time I have left before I leave. I will try to spend more time with them during the summer trying to make the most of the time that I have left with them by doing fun things like going to the park, playing poker, going to disneyland, and most of all hugging and kissing them. Of course I will come back when i can but it might be for a long time like four to five months. The little bird is getting ready to open his wings and fly away.
As the title indicates, I want to become a better person. But I know that I can’t become what I want if don’t deal with my past. My parents have had troubles of their own but did not know how to deal with them. All people around the world, even the ones that seem to have the perfect life have something haunting them, waking them up at night, not letting them work or pay attention to their children.This all because they don’t know how to deal with their problems. Some people go to see psychologists but they cost a lot for the little time that you have with them. Not all of the people can pay this, so where should they go? My dad for some reasons that are personal decided to go to a group that gets together Mondays and Wednesdays and helps you deal with your problems. It’s not about judging people based on their past but taking their pain and finding you own pain the your past and facing it. You can go whenever you want, but there is a cycle that they have for people that want to live again and become better persons. You attend two times a week for three weeks and then on the third weekend you go off to a field trip which is very powerful and will certainly help you if you let it. This group is not religious, a sect, or anything of that sort. It’s more of a spiritual group that accepts you and allows you to change for the better, there are people there who will listen to you and be your friend without wanting anything from you. That is one of the greatest things that any one can get, if teenagers or adults that have problems at home, or school or anywhere at all knew that there was such a place, maybe they would knot resort to drugs or harming themselves. The only thing that you have to put is your will into allowing you to grow and learn from your past and letting it go. All the services that are offered there are free of charged although if you want you may donate money that will help them with costs and other necessary things. The field trip I was talking about is special, even thought my parents already went through it I don’t know what it is because if you are not supposed to tell anybody about it because if they want to do it it wont have as much effect. So I guess i’m going to have to wait and see, i have only gone to one meeting so far because I don’t have time to go to the Monday meeting. It was kind of strong but not, it is kind of hard to explain. It’s where people go and tell their past and let others share their pain for a few seconds and let them find their own pain and anguish. I hope that at the end of all this, I become what I am supposed to be.
P.S. sorry for all the vagueness but it has to be like this. Only if you have experienced it should you know.
About three years ago I bought an Xbox 360. I bought it for several reasons, it was cheaper than the playstation 3 which at that time had a cost of $500, I was also into the Halo series. I liked it, but slowly it became outdated because of several factors. It lost the war with the playstation 3 of the new format of high definition discs making it s HD DVD worthless. As time passed by the time I played with it reduced dramatically because i did not have enough money to pay for live and I did not find most of the games that came out for it any interesting. Then about 3-4 months ago Final Fantasy XIII was going to come out for both PS3 and X360. The Xbox 360 version had to be compressed because DVD’s cannot handle as much data as the Blu-ray’s can. Even then the game had to be split into three DVD’s. I think that in my mind that was the last straw that pushed me into putting my xbox 360 and selling it. After a week and half of it being in craigslist I managed to sell it. I was so happy, now I could go out and buy the Playstation 3. I bought the 250 GB version along with a few games and 1 Blu-Ray movie. I bought Bad Company 2, Final Fantasy XIII, Dragon Age Origins, Little Big Planet, Infamous, Metal Gear Solid 4 along Iron Man in Blu-Ray. The Playstation 3 is awesome in my opinion, playing online is free, it has so many exclusives like God of War, Uncharted, Infamous, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, White Knight Chronicles and so many more. There are so many things that you can do on the Playstation 3 with ease and it’s all free. There is the Playstation Network which allows you to play with other people around the world on the multi-player video games that you have. There is also Playstation Home which is a 3-D world where anybody can create their own avatar and dress it however you want. There are clothes that are free and others cost points, you can modify your apartment, get more places to live in and ever so often they add more places you can visit. These places range from video game inspired to sport inspired. There is a bowling alley where you can actually play and chat with your friends. Its almost like Sims 3 except a bit simpler. Its really simple to transfer files from your computer to the Playstation 3 via an USB drive or through wi-fi, it can play a greater range of files than the Xbox 360. Oh another great thing of it is that it comes wi-fi ready unlike the Xbox 360 where you have to buy separately and it costs about 115 dollars. I also like the controller better, it feels lighter and it fits into the hand. The Xbox 360 weights more and is bulky. It also uses normal batteries that you have to buy while the Playstation 3 already includes rechargeable batteries that can be recharged by connecting the controller to the Playstation 3 with a cable that is included. A new add-on that has been in the news recently is the motion controller called move which utilizes a similar controller to the wii but has better capabilities of control and precision. This means that had core gamers will love this controller because they can use it with games like SOCOM and snipe people with ease or for children who want to play with their new pet. To utilize this controller you need the Playstation 3 camera, most people would think that it would cost a lot of money but Sony won’t make that same mistake again. They are making a bundle that will include a Playstation 3 move controller, a camera, and a game. All that will cost less than 100 dollars. This could greatly boost the number of people who want to buy the Playstation 3, people who think the wii is for kids but are wanting a motion controller now have the motion to get a Playstation 3. In the end I think that it was worth all the hoops I had to jump through to get the Playstation 3, I have enjoyed it greatly and will take it with me to university to play with all of my new friends and watch movies with them.
Iron Man 2
I have been waiting for this movie for a long time. All my friends were stoked for this movie, we all watched the trailers multiple times. WHen the release date was announced I realized that it was going to be released the day after my birthday. I started planning my birthday, I could invite some friends to go eat at some place and then go watch Iron Man 2 for the midnight release. The movie was released one week earlier internationally than in the U.S. This allowed the critics to get their say in if they thought the movie was worth it. I don’t even know why critics exist, every person has their personal likes and dislikes. When I read what they said i was really worried that I wasn’t going to like the movie. They said that the second movie sucked and had a stupid plot. I read this about one week before the movie would come out and was worried that i wouldn’t like it. It was all for nothing, the movie was awesome. I don’t know why critics exist, maybe they are just there because they have nothing else to do. All of my friends thought that the movie was great and that the critics were on drugs. Maybe it’s because they take their job too seriously or they don’t enjoy watching movies anymore. My lesson on all of this is to never listen to what critics have to say. I’m even thinking of actually going to see Iron Man 2 again but i think ill just buy the movie in blu-ray since I have a Playstation 3. I cannot wait until they come out with their new third movie but it wont be until like 2012 because because they have set the story for the avengers first with all of the other marvel movies that will be coming out soon. One thing that I would tell the producers if had the opportunity to tell all the producers is that they should only focus on one villain and maybe even look at The Dark Knight as a reference because it is the second highest grossing movie in history. They also should have dealt with Tony’s drinking as the main issue. It would made for a more darker film and a more adult audience but it would it gotten praise for it making into a movie that a lo of people can relate to because thousands of people allow themselves to drown in alcohol to escape their problems. Since Tony is too busing drinking, his friend Rhody would be taking the mantle and saving the world while trying to help his Tony deal with his demons. This would have been a more engrossing and less superficial movie than what they did with the actual one. The writers should have tuck to that story and it might have even earned more money and praise around the world. I think that the actors themselves made the movie so great with their grade A acting, Pepper’s, Tony’s, Rhody’s and everybody else did an awesome job. Last thing that I noticed is that there are a lot of moments have have cause me to laugh which is good because it was entertaining, and it wasn’t just me because I went to the midnight premiere of Iron Man so I could hear all of the fans laughing and having a good time with this great movie.
MacBook Pro Core i5
If you just looked at the title you probably just thought or said, “Damn.” I was supposed to get a new computer for my birthday last year (May 6). I bought a MacBook about four years ago and back then I decided that it was time to get a new computer. I asked my parents if they could get me one and they said sure as long as I gave my mom my old computer for her to use. I agreed and started looking at computers online. I wanted to buy another MacBook but realized that with the same money I could buy a better spec’d computer of another brand. I decided on a HP HDX 16 which now has been discontinued, the computer had 4 GB of ram with a 2.53 GHz of speed, it had awesome speakers, with a double size battery. It was top of the line, but after a little while i was having problems with the computer. First of all, the computer heated up incredibly on the arm rest area when I was playing a game. The keyboard felt off and when I pressed a key the keyboard would sink. The biggest problem of all was that the computer would connect to the network at my house but then it would disconnect randomly. After a long and arduous process to return the computer which took around a month and a half of fighting on the phone with two companies, it was done. It left me with no computer except the old MacBook that was supposed to be my mom’s. What does this have to do with a MacBook Pro? Well by that time I had enough with PC’s and their stupid OS and decided that I would go with a MacBook Pro. I go to two websites that are called Macrumors.com and Macdailynews.com They have news on everything Apple. By the time that I was looking at buying the MacBook Pro a new processor had been announced by Intel, It was Core i series. People were speculating that Apple would be coming out soon with new MacBooks because they where soon due to be refreshed. I then took the decision of waiting the computer. It has been a long 6 month wait and finally I am typing on my brand new MacBook Pro. I love it. It is fast and efficient. The specs are as follow: 15.4-inch screen,2.4 GHz Intel Core i5, 4 GB of ram, 320 GB of Hard drive, Nvidia GeForce GT 330M with 256, backlit keyboard, Bluetooth, SD card Slot and so many things. It is good enough to play games like Modern Warfare 2, Crysis, etc. I have had it only for two days but have installed Windows 7 for games. Its awesome how it’s possible to switch between OS’s. The aluminum case feels nice and smooth while they keyboard feels perfect under my fingers. The speakers are so loud compared to my old MacBook. The Screen looks so good, maybe it’s due to the glossy finish. I have used the camera to talk with my dad and he said that the video looks way better. The multi-touch track pad is amazing and blends in with the computer. The black and grey go perfect together and make the entire computer look fancy. It has not lagged and is extremely speedy, the battery does last way longer than my old MacBook. This computer definitely surpassed my expectations, I love it. This computer was definitely worth the wait, I have already installed various games on both the Windows and Mac side but I have not yet have time to play. Hopefully some time soon there will be some free time in my schedule.
Comics!
For some time I had been aware of American comics but since 7th grade I was into Manga which comes from Japan. I had been introduced to Manga by my friends. I found a lot of variety and was reading everyday and enjoying it. But like all things, I caught up to the newest chapters and now I have to wait every week for a new chapter to come for Naruto, Bleach, and One Piece. It kind of sucks because they build up the tension and leave you hanging. I tried finding more Manga that attracted me but i couldn’t find anything. I also tried to watch some anime but it was boring and different than the Manga. One year ago I was listening to some of my friends talking about American Comics. I started researching them and checking them out in the internet. I looked up comics about Wolverine who is my favorite Super Hero but it can be argued that he is an Anti Hero. I read all the series that starred Wolverine: Wolverine, Wolverine Origins, and Weapon X. They were really good, in my opinion American Comics have a more realistic side to them and can sometimes be very depressing. A lot of bad things happen to good people but that’s what makes it good. I then started reading Captain America, X-Men, Spider-Man, Dark Wolverine, X-Force, all the variations of the Avengers, Thor, and of course Iron Man. I also am reading Ultimate X, and other comics from the Ultimate World. There is so much history and its really hard to catch up. For example it took me quite a while to read the entire Civil War of Super Heroes. It was 108 comics total. And just a couple of weeks ago the Dark Reign arc came to an end a new one started called Siege. Siege is so good, it’s amazing. I’m keeping up with it, but i still have to read the complete Dark Reign. Hey at least this will keep my quite busy for a while. Since i started reading comics my costs have gone up because i actually buy them, with manga, my costs did not go up because its possible to read the online due to the fact that most manga in the U.S. is behind on the the storyline. I find the comics expensive, most of them have a price of two dollars and ninety-nine cents. It might not seem like much but if you buy two to three comics per week it adds up. Some companies that will remain unnamed have decided to raise the price of their best selling comic books to three dollars and ninety-nine cents. If you ask me thats kind of stupid, aren’t we in a depression? Why do companies have to take more of our money? anyways I’m getting offtrack here. Since i have started writing this I have started reading many more comics, one of them is Spawn. I like it a lot, I read all of the comics up to date. It took a lot of patience and endurance, and time. In my opinion it was worth it, there are various things that I like of the comic. The storyline itself is very original, with various twist and and unexpected things. The drawings of Spawn himself are almost always amazing and I love looking at the drawings. I have personally bought some of the Spawn comics and love them. I used to have a lot of money due to some business that I did some time ago, but that well has dried up since unexpectedly due to the price of my brand new MacBook Pro. I have stopped buying comics, but it’s fine, I can deal with that. I will continue reading them and whenever I can I will support the comics.
Mexico Earthquake
We as humans often forget that we live in a world that we can’t control. Here in the United States we live a comfortable life, go to school or work, and have a fun time. Sometimes Nature adds a little spice to our lives by adding an earthquake here or there, most of the time it’s unpredictable. People die in these Natural disasters, it’s part of life, what makes it exciting. In history there are various examples of these disasters, most of the time they are just small dents in humanity but there are others that completely ripped a hole through humanity. These disasters can range from earthquakes to tsunamis and can destroy entire cities in a matter of minutes or seconds.
In Mexico on May 28,1985 there was an earthquake with a 5.2 in the Ritcher scale. It was a mild earthquake and no one though much about it. Following this earthquake there where various small tremors, which makes it seem like something big is coming. I wonder why no one connected the dots, anyway that’s a question that will be left unanswered. Mexico City is different than other places for one main reason and that is because it is on top of a lake bed which means that the earth is not very stable and can move with ease. The city iself is sinking slowly every year and because residue water is being taken from below the city causing it to sink.
All the earthquakes and tremors led to one fateful day which was September 19, 1985. This was the earthquake, it was 8.1 in magnitude. For the people that don’t know what it means, know the earthquake in Haiti? Yeah that was 7.0 magnitude, it’s totally on a different classification. This earthquake did not just affect Mexico City, it affected other cities that where 350 kilometers away from the epicenter. Mexico City was not in the epicenter, it was 350 kilometers away but due to the lake bed underneath it, it created major damage. The earthquake was event felt all the way to Los Angeles and Houston. The earthquake had a total of two epicenters and there were various earthquakes separated by seconds. The ground shook from three to five minutes ranging on how close you were to the epicenter. If it wasn’t enough two more earthquakes followed it, one was a day later and the other was months later.
These earthquakes left around 10,000 people dead, with four billion dollars of estimated damage to the city alone. Around 412 buildings were completely destroyed and about 3000 damaged in some way or another. This event was the strongest ever recorded in the history of Mexico. Sadly the downtown area which has to do with a lot of the city’s history was the one that took the most damage. What was really unique about this earthquake was that most buildings that took some damage were between six to fifteen stories tall, this was because each building has a resonance depending on how tall they are. The earth underneath Mexico has the same resonance as those and hence create a stronger vibration causing infrastructural damage.
People took action after the earthquake, the formed rescue groups and started searching through the rubble for people who where trapped, gave food, clothes, and support. They also helped the hospitals move their patients because most hospitals had received major damage. In the aftermath of the earthquakes various problems popped up. The Mexican people critized how the president and his party where dealing with the earthquake. The president did not ask for any foreign help and even refused and help that was offered, he and his party prioritized who needed help depending if they were part of the party or not. Also it was seen by the people that they cared more about recuperating machinery than the dead bodies. To top it off, there was a world wide crisis that had gravelt affected Mexico and was in debt. When the government let other political groups help, they all stepped up to the plate and organized help for all the people. They gathered the donations and gave them to the people without homes and any possessions. This later on affected the political party P.R.I. who was in power during that time, they lost the support of the people and had to cheat various elections. This earthquake showed that Mexico had no real procedures and therefore created an alarm that will send early messages so that evacuations can start. New strict building codes where put in effect, a Commitee was made to organize practice drills in various places: like schools, hospitals, and businesses.
Slowing Down Death
Death is the end of life, no one knows what happens after that. It’s what doctors fight against everyday, to save human lives. A death can cause emotional pain to close relatives and destroy families. Through our vast knowledge we have not been able to stop it, scientists and doctors have tried various methods but all have failed. Many deaths have happened because there wasn’t enough time to treat the patient because he was bleeding profusely or was far away from a hospital. For a doctor everything he/she can do is restrained by the amount of time the patient can survive. One scientist may change this, imagine if it as possible with an injection the patients time could be doubled. That’s the goal of this scientist, his name is Mark Roth. He was motivated by the death of his daughter. Since then he has focused all his attention to the puzzle of how to slow down death. Humans breathe in air which is made up of mainly Nitrogen (78%), Oxygen (20%), and Argon. We need oxygen to survive but why? That’s what scientists think they have mostly figured out. What happens is that when there is a lack of Oxygen in our bodies, chemical reactions take place which cause damage to our bodies. Oxygen stops these chemical reactions from happening. Now what would happen if instead of oxygen we breathed another compound that would stop the chemical reactions but stop or slow down the body’s activities without killing or harming the patient. And that’s what Roth has almost figured out, At first he experimented with small things like fish eggs where he took out most but not all of the oxygen. The activity of the egg was reduced but not stopped, when the oxygen was returned the egg kept growing. When that was a success he took it to something bigger, drum roll please: a fly. Roth did this in a different way, he took the fly and put it into a sealed container where he used a gas which is a poisonous gas no less: Hydrogen Sulfide. Hydrogen Sulfide is made up of H2S. It is able to affect many different systems in the human body, it works by bonding with iron which blocks oxygen from binding causing the stoppage of cellular respiration. The fly stopped moving, until oxygen was introduced into the container. The fly then started moving like nothing just happened. If this could be done to bigger animals then it could be a break through for medicine. After that they took it to mice. Mice are bigger and it’s possible to monitor heartbeat and rate of breathing. They put the mouse in a container and put a small amount of Hydrogen sulfide, as the mouse breathed it in there was a decline in it’s breathing until all it’s movements had completely stopped. As explained before what is going on at that moment inside the mouse’s body is nothing, no chemical reactions do to the lack of oxygen. But what about the cells, how are they going to stay alive. Roth is trying to give some type of fuel to the cells so that they can stay in the state of suspended animation for the time needed. The fuel can be Ketone bodies which can be used for energy. After the mouse experiment worked. Roth pushed it to a bigger animal, pigs, it’s a lot harder because of the various parts of the body that need to be kept working. They took a different approach by creating an alternative, an injection Sodium sulfide. Various forms of this injection need to be developed to keep the body of being harmed during the suspended animation. Sodium sulfide is made up Na2S and is very acidic. This project has gathered a lot of attention and will keep going with the backing of the U.S. Military.
Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/10/09/cheating.death.suspended.animation/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_sulfide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketone_bodies
Iphone: A revolution
Iphone. The most popular phone in the world, it has been released nearly in all countries. It was the first complete touchscreen phone to come out, and it has revolutionized the gaming industry. The Iphone is all over the news, and people who never though of making money by making apps are now turning their attention to it. A person who made one simple game for the Iphone and out it out in the Itunes store made over 250,000 dollars in just two months. Its incredible. So far there have been three Iphones: Iphone, Iphone 3G, and Iphone 3GS. I currently have the Iphone 3G and plan on getting the new Iphone that will hopefully be coming out in January. At first Apple stunned everybody when they brought out a phone like no other. On their first try they ran instead of walking. The phone was a hit, It combines everything you need into one. Its a touchscreen phone, Ipod, Calculator, a video game console, and practically anything else you want. This is because people can make apps for Iphone, these can range from maps, games, jokes, clocks, calculators, etc. One of the major things of an Iphone is the easy to use Browser, it’s so easy to use that iphone users have increased data usage by 5000% on the ATT network since 12 quarters ago. On other phones the browsers are non-existant or are very hard to use. It’s like a mini computer in your pocket where if you have a question all you have to do is take out the Iphone and open Safari. Its OS is beautiful and simple to use, new features are added to it by Apple when other phones just get discarded and get no updates at all. I love the way how it tells you when an email has arrived enabling to keep up with your mail and be up to date. Still the Iphone can still be better and will be better with dedication of Apple.
Autoimmune Diseases
Humans are vulnerable to many things ranging from natural disasters to diseases. Humans with their mental capability have been able to create cures various but not all diseases. We still don’t know how the entire human body works and why sometimes it malfunctions. Diseases can range from viruses, bacteria, or malfunctions inside the human body caused by a defect in the DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid). The first and latter are the most difficult and we have yet to find cures to fight them. But recently a new discovery has been made.
The discovery is related to autoimmune diseases. This is caused when a certain type of cell goes against other cells within the human body because there is a missing or mutated gene. Also when transplantations on the body occur and the immune system starts attacking it because it is different and cannot identify if its malicious or benign.
On September 7, 2009 scientists from the University of Michigan have announced that they have a hypothesis on how autoreactive T cells can be stopped from going against the body’s own cells. When this process happens it is called an autoimmune disease. Their hypothesis is that the regulatory T cells are the ones that keep the autoreactive T cells in line. They do this by controlling the chemical environment surrounding the autoreactive T cells. This environment created by the regulatory T cells can decide if they are docile or attack. The change in the environment is caused by dendritic cells that reside within all the tissue in the body. These are part of of the immune system that are made to detect any foreign substance inside the body and then take it to the T cells which causes an autoimmune response. Then the regulatory T cells act as a self-check. But in some cases the regulatory T cell can’t do its job properly for various reasons. Which allows the autoreactive T cells to wreak havoc in the body.
The scientists were able to make this hypothesis because of the testing the did on mouse immune cells that where in petri dishes. What they saw was the process of the dendritic cell who are the first to identify the foreign agent. The dendritic cells then change the chemical environment which activates the autoreactive T cells. But the regulatory T cells intervene if necessary to stop the autoreactive T cells.
In my opinion if this hypothesis is upheld by tests it could be used to save many lives. It could be used to help people with autoimmune diseases and allow them to live normal lives by taking medicines that keep the autoreactive T cells in check. Another use is to allow organ transplants to be accepted easier by the body. It could be used to fight off infections that otherwise could be deadly or cause permanent damage. Last of all it can be used to fight of cancer by controlling the autoreactive T cells and making them destroy it. There is still a long way to go but if we are in the end able to control autoreactive T cells then in the perfect world we would be able to fight off ay diseases, infections, and other foreign agents. It could also gives us the knowledge to control the chemical environment inside the human body making it possible for us to control how diseases spread inside the human body because viruses and bacteria need a specific environment to be able to live in and reproduce.
Sources:
University of Michigan Health System. “Promising New Target Emerges For Autoimmune Diseases.” ScienceDaily 7 September 2009. 7 September 2009 <http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2009/09/090901122641.htm>.
Wikipedia. “Regulatory T Cell” 7 September 2009
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_t_cell
Wikipedia. “Dendritic Cell” 7 September 2009
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