Tech Tip: Weather Widget

I just added a weather widget to my blog! It seemed like a great time to do it. Since February is right around the corner, I figure that we're about due for another freak blizzard. The widget itself is pretty basic, but the actual site is extremely thorough with every graph, figure, or data point you'd possibly want. If you want to get one for yourself, you can learn how here.

Learning Challenges: H.E.A.R.T. with a capital T

I think learning by H.E.A.R.T. is a wonderful idea. Each of these areas is something that I've had to learn to try and take care of since I've come to college. I would also definitely say that time, to me, is the most important. When I came to OU my freshman year. I was taking 17 hours with a part-time job, and on top of that, I had almost no time management skills. That led to me having to make the classic choice: give up one, life, grades, or sleep. I chose to give up on sleep, and it didn't work very well. My lack of sleep basically led to me falling completely behind in the five other areas. Needless to say, I wouldn't recommend it. Through that, I learned the hard way how to manage my time, and I think it left me with what I would say is one of the most important principles of time management. Before you try to manage your time, make sure you actually have enough time. If I had known that coming in to college, it would have saved me a lot of headaches (and caffeine).

time management meme
Courtesy of weknowmemes.com

More recently though, I've been working on my ability to pay attention. Being a full-time student has worn on me, and it's been getting harder to focus in class and at work. The struggle is real. I did see the gorilla though! Anyways, it's definitely something I want to work on, and maybe this will be able to help me out.

Growth Mindset

Growth mindset is very interesting idea. Although, I wouldn't call the premise behind it new. I've never heard of this specific research before, but I've known that challenge is the key to learning for a long time, and I think society as a whole quite familiar with the idea. I remember when I enter my elementary school's "gifted and talented" program, my mom talked about having a similar program in her school when she was my age. They had different names, but the premise was the same. They were there to help provide more challenge to students who weren't being challenge enough in their regular classes. That being said, for myself at least, the program didn't really succeed. Most of what we spent our time doing was less challenging than our regular schoolwork. I think that's the real challenge of growth mindset. I think it's less about what needs to happen and more of how we approach it.

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From my own experience, I can definitely see the benefits of a growth mindset. When I came in my freshman year, I joined one the competitive robotics teams, particularly one for freshman and sophomore level students. I was one of the most experienced people on the team because of my time in FRC, so I volunteered to be the captain. I hadn't had much leadership experience up to that point, but I wanted to challenge myself to get out of my comfort zone, and I failed miserably. I didn't communicate properly, I took my own experience for granted, and I tried to do everything myself. It was great. Don't get me wrong. I was terrified at the time. I hadn't failed so completely at something in a very long time, but in just a few months, I learned more about leadership than I could have imagined, all because I decided to challenge myself to do something just a little beyond my capabilities.

This cartoon from the RSA video reminded my of that experience:

Jack Welch quote
Taken from RSA Animate video

Storybook Favorites

One of the first storybooks I looked at was CSI: Indian Epics, and I have always enjoyed crime dramas, so the title caught my eye. The project had a wonderful kind of hard-boiled style. From the introduction, we're left to assume that the protagonist has died, and all the information the reader has is a diary that they left. It followed a character who was looking to solve the murder of his grandfather, Bhishma. Along the way, he examines the deaths of Drona and Karna. In the end, he uses information from all three deaths to piece together what happened. The whole thing was written in the style of a detective's diary with detailed reports covering each incident. I think the introduction itself was a good example telling a story with limited information. The whole thing leaves the reader a little lost and confused but still able to follow along, which to me, is ideally how this kind of story should feel. I particularly enjoyed the storytelling style. Each of the stories was told almost in reverse using details from the "crime scene" to pull together what had happened.

classic hard-boiled detective
I pulled this from an interesting article on derivative works

The next storybook that caught my eye was Onboard the Spaceship Pushpaka.This project had a really interesting premise. It looked at four planets named after animal avatars of Vishnu. They had me at space and interstellar travel, but there's also an interesting story wrapping the whole premise. The story follows a young crew member of the Pushpaka named Milo as he gets to know the rest of the crew during a voyage through space. The legends behind each of the avatars are recanted by the Pushpaka's captain. Although the Pushpaka and it's crew are mostly a means to tell the legends, they are actually quite interesting characters, and they end up having a compelling story of their own.

The third project I found interesting was Player One vs. MAYA. This storybook is presented in the "choose your own adventure" style where the reader takes on the role of one of the main characters and makes choices affecting the outcome of the story. The reader takes on the role of Rama during his adventures within the Ramayana in parts one and two. Then, in part three, they take the role of Uttanka as he meets Krishna and is granted immortality. The main twist to the stories is that Maya is the narrator, and he has changed the stories slightly from their original versions. Although I'm not particularly familiar with the original stories yet, I thought this was a wonderful idea, and it made for an interesting and fun adventure.

Overview

I just finished up my initial look at the course materials, and I think I'm going to start off with Narayan's Ramayana. Overall, I found the language to be a lot more natural and easier to follow, but I think the main reason I chose his version was the presentation. The PDE version had tons of information and was well organized, but there was so much to it that it felt a little bloated. I think after I have become somewhat familiar with the stories, the PDE version will be more appealing, but for my introduction, I wanted to go more with the very natural flow and convenience that the novelized version offers.

I'm actually particularly excited to take a look at the graphic novels. I always enjoy seeing modern artists renditions of classic mythology. I'm purposely avoiding looking too deeply into them yet, though. I want to get my own visualization of the stories through the text alone, so that I can see how it compares with the contemporary art.

As far as my background goes, I have little to no knowledge of Indian mythology. The only exposure I've had to it is through literature references in books like the Life of Pi and hearing some of my Indian friends talk different figures from time to time.

I haven't taken any classes in mythology or religion. Although, I have studied some mythology for social studies and literature classes in high school. That mostly consisted of Greco-Roman and Native American myths. When, I think about mythology, my first thoughts usually go to creation myths like "How the Possum Lost It's Tale," and as far as epics go, the trials of Heracles and the Odyssey are pretty much the first things that come to mind. Also, I have actually meditated before. It was part of the yoga routine I used to do.

Krishna holds up Mt. Govardhan
Metropolitan Museum of Art

Even after looking through the various other pictures on the images sites. This first one of Krishna still strikes out to me. Krishna seems like such an amazing character. Whether he's holding up a mountain like above or containing the entire universe within his mouth, he always seems to be doing something both ridiculous and amazing.

Introduction to a Computer Engineer

Code Monkeys
Courtesy of Flickr

Hey everyone, my name is Bill, and I'm a junior at OU. I am majoring in Computer Engineering. I decided to become a computer engineer because I've always had a passion for creating things as well as emerging technologies. I grew up in Ada, OK. (It's that town that Blake Shelton and Jeremy Shockey came from.) I attended kindergarten through high school at Latta schools. The best description I can give of my high school is that I had a graduating class of 56, and that was biggest class in years. When I was in high school, I discovered my passion for engineering through the FIRST robotics competition. I was on team 2352 Metal Mayhem.

I'm a complete computer nerd. I love everything about computers. I starting learning how to program when I was 12, and I built my first custom computer when I was 14. In my free time, I like to play video games, watch movies, draw, and work on robotics and electronics projects. I've also done some judo, practiced guitar and piano (poorly), painted, cooked, programmed, and done some welding/metalworking as well as some old school blacksmithing. I'm basically a jack of all hobbies and most definitely a master of none.

I'm currently the President of OU Robotics Club as well as the IEEE (Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Student Chapter. I'm also an officer in Engineer's Club and Sooner Competitive Robotics. I've been heavily involved in student orgs since my freshman. I'm really passionate about these and the other organizations at OU because to me, organizations represent one of the most important parts of the college experience through the opportunities and extracurricular activities that they offer. Helping my fellow students find these opportunities is a huge thing for me because, coming from a very small high school, I know what it's like to not have those kinds of opportunities presented to you.

I'm currently working as an undergraduate TA for the College of Engineering. This semester, I'll be a TA for the Circuits for Non-Majors classes.

My favorite food is free food, and chocolate pie. Speaking of which, I can make a from-scratch chocolate pie that's better than grandma's (trust me, she told me so.). My favorite color is iridescent. Some of my favorite books include The Hobbit, The Life of Pi, The Count of Monte Cristo, and the C Programming Book. I like listening to music from the 90's and watching really good movies like the The Phantom Menace, Battlefield Earth, and the Constantine movie with Keanu Reeves.

Week 1 Storytelling: The Lazy Musician

Once upon a time, there were four brothers. They spent their childhood on their family's farm. When the day came for them to find a job of their own, each brother set out on a different path. The first brother had enjoyed his work on the farm as a child, so he decided to get a farm of his own. The second had a passion for woodworking, and thus, set out to become a carpenter. The third wanted more excitement in his life, so he enlisted a soldier so that he might serve his country. Lastly, the fourth brother was unsure what he wanted to do. He disliked working on the farm as a child, he had no strong passions, and he had no desire to endanger himself. Finally, he decided to become a musician.

"It should be easy," thought the fourth, "All I'll have to do is play some music for a few hours whenever I need money."

 Upon hearing of their brother's decision to become a musician, the elder three were perplexed.

"You have never played an instrument before," said the first.

"Being a musician takes a lot of practice," allowed the second, "You shouldn't take it lightly."

"Don't worry, I can handle it," replied the fourth.

"Fine, but don't come crying to us if it doesn't work out," said the third.

And so, each of the brothers went their own way.

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About a week later, the musician met up with the soldier.

"Let's go drinking tonight," suggested the musician.

"I can't. I have training early tomorrow," said the soldier.

"Alright, if you must," replied the musician, and he went drinking on his own.

Soldier
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The next week, the musician approached the farmer.

"Brother, there is a great movie on at the theater. We should go watch it," proposed the musician.

"Not now," replied the farmer, "I have to get my fields seeded for the growing season."

"Fine, have it your way" the musician responded, and he went to the movies on his own.

A Farmer with produce
Courtesy of Flickr

The third week, the musician visited the carpenter.

 "Let's go fishing!" exclaimed the musician, "I haven't spent time with you or our other brothers in weeks."

"Maybe another time," stated the carpenter, "I have a customer who wants a custom dresser made as soon as possible."

"Alright then," sighed the musician, and he went fishing on his own.

Carpenter
Courtesy of Flickr

On the fourth week, the musician's landlord requested his rent. After paying his landlord, the musician realized that he was completely broke. Between drinking, the movies, and his rent, the musician had spent all the money his parents had given him to make his start, and in that time, he hadn't practiced at all. He sat down and began playing to see how good he was. From the horrible screeching noises coming out of his instrument, the musician knew that he had much work to do if he wanted to play for money in time to pay his next month's rent.

Just as the musician was getting ready to practice. He heard a knock on the door. His three older brothers had come to visit him.

"Come on!" they yelled, " Let's go!"

"I've finished my basic training, the farmer has sown his fields, and the carpenter has sold an expensive piece, so we're going to the pub to celebrate!" exclaimed the soldier.

"I can't," the musician rebuffed, "I've spent the last few weeks having fun, but now I have to practice if I want to pay my rent."

"Very well, let this be a lesson to you," replied the farmer, and the three brothers went to celebrate while the musician practiced on his own.

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Author's Note:
My story is based off of one of Aesop's fables. In the original story, a grasshopper wastes his summer playing music instead of storing food for the winter and ends up starving. He then asks a group of ants for some of the food they have stored up, and they scoff at him for procrastinating. I felt this story had a very appropriate moral for the start of a new semester. In my version, I tried to modernize the tale a little and focus more on the laziness and procrastination of the musician.

Bibliography:
The story is based on the fable "The Ants and the Grasshopper" from Aesop for Children (1919)

Brace Yourselves
Source

My Favorite Place: Carlsbad Caverns, New Mexico

When I was in high school and junior high, I had a lot of opportunities to travel across the U.S. I went everywhere from Salt Lake City to Cocoa Beach, but probably my favorite and definitely one of the most beautiful places that I ever visited was Carlsbad Caverns. I went there with my parents when I was about 12 or 13, and it was an amazing experience. Very few pictures do the utter scale of the caves justice. Huge caverns are like the one pictured below are littered across the main sections, and when you walk into one, it feels like having an entire football stadium inverted and planted on top of you. That being said, the most amazing thing I saw, when I was there, was nothing.

Cavern at Carlsbad Caverns National Park
Taken by Dschwen at Wikimedia Commons

We went down into one of side caves so far that the light from the surface couldn't reach us, and everyone turned off their flashlights. It was the first time I ever experienced true, pitch black. I almost couldn't tell if my eyes where open or closed. And, after a while, my eyes starting seeing weird colors to make up for the darkness, like when you look into a bright light for too long. It was both terrifying and exhilarating. If you ever visit Carlsbad, I couldn't recommend the experience more.