Do Now 12/15

People often think that one person cannot make a difference, but if everyone thought that way, change would never occur. I actually started thinking about how I could contribute to this world when I was a young teen. I feel like my life would not feel fulfilled unless I know for a fact that I have given back to make this world a better place. I choose to pursue a career I can use as a medium to give back: physician assistant. Aside from the obvious humanitarian rewards of working in the medical field, I try to be the best person I can be every day, and do good for others. When I do people favors, I choose not to take their money and do them favors solely out of my kindness; I hope this serves as an example to do good deeds for pure motives.

Blog- Post Assessment

The Best Affordable Restaurant: California Pizza Kitchen          

   

          Ever since the first time I went out to eat at California Pizza Kitchen, I was hooked.

 Given by the name, yes, they are famous for their pizza. But this is no ordinary pizza; this is pizza like no other.  It's not just your typical tomato sauce and cheese on a crust. These pizzas innovatively incorporate wholesome ingredients to make a truly spectacular and unique pizza. The service is fantastic, with charismatic waiters eager to serve. And the ambiance is very warm as well, marked with an open kitchen and visible pizza oven. If you don't take my word for it, check out all of these great reviews!



       
          It all started with two former federal prosecutors, Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax, who open their first restaurant in--you guessed it--California! The first California Pizza Kitchen was specifically born in Beverly Hills in 1985. Since then, not only has California Pizza Kitchen expanded across the nation, but it has also opened chains in over 10 other countries as well!

Learn more about CPK's history:

          Aside from a vast variety of pizzas, CPK also serves a plethora of other great foods, such as pastas, salads, soups, etc. CPK's menu is vast and diverse, and is quite Italian oriented, although there are other kinds of dishes on the menu as well.

 My two all-time favorite dishes have to be the absolutely amazing Pesto Creme Penne and the decadent Thai Chicken Pizza.

 The Thai Chicken Pizza has peanut sauce instead of the classic tomato sauce, and is topped with Thai chicken, bean sprouts, and an Asian-oriented mix of other thinly sliced vegetables. CPK is so innovative!

Take a look at how CPK prepares their food!

                                                                           

Location

          Since CPK is a chain restaurant, they are located all over. However, I live closest to the one located at the Garden State Plaza. Click here for directions to the Garden State Plaza! However, if you want to find a location closer to you, use the "location finder" on the CPK website.

          I really hope California Pizza Kitchen never closes down, but if it ever does, I would go to Olive Garden, because they have gourmet Italian food as well--although in my opinion, it is nothing compared to CPK.

Tech Article 12/19

Smart Artificial Skin Could Give Prosthetic Limbs Feeling

• stretchy and warm like real skin
• jammed w/ tiny sensors that can sense a multitude of environment cues: heat, pressure, and moisture
• self-healing
• 1,000x more sensitive than human skin
• smart prosthetics are often very rigid and easy to fracture
• the smart skin is composed of an elastic, transparent silicone material called polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) 
  
• packed w/ 400 sensors per square millimeter
• made of silicone nano ribbons in a snake-like shape that allows the delicate sensors to withstand more strain
• sensors generate an electrical feedback signal when stretched or squashed, and can also detect levels of temperature (hot/cold)
• the smart skin also has capacitors that can detect humidity
• with further development, it could transmit sensory info to the brains of amputees to give prosthetic limbs feeling
• don't enable the user to feel if something is dangerously hot, or whether the user is about to drop something b/c the grip is too soft
• currently unsuitable for humans

Click here to read the original article!

RSS Feeds

1. Discussion Questions

1. 1. Why did you select the sites you subscribed to? 

                To be honest, for the news and government sites, I just subscribed to them to fulfill          

                the requirements of the project. However, I subscribed to the five sites in my

                "Personal" folder because I really enjoy reading science and travel articles.

1. 2. Was it easy to find feeds and to subscribe to them? 

                Some RSS feeds were easier to find than others. Like you said, some of them don't

                just "smack you in the face." But finding them on most sites was manageable. 

1. 3. Which sites were your favorites? 

                My favorite sites were the science article sites under my "Personal" folder. Even in

                my free time at home, if I come across an interesting science article, I'll stop what

                I'm doing just to read it. I also really enjoy reading some of the articles about crimes

                and politics from news sites as well.

1. 4. What else can you use RSS feeds for?

                I can also use RSS feeds to follow people's personal blogs or other kinds of blogs

                in general. It doesn't just have to be for news and articles.

1. 5. How likely are you to continue to use RSS feeds in the future?
2.     To be honest, I don't see myself using RSS feeds in the near future. It is
3.     because I never so to any one site to search for articles. If I want to research a
4.     topic, I simply directly search the topic in Google and click on relevant links.
5.     Perhaps I will find use for RSS feeds one day after school is over when I'll have
6.     more time to read excessively for fun.

Do Now 12/3

Learning by Doing: Physical Therapy

     

     As of lately, it appears as if grades are stressed more than the actual education. Too often, students become so concerned with their grades that they exert the majority of their focus on how to take the test and how to find loopholes to succeed numerically as opposed to actually learning and understanding what is being taught. Take it from an overachiever. Grades take out the fun in learning. 

     In school, we learn through the words of textbooks, but are those words really going to fully prepare us for the future? Only to a minimal extent. The most valuable source of education is experience, and that is what I want to bring into public education. I want to establish a physical therapy class in school. And no, we will not be learning from a textbook. Instead, we will be learning by doing. The classroom will be set up to resemble the structure and equipment of a real physical therapy clinic. Students will learn real physical therapy exercises for different conditions, and actually practice it on dummies or real people. They will then learn how to use, clean, and store all of the equipment. They will learn how to manage their time and overcome the distinct obstacles of a physical therapist as well. 

     There will be no formal test grades, for tests do not define one's full capacity. Instead, grades will come from how well the students listen, actively participate, and overcome the simulated obstacles of a physical therapist. Learning by doing: that is the objective.

Technology Article 12/5

The Lowline

• one acre trolley terminal abandoned in 1948
• location: Lower East Side of Manhattan
• innovative solar technology will be used to grow the plants in the park 
• street level reflective parabolas will be used to capture sunlight and direct it underground via fiber optic cables; the light is then aimed at reflective dishes, which disperse the light
• electricity will be used when there is insufficient sunlight
• $60 million dollar project
• timeline of five years for the Lowline to be completed

Inspired by the Highline

• the Highline is a "park in the sky" located in Manhattan 
• was once an abandoned high rail  

Click here to visit the Lowline site!