Heydy Hidy Hody

It's been awhile since I've been on, but here I am. Anyway, updates on my life another time.

 

Today, I wanted to give some guidelines to giving good product reviews if ever you feel compelled to leave behind some informative thoughts on a purchased/received product of some sort.

My compulsion to do this resulted from trying to sort through possible laptop choices as my current one is just becoming obsolete for today's standards (6 yrs old).  It's also a bit of a rant since people who had trouble with the product didn't elaborate, thus I don't know what to look out for. 

So let's get started!

1) Stick to the product!

- I went looking around on Amazon.com and many times, there will be negative reviews NOT on the product, but on the seller!  There's a place for that, and on Amazon, you usually click on the seller's name/company and can give a review there.

- Many times, a product was given very low ratings by users who never received the product.  It might not seem much, but just for you people to understand, a low rating on the product says that the product sucks.  It doesn't say anything about the seller.  And there are many, many people who base their choices on ratings. 

- If you must, give a true rating of the product, and then give a heads-up of what they can expect from the seller.  That way, others considering the product will know that the product is good, they'll just have to find a better seller to complete the deal.

2) Give a mini profile about yourself!

- You know just as well as I do that how we intend to use our product determines what we think of the product. 

- A full-time serious photographer looking for a camera that will provide the most options and control of the ISO and Aperture will obviously not find what he's looking for in a simple point-and-shoot cam.  A person looking for a powerful and fast car won't find a 4-cylinder engine the best car to use.  And if you were looking for a very good gaming/multimedia computer, you'll definitely give a mediocre review at the most for a tiny netbook. 

- Give some idea of who you are relative to the product you're reviewing: "I'm a serious photographer looking for so and so..."  "I work in a fast-paced tech firm and needed a fast, powerful laptop to..."

3) Elaborate your pros and cons a bit

- Saying the picture quality was bad doesn't tell us much except that it was bad for you.  It helps to explain what you were looking for.  Maybe for you it was bad, but for other consumers, it's okay. 

 

These are the three main points that would help other consumers make a better choice.  Of course, these are just general guidelines.  If you're not going to be as helpful, it may be best to just save yourself the time and refrain from giving a review unless asked for it. 

Remember, if something sucks or is great but you don't explain why, your reviews and opinion won't be taken seriously.  If people (who are not your boss or don't have any power over you) told you what to do without reason, would you do it?  If their reason isn't clear, would you trust them?  "This product sucks, don't get it" wouldn't tell me anything except that you had trouble with it. 

 

Well, that ends my guideline/rant on product reviews.  Another update will come up in a few days.

What is physiology? 

- It is the study of the function of organ systems and how they interact.

- Physiology focuses on explaining HOW things work/happen, NOT WHY they happen. 

Good physiological explanations focus on the causes of an event (aka Mechanistic explanations).

-----Example:

Increasing heart rate is caused by the increase of firing frequency of sympathetic neurons to heart muscle fibers.

The opening of voltage-gated sodium channels causes a neuron to produce an action potential.

----

Note that the explanations discuss what happened before the event of focus (increase HR, Opening channels).

We do NOT want teleological explanations (explanations about the consequences of an event)

-----Example:

Running -> increased HR -> Oxygen delivery to muscle increases.

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This class focuses on how different parts of the body cooperate to produce a normal function.

- Rene Descartes explained that reflexes are the mechanisms that controlled the body's well-being. 

- Claude Bernard stated that the internal conditions of an animal body are different from external conditions.

- Cannon postulates Homeostasis - the complex mechanisms in animals that maintain conditions on the inside of the body in a different state from the external world. 

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The most common mechanism for maintaining a variable at a relatively constant value is negative feedback. 

A negative feedback system consists of: Controlled variable, sensor, comparing unit that compares sensor output to a set point, and a controller which takes the info from the comparing unit and acts accordingly.

An analogy with a ship at sea:  The ship slows down (controlled variable).  Navigator(comparing unit) looks at current speed(sensor) and compares to desired speed.  Sends information to the Captain (Controller).  Captain gives orders to increase ship speed until desired speed is met.

Why is Negative Feedback important???

It resists change of the controlled variable

-when the variable is too high, the system reduces it.  Vice versa.

 

I wrote this poem around 2am this morning. Everything in this poem is one scene. Tell me your interpretations. For a pre-set mood of the poem, try listening to this instrumental: .
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Every time I see your eyes
There's a clarity that shines
With the stars in the sky
And the moon glowing

A diamond's song drifting around
Along the void of the air
Of rubies, sapphires, and emeralds
With pure Amethyst's heart

Whispering winds shower willowing petals
Your hair trailing with the breeze
A tear that glistens by the moon
For whom do you cry?
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So here's my interpretation, see if it makes sense.

Stanza 1: Describes the sparkliness of the person's eyes at night.
- shiny and clarity can be seen as either purity, determination, or both... however you want to look at it.

Stanza 2: when you think of high quality diamonds, what do you think? when you imagine a perfect diamond, what do you see? Apply that to the song this person is singing.
- I used "diamond's song" as a way to present a crystal clear expression of emotion.
- the general colors of rubies, sapphires, and emeralds are red, blue, and green respectively. They symbolize passion, sadness, and jealousy respectively.
- I also meant to use the meaning of these gems in terms of birthstones symbols. I especially liked personifying the amethyst as a heart. The gemstone is widely known as a symbol of peace and tranquility.

Stanza 3: Returns to describing the night scene of the wind gently blowing down flower petals from trees, and gently flowing the hair. This person is crying. Why?

Whoever owned drawer #99 in room 1319 of the Natural Science Building last quarter NEEDS TO LEARN HOW TO BE RESPONSIBLE!!

Half of the total inventory required was missing from the drawer. Half of what WAS in the drawer were excess tools NOT NEEDED, and some even filled with some kind of crystal/solids that could NOT be identified!! And the 9"x12" box used to hold the little things like droppers, stoppers, magnetic stirring rods, pipette bulbs... THERE WAS A CHEMICAL SPILL IN THERE! WHAT THE HELL WAS IT? I HAD TO CHECK SOLUBILITY, PH, AND SAFELY DISPOSE OF THE DAMN MESS!!!!

Normally, since it became my drawer today, it wouldn't have been a problem on my own time. So here's the problem: WE'RE ALREADY ASSIGNED AN EXPERIMENT AND I HAD TO SPEND 2 OUT OF THE 3 HOURS ALLOTTED JUST CLEANING!!!!

I had only 1 (ONE) hour to begin and get as far as I could in my experiment.

Well, now that it's past and also out of my chest, I managed to catch up to most of my other peers at where they're at. Well, actually I"m a few steps behind, but I'm surprised I got there quite quickly. The only thing I'm afraid of right now is that I was careless.

So like the title says, the topic tonight will be about my take on religion, a new diet I'm trying out, organic foods, and me dancing.

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Religion
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My sister made a decision to become baptized under Christianity. I'll support her decision and attend her baptism since it's important to her. I don't know how my parents would react though. We're Chinese Buddhists (yes, there is a bit of a difference of how Buddhism is followed, which I'm not going to elaborate here). They've experienced some things that they said made them wary of Christianity. I wouldn't know exactly what they were, but I myself have had a bad first impression about it along with Catholicism when I was young. I may have been young, but it's still enough to affect me. Long story short, people tried advertising their respective religion to me, offering sanctuary from sins and hell if I decide to follow, and implying suffering if I don't. I made the point I'm Buddhist and happy with my choice. Now, I wouldn't have a bad impression if those guys just said "okay" and left, but man they were persistent and kept on going. And you know what? This wasn't just once, but several times as well. It doesn't make Christianity or Catholicism bad or anything, just that their persistence made it annoying.

Now, I don't hate Christianity or Catholicism. A lot of my friends follow them. And I am friends with them because they respect my way of life, and I appreciate that. What you believe in is your business. If it hurts others, then that's a problem in my opinion. If you try to push your religion onto me, or argue that your way is the "right" way for me, you're making yourself into a bad representative of your religion in my eyes. And naturally, a bad representative implies a bad company/group/organization/club/religion/etc...

My friends showed me that Christianity and Catholicism isn't all about what those advertisers made it out to be. This was in my first and second year of college. Since then, my aversion to those religions lessened, and I really don't have any complaints about it. Rather, to me it's just there and some people follow it while others follow something else.

Looks like I digressed. In any case, I believe my sister is following her decisions with the right reasons and so I will stand behind her decision and support her.

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Organic Foods
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So... we all hear about how organic food is the way nature intended it to be. Well, that's true ~ grown without any chemical sprays and unnatural fertilizers like sewage sludge, pesticides, and so on. The thing about organic foods are that they pack much more nutrients than their commercial man-made counterparts. An analogy would be comparing those huge 50 cent coins about 3 centimeters in diameter to those Sacajawea $1 coins. Organic = Sacajawea, whereas commercial grown = 50 cent coins. What this means is that although organic foods tend to come in smaller sizes, they hold much more nutrients that you're body needs compared to non-organic grown foods. Naturally, this would technically mean you could eat less and still gain all the valuable nutrients.

The downfall of course is price. You pay more for a smaller size, and for something you won't consciously feel the positive effects of. Naturally, these days we want fast results or else we give up on an advertised item. The thing is, organic food follows your body's speed to process what you eat, and so you won't feel much. But you can think of it this way: the price would match the quality. Other than that, it's really your decision.

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Test Diet
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So my test diet is simple. It consists of organic veggies like broccoli, cucumber, asparagus, baby carrots, and this yellow cucumber i don't remember the name of. All I'll be eating for the whole week is steamed veggies. I'll flavor it with some salt. Hopefully my body will be able to hold up.

So why am I following such a simple diet? Well for one thing I want to lose weight. Yes, I'm fat, I just hide it well. Also, it's for my health. I've been eating too much meat lately. And I like steamed veggies, especially when they're very soft that they just basically "melt" in my mouth. I'll probably grow sick of it by tomorrow night, but at least when I'm done, I'll appreciate every other type of food.

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Dance
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I'm planning on signing up for beginner's dance on Sunday around noon. I recently started to like dancing and am thinking that it'd be a good way to be active. I've already broken down the general dance steps for Gara Gara Go by Big Bang. Still working on their dance break though. And I've gotten down the part I like the most in G-Dragon's A Boy. So I essentially know how the moves are suppose to go. The problem is making it look good.

Well, that's it for tonight. I've been writing with a sleepy mind so I'm sure something I said may carry a different meaning than from what I intended. If that's the case, I apologize.