My Blogging Experience

My experience with the blog was good because it wasn’t very difficult for me to do the tasks, it probably would be a lot more painful if I had to think a lot to write. I think blogging in the English class was positive for me to create a discipline and habit to write more extended in this language, instead chatting or another shorter ways. Also it helped me to learn some words I had to search (I use this online dictionary) to complete my ideas.

The advantages of this system are you have feedback with the teacher and your classmates (you can read their posts, posting in their blogs, know about the next homework, etc.) and being updated with the new ways of communication. You can edit the posts so if I made a mistake I can fix it later (if I have doubts I search on the dictionary I named). As I use Word first to write my ideas, it correct me instantly when I spell wrong and can count the words with the tool bar instead counting them in my mind as I have to do in the final test. Also, you can show pictures related to the subject, put some links, etc. and in general, you have more resources to present your topic compared to writing in a paper. And no less important, in this way we can all help to not cut down more trees ‘cause we don’t use any paper.

The disadvantages are you have to be very fast to do the homework in the class time, if you’re not, you can get late. If the computer you’re using in the lab is slow or display an error you delay a lot (technology dependency) and that happened to me many times. I think sometimes it gives the chance to be more “relaxed” and no going to class and doing the task at home ‘cause people think “I have to upload it so I can do that anywhere, no necessarily at class” and because of the point before, sometimes it was better for me to write at home ‘cause my computer is faster than the lab’s computers.

Concluding, I think blogs are a good tool not to learn more English but to practice and improve your actual English level.

This is my final post for this class. I hope I continue posting in this space to keeping practicing my writing English.

Bye bye.

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Blade Runner (or the movie I didn’t watch)

First of all, I have to say I didn’t watch the movie, and then I ask if we have to do homework about it and no one told me so, and wasn't anything on Simon's blog either so I just realize we had to ‘cause I saw Dani’s blog today.
Instead, I’ll write about my experience “not watching it”.

That day I went with a workshop classmate to “Vargas Bicycles” factory in La Cisterna (El Parron Station) so we could get some information to do the workshop project. I wrote in Simon’s blog so he can get notice. It was very interesting ‘cause we saw the whole process, the people who attend us they were very nice, even they let us taking pictures and gave us “classified” information (material prices and stuff).

Then Dani told me you were watching the movie Blade Runner and couldn’t end. She told me she was sleepy and the beginning was a little bit boring. Then I tried to investigate about the movie, and my boyfriend told me it was some kind of a “classic” with Harrison Ford, actually I never heard about it, it sounded like a new movie to me and I said “I’ll download it”.

The next class I was very busy at work finishing a PowerPoint for my boss and I got late so I couldn’t see the movie’s end. Then I talked to Camila and told me she didn’t like it much either, so didn’t want to see the movie’s end. Instead she was reading a paper Simon gave her about Murphy’s Law. That was really interesting and funny. Later I asked for one and showed it to my boyfriend and he told me he read a whole book about it.

Because of the comments and my lack of time, I wasn’t interested in watching the movie and never downloaded it. That night we rather to search on the web and found this very funny page I want to share with you so you can laugh: Murphy's laws .

Finally I didn’t watch Blade Runner, but I learned something about Murphy’s law in colleges:
“The 80% of the final exam is extracted from the class you missed or the book you didn’t read”. In this case....

“The task you must to do is about the movie you couldn’t watch”.

"Smile. Tomorrow can be worse."

o_O

Do schools kill creativity?

I think what Sir Robinson exposed in the TED conference is very true, I’ve seen it in part of my own education and now on my nephews education, how they’re not stimulated in their creativity, and sometimes they get very bored and demotivated at school, teachers scold them when they move in class (sometimes they get grounded for being “undisciplined”) or things like that, and I remember the words of Mr. Robinson when many times children get medicated in this days for not being quiet, and I’m not agree with that.

Fortunately in my high school years I went to a very avant-garde school that encourage our creativity in all subjects (even math) so we always had to make dramatic plays and creative things as much as possible, also ‘cause this would develop our character (not being afraid of public and make ridiculous).

Something I take from the speech, is the conception of mistakes in this culture (and most cultures I guess) that are “the worst thing we can do”. I think that conception is wrong ‘cause in the failure is the learning and people would learn more if they were more prepare to fail and not feel so frustrated by it. There’s a say “behind a succesful businessman, there’s at least 10 bankrupties”.

In one occasion I was talking to an ex workshop teacher and he told me something he read about human evolution. Human race has evolved because our capacity to make mistakes, and that makes the difference between us and the rest of animals, ‘cause we’ve learned from our mistakes, so that made us evolve.

Interesting theory and corroborates in some level what Sir Ken Robinson said.

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Bracelets!!

Yeah. I'm selling bracelets.
I'll take some for sale in english class. From $500 to $1.500
and also rings at $300.
I'll be updating this post so you can see the different models
(pictures and stuff) and you can make an order.

See you all in class.

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My Favorite Technology

My favorite piece of technology is of course, Television (that’s why in other post I said I didn’t read so much).

I’ve had this technology since I was born, so I can’t imagine life without it, would be very difficult ‘cause in some way I’ve been “raised” by it. As I said, I’ve used it since I can remember, but probably my mom turned on the TV for me when I was a baby and I learn to use it probably when I was capable to take objects. In those days, remote control didn’t exist or their use was unusual so I had to push the buttons or roll the goatee. In the present, I use it everyday (well, I think I haven’t spend one day of my life without television) maybe in some occasion when I went to the beach and there’s wasn’t one.

I like the television mainly ‘cause it’s easy entertainment, I mean, we don’t have to go out, it’s there, it’s free and in many cases we’re so busy or we don’t have any money to go out that it helps to make the work more bearable when it’s turned on. Also, I like it ‘cause I’ve learn many things in there (even when people says it’s a stupid box) I think it up to you to learn something in any place or media.

Trying to make an effort to imagine life with no television at all, I think would be very boring and uninformed. Today we know about many cultures and events around the globe we wouldn’t know otherwise, and that’s because of that “stupid box”. But in the other hand, maybe people would go out more, and make more exercise cause sometimes can be really addictive (specially Cable TV).

My favorite TV shows: The Simpsons (actualy all the segment NO MOLESTAR) South Park, and some trash from the E! Network (shame on me :$).

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Review of Classmate Website

I’m reviewing the Camila’s blog called “The fight is real” .I don’t know what it means, but as I know a little of her ‘cause we talked once on this class about her life while we’re doing the life map, I think is something related to religion, also ‘cause the name of the web is look to heaven.
She has three posts (one of them an opening post) and my favorite is about her favorite song, a post she called “A song that means”, I liked it ‘cause I can see her very strong faith in it, she reveals a lot of her soul, she lives very attached to her religion, a part says:
“The works of God continue, and worlds and lives abound”, the song is very meaningful, I agree with her.

I like she put a picture from her at the workshop, so you can see her working.
I think her blog is too white; maybe she should put some design on it, more colorful, maybe something related to her faith to be consistent.

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My Favorite Website

I have to say I don’t have such a thing as a “favorite” website. I have a list of webs I visit frequently (everyday or I try so) because I’m interested on design, art, etc.

From this list, I recommend the site Diseño Emergente http://www.disenoemergente.cl/ which is a web about design in Chile, made by students from this university for students across the country. I discover it about more than a year ago because there was a link in the FAU website. At the beginning there were only people from this school, but slowly it started to grow (there’s was a meeting as it’s shown in the photo).

In this web you can put your design portfolio (mine is linked in this blog) that can be projects in the career, professional work or personal projects so other students can give their opinion or critics to it. Also there are opinion forums and other matters.

The good thing about this site for a design student like I am, it’s you can learn a lot from the work of others, how they work, how to present a project, etc. and see also how the career is been developed in others schools in Chile.

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Victory City

The Victory City I think is a very good initiative to take care about the planning of cities of the future. Maybe one of the biggest problems of cities today is they’ve been built in a very “organic” way, I mean, they have grown in a disorganized way, no thinking about how the land is damaged or how to take the most benefit from it without an indiscriminated explotation. In days the Earth is in danger and our own survival too, I think this approach of solution is a very good idea, ‘cause it’s thought in as a “systemic” solution.
From the design point of view, I think it seems to be well thought, ‘cause they optimize the resources as food and space, and that’s a very important matter for design, the optimization. I think is incredible that in a very small space, you can put a lot of people that lives in a very large extend of land (as Ohio). In a ecodesign class I had two years ago, my teacher explained the impact of the current industry and the difference between an industrial park concibed for the optimization. What is consider disposal of waste for an industry, could be supply for another. The contamination of the park is much less than each industry by separate. This is an “design from the beggining” approach.
This city it’s concibed the same way, so I hope in the future we can all live in a Victory City, for the good of Earth.

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Youtube Videos

Well, it seems that I'm wasting my time a lot, but it's ok a little fun :P

This is a video that my boyfriend sent me while we're trying to make homework :P and gives credit to my name =)
Really Funny Cats
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An this is another I watched a long time ago and maybe some of you have seen it, but it still makes me laugh :P
For all of you, a parody from Hardvard Architecture students (who hasn't needed a little help in their models?)
Pimp My Model

(PS: I don't know how to link videos from youtube directly :S)

Life Map

I had a nice conversation with a classmate in the lab. I didn't remember her name cause I'm very bad for it (shame on me again and again :$) but I had the suspicion she was one of the "Camilas" so I went to her blog and saw a picture of her in the model and prototipe worshop and now I have a doubt cause she seems to be the same person Simon talked to :S. Anyway.
Also, I didn't keep the map, I gave it to her and kept mine. But I'm good to remember conversations, actually I remember a lot of it.

The first present she remembers to get was a Barbie doll. The most interesting person she've met was a man about 40 years old (I don't remember his name) but what a clearly remember is he was a very educated man, actually she said he was an "encyclopedia man". She talked to him once and never saw him again.
She regrets about something she didn't want to tell me, but she said it's not important, it is only for her. She's a girl who wants to be a better person everyday and try really hard to acomplish it. She's a very devoted woman (she's Mormon). The most important thing for her is her God and her most precious own is her "Testimony" and wants to spend the rest of her life with her family.
She's a girl with very strong conviction and family values.

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Guardian Article

The Green Rooms - Summary

Now we're on vacations, this would be a very good article to read. Is about a new trend in ecologic places to stay for vacations or just relax. It’s written by five bloggers who recommend some places.

One of those is El Remanso Wildlife Lodge in Costa Rica. It’s in one of the most diverse and pure rainforest. The lodges have restaurant, bar and pool, with a great view to the natural environemt.

Another place is Hostel One66 in Singapore. The unusual thing about this place is it uses recicled furniture from scraps (cans and plastic). Also they offers free walks in the Bukit Timah reserve.

In Cornwall there’s the Keveral Farm, which is a farm with a indian style of life (they have tends and tipies as it's shown in the picture) very rural and ecologic place with solar shower and no cars. Recommended for family and kids.

Located in the Yucatan Peninsula the Balamku Inn in Mexico is an intimate and small hotel. Its name means “home of the jaguar”. It uses solar panels to function and the philosophy it’s not to waste anything. Really good place to relax.

Finally in Costa Blanca Spain, is the Venus Albir wich is the first spanish bio apart-hotel. As a geo/bio construction they use local and natural material to build it. Also it has solar panels and a organic restaurant.

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A song I like – The Logical Song

Well, this song is not my favorite one but I like it very much. The reason I’m talking about this song is that the day Simon gave the assignment, I was coming back to my home and on my MP3 list was this music piece and when I listened it I thought “this would be a really good song to talk about”.
This song is from an english band called Supertramp and It’s from the album “Breakfast in America”, 1979 (it’s old I know, but I like old songs too - the picture is the album cover).
I couldn’t tell when was the first time I heard it, only I can say I’ve listened it since I can remember.
The reason I like it, it’s because I always liked how it sounded (not the lyrics), cause I didn’t know english at the time, I was very child. But lately, when I learned English and could understand, once I was “wasting my time” on the internet, listening to music and I start to look for the lyrics to understand some words I couldn’t decipher, and when I read the whole lyrics I thought “what a great song!”.
Very deep.

Who doesn’t feel that way sometimes?


The Logical Song – Lyrics

When I was young,
It seemed that life was so wonderful,
A miracle, oh it was beautiful, magical.
And all the birds in the trees,
Well they’d be singing so happily,
Oh joyfully, oh playfully watching me.
But then they send me away
To teach me how to be sensible,
Logical, oh responsible, practical.
And they showed me a world
Where I could be so dependable,
Oh clinical, oh intellectual, cynical.

There are times when all the world’s asleep,
The questions run too deep
For such a simple man.
Won’t you please, please tell me what we’ve learned
I know it sounds absurd
But please tell me who I am.

Now watch what you say
Or they’ll be calling you a radical,
A liberal, oh fanatical, criminal.
Oh won’t you sign up your name,
We’d like to feel you’re acceptable,
Respectable, oh presentable, a vegetable!

At night, when all the world’s asleep,
The questions run so deep
For such a simple man.
Won’t you please, please tell me what we’ve learned
I know it sounds absurd
But please tell me who I am,
Who I am, who I am, who I am

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My favorite book

First of all, I have to say I’m not a very good reader, I’m very lazy (shame on me again :$), I rather watching TV :P. I’ve read by obligation some books at school. That was the worst thing they could do to me, and maybe the reason I don’t like reading.
My favorite book was the only one I could choose at school, “Misery” from Stephen King. I watched the movie first and I thought it was a great movie, really scary. The language teacher said “now you can choose a book” so I wanted to read “Cujo” from the same author, my mom had it and said it was a very good book, but my stupid teacher won’t read it, so I chose Misery cause as I said, I watched the movie (I know it’s not the best thing to do, but whatever).
The book is about a writer (Stephen King always writes about things inspired in his own life) who finished the last of his “Misery” novels, and then he goes on vacation on the mountains. There, he’s kidnapped by a psycho fan (interpreted by Kathy Bates on the movie, who won a really deserved Oscar for this role) who forced him to write a different version of the novel. The difference between the film and the book is that in the book also the story of Misery is told, so it’s like reading two novels in one.
The problem I had reading this book, was I couldn’t forget Kathy Bates face, ‘cause her interpretation was so powerful, and while I was reading I thought “the actress was very well chosen!”
A line that got stuck on my head was “If I die…you die.”
Scary!

o_O

BBC Learning English Review

I have to say I had a big problem doing this review, first because of the time (I was working, now I'm on vacations so I'm getting up to date) and later, because every time I wanted to surf the site I couldn’t hear anything, cause I don't have earphones at home and in college there’s no phones either, so for this aspect I had to ask for help to my boyfriend :S

At first sight, I thought the page doesn’t have a very good graphic design; it’s full of information and doesn’t have a very friendly interface in general (my boyfriend thinks so too, he’s a graphic designer) too much information in too little space. I think there’s no a clear hierarchy in the text.
About the use, he told me that the sounds are very clear; you can understand well the words ‘cause they’re pronounced very slowly.
It’s very good it has the option to change language, that helps to people who don’t understand anything at all, but I think it has no differentiation of the different levels of english people can have, so it becomes very disorganized.
In general, the site is very complete, interactive, it has many options to learn and you can choose whatever you like the most and it covers almost every aspect of the language, but it has that problem.

It's late, and I don´t know what else to say. If I find any interesting thing, I'll update this post.

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Apologize

I have to apologize for not doing my homework (shame on me :$) cause I've been very busy with some work I have.
But I promise I'll do all the assigments.

"Lazy" of the Cats

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(corrected by Simon)

Opening Comments

This is my first post on this blog. I have to tell the reason I got a Blogger account. A time ago with a friend we opened a blog about design (but it was closed, I'm not sure why), and now my English teacher ask us to open a blog for some of the assignments (that's why and writing this in english).
So, here I am using this other blog for my class.
I have to keep update with my tasks right now.

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