Culture Days

Since our Culture Days took place on Monday and Tuesday last week, it is high time for me to write about the presentations I watched and, more importantly, which topics I'd like to be tested on at the KGP.

Presentations I watched

Woodstock (US): Of course I've known before what Woodstock. What I didn't know, though, was in how many ways Woodstock had influenced not only music, but also the counterculture movement. The presentation provided a clear outline about the Woodstock's impact on American culture.

San Francisco

San Francisco's rise into popularity (US): Daniela gave a well-structured overview about the evolution of San Francisco. Since I have always loved San Francisco for its exceptional characteristics such as the Painted Ladies, the Lombard Street, the Golden Gate Bridge or the Cable Cars, I couldn't resist watching Daniela's presentation.

Homeland (US): Even though I haven't watched a single episode of Homeland before, I was curious to hear what it is about. had heard a lot about the series and how my friends became addicted to it. What I certainly didn't know about the series is how close to reality the series were.

Arab-Americans after 9/11 (US): I have never really thought about how the 9/11 incident affected Arab-Americans regarding their everyday life. Andreas did a really good job on illustrating the difficulties Arabs in America have to deal with. Thumbs up!

American Indian boarding schools (US): Although I knew beforehand what Judith would be talking about in her presentation, I found the presentation even more interesting than reading the paper. By adding appropriate photos to her presentation, she got across her message perfectly.

The Boston Tea Party

The Boston Tea Party (US): Not only did I love Lucinda's accent, but also her topic and her remarkable Prezi. The Boston Tea Party is an event I've heard of several times, but never really known what it is about. What I liked a lot about her presentation was that she pointed out today's opinion of both Americans and British.

Ernest Hemingway (US): Jerneja gave a short but clear overview of Hemingway's life and his most remarkable works. For me, it was great to hear what is typical for Hemingway's style of writing, as I wasn't aware of that before. Well done!

Native American Languages (US): Both intriguing and funny at the same time, Sara talked about some native American languages and how they influenced America's culture. What sounded really interesting to me was that some words or even name of states such as Oklahoma or Mississippi derived from a native American language - I didn't know that before.

Undocumented: Illegal Immigrants in the (US): Valeriya's Prezi was really good as she included statistcs and infographics to illustrate her points. In general, I enjoyed her presentation a lot. The topic is really intriguing and still relevant for Americans.

Health problems of the Irish Travellers (IE): Before watching this presentation, I had no clue that a minority group called "the Irish Travellers" even existed. Aside from telling us who the Irish Travellers are and where they live, Nina focused on the the health problems they have to deal with, such as deafness or asthma. Hearing about those people made me sad, but I liked Nina's presentation a lot!!

The Race Around Ireland (IE): I have never heard about the Race Around Ireland before, but Roman did a great job on telling us the most important facts about it. His presentation was both informative and funny and I could tell that Roman is an insider.

Leprechaun

The popularised Leprechaun (IE): Of course I've seen and heard a lot about Leprechauns before, but not about its history. So I was curious to hear where the tales originally come from. Linda did not only provide a clear overview over the Leprechaun's history, but also an explanation why the Leprechaun is actually called Leprechaun.

Irish as an official EU language (IE): To be honest, I've heard a lot about the Irish language before, so there were some points I already knew when Dolores talked about them. Nevertheless, she did a good job on putting everything important in a nutshell!

David Norris' contribution to the LGBT Rights in the Republic of Ireland (IE): Before watching Katharina's presentation, I didn't even know what LGBT stands for. Besides explaining this acronym, she told us how these rights were introduced in Ireland and that David Norris as definitely a person worth knowing.

Top five presentations

I would like to be asked about the following topics at the KGP (US):

Arab-Americans after 9/11

American Indian boarding schools

The Boston Tea Party

Undocumented: Illegal Immigrants in the USA

San Francisco's rise into popularity

Image Sources:

(1) http://staysf.com/upload/attraction/20080519164232_san%20francisco%20cable%20car.jpg

(2) http://www.crareacatholic.com/LaSalle/Resources/8th%20Websites%202013/MeLeah,%20Tanya,%20Hannah,%20Becca/Becca%20Fields%20Rev%20War/images/Boston%20Tea%20Party%201.jpg

(3) http://mkalty.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Leprechaun.jpg

What the Health!

Did you know?
A number of American companies make their employees' day at work not only a happier, but also healthier place. They provide them with healthy meals, open office spaces, fitness classes or even child care centers. As an example, I would like to tell you about an American company in the heart of Silicon Valley: Google.

Google Headquarters, Mountain View, CA

 

"Let's face it," says Eric Schmidt, "programmers want to program, they don't want to do their laundry. So we make it easy for them to do both." Google's 44,777 employees seem to be damn lucky. Not only is it possible for them to get their laundry done, but also can they go to the hairdresser or even have a doctor's appointment on the 26-acre Google campus in Mountain View, California.


Food, Snacks and Haircuts?

After enjoying a free gourmet meal in the cafeteria, Google employees can spend the rest of their break playing Ping-Pong, pool or even volleyball. Some of them might even want to go to the on-site hairdresser - for free. Provided by a company called Onsite Haircuts, its mobile homes are travelling around cutting the hair of  "Silicon Valley's tech army."

Back to food and snacks: Throughout the day, the cafeteria offers healthy snacks like dried fruit, nuts or coconut water. Before they decided to offer nuts such as pistachios, some employees "had a serious M&M addiction", Google admits. By the way, all the snacks are available for free. Although, there is one thing Google charges its employees for: machine food. What is that? Machine food is food inside an automat. So you'd have to insert money in order to get food. Google set their prices quite high so as to avoid its employees to buy those rather unhealthy foods and gain weight.

By having about 20 cafeterias on the Google campus, employees can decide on where to go for lunch.

Leisure Activities

As mentioned above, there are various possibilities how Google employees can spend their breaks. What seemed most intriguing to me was that just recently, Google invented a lap pool. What is a lap pool? It's a very(!) small outdoor pool that is "equipped" with a strong current that allows one to swim and swim and swim - and go basically nowhere! Of course, Google arranged lifeguards in case someone drowns.

On the entire campus there are numerous lounges where Googlers can just hang out and talk. They're even allowed to bring their dogs to work: "The presence of dogs at Google has been a unique and to some, a treasured part of our workplace culture. Dogs can be a valued and important part of employees' lives, and their ability to keep a dog in their workplace may enhance the quality of their work life."

BTW: In order to make sure that employees make it to meetings in time, they are provided with scooters and, what is even more exceptional, the campus has a slide (yes, a slide!) which can be used instead of taking the stairs.





Health Care

In case Google employees don't have time for a doctor's appointment, they can go for a checkup to an on-site doctor instead. There are even chiropractors and massage therapists on the Google campus. What would you say about a nice massage during lunch break?
I'd like to stop at this point and recommend watching this video as it gives some more insight on how working at Google Headquarters is like. It's worth watching, I promise. Have fun!

Image Sources

(1) www.whereverwriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/IMG_5682.jpg
(2) http://m.c.lnkd.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/p/3/000/249/1e6/06c0a31.jpg
(3) http://img.timeinc.net/time/photoessays/2006/inside_google/google/05.jpg
(4) http://www.whereverwriter.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/IMG_5693.jpg
(5) http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/250533/slide_250533_1519698_free.jpg?1347647456000

Sources

http://greatist.com/health/healthiest-companies
http://content.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1947844_2013328,00.html

How the Cardiovascular System Works

Hey guys.
Since I have learned a lot about how our heart works within my paramedic courses in 2012, I'd like to share some drawings I made during these courses. I labelled them in English in order to broaden my language skills. I really hope you can learn something from it. By the way, it might be a good idea to look at the drawings every once in a while while you're reading. Otherwise it might be a little confusing as there are LOADS of foreign words (of which some of them are explained below).

How the Heart Pumps Blood

(c) Sophie Schaffner

Our heart is a fist-sized muscle situated behind the rib cage and between the lungs. Since it is placed slightly to the left of the sternum (breastbone), the left part of the lungs is a little smaller than the right one. The heart contracts in order to pump oxygen- and nutrient-rich blood to the rest of your body.

The heart is divided into the right pumping system and the left pumping system. The right atrium (blue color) receives oxygen-poor blood from the superior vena cava and pumps it to the right ventricle (also in blue color). Following that, the right ventricle pumps the blood to the lungs through the pulmonary artery. In the lungs, the blood picks up oxygen and gets rid of carbon dioxide. The left atrium (red color), however, receives oxygen-rich blood from the pulmonary veins and pumps it to the left ventricle. Through the aorta, the left ventricle pumps the oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body. The aorta (Aorta, Hauptschlagader) is the biggest artery and has millions of smaller arteries branching off. By passing through chest and abdomen, the aorta is responsible for "carrying" oxygen-rich blood to all your organs and cells.

Arteries are blood vessels that deliver oxygen-rich blood from the heart to the cells of your body. They are thick-walled and elastic and their smaller branches are called arterioles and capillaries.

Veins are thin-walled blood vessels delivering oxygen-poor blood to the lungs. Have you ever been wondering why blood in the veins of your feet flows upwards, although, locigally, gravity would keep it down below? Well, some veins have venous valves that set the direction where the blood moves. Thank God! Because otherwise all your blood would be stuck in your feet and ... yeah, you can imagine how your feet would look like.

The Cardiac Conduction System

(c) Sophie Schaffner

The cardiac conduction system generates and controls the heart rate. Have a look at the drawing first and search for the sinoatrial node (sinus node). This is where we start: The sinus node is the heart's natural pacemaker. The electrical impulses are generated here. This electrical signal moves from cell to cell down through the heart until it reaches the atrioventricular node (AV node). The AV node somehow slows the electrical current down. By doing so, the node ensures that the two atria (plural of atrium) can fully contract and pump out blood. After passing the AV node, the electrical current "travels" to the ventricels until it reaches the purkinje fibers (special cardiac muscles). These fibers kind of "tell" the cardiac muscles to contract.

Normally, a sinus node produces a heart rate of 60 to 80 per minute. In case the sinus node is not functioning anymore, the AV node takes over, but can only produce a heart rate of 40 to 60. By the way, the heart rate is the pulse you can feel at your wrist. The blood pressure, however, is something completely different and cannot be explained in just one sentence. If time allows, I will write another blog post and tell you what blood pressure actually is about.

Vocabulary

right atrium (rechter Vorhof) = the right upper chamber of the heart that receives blood from the vena cava
left atrium (linker Vorhof) = the left upper chamber of the heart that receives blood from the pulmonary veins
right ventricle (rechte Herzkammer) = the right lower chamber of the heart that receives blood from the right atrium and pumps the blood into the arteries
left ventricle (linke Herzkammer) = the left lower chamber of the heart that receives blood from the left atrium and pumps blood into the aorta
pulmonary artery (Lungenarterie) = an artery which carries blood from the heart to the lungs
venous valves (Venenklappen) = a structure that prevents blood from flowing backwards and therefore ensures a one-way flow
sinus node (Sinusknoten) = special part of the heart that controls the heart beat and heart rate
av node (AV-Knoten) = a node that receives impulses from the sinoatrial node
electric current (elektrischer Strom) = a flow of electricity 

Sources

Sanitätshilfe - "Ausbildung", Auflage Februar 2012, Herausgeber: Österreichisches Rotes Kreuz
http://flexikon.doccheck.com/de/Herz#Anatomie
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/how-heart-works 

----

Any questions? Feel free to add a comment! :-)

Apple - A History of Advertising

When someone mentions the words "Apple" and "foundation", one might immediately think of Steve Jobs. However, Steve Jobs didn't launch this company all on his own. Together with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, Jobs established Apple Inc. on April Fool's Day in 1976. They named the company Apple because Jobs was just coming back from working on an apple farm and he thought the name was "fun, spirited and not intimidating".

The Evolution of Apple's Logo

Unlike other companies like Coca Cola, Apple Inc. has had only three logos since the company's foundation.
The first logo was designed in 1976 by co-founder Ronald Wayne and shows Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree and an apple hanging down a branch. On the outside border of the logo, there is a phrase saying: "Newton... A Mind Forever Voyaging Through Strange Seas of Thought ...Alone". Since the first logo was poorly recognizable, it was replaced by the second logo only a few months later. Designed by Rob Janoff, who became quite famous for designing the "rainbow Apple", the logo shows a colorful apple with a bite taken out of it. Steve Jobs and his designer Rob Janoff didn't want people to confuse the apple with a cherry or a tomato, which is why they added the bite to the apple. Additionally, Job suggested to put the green color on top to make it look more like an apple. The third logo was introduced in 1998 as some said the colorfully striped apple would look ridiculous on the new iMac. Jobs wanted to keep the Apple, so they simply changed the color to grey.

If Jobs & Co. hadn't decided on changing the color to grey in 1998, the MacBook would probably look like this today. I guess Apple made the right choice.

 

Apple's History of Advertising

 

Apple I

Back in 1976, when Apple was just getting off the starting blocks, its founders introduced the Apple I, a personal computer, and sold it for $666.66. When you have a look at the advertising on the left hand side, you can see that there is a lot of text, one low-quality picture and Apple's first logo. What do you think about this advertising? Does it look appealing to you? Well, to me, it doesn't look attractive at all. You can't even make out what's on the picture on the top right corner. At least I can't. For me, there is way too much text on this ad. Imagine this advertisement as a poster next to a sidewalk. Would you stop walking in order to read it? Would you be able to tell at a glance what this ad is about?

Apple II

Only one year after Apple's foundation, Wozniak invented another computer called Apple II. Although it had the same processor in and run at the same speed like Apple I, the Apple II was way more popular than the first one.
The advertisement on the right hand side looks a lot more concise, don't you think? There is very little text and just one photo of a specific fruit. Guess what, it's an apple! Still, I believe that the apple is photoshopped. Just look at its colors! It looks like the apple from Snow White. That's at least what I think.

Apple III

Although Apple II was quite a success, they decided to invent a new model with an even better system. The Apple III was proudly introduced in 1980, but it soon became apparent that the system wasn't as good as expected. Jobs didn't want the computer to have a cooling fan since it was "too noisy and inelegant". Therefore the motherboard of the computer got really hot after a while which resulted in system malfunctions. In addition to that, there were some other softwares that didn't work properly. So Apple replaced these "bad" Apple IIIs and introduced another version of Appe III, which, unfortunately, still had some problems.

What do you think about the advertisements? There was a series of these posters and each of them was dedicated to an American entrepreneur. Even though the ad contains a lot of text, I really like the idea of referring to notable inventors like Edison or Ford. When reading the heading, one might think: Ok, so what makes Apple so exceptional to even compare themselves with Edison or Ford?
 

Apple Lisa

The Apple Lisa is not only named after a girl (Steve Jobs' daughter's name was Lisa), but also stood for "Local Integrated Software Architecture". What made Apple Lisa so special? It was the very first Apple computer to have Graphical User Interface (GUI). That means that you were able to point and click with a rolling device called "mouse". Before that, the computers were text-based, which means that one had to type in commands in order to make the system respond.
Have a look at the video-ad below. I don't know about you, but I think this video is creepy! Just see for yourself.

Macintosh

Introduced in 1984, Macintosh was a line of personal computers developed by Steve Jobs. Like the Apple Lisa, Macintosh had GUI and a mouse.
Have a look at the advertisement. On the bottom left corner, there is a picture of someone using a mouse. The text in the pic says "If you can point, you can use Macintosh." Also, on the bottom right corner, where you can see the colorfully striped Apple logo, it says "Soon there'll just be two kinds of people. Those who use computers and those who use Apples." Well, this is quite a self-assured statement, don't you think?

"Think Different"

The advertising campaign "Think Different" was introduced in 1997 and mainly used for TV commercials and print ads.

The commercial as well as the ad show several personalities of the 20th century who, according to Jobs, "thought different" and "changed things": Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thomas Edison, Mahatma Gandhi or Pablo Picasso. Have you ever seen this ad before? What do you think about it?

"Get a Mac"

Another campaign created by Apple's advertising agency was "Get a Mac". The TV campaign, which ran from 2006 to 2009, tells the story of a PC and a Mac being compared to each other. One guy dressed in casual clothes and personifies a Mac and the other one is dressed more formally and represents the (Windows) PC. The commercial was broadcasted in almost every English speaking country as well as in Japan. It was even dubbed into Spanish, German and Italian.
The actual ad lasts about an hour or so, so it gets a bit boring after a while. However, here's a shorter version that shows the ten most humorous statements. If you haven't seen it before, you should definitely watch it. It's hilarious.

Sources:
http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/story-behind-apple-logos-evolution-11672
http://webexpedition18.com/articles/evolution-apple-ads/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Apple_Inc.#Apple_IPO 
http://oldcomputers.net/ 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_a_Mac

Image Sources:
(1) http://famouslogos.net/images/apple-logo-evolution.jpg
(2) http://edibleapple.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/maacbookcolor.jpg 
(3) http://webexpedition18.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/1976apple01.jpg
(4) http://webexpedition18.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/1977apple05.jpg
(5) http://cdn.theatlantic.com/newsroom/img/posts/Apple-II-III-ads.jpg
(6) http://webexpedition18.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/1984apple34.jpg
(7) https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvBw6zNAMTDPkFhumJfHhHwmHNK0lGPFKyVey9Iyh2oSyJr4-9AeYdK3KWsnixXxQyowce5NlB10sJxEU9I4-VG7Df_ClWhEzyqb_XKLaHTvLg_UjYxKnQeKNwzJrXPSErLweAPu0YMiw/s1600/Think_Different_Apple-1998-771623.jpg

Capitalization 101 - Part One

Since the writing parts of the Progress Checks have always been the ones I had to struggle most with, I am currently reading a lot about Punctuation and Style. Today, however, I'd like to talk about Capitalization and its abundant rules about beginning a sentence. I hope the following information and tips are helpful to you.

Beginnings

1. Surprise, surprise: The first word of a sentence is capitalized.
   Example: Blogging is a great opportunity to practice writing.
   
   
2. If a sentence is placed in parentheses, the first word of the sentence is capitalized.
   Example: Blogging is a great opportunity to practice writing. (There are a lot of other possibilities, of course.)
   
   
3. If a sentence inside another sentence is in parentheses, the (inner) sentence is not capitalized.
   Example: Blogging is (among lots of other possibilities) a great opportunity to practice writing.
   
   
4. The first word of a quotation is capitalized.
   Example: "Blogging is a great opportunity to practice writing," my teacher says.
   
   
5. If a quotation is interrupted in the middle, the second part of the quotation is not capitalized.
   Example: "Blogging is a great opportunity to practice writing," my teacher says, "but there are loads of other possibilities."
   
   
6. If a quotation is dependent on the sentence in which it appears, the quotation is not capitalized.
   Example: Blogging is "a great opportunity to practice writing."
   Or: My teacher said that "blogging is a great opportunity to practice writing."
   
   
7. If a motto, rule or direct question, whether a quotation or not, appears in another sentence, it is capitalized.
   Example: The question is, How many blog posts do we need to have by the end of the semester?
   Or: You know the saying "Practice makes the master."
   
   
8. The first word following a colon is usually lowercased when it begins a list or even a complete sentence. When the sentence, however, is longer and seperate from the preceding one, the first word is capitalized.
   Example: A good language learner practices these four language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking.
   Or: A good language learner has the following characteristics: he is open-minded, communicative and eager to learn.
   But: One more thing: A good language learner must neither be idle nor biased, but curious about different countries and cultures.
   
   
9. The first word in an outline heading begins with a capital.
   Example:
1. Introduction
2. Body Paragraph
1. Thesis I
2. Thesis II
3. Thesis III
3. Conclusion
   
   
10. The first word and some particular words of a salutation of a letter are capitalized. As far as the complimentary close is concerned, the very first word begins with a capital.
    Example: Dear Sir or Madam; Ladies and Gentlemen
    Or: Sincerely yours; Truly yours
    

Source: Merriam-Webster's Guide to Punctuation and Style, Second Edition