History of Electricity (To go along with the history of Smart Meters in BC)

       Hello, I hope you all are having a wonderful day! :)
As you may have known, I did a post on as much information that I could find for the history of smart meters. However, that information wasn't too sufficient, so here is a post about the history of electricity, some ways that it is produced, and some different ways of monitoring it.


                Many people know about Benjamin Franklin and his experiment with his kite, but that's not all. He was also the first person to use the terms, positive and negative charge.
        So many other people helped pioneer the way, people like Michael Faraday, he made the discovery of Electromagnetic induction. So many more inventions would come from his discoveries and work, but they would all be fifty to one hundred years later. He never let his failures get in the way. Mr. Faraday believed that even a failure could teach you something, and that they could be learned from. He had a saying "The failures are just as the successes." The farad is the unit of capacitance, and  is named in honour of Mr.Faraday.
    Another remarkable man was Thomas Seebeck, who discovered the "Seebeck effect". What he did was twist two wires made of different metals, and heated the junction where the metals met. This created a small current of electricity that produced heat that flowed from the hot to the cold junction. What he created during the experiment is called thermoelectricity, and Thermo is Greek for heat.

   (If you would like to know more about these men, and some of the other most extraordinary people who helped pioneer the way in electricity, the link to the website where I got my information is Here.)


     So, without further ado, let us move on to some different ways of creating and generating electricity, shall we? Please keep in mind that these are only two of the many different ways of generating electricity.



Hydro:
Hydroelectricity is the making and consumption of electricity by using water to create the electricity.
Water from a headpond, flows down the intake, and pushes a turbine as it leaves the headstock. The water that flows past the turbine then exits through the draft tube, and into the tailrace. The spinning turbine powers the generator, and the powerhouse, the electricity is sent to the transformer, and then up the transmission lines.

If you would like to know more about Hydroelectricity (in Canada) click Here


Wind: Wind power is what is produced when people harness the kinetic energy of the wind by using wind generators. This form of electricity generation is gaining popularity throughout the world, but still isn't used very much, as it only provides about one percent of our global energy consumption.

As always, if you would like to know more about wind power, there is a link for you to click Right Here



I would like to thank you for your time, and wish you all a very good day. Any critique and advice you would like to give is welcome, and very much appreciated.

~Sylvie


       

Smart Meters History in British Columbia

 Hi there, as you may or may not have known, we were given the task  of finding something to write a "rant", or persuasive essay about. After that we filmed videos of our rants, I may include a link later. So, this post is to be about the history of our topics. Since my topic is fairly new, the amount of information in here may be spread a little thin. Also, please keep in mind that the meters talked about here are those in British Columbia, Canada, and therefor may be different from those in other areas.

                 I do know that some sources claim that the program's roots go back to the 1980's though whether or not that is true, I don't know. It does seem very far fetched, but it could still be a possibility.
I also know that the meters were supposed to be fully implemented into BC homes by the end of 2012, though there has still been a lot of controversy over them, and not all of them have been fully implemented yet, due to those holding out on the program, or opting out. The installation process has been carried out since 2011.


        This is all that I could find for now, but I will be updating and editing this post as if/when I find more.


Thank you for your time, if you have any advice or information or sources for information that you would like to share, please do!
Thanks again,
~Sivvy

Percy Jackson- Are the Protagonists Believable or Not? (SPOILER ALERT!!!!!)

Percy Jackson (Series, since I’ve read the whole series)

                     (Are the Protagonists Believable or Not?)

Have you ever read a book, or watched a TV show or movie, and then wondered why the characters acted the way they did? Why were the teenagers in one movie were happy, but then dark and moody in the other? We were assigned the task of reading a book that had a teenage protagonist, and then decide whether or not we thought the characters were an accurate portrayal of teenagers. 

I have read all of the Percy Jackson books (except for "Blood Of Olympus", which doesn't come out until next year,) and I have to say, Percy really is believable. He and Annabeth (demigod daughter of Athena) start out not really getting along very well. This progresses until they are friends, and Percy starts to seemingly have slightly romantic feelings towards Annabeth in "The Titan's Curse". Later on in the series, Percy and Annabeth start dating. This is pretty normal for a teen, to like somebody, to even start dating. Also, Percy struggles with bullies. Clarisse for instance, and they have had a rivalry ever since Percy's "initiation ceremony", where Clarisse (demigod daughter of Ares) tries to dunk Percy's head in a toilet. Percy, being a son of Poseidon and all, proceeds to blow up the plumbing, and humiliate 

Clarisse. Again, many teens report being bullied, or seeing someone being bullied. Percy has issues with his father, Poseidon, as Poseidon couldn't see Percy for many years after he was born, leaving Percy feeling abandoned. His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, is a horrible man, who later is disposed of. This varies between the book "The Lightning Thief", and it's film adaptation.

In the book, Gabe gets turned into a statue, and the statue is sold, but in the movie, Sally Jackson (Percy's AWESOME Mom) kicks him out. Later, Mrs. Jackson marries Paul Blofis, a very kind and friendly man, who makes Mrs. Jackson and Percy very happy.
These things are normal for a lot of teens, and thus, why I believe that Percy, with all that he's going through, is a very realistic character. In fact, I believe that most of the characters throughout both "Percy Jackson and The Olympians" and "Percy Jackson and The Heroes of Olympus" are realistic.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post, and that if you haven't read any of the books to either series, that you will consider giving them a try. Rick Riordan is an AMAZING author, and it's almost like he brings the books to life. Mr. Riordan skillfully blends mythology with our modern era, to create a stunningly fantastic way of writing and reading. I'd would, however, also recommend that you read the series' in order, as the plot would make a lot more sense, and so would some of the references made to past books.
(Also, try reading the Kane Chronicles, but this time, instead of it being Greek and Roman mythology, it's Egyptian.)

Thank you for your time :)

~Sylvie

Miss Representation~ Sarcasm

   

This blog post is about the movie "Miss Representation". As you can see, the title is a play on the word misrepresentation. The whole movie was about the way us girls and women are being represented and treated by society and social media, and how, although it has gotten better for girls and women, it's still looking a bit grim.

  This blog post is also about sarcasm. Sarcasm was the literary device that my partner and I were assigned to look for and take notes on during the video. The definition wasn't too hard, but since the movie was so compelling, and it literally just sucks you in, we only have one example for the use of sarcasm in the video. That example was when a female actress was talking about a show she had been in.  While she was on the show, many of the people on set were harassing her about her weight. Yes, she wasn't super skinny, but she was by no means  overweight. Soon after that, they cancelled the show she was in, and replaced it with Drew Carey (and I quote the actress who's show was replaced by his on this), " Because he's SO fit!"   

  

       What is sarcasm?

Sarcasm is a way of saying something with a bit of an attitude, and not usually a nice attitude either! Quoting the dictionary, sarcasm is "the use of irony to mock or convey contempt".

Sarcasm was used to add a bit more flavour.  It shows that the women and girls in the movie have a bit of attitude. And aren't going to take anymore junk. The sarcasm was used to help develop and portray how the filmmaker really felt about the whole subject.

     "Miss Representation"  was a real eye-opener, and I would encourage you all to watch it, no matter who you are. It is very compelling.

 Thank you all for your time, 

~Sylvie

Miss Representation, Thoughts, Feelings, and What it Made Me See.

                                                                        Intro
               So, as any of you who read my last post know, we watched a movie called "Miss Representation" in English class.  My partner and I were assigned to look for sarcasm in the movie, and also to give the definition of sarcasm. For those of you whom didn't read my last post, if the idea of reading it strikes you as something that you might like to do, go right ahead, but if you don't want to, that's fine too. However, this particular post, is about what I thought, how the movie made me feel, and what it made me see. So, without further ado, let us begin.

                                                            Paragraph
         The movie made me think about how media is representing girls and women in an unrealistic way, and setting impossible standards. My initial reaction to the film was "We can't continue to let this happen! We need to take a stand!".  However, I do realize that this has been going on for a long time, and it would take a while to get things going. Many people have tried to take a stand, and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But if we all work together, we can solve more than just the way media is portraying us girls and women. But I won't get into too much detail on that in this post. The impossible standards are those based on photoshopped images of the models that can be  seen in a lot of places. In real life these women are beautiful, but apparently they are not beautiful enough. These doctored-up images are so perfect, that it is impossible to look like them, unless you edit a picture of yourself, or have lots of surgery done. People have developed eating disorders trying to look like these images, and even models have developed eating disorders trying to look "good" enough. Some men and boys whom have grown up in this kind of society can even begin to believe that if a girl or woman doesn't look or do things the way they are portrayed, then they're  not good enough. Like in politics. Women have been harassed for being in politics, and have been told that it is only for men. This is not true. Yes, men have good ideas, but so do women. It  takes the point of view from both sides to solve a problem. It is very hard to resolve an argument, or a problem, with only one party speaking.

    It's sad, but even girls and women think this way about themselves. In fact, since I couldn't go to the grocery store, or watch t.v, or even go on some online games without seeing these images, or highly sexualized video game characters, I began to doubt myself, and they way I looked. I didn't as much as I should have, and felt that I was always being negatively judged no matter what I did, even by complete strangers! It has taken a toll on my self confidence, and I still struggle with that. My Mom and friends found out about my not eating as much as I should, and helped me through all of that. I am trying to regain self confidence, but it's very hard in a world where women must meet certain, impossible standards to be "perfect".

    Media not only portrays women and girls by their looks, but, as pointed out in the movie, they also portray girls and women by their "attitude". In lots of T.V. shows and cartoons, women and girls are shown as catty, only wanting to get the boy, if their smart, then their considered a know-it-all. But if they're "dumb" they're considered cute, and easy.
In both television and real life, names that I can't post here,  are used to demean and insult women and girls.
All of these things are touched on and  explained in the movie "Miss Representation", and I will include a link to the site at the end of this post.
This movie was a real eye opener, it was very interesting and compelling, and I learned quite a bit from it. I would encourage you to watch it, no matter who you are! I hope you enjoyed reading this little rant, and if you wanted to, maybe comment on what you liked, and/or what you think I could do better? I'm always looking for feedback on what to do better, and it's nice to hear what other people have to say.

Thank you for your time,
~Sylvie

(Link to website mentioned in paragraph)
Link to Miss Representation website

Wasted Lives Story Video

Wasted Lives Introduction Post

Hi there, this post is about my "passion project" that I did in Humanities. It is initially a video, but due to the fact of me needing to learn how to speak up when presenting, the sound may not be very good. If you can hear it, I ask that you please close your eyes, and imagine yourself as the main character. If you can't, then I will supply a written copy as well. This story was initially written when I was in 7th grade, but after much editing and revising, two years later, this is my final copy. The reason for me writing this story, was that in 7th grade, we were studying the war in Afghanistan. We were very driven and compelled by what we learned. I tried to write the story in such a way that you are transported to another world. The country, age, gender, and name of the person are not mentioned, so that anybody can imagine themselves as the main character. This will be one of three posts. One with this (the introduction) one with the video (the initial post) and one with the written copy (in case the sound quality wasn't good). Thank you for your time ~Sylvie