Week 14

It It’s a little late, but I figured, since I’m up I might as well be productive.

Why might engineering solutions that work in the West, not work in Africa?

I’m not well read on Africa, but I also think that is the heart of the problem regarding Western solutions to problems in Africa. Those implementing potential solutions in Africa may not have a full scope of the problems in Africa. If the only research we do is from afar, via secondary sources, ect., then we are not getting a first hand look at the Whole issue. When addressing issues in places that are not home to us then it is vital to find sources that are in the heart of the problem or it can not fully be understood.

Africa has so much wealth. Why is it not utilized?

Again, I’m not fully aware of all the issues concerning Africa, and it varies from country to country within Africa. Infrastructure is scarce which is an obvious and necessary foundation to complete utilization of recourses.

What is the danger in generalizing an entire continent like Africa? Why do I think it happens so often?

The danger in making such generalizations is that there are many smaller factions that make up the continent. Issues and success vary from country to country just as our problems here vary from state to state. I think because it does not seem to directly affect us we find it easy to disregard the details that make up the continent as a whole. Doing this is dangerous because when we do attempt at addressing issues within the continent, we are clueless. The lack of detailed knowledge will almost always result in failure in any large scale problem.

Black Friday!

This coming Friday, many of us will probably go shopping at some places during the best time of the year to shop: Black Friday. This traditional (informal) holiday is when all of the big name stores reduce the prices of their items tremendously for the Friday directly after Thanksgiving. I will be going back home for Thanksgiving and I will also definitely be sure to go to a Best Buy and buy a lot of things. I have recently looked at their website and checked out their Black Friday ads and there are many unbelievable deals that they are offering. In terms of movies, there are many new release Blu-Ray movies that are only going to be $10, while the DVD editions will be even cheaper. Many newer released CD’s will range anywhere from $4 to $10 and full TV seasons will cost anywhere from $15 to $30. Particularly, I am looking to buy a 42’ Sharp LCD TV for only $200. I might also buy the Blu-Ray movies for Die Hard ($8), Scarface ($12), and Pulp Fiction ($7). I am probably going to go shopping at some stores either at 12:00 midnight or I will just wake up really early around 5:30 in the morning and go to the stores then. I think a lot of people will also buy some winter clothes especially now that it is starting to get colder. I think Sports Authority or Sports Chalet will be the best places to go buy clothes for the winter. So, this Thanksgiving break, it will be nice for some of us to go back home (many for the first time since the semester started) and spend some time with our families, but I know that after dinner on Thursday night I will get in the mindset of waking up early and buying all the things that I need (and mostly want) the following day.

Fail? What fail?

“There is no substitute for hard work.” As I see a poster of this quote by Thomas Edison hanging on the backdrop of my study table, I am forced to think of whether it actually stands true to its meaning. Recently, we all had to go through hell (aka EXAMS), for us mere mortals at least. Before they arrived, I had set my mind on one thing- that I will put in every bit of effort that I possibly can because if the input is strong, chances are that the rewards will be great. Among all the courses that I am taking this semester, Calculus is, hands down, my most difficult course. So, going with logic, I decided that it would make most sense if I started off with Calculus and then worked my way up the other subjects. Going through all the chapters one by one and taking a note of every little detail while clarifying my doubts took me a total of 5 days. I was math-saturated to the core. In fact, many of my friends confirmed the fact that I was approaching the stage of being titled clinically insane. Nonetheless, I was satisfied with all the effort that I put in. I kept telling myself that I have done my part by putting in all the hard work. I couldn’t care less about the result because I was so content with all of the calculus that I had learnt. As I confidently opened my exam paper, I was greeted with shock. In simpler terms, the questions got the better of me. They were not like the questions that came in the past exam papers. Nevertheless, I somehow managed to maintain a smile after coming out of the exam. The fact that I completely bombed the paper didn’t seem to have any effect on me. At the end of the day, what mattered to me was that I gave it my best shot. I feel that in college, failure will knock our doors every now and then. So whenever it does, keep this quote in mind: “You cannot tailor make your situation in life, but you can tailor make your attitudes to fit those situations.”

Restruant Review - Ahoz

Ahoz

Chauncey Hill

This week I went to Ahoz on Chauncey hill. It is a small Japanese sushi bar squashed in between the Hookah and DQ. It has the best sushi that I have had in West Lafayette. The sushi also comes fairly cheap at only around $7 per plate. It also provides free tea, which is really good, as it gets colder. A big problem it faces is for those who are less adventurous. Its non-sushi items are not particularly good. The bento boxes in particular were not good at all. This leaves with pretty much sushi items to deal with. If you are not a fan of sushi I do not recommend it. If you are feeling adventurous it is a good places to stop. It is prompt and you can get in and out with little wait. It also does not have a line, which puts it ahead of some of the other Sushi places around campus. All in all I would give it 3 out of 5 stars for good sushi but not much else.

Sleep or Minecraft?

Over Thanksgiving, I have many things to do besides catching up on sleep. One of the most important things I must do is work on my team’s project presentation for ENGR 131. I will need to go over our past milestones and fix them. I will also try to get some sweet Minecraft-playing time in. Just last night I spent 7 hours playing Minecraft. I have now constructed my first fortress; it’s nothing fancy, just enough to protect me once I turn off Peaceful Mode. My fortress is constructed directly over a mine a built which doubled as a base of operations up until now. At the beginning of the game, I just decided to dig straight down as long as I could, and when I hit bedrock, I began to expand outward, eventually excavating a large area. Previously, my only means of returning to the surface was by killing myself in a lava flow I had found, and getting back down safely proved since the drop was probably the equivalent distance of a kilometer. To remedy the latter issue, I dug a trough from nearby water and let it flow down the shaft. I would then safely ride the waterfall down. I still had to kill myself to get back to the surface, so as soon as I had the resources and time available, I removed the waterfall and installed a ladder. This made things much easier. My next goals will be to begin farming and collecting animals in a pen. I also hope to set up a mine cart track that will take me down to my mine from inside my fortress. I also hope to soon construct weapons and armor so I can begin to actively seek out and kill the malevolent mobs. Anyways, I hope to begin some of this stuff during Thanksgiving break. And who knows, I might get some sleep?

Week 14

Why might engineering solutions that work in the West, not work in Africa?

We have to recognize the Africa has a different culture. Things that we do and utilize for the betterment of life might be social or cultural taboos. They are also not provided with the same choices as we are. They might think that we are forcing things on them whether it might help them or not.

Africa has so much wealth (mineral ores, petroleum, arable land). Why is it not utilized?

They might be unaware of its existence. Minerals are held deep underground and more often then not it will take modern technology to use it. Even if they did know were it is the may not have the start up resources to use it. Sights were resources might be sights that are not meant to be disturbed.

What is the danger in generalizing an entire continent, like Africa? Why do you think it happens so often?

Africa is a continent made up many different countries. Many of those countries can also be split into different regions. Many languages and dialects separate Africa. It is also a place of many different cultures. This cultures have clashed many times over the years and may hold grudges.

Almost Thanksgiving Break

In about a week and a half from now we will officially be on Thanksgiving break. For many students, this will probably be the time to catch up with school work or just get more sleep at night. I am very excited because this will be the first time that I go back home since I arrived here at Purdue. This semester has actually seemed like it has gone by pretty quickly but there have been times (especially during exam weeks) when the days felt really long. I have to leave for the airport next Tuesday night and catch a red eye flight, but I think that the flight won’t be too bad because I will be gaining three hours of time when I get back home. I think that many people will enjoy this break whether they go back home or not. The people that go home will obviously get to spend some time with family and friends. But staying here at Purdue may not be so bad either because some students can probably wake up early and go shopping on Black Friday with friends. I know that I will probably buy some things for the dorm room on Black Friday. My roommate exchanged rooms with someone who was a friend so now a good friend of mine is rooming with me. So we are probably going to buy a futon, a TV, and some carpet. I also definitely need to buy more clothes for the colder weather because I have worn some of my thickest clothes on some cold days here and I was still pretty cold. I will also bring back my stereo and guitar from back home when I get back to Purdue that way I have something fun to do on my spare time. This Thanksgiving break should be a good time for everyone as we all can look forward to spending some time with friends or family.