I have been using DuckDuckGo since the beginning of the semester. I started doing research about internet browsing, and I thought that DuckDuckGo sounded to good to be true. I understand why Google wants my data, and they might not being using it for anything bad, but it still feels weird to me. I like my privacy.
After using DDG for a couple months now, I can safely say I will never go back. It feels so much better to use, and for the most part I feel like I get better search results. It's so nice not being bombarded with annoying ads.
Somehow I managed to go this whole time without knowing about bangs, and now I feel really dumb. That is such an awesome feature that I will use all the time now.
The only complaint I have about DuckDuckGo is the image search. It isn't anything serious because I don't really search for images all that much, but I do for this class. The image search function works fine, but for finding free to use images Google is still my go to. I don't know how to narrow DDG searches down to only non-copyright images, but I'm sure there is a way. That's my only gripe and it's not even a gripe. For the most part I get most of my images from Unsplash now anyways. They have some great high-quality photos that are all free to use.
Thursday, December 5, 2019
Week 15 Story
Spongebob and his snail Gary were very poor. One day during the winter Gary grew deathly ill and passed away. Spongebob was devastated. He asked his friends to help him dig a grave, but none of them could becasue they were too busy. He asked his boss Mr. Krabs, but he said he could only help him for money. Spongebob was devastated and needed to bury his beloved pet. He decided he had to take matters into his own hands and bury Gary himself.
So he got a shovel and started digging a hole. Once he had dug a good bit his shovel hit something hard. He uncovered it and it was a treasure chest filled with gold. He took it home with him, and bought enough food to have a feast for himself. After he was good and full he went back to Mr. Krabs to ask for his help with the grave.
When he got there Mr. Krabs said "I thought I already told you if you don't have any money I'm not helping you."
This time though Spongebob did have money. He gave Mr. Krabs a gold coin. Mr. Krabs agreed to help bury his precious snail. After the funeral Spongebob invited Mr. Krabs to his house. Mr. Krabs asked Spongebob how he got the money. He asked if he robbed Squidward. Spongebob told him that he found a treasure chest when he was digging a grave.
Mr. Krabs was incredibly jealous. He went home to his daughter Pearl and devised a plan. He had her make him a ghost costume, and she fastened it on him so it wouldn't slip or fall off. Then in the dead of night he went to Spongebob's house.
He knocked on the window, and Spongebob asked who's there. Mr. Krabs told him he was a ghost and he was going to haunt him unless he handed over the treasure he had found. Spongbob thought about it, and becasue he used to be poor he decided he would be fine without the treasure. He gave it all to Mr. Krabs.
Mr. Krabs returned home and had Pearl take off his costume. But when she tried to take it off she couldn't. The adhesive she had used was permanent. Mr. Krabs was stuck like this.
Author's Note:
The story I read was the Russian short story The Treasure. In the story a man's wife dies and no one will help him bury her. He goes to the pope, but he turns him down because he doesn't have money. He digs the grave himself and finds a pot full of ducats. He enlists the help of the pope, and the pope grows envious when he finds out about the ducats. He kills a goat and has his wife sew it on him. He tells the man he is the devil and he hands the ducats over to him. When he returns home the wife cannot get the goat hide off him.
I changed it to Spongebob to make it a little less dark, but everything else is more or less true to the original.
Bibliography:
Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore by W. R. S. Ralston (1887).
So he got a shovel and started digging a hole. Once he had dug a good bit his shovel hit something hard. He uncovered it and it was a treasure chest filled with gold. He took it home with him, and bought enough food to have a feast for himself. After he was good and full he went back to Mr. Krabs to ask for his help with the grave.
When he got there Mr. Krabs said "I thought I already told you if you don't have any money I'm not helping you."
This time though Spongebob did have money. He gave Mr. Krabs a gold coin. Mr. Krabs agreed to help bury his precious snail. After the funeral Spongebob invited Mr. Krabs to his house. Mr. Krabs asked Spongebob how he got the money. He asked if he robbed Squidward. Spongebob told him that he found a treasure chest when he was digging a grave.
Mr. Krabs was incredibly jealous. He went home to his daughter Pearl and devised a plan. He had her make him a ghost costume, and she fastened it on him so it wouldn't slip or fall off. Then in the dead of night he went to Spongebob's house.
He knocked on the window, and Spongebob asked who's there. Mr. Krabs told him he was a ghost and he was going to haunt him unless he handed over the treasure he had found. Spongbob thought about it, and becasue he used to be poor he decided he would be fine without the treasure. He gave it all to Mr. Krabs.
Mr. Krabs returned home and had Pearl take off his costume. But when she tried to take it off she couldn't. The adhesive she had used was permanent. Mr. Krabs was stuck like this.
Author's Note:
The story I read was the Russian short story The Treasure. In the story a man's wife dies and no one will help him bury her. He goes to the pope, but he turns him down because he doesn't have money. He digs the grave himself and finds a pot full of ducats. He enlists the help of the pope, and the pope grows envious when he finds out about the ducats. He kills a goat and has his wife sew it on him. He tells the man he is the devil and he hands the ducats over to him. When he returns home the wife cannot get the goat hide off him.
I changed it to Spongebob to make it a little less dark, but everything else is more or less true to the original.
Bibliography:
Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore by W. R. S. Ralston (1887).
Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Russia Reading Notes Part B
One night a man rode into a village and asked a man if he could stay in his cottage. The man told him to come in if he didn't fear death. The people inside the cottage were all crying, and the man asked why. The master of the house told him that in the village at night a witch comes around and causes death. She picks a house and the next morning everyone inside is dead. Tonight she is visiting their house. That night everyone went to sleep except for the traveling man. The witch put her arm in the cottage, and the man cut it off with his sword. The witch fled. The man hid the arm under his cloak. The next morning the man told the master that he can show him death if he wants. They gather everyone and go around looking for her, but they can't find her. They go home and they see that the house masters daughter is missing an arm. They drown the witch.
A man had three sons. When he was about to die he told his sons wives to watch over his body for one night each. He ordered that no cross was put on him. The first night the man sat up in his coffin and asked the first wife if she was there. Terrified, she told him she was. He asked again and she told him the same thing. He asked one more time and then he strangled her. He did the same thing with the second wife. The third wife was smarter. She waited for him to ask her the third time and as he lunged at her she put a cross on him. He died and when she looked in the coffin there was tons of money.
A man had three sons. When he was about to die he told his sons wives to watch over his body for one night each. He ordered that no cross was put on him. The first night the man sat up in his coffin and asked the first wife if she was there. Terrified, she told him she was. He asked again and she told him the same thing. He asked one more time and then he strangled her. He did the same thing with the second wife. The third wife was smarter. She waited for him to ask her the third time and as he lunged at her she put a cross on him. He died and when she looked in the coffin there was tons of money.
A warlock
Bibliography:
Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore by W. R. S. Ralston (1887).
Reading Notes Russia Part A
A husband and wife lived in a village, and all of their neighbors envied them. The mother had a baby, but she died during birth. The father didn't know how to take care of the baby so he hired an old woman. During the day the baby wouldn't eat and he would cry nonstop. However, at night the baby was silent. The old woman decided to stay up one night to see what was happening. At midnight someone opened the door and went to the babies cradle. She told the father about this and he decides to see for himself. The next night the figure comes in again and when it gets to the cradle then shine a light on it. It's the dead mother. She immediately leaves silently. They go up to the cradle and the baby is dead.
An old couple lived in poverty. One winter the wife died in the winter. Everyone was poor so no one would help him dig a grave for his wife. Even the pope wouldn't help because he didn't have money. The old man decides to do it himself. While he is digging he finds a pot full of gold. He returns in the hope and gives him gold to bury his wife. The old man invited the pope to his home, and the pope asked him how he got the money. He thinks that he robbed someone. The man tells him how he found it. The pope is greedy and devises a plan to steal the money. He kills a goat and has the wife sew the skin on him. He goes to the man's house at night. He knocks on the window and tells the man he's the devil. He tells him to give him the gold. The man obliges. The pope goes back home and tells his wife to cut the skin off, but she can't. The goat skin had merged with the man.
An old couple lived in poverty. One winter the wife died in the winter. Everyone was poor so no one would help him dig a grave for his wife. Even the pope wouldn't help because he didn't have money. The old man decides to do it himself. While he is digging he finds a pot full of gold. He returns in the hope and gives him gold to bury his wife. The old man invited the pope to his home, and the pope asked him how he got the money. He thinks that he robbed someone. The man tells him how he found it. The pope is greedy and devises a plan to steal the money. He kills a goat and has the wife sew the skin on him. He goes to the man's house at night. He knocks on the window and tells the man he's the devil. He tells him to give him the gold. The man obliges. The pope goes back home and tells his wife to cut the skin off, but she can't. The goat skin had merged with the man.
The devil the man was impersonating. Source
Bibliography:
Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-lore by W. R. S. Ralston (1887).
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Week 14 Story Lab
This week for my story lab assignment I watched the TED Talks: Copyright is Brain Damage by Nina Paley and A New Theory of Human Intelligence by Scott Barry Kaufman
I thought what Scott Kaufman had to say was right on the nose. I think our society puts far too much emphasis on predictors and predictive measurements as a way to gauge intelligence. Kids are told they are either gifted or not when they are young and that shapes their whole learning experience.
I thought he had an awesome story to tell. It was hilarious how he was clever enough to get in to Carnegie Melon in a department that didn't care about SAT score. That just goes to show you how true the point he's trying to make is. He beat the system. He didn't cheat it. I hope we can keep working to implement some of the new ways of measuring intelligence that he discussed.
Copyright is brain damage. What a title. I really enjoyed what Nina had to speak about. I am not a creator so I can't even imagine what its like dealing with copyright on that end, but just as a consumer copyright is already frustrating enough.
I liked how she explained how copyright often isn't even doing anything to help the person whose work is being protected. I hate how much business and profits have ruined our world. People should absolutely make money off of their work, but copyright law has become increasingly predatory.
I hadn't heard about copylefting before this video, but now that it has been brought to my attention I think that it is pretty cool. I hope the movement has had good luck with trying to subvert copyright. I hope they have not been sued to death or worse.
I thought what Scott Kaufman had to say was right on the nose. I think our society puts far too much emphasis on predictors and predictive measurements as a way to gauge intelligence. Kids are told they are either gifted or not when they are young and that shapes their whole learning experience.
I thought he had an awesome story to tell. It was hilarious how he was clever enough to get in to Carnegie Melon in a department that didn't care about SAT score. That just goes to show you how true the point he's trying to make is. He beat the system. He didn't cheat it. I hope we can keep working to implement some of the new ways of measuring intelligence that he discussed.
Copyright is brain damage. What a title. I really enjoyed what Nina had to speak about. I am not a creator so I can't even imagine what its like dealing with copyright on that end, but just as a consumer copyright is already frustrating enough.
I liked how she explained how copyright often isn't even doing anything to help the person whose work is being protected. I hate how much business and profits have ruined our world. People should absolutely make money off of their work, but copyright law has become increasingly predatory.
I hadn't heard about copylefting before this video, but now that it has been brought to my attention I think that it is pretty cool. I hope the movement has had good luck with trying to subvert copyright. I hope they have not been sued to death or worse.
Reading Notes Dante's Inferno Part B
At the top of the broken gully, the infamy of Crete, the Minotaur, conceived on Pasiphaë, in the wooden cow, lay stretched out. When he saw Dante and the guide he gnashed at himself. The guide said, "Perhaps you think we are someone else. We are just passing through to see the punishments."
The Minotaur became enraged. Virgil told Dante, "Run to the passage while he is in a fury. It is time for your descent."
They made their way downwards. In the first ring they saw centaurs racing one behind another. WHen the centaurs saw them they stood still. Three elected leaders came up and asked why they were there. The guide responded that they will talk to Chiron. Chiron noticed that Dante is alive. The guide explained the situation. Chiron turned to Nessuss and said, "Turn and guide them. If another crew meets you then keep them off."
They followed their new guide along the crimson boiling. He said "These are tyrants who indulged in blood, and rapine. Here they lament their offenses, done without mercy."
As they kept walking the blood grew shallower and shallower. In the second ring the harpies made their nest. They had broad wings, and human necks and faces, clawed feet, and large feathered bellies. They made mournful cries in that strange wood.
They left the third ring and the guide told Dante, "'Follow me. Be careful not to place your feet on the burning sand. Always keep back close to the wood."
They reached a stopping point and the guide said, "There is a deserted island in the middle of the sea, named Crete, under whose king Saturn, the world was pure. Their course falls from rock to rock into this valley. They form Acheron, Styx and Phlegethon. They go down to where there is no further fall and form Cocytus. You will see what kind of lake that is, so I will not describe it to you here."
Bibliography
Dante's Divine Comedy, translated by Tony Kline (2002).
The Minotaur became enraged. Virgil told Dante, "Run to the passage while he is in a fury. It is time for your descent."
They made their way downwards. In the first ring they saw centaurs racing one behind another. WHen the centaurs saw them they stood still. Three elected leaders came up and asked why they were there. The guide responded that they will talk to Chiron. Chiron noticed that Dante is alive. The guide explained the situation. Chiron turned to Nessuss and said, "Turn and guide them. If another crew meets you then keep them off."
They followed their new guide along the crimson boiling. He said "These are tyrants who indulged in blood, and rapine. Here they lament their offenses, done without mercy."
As they kept walking the blood grew shallower and shallower. In the second ring the harpies made their nest. They had broad wings, and human necks and faces, clawed feet, and large feathered bellies. They made mournful cries in that strange wood.
They left the third ring and the guide told Dante, "'Follow me. Be careful not to place your feet on the burning sand. Always keep back close to the wood."
They reached a stopping point and the guide said, "There is a deserted island in the middle of the sea, named Crete, under whose king Saturn, the world was pure. Their course falls from rock to rock into this valley. They form Acheron, Styx and Phlegethon. They go down to where there is no further fall and form Cocytus. You will see what kind of lake that is, so I will not describe it to you here."
A Racing Centaur
Bibliography
Dante's Divine Comedy, translated by Tony Kline (2002).
Reading Notes Dante's Inferno Part A
Dante found himself in the middle of a dark wood. It was very harsh and frightening. He couldn't quite say how he got there. He was almost in a sleep-like state. He was fearful. When he was returning from the depths someone appeared. Dante cried out "Have pity on me!"
The figure replied, "I am not a man, but I once was. I was a poet. Why do you not climb the delightful mountain that is the cause of all joy?"
Dante answered, "Are you Virgil? Save me from here."
Virgil responded, "You must go another road if you wish to escape this savage place. No man can cross her path."
Finally Virgil said, "I think its best if you follow me. I will guide and lead you through here."
There were words on the gate to hell that Dante couldn't understand. Virgil told him it, "Here, all uncertainty must be left behind; all cowardice must be dead. We have come to the place where I told you that you would see the sad people who have lost the good of the intellect."
Sighs, complaints, and groans filled the air. Dante asked Virgil who was doing all the crying and what race they were. Virgil responded, "This is the miserable mode in which those exist who lived without praise, without blame. Heaven drove them out to maintain its beauty, and deep Hell does not accept them lest the evil have glory over them."
Then Dante asked what makes them groan so deeply. Virgil answered, "They have no hope of death, and their darkened life is so mean that they are envious of every other fate."
Dante looked back and saw a quickly moving banner. There was a line of people behind it. Then he looked onwards to the bank of the river, and he saw people. He asked Virgil who they were. Virgil told him he will know when they get to Acheron.
Bibliography
Dante's Divine Comedy, translated by Tony Kline (2002).
The figure replied, "I am not a man, but I once was. I was a poet. Why do you not climb the delightful mountain that is the cause of all joy?"
Dante answered, "Are you Virgil? Save me from here."
Virgil responded, "You must go another road if you wish to escape this savage place. No man can cross her path."
Finally Virgil said, "I think its best if you follow me. I will guide and lead you through here."
There were words on the gate to hell that Dante couldn't understand. Virgil told him it, "Here, all uncertainty must be left behind; all cowardice must be dead. We have come to the place where I told you that you would see the sad people who have lost the good of the intellect."
Sighs, complaints, and groans filled the air. Dante asked Virgil who was doing all the crying and what race they were. Virgil responded, "This is the miserable mode in which those exist who lived without praise, without blame. Heaven drove them out to maintain its beauty, and deep Hell does not accept them lest the evil have glory over them."
Then Dante asked what makes them groan so deeply. Virgil answered, "They have no hope of death, and their darkened life is so mean that they are envious of every other fate."
Dante looked back and saw a quickly moving banner. There was a line of people behind it. Then he looked onwards to the bank of the river, and he saw people. He asked Virgil who they were. Virgil told him he will know when they get to Acheron.
Spooky forest from Unsplash
Bibliography
Dante's Divine Comedy, translated by Tony Kline (2002).
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