Saturday 6 October 2012

random photos

Last week at 6:40am

Grana Padano cheese left over from welcome week with slow foodies!

I suggested we do cheese fondue with the left over. Rachel the president of the soc got the ingredients and I did most of the cooking. 

Rich helping out with the stirring. Hard core cooking.

Foodies enjoying cheese and wine :)



Graffiti by the river Exe

Taken while jogging in the morning. 6:30am

Saturday 1 September 2012

Water


When food is transported substantial volumes of
water flows within it. For every kg of food produced,
between 5 and 25 tonnes of water is used. Moving food
from areas with high water availability, and high water
use efficiency, to areas with scarcity or low productivity may result in considerable overall water savings.



Substantive amounts of water are
consumed as crops grow; each person requires 50 to 100
times more water to produce the food they eat than
they use in their home. One fundamental condition
for good yields is that the roots gain access to enough
green water to allow for an efficient photosynthesis.
This green water is a local resource that is available to
the farmer. To avoid crop water deficiency, blue water
from rivers or aquifers may be added by irrigation.
Farmers will have to compete for that water, since it
is the key resource for other societal functions, including water supply, industry and energy production.
Continued population growth in large regions with
limited rainfall will creates dilemmas in the future as
the competition for blue water escalates.



Finding the
best path for sustainable food production requires an
understanding of the resource requirements from cities, industrial use, energy production and for sufficient
environmental flow in the river to maintain healthy
habitats for freshwater and coastal aquatic ecosystems.
This calls for a shift in thinking that is based upon
sequential reuse along a river system.

Source: http://www.siwi.org/documents/Resources/Reports/Feeding_a_thirsty_world_2012worldwaterweek_report_31.pdf


Thursday 16 August 2012

war

Do people actually think that shooting each other is going to solve whatever problem they are having? Are they that stupid? Or are they doing it for fun?

Sunday 12 August 2012

Saturday 4 August 2012

Thursday 28 June 2012

Friday 15 June 2012

Results for foundation!!!!!!

English                   78
Biology                   70
Foundation Maths    95
Maths 1                 96
Psychology            72

Overall                  82 (distinction)


I still don't know how awesome a distinction is, but the course manager said they were glad they had me. They said I brought something to the course and the person for the sustainability course next year is looking forward to working with me.
Now I have a firm place at uni of Exeter for Psychology and sustainability.

Monday 11 June 2012

Jubilee weekend

All I had was the foodie even in Topsham. The slow food people went to Topsham, which is about 20 mins by train (it actually took 45mins to get there on the first day because of...well, you know how it is in the UK ;P). The weather was miserable but we were there all day to sell mackerel in rolls (freshly caught) and cupcake decoration and tea towel and bags and olives. Wasn't as interesting as the foodie event in Exeter, but still, good experience.
The second day was just to have dinner with everyone. The special thing was that the table was lined really long. Hence the name, "Nello's Longest Table." 
I don't feel like explaining what it is, because i don't know the answer so here's the description on facebook:
Nello's Longest Table:
As part of the weekend celebrations for the Topsham Food Festival and as part of celebrations for the Queen's Jubilee, the highlight of the weekend will be Nello’s Longest Table, an evening celebration of food and friends in memory of Nello Ghezzo. For it was originally Nello’s idea to create an occasion whereby our whole community can sit down together to enjoy meals prepared from local and locally sourced foods at a single table stretching the entire length of Topsham Fore Street, on to Topsham Quay, and along the Underway at Ferry Road. 


Here are the photos:
Topsham Food event
Longest table

Saturday 2 June 2012

All the hot women happen to be

from Thailand.

And the men too. Why are these thai people so good looking?????
One of those life's mysteries....

Friday 1 June 2012

Conversation with Hannah


Hannah
hihey

Shane
heyheyhey
im so fucking lonely

H
why?

S
today i went to a sustainability conference.
and there was a lunch break.
i didnt want to socialise but tried my best.
i went over to a table where a bunch of people were talking.
i said hi.
they said hi
one guy said he recognised me from one of the slides in a previous presentation
and i said yeah i'm a part of the slow food soc.
and they continued their conversation
and i just sat there and ate my food
then in like 2 mins, they said they'll get some more food.
they never came back to the table.
i sat there alone for the entire 20 mins until the conference resumed
FML

H
*sighhhh*
Everyone is so anti social these days..

S
i tried my best.
the whole thing made me depressed again
I haven't been depressed for like 8 days.
quite an achievement, right?
i was completely fine before lunch.

H
Just
be happy
smoke pot or somthing
LMFAO

S
loll

H
T should be helping at least a little with depression
right?

S
idk

H
might be making it worse

S
no its not worse
hopefully

H
I wish we could meet

S
me tooooo

H
Would be interesting

S
im talking to my grandma right now
on the phone

H
oh
hows that?

S
i phone her every week
i think shes lonely
in a nursing home

H
oh
its nice that you phone her

S
shes worried that im getting fat

H
LOL
LMFAO
tell your grandma that she has no reason to worry

S
sleeping well
?
yeeeeeessssss
gawd my grandmothers really annoying
have enough freinds?
*sigh*
*ends phone call*
really, what kind of grandma asks if i have friends or not?
because the answer is obviously no.

H
lol
please tell me you didnt hang up on your grandma

S
no im not THAT rude

H
thank god
*relieved*

S
lol
i don't hate her. she's fine
but i don't like it when she asks if i have friends every single week.
and having to say yes every time she asks.

H
she just cares about you

S
yeah but still. its annoying.

H
I can see that
I want to get high, but I have stuff to do later...
and that would be irresponsible
-.-\

S
you want to smoke pot?

H
Lol yes I have a ton
but im not gunna smoke any till I get everything that needs to be done today
so that I am responsible
^^

S
thats like me saying i want to get high by cutting
i wanted to cut after the conference.
but i didn't.

H
cutting yourself and smoking pot are really different

S
because i shouldnt

H
o.o

S
different how?

H
um.. one is just for fun, the other is because of severe depression

S
i used to cut for fun.
as a part of addiction.

H
Lol, so cutting yourself was like going to disneyland?

S
yeah

H
Part of me is doubtfull, takeing sharp objects and slicing your arm open doesnt sound like very much fun for me
even if I am depressed

S
you get high from the endorphin.
and you have control over it which is fun
and its unhealthy, just like pot.
lol
i know your going to argue pot is healthy

H
No its not healthy
but its not the worse thing. cutting yourself is more damaging.
Alcohol is more damaging

S
cutting is worse than alcohol?

H
nono
I would say
Alcohol > cutting > pot
lol

S
oh good

H
but thats not the point.

S
oh
everythings bad then?

H
I guess I am just saying, that I am not depressed, and I dont care if its bad for me.. so why do you think its bad that im doing it?

S
because it damages your body

H
The only thing damaging about it, is that the smoke is really hot.
and can cause lung damage if done frequently
*sigh* I see pot as no big deal, and you see it as bad... we could argue about it forever..
neither of us are right.

S
yeah
i was just thinking the same thing lol
I've been reading this book called "overcoming loneliness and making friends"
depressing to read because it describes me really well.

H
how do you plan on fixing that?

S
i have absolutely no idea.
i get unhappy when i have an awkward situation like today
but when i'm alone, i'm completely happy.
although i feel really lonely and i think i should be with 'friends' like everyone else
i mean, why are other ex-classmates haning out with each other, and not me?
not that i really want to.
its a confusing feeling
i think i'll end up alone for the rest of my life if i don't change.

H
Yeah..
People who prefer to be alone, usually are very bored and lonely.
ide encourage making friends
if at all possible

S
I'm willing to.
but its like i can't handle friendships longer than 2 hours or during times everyone have to be in the same place.
like, i'd be friendly when I have class, but once the class is over, i just leave ASAP
so that i don't have to talk with people.
even its just 10mins of walking back to our rooms
i avoid a 10 minute conversation. thats hopeless.

H
well...... one thing that has helped me, is I force myself to stick around, and take deep breaths and relax
im pretty lonely too
I think we are alike in that way
I kinda just hang out by myself and prefer it

S
i'd do that. stick around. if i want required to say something.

H
Yeah.. well the only person who can fix it is you

S
i know.

H
So if your wanting to be less lonely, be more social

S
thats why i'm reading this book.

H
nice!
haha

S
i just wish i knew why i'm this way.
i used to have friends before.

H
Why do you think your less talkative?

S
lack of confidence?
lack of things to say?
lack of effort?
lack of caring to do so?
dysphoria?
probably all of it.

H
dysphoria?
you mean like gender dysphoria?

S
yeah
voice dysphoria.

What's going on

Today I'm going to a sustainability conference. Did I write that I changed my major from just psychology to psychology and sustainability? Well, i got a conditional offer and if I meet the requirements, I'll be doing that. Can't wait for the results to come out on June 15th. Will go back to Japan on the 16th and can't wait for that too. Meanwhile. I don't have any classes whatsoever, so I signed up for employability sessions which are supposed to make me more employable. And this weekend, there's a foodie event in Topsham, which I will be going to both Sat and Sun. I expect it will be a brilliant event, just like the foodie thing that we had in April.
I went to see my cousin/aunt/uncle last week (24th-29th). I always have a good time with them. At least I have some company while I'm there. When I came back, I felt so lonely again because I don't have friends. My cousin and I made a chocolate cake, and we cooked together a bit. Would have been nice if I had done more cooking with her though. My cousin Alex has epilepsy and she has to sit while she's cooking because she might fall down suddenly. She even burnt her hand last month (the burn still looked painful) because she had a seizure while cooking and spilled boiling water on her hand. She can't go out on her own and has to have her mum all the time. She's 26 and seemed frustrated that she can't move out. She's been taking medication for it but none of them have worked so now they are really considering surgery. But that the area of the brain is close to the bit that controls the right hand/leg movement. She said she'd consider surgery if the risks of going wrong was low, but if it was like 20% success rate, she wouldn't do it. Yet.
While I was there we watched movies and other DVDs and now I'm totally hooked on a sitcom called Miranda. You definitely need to check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm0oTo7waAA&feature=related


As for the queens jubilee stuff, theres going to be a tea party at the INTO building (where I studied) but its going to be the same time as the community garden party (theres a garden in the uni where we grow potatoes and corn and beans and herds and other plants)

That's pretty much it. After this weekend, all I have is employability stuff and the garden party. I'll go to the gym on days that I don't have anything to do. Oh and I've been jogging along the river recently. I need to lose some weight. I measured my BMI the other week and now I'm in the overweight bit. But I'll most likely lose quite a bit of weight during the summer so that's good.

Now I need to go to the sustainability conference. byeeeeeeeeeeee

Thursday 24 May 2012

Speech contest

I listened to the video of my speech contest for the first time ( i think) since I did it over a year ago. I see why I lost. The stresses are unnatural and exaggerated and my voice is small (i remember my mum saying so afterwards). And i hate my voice.

I could definitely give a better speech now.

Wednesday 16 May 2012

May 14th

I started hormones from a private doctor in London. Just by seeing him was really expensive and the box of hormones per month costs 60 pounds but its definitely worth it.
So this is what I'm going to have to do for the rest of my life. But I can't wait for the changes to come in.

Wednesday 2 May 2012

Monday 30 April 2012

Studying psychology again.

P180 2. Think about a study in psychology and imagine that it had used subject groups of different ethnic backgrounds. In what way do you think the results would have been different?

Jeez I can't think of a study...

If the electric shock by Milgram was done in Japan, it may have resulted in a greater number of people obeying the authority. This is because collectivistic cultures tend to work hard for the success of the group and electrocuting the other person until the end will have resulted in the "success" of conducting the experiment.

P17 1. Why did people obey the authority?

The experiment was done in Yale university where most people would regard as a reliable institution where meaningful experiments are done and therefore taking part in the experiment (thereby obeying the authority) would make sense.
Also the subjects were paid to take part in the experiment (although it was made clear that they will receive the money whether or not they complete the experiment). This caused obligation to continue electrocuting the other person.
The experiment seemed to serve a legitimate purpose and not obeying (dropping out half way) would let down the authority as well as causing disturbance in the development of science.

2. What are the advantages of obedience to the individual and to society?

As an individual, it makes it easier to take control over another person.
Less aggravation (苛立たせるもの) and more acceptance. 
For society, there will be no pressure to change and will be peaceful. Greater social order.


3. What are the disadvantages of obedience to the individual and to society?

Individuals may manipulate another person and make them do things that they don't want to. Less control of your own behaviour.
Not having the pressure to change is not always a good thing.

4. If this study was done in the same way today, what ethical pguidelines would it be breaking?

The responsibility to protect subjects from physical and psychological harm.
Not deceiving the subject.
Giving the full, honest informed consent.
Right to withdraw. (it was made clear that they can withdraw at any time but the way the experiment was done made it seem like they can't withdraw.)
Offered financial incentives to behave in ways they might not have approved of.


P204 4. What problems with the case-study method does this study highlight?

A case study does not give sufficient date in order to generalize. It takes a lot of time an effort and is therefore  expensive.

P235 1. Identify the cultural and educational bias in the examples of the Alpha questions contained in the summary, and in the Beta items shown in Fig 9.1.

Alpha questions have cultural bias because the answer is not clear unless you are familiar with American culture and general knowledge. The questions are impossible to answer if the candidate is illiterate, which in this case, many people were.
Beta questions also have cultural bias because not everybody at the time of the experiment were familiar with tennis or record players or whatever no. 17 is supposed to represent. The question is stupid.

2. What is scientific racism?
It is racism what is based on ridiculous interpretations of scientific data. In the case of the experiment by Gould, the experiment itself was conducted in an unfair manner which led to extremely inaccurate results. Psychologists should be aware of the fact that their data and interpretation can lead to a biased public view on something such as race and gender. They should be super careful.


3. What is intelligence?

It has many definitions. It may be the ability to adapt to an environment or it could be how fast you can solve a problem.

I WANT TO GO TO BEDDDD THIS IS BORINGGGGG

River Exe Flooding

Looks like sea from our accommodation!


P315 1. Identify some advantages of controlled lab studies of memory.

It is easier to tell the cause and effect because the variables are strictly controlled.
Ability to make casual inferences (going beyond what we know to make an intelligent guess). The responses are clear and unambiguous. Can be replicated.

2. Identify some disadvantages of controlled lab studies of memory.

It has low ecological validity. We rarely try to memorize meaningless sequences of numbers.
The information may be memorized in an unnatural way. We don't usually repeat meaningless numbers.

3. What are the main causes of distortion in memory according to Bartlett?

Information from the external world has to be interpreted to either be stored in the LTM or go through semantic processing. Memorization doesn't occur in a photographic way. Rather, our perception of the information is stored so that the information is actually useful and relevant to us.


P320 1.What are the 3 stores that make up memory within the multi-store model?
Sensory memory, short term memory, long term memory.


2. What are the most important ways in which the 3 stores are differentiate from each other?

The capacity. LTM is unlimited, STM is 7 pieces of info, Sensory is very limited,

3. What might be a suitable alternative word for depth?
Effort. Time.
Meaningfulness




GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Tomorrow is writing test... HAVEN'T PREPARED AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Think you'll find this interesting.

link about fukushima.

Sunday 29 April 2012

Taking a break from studying psychology....

So I'll make a change from writing on a paper and write all about what I've studied so far on this blog. Pretty boring stuff but the exam is on Friday...
ALL THIS CAME OUT OF MY BRAIN AND IS SUPER UNRELIABLE!!!!!!!!
The red bits are things that i had to look at my notes.


Biological psychology
It assumes human behavior is caused by genetics and the brain. Abnormal behavior is caused by the imbalance of chemicals in the brain or mutated genes. The human brain is basically an information processor. The application is the development of medical drugs. It uses lab experiments and therefore has low ecological validity. It is time consuming and expensive. It uses scientific methods and is fairly reliable. Deterministic. Nature. Nomothetic. Reductionist.


Abnormality
It is defined as:
statistical infrequency,
deviation from social norms,
deviation from ideal mental health,
unable to function adequately.
Abnormality is not a synonym for undesirability and should not be used as a reason for discrimination. Being statistically infrequent does not necessarily mean it is a problem (i.e. heroism). Cultural differences for what "norm" is should also be taken into consideration. Norm differs according to the time frame as well.


Memory
Bartlett suggests that memory is not a photographic copy of the external world but our interpretation of it and is an active process.
The first theory of how memorization works was devised by Atkinson and Shifferin and it is called the Multi Store Model. External stimuli enter into the sensory memory as visual or auditory information. There is numerous information coming into the sensory memory and if it isn't a useful or relevant info, it will instantly be forgotten. If that info is paid attention to, it will then be stored in the short term memory. This storage has a limited capacity of 7 pieces of info at a time. After rehearsal, it will be stored in the long term memory. If the info in the STM is not rehearsed, it will be forgotten. The LTM on the other hand has unlimited capacity and can be retrieved to the consciousness by going through the STM.
This theory is criticized for having low ecological validity because we do not usually rehearse information to remember it in long term.
Considering this criticism, Craik and Lockhart came up with the Level of Processing theory. It suggests that how deeply the info was processed is more important than the storage capacity. The shallowest processing is physical processing, which is visual (whether the word is written in black or red), followed by Phonemic processing (auditory) and semantic processing (thinking about the meaning of the info).
The cocktail party effect corresponds with the sensory memory storage. When someone mentions your name in a noisy place when you were engaging in a conversation with a different group of people, you will be able to pick up on it, The theory suggests this is because the info (your name) passed the sensory storage and your mind picked it up.



Perception
Perception is how we make sense of the world. When external information enters, it is perceived. This can be done by top-down processing or bottom up processing.
Top-down processing is to make sense of info using past experience because the external world does not provide information of how to perceive it. (ok i don't have a clue what i'm writing here)
Bottom-up processing means the environment gives all the information you need in order to know how to perceive it?????????? WTF????????
I remember writing "perceptual set" in my notes without knowing what the hell it is.




Cognitive psychology
It deals with abstract concepts which no one cares about like memory and perception and thinks about how the mind works. Research is based on self report so is less reliable. It derived from Gestult psychology which says that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. It deals with things that behavioral psychology (only looks at observable behavior) does not focus on.   Applications in real life are cognitive therapy which tries to accept the negative thinking and replaces it with positive ones.

Determinism/Free will
Deterministic psychology thinks that our behaviour is pre-determined by genes and the environment so we are not responsible for our actions. Free will, on the other hand, thinks that every action we take is due to our own choice to act that way.


Nature/Nurture
It is a debate whether we are "born this way" (nature) or the environment/external factors have "made us this way."


Nomothetic/Ideographic
A nomothtic way to research is basically to do case study. You study an individual, and generalize. Ideographic way is to research a lot of people (eg by questionnaire) and generalize.


Reductionism/Holism
Reductionism is to simplify a behaviour into managable parts. This may have the tendency to make it oversimplified but makes it more easy to understand. A holistic approach on the other hand is to see the action as a whole, Whatever that means.


Autism
Autism is a developmental disability where a person may show a lower than average IQ, delay in language, communication difficulty, sometimes difficulty in movement. They may show limited interests/actions and this disability is mostly detected before the age of 3. Asperger's syndrome is a kind of autism but does not have a delay in language and has an above average IQ. Some people with autism show extreme talent in a specific subject.
Autistic people are thought to not have a theory of mind which is the appreciation that other people have independent minds of their own. This idea is supported by the "Sally and Anne" experiment conducted by someone really intelligent enough to some up with it. ;P

Behavioral Psychology
This focuses only on behavior. It tries to be scientific by thinking that the mind is irrelevant and psychological problems can be over come by conditioning. It thinks that our behavior is the response for a particular stimulus.
Classical conditioning was done by Ivan Pavlov. He made a dog drool by ringing a bell. How nice. It is a conditioning where a stimulus is associated to a  response by doing it over and over again.
Operant conditioning is when the subject learns a response by reinforcement.

Intelligence
It is another thing that has yet to have an agreed definition. It may be the ability to adapt to an environment. Or the speed to process information. There are numerous intelligence tests based on these definitions. All the tests should:
not be culture specific
be universal
test one skill at a time
test what it's supposed to test
not be biased.
The first intelligence testing was done in the US in order to know who was qualified to a certain position in the army. It ended up causing scientific racism because the result was that new immigrants did not know the answer to culture specific questions and there were an unexpected number of illiterate people (mostly black people).


Psychodynamic psychology
It was devised by Sigmund Freud. It started with structuralism which looks at the self with introspection which evolved into functionalism and this became psychodynamic psy. This was significant because it made psychology popular and gave some key insights into what goes on in people's minds. Our mind is made up of id (primary animal desires that wants to be fulfilled with whatever means possible), ego (moral) and superego (conscience). Id and superego is always in conflict and ego negotiates between the two. Id is constantly in the unconscious. Our personality develops in  sexual stages which I don't even want to memorize because its ridiculous and its probably not going to be in the test.
One criticism is that the theory is impossible to prove wrong. Freudian psychologists will always have a clever way of saying it's correct.
Psychological problems are caused mainly by childhood experiences because that is what influences our behavior when we are adults. Childhood problems are suppressed into the unconscious which causes problems later in life. We use defense mechanisms to get through tough times. Like emotional eating, which I should stop doing!
















OK I'm done.



















Sourdough Bread SUCCESS!!!!!







It doesn't look as good as I wanted but the texture, crust, crumb, colour, holes, TASTE came out really good. Not gooey like before, crunchy on the outside. Very satisfied! It tastes kind of sweet in a bread sort of way. Not like the mass produced bread from Tesco. It took 3 whole weeks to get here!!!!!!!
My sourdough adventure:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.433167646712217.113105.100000569559084&type=1&l=090d9f2104 

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Monday 23 April 2012

Sunday 15 April 2012

My first sourdough bread (FAIL)



Really dense and gooey inside (fail), crunchy crust on the outside (Success).

Wednesday 11 April 2012

Easter holidays

The holidays are going to end in 5 days. What have I been doing after the leadership programme (took place for 4 days from last monday)...

Nothing.

I've been in my room trying to sort out the psychology essay and trying to revise for the exams that are coming up in the 1st week of May. And watching documentaries on BBC 4 on Demand (more commonly known as 4oD). I haven't talked to another human being since my parents called on Saturday. And I try to keep telling myself that I have friends. I mean, I have 234 friends on facebook. But it doesn't mean I have friends in real life. If I did, I'd not be in my room all day. And how sad is it that the only people who comment on my posts on facebook are my mum, dad and my best friend's (friends since 2002) mother?

Sunday 8 April 2012

Its one thing to know your angry and not knowing.

Its one thing to know your numb and its another thing to be too numb to not know.

I don't understand how people can possibly be happy. I just don't get it.

Wednesday 4 April 2012

Gay pride parade and spring in the UK (boring videos and shit)




























Couldnt be bothered to caption these shit.