The Stufy of Archeology, Ch1, Ancient Sacred Sites

So, my comparative civilizations teacher wanted me to make a one page reply to the first chapter of our studies. I have a habit of having a lot to say, and I thought the world may be interested in it. I'm quite impressed with how structured it ended up being. We could address the full chapter, or just one aspect of the chapter. I quite enjoyed the ancient sacred sites aspect of this chapter, and have put my thought towards it and what I thought should of been included in this. It lacked aliens.

The Study of Archeology; Response

Ancient Sacred Sites

In this chapter I found the most interesting aspect to be surrounding the Ancient Sacred Sites; however I felt it was not expanded enough for my liking. I would imagine it would be because the chapter had to cover several topics, and if I had my way this aspect could have been a chapter in itself. Several of the aspects approached in this topic, Sacred Sites, were lacking much information that I have acquired due to my habit of listening to the History Chanel as I drift into sleep. There were several ideas, theories, concepts, and facts (well, facts according to the currently accepted theories) that were not addressed that I have come across.

Firstly, in regardance to the topics that were addressed, we approached the ideas of spirituality, religion, and electromagnetic (EM) upwelling’s. We also looked at astrological significance, the idea of calendars relating to the years, events within the years, and significant days (such as when the sun lined up with something, or when the day/night ratio is equal or at its greatest difference); along with the materials, natural significance, and beauty of the sites.

The idea that you are more likely to have a supernatural experience when at a location that has a higher EM charge, is a common theory regarding why the locations of these sites are picked. Religion has a decreasing amount of importance in modern societies; however at the times that we are examining it was often a staple of life and a uniform feature for an entire society. It was not until later in history, where trade and social interaction extended out of local regions, when religions began to spread from more than just their original source and intermingle with other ideologies. With this change in philosophies and views on life, came the loss of religious values of these sites. This was enhanced by the loss of several civilizations who originally constructed the sites. The relevance of the sites, in regardance to a supernaturally charged area, or EM charged area, is a newer development in the study of ancient significant site, and is one of the connecting pieces between sites all around the world.

Another common theme found in ancient sacred sites is a celestial significance. Buildings frequently line up with astrological bodies, such as stars, the sun, or the moon. Frequently they will have several alignments. It is impractical to think of this as just a coincidence, considering the number of stars and the number of buildings that have relation to various stars such as the North Star. This star is one of the brighter stars, from most perspectives of the world. Naturally, those who would worship being who were thought to live in the sky and those who simply observed the heavens would consider this star to be a significant ball of burning gas; however at the time the stars had more of a supernatural appeal than just burning balls of gas that are so far away the numbers are difficult for our human minds to comprehended. Imagine the stars were your only way to get home if you are far from your origin. What if your entire population relied on planting the crops or harvesting them within a small time period, only identifiable by the sun? Just as we have calendars today, they were needed in the past. Large, repeating objects in the sky were often worshiped for their significance to a calendar or their sheer power it appeared they must hold in order to stay there. No matter the reason why the sun or moon may have been worshiped, it is a common practice (or rather was) to create large scale objects or buildings to act as not just a practical piece of architecture, but also to please the Gods of the region. Who would not enjoy having the largest building in the world, at the time, to be devoted to them with such precision that every day when you came over the horizon to view your followers, it greeted you with perfect alignment.

The reasons to why a people may feel obligated to align a building with a group of stars or the sun has several theories; however I feel the reasoning behind the materials chosen to be used in construction to be a very simple idea. It is what was what was available, and it has proven to be very durable. If people were to cease to exist, in this very moment, what human structures would last the longest? Concrete breaks apart, paint peals, steel rusts, and plastic may last forever (or so it seems) but it isn’t used for building large structures. It’s the stone objects that are placed with such precision that they do not need to be jointed together with anything more than puzzle-piece resembling shape. The pyramids of Giza and of the Aztec still stand after hundreds to thousands of years, just as many other buildings still do. It is not uncommon for a building of modern building to be declared unsafe to live in, and is destroyed. Disregarding the historical value of the sites, no one will ever need to take down the Great Wall of China or an ancient city that has been buried under dirt for thousands of years. The use of natural building materials always brings about the idea of beauty. We, in modern times, find nature to have a strong aspect of beauty; just as the ancient people who came before us must have. If a site is devoted to a supernatural cause, it may be desirable for the surrounding area to be beautiful. This is only enhanced by the natural growth of plants, brought about by the sites being left absent for a great amount of time. The hard corners may become worn down, but they are replaced with a soft, vibrant moss. The dirt floors will become covered in lush vines and flowers. Even the natural destruction of some aspects of a monolithic structure will give it the sense of history, which we require to declare something ruins. This natural aging brings about significance to nature, which may have been intended or may have not. It is a matter of the individuals who built it was much more conscious of nature, in comparison to our modern views on the outdoors.

Personally, I do not there to be much of a religious or supernatural value to these sites; however I have not visited any of the sites we have looked at nor any sites I would consider to be ancient or modern sacred sites. I understand the idea of there being an EM charge higher than most areas, but I do not know if I would be able to note it at all. Perhaps the people who built these sites, due to their different views surrounding nature and their knowledge of it, would be more sensitive to the slight differences. The significance to the stars, sun, and moon (and a handful of other celestial bodies) must have been a great idea for the people who created them but they are no longer needed. It is interesting though, to consider how they would have created these and the efforts put into them. I have very little of the stars, and if I were to learn about them I doubt I would try to learn from first hand observations. We have become so disconnected to nature, and do not take the time to observe the stars. Far as I’m concerned, once the sun has gone down and the sky’s are clear the stars are nice to watch as I walk home but nothing I would spend the time watching to learn their patterns. I have books and the Internet for that. I think it’s great that the natural beauty of the sites can be addressed, still after such time. Many of the sites I would love to see as they were built, to see the original paint and all the features that time has deprived us of. Perhaps, in some cases, time has enhanced the appearance of the sites. Ruins have an ancient, mystical appearance. Modern large scale buildings have a sense of functionality, and rarely many artistic features. I think it’s nice though, that more buildings are leaning towards an artistic view. Perhaps we are moving back to our origins?

In regardance to the aspects we did not approach, I can think of a few however the large, largely conspiracy theory based concepts, that I felt were not even glanced upon, was the (often farfetched but still interesting) idea of aliens. Almost every one of the sites we examined has ancient astronaut or ancient alien theories attached to them. Construction of many of the large scale buildings are thought to be related to advanced technologies that could have come from the assistance of extraterrestrial beings. Along with this is the ideas of magic, and even ideas regarding ancient civilizations having much more advanced technologies than us but many of these have become lost (Atlantis anyone?). Cities that have become engulfed by the sea are found worldwide, and I thought should have been included in to underwater archaeology section.

The idea that aliens may of visited Earth, long before modern civilization was around, is often the fall back idea for those who cannot devise a method for the buildings or technologies that were before us. It has been proven that many buildings may have been built with the materials that were in the areas naturally, and projects were built with much more man power than what is considered reasonable now-a-days. It is thought that levitation may have been actually the simple use of levers and pullies. The lift a stone weighing several tones simply needed many strong ropes and a huge line of people all pulling at the rope. This does not allow the explanation of some stones that have been found, weighing amounts overcoming thousands of tones (well maybe only hundreds, but the numbers are quite large).

Another problem to address, that is frequently given the answer of ‘aliens!’ is of some icons that have been found worldwide despite a lack of communication between areas. There have been some figurines with remarkable similarities worldwide that cannot be explained. I don’t think I’ll go into detail about this, but it’s something fun to look into.

As for underwater cities, they did not start there, but the Earth has a bad habit of shifting and pulling stuff underwater. Occasionally it even spits out land where it previously was covered in a saline solution. The idea of Atlantis existing as an advanced civilization is up for debate; however the search for it has lead to the finding of several underwater cities. Some very famous underwater cities that have been located exist in the Eastern hemisphere; such as an ancient, lost, Buddhist city off the coast of India. Between China and Japan, as well as off the coast of Eastern Japan, there have been many cities located. These have suggested that the land that is now under the water there may have been previously elevated. Other structures in the Indian Ocean suggest that India may have previously been attached to Australia by a sunken land bridge. The same goes for China and Japan. Along with continental drift, land lowering and rising is a common occurrence over long amounts of time.

These cities have given us insight to civilizations that we have never considered, and filled into the missing gaps of information that the sea has eaten up. Just because I enjoy the alien theories I think I will point out a handful of the underwater cities that have been discovered have had relation to alien theories.

I’ve enjoyed this chapter, for what we have looked over and the knowledge I’ve already had retaining around what we have not looked at. Me and Will have had a great time trading alien theories through the chapter, often getting odd looks from those who are around us. I’m looking forward to the future chapters, which will likely go into more detail to several of these topics we have introduced. I’m sure I will have lots to say in regardence to much of what we will be doing.

Sell Gold? No, That's Too Cheap and Doesn't Grow

My law class is amazing, a few days ago we watched a video about the problems of prohibition of marijuana. Personally, I prefer the term pot. It's the name I'm accustomed too, and I have issues with spelling. Marijuana is just slightly too strenuous for me to try to think through if I'm spelling it correctly and then go back with my spell check after and find out that most of the spellings of it were incorrect.

Remember my How To.. Solve A Rubik's Cube post? Yeah, I spelt algorithm wrong at least fifty times.

Prohibition, never really works. It may detour the use of the use of the substance, but it will never completely scare it away. Just because the sign says skateboarding prohibited, it doesn't mean it will be stopped there; it just means you need to go fast. I was very impressed by the documentary, with how it addressed prohibition and how well it worked.

"Think of the first prohibition." "Alcohol?" "No, no. Before that." "Uh.." "Adam and Eve, and the forbidden fruit."

I'm aware not everyone viewing this documentary may agree with that story, but they all know it roughly. It did go to examine alcohol prohibition after that, and how it did not work well. It created underground pubs, even more pubs and speakeasies than there are now; it upped the number of users (I think) and increased the number of alcohol pointing incidents, and that is a fairly high number at this point of time; and it certainly did not stop people from drinking up when they wanted to.

When something is criminalized, it becomes more dangerous. Alcohol became illegal, and more people start to die because of it. Marijuana (yes, I decided pot looked too.. fancy lacking) becomes illegal, and it now has no regulation. There are several controversial issues surrounding the use of marijuana, many of them are due to a lack of education, but one of the health related issues is around smoking some hard chemicals.

These chemicals are not naturally found in the plant, however it is in the manure that is used to grow larger plants in less time. You are suppose to run your plant under fresh water for some time, I think it could be as long as a day, to ensure the chemicals are off of it; but if someone has a large scale grow off do you think they are going to be cleaning all of those plants? A large scale grow off is going to be for money, and as long as time is money the plants are going to remain dirty.

It may be easy to relate hippies to organic products, but due to social stereotyping hippies, pot, and organic seem to fit together very well in this situation. Grow organic. It's better for you. If you aren't sure of your source and how clean the plants are, be careful.

As for these other health issues that come up such as the killing of brain cells, 'it makes you stupid,' cancer, black lung, poor memory, and and I'll throw the laziness idea into this as well.

The 'study' that claimed it killed brain cells was not conducted properly. Instead of having the monkeys smoke the outrageous number of joints that were claimed; it turns out they pumped, the same quantity of smoke as they should of over a long period of time, into these monkeys all at once. They did not lose brain cells due to the marijuana. Rather it was due to suffocation. The idea of stupidity following a high, well of course you are not going to act as intelligent as you would when you are under the influence of any drug of that sort. Alcohol, marijuana, even too many antidepressants may do that I think.

There have been no studies to suggest that cancer will occur directly due to marijuana. I believe your chances are more likely if you smoke, but that is just if you smoke anything. The chemicals in marijuana do not effect your lungs the same way tobacco will; but the act of hot smoke entering your lungs is going to damaging no matter what. However, there are no cases of anything like black lung developing due to the use of marijuana.

In fact, there are no cases of any deaths directly due to marijuana use as well. Alcohol kills so many people every year. Street drugs claim some more lives. Pharmaceuticals are notable as well. Even over the counter drugs, such as Tylenol, claim lives every year. A twenty-four times overdose of this innocent pain killer will leave you with no pain, ever again. The amount it would take you to over done on marijuana is so ridiculous, I think it's fair to say it is impossible to do. Also, may I add in that marijuana can be an effective painkiller that may even be safer than Tylenol? I think I will.

As for the bad memory, well chronic use of marijuana will effect your hippocampus (a region of your brain that is very key in memory formation, and also a word my new spell check is rejecting) and the rumors are true. You may end up with a poor memory if you light up too often. How often is too often, I'm unsure of, however it may be little as once a week. This may not be related to memory, but I'll get to it later.

Laziness. When you are high, you might not feel very productive. The fact of the matter is that marijuana users are all around us. Half of the Canadian population will admit to trying it, at least, once through their life time. Your family, friends, coworkers and employee, may all be casual users and you'd never be able to tell. They are just as productive as they normally would be, but perhaps they enjoy the occasional joint. It's just like those who drink, but alcohol is a bit more socially acceptable.

In some areas, it has become socially acceptable to smoke marijuana. In Vancouver it is not too uncommon to see people lighting up on the streets. It's just like my favorite comparison, alcohol. Some people may not approve on it, but it would seem most people are not too bothered by it.

Back to laziness. Did you know that prohibition of marijuana originally came to the United States because of the exact opposite reason? The government was afraid that minorities were going to get high, become violent, and attack the rich, white population. This simply would not be acceptable for such a savage act to occur. After some time the government realized that this was not the case, and for a short amount of time it became an O.K. to have marijuana. Then the cold war came about. The idea that marijuana made you lazy, in combination of the Red Fear, the Red Menace, the worst concept to ever hit the Americas even though (in retrospect) it really doesn't look like the government or the general population knew what they were talking about; Communism! Now this plant was banned so the Soviet States did not encourage us all to be zombies due to marijuana; it pulled down hemp (the plant with over seven thousand uses other than smoking, because hemp will not have enough THC in it to get you high) because it was thought hemp would be grown with marijuana, to cover up the marijuana.

Ronald Reagan started the war on drugs, which really is just a war on marijuana with a few narcotic busts and smuggling operations shut downs on the side, or so it appears to me. He started this on a few ideas that really do not seem very stable, and that isn't mentioning the direct lies regarding marijuana being dangerous or not, and his ignoring the studies that said it was fine. I won't get into that though.

With this war started, of course there is going to be some retaliation. In this case, the retaliation has been the disregard of the war. It is easy to find marijuana, perhaps even easier to obtain than alcohol for under age individuals. Most dealers won't be asking for ID any time soon, just green backs (or money, if you happen to live in Canada and have money differentiable by colour as well as the stamp on the paper).

I mentioned there being a problem with smoking often, as little as once a week. There are studdies to suggest that smoking up when your brain is still developing, will put your emotional development behind and even stop it. If you were to smoke up once a week for your entire teen years, you may have the emotional level of a twelve year old for the rest of your life. You may never be able to understand why people are the way they are, you may never be able to understand how your actions effect individuals directly and indirectly, you may never fall in love.

This is where the idea of legalization may come into play. If it is legalized, it may become regulated. The chemicals that I mentioned before, could be limited or even eliminated if the growers were some how government regulated. Age limits could be put in place, just like alcohol and tobacco. This would not eliminate the use by those who are under age. It will just make it more inconvenient, maybe. I know if I wanted to I could acquire some booze and smokes despite my lack of age. Jails will have less people in them, due to the lack of charges related to petty crimes (the S-10 bill that was recently attempted to be passed in Canada, I'm not sure if it was or not or has not finished the deciding process yet, did not differentiate between having six plants and six thousand plants), and there would be less tax dollars put towards the elimination of marijuana. Canada has a five billion dollar anti-drug budget. Four fifths of that is put towards marijuana related activities (well the governments version of marijuana related activities).

BC has become such a strong point for the plant and those who grow and sell it, that if the police were to bust one grow off a day in some cities, there would be just as many (perhaps more) by the time the year was over. Many communities have way over 365.25 grow offs.

One of the major reasons I do not think marijuana will be legalized, or even decriminalized is taxing though. The dealers do not want it to be taxed. Are you aware of how much a pound of marijuana costs? BC Bud, marijuana grown in BC, will sell for 1800 to 2000 dollars. The further South you go, the higher the price. The further East you go, the higher the price as well. One pound of Texada Gold (a term I like much more than BC Bud) will sell for up to 6000 dollars in New York. Sellers do not want their product to be taxed.

The reason for this high price, no pun intended, is due to the fact it is illegal. The price of something is always going to go up once it made illegal, an example being reflective devices for license plates. In the UK, it was declared illegal to use a device that will reflect light off of your license plate if a picture or video is attempted to be taken of it. The result of using one was your car could not be ID'd by picture or video. There are other devices similar to these that were also banned, such as a cover that only allowed you to view the numbers and letters clearly from directly behind the vehicle using it. Soon as the products became illegal, the sales of them items went up. The demand went up as well I'm sure. With more demand the price of something will natural inflate; and if the fact it is illegal and must be transported around the law's vision, will add to this price.

Marijuana being illegal creates an underground trading system, a criminal trading system, and therefore an expensive trading system. I live in Powell River, right beside Texada. It's a six-fifty dollar ferry ride to the island, I think. I live next to an island that is world famous for having superb product, Texada Timewarp anyone? and if I were go seek out marijuana, I have the lowest price in Canada, if I am not mistaken.

When I say world famous, I'm not kidding at all. I've heard stories of friends who have gone to Mexico being offered Texada Gold. A friend of mine told me of a friend of his who was in the army, and in the middle east he was offered some Texada Timewarp.

Casual users want legalization or decriminalization (don't ask me for the difference, I am unsure). Sellers want it to stay illegal. Supporters who are not users, want legalization or decriminalization. Those who are against the product are likely not to say anything because they are happy with the system; though really, I would love to have a conversation with someone who is against the use of marijuana. I see very few downsides to it, if used responsibly. If I ever find anyone who is of such a state of mind, I should ask them.

I think the final step that Canada will have to take, to get over this idea that marijuana will not kill you on spot and the use or possession of should not be a criminal offense, is the United States. I'm certain that the U.S. is still so scared of not the Red Menace any more, but rather the Green Menace, that legalization or decriminalization will lead to the boarders being shut down. I am not sure if this is true and will actually happen, but I believe I was told that this was one of the biggest problems towards this goal.

I should rap this up, it's getting onto the early hours of the next day. Happy Valentines day, to all those who celebrate it. Personally, I'm just using it as an excuse to hang out with my girlfriend and buy desert. I'm sure many people will be wearing red at school, purposely. I think I'll wear all black, to compensate for their lack of lacking colour. As for my views on marijuana, I think it should be made legal (or decriminalized). It would save many tax dollars, create a taxable commodity. Hemp could also be re-popularized. The quality of the plant being sold could be improved (organic, makes for the win), and as much as a small population will dislike it; marijuana could have an age limit instead of a price limit. Maybe some people could even grow it for the plant itself, not the effects of consuming it. I think it is a nice looking plant, the leaves are quite iconic looking not to mention a very nice shade of green.

By the way, how'd my new spell check work? Anyone see any terrible errors?

#Bugworlds

The Books of History and the Rivers of Times; my Comparative Civilizations Essay ;; Details At Bottom ;; Efficiency

The Books of History and the Rivers Of Time

Saint Augustine said, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel only read a page.” The roman philosopher, Cicero, also said, “Not to know what took place before you were born is to forever remain a child.” If one was to examine the truth behind both of these statements, it would be easy to conclude that history is also like a book; if you only look into what is around you, if you only read the cover, you will never able table to know what time has hidden between its pages. You will never know what went into making the pages of our past.

Will and Ariel Durant also approached time with a metaphor. They consider it to be a river that consists of the blood from people killing, stealing, shouting, and historic endeavors, as for the main flow of the river. The banks of the river contain everyday life and the people partaking in everyday actions. Furthermore, the actions that the kings, nobles, rich, and powerful shape the actions of everyday life for the common people in the past; just as a river will shape itself in the past and continue to do so in this present day. We, the common people, are still shaped, manipulated, and controlled by those who are powerful in our society.

It is easy to look at a book but not read its contents. It is easy to look at the flow or a river and forget how it came to be that way. It is easy to brush off history as just the past and to look at is as an event that will not help our future. It takes more effort to absorb the knowledge for which the book was created; it takes more thought to consider why the river turns at some points and is still at others, and despite the difficulty in understanding our past it will always be beneficial for our future.

Whether time and history repeats itself, or it is simply human habit to look for patterns where they do not exist, past errors made by both the mass of the river and the inhabitants of its banks are bound to resemble errors made in our modern time. Examples of this are everywhere: those who do not adapt well do not survive, such as the dinosaurs; empires may become too strong and collapse, such as the Roman Empire; and environments may be exploited, leading to the downfall of groups of people, such as the Rapanui of Easter Island. By examining the mistakes of our predecessors we can assess new situations with a better outlook than we could if we were to be ignorant of the past that haunts us.

Perhaps just as important, if not even more important than looking at mistakes and failure of the past, is to look at the successes and victories of those who flourished. It is easy to see the error in a peoples’ actions, but to understand how they were able to be so powerful up until that point allows us to use that knowledge to our advantage. Consider George Orwell’s novel, 1984. In his story, the government that is in power has considered what has gone wrong in the past for the leaders and what has worked for them. They utilize both aspects of success and failure, and create what appears to be a perfect government for the upper class.

To utilize history as the government does in this novel, to further expand the importance of history, one must consider not just the knowledge applicable to our civilization, but the actions of individuals. Even though the center of the river may act as one mass, it is compiled of individuals just as the banks of the river are. Philosophers, intellectuals, scholars, and librarians, may collect vast amounts of knowledge by their own ability and leave it hidden away for historians of our time to stumble upon. Artists of every craft may have left behind their pictures, sheet music, and statues, in private collections that were sealed up to be found in the future. The every day laborer and common housewife may even have left their tools behind to be dug up. None of these discoveries may enhance our lives directly, but it gives us a window into the past. Even though the objects we find may be artistic or useless, humans are curious, and in curiosity we find the drive and purpose of history.

Personally, I find the purpose of studying history to be much more than just a look into the past so that our future may be better. I know events and errors are going to occur no matter what we do, for the mistakes that were made in the past may be made now and we can observe them without looking into the past. The observance of the failures that previous generations may have had may not be necessary to our future, even though it may help. I see the purpose of history, for me, to be in curiosity. I find the events of the past to be interesting and I want to learn about them for the sake of learning. I have no desire to learn about them so I am able to stop our civilization from collapsing, nor the desire to go out to a dig site and look into what I may find buried away in the ground. My history intake revolves around the History Channel, the occasional website I may find myself on and classes in school.

Everyone has a different interpretation regarding what they think history is. To some it is boring; to others it is all they may spend their time looking into. To most, their interest will be a happy medium between these two. Everyone could live without knowledge of history, but I’m sure it is within human nature to be curious of what is to come; but you cannot observe the future. You can observe the past, and that is the best we can get to satisfy our curiosity.

History is the study of the past, in particular the study of the past revolving around humans. Before humans, there was no history, for history is a hu8manh concept. Events may have taken place before humans, but they may not concern us as much as the events that have taken place during our existence. History is the analysis of what we find, the piecing together of the information, and the current accepted interpretation of that information. It is dynamic, in depth, and shows us how the past has developed. It is interesting, intriguing, and as long as it is the study of the past it is forever growing.

My Comparative Civilizations class had an assignment, we had to write an essay regarding history, the value of history, what we think of it, and I'm sure a few other points that follow that idea that I forgot about. We were told that the issue of formatting was not very important, so I put mine in a blog style. I initially wrote it on here, Blogger, saved it as a draft so I could work on it at home. From there, once it was done, I fixed it up on Microsoft Word, had some friends edit, and typed it up again. A printed version was handed in one day early and a few hours later flex block has occurred (yes, this is more flex block blogging; which is going to end up being filler I'm sure). After copying and pasting the essay into blogger again, putting it over the draft I had saved, I decided to add some details about it and now I'm working on figuring out how to get rid of the MS formatting. The 'erase formatting' button is failing me. I hope this doesn't post with a double spacing, it will be far too space inefficient.

Efficiency; that's been the theme of my life recently. Perhaps not life, just several actions within it. I've been spending a lot of time playing DDR, Minecraft, and doing school work. Once you get good at DDR a lot of being good at it is related to movement efficiency, but you can just force your way into it. Fluid motion is great; it stops you from falling. As for minecraft, I've found myself doing a fair amount of calculation, testing to find out the fastest way to create walls (which is laying them two at a time, vertically. Put two down, take a step, put two more down), and in several of the large structures I've been making have needed some thinking through before building.

By digging out a 20x8x20 (x, y, z) area, I will be digging out 3200 pieces of stone. 3200 pieces of stone dived by 128 per cobblestone pick means I'll need a little bit less than 13 picks (I think). Everything being in convent cube shapes is great.

I've experimented with a few methods of speedcubbing that I usually don't use and found them to be quite useful at times but on the most part I'm sticking to my Fredrick's method.

Schoolwork, I have a fair amount of it. I've been getting it all done in less time than I would get my work done last semester. It's worked out well. I've also had a free block, something that I did not have last semester, and it's been great for getting work done. I've especially enjoyed having it with Comparative Civilizations, which sometimes brings me to the library where I do my work. When the bell goes I get to stay in the same place I'm in, uninterrupted.

Filler is terrible, this formatting is annoying. I hope it doesn't stick.

Bugworlds *^

How to... Solve a Rubik's Cube

If you are looking for a guide on how to solve a Rubik's Cube, how to master it, all the algorithms you may need to memorize and the intuitive method that you should familiarize yourself with: Youtube, and Google. If you would like my favorite videos and websites: Dan Brown/Pogobat's original Rubik's instructional videos (follow related videos or search for more of his Rubik's related videos, Solve-The-Cube.Awardspace (text instructions, with pictures), and Badmephisto (A little of everything, find the link for his Youtube channel for some great tutorials).

Another note worthy note, this is relating to a Rubik's Cube. Not a Rubiks Cube, or a rubiks cube, or a rubikscube, or a Rubix's Cube, or a rubix's cube, or a Rubixs Cube, nor Rubixscube, nor Rubix Cube, nor rubix cube, nor rubixcube, nor Robick's Cube, nor any other made up cube or misspelling of Rubik's Cube. I will be looking at the Rubik's Cube, invented by Erno Rubik. To be honest, I'm not sure if the 'Cube' should be capitalized in all cases of the proper spelling of the object, but I like it that way.

I received my first Rubik's Cube as a gift from my Grandfather, Christmas 2007 I think. I have not practiced efficiently, and often go through spouts of use followed by weeks to months of shelf time. At the moment my best time I have recorded is twenty seven seconds, something rather impressive considering when I started I was proud of a two minute time. Also, at the moment my average time is around forty seconds. I'm usualy impressed to find myself in anything above thirty; but time is not very important for most people. Most people just want to focus on getting it finished.


The first step to solving this demon cube, as one of my friends calls it, is understanding what you need to be doing. There are several methods, and several ways to go about those methods. There is no one set way to solve any scramble. A reverse scramble (solving the cube by using the opposite movements of the scramble) is the only way to ensure that your solve would be the same as someone else's, and this is assuming they are also doing a reverse scramble on the same scramble. Most people who approach the Rubik's Cube without knowledge of how it works will want to solve face by face. This is practically impossible. The problem that one who is trying this will run into, is once they fix part of the cube they will mess it up in the process of fixing another part of it. This is avoidable, through the use of a layer-by-layer method. This may be difficult to do without algorithms though, even if you have someone explain to you the ideas you are working with.

Some people can solve a Rubik's Cube with only intuition, no instructions from others needed. The majority of the population requires some help through the use of algorithms. I've has many people tell me that this is cheating, using instructions. Even if I have poured hours over them studying, I cannot genuinely solve a Rubik's Cube according to them because I need some help. After putting a large amount of time into learning how to use this device well, I can say I can do a full intuitive solve; kind of.

I understand how each step works, and I do not use any algorithms for the first two layers (by the way; if you don't understand what I mean by layer-by-layer, just keep reading. It will make sense) and technically do not need any for the last layer if I am using a very basic method. The conflict into if I am solving it intuitively or not comes into the fact that the intuitive algorithms that I have worked out, turned out to be the same as the ones I learned through instructions. I managed to figure out how to solve the last layer in a very simple manner only to find out even though I did figure it all out for myself, it was just a different perspective on what I already knew. This is why I say I can kind of do a full intuitive solve. It doesn't mean anything when you're looking at the numbers though. If I'm going for time, I use algorithms that I've learned for the last layer.

These algorithms that I am mentioning, are instructions relating to what side or sides of the cube should I spin. The Rubik's Cube should be thought of as a cube, and at the same time as having three slices vertically, horizontally, and what ever is the technical term for depth related. For the basic methods, you will be taught to use L, R, U, D, F, and B. This are, respectively: left, right up, down, front, and back. In many cases there will be a dash ( ' ) after the letter, indicating counter clockwise. I am in the habit of saying prime to indicate a counter clockwise rotation. It's faster and easier to say. If there is just the letter, you assume it is a clockwise rotation. Each of these rotations are clockwise assuming you are facing them, so if you run into a R rotation the top-right-front corner will rotate to the top-right-back, and the bottom-right-front corner will rotate into the top-right-front corner's position. If this doesn't make sense, take a look at some instructional videos. They'll clear it up quickly.

In more advanced methods you will run into algorithms that have lower case letters, meaning that side and one over. A u' is the top layer and the layer below it (so all but the D) spun counter clockwise. You may also find M, E, and S. These are, also respectively, middle (between L and R), equator (between U and D), and standing (between F and B). A final instruction you may run into is x, y, and z. These are rotations around the x, y, or z axis. All of these which have been listed in this paragraph may also have a dash after them, making for a total of thirty-six different instructions.

The algorithms will look something like: R' D' R D (this is repeated twice for rotation of the front-right-top corner and if repeated six times the cube will return to as it was). Most of the algorithms are much longer than four instructions though, I think the longer ones I use are around twenty? I could be wrong.

Now that the terminology and a bit of theory has been explained, your brain may of started to glaze over the text. I'm going to go into the actual solving, and how I like to.

The first step that almost every method asks for is you solve the cross of any colour. It does not matter what colour you start with, but that will be designated your D layer. On a Rubik's Cube, the cross is a center piece surrounded by four edge pieces of the correct colours and orientation. It is important to ensure you have opposite colours correct, and that you do not need to switch two colours (which is easily done but if not you will run into problems quickly). This step is easy, and ideally will take only eight movements. Often it only takes seven. If you know where all the pieces you need are, this can be done in only one or two seconds if you are going at full speed. I usually get it done in five seconds or less I think. I've never timed individual steps of speedcubing (which, if I have not mentioned already, is the practice of solving a Rubik's Cube as fast as possible).

I should of mentioned colour orientation before, for it's something that is important to take note of. A Rubik's brand Rubik's cube will have the colour layout with green and blue opposite, orange and red opposite, and white and yellow opposite. It does not matter how you remember these, but they can be difficult to do at times. I have never had a problem remembering green and blue, because I've always thought of them to be the most different colours out of the six. Sleeping Beauty came up with the concept that white and yellow are opposite because they are colours related to the sun. It may not be a sound fact, but it helps me remember. This just leaves orange and red, which are fairly similar I think.

To finish the first layer there are four corners that need to be put into place. There are algorithms you can use for these, but most people can do it intuitively. I use the same idea as corner rotation, as I do for many aspects in solving a Rubik's Cube, for putting the corners in place. When I first started speedcubing I used the idea of "I need to put this corner here, but in doing so I lose this edge piece that needs to stay in place, so I will move this edge piece that I would lose out of the way first, put the corner piece in place, then move the edge back." When explaining how to put the corners in, I often use that for my explanation.

The centers of the second layer will already be in place correctly, and lined up with the pieces that were originally put in place for the cross. This will result in four edges needing to be corrected. Sometimes some of them are already in place for you even, but this does not happen very often. Using the most basic methods, here you will run into your first need of an algorithm. There is one algorithm that is used to move edge pieces from the top layer into the second layer, and it can be mirrored if the piece is facing the wrong way. The best way to find pieces that need to be moved down into the middle layer is by finding edge pieces in the top layer that do not have the colour of the U center (the opposite colour to the colour we started with making the cross).

An alternate method to this, is leaving one of the first layers corners unsolved. Then you use a three step algorithm, or even better just a three step concept. I like to think of it as "open the door, walk in, close the door." The door is the empty edge piece that is above an unsolved corner. If you have an unsolved corner and an unsolved edge piece in the second layer, the D or E can be rotated so they line up. By opening the door, you are moving the unsolved edge piece into the top layer, usually by a R or L' rotation. By walking in, you are putting the edge piece that needs to be there into the piece that was previously occupying the spot that the unsolved edge piece was in. Finally, by closing the door, you are doing the opposite movement of opening the door (so a R' or L) and putting the correct edge piece into place, therefore solving that edge piece. The center pieces of the second layer (which I should probably mention is the E slice or layer) may now be lined up with the cross on the bottom layer (the D) if desire. This is repeated three times until there is only one F2L slot left, one unsolved corner in the first layer and one unsolved edge in the second layer. This corner may be fixed just as it would originally, as long as you avoid moving any of the edge pieces of the second layer out of place (which is not very difficult). The edge piece is fixed with an algorithm. Alternatively, since you are working with an F2L slot you could just use F2L method to fix it.

F2L, first two layers, is a method that involves fixing the corners of the first layer and the edges of the second layer together. This way instead of fixing eight pieces (the four corners, the four edges), you must only deal with four F2L sets. The number of moves needed are a bit more than if you were to use algorithms to correct the second layer; F2L is very efficient like that. It can be learned through algorithms (there are 58 F2L situations you can run into I think, I could be wrong, but therefore 58 algorithms) or it can be done intuitively. Once you know the concept of how to use F2L, the intuitive method comes to many people quite easily. Now that I think of it, the 58 situations may not include situations looking at the bottom-left-back and the bottom-right-back slots, which I know can be used because I use them and I think perfect F2L requires them to be used.

The concept is related to corner rotation. Rotate the bottom-right-front corner (clockwise or counter clockwise, I won't be putting the time into giving most algorithms if you have not noticed yet, so explanations like this may not make much sense to people who are not familiar with Rubik's Cubes) and observe the edge piece above it. What piece is now in it's place? Work out where it would of been, which is easy to do if you're starting with a solved cube, and consider what way the edge was facing before it 'dropped' into place. Now try this with the opposite rotation, but make sure the original position of the edge piece that was just 'dropped' is occupied by the piece that you want in place. If you do this a few times, with some experimentation, you should be able to pick up on some basic F2L concept and figure out most of the situations. This is for F2L slots on the right side, just use left handed rotations or mirror the algorithm you used for the right side for left sided F2L slots.

Just because it's fairly simple, I think I'll provide the algorithm for what I described. As an example, or for a shortcut for anyone who wants to try learning F2L by my explanation: R U R' U' R U R' U' (this is the first corner rotation) U (putting the desired edge piece into place) R U' R' U R U' R' (the second rotation, excluding a final U because it is not needed). That's R U R' U' R U R' U' R U' R' U R U' R' if you want to see it uninterrupted. Do you see why it may be better to learn this intuitively, rather than algorithms? This algorithm only has R and U based movements so it is rather confusing looking. Try using my worded instructions before the algorithm, if you are going to try both. Note, if you use the algorithm correctly it should bring your cube back to what you started with.

A final note about F2L; you should learn to solve each layer individually before attempting F2L. It's a good thing to know, layer-by-layer. Initially F2L will raise your times if you are timing yourself, but once you are good with the method you should be faster than before.

The later layer, well it's just a mess. There are several methods you can use. I have several of my own methods that I've deprived from learned methods. I'll start with the basic method.

The most basic method that I can think of, involves first correcting the edges. First you use a fun-to-pronounce algorithm (F R U R' U' F' or FRU RUF or if you're adventurous even FRURUF) that will ensure all the edges are facing upwards. Then you correct the cross so it lines up with the E centers, just as the original cross did. This is done with a fancy algorithm that only uses R's and U's like the F2L related algorithm I provided. Then you must locate a corner piece that is in the correct corner and use it as the 'nose' for your fish OLL (well, an algorithm that can be used in OLL; something I will explain soon) and in doing so you will rotate the positions of the other corners. This may be needed to be done twice if you do not look at where the pieces are and see if you need to use the mirror of this algorithm. If the pieces are out of place clockwise, and you use an algorithm that rotates them clockwise, it will be needed to be done twice. If you use an algorithm that rotates them counter clockwise, it will only be needed to be done once. Efficiency makes for the win. Then corner rotation ensues, and you are finished.

Corner rotation comes up in initial corner placing, F2L, and this. It is important you know how to do it properly and for every corner; even the up-left-back corner. I think I could write a decent sized post just on it.

Changing the position of the corners and rotating them can be done with a method that I've put together, taking ideas from situations in F2L where the corner is in the wrong corner position (ex, the bottom-right-front instead of the bottom-left-front) but it doesn't work very well and often takes many more moves than what would be needed. There are few situations where my method is better.

At this point your Rubik's Cube should be solved. The problem is, there are better ways than the most basic method that I have just described (which on the most part is my intuitive method for the last layer). For effiency you want to use OLL and PLL.

First up, OLL or orientation of last layer. This takes the last layer and positions all the pieces so the colour of the U is facing up, but the pieces may not be in the correct position. This means that (if yellow is your U colour) the top will look all yellow from a top view, however from a side view you will see the edges and corners of the U layer do not match up with the E layer. Corners will needed to be switched with other corners in the U layer, edges may need to switch also. Sometimes three or four will needed to be switched. If you have three corners and three edges that needed to be switched, you have a G-Permutation (part of PLL). They're nasty.

There are fifty-seven OLL's you may run into, and one solved case. I may be wrong with these numbers. This means there are fifty-seven algorithms that you want to memorize, ideally. OLL may also be done in a two or even three step method (though three usually just means I messed up on two step). This means that instead of needing to know all of these algorithms, you just need to know a few that will encourage you into a set of situations that you will know or learn. Instead of learning fifty-seven algorithms, you just need seven or eight; and even then you should know some of them from previous methods such as the fish situation I mentioned already.

There is no set way to OLL if you are using two step. Personally I use my own two step method, which is a bit faster than most two step methods but I have incorporated more algorithms. As I learn more I incorporate them in too, and eventually I should be able to do it in one step. My method encourages different situations than what you will find to be encouraged by most two step OLL methods that are found online. These are just situations that I know well and have found how to get to quickly. Even though you are given several algorithms to work with, you do not need to use the algorithm you have been given. For several situations I use algorithms that I have figured out myself that may not be faster but they are what I am use to so they are faster for me. This, technically, makes this semi intuitive OLL; but I'm not going to go about telling that to people just to have to explain what it means and for them to come to the conclusion that most of what is used in the method I used is learned. Not intuitive.

Past OLL is PLL, or fermentation of the last layer. This takes the corners and edges and almost magically rearranges them with the use of algorithms. There are only twenty-one situations, and one solved situation, that will be found here and it is best to learn one step PLL first. Just like OLL, PLL can be done in two steps. The two steps are focusing on the corners, and then the edges. I tend to do this for G Permutations, which are slightly evil. They are the last algorithms in PLL that most people learn, because they are complicated and difficult to remember often. After some work they become easy to use (but I have forgotten two of them and probably only need a few minutes of time to learn them again but I just have not gotten around to it), and the pictures describing them become sensible. Initially the pictures look like jumbles of arrows and lines.

And even with all these methods described, there are more ways. One method that I only use when I am thinking to use was created by Lars Petrus. It involves solving a 2x2x2 section. Then this is expanded into a 2x2x3 section. From there I'm not sure what is ment to be done exactly. I turn this into a 2x3x3 (cross and F2L complete) section. For me, this is followed by the last layer, and what ever method I desire to use. Lars Petrus's method involves ensuring that the edges are correct in only three extra moves (something I have not figured out or tired to do really) and therefore this method uses very few movements.

There are many ways to solve a Rubik's Cube. For most people they are happy just to have it finished. Many people ask why I solve my Rubik's Cube several times a day at school; and the answer is simply because I'm not happy with a simple solve. I want to do it faster. I'm going to continue to do it again better.

>Bugworlds

How to... DDR

I've had a lack of inspiration to do any of my usual blogging recently, so many of my posts have been filler; in case you have not noticed. I'm probably going to continue doing this for a bit but I don't want it to turn into my usual. I'm also hoping to get into the habit of posting in rough groups of three. I intend on this How to series to have one more instalment, related to Rubik's Cubes.

Recently I've been playing Dance Dance Revolution a lot. Not as much as when I first got the time, four years ago, for Christmas. I played 3 to 6 hours a day, almost every day, for two weeks? Needless to say, I got good at the game in that time. I excelled above the few members of my family who would play it, and they stopped wishing to play with me. I didn't care about this much though, despite this game being more fun with an audience, we only had one dance mat.

Everyone initially loves this game or dislikes it. At first I thought the game looked rather, stupid. I must of been so ignorant. It didn't take long for me to realize that it was only boring if you play on lower difficulties, so I went into my strategy for games like this. I've done the same for Guitar Hero and Rockband.

Play on Expert only. I didn't only play expert, but rather would play the hardest difficulties I could. Soon as I knew I could play a song on the second difficulty, basic, (I think) I would try to play the song on the third difficulty, standard. Once I could play standard, I tried expert. In general my idea was if I failed the song, I would play it again until I passed it. If I found it took too many attempts to pass it and I was still failing, move onto the next song and come back to that one. The levels of difficulty were different than most of the other DDR games; I have SuperNOVA2.

I further improved my skill by watching others play this game, and noting what caused them to make mistakes. Most of it was in footwork. Take note of where your feet are. They do not have to rest in the center of the dance mat, they can stand on an arrow that is not in use at any time. Alternate your left and your right foot as much as you need to. Remember that you can use the same foot for up and down, if the arrows are alternating in any way, or you can use one foot on up and one on down.

The key to becoming good at this game is a lot of water, and a lot of practice. Wow, I really need to find some inspiration to do some writing that's more than filler.

''Bugworlds..

Eating In A Library

Today, I am in a library. Well, rather this block I am. All grade twelves in my school get a guaranteed free block if they ask for it so I figured it would be a nice thing to have. A chance to get some work done, and have a nap. We're only three days into the semester, but it's been great so far.

Most students use their free block for school work, only if they must do so. I'm sure I will get caught up into that but at the moment I plan on staying as I am, and doing work as I see fit. In a bit I'm going to go fetch my text books and do some Comparative Civilizations work, but for now I am tired and want to relax for a bit longer. Originaly I was intending on getting to school and falling asleep until the bell awoke me. My walk in the cold air, uphill woke me up.

It's not the fact that I was traveling against gravity that did this though, my town is on a slope. This means that there is a constant wind flowing downhill towards the ocean. It's nice during the summer, it's annoying during the winter.

My typing is makes a lot of sound on these keys, which is misfortunate considering I'm in a library. My friend, who I was not aware was present because he's at the computer opposite to me that is hiding behind a pillar, made note about my typing. I think there's a chance that is audible? Oh well, that is their loss. There are other quite places in the school to go.

As for the library, it's a fairly relaxed environment when the librarian is not chasing you out. She strongly dislikes the use of non-schoolwork related computer use; ex. Facebook, Youtube, anything that looks remotely like a game, and probably even this. The fact of the matter is though, she does not catch me ever. I pride myself in being aware of my environment and at the moment I know that she is checking over books manually because the book system decided to be a failure, or something like that. The problem was described to another student and I was within ear range.

One of the other few key rules of the library, apart from 'proper computer use' (I'm sure I could just say this is for my English class, so that I may become better at writing fluidly. Perhaps even Psychology if that class was still existent) relates to food. We might be aloud water bottles? I'm unsure on that. Personally I would never use a water bottle, there's just too much hype about chemicals in it, the mineral ppm is ridiculous, and over all it tastes terrible. I'm not going to pay the same amount of money I might for a liter of gas, on 750mL of water. Other than possibly water, nothing else is permitted for our consumption.

This is not going to stop anyone from eating. There's the few people who may venture to the door to quickly consume something, but most people just see it to be a challenge. I see nothing wrong with this either. It's the same for food in class. The reasons of why food is not permitted must be examined, and then annualized a bit.

In the library, it may be a bit obvious, but food and books just don't get a long. I can't say I've used the library for any books in the entire time I've been at this school. Over three years I have socialized, used the computers, and used this as a haven where it is quiet (when there are no keyboards being used loudly or people who want nothing more than to gossip loudly) haven. Over all it is meant to be a quiet place, though it often is not.

As for class rooms, the reason varies from teacher to teacher. Some teachers think food is a distraction, some see it to be the main causes of mess, other may argue garbage will be left behind. The explanation relating to distractions could be considered true, but I think the others will only cause you to consider how you consume it.

If the teacher does not want a mess, do not get caught eating and do not leave a mess. The same goes for garbage being left behind; don't get caught, don't leave your rapper on the ground. In the library so many will take note of where the librarian is and hold their food under the table when she walks about, only to turn around and take a bite of it. She must be aware this happens, but she cannot stop what she cannot observe.

There are a few, slightly more obscure reasons, why some teachers allow food in the class room. I always find it amusing when the excuse of, "it's unhealthy, but bottled water is okay" is brought up. One of my teachers will not permit soda in her class, but juice or water is fine. I'm sure tea or coffee may be acceptable too.

At the moment I have some tea cooling in my locker. It's probably going to be too cool when I get to it, but I don't mind the temperature. I put in in there, for travel mugs are open topped almost so I would not be able to bring it into the library, and upon getting to school I did not want the inconsiderate individuals who I may or may not of been around to try to take a very hot liquid out of my hands.

For you who did see me at the beginning of the day, I am not saying you are inconsiderate. I'm just stating there are several individuals who will try to take a beverage or a piece of food out of anyone's hands without asking for it. I bring food to school so I may consume it. I bring beverages to school so I may consume it. Call me greedy for bringing a larger amount of food than everyone else, it won't bother me. I'm going to eat it all, because I am going to be hungry.

With fifty minutes left, it's time to get ahead on Comparative Civilizations homework. I'm sure I'm already ahead of most individuals in my class, but not ahead of the paper we were given with our assignments and when they should be done.

Bugworlds =_=

How to... Blog

How to blog, or rather how I blog.

First of all, I suggest you have an enjoyment of writing. It does not have to be a general liking, just a liking for writing. If there is one type of writing that you enjoy, then that may be enough.

Personally I can't say writing has ever been too difficult for me. I enjoy writing fiction, although rarely do. Rather I find myself mulling over thoughts, ideas, and concepts; as you may of noticed if you read this frequently. If typing is not your forte (ooh, I really hope that's spelt correctly.. pronounce it as for-TAY), then maybe pen and paper is where it is at for you. If this is the case and you still want to publish your works you could have a friend type it up or find a scanner and upload pictures of your writing. I find that if there is a small entry on paper and it is scanned into a computer, it makes for a much more interesting post.

If you've found a pleasure in putting thought into text, then the next step is getting a blog. There are several services out there if you are not willing to put the time into coding your own website (which is much easier than it sounds, but to make it look phenomenal I suspect there will be too much work for the average casual blogger). Try Blogger, or Tumbler, or Posterous. I can't think of any other off the top of my head, but there are several several more.

My personal favorite is, of course, Blogger (or is it Blogspot? I think Blogspot was bought by Google, and the name merged and is now kind of interchangeable?). I have a couple of friends who use Tumbler, and a few people who don't know me but I know of them who I check up on their Tumbler. For my Digital Media class I was required to create a Posterous account and it is a great service but I don't like it for Blogging. I feel it is more aimed towards posting pictures, videos, so many various file formats; and then adding a few words to it. I like to write in large chunks of text that causes some people to cringe as they see the page load and the scroll bar to the right of their screen shrink and shrink.

You may just need some people to follow, once you have your blog up and running. Following people is easy, especially if you have friends who blog (and I'm sure you all do). Because they are your friend, they do not even have to be good writers; though I am glad everyone I follow always manage to post something that I will be willing and wanting to read. If you cannot find a friend who blogs already, perhaps try doing some searches on Google or see if the service you are using has a search. See if the service you are using has a random blog button, or a button to just scroll to the next blog that is in line. You are bound to find something interesting.

I don't think I would come back to this wonderful site if it was not for the people I follow. My friend, Japanese Student Life, was encouraged to create a blog to help with their Japanese language studies. I don't know how much of that she has been doing; but if she gets around to reading this, this is my reminder for her to get back on that. Having friends who blog making writing so much better. There's real people reading my posts, not that the people I don't know aren't real. It's just, better to know that my friends are reading what I type up; it's more personal that way. This may become a problem, but I will get to that soon. The best things about friends who blog, is they will be there to prompt you to keep writing. If they see their new post feed is dry, they may ask you for some reading material. I find I'm the one prompting my friends to post every once and a while, but I think they appreciate it?

Once you have a blog going, and you have gotten past the first post that everyone seems to find the formula for but never are sure where they get it from (Well, this is my blog... I'll be writing what I want in it. I might forget about it, but for now here it is. I live in a small town, here's a little bit more about me, and maybe even a few things that interest me. Well okay now, until next time, good-bye Internet), you must consider your audience, what you will be writing, and how you will be writing it. I think I'll split this into three paragraphs.

Here is the problem with friends reading your blog. Often when you post something on the Internet, you want it to be anonymous. Often when you post something on the Internet, you want your friends to read it. Often when you post something on the Internet, there's a chance you may not be able to say what you really want because you are aware that your friends are reading it. Many people create blogs to rant a bit, I think it's a great place for me to let out some frustration if an issue is irritating me and I cannot find anyone to speak to about it. Even if I can talk to people, sometimes an emotionless screen is what I need. If you know your readers are your friends, you may be afraid to offend them or feel like you are obligated to somehow promote them. Like your favorite news channel playing what it knows the viewers want to see, your writing may become biased. This is not a problem for all, but it should be considered. Do you want your friends reading your blog?

I enjoy my friends reading what I post, but I do occasionally find myself in a double take regarding what I am typing up. If I'm mentioning a negative social situation, will the person who I am describing know it is them despite the lack of any name? Will this offend them if they do read it and know it is them? What if you are saying you generally dislike something about a social group, an idea, or an event. Your friends may have a high contrasted view, as many of my friends have to some of my views. I like to have people read my writing, and I love seeing the page hits go up, but I still consider who's reading my writing. I avoid a bias, but I'm sure it's still there.

Now, what will you be writing? This is not something you have to definitely decide, or even think about. It should just be pulled into mind. Will you write about your emotions, the events of the day surrounding you, the events of the day surrounding world leaders, the thoughts that mull around in your mind and have a need to be shared, the thoughts that you think over but few of your friends will listen to you?

I dislike what I consider a traditional blogging style. I do occasionally write about my life, what I've been up to, school is a common topic; but I don't want to write about my problems. I don't want to write that I was made extremely happy or moderately upset due to the actions of any unnamed individuals. I want my writing to be not from the individual who I am, but my thoughts (if that makes any sense). I don't want my blog to be a journal, if I wanted one of those I would get one or just get a .wps file on my computer and type away until the several thousand page limit hit me. Honestly, I think I could reach that limit after several years but I have no intention of finding out. Now that I think of it.. I think the limit is somewhere around three million? I could be completely wrong, but I'm getting pulled off into a tangent. Tangent are a key piece of my blogging. Do you want them to be yours, or should you treat your writing like an essay? You have your thesis, and everything must relate to it.

As for how you will be writing it, there are many options and they really don't need to be a formal decision. You can choose to write formally, informally, poetically, even in a point form (although I don't think that would be very fun for readers to read). Will you use proper grammar, capitals, and punctuation?

I enjoy my I's being in an upper case, and a good structure to my sentences. I try to vary my sentences types, and when I find that I am too far off topic or need to shift to another related topic I may happen to put in a new paragraph. At the moment I'm splitting this into groups of two paragraphs; a general idea about blogging and then my personal views and actions around that idea. I enjoy my writing to have a sense of 'proper,' even if my spelling is terrible often and I'm sure my grammar has frequent mistakes. I go back and forth between formal and informal, first person and third person, and I'm sure I often notice literary errors such as this but leave them as they are. I enjoy my words to be spelt correctly, and this is why I use Google Tool bar for the spell check on it only. I've been debating using FireFox, for it will spell check for me automatically; but I think I like this way better. I get the mass of text out then fix it after. If I can see a word is wrong I may feel compelled to fix it on spot and interrupt my typing flow. The error was parallelism, or something like that. My English class caused me to get a bit gritty about things like that and I notice when some little things in writing are incorrect not that it makes a difference. No one is going to be grading my blog, although I have sent a few teachers to read some of my posts. I'm debating sending my new physics teacher to read some of my physics related posts and see what he thinks.

Finally, if you want people to read your posts I think constant posting is the key. Keeping your ramblings to a minimum and avoiding having posts that are consistently longer than your arm may detour many readers, but I don't care. Those who stick it out to read what I have to say may or may not of learned something, if I can help it. Comments are important. If you are lucky enough to get comments, they will probobly be from your friends, but it is worth it to reply to them. If you comment below them, they will probobly not get to read it, but if you put a reply in your next post referencing to their comment it will make them feel.. special. I know it makes me smile when I see my comments have been answered. Even once you've commented below their comment and replied to them in your next post, talk to them in person "Oh hey there, I read that you thought this about some post of mine. You should elaborate," will always start a good conversation if your post was about something that interests both of you.

As long as you post constantly, or at least for me, as long as I post consistently it appears my page hits go up. Sometimes I don't post anything for a week, and I find my hits are one or two over four days. It causes me to be disappointed, but it is expected. I think there is a higher chance of your blog being pulled up by the random button (if this site has one) or perhaps the next button (I'm fairly sure this site has one of those) if you have a new post. I sometimes check my stats four times in a day, just to see if someone has glanced over some of my pages. I'm always confused about some of my post popular posts; such as my post about longboarding. It's always popular even though I think it was possibly a waste of typing. I'm always ecstatic to get a comment and will sometimes complain I don't get any love, which is obviously a reflection of how many comments a I get. Obviously those who are loved get comments, and those who get no comments get no love. I'll accept your half thought through sympathy comments even.

If you are going to blog, make sure you have fun with it. Write about you want to, write when you want to, and say what you wish to. The Internet is there for you to be discovered, and who knows; perhaps you'll get an idea and post it that will catch on and before you know it you have a few hundred people following your posts. Personally, I'll be happy to discover I have ten followers (in fact.. I might even have that many now).

_-Bugworlds-_