Hello all to the few of you that stumbled on this bite-sized message.
Just wanted to say I miss writing and learning through the process, and am hoping to come back.
I have a bit of a better plan for scheduling out articles, and I hope you will enjoy.
I guess something that I can bring up is a question for you?
Do you think cultural influences are necessary for widespread change to occur? If there are exceptions you can think of from historical examples, let me know in the comments!
This was meant to be a short catch-up (not meant to be a serious post like my other works)
Main Cast – Gal Gadot, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Pedro Pascal
Well, it has been quite a while, but a little bit of a Christmas Miracle and we are back! I don’t know how often we will be uploading reviews during the hectic school year, so no promises. But with HBO Max’s latest announcement about movies for the 2021 year – expect a review for all of those movies pretty soon after they launch on the service! Starting with their first theatrical release on the streaming service, I’m giving you a quick, spoiler-free review of the latest DCEU movie, Wonder Woman 1984.
Any details I mention in this review are only details that have already been leaked in the main trailer for this movie; however, I went into this movie completely blind without a single trailer and I will always recommend that approach.
But if you’ve already seen the trailers and have fully bought into the hype for this sequel, you already know that Chris Pine’s returning in this movie and that Kristen Wiig has been casted to play Cheetah. Gadot stars throughout this movie, and Pine’s fish-out-of-water comedy may be cliché but it does work and his chemistry with Gadot is crucial for this movie. That sentiment can be applied to a lot of the movie actually – much of this movie is incredibly cliché and it can be predicted pretty early on. But the film does its job. It works well after the massive success of the first movie, and it establishes a standard of success the DCEU is yet to have in its chase of the MCU’s box office success. The fight sequences are enjoyable, and the visual effects for the most part are great too (one or two looked a little off to me, but that can be easily ignored and blamed on my projector.) Wiig as Cheetah is fine, but her character doesn’t exactly have the most revolutionary writing. She is the standard secondary antagonist, and this becomes quite obvious early on – her early interactions with Diana reminded me of Buddy as a kid in the Incredibles. The movie as a whole takes the natural progression in a hero’s story for a sequel, with some plot points reminding me of Spider-Man 2 (being compared to that movie however is not a bad thing.) Pascal as Maxwell Lord is again a good but cliched villain, and he does his job as the film’s primary antagonist well. His character is honestly a little forgettable in comparison to Cheetah, and his ending is a little lame. To be fair, I didn’t entirely like the ending for the villain in the first movie as well, so I wasn’t surprised at being a little disappointed here as well. For the fights, there are certainly some great sequences, but also expect dark, CGI – filled battles that make it almost impossible to see much of anything as well.
Overall, if you liked the first one, you’ll almost certainly be pleased with this one as Gadot and Pine still shine. It certainly isn’t the freshest material, but it is a great way to have some fun. There is one post credit scene with a little Easter Egg for Wonder Woman fans! Check it out and let me know what you think as a comment to this post or @shishirn_03 on Twitter!
In both “Sonnet 140” and “Sonnet 18”, William Shakespeare emphasizes the complex relationships relative to love by utilizing metaphors, fixed form, and an alternate rhyme scheme in order to show various realities concerning the impacts of love.
Relationships in this case relates to the meanings, and not the relationships itself (for the thesis)
Thisarticle is meant to be a review, blog, and commentary/analysis on two selected poems. These were chosen because of the commonality of love and the different “complex realities” surrounding the subject. Enjoy!
Sonnet 140 – William Shakespeare
Be wise as thou art cruel; do not press My tongue-tied patience with too much disdain; Lest sorrow lend me words, and words express The manner of my pity-wanting pain. If I might teach thee wit, better it were, Though not to love, yet, love to tell me so; As testy sick men, when their deaths be near, No news but health from their physicians know; For, if I should despair, I should grow mad, And in my madness might speak ill of thee; Now this ill-wresting world is grown so bad, Mad slanderers by mad ears believed be. That I may not be so, nor thou belied, Bear thine eyes straight, though thy proud heart go wide.
A very testy Shakespearean sonnet, “Sonnet 140” speaks directly to a lover seeming to have moved past the narrator’s fleeting attempts of wooing her once more. Right from the first line we can tell the narrator may be erratic in attempting to keep his love with him, “Be wise as thou art cruel; do not press My tongue-tied patience with too much disdain;” so much so that a very creepy vibe emanates off of him (Lines 1-2).
Shakespeare once again crafts his classic sonnet with an alternate rhyme scheme (ABAB CDCD EFEF GG) to bring related concepts in lines together. Words speak louder than actions to the narrator, and the rhyme between “do not press” and ” words express” certainly elevate the effect of how much his lover’s words mean to him and that his reciprocated message to her would be full of sorrow (Lines 1 and 3). Again later in the poem in the third quatrain we learn of how crazy he can become by going “mad” because of her words in parallel to the world growing ill and “bad” (Lines 9 and 11).
The narrator consistently uses indirect metaphors of love as a comparison to one’s own well-being. However, these metaphors are for the negative health effects of being in a relationship. He describes the love that he thinks he shares (he really doesn’t) as “pity-wanting pain” (Line 4). He sees those smitten men out there as blinded by the love that can shield their minds from any sense of reality, even his. We learn a lesson from the narrator acknowledging the emotional distress he is in from obsessing over this woman and still demanding her stay with him, to the point of it being comparable to fealty.
We see prolonged desperation, almost hearing it in his voice, “Though not to love, yet, love to tell me so” (Line 6). The narrator is at the point where he just wants to hear some sort of affection, even if it is completely made up. He has hit a very low point, but is relatable to many exes who know their relationship is over yet try to put the pieces back together.
In line 7, we continue along a journey of hopelessness, “As testy sick men, when their deaths be near,” a great simile for the narrator’s wanted treatment from his mistress as if he were a dying man in his final hour – he prefers respect and love rather than infidelity. This line also serves as a comparison to the inevitable, and almost certain end of their relationship. The metaphor resembles a physician (lover) being only heard when giving good news to the sickly patient (narrator).
BUT WAIT! Remember how I mentioned this was a Shakespearean Sonnet? There always has to be some shift, something that matches up with the form of the poem. The desperation and iffy self-realization turns into something more sane. The narrator shifts his message in the 9th line. He sort of reaches a “climax” when discussing delusional or “mad” people, which he supposes he could potentially become, and then “suggests” (more like demands) his lover to “bear thine eyes straight” and not on other men so he doesn’t turn mad (Line 14).
So yes… not really a reformed individual, in fact a threatening partner who can’t let go of a mysterious lover.
Sonnet 18 – William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate: Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, And summer’s lease hath all too short a date; Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, And often is his gold complexion dimm’d; And every fair from fair sometime declines, By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d; But thy eternal summer shall not fade, Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st; Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade, When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st: So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
One of Shakespeare’s most well known literary works, “Sonnet 18” is a clever 14-line poem revolving around a lover and the loved, but with some self-centeredness mixed in. What do I mean by this? Well, Shakespeare utilizes the infamous rhetorical question in line 1 “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” in order to elevate his lover as a radiant figure in his life, so much so that she is even on the same level (or higher) of a summer day’s warmth and beauty. In keeping with this theme of comparing a woman to the seasons, Shakespeare plays with the word “temperate” in line 2 as a double entendre for both the woman being more moderate in life and as a comparison of temperature the heat of a mid summer day.
Shakespeare further utilizes parallels to shift the sonnet to a realization where the narrator discusses time itself. In the second quatrain, he utilizes an alliteration of “dimmed” and “declines” to introduce the idea of mortality and a definite end to beautiful things (which we can assume refers to his beloved).
The common reoccurrence throughout the poem is the extended metaphor of the comparison between Summer and a woman. The general feelings of enjoyment and bliss felt with summer cannot compare to those felt when being around the narrator’s lover. He is so in love that he wants the reader to relate to the mesmerizing aspect of this woman so he uses a day in the summer to help push strongly emotional messages.
Shakespeare utilizes the fixed form of a sonnet in order to categorize the themes of each “stanza” (three quatrains and one couplet). The first stanza has the purpose of comparing his love to the most blissful season (summer) and briefly mentions the short yet sweet aspect of the best days of the year. In the next quatrain, the narrator discusses the change nature goes through throughout the seasons and the waning of the sun throughout the day and year as brightness turns to darkness and summer turns to fall. He makes the most of an impact in a shift of pace in the 9th line, the 1st verse in the third quatrain that often marks a change of theme. Again comparing his love to summer (keeping with the message of her being a radiant soul), Shakespeare extends his metaphor to her surpassing the “coming and going” nature of a season. The narrator sees her as timeless, she “shall not fade.” Interestingly, in the last two lines (the couplet), the narrator takes an interesting turn in which he seems to centre his focus on the sonnet itself, rather than his love (almost in a self praise kind of way).
Lastly the sonnet is in an alternate rhyme scheme which emphasizes the subject material throughout the sonnet. Throughout the course of the poem, Shakespeare conveys the thoughts of the narrator through pleasurable rhymes and highlights the contrast with the sun shining and then the beauty of beautiful things will decline. The rhyme is an enhancer of the overall quality and theme of the sonnet, amplifying the message of praise shown throughout.
After an extended break, The Science Lab is back with another invention that help the world transfer into the modern era. In 1956, on the 25th of September, the first working telephone cable system (TAT-1) was laid between Oban, Scotland and Clarenville, Newfoundland, representing a major step towards global connectivity.
The TAT-1 line was composed of two cables, one going from Newfoundland to Scotland, another going from Scotland to Newfoundland. Each cable was produced and laid in three sections. After opening on September 25, 1956, TAT-1 carried 588 London-US calls and 119 London-Canada calls in just the first 24 hours.
See the world for the trees and the grass that is green.
See the world for the earth, the sky, the sea.
See the world for all the creatures hidden in the deep.
Now see the world for its pain;
Its hidden gore, blood stains, and mental strains.
See the black fog and the acid rains,
The extinction of the living and all the heat waves.
Life is not just about comfort and riches for personal gain,
But also the well being of all the living during human reign.
Our life is short yet our opportunities are limitless.
The world suffers for your actions, don’t forget it.
Continue your struggle for wealth and happiness,
But let the world live, don’t kill it.
This is a small poem I wrote many years ago about living life to the fullest, yet trying not to negatively impact the world. If I were to perform it out loud to people to inspire them to change, it would be considered spoken word poetry.
Spoken word poetry is a broad designation for poetry intended for performance. Though some spoken word poetry may also be published on the page, the genre has its roots in oral traditions and performance. Spoken word can encompass or contain elements of rap, hip-hop, storytelling, theater, and jazz, rock, blues, and folk music. Characterized by rhyme, repetition, improvisation, and word play, spoken word poems frequently refer to issues of social justice, politics, environment, race, and community. Related to slam poetry, spoken word may draw on music, sound, dance, or other kinds of performance to connect with audiences.
Here is an example of spoken word poetry:
Spoken word poetry is also the oldest form of poetry and, arguably, the most influential form of poetry. Because spoken word poetry strives to create change or inspire action among its audience, the fact that it combines elements of public speaking and poetry allows the speaker to better convey emotion and appeal to the audience than compared to a regular speech.
To be able to present an effective spoken word poem, you don’t need to be great at singing, but rather just have clarity of thought and speech. Being able to move your audience by comparing relative ideas and terms they connect with, being able to use metaphors, juxtapositions, and puns in a confident and flowing voice, and being able to present ideas without hurting people allows you to be an effective spoken word artist. In other words, being an effective poet and speaker makes you an effective spoken word artist.
Spoken word poetry had a decline in popularity centuries ago, however, it is making a slow comeback thanks to Walt Whitman in the late 1800s. Ever since it has been growing steadily, but over time, it has become a force of change to be reckoned with. From Andrea Gibson to Rudy Francisco and from Prince EA to Sarah Kay, we’ve seen a rise in spoken word poetry in the 21st century being used to stimulate social and environmental change. Seeing that Generation Z is becoming more and more interested in fixing the shortcomings and mistakes of generations past, I believe it’s safe to say that spoken word poetry is here to stay and will continue to grow exponentially in the times to come.
On September 4th, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought sent out a memorandum to the Heads of Executive Departments and Agencies. The memo called for the halting racial of sensitivity trainings that discuss topics such as white privilege and critical race theory.
The memorandum calls the training “divisive, anti-American propaganda”, but in all honesty, every reason that is provided for eliminating such training prove that they are anything but.
Citing press reports which state that employees are required to attend “trainings where they are told that ‘virtually all White people contribute to racism’” and are “required to say that they ‘benefit from racism’”, the memorandum attempts to point out the “faults” in such training. But learning about these types of things isn’t a bad thing.
Knowing about the privileges one has is important. No one is saying that it is your fault that you have them, all they are asking is that you acknowledge their existence. It is an important place to start, if any change is to be made.
In addition, the White House memorandum calls for officials to identify any “agency spending related to any training on “‘critical race theory,’ ‘white privilege,’” or any other training that focus on race in the United States, in order to dissolve them in the future. This is such a big mistake in my opinion.
If officials in the White House can’t acknowledge something as small as the privileges that come with decades of oppressing other races, how can we as a society move forward? In this social climate, racism is something that is necessary to tackle, and yet the people who can make actual change refuse to accept even the beginnings of the movement. It is heartbreaking to see such an absolute denial of something that is so vital in this society.
I know I am but an overzealous high school student with no say in the workings of our government, however, I must confess that there is a peace that comes with rambling on about one’s opinions. With that being said, I’ll end with this thought. There is absolutely nothing “anti-American” about learning how racism affects society, in fact, it’s probably one of the most American things you can do.
Wow, we’re starting up our fourth week of school, and boy oh boy has it been busy. If you haven’t already noticed by the sporadic posting, school has thrown a lot of us for a loop. It’s been odd, the whole “going back to school thing”, especially when we weren’t even at school.
30 minute long zoom calls consisting of a teacher attempting to break the ice, while 20-something teenagers stare mutely at their screens, isn’t exactly an ideal situation. Even worse, copious amounts of busywork began to be piled on, as we moved past the “getting to know you” stage.
I can’t begin to explain my annoyance as mass amounts of assignments began filling my Canvas to-do list.
But that’s not even the worst part of the whole back to school process. No, that happened last Thursday. As one of the many people who signed up to go back to school in-person, I was excited, but mostly nervous to go back. I was hesitant when I first chose the in-person option, and being back only proved to validate that fear.
Imagine a crowded parking lot with parking attendants futilely trying to direct and alleviate the traffic, but switch out the parket lot with a school, the cars for students, and parking attendants with school staff, and you’ve got what is essentially our hallways.
It’s definitely not for a lack of trying that social distancing in our school has failed, it’s more the mass amounts of students, and lack of planning that was put into the reopening.
But enough of my complaining, the people I feel the worst for are the teachers. I can’t begin to imagine what they have to go through. After every period, they are forced to wipe down each desk, with a disinfectant that takes about ten minutes to dry – mind you, our passing periods are technically only 5 minutes long. Combine that with trying to police uncaring students into wearing their masks, and I’d say the school day turns into a living hell.
Of course I love being able to see people in-person, but I’ve got to seriously wonder if it was all worth it. If it was worth it for school to reopen. If all of this trouble really benefits any of us in the end.
Alas, I don’t really have a true answer for that, but it’s something I have, and will continue to contemplate in my few minutes of free time.
Anyhow, that’s all the complaints I’ve got for now (I really have to get back to that aforementioned homework). Stay tuned for a new post coming tomorrow, and thank you for reading!
A new study by North Carolina State University and Microsoft shows that most technical interviewers test your ability to perform under pressure rather than your actual technical skills. Previous research found that many software developers believed the interview process was deeply flawed, so NC State and Microsoft put it to the test.
In this study, researchers conducted technical interviews with 48 students, half of which participated in the traditional interview process in which an interviewer asks the participant to solve a problem while being observed and were required to explain their code aloud, while the other half got the same problem but were in a private room with no one watching.
The results showed that participants in the traditional interview did half as well a the ones in private rooms. This goes to show that major tech companies are losing an incredibly large amount of potential skill by continuing to use the traditional interview style simply because those participants aren’t able to explain their code aloud to an audience.
According to Chris Parnin, an assistant professor of computer science at NC State and co-author of a paper on the work, “the format [of the interviews] may also serve as a barrier to entire classes of candidates. For example, in our study, all of the women who took the public interview failed, while all of the women who took the private interview passed.”
What’s more, candidates often spend weeks and months preparing for the technical interview rather than the actual job they’d be doing. According to Mahnaz Behroozi, first author of the study and a Ph.D. student at NC State, this gives people with connections in the tech industry a much larger advantage as they want the interviewer to like them rather than appreciate their skill.
Behroozi adds “If the tech sector can address all of these challenges in a meaningful way, it will make significant progress in becoming more fair and inclusive. More to the point, the sector will be drawing from a larger and more diverse talent pool, which would contribute to better work.”
Hey everyone, Jaz here. It’s been a minute since I have written, but the start of 12th grade has been nothing short of crazy. The 2020-2021 school year started virtually 3 weeks ago, and it has been a unique experience for sure, as students figure out how to lay out their schedules to work with online classes. For me though, I go back to in-person instruction on tomorrow, and to say the least, I am anxious. Earlier, I was just excited to be back at Reedy, but with all the new procedures in place, I am curious to see how everything will play out.
Over at Countdown 2 Escape, we are currently under construction for our new room, which will be ready next week! The room is a phobia-based room, called “Tension”, and we have high hopes that as people return to school with confidence, we will be getting a lot more people coming through the new room over the next few months or so! Looking forward to seeing the escape come to life, and seeing business boom soon.
Cross Country is in full swing, and practices are going well. Our new coach arrived a few days ago, and he is really strict when it comes to logging miles, and takes running quite seriously. The meets are set to start in a few weeks, but since only 10 people can run the JV meet each week, my turn will likely come at a later meet. Anyhow, I’m glad to be spending time with friends running and making memories for my last year of high school.
Yahoo Finance is probably one of the greatest websites to research investments, and I highly recommend for those who haven’t used it to try it. Today’s blog post will primarily give you an overview on how to use Yahoo Finance and what statistics to look for on Yahoo Finance in order to make decisions. Before I begin, I’d like to apologize for staying inconsistent with my blog posts. These next few weeks, you may not see weekly Money Talk blog posts, and could be maybe once or twice a month. I am still trying to work out my schedule so bear with me these next few weeks. Let’s start today’s blog post!
Yahoo Finance Summary Page
In this blog post, I will primarily be analyzing the Apple Stock. Keep in mind that I am writing this blog post on August 28th, 2020, so the data might be different if you are reading this days after this posting. But you should be able to have a general understanding of what I look at when analyzing investments.
When you search up the Apple stock on Yahoo Finance, you will directly be taken to the summary page for this stock. On this page, you will find many relevant statistics and information, which will help you analyze the stock. It’s a good idea to start by looking at the market capitalization, which refers to the total dollar market value of a company’s outstanding shares of stock. A high market capitalization shows that the company is highly valued on the market. For Apple, the market capitalization is about 2.135 trillion dollars, showing that the company is highly valued on the open market. The next thing investors look at is the EPS, or the Earnings Per Share. The higher the earnings per share of a company, the better is its profitability. For Apple, the EPS is about 13.19. Another number investors look at is the PE Ratio, or the Price to Earnings Ratio. When you have a high P/E ratio (above 50), the company is overvalued and if the PE ratio is low (like less than 10), the company is undervalued. The PE Ratio for Apple is about 37.86, showing that it is decently valued. One last important number to look at is the volume. A higher volume indicates that more shares are being traded on the market. The higher the volume, the more you know that many people are buying and selling, which gives you an indication that some major movement might occur. There are other numbers on the first summary page which are good to look at, but the ones listed above are some of the important ones.
When you scroll down, you can find so many news articles which may inform you on what the company is doing or involved in. This can help you to assess whether the company is making good improvements or not. Towards the right of the page, you will find a section titled “Earnings.” You will see a chart with green, red, and blue circles. This information is useful as you can see whether the companies beat the earnings expectations from analysts or not. A green dot above the predicted EPS, means the company beat the expectations, whereas a red dot would indicate that the company did not beat expectations. A blue dot indicates that the company just met the expectations, while not underperforming or overperforming. Scrolling down even more, you will find a recommendation rating, which gives you some insight on what other analysts or investors think about the stock. Keep in mind, don’t blindly consider these ratings to make your investment decision, as this is just merely a suggestion whether you should buy or sell.
Chart Page
The next page I’d like to talk about is the chart page. Here, you can find the price movements of the stock, which can let you know whether the stock is following a bullish pattern or bearish pattern. On this page, you can analyze price charts to find patterns and future price movements through technical analysis, which I will be explaining in another blog post. There are so many different technical indicators you can use, such as MACD, RSI, Bollinger Bands, and more. However, if you don’t know how to use them, DON’T USE THEM! Otherwise you might make an incorrect prediction for the stock, which could cause you to lose money. If you don’t know much about technical analysis, do not worry. I will be making a blog post on this analysis soon, so stay tuned!
Conversations Page
On the conversations page, you have access to a discussion board where many investors write about what they think about the stock, and whether they believe the price of the stock will rise or fall. Keep in mind, however, that many pump and dump schemes are promoted on this page, which are schemes in which groups of investors artificially try to pump the price of a stock by getting other investors to buy them, and then quickly “dump” all of their stocks once they get a decent profit. You may lose a lot of money through these schemes, so be careful and don’t blindly follow what others say on that. One good part of the conversations page is that you will be able to find other stocks that investors talk about. This will allow you to get introduced to other stocks, which could potentially rise over time. It’s a nice idea to go on to the conversiations page to see what others predict, but don’t fully trust whatever the other investors say.
Financials Page
On the financials page, you will have access to company financial data. You will be able to find the 3 main financial reports, such as the income statement, balance sheet, and the cash flow statement. I discussed some of these financial reports in the Fundamental Analysis Essentials blog post. Some key numbers to look at in the income statement is the operating expenses, revenue, and net income. See if there’s a trend in these numbers. For example, if the net income and revenue is consistently increasing and if the operating expenses are stable without any fluctuations, it’s a good indication that the company is doing well. On the balance sheet, if the assets are increasing and the liabilities are stable without any serious fluctuations, it’s a good indication that the company is building assets, while effectively maintaining their liabilities. You can change the setting to get the financial data in terms of quarterly reports or annual reports, so you can conduct further analysis.
Holders Page
In the holders page, you will find data that shows you how many institutional investors have shares in the company. If there are a lot of institutional holders, that means many experienced investors believe the company is doing good and will be a decent investment for the future. For the Apple stock in particular, the major institutions that have shares in the company include Vanguard, Berkshire Hathaway, and State Street Corporation, which are some big institutions. This indicates that many institutional investors have a good feeling about the company, and believe it would make a wise investment for the future. Additionally, you can find the mutual fund holders as well, which shows the mutual fund companies that have shares in the company you are analyzing. For Apple, the major mutual funds that have shares of Apple include the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund, Vanguard 500 Index Fund, and the Parnassus Endeavor Fund. When analyzing a stock that you have in mind, it’s always a good idea to check out the holders page in order to see whether there is institutional buying or mutual fund investing going on with the stock.
Other Pages
Obviously there are other pages that I did not go over, such as the profile page (which gives you information about company management), statistics page (which give you other advanced fundamental analysis numbers), and the options page (which give you information on the call and put orders). If you are just beginning to invest, I recommend to just analyze the Yahoo Finance pages that I mentioned above, as when you start to look through a lot of the pages, you will be overwhelmed and it will be hard for you to make an investment decision. However, if you are advanced at investing in stocks, then check out some of the other pages I didn’t mention to research and analyze the stock even further.
As you can see, Yahoo Finance is a great website to conduct thorough research on investment decisions. I primarily use Yahoo Finance to analyze stocks and make watchlists so that I can keep track of price movements for stocks that I think are good. Making watchlists is a good way to stay updated on price movements of stocks you really like or feel will do good in the future. If you get the Yahoo Finance app and turn on notifications, you will get alerts if there is any major price movements on any of the stocks on your watchlist or if there is any news related to the companies you have placed in your watchlist. I think this is a good point to conclude this blog post. I hope you were able to learn about Yahoo Finance, and the many advantages it contains when it comes to stock investment research. Thanks again for reading this blog post, and hope to see you in the next one!
Excite The Mind 
