Origin XT Blog

So I am typing this on a school lab computer. For the week, I am laptopless because I forgot my laptop’s power cord and because my laptop’s battery sucks (HP sucks, by the way). I’ve already turned in my CS lab late. And I can’t go on AIM.

Anyway, with that said, I do have the opportunity to check my email at least once a day, so if you need something (that’s not urgent, obviously), email me and expect a response within 24 hours. If you need to contact me urgently, use my cell phone number. (No, my mom doesn’t have the phone; calm down) Or if you also have an HP (presario) laptop with a cord to share, call me so I can come over and charge up my laptop

Thanks. And stone age sucks, although this stone Sunray isn’t that bad.

Was Maxis trying to make a political commentary with its SimCity 4 program? Apparently if I charge the low-income residents 20% tax and the high income residents 0% tax, my deficit becomes a 30% surplus. Meh, whatever works for my city! Is it a but or was it intentional?

Making money is a lot harder than it looks. When my water gets really contaminated, the whole system shuts down. When that happens, unfortunately, I lose 97% of my population. (21k to 800 ish) When that happens, I have no population to insanely tax, so I have to take out loans :(. I hate loans.

Many people have asked me how they can avoid the disgusting SquirrelMail interface of CalMail, and I have suggested forwarding the @berkeley.edu emails to the primary email address. Here’s how you can do that:

For Yahoo! Mail Users:

Note: You must be in the original mode (not the Beta mode) to do this. If you are not in the original mode, click switch back after you are logged in.

Go to Options (top-right of the page), then to Mail Addresses under Management. Click the Add button, make up a label for your @Berkeley.edu mail, then click continue. On the next page, put “calmail.berkeley.edu” in the input box designated as the “Mail Server” and your CalMail username/password in their respective boxes. Choose a color to associate @Berkeley.edu mail with. Click “Setup Mail Server”, and you are done!

For GMail Users:

Login, then click on “Settings” (top-right corner). Select the Accounts tab, then scroll down to “Get mail from other accounts”. Add a mail account with the same details as above (calmail.berkeley.edu for the POP server, 995 for the port number). Set other settings as you please, and you are done.

For Windows Live Mail Users:

Unfortunately, I don’t have a Windows Live account, so figure it out based on the above.

From Origin: Many universities and colleges require newly admitted freshmen to complete and pass (Berkeley requires a 70%) an online Alcohol Education program. According to the AlcoholEdu website, the whole certification process takes approximately three consecutive hours (more if you do it in chunks because of its technical deficiencies), although Berkeley assumes its students will be able to complete it within two hours. (Heh, we’re 50% more efficient than the regular college folks! Or so they think. I suppose being sober while taking the course might help) I took the exam and got 100% on it (Wikipedia to the rescue!), so if you need the answers to the questions, here they are:

AlcoholEdu Exam

A standard drink is:

1. 16-ounce beer
2. 12-ounce malt beverage
3. 6-ounce glass of wine
4. none of the above

Adolescent alcohol abusers have shown impairments in cognitive functions:

1. through the first 24 hours after their last drink
2. for at least 3 days after their last drink
3. for at least 1 week after their last drink
4. for at least 3 weeks after their last drink

Which of the following is true:

1. the percentage of American college students who are frequent high-risk drinkers has increased over the years
2. the percentage of American college students who are non-drinkers has increased over the years
3. both a and b
4. neither a or b

Which of the following factors increases the concentration of alcohol someone consumes from drinking one standard drink:

1. weighing more
2. eating certain foods
3. having less body water
4. none of the above

When alcohol is involved in a possible sexual assault:

1. the person who committed the sexual assault cannot be held fully accountable for their actions
2. the person who experienced the sexual assault must bear some responsibility for what happened
3. alcohol consumption does not change the nature of the crime
4. both a and b

A key contributor to a headache as a symptom of a hangover is:

1. the increased stimulation related to alcohol’s effect on the nucleus accumbens
2. the loss of balance related to alcohol’s effect on the cerebellum
3. dehydration related to alcohol’s effect on the hypothalamus
4. all of the above

Women absorb alcohol faster than men because:

1. they tend to weigh less
2. they have less of a needed enzyme in their stomach
3. they have less body water
4. all of the above

It is most accurate to say that growing up in a home where parents drank excessively:

1. affects attitudes toward alcohol but it is difficult to predict how
2. leads to abstinence
3. leads to alcohol abuse
4. has no effect on attitudes toward alcohol

Effects in judgment are caused by alcohol’s impact on which part of the brain:

1. nucleus accumbens
2. frontal lobes
3. hypothalamus
4. none of the above

What percentage of alcohol consumed each year in the U.S. is consumed by people who are underage:

1. 10%
2. 15%
3. 20%
4. none of the above

Drugs such as GHB and Rohypnol when combined with alcohol can:

1. cause sedation and amnesia
2. cause unconsciousness or even death
3. increase one’s vulnerability to sexual assault
4. all of the above

Which of the following decreases the chances of an alcohol overdose:

1. eating before and during drinking
2. setting a personal limit of how many drinks will be consumed
3. alternating your drinks with non-alcoholic beverages
4. all of the above

How quickly does the body eliminate, or get rid of, alcohol:

1. 0.015% per hour
2. 0.025% per hour
3. 0.15% per hour
4. none of the above

In the past decade, the proportion of students who drink with the intention of getting drunk has:

1. decreased
2. remained the same
3. increased
4. is unknown

In one study, researchers found that students were actually consuming more alcohol than they realized when they were drinking wine or mixed drinks. How much more alcohol were students consuming than they realized when they had mixed drinks?

1. 22%
2. 42%
3. 72%
4. 92%

Which of the following statements is NOT true:

1. men are more likely to be high-risk drinkers than women
2. students from the Southeast are more likely to be high-risk drinkers than students from the Northeast
3. white men are more likely to be high-risk drinkers than black men
4. women are less likely to be high-risk drinkers than men

Which of the following is NOT true about hazing:

1. it is illegal in most states
2. it often involves alcohol
3. it is a good way to build unity among new members
4. a and c

Which of the following statements reflects what is generally found to be true on college campuses:

1. athletes tend to drink less than non-athletes
2. members of Greek-letter organizations tend to drink less than non-Greeks
3. underage students tend to drink less often than students of legal drinking age
4. none of the above

Which of the following is a potential warning sign that someone is addicted to alcohol:

1. an increased tolerance to the effects of alcohol
2. experiencing blackouts
3. drinking alone
4. all of the above

What proportion of frequent high-risk drinkers report having driven after drinking:

1. 17%
2. 37%
3. 57%
4. none of the above

It is illegal to drive if someone of legal drinking age has a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of:

1. .04% or above
2. .06% or above
3. .08% or above
4. 1.0% or above

Which of the following is a sign of an alcohol overdose:

1. impairments in balance
2. difficulty breathing
3. unconsciousness
4. all of the above

As found in recent studies, people who think they are drinking alcohol (but are not) report:

1. feeling sad
2. feeling aggressive
3. finding other people more attractive
4. all of the above

The possibility of alcohol having a long-term effect on the ability to learn and to make decisions is increased by:

1. drinking as teenagers
2. drinking as young adults
3. repeated heavy drinking
4. all of the above

High-risk drinking is defined as:

1. 4 or more drinks on an occasion for women
2. 5 or more drinking on an occasion for men
3. neither a or b
4. both a and b

If someone is showing signs of an alcohol overdose, you should:

1. have them take a cold shower
2. not leave them alone
3. get them something to eat
4. all of the above

How many standard drinks does it take before learning (the ability to take in new information) may be affected:

1. as few as one or two drinks
2. as few as two or three drinks
3. as few as three or four drinks
4. none of the above

A blackout is:

1. passing out
2. not being able to form new memories about what happened when drinking
3. being able to remember what happened when prompted
4. none of the above

Alcohol-induced blackouts are the result of alcohol’s effect on which part of the brain:

1. hippocampus
2. frontal lobes
3. hypothalamus
4. all of the above

Drinking games can make it difficult to drink safely because:

1. there is a competitive aspect involved
2. it is hard to keep track of how much alcohol has been consumed
3. they disrupt plans to pace drinking
4. all of the above

Someone would report experiencing energized or stimulated at the following blood alcohol concentration (even though in actuality their brain activity may be slowing down):

1. 0.01-0.05%
2. 0.05-0.10%
3. 0.10-0.15%
4. none of the above

About what percentage of sexual assaults (including rapes) on college campuses involve the use of alcohol by either or all people involved:

1. 30%
2. 40%
3. 50%
4. 60%

Which part(s) of the brain, when impaired by alcohol, play an important role in learning:

1. nucleus accumbens
2. hypothalamus
3. hippocampus
4. all of the above

Which of the following is affected by alcohol consumption:

1. decision-making and judgment
2. motivation and attention
3. learning and memory
4. all of the above

Alcohol can increase the chances of:

1. contracting a sexually-transmitted disease
2. having sex unwillingly or with an unwilling partner
3. damaging relationships
4. all of the above

In a national study, what proportion of students reported having their sleep or studying disrupted by someone who was consuming alcohol:

1. 1 out of 10
2. 1 out of 5
3. 2 out of 3
4. 4 out of 5

When partying, someone can reduce their risk of experiencing negative consequences caused by alcohol by:

1. keeping track of how many drinks they have had
2. making sure someone who isn’t drinking controls the car keys
3. using cups or glasses that contain ordinary/standard sizes of drinks
4. all of the above

Alcohol addiction is:

1. a physiological and psychological dependency on alcohol
2. another name for alcoholism
3. a disease
4. all of the above

Alcohol’s negative effect on academic performance is because of:

1. interference with the ability to process new information
2. hangovers leading to missed classes
3. memory difficulty
4. all of the above

Based on recent studies at American colleges, what percentage of students choose not to drink:

1. 5%
2. 10%
3. 15%
4. 20%

Yup, that’s 40 questions. If you encounter different questions, please share yours here.

College season has been officially over for more than three months. Ms. Jankowski gave me permission to share her letter once all the applications are in (I waited an extra 8 months–can’t you tell?). I will post Ms. Jankowski’s letter. If you still have them (or got them at all in the first place), I ask you to post yours too. And if this is Ms. Jankowski reading this, thank you for the letter. I apologize for not being admitted to half of the colleges for which you wrote the letter and not going to any of them; the fault is not yours.

The English Department at Leland High School is agreed that a student like Jinghao Yan is as rare as the appearance of Halley’s Comet. Jinghao is profoundly gifted in the areas of math and science, for example earning a 5 (the top score on the Advanced Placement exam) on the AP Physics exam without actually taking the Advanced Placement Physics class. Many students with Jinghao’s math and science talent would be tempted to avoid any risk to their GPA shun classes such as English that do not play to their strengths, yet since his sophomore year (the first year that advanced classes in any subject are offered at Leland), Jinghao has taken the most challenging English classes available to him. The risk has paid off in helping to make Jinghao a more well-rounded student as well as assisting him in developing a strong, thoughtful writing ability, yet his sophomore accelerated class also accounts for one of his only two Bs (1). Earning such an unexpected grade did not discourage Jinghao, who persevered and signed up AP English Language and AP English Literature (this school year). Jinghao never runs from a challenge.

Jinghao took my AP English Language class very seriously (2), actively participating with thoughtful questions and intelligent insights and always determined to improve and become the best writer he could be. Jinghao’s tenacity is the reason I know him so well and why I feel so strongly about his potential. During the first semester, he had a disagreement with me over a few points, which nonetheless would make a difference in his grade, so he decided to write me an Email expressing his concern. Since AP English Language is a class that focuses on developing a mature, academic writing style, Jinghao surmised that a professional business-grade letter would get my attention. The letter was intelligent and stylistically flawless, and I told Jinghao that he had made my week with this charming missive. Pleased that he had brightened my day, Jinghao created what he called a bi-monthly newsletter where he wrote me astonishingly adept letters about our class, his experiences at school, or the world at large. Needless to say, I looked forward to each one. Jinghao may be the student that everyone runs to for math and science help but he is actually quite modest (3) and cares deeply about his classmates and his teachers.

Jinghao is a brilliant, kind, and thoughtful student who has an incredible future ahead of him. I honestly believe that there is nothing that Jinghao cannot overcome, and that whatever he aspires to, he will succeed at. Jinghao has much to offer and the tools to take advantage of the best that American schools have to offer.

Robin Jankowski

FOOTNOTES:
1. Heh, as of now there are two more to add to that, thanks to lit and my supposed “perseverence”.
2. On brief occasions, I suppose that was true.
3. Modesty isn’t as frequently seen in non-English classes.

Gay??? Source: http://joeysays.livejournal.com/

Subject: jinghao
Posted: January 11, 2007
Mood: indescribable
Music: the new mario song

Okay. I have a crush. A major major crush. China crush. Lol. Yeah Jinghao’s from China. The only thing I’ve ever said to him is “glugh” because my tongue tied as I gazed upon his hot broad shouldered form. And the best thing is that no one else thinks that he’s hot. YAY! Now if I can work up the courage to go up and introduce myself to him…

Anyhow, I’ve been hearing from my friends that he’s been staring at me alot when I’m not looking. So hopefully, he has a thing for me too! Either that or he thinks I’m a total freak. I want this one.

Hallelujah.

Joey! This is what I find out by Googling “lol jinghao” on a random Sunday evening. I can’t believe you’ve kept this secret to yourself for all these years! If only I had known!

(Stop being gay by entertaining your alternate personalities)

I’m done choosing my classes. You can see them here: http://my.originxt.com/schedule.htm

I hand coded the chart, so it took longer than I wanted it to, but it helped me choose the classes that didn’t overlap. I was pretty disappointed when the 10-11 math 53 discussion sessions were full/unavailable, so I had to drop the Environmental Science seminar (9-10) in order to add the 9-10 AM math discussion sessions Now I got astronomy seminar instead of Environmental Sci, and I have to wake up an hour early–not to mention the extra one hour of nothing every day.

Have you guys finished registering for classes?

I just picked up my mail and saw my AP scores. They were much better than I had anticipated; at least AP Bio was (5). Hooray for Bowen Education! My 5 in Macro won’t help me at all (not even units) because I would need a complementary 4 in Micro in order to get Econ 1 credit. 5 in Physics C: EM doesn’t help either because Berkeley’s Engineering department doesn’t believe the EM is intensive enough (it really isn’t–I learned it the hours before the test). I took most of these APs because they would’ve counted towards MIT, but I never got off the waitlist. (Caltech doesn’t count them)

I really wish I got a 5 in lit, though. I know I shouldn’t've expected any higher than a 4, but a four means nothing to my credits.

Engineering school is too strict.

I have just returned from China, a diverse country of 1.3 billion people and 56 ethnicities. I’ll try to summarize my experience in a brief paragraph:

In China, I saw Blacks, Mexicans, Caucasians, Indians, everyone, but there were no Blacks, Mexicans, Caucasians, Indians in China; they were all Chinese. There were homeless families living under bridges, young men slaving away eighteen hours a day at a textile factory for less than minimum wage, unscrupulous businessmen willing to put their lives and their families’ wellbeing at stake to earn that extra penny, poor farmers breaking their backs to see their fields rot and die. There were people of all kinds, more than one can imagine. All the world’s stereotypes come alive in the land of the Middle Kingdom.

So for the first time in a life time, my parents hired this Mexican guy (Mexican 1) to mow our lawn since they were excessively busy preparing for our trip to China. We paid him 25 bucks, and he provided the equipment, gasoline, among other things.

Halfway through his job, another Mexican, Mexican 2 (this guy lives down the street), comes over and beats up Mexican 1 while causing a mess with the pile of plant material Mexican 1 meticulously collected. Mexican 2 complained about how Mexican 1 was an unlicensed worker and how he’s stealing the job that’s rightfully his (Mexican 2’s). Mexican 1 was silent the whole time.

Enraged by Mexican 1’s calm demeanor, Mexican 2 assaulted him again, this time screaming something along the lines of “GO BACK TO MEXICO, YOU F@$KING [Niger]!” (I guess this guy can’t pronounce Niger either ). Ironic, since they’re both Mexican and the second one can’t tell the difference between a Nigerian resident and a Veracruz resident.

I guess of the 25 bucks we paid, 2 dollars go into gasoline and 20 go into his health insurance. Poor Mexican, getting beat up by another Mexican for stealing his job. At least we have concrete assurances that the free market system works in this world