Earth II

More Earth-like planets found :) in the habitable zone....

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16040655

Interest-Based Advertising

Recently I searched a few things on google... suddenly I noticed that those things showed up in nearly all advertisements that were posted on other random websites I've visited. (for example, a few weeks ago, I searched "topographical map" to find some images for a graphic design project). I just visited a random website, and the side banner was stock images of topographical maps).

I looked into it... Google calls this "interest-based advertising." You can find some information here in their advertising/privacy section.

To be quite honest, I'm kind of bothered by it. I'm not sure why... I just am. It is a tactic that will bring them more money, and probably make more people in the world spend money that they shouldn't be spending. They're taking my personal searches and information and tailoring my ads to them--I feel like I should be grateful, because at least they're not advertising things that don't interest me--I suppose that would be more annoying?

But ... just because I searched something doesn't mean that I want that particular thing. Now that my project is over, I could care less about topographical maps! It just seems so sneaky of them to advertise this way. Not to mention, how do they decide that that company even DESERVES that advertising?

I don't particularly care that Google is taking over the world; they practically deserve it for all they've done to make my life and millions others easier. However, it does bother me a bit that they have such a monopoly over advertising and searching. I'm sure you could just slip them an extra bit of cash and they'd move your search up, right? It's possible.

I guess I should mention that you can "opt out" of this interest-based advertising. I guess I can mention that. BUT. It's hidden in all of their fine print. Even * I * didn't have the energy to read through that whole link, and I'm the one complaining. Our world is so apathetic that they just take whatever is dished to them without blinking twice (it's like thinking twice, but you blink instead--because if they were thinking even once, they wouldn't put up with the crap that they do).

And so I will always be one person wondering if anyone else in the world cares about anything.

I have to believe that mankind still has potential. Sometimes I am disappointed in the behaviors and attitudes of people around me. I am disappointed in the dispassion and momentary pleasure and frailty that people seek as they fake their way through love. If it was real, it would be a thousand steel bands. I am disappointed that anyone would seek the easy way out, when it encourages any human not to earn the worthwhile things of this world.

I am pleased with those who find a higher way of living and sacrifice for it. I believe that each man has the potential to have a fulfilling life, if they are willing to work for it.

Found this fun website with examples of vintage typography. Lovely.

I'm leaving!

I get set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints tomorrow at 8pm. Wow. The "hitting me" is baaarely starting make itself known. I think by tomorrow I might realize that I'm actually going on a mission! I realize in waves, you know? Anyway, I have almost everything packed. I'm sure I'll forget things, but I have 9 weeks in the MTC to have stuff sent to me.

Well I'll be off "the nets" for a year and a half. Which really isn't that big of a deal cause no one really read my blogs anyway :) Okay if you didn't already see this on facebook, here's how to write to me:


Best way: www.DearElder.com (FREE)

Dear Elder Instructions

- Go to www.dearelder.com
- Choose a mission from the drop-down menu (mine is Provo MTC* until December 2009, then POLAND WARSAW)
- Click "Write a Letter"
- Fill out your return address and my name (Sister Laurel Hulme) and anything else that needs to be filled out
- Just write a letter and send it!


You can visit my mission site too for the other addresses, and info: www.missionsite.net/sisterhulme. My family will update it while I'm gone, probably.

PROCESSING Fee?!

Someone please tell me HOW this is possible. How does every website get away with charging us processing fees? I've paid anywhere between $3-$15 in processing fees while buying tickets, passes, and other things. What kind of crap is that? I'm the one printing out my ticket. Their stupid site isn't doing anything other than creating an image for me to print... I'm the one using the ink and paper. I can understand if I have to pay for them to send it to me (in which process they make approximately 10x more than the cost they pay to send it), but when I'm doing the printing? It's just ridiculous. I'm pretty sick of it. Who could I even complain to about this? I feel like there should be some internet committee that says: "OKAY, this is just wrong. You can't get away with this anymore." I mean, there are laws for other things. The laws of the internet are seriously lacking. It's ridiculous, because everyone knows that if you want to get tickets to many good things (and get good seats), you have to order them online to beat others to it. You can't always buy tickets at the door, or the front. So of course you end up paying the stupid fee because there's nothing else you can do.

EEERRRRRRGGG!

People make me mad. I hate being cheated. Why doesn't anyone believe in integrity? ERG.

Designing the Future

Design Finalists

This is kind of fun!

By the way, received my CommArts Photography Annual in the mail a few days ago. The Photo Anual is one of my favorites.... I guess that all of the Annuals are great. But... wow, we live in a world of very talented people. I hope to acheive something great in the same vein one day. I've started thinking more about packaging design. I love it! I think it's something I'd really enjoy doing. But, I enjoy all types of design. Apparently there's some pretty good design coming out of Poland... maybe I can head back there after I graduate. Haha. Just a crazy thought. Really crazy. But I'm not ruling it out. Annnyway.

2 weeks almost exactly until I report at the MTC. It's going to be a lot of work. Before I go out in the field, and after. It'll be tough (more than I realize, I'm pretty sure... everyone keeps warning me, it's like the first thing they tell me ["they" being elders that have served there]). But an amazing experience nonetheless! Okay............ somuchtodobye.

Learning Polish--Yes, I'm a Mormon Missionary.

From Polish Blog (Do Poles Like It When Foreigners Learn Polish?)

So yeah, we’re proud of our language. We (and here I am generalizing, of course) think it’s a very difficult language. No, scratch that, not think. We KNOW it’s a very difficult language. Go to any Polish shopping mall on any given Saturday and listen to the young and old, and you’ll see just how difficult Polish is. So difficult, in fact, that the great majority of Poles tends to simplify it a great deal and use just several chosen words to express, well… just about everything. One of those words (and probably one of the very first words of Polish, if not the only word, that a native Pole will teach you) is so versatile it functions as a verb, noun, adjective, adverb, conjunction, exclamation, and probably a few other things too. So yes, now you know why. The “k” word is so immensely popular, because Polish is just too difficult and complicated, even for the average Pole.

And because our language is so difficult even for us, we simply consider it to be impossible to learn for anybody else.

What is this "k" word that they're speaking of? Maybe when I actually learn Polish, they'll be impressed that it wasn't impossible for me to learn. Although, there's no way I'll be able to speak it perfectly (looking forward to the grammar) ... I don't even speak English perfectly. But I definitely try.

Oh yes, foreigners can learn the basics, like ordering “pięć piw” (five beers) or explaining why they’re in Poland to their brand new girlfriends – “uczę angielskiego” (I teach English). Add to that a couple of popular tongue twisters (to amuse their Polish drinking buddies) and you have the level of Polish skills that most Poles expect from a random foreign person. The problems begin if said foreign person speaks Polish more or less fluently. The natives raise their eyebrows and look on with obvious suspicion. “Why are you learning Polish?” or “How the heck did you manage to learn our language so well?” (implying – ‘do you have a Polish grandfather or are you a Mormon missionary?’) are two of the most common reactions.

Nice. I guess they're expecting me.

A foreigner speaking Polish is nothing but a direct attack on the very fierce Polish pride (remember? our language is supposedly one of the most difficult in the world and supposedly impossible to learn). And as odd as it may sound, that is the reason why some Poles (not all, but some, and the percentage is surprisingly high) will knowingly sabotage the foreigner’s efforts to learn more. It may be done through incomprehensible lectures and explanations, always ending with “eh, you won’t get it anyway, you’re not Polish.” It may be done through showing the foreigner that his/her knowledge and studies (even if said foreigner is an expert in a particular field) will never be a match for the knowledge of an average Pole. And when all else fails, they try to snow you with grammar. This bizarre one-upmanship when it comes to our beautiful (albeit very convoluted) language seems to be a national obsession.

Excellent. They're going to make it as hard for me as they can.

The problem is that most foreigners get put off instead of taking it for what it really is – reverse psychology to motivate you to study harder, learn more and reach true native-like fluency.

Well, alright, I guess I'll just study harder then. Maybe by the last few months, I'll pass off as a Pole... almost.