Blog 25

New York Times writer Matthew Wald wrote an article about the pros and cons of nuclear energy. One of the cons was that nuclear power plants are extremely expensive to build and took many years to complete. In the article, Wald says “Costs got way out of hand. Half the plants were abandoned before completion. Some utilities faced bankruptcy. In all, 100 reactors ordered after 1973 were abandoned. By the time of the Three Mile Island accident, ordering a new plant was unthinkable and the question was how many would be abandoned before completion.”(Wald 1). Not only were the reactors expensive and difficult to build, but there was great fear of accidents occurring that could be extremely devastating to the area around a plant. Many of the companies that were trying to build the reactors were not very experienced at building large projects that took many years. As Wald says, many ended up just cutting their losses and scrapping the builds before they spent any more money on them.
All these blogs are really starting to wear on me and I am having trouble reaching the necessary lengths every night. If I am to maintain a decent sleep schedule as well as study for other classes I must find a way to improve the length of my blogs. This is that way. I am sorry for wasting your time making you read this last paragraph but I need 250 words and now that I have accomplished this, good night everyone.

Blog 24

In an article written by Matthew Wald about nuclear energy and its history, he talks about the current status of nuclear reactors in our world today. He brings up the changes in the technology of the reactors and also improvements in old technology and how it is becoming a large part of our modern energy production. “In 2009, reactors are producing more electricity than ever before, about 20 percent of the kilowatt-hours used in this country, by getting more power out of old plants.” (Wald 1) In other words, old nuclear reactors are being improved upon to produce much more energy; in 2009, they produced about 20 percent of the United States kilowatt-hours.

While nuclear power can be helpful, it has the potential to be extremely dangerous as well. One example is the Chernobyl nuclear accident, thousands of people were killed and there has been a giant increase in cancer rates surrounding the site of the meltdown. This is similar to the memory implanting in dollhouse, being able to implant dolls with the necessary memories to do jobs that others would most likely fail at seems like a great idea. What if it goes horribly wrong though? This has happened once already with alpha and the Dollhouse hasn’t seemed to learn from its mistakes just as we haven’t seemed to learn from ours in the case of nuclear reactors. Sure, we take some steps to improve our safety but we let ourselves get lulled to sleep, in 2002, here in Ohio, boric acid ate away a chunk of the reactor and left it vulnerable to failure. Luckily it was discovered before anything worse happened but we obviously aren’t taking the necessary actions to foresee potential problems.

Blog 21

First of all, go bucks, we destroyed Purdue tonight, and it was a fun time, even from the nosebleed section. I am even happier I chose Ohio State over Purdue. Anyways, for blog 21, I read an article about the history of gunpowder. This article turned out to be very disappointing because it was extremely short. My blog tonight will probably end up being longer than this article was. It provided many links to find other information, but so does Google and I don’t have to waste as much time looking through the page for links on Google. The author starts out talking about how important gunpowder is, and how it is traditionally made of charcoal, an oxidizer like saltpeter, and sulfur for stability. The ingredients are ground together and the result is called serpentine. She does not really explain the difference between gunpowder and serpentine at any point, so I was confused. She then talks about how since serpentine is dangerous sometimes it is mixed with water or wine to reduce the danger of a spark setting off a fire. Then, she talks about how black powder is made which apparently isn’t the same thing but it is made with the exact same ingredients. She then talks about how gunpowder is so explosive because the saltpeter adds extra oxygen to the mix and allows it to burn faster. If there was no saltpeter, the mixture would apparently burn like wood. Then she talks about smoke, that’s how it ends, thank god.

blog 20

Raghuvanshi, Kulbhushaan. "Nuclear Weapons Pros and Cons." Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. 28 Apr. 2010. Web. 22 Jan. 2011.

For tonight’s blog I chose to continue the nuclear technology theme, but this time focus more on the pros and cons of nuclear weapons, not nuclear energy. In the article, the author starts out with a brief history of the usage of the nuclear bomb and some of its basic pros and cons. He then lists the facts about nuclear bombs like how they wipe out full cities, how much plutonium it takes to make a nuclear bomb, and how many countries own nuclear weapons. Then he talks about some of the pros and cons about nuclear weapons. One of the pros is that nuclear weapons are the ultimate deterrent, countries are afraid to start wars with nuclear powers or their allies because of the fear of the ultimate retaliation, a nuke destroying their entire country. Also, if the nuclear powers got rid of their nukes while other countries like Iran are about to get them, who will keep them from using them on whoever they want? There would be nothing stopping Iran from nuking their enemies and anyone who said anything or tried to do anything to stop them. The cons of nuclear bombs are that there are enough nukes to destroy the world many times over, nukes are immoral, and that it is extremely expensive to maintain nuclear weapons.

Blog 19

I read the article about nuclear energy. The author started off by giving an overview about nuclear energy and its highs and lows in use. He explained that it was relatively popular in the late 50s and early 60s, but people soon realized that they could get energy cheaper through other fuel sources like oil or coal.  Then he explained how the nuclear reactor works, which would not be very useful to me in writing my technology gone wrong paper. He then goes on to talk about the birth of the technology and how it was weaponized by the United States. We made a reactor just to make plutonium which is needed for the bomb, and we considered the energy we created to be a waste product, not even a byproduct. Then he talks about the start of commercial reactors and that leads into the accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. The Three Mile Island accident was caused by the complexity of the nuclear reactor and its sensors, when a technology becomes too complex for people to understand, it becomes many times more dangerous. Unfortunately, the accident in Chernobyl killed over 400 people and that was just an accident, not even a nuclear bomb. He then talks about the problem of nuclear waste and what to do with it. Nuclear waste can’t just be thrown into a river or burned into the atmosphere; it has to be stored away in a safe spot until it becomes useless and no longer radioactive.

Blog 17

I am going to research examples of technologies that were meant to be used for good falling into the wrong hands and being used for killing and other harm. I think I will start my research with gunpowder since it was originally used for entertainment similar to Dollhouse, but now it is more commonly used for guns and killing. Next I will use some of the suggestions I received and research how nuclear technology turned from energy to weapons. Nukes could very easily end the world however nuclear energy could provide cheap energy for millions. I will also research how the internet is good or bad depending on who is using it. It is very helpful when someone is trying to make their lives more convenient through online shopping or emails or things like that, but when people send viruses or hack into things, it can turn out very ugly.

Wald, Matthew L. "Nuclear Energy - The New York Times." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 22 Jan. 2011. Web. 22 Jan. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/info/nuclear-energy/>.

Raghuvanshi, Kulbhushaan. "Nuclear Weapons Pros and Cons." Buzzle Web Portal: Intelligent Life on the Web. 28 Apr. 2010. Web. 22 Jan. 2011. <http://www.buzzle.com/articles/nuclear-weapons-pros-and-cons.html>.

Helmenstine, Anne Marie. "Gunpowder Facts and History." Chemistry - Periodic Table, Chemistry Projects, and Chemistry Homework Help. Web. 22 Jan. 2011. <http://chemistry.about.com/od/historyofchemistry/a/gunpowder.htm>.

"Brady Campaign Details Dangers of Guns." Opposing Views: Issues, Experts, Answers. Web. 22 Jan. 2011. <http://www.opposingviews.com/i/brady-campaign-details-dangers-of-guns>.

Deitrick, Angela. "Pros and Cons of the Internet in Todays Society - by Angela Deitrick - Helium." Helium - Where Knowledge Rules. Web. 22 Jan. 2011. <http://www.helium.com/items/615202-pros-and-cons-of-the-internet-in-todays-society>.

Blog 16 Prospectus

So I think my analytical research paper is going to be about Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Just kidding, that would be crazy. I have been watching Dollhouse every time I had to write a blog so obviously I am going to write about it. I think I am going to argue that technology no matter what it was intended for, can be used for bad things if put in the wrong hands and in the wrong situation. Dollhouse really sets this up because so far, it has been used for mostly good things, but it definitely has the potential to be extremely bad. I think I will compare it to things in this world that were originally designed for good but eventually used for violence and harm like airplanes and explosives and things like that. The only problem I think I will have with this is turning it into a 7 page paper. Hell, I think 5 pages would be difficult. I think I might need out watch more Dollhouse and find some more evidence showing that Dollhouse has the potential to be used for harming innocent people. There are plenty of examples of modern technology gone wrong but I do not want my whole paper to be about that. Sorry if this blog isn’t my best but I am kind of sick at the moment. Sorry

Blog Number 14 dollhouse 9

So apparently I missed out on a lot when I went out last night. There was a sweet cat fight and Echo took over the dollhouse and let everyone escape. Unfortunately, or maybe not, it was all just a test to see what they would do and see if their “glitches” would resolve. According to the doctor, the dolls just needed some closure and they needed to resolve their problems. Somehow human nature is winning out over the technology. In episode nine, I’m not gunna lie, I kind of liked the s and m Echo, but anyways at the scientist found out that someone was implanting the dolls secretly and remotely. Echo can tell something is wrong and in her basic doll state understands the imprinting process in a very simple way and offers to help by being implanted. The person secretly implanting dolls sends the detective’s neighbor, also a doll, with whom he is romantically involved, to tell him that she is a doll and that he needs to find out the dolls purpose. I assume its alpha that sent her. I also feel like Alpha is not just trying to bring down dollhouse, but maybe trying to figure out its true purpose and expose it to the public so he can regain his old life. Even though the mole turned out to be the security director, I believe he was ultimately put to work by Alpha not the NSA. I just can not see Alpha not playing a big part in this situation.

Blog 13, Episode 8

In episode 8, the dolls are remembering things that have happened to them. The management tries to fix this by doing something to their sleep. This apparently backfires and some of the dolls wake up and can think for themselves. They are no longer zombies and each form their own ideas of why they are where they are. This shows they are different and their previous personalities might be influencing the way they react. They all say that they can’t remember anything about themselves but know “the capital of Nebraska.” They are learning to survive by blending in and thinking. Echo has to go to the doctor and the doctor realizes Echo is conscious and knows something strange is happening but she doesn’t seem surprised. One of the dolls who woke up is found out and wiped. He goes back to being a normal doll and that makes me wonder how often the dolls do this. The awakened dolls decide to escape and the director knows this and doesn’t immediately try to stop them. I feel like this may be a trap or an exercise to see how well the Dollhouse staff reacts or how much the dolls end up remembering. I have been watching this on Netflix and my internet connection is slowing down terribly which causes the video to freeze for long periods of time. Unfortunately I have a very early and important morning tomorrow and I did not anticipate this taking as long as it is. So I will continue this episode on my next blog. Goodnight.

Blog 12, There are mansions in your eyes...

In Episode 7, we find out that Echo did not really completely volunteer. She was coerced or even forced into signing her life away. The boss lady was in a meeting with her trying to get Echo to sign and Echo said that she had been trapped in a room for two days and held against her will. The lady told Echo that all she wanted was her life for her life which leads me to believe that either someone is trying to kill Echo and Dollhouse they will protect her or that they are openly threatening her life. She also is told that she will be given her life back after five years. I find that hard to believe because they said that a dolls personality can never be returned after he or she is imprinted. I would never trust someone like that completely with my life, what is to stop them from just never giving me back my life. I would never know; I would be stuck in the doll state of nothingness and never remember their promise. On a side note, I though the whole college campus getting super high was pretty cool. I especially liked the random lines that some of the college kids had. If only it didn’t make people kill themselves… Oh well, it’s time to go out so I have to go. The window glass is coming for us!

Blog 11 Dollhouse Episode 6

In episode six of Dollhouse, the dolls start having feelings for each other. One doll gets an erection every time he sees another doll in the shower that he “loves.” The bosses are becoming worried about the situation because it seems the dolls wiping is becoming even worse. It seems as if the dolls are becoming more resistant to memory loss and Echo is leading the pack. The dolls are starting to think more independently and each of the main characters are remembering more about watch other like where they sit and how they feel about each other. At first, the bosses think that one doll has gone “Alpha” and started pretending to be wiped and just abusing another doll.  Eventually Echo’s handler discovers that it is not another doll that is abusing the other, it is the dolls own handler. This shows that the progression of the dolls own self awareness and independent abilities are not as bad as they had suspected. Near the end of the episode, it seems that Echo was programmed by someone to deliver the detective a message that the dollhouse is real and that there are many Dollhouses in many cities. Someone attacks the detectives neighbor and the boss of Dollhouse calls her house and uses simple words to turn the girl into a fighting machine and she kicks the shit out if the attacker. This shows that vocal or remote programming and wiping is not so far out of reach that the boss doesn’t know how to do it. Maybe she is keeping something from the scientist?

Episode 5 of Dollhouse

I watched the next episode of dollhouse for my blog. In this episode a senator comes to dollhouse and asks for help infiltrating a fanatical religious cult to see what is happening on the inside. He doesn’t want the normal government agencies to send their people in because they aren’t good enough. This shows that dollhouse is the best choice because they can make basically any person they want to make and don’t have to spend time training them or worry about their acting skills since they believe they are who they were programmed to be. Dollhouse has proved to be extremely helpful when used in the right way by the right people, but it can also be used by bad people because it is a private enterprise working for whoever pays the right price.  I think that if dollhouse was not a private enterprise and that honest people controlled it, not just for money, it would be very beneficial for the world. I also think that if instead of putting the dolls in a blank state between jobs, they should put them into their previous personality so that they can make their own decision for each job and can decide whether or not they want to do each specific job. That way, they would have more of a choice because they wouldn’t “die” after they agreed or were forced to agree to become a doll. If dollhouse could save previous personalities, it would be much more ethical and im sure they could get a lot more dolls to agree to help.

Blog 8: High School is Hell

Pass?

Blog 7 More Dollhouse

In episode four of the show Dollhouse, some of my suspicions about the scientist seem to be confirmed. He and Echos handler notice some of the dolls eating lunch at the same table and with the same people. The scientist compares them to bison and says it is part of their base instincts to form herds for survival. The handler is of course offended by the comparison of the dolls and beasts, proving he really cares about the people and doesn’t like the whole idea. The one thing the scientist can’t figure out is why they are doing this since he says he thought they all volunteered. Also, halfway through the episode, Echo is remotely wiped which everyone thought was not possible. The scientist and Echo’s handler are genuinely concerned for her well-being and the boss lady says that they need to rescue her to save the reputation of the company. Another thing to look at this episode is the remote mind wipe. Apparently it was impossible but it was obviously done and has the scientist thinking there is a big team of people trying to sabotage Dollhouse due to the complexity of the wipe. I have a sneaking suspicion that it could just be Alpha doing this since he seems to be out for Dollhouse and extremely good at everything he does. When Echo is wiped, she seems to vaguely remember certain things, for example when her partner tells her what her name is, she says she thinks she has a different name somewhere else. Something is obviously going wrong with the Dolls or the wiping system and I am interested in seeing what happens next.

Blog 6 Dollhouse 3

I think I am going to continue with the theme of Dollhouse for as many blogs as I can because I’m starting to like the show. In episode three, Echo is once again tasked with helping keep someone alive, further proving that the dolls are being used only for good. The company gives Echo the memories and personality they think she needs. They also give her certain needs or feelings drawing her to directly protect the singer. The problem is, the singer wants to die and so is a threat to herself and the company didn’t prepare Echo to deal with a problem like that. Echo thought for herself outside of what she was directly “programmed” to do. The security director sees this and is starting to become worried that she might go crazy like Alpha did and wants to put her in the “attic.” I’m not quite sure what it is but it sounds like a place where they send their dolls when they are done playing with them.  In the climax of the show, Echo saves her fellow operative Sigma, and becomes friends with her. Near the end of the episode, Sigma smiles at Echo and Echo shakes her head as if to say “don’t let them know we are friends,” hinting that she hasn’t completely lost her memories. This could foreshadow that Echo could turn into Alpha like the security director fears because Alpha apparently regained all the programming he had received without being implanted again and used it to kill people and escape.

blog 5 Dollhouse episode 2

                I chose to watch the second episode of Dollhouse because the first one caught my interest. So far this show is proving to be very entertaining and fun to watch. I keep having trouble deciding which characters are bad. The scientist guy seems to have flawed morals but I don’t think he is that bad at heart. He sees the project as art and enjoys his job and I am sure they pay him quite well. Echo’s handler is obviously a good person and doesn’t like the project but he takes care of Echo very well and even takes an arrow for her. I think where the real evil lies, is in the higher ups. But then again, they have only used the “dolls” to help or entertain people in exchange for money and that’s more than many companies can claim in the real world. Even the painful procedures the dolls go through could be seen as a necessary evil in some cases. It is very similar to surgery where in some cases the anesthesia just makes you not remember the pain of the procedure and doesn’t necessarily stop it from occurring. Surgery is a good thing and not seen as morally wrong to put someone through pain they won’t remember in order to help them. In the case of dollhouse, people go through pain they won’t remember in order to help others. It is in sense slavery, but they agree to it beforehand, although it is hinted that they have no real choice in the matter.

Blog 4 Doll house

I chose to watch the first episode of Dollhouse for this blog. When it started I was kind of confused at what was going on, but by the end I completely understood the whole concept, which was very cool. At first I thought the idea to implant complete memories and made up lives into someone was a good one.  That person could be good at many things and could be given great memories to make them happy and help others a lot. For example, in this episode the main character, Echo, has a date with someone and she seems to be enjoying herself very much. She loses this memory when she is called back to her handler to wipe her mind, but while she is on the date she is having a great time and so is the guy she is out with. She also becomes the ultimate “hostage negotiator” when a man’s daughter is kidnapped and he needs help with negotiating the transaction. She was given memories of many different people to make her into an expert and the best person for the job. The drawback for memory implanting is that the person who receives the memories has to go through a very painful process and is essentially “murdered.” They lose all the memories of their previous life and the person they were is gone forever. They are basically zombies after their minds are wiped and until they receive new memories. If not for this, the idea would be very good and extremely helpful to many people.

The Train Job. Blog 2

I like the episode because it is very plausible. It doesn’t include anything very fantastic for a SciFi show and it seems that this could be a very real future for mankind. I enjoyed how Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his crew and friends are trying to live free in a time when there is little freedom. They are willing do whatever it takes to survive but they still have compassion and care about others. For example, Reynolds agreed to become thieves for a local crime lord named Adelei Niska. I’m sure in a different time, he would never have taken the job, but he really needs the money so he has to do it. When he finds out that the cargo contains life saving medicine for a poor disease ridden town, he decides to bring it back and do the right thing. Even his crew is honorable and when Reynolds is left behind on the train, his pilot goes back to save him even though it might mean the crime lord Niska might try to kill him. The sheriff even realizes that these are good people and when he catches them returning the crates, he lets them go when he could have very easily arrested them for stealing the medicine. The episode was good and had some very exciting moments and I like it. Not because it is funny like a lot of the other shows are. My dad and I enjoy watching some of the others and laughing at how ridiculous they are but this show is much better.

Ryan Dickinson, Blog 1

My name is Ryan Dickinson and I am studying to become a mechanical engineer here at The Ohio State University. I am originally from Brea, California where I lived until I was 12, when I moved to Chardon, Ohio with my two sisters, Vanessa and Raven, and one brother named Josiah. The weather was a big change but luckily, I like snow and don’t mind the cold. I joined the Chardon Football team and learned to love the sport. I kept playing every year I could which unfortunately, was not all of them. My junior year when I decided to become a wide receiver, I hurt my back weightlifting. The official term was herniated disk and I ended up needing surgery to fix the problem. The doctors wouldn’t sign off on my physical to let me play my senior year because they said I would probably get hurt worse. I applied for two colleges, Ohio State, and Purdue University, and I was accepted into both. I decided to go to Ohio State because the tuition was much more affordable and my Army ROTC scholarship was withdrawn when they discovered my previous back problems. I plan on reapplying for the scholarship next year and hopefully learning here for free. I currently live in Morril Tower on west campus, and I am stuck in a 4-person room with only two other people. My roommates are very distracting and make writing very difficult, even more so when the Lakers and Suns are playing.