RGM HOMEWORK PART 1

Rube Goldberg Graham Cracker Smacker

List of the nouns used for the parts of the RGM:

• glass
• milk
• guitar string
• neck
• dominos
• metal ball
• straw
• flag
• track
• hammer
• graham cracker

List of the verbs used in the process:

• to pour into
• to roll forward/down somewhere/into something
• to fall
• to raise something
• to knock something out of place
• to rotate into something
• to crack something

CAJ 4

Sustainability

What does ‘sustainability’ mean?

Sustainability is the principle of the utilization of resources in order to obtain the steadiness as well as the capacity of natural regeneration of the respective system. Briefly worded, sustainability is the capacity to endure.

In what ways can a building be sustainable?

When it comes to sustainable housing, there have been tremendous advances since the last century → Sustainable houses are becoming the new ideal homes.

As far as the building of such an ultra-low energy house is concerned, some facts have to be considered at first:         Will it really be sustainable or will it only be a waste of money?

                How much time has to pass before it will pay off?

                Are there any specific facts I have to consider after having built … ?

In most cases sustainable houses consist of:

Domestic wind turbines: The purpose of these small-scaled wind turbines is to generate electricity by utilizing the energy of the wind. The greatest advantage: Once you've paid for the initial installation your electricity costs will be reduced since the wind is FREE ;) Besides, wind energy is green and renewable and doesn't release any harmful carbon dioxide or other pollutants.  Disadvantage: When you live in a region with hardly and wind, it would be better to use solar panels instead.

solar panels: They capture the sun’s energy by using photovoltaic cells. In order to work, they don’t need direct sunlight, but even on a cloudy day can generate some electricity. The advantages are the same as for the wind turbines.

Living walls:  Who would actually mind living in a house with plants on it. It doesn’t only look nice, but plants also absorb sunrays and protect the concrete from getting hot. Besides, you could grow plants that can be eaten.  Solar panels, on the contrary, absorb the energy and the walls get hot, but you can still use the gained energy for something else.

 Biomass boilers: Instead of fossil fuels, it would be better to use biomass in heating systems. It uses agricultural, forest, urban and industrial residues and waste in order to produce heat and electricity with less effect on the environment.

Sewage treatments plants: As already mentioned in the post about Earthships, there are plants that filter out the remaining pollutants of sewage.

Heat pumps: They offer an energy-efficicent alternative to air conditioners and furnaces. Like a refrigerator, during the heating season the heat pumps move cool heat from the outdoors into your warm house and vice versa during the cooling season. Furthermore, the pumps can provide up to four times the amount of energy they consume.

Green paving/asphalt: Green asphalt is environmentally friendly as old asphalt pavements are reclaimed and their component parts rejuvenated for use in new pavement. They conserve natural resources and reduce the need to purchase raw materials.

Revolving doors: They are indeed more efficient than a swing door system since they serve as airlock. So they prevent letting cold air into warm buildings and vice versa.

Composting toilets: It may sound strange for some people, but for those who even want a sustainable toilet system, it is an excellent idea. Human excreta are turned into a valuable soil amendment, constituting a natural process. Apart from that, hardly any water is used for this process.

CAJ 3

Shipping container architecture

Some time ago a shipping container’s main purpose was to serve as a both fast and cheap solution to emergency needs. Everyone knows them: Shipping containers serving as temporary bank branches, classrooms, etc.

Nowadays, however, those shipping containers are not only temporarily but also permanently used to build real homes.

There are about 300 million of containers which sit empty at ports all around the world and therefore it is an excellent solution and idea of recycling to turn them into houses.

The containers are used to build single-family homes, no matter if for part-time or full-time use.

Advantages

Strength and durability: They are designed to carry heavy loads and resist harsh environments. Apart from that, they can be stacked in high columns.

Transport: They can be easily transported by ship, rail or truck, since they conform to standard shipping sizes.

Availability: They are available across the globe.

Expense: The construction involves very little labor and money. Used containers can cheaply be purchased from major transport companies for about €900 each, and even when purchased brand new, they don’t cost more than €4,500.

Disadvantages

Temperature: Unfortunately, steel conducts heats very well. Thus, if you’re living in an environment with high temperatures, it is recommended to insulate them.

Humidity: Especially in temperate climates rust forms quickly unless the steel is well-sealed and insulated.

Building permits: Sometimes it can be troublesome to obtain building permits as in some regions municipalities haven’t seen this kind of application before.

Cargo spillages: It is not rare that containers show spillage or contamination on the inside surfaces because they have carried a wide variety of cargo during their “working life”. So it would be better to clean them before settlement.

CAJ 2

Earthships

I don’t think that many of you have already heard about ‘Earthships’, but some of you could maybe imagine what it is all about.

‘Earthships’ is a project of the American architect Michael Reynolds which began to take shape in the 1970s. Earthships are radically sustainable buildings made of natural and recycled materials, such as earth-filled tires. They can also be referred to a type of a passive solar house and can be built all around the world and nevertheless provide electricity, potable water, food production in a sustained manner as well as contained sewage treatment.

Earthships’ characterization: large series of windows and the use of tires

In most cases the north, east as well as west walls are  build of used tires that contain compressed earth. The south wall, on the contrary, is almost only built of windows and used for heat production. By this means, the heat is saved within the components for weeks and therefore no classical heating is necessary.

WATER: When it comes to water supply, rainwater is collected on the roof area and simultaneously stored in cisterns. Due to an elaborate system each of the drops is used four times. The rainwater is then filtered and serves as both potable and rinse water. Besides, it is used to water the plants inside the house and in turn is used to flush the toilet. When flushing the toilet, the water is led through a septic tank into a planting bed next to the house where the remaining pollutants are eventually filtered out.

                                                a cistern in which the rainwater is stored

Electricity: As far as electricity is concerned, Earthships are designed to collect and store their own energy from a number of sources. The most energy, however, is collected from the sun and wind by installing solar panels or wind turbines. Those are either located on or near the Earthship.

Problems: However, as genius the project may sound, there still can occur some problems, especially in regions with continental climate. There condensation water constitutes the main problem. Moreover, when you live in a region where there hardly is any wind, it would be better to consider installing photovoltaic panels instead of wind turbines.

Sustainable housing in Africa

Audio description - Kung Fu Panda

CAJ - High-tech housing

Dear diary,

today is May 5th, 2038. My robot ‘Charlie’ woke me up early and when I was looking out of my window, I spotted a building opposite my apartment. I hardly believed my eyes and felt confused as well as disorientated since this house hasn’t been there the day before. Due to my huge curiosity I got dressed and went outside to see my new neighbor so as to find answers for what has happened. This is roughly what I was told: “Believe it or not, but this is the new revolution as far as housing is concerned. My modest residence was built overnight within approximately seven hours. High-tech housing’s goal to advance manufactured housing into new frontiers has finally been achieved. I don’t want to boast but I had my own high-tech housing builder who designed my house completely by my imagination. I don’t even need a key anymore because a face detection system is implemented into my door. For collateral securities I still can adjust a code system to play it safe. My home is pure quality and design which no other manufacturer could match. – I know that I’ve invested my money with confidence. Apart from a huge solar system, which is responsible for the whole heating and lighting,  my wish was to set up a protecting system, preserving the walls and the roof against any kind of rainfall. So, the wall colors aren’t going to fade over time and no hail could ever hole my roof. Additionally, the wall color can be changed at one’s pleasure. During spring or summer you can even let grow grass on it. This makes your home unique and unmatchable. – I have to admit that it was expensive, however, it totally pays off because in this way the usual expenses are greatly reduced”

After this little novel, I was impressed and decided to buy such a house as well. About an hour ago I’ve already called my builder. He and his team will arrive tonight at around 9 p.m. and my new home will be finished in the early morning. I can hardly wait!!!! Tomorrow I will write you from inside my new four walls.

Yours, Joe Average

Janet Napolitano about the importance of the Alphonse-Bertillon System

My name is Janet Napolitano, currently member of the Democratic Party in the USA and proud to be the first woman serving the United States Secretary of Homeland Security, a department which was founded after the terror attacks of 9/11. Due to my high interest in criminology I would like to give you an understanding of the importance of Bertillon’s system of criminal identification for criminology in the late 19^th and very early 20^th centuries.                                                                                                          Alphonse Bertillon, French law enforcement officer and criminologist, discovered that each individual had a unique combination of measurements of various body parts and therefore he was able to differentiate individuals by comparing them. The latter were measurements of the head and body, shape formations of eyes, mouth, etc., as well as individual markings, scars and personality characteristics. This turned out to be a breakthrough since by this means, a record of unique identifiers could be established in order to track suspects, prisoners and repeat delinquents. Before its establishment, the only way to identify criminals was through eyewitness accounts or unorganized files of photographs. However, some problems occurred, i.e. measuring tools had need for constant adjustment, which in turn was expensive, and measurements could also change because of the aging delinquent. Apart from this system, the criminologist developed an effective method so as to document as well as scrutinize the body of the victim and its cause of death. Thus, police photographers were able to record all the details in close proximity of a victim’s body with a specific camera. This method was finally adopted in the early 20^th century.                                                                                                     With regard to this substantial progress in the history of criminology, I want you to imagine what life would be like if this system had not been invented. Certainly many criminals might still be out of prison instead being behind bars, but what else?

Mark Twain

How Mark Twain's description of fingerprinting in "Life on the Mississippi" and "Pudd’nhead Wilson" affected the public opinion of the art/science of fingerprinting

My name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but you might know me better as Mark Twain, which is my pen name. I was born on November 30, 1835, in Florida, Missouri. I would describe myself as an American author, essayist, lecturer and humorist. During my thrilling life I wrote a series of famous books including "Life on the Mississippi" and "Pudd’nhead Wilson", which are my two favorites. My stories were among the first ones that showed the use of fingerprinting as a law enforcement technique. They took much of the mystery out of the procedure and therefore produced a lot of interest. In this way I was also able to show the public that fingerprinting has a solid scientific foundation. My lovely story "Pudd’nhead Wilson" is about a young lawyer, David Wilson, who has a silly favorite pastime; he loves to collect everyone’s fingerprints on glass slides. With this story I set the stage for mass approval of fingerprinting as evidence, as it was one of the first to show how it was used for law enforcement. In my other book, "Life on the Mississippi", which was in fact published before "Pudd’nhead Wilson", I wrote about fingerprinting as well. Beside an elaborate history of the Mississippi river itself, this book contains the story of a murderer who was successfully convicted by the use of fingerpint identification. Chapter 31, “A Thumb-print and What Came of It,” shows this method of investigation ten years ahead of its use in real life. As I was very popular at the time, many people read these books and gave me the chance to show them the scientific foundation of fingerprinting. The concept was, as I depicted it in my books, actually fairly simple and it was easy to understand for all my readers. Stripped from its aura of supernaturality, fingerprinting was at long last accepted by the large public. In fact, Scotland Yard opened its first fingerprint laboratory in 1901. Just one year later, the case of notorious Harry Jackson, the very first criminal convicted by fingerprinting in real life, gave the technique another boost. But that is a different story and shall be told elsewhere.

Homework: Blog post1

Joseph Romm responds in his blog post ‘The Washington Post lets George Will reassert all his climate falsehoods plus some new ones’ to George Will’s article ‘Dark green doomsayers’. In this post he wants to make the readers aware of George Will’s falsehood regarding his latest publication. As far as the credibility, known as the Ethos, of the text is concerned, Romm tries to convince the audience by labeling himself as a climate expert. Apart from that he also points to his parents, who are award-winning journalists. When it comes to the Pathos, he tries to appeal to the reader’s emotions by referring to Will’s confidence game, i.e. the reassertions in his second column stating that his "lies" are indeed factual. Moreover, a strong Logos can be found in the text as well. So the author tries to be both convincing and persuasive and therefore reasons logically by citing different source texts as well as by uncovering plagiarism. For example, he refers to Will, citing Steven Chu directly even though the latter was already citing somebody else when he talked about this certain issue. On the whole, Romm used Ethos, Logos and Pathos the right way and thus was able to make his story credible. 

[205 words]

Lake Balaton

Have u ever been at the Lake Balaton  in Hungary? If not, then u absolutely should visit this beautiful place:)))) I can't wait the holidays to begin .. can't wait to go there:))))  

Lake Balaton is the largest lake in Central Europe and one of its foremost tourist destinations. Sometimes it's also called "The Hungarian Sea".

There are several great places where u can relax, go swimming and party at night! The best places are:

1) Siófok

Siófok is on the southern bank of the lake.  It's well-known for its party mile, including the "Coke Club"

You'll never get bored as in summer there are parties every day!! 

2) Balatonfüred

Balatonfüred, or only Füred, is situated on the northern shore of the lake. Its greatest party region is called "Sundance Park" and it's really a place where the sun dances :D:D There are only orange as well as yellow buildings -  the restaurants and three popular discos.  Beside this park, there is also the Anagora Aquapark where in summer many parties take place in the pool :))

The other places are Keszthely, Zamárdi(There the "Balaton Sound" takes place every year. It's a huge festival with well-known DJ's and bands.), Vonyarcvahegy and Veszprém (known for its Pannonia university)

sooo if you have enought time during summer holidays, you could travel from one end to the other ;)))  I can only recommend it!!! 

In winter of last year this happened at the lake !!!! A hummer broke through the ice as its driver wanted to cross the lake. There also was a second hummer and its driver came to rescue the other one, but then also broke through the ice!! It went through the medias all over the world! JUST EMBARRASSING :D