Author: smokesdabear

Safer Saws – smokesdabear

1A: A statement by the commissioner of the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission, said “Today’s unanimous decision by the Commission to approve an advance notice of proposed rulemaking on table saw blade contact injuries should send a clear signal to consumers and the industry that the Consumer Product Safety Commission is determined to be part of the solution to reduce the serious number of preventable table saw injuries that occur each year.

1C. the type of claim stated in this quote is a proposal claim.

1D. This claim made by the commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission is a logical claim, but involves no factual or certain claims. Only claims of certainty and reliance on another mans word that may not come true.

2A. Manufacturer

Members of the Power Tool Institute claim that “A low percentage of the 30,000 annual (U.S.) table saw injuries are due to contact with the blade – most are from kickback.”

2C. This is a factual claim.

2D. This claim is factual and brings up a strong point that counters the side for safety stops on saws. It is a logical claim and is worthy for debate. It is a persuasive claim and causes readers to re-think other facts.

3A. injured plaintiff

“Wec says his permanent and “traumatic injury” could have been prevented if Bosch and its competitors had not rejected and fought against the safety technology.”

3C. This is a factual claim but at the same time somewhat opinionated.

3D. Coming from an injured plaintiff, this claim turns out to be very persuasive and logical but also very one sided. the plaintiff claims that if the safety mechanism was installed onto his saw, this injury would have never occurred. Which is true but a consumer also needs to know and understand the safety precautions needed to handle the tool that is known to be dangerous.

4A. News Reporter

“But as well as the technology works, the major tool companies have failed to put this kind of device on any of their table saws — even eight years after Gass offered to license it to them.”

4B. News reporter discuses the absence of the saw safety mechanism in large named brands.

4C. This is a factual claim.

4D. This claim made by the reporter brings up a very ghastly flaw made by these saw companies. It brings up the question as to why saw companies refuse to implement this safety feature.

5A. Customer

“To hold Bosch liable for not making a bad business decision that would cost them lots of money seems a bit unreasonable if not ludicrous.”

5C. This claim is an opinion

5D. This claim is very logical but at the same time is arguable. This shows that customers do understand the thought process behind these saw companies and understand the reasoning behind the decisions. This is a logical and accurate claim.

6A. Industry Spokesperson

“SawStop is currently available in the marketplace to any consumer who chooses to purchase it.”

6B. Spokesperson stating a fact for all unaware consumers.

6C this is a factual claim.

6D. This spokesperson is using very logical and accurate information in their claim. It is a claim that tries to push away the people who are attacking these companies. It’s a reasonable claim and is accurate.

7A. Government Official

“The benefits of improving table saw safety clearly outweigh the costs.”

7B. A claim made by Government officials stating that no matter the cost peoples health and well being are most important.

7C. this is an opinionated claim.

7D. This claim is logical and persuasive but not reasonable or accurate. Making a financial decision that costs millions of dollars is not always an accessible decision, especially for a company that cannot afford to do that

 

 

visual rewrite – smokesdabear

0:00 – 0:03

Video starts. camera is tracking a middle age black couple through a grocery store, seems to be the dairy aisle. The camera is at a waste shot perspective, only focusing on the characters bodies from the waste up and their background. In their background are the shelves holding some form of products The camera is also positioned to mainly show the couple’s profiles. We also see the wife pushing a shopping cart whilst the husband is following close behind. The husband seems to be holding a jar, he has his head down reading the label on the jar.

0:04 – 0:05

The scene suddenly cuts to an extreme close up of the front left wheel on the shopping cart. there seems to be some sort of a tan mass in front of the wheel, disabling it of movement. camera then cuts to a wide angle view of the entire room. We see the couple as the center of focus. We notice that the couple have stopped moving and are now in wonder as to why the cart has stopped moving.

0:06 – 0:10

Camera then cuts to a close up of the wifes face. One can tell that she is looking down, toward the bottom of the shopping cart. Her facial expressions show confusion in her. In the next second the camera cuts to a wide angle low shot (as if the camera were on the floor) of the couple standing peaking at the front left wheel of the cart. The husband is still standing behind the wife in this shot. Both people have confused expressions. The husband then walks over to the front of the cart and bends down to see what is disabling the cart.

0:11 – 0:15

scene then cuts to a low profile shot of the husband bent down in front of the cart. Here we can slightly see the tan mass blocking the cart. Whilst bent down the husband picks up the tan blob that was originally blocking the cart. The husband holds the blob in his hands and is inspecting it, turning it from side to side.

0:16 – 0:18

The scene then cuts to a close up shot of the husbands face. he is inspecting the tan blob in his hand, and is saying something to his wife. in this close up we see the blob in his hands in the bottom middle of the screen. We also see behind the husband the wife peering over his shoulder. His facial expression mimics that of a doctor inspecting another persons limb.

0:19 – 0:23

The scene then quickly cuts to the husband standing back up to the same stance as his wife. scene cuts again, but this time to a wide angle shot. We can now see most of the surroundings of the room. the couple are at the center of focus in this shot. We see the husband nonchalantly drop the tan blob back on the floor, and the couple start to go on their way leaving the tan blob behind them as if it were never there or ever crossed paths with.

0:24 – 0:30

Video then cuts to an orange screen with text on it reading “small step #81: Snack on fruits and vegetables instead of sweets.”, along with a list of other faded out text like the one highlighted. other non focused text fully fades out leaving the highlighted text the only text on the screen. text transitions into another sentence reading “Take a small step to get healthy.”. More text fades in underneath the focus text reading “Get started at http://www.smallstep.gov”. Underneath that line, in small text, reads “The U.S Department of Health and Human Services.”. Video ends.

Missing Dollar – smokesdabear

In the case of the missing dollar paradox there is actually no missing dollar. The prompt starts off with stating that the bill for the meal is $30, which is then evenly split between the three women. The reader then finds out that the actual price of the bill is $25. So the cashier gives the waiter $5 to give back to the three women. The waiter ends up keeping 2 out of the 5 dollars, essentially acting as a tip and then gives each women $1 back. But what is missed is the $25 bill that has technically already been paid. The cashier still has the $30 that the women paid and the cashier only had to give back the $5 that needed to be returned. The prompt then goes on to say that the three women try to split it evenly by all paying $9 which doesn’t make sense since the cashier never gave them their $30 back, only the $5 that needed to be returned. So each woman got $1 back and the waiter received $2 as a tip. There is no missing dollar here.

smokesdabear’s Proposal

For my research essay I will be examining Competitive video gaming (or eSports) and discussing its validity as a professional sport, such as: Soccer, football, tennis or basketball. To start one has to understand just how large this industry is. Based on data gathered by Newzoo.com, 23% of all regular CNN viewers have watched or participated in eSports, followed by MTV holding 21%, Cartoon Network with 17% along with ESPN also at 17%. Some of the championship events in eSports have even beat out some of sports most popular televised championships. Events like the 2014 Masters tournament had a viewership of 25 million but the 2014 League of Legends tournament had a viewership of 27 million people along with a sold out arena in Seoul of 40,000 people. What makes this industry even bigger are the sponsors behind big name eSports teams. Sponsors like Nissan, Red Bull, Logitech and Coke.

Whether one considers competitive gaming a sport or not they cannot discredit the fact of how similar both eSports leagues and Sports leagues, like the NFL, are managed. One of the bigger arguments against eSports not being a sport is how competitive gaming requires no physical expertise, and only “real” sports require this. But with competitive gaming one has to have the stamina, reflexes and game knowledge to win. Pro eSports players even have longer practice hours than pro athletes do, and the games that are played competitively all require teamwork just like basketball, soccer or football. Competitive gaming can be validated as a professional sport and only time will tell.

Sources:

  1.  Resistance is futile: eSports is massive… and is growing

The Essential Content of the Article: This article provides the statistical viewership data of eSport championship events and nationally televised sports championship events. Also the number and types of sponsors backing eSports organisations.

What it Proves: by listing the viewership numbers for the events it shows how popular competetive gaming events are compared to other traditional sports.

2. Esports reaches tipping point as media brands scramble to get involved

The Essential Content of the Article: This article contains the percentages of people who watch eSports within big name T.V channels such as CNN or ESPN.

What it proves: This proves that there is not a specific stereotype for people who enjoy watching or playing competetive games.

3. On the Scientific Relevance of eSports

The Essential Content of the Article: This article provides information about the lack of scientific research behind eSports.

what it proves: This source proves that eSports is more than just a casual game that anybody can pick up and play. It shows that it requires a physical form that not everybody has.

4. Esports jocks are just like NBA players… real athletes

The essential content of the article: This article shows an interview TMZ did with Rick Fox, a former basketball player, businessman and actor who owns his own eSports team/organisation.

What it proves: That the media and the majority of society are very biased and ignorant toward the fact that eSports cannot turn into a mainstream sport like football or soccer.

5. ‘ELeague’ eSports on TBS Debuts May 24 with Three – Hour CSGO Broadcasts

The essential content of the article: This article is about the announcement of a brand new eSports league debuting a Counter Strike: Global Offensive tournament on national television on TBS during its sport segment.

What it proves: This is the very first successful U.S/ T.V broadcasted eSport tournament. ELeague is showing very promising viewership figures.

E03: Critical Reading – smokesdabear

“Her nose starts running she’s so pissed, and there she is standing in a CVS, snotty and deaf with rage”

Does having a runny nose always signify rage? Her being ill may be causing her rage, as it is common for people to become easily irritated. If this is not the cause of the rage then it may be because of other problems in her life, such as relationships.

“In one study, the incidence of secondary trauma in wives of Croatian war vets with PTSD was 30 percent. In another study there, it was 39 percent.”

This of course depends on the amount of people that were involved in the tests, as well as who conducted these tests. If there such a gap between the two tests the information should not be credible.

“But whatever people have called it, they haven’t been likely to grasp or respect it.”

People do understand and respect the severeness of it though. Just because it is not in the spotlight of societies mind does not mean the world is completely disregarding PTSD. Making the claim that society does not respect this disorder is bombastic.

“But there’s still a lot about brain damage that doctors, much less civilians, don’t understand.”

She calls out the fact that civilians with out a doubt understand less about the subject than doctors. But this basically discredits any other claims she has made about PTSD, because the author is essentially belittling her own social group. And yet again she is making the assumption that people are completely in the dark about brain damage.

Stone Money Rewrite – smokesdabear

Pieces of paper? Or Gold?

P1. Whether its Stone Money, Dollars, Euros or any other form of regional currency, each has its own distinct value system, from country to country. This is when it gets tricky. When people have their own perspectives, and value their money differently. To start, ones perspective depends on the persons ideology and current socioeconomic status. Hypothetically speaking, comparing a wealthy mans perspective on value of currency, to a middle class mans perspective may show that one has a greater appreciation for the dollar that they earn. Whilst the other just stares at their banks mobile app and watches the number on the screen increase, and just has to imagine their stacks of paper in the vault of their local bank.

P2. So what makes these pieces of paper we call dollars have value? well because people in society decided to make it have value. This method of currency was created to make the trade of goods easier and faster to manage. After reading “The Island Of Stone Money” one can notice that the inhabitants of Uap had a similar system to the one we use today. Today technology has advanced so much that we can now digitally manage, distribute and hold our money through mobile apps and online websites. whether one prefers using credit cards, Pay Pal or bank apps a physical dollar is a place holder for that digital number on any of those digital outlets. Now comparing Uap’s method to our current method the people of Uap used the stones as their physical placeholder to replace their word. Essentially creating a word for product system. Whilst currently people are using a pixel for product system.

P3. The physical dollar is evaporating the more and more technology advances. It is increasing so much that eventually we may see a dollar-less future where society goes full digital. Currency is what controls our societies, pixels on a screen or worthless pieces of fabric in our wallets will always hold value to people, because money is what gives us control over our lives. It is how governments control their nations. it’s what motivates people to apply for jobs and work. it is not about the material the currency is made of it is about how one obtains the money, is what makes it valuable.

Works Cited

Calmes, Jackie. “Demystifying the Fiscal Impasse That Is Vexing Washington.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Nov. 2012. Web. 10 Sept. 2016.

Friedman, Milton. “The Island of Stone Money.” The Island of Stone Money(1991): 3-7. Web. 10 Sept. 2016.

Glass, Ira, Chana Joffe-Walt, Alex Blumberg, and Dave Kestenbaum. “423: The Invention of Money.” This American Life. Prod. Planet Money. 7 Jan. 2011. This American Life. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.

Joffe-Walt, Chana. “How Fake Money Saved Brazil.” NPR. NPR, 4 Oct. 2010. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.

Reeves, Jeff. “Bitcoin Has No Place in Your – or Any – Portfolio.” MarketWatch. MarketWatch, 31 Jan. 2015. Web. 10 Sept. 2016.

Summaries—Smokesdabear

Heroin for Heroin addicts?

http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-02-04/vancouver-combats-heroin-giving-its-addicts-best-smack-world

It seems counter intuitive that heroin is suddenly being prescribed to heroin addicts in Canada. This rehabilitation method that Canada has not to long ago adopted is not meant to stop addicts from using heroin but, in the words of Allen Schauffer, correspondent for Al Jazeera, “lets provide you with heroin so you are the least dangerous drug addict you can possibly be.”. The program is only available for those with the very worst addictions. Essentially stating that recovery would be, too difficult of a process for a heroin addict so the government would rather give you heroin, rather than having one commit a crime to obtain the heroin. This is basically one big blackmail scheme. The addicts get their heroin or else they may be forced to commit petty crime. Many obviously disagree with this program, but as an example this program has been used in European countries and has turned out to be successful.

Do Multi-vitamins work?

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/02/econundrums-do-vitamin-supplements-work

It seems counter intuitive that multi vitamins the pieces of candy we as children were fed daily, to not only stay healthy but to get healthier are now deemed useless. Nearly a third of Americans take Multi vitamins regularly. Whilst there is no evidence of these vitamins increasing a persons health status. Companies like the Vitamin Shoppe are raking in over $700 million dollars annually, by basically selling people sugar tablets. Some officials state that taking multis can prevent chronic illneess but a 2009 study shows that multis did not prevent any of the ilnesse studied such as heart disease, lung cancer, colon cancer and breast cancer. Could people have been throwing away all of their hard earned money all these years? Possibly. Multis still do give one the vitamins needed but some brands may give an exceeding dosage. For example one brand has given double the amount of daily recommended dosage of vitamin A and zinc.

How earbuds damage the ear

http://kidshealth.org/en/teens/earbuds.html

It seems counter intuitive that earbuds, the most commonly used portable sound device, can give someone permanent hearing damage. They are essentially tiny speakers insanely close up to your ear. Now listening to music with them at low volumes is safe, but as soon as that volume gets higher you can run the risk of permanent hearing loss. Motorcycle engines are as loud as 100 decibels. having the sound of that in ones ear for a little less than half an hour can cause damage. Ipods and mp3 players at 70% volume put out 85 decibels almost any higher and those ear buds will start doing damage. Society is living in a very technologically advanced time, and this is granting kids access to mp3 players and earbuds at a very young age. Therefore increasing the chances of hearing damage and loss in teens. Are earbuds a product that need warning labels on them? Or do earbuds need to be age restricted?

Moving Image – smokesdabear

0:00 – 0:03

Video starts. camera is following a middle age black couple through a grocery store. The camera is at a waste shot, only showing their bodies from the waste up. The camera is also positioned to mainly show the couple’s profiles. We also see the wife pushing a shopping cart whilst the husband is following close behind. The husband seems to be holding a jar, he has his head down reading the label on the jar.

0:04 – 0:05

The scene suddenly cuts to an extreme close up of the front left wheel on the shopping cart. there seems to be some sort of a tan mass in front of the wheel, disabling it of movement. camera then cuts to a wide angle view of the entire room. We see the couple as the center of focus. We notice that the couple have stopped moving and are now in wonder as to why the cart has stopped moving.

0:06 – 0:10

Camera then cuts to a close up of the wifes face. One can tell that she is looking down, toward the bottom of the shopping cart. Her facial expressions show confusion in her. In the next second the camera cuts to a wide angle low shot (as if the camera were on the floor) of the couple standing peaking at the front left wheel of the cart. The husband is still standing behind the wife in this shot. Both people have confused expressions. The husband then walks over to the front of the cart and bends down to see what is disabling the cart.

0:11 – 0:15

scene then cuts to a low profile shot of the husband bent down in front of the cart. Here we can slightly see the tan mass blocking the cart. Whilst bent down the husband picks up the tan blob that was originally blocking the cart. The husband holds the blob in his hands and is inspecting it, turning it from side to side.

0:16 – 0:18

The scene then cuts to a close up shot of the husbands face. he is inspecting the tan blob in his hand, and is saying something to his wife. in this close up we see the blob in his hands in the bottom middle of the screen. We also see behind the husband the wife peering over his shoulder. His facial expression mimics that of a doctor inspecting another persons limb.

0:19 – 0:23

The scene then quickly cuts to the husband standing back up to the same stance as his wife. scene cuts again, but this time to a wide angle shot. We can now see most of the surroundings of the room. the couple are at the center of focus in this shot. We see the husband nonchalantly drop the tan blob back on the floor, and the couple start to go on their way leaving the tan blob behind them as if it were never there or ever crossed paths with.

0:24 – 0:30

Video then cuts to an orange screen with text on it reading “small step #81: Snack on fruits and vegetables instead of sweets.”, along with a list of other faded out text like the one highlighted. other non focused text fully fades out leaving the highlighted text the only text on the screen. text transitions into another sentence reading “Take a small step to get healthy.”. More text fades in underneath the focus text reading “Get started at http://www.smallstep.gov”. Underneath that line, in small text, reads “The U.S Department of Health and Human Services.”. Video ends.

 

Stone Money – smokesdabear

Whether its Stone Money, Dollars, Euros or any other form of regional currency, these are all just placeholders. A place holder for what you may ask? It is a placeholder for energy or a right of passage that humans seek throughout their lives. What makes this concept tricky to understand is the abstract concept of money. To start, one needs to travel to the island of Uap in the South Pacific to understand how the abstract concept of money has been around for decades, and how not much has changed since. On the island of Uap this pre industrial population in 1910 used a currency that relied on the trade of large round stone sculptures, which were larger than the size of an average male and three times the weight of a grown male. The islanders would trade these humongous stone sculptures for large or important trade deals. So how exactly would they transport these stones? There was simply no need to. If a person wanted to trade their large stone for a product from someone in another village they would simply just give up ownership of that stone. The stone would not have to move, people would eventually figure out who the true owner of that stone is. The similarities of this system compared to that of today is shocking.

So what makes these pieces of paper we call dollars have value? well because people in society decided to make it have value. This method of currency was created to make the trade of goods easier and faster to manage. After learning and reading about “The Island Of Stone Money” one can notice that the inhabitants of Uap had a very similar system to the one we use today. back then, technologically, they did not have the means to obtain “valuable” materials like gold. In the U.S, gold used to be a placeholder, a placeholder for dollars. The gold would be stored in banks and if one wanted the gold they owned they would trade paper gold swaps. Today technology has advanced so much that we can now digitally manage, distribute and view our money through mobile apps and online websites. whether one prefers using credit cards, Pay Pal or bank apps that digital number is a place holder for that dollar on any of those digital outlets. We people in society are expected to trust that digital number we see on our computer screens. Essentially modern day trade is no different from what we saw on Uap, those inhabitants were expected to trust the fact that

The physical dollar is evaporating the more and more technology advances. It is increasing so much that eventually we may see a dollar-less future where society goes full digital. Currency is what controls our societies, pixels on a screen or worthless pieces of fabric in our wallets will always hold value to people, because money is what gives us control over our lives. It is how governments control their nations. it’s what motivates people to apply for jobs and work. it is not about the material the currency is made of it is about how one obtains the money is what makes it valuable.

works cited

Calmes, Jackie. “Demystifying the Fiscal Impasse That Is Vexing Washington.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Nov. 2012. Web. 10 Sept. 2016.

Friedman, Milton. “The Island of Stone Money.” The Island of Stone Money(1991): 3-7. Web. 10 Sept. 2016.

Glass, Ira, Chana Joffe-Walt, Alex Blumberg, and Dave Kestenbaum. “423: The Invention of Money.” This American Life. Prod. Planet Money. 7 Jan. 2011. This American Life. Web. 11 Sept. 2016.

Joffe-Walt, Chana. “How Fake Money Saved Brazil.” NPR. NPR, 4 Oct. 2010. Web. 13 Sept. 2016.

Reeves, Jeff. “Bitcoin Has No Place in Your – or Any – Portfolio.” MarketWatch. MarketWatch, 31 Jan. 2015. Web. 10 Sept. 2016.