Sobre las descargas sin pagar

No voy a soportarlo ni un minuto mas. Es imprescindible que el crimen de descargas sin pagar se terminen tan pronto como posible. No es justo a las artistas no ganar dinero para su esfuerzo. Cuesta miles de dolares para grabar una cancion. Cuesta millones para filmar una pelicula. Por eso hay que pagar para oir una cancion o ver una pelicula. Descargas sin pagar son como un delito en el mundo fisical: se puede hacerlo, pero no es legal. Pues, yo digo que no es tan serio como un robo, pero es un delito sin duda. El problema es que no hay un metodo para castigar los que comite este delito. Los "ladrones" son anonimos. Yo insisto en que las policias del mundo busquen las personas que distribuir materiales de entretenimiento y informacion sin pagar. Es dificil hacerlo porque la informacion y entretenimiento es propiedad del publico cuando los creadores liberarlos. Yo creo que es el tiempo para dar respeto y dinero a los artistas para su tiempo y esfuerzo. No descargues una pelicula, cancion, o documento sin pagar si es necesario pagar en su propio sitio.

Party

Potentially my final blogpost!

Should we have a party of some sort before winter break this year? I like Anna's Secret Santa proposal and I wish I could escalate this into a full-on gathering.

I will miss this blog. I love the feeling of getting feedback on my posts and I love it when people make good comments. There have been so many topics discussed this year! I wish I could sort through all of them and compile a Best-Of compilation. I can see it now: Dipcans '13: Their Greatest Hits.

But should we have a party considering 2nd tri's relative resting time??????

PS: I wonder how many people who skip out on the BAAs are going to see The Hobbit the day it comes out, which is the same day. Choose your loyalties, people :P.

Rob the Prez-O-Dent

A blog post named after (and inspired by) a quirky Rock Band 2 track (yes I love this game, don't judge).

With the Arab Spring within recent memory and the Occupy movement still hanging on for dear life, protest has been an important part of world events the last couple of years. Protests, however, range from simply handing out flyers to firebombing an embassy.

First of all, I want to know why violent protesting is more common in foreign countries, especially developing countries. What's stopping Americans from doing this more often? Not that I condone it but why?

Second, at what point does the protest become unethical? One can protest by breaking a law, but the law itself may be unethical. For example, the aforementioned song regards a disgruntled country hick who commits an armed robbery on the White House to protest the decadence of politicians and high taxes. This is of course highly illegal and would result in good things for one person only. But a Robin Hood figure is considered more heroic.

Thirdly, what causes oppression or suppression (can't recall the difference)? Is this because a government is so paranoid that any opposition is deemed a deadly threat? I am reminded of the Sophie Scholl story and how the Nazis were such, er, Nazis.

Gonna Steal the TOK Prompt and Not Care

Which proposed way of knowing do you think would be best: intuition, memory, or imagination?

Personally they are all pretty arguable but I like imagination because it is the source of sooooooo much cultural background.

Intuition is odd because there's no explanation for it. It's almost psychic. Memory is also a good thing to remember (lol) when discussing TOK but is it really a WOK or just a storage method?

Talking Book

On a whim for my presentation, I searched Microsoft Powerpoint's clip-art reserve for "knowledge." Virtually every picture that appeared featured a book of some sort (along with sometimes an owl). This is quite contrary to the many ways of knowing that we are aware of. Specifically, it leaves out THREE ways of knowing. What would be a better image for knowledge, considering IB's 4 Ways of Knowing?

Is it just me or did it get difficult in here?

One more thought for now.

Why did we ever get the impression that having the EE done would make things easier?? Now we have the WT2 and the FOA in English, the TOK final and presentation, the History IA, and for IB musicians a composition piece and another listening packet.

Ain't no rest for the wicked (awesome), I suppose.

Awesome Teachers

More talking about teachers at the termination of the trimester!

What makes teachers "awesome"? Does it depend on their audience? Are there teachers with no redeeming factors? The answer to the last question is likely yes, but it's more a political/economic issue and another story.

But seriously, I think teachers are like anything else that can be reviewed, such as a movie, album, or restaurant. Each teacher has a different tone, a different genre - er, subject, a different aim/angle on their subject, and a different intended audience.

I think some teachers are the cream of the crop. They not only teach the high level classes, but they are invigorating, cheerful, and have a distinctive character that generally includes a good sense of humor. Above all, they teach their intended students well.

When I say intended students, I mean that AP Calculus teachers will likely teach differently than Geometry teachers because they deal with different kinds of people. Their sense of humor and character may also be portrayed differently in order to appeal to that crowd.

I think the English dept. at our school has some of the most interesting, funny teachers overall, but there are gems in hidden places. By this I mean teachers that not many people have but are still exciting and likable. For example, not many high-level students know the math teacher Mr. Peterson, unless they are in Math League, because he mostly teaches lower-level math and IB Math SL. The same could be said for Ms. Mork :), because not many people have CIS English and even fewer have TOK II.

What teachers in our school do you think are amazing? And what features of other teachers (no names) turn you off?