text:
I'm Naomi and my passion is sharing my aspirations and inspirations on how to live a FIT and BALANCED life. I'm a former couch-potato, four-time marathoner recovering from Adrenal Fatigue, and student at the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.
I can often be found exploring the dog-friendly San Francisco Bay Area with my miniature poodle Coco Pop.
- (+) 2015
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- Week 13 of 2013: Mar 25-31
- An Introduction to Chi Running
- Eating To My Metabolism - Revisited
- On Living Well
- Weeks 12 of 2013: Mar 18-24
- The Time I Went To A Séance in Sedona
- Hiking Pinnacle Peak Park
- Returning to Yoga Classes
- Weeks 10-11 of 2013: Mar 3-17
- Five Days in Arizona
- Week 9 of 2013: Feb 24 - Mar 2
- (+) February
- February Recap, March Goals
- Anything Can Happen In 40 Yards...
- Week 8 of 2013: Feb 17-23
- Hella Loving Running Right Now
- Newton's and A Free Running Form Clinic
- Week 7 of 2013: Feb 10-16
- Sharing What I Love – 02.15.2013
- The Sequel Is Never As Good As The Original
- Gluten-Free Allergen Free Expo
- Local Motion Physical Therapy
- Week 6 of 2013: Feb 3 - 9
- Sharing What I Love - 02.08.2013
- On Facing Fears
- 2013 Kaiser Half-Marathon Race Recap
- Week 5 of 2013: Jan 27 - Feb 2
- (+) January
- How I Successfully Achieved My January Goals...and new goals for February
- If I Am Who My Friends Are, Am I The Person I Want To Be?
- The Way To Get Over A Bad Run Is To Buy New Running Stuff...
- Week 4 of 2013: Jan 20-26
- 20-min At-Home TRX Workout
- Need. Whole. Foods.
- Week 3 of 2013: Jan 13-19
- Sharing What I Love - 01.18.2013
- How I Plan My Meals
- A Sweaty Spin Workout
- Presidential Physical Fitness Test
- My First Green Smoothie
- Week 2 of 2013: Jan 6-12
- A Saturday Morning Run in January
- Sharing What I Love - 01.11.2013
- 6 Months Into A Gluten-Free Lifestyle...
- How I Overcame My IT Band Injury
- DSE Golden Gate Park 10K Race
- Week 1 of 2013: Dec 30 - Jan 5
- Sharing What I Love - 01.04.2013
- Plans for 2013
- Priorities
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- 12 Weeks and 30-days
- Week 8 - February 20-26, 2012
- Notorius, But With An "Sar"
- Treadmill, Track and Trails
- Bike School
- Week 7 -February 13-19, 2012
- 6-Week Challenge
- Weeks 5 & 6 of 2012
- A Two-Faced Long Run
- UCSF RunSafe Performance Evaluation
- My Madonna Top 10
- Kaiser Half-Marathon
- January In Review
- (+) January
- Back-to-Back Bikram & 8-years of Training
- Laundry Tip for Sweaty Workout Clothes
- Week 4: January 22-29, 2012
- Feel Good Friday
- Back to Basics
- I Love Food
- Week 3: January 15-21, 2012
- As Seen On My Run...
- Week 2: January 8-14, 2012
- FitBit Weekly Report
- Jambalaya Recipe : Paula Deen : Food Network
- Week 1 Recap: January 1-7, 2012
- Crystal Springs Trail Race
- The Real First Day of the New Year
- New Year's Day and 2012 Races
- 2012 Goals and Resolutions
- (+) 2011
- (+) December
- (+) November
- Pre-Race Things
- Ego and Out-of-Control Animals
- Week 47
- Run Wild For A Child
- Week 46
- 20-miler
- Feel Good Friday
- On Learning Progressive Relaxation
- Week 45
- 3rd Raceversary
- The Hills
- Week 44
- I Guess We Need Fats
- Discovering Mental Training
- Tips For Your First Bikram Yoga Class
- Goodbye October, Hello November
- (+) October
- Week 43
- AM vs PM Workouts
- Week 42
- I Have A Shoe Problem
- How Yoga Can Help Runners
- I Run To Be...
- Nike Women's Half Marathon
- Week 41
- Nike Women's Marathon Expotique
- Finding the Silver Lining
- The Early Morning Run
- Bay Area Blogger Meet-Up
- Week 40
- Happy Saturday
- It Happened Again
- And For My Next Challenge...
- The Silent Treatment
- Weeks 37, 38, 39
- (+) September
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- Things That Gross Me Out At the Pool
- Rating the Weekend
- Week 25
- Happy Weekend
- Strength Training Revisited...Again
- A Better Quality Diet
- The Next 12 Weeks...
- Wedding
- Week 24
- I Have Extra Bones in my Feet
- 2H 2011 Race Schedule
- Test Run
- Blog-spirations
- Graduations!
- Week 23
- Spin Shoes
- Core Fusion
- Painful A.R.T.
- 13 Innings
- Week 22
- Rain
- On the DL
- Summer Fun
- (+) May
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- Straight to Summer
- The Truth About Dining Out
- Oakland Running Festival 2011
- Unplanned Rest Day
- 30-Day Photo Challenge
- Keeping Things Loose
- Vritti
- Vacation Miles
- Scottsdale, Day 1
- Wrapping Up The Week
- Yoga Gone Bad
- Confessions...
- Catching Up!
- Jasmania
- It Takes A Stranger….
- The Will To Change
- Spring Training 2011 - Trip 1
- Run for Ryan House Half-Marathon
- Happy Girls Day!
- Caption This
- Two-A-Days
- (+) February
- Race Motivation
- Weekend Workouts
- Learning To Be Healthy
- Not-so-Wordless-Wednesday
- Ask Me Anything
- Girl Scout Cookie Time!
- Maintenance
- Sunday Dinner
- Bay Breeze Half-Marathon
- The Burn List
- Investing In Your Relationships
- Smoke On the Water
- Tips & Tricks Tuesday
- We Learn Something New Everyday
- Sawyer's Camp With Friends
- Lemon Basil Shrimp and Pasta
- The Beauty of the Garmin
- Reading Blogs
- Cleaning Up Life's Clutter
- Deep Thoughts
- Superbowl Sunday Eats
- Running Through the Wastelands
- The Dailey Method
- Going Back to the 84604
- January
- (+) January
- Swimming With Music
- Coyote Hills Half-Marathon
- Sunday Dinner
- The Big Picture
- I Hate Push-Ups
- The Evolution of My Blogging
- I'm Sick
- Being Cautious and Sunday Dinner Recipe
- Bloggiesta
- Random Stuff
- Incomplete Day
- Pink Inspired Me
- I Worked Hard This Weekend...
- A Whole Lot Of Randomness
- Running In The Dark
- Daily Mile 2010 Year End Report
- 1H 2011 Races
- Running To New Places
- My Fitness Pal
- Your Trainer
- RunSafe
- Back to Business
- Kicking Off the New Year
- Looking to 2011
- (+) 2010
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- (+) November
- Treadmill Blunders
- A Good Run at Sawyers Camp
- Good Times
- Black Friday
- the gratitude list
- Namaste
- Happy Anniversary
- The San Francisco Treat
- The Strengths Finder Test
- Shift 'n Lift + Yoga Tune-Up
- Weekend
- Stella & Dot & Ruby
- What Are You Supposed To Do?
- Getting Back in the (Caloric) Zone
- Bachi
- Big Time Timmy Jim
- (+) October
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- Marin Marathon Recap - Part 5
- Marin Marathon Recap - Part 4
- Marin Marathon Recap - Part 3
- Marin Marathon Recap - Part 2
- Marin Marathon Recap - Part 1
- The Day After...
- I am a MARATHONER!
- Why 26.2?
- Mermaid 10K Race Report
- Friday Fun!
- Passing the Test
- A Check-in With My Nutritionist
- The Day That Wasn't
- Opening Day 2010 in San Francisco
- 20 Miles and a Mental Breakdown
- (+) March
- The Most Epic Elliptical Workout
- The Oakland Running Festival
- Lululemon Run Club
- 17-Mile Run
- Eat, Pray, Love
- Spring Training, Day 2
- Good Morning from Scottsdale!
- Scoping Out the Marin Marathon Course
- Colds, Cupcakes and Corner Men
- Imagine My Surprise...
- Fitness Assessment
- Jonesing for a Fix
- Another Check-in With My Nutritionist
- Spring Training 2010 - Trip 1
- Run for Ryan House Half-Marathon
- Playing Catch-Up
- Another Awesome Tweet-up
- (+) February
- Half-Way to Marin County Marathon
- Discovering Tempo Runs
- Eating To My Metabolism
- New Shoes!
- A Half-Marathon and Change
- Pre-Race Prepping
- One Bad Run
- Oh the Irony...
- Best Gig in Town
- On A Whim
- Sunday Cooking
- 11
- Embrace Your Flaws
- Happy Day!
- SF Giants Fanfest 2010
- Health Connections
- My Pilgrimage to Baseball Mecca
- January Wrap-Up, February Goals
- (+) January
- Lazy Sunday
- The Nine
- The Burger Bar & Bay Area Dining
- Remember When?
- The Postcard Project
- Yoga Tune-Up
- The Cheer Gear!
- Sundays...
- 7 Miles through San Francisco
- Friends, Fun and Fashion
- Extreme Makeover - Blog Edition
- Its Aloha Friday...
- The Opposite of Doing Nothing
- The Art of Doing Nothing
- The Playbook
- Healthy Coaching
- "I am the ringleader, I call the shots..."
- Wake-up in the morning feeling...
- This Year I Will...2010 Goals
- Sunday Dinners Are Back!
- First Run of 2010
- (+) 2009
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- Burning Up
- Body Pump + Body Combat
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- And the Card Attached Would Say...
- Bad Run and a 'Lil Black Dress
- Why I Blog
- Plate to Plate Run
- Round Two: Shock Therapy?
- Athleta Warehouse Sale
- Giants vs Dodgers
- Healthy Eats
- Why I Love Twitter
- A Week of Rest
- Home Field Advantage, Freddy Sanchez and Life with Brian
- (+) July
- Swimming vs Running
- What I Ate Today - 07.28.2009
- Listen to Me!
- What I Ate Today - 07.27.2009
- Swimming, Running and Body Flow - A Week in Review
- What I Ate Today - 07.26.2009
- S.O.S. - Save Our Season!
- Shed Pounds with Protein
- Quinoa
- There's An App For That!
- Two Arms, One Breath
- Learning How to Breathe!
- The First Half
- Back into the Groove
- What's Next?
- (+) June
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- snow's night
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- the captain and the cathedral
- remembering my uncle jerry
- injured!
- sex and the city meets 90210 meets cruel intentions
- run shots
- remembering 9/11
- guilty pleasures
- alameda de las pulgas run
- sunset over paris
- the dish
- where did the summer go?
- (+) August
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- good night chicago
- Zed451
- 100 Years of Hope...and Despair
- From Rescue to Recovery: Shari's Chicago Memory...
- Garrett Gourmet Popcorn
- Chicago!
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- Adventures on the Bay
- Boston? Again? I mean...really?
- I Still Love JT Snow!
- Happy Birthday Julie
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- Me Too
- An Open Letter to Michael Patrick King
- (+) May
- The Wait is Over: Sex and the City The Movie
- 1 Day Until Sex and the City: The Movie
- I Missed the Bus!
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- from north carolina....
- Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas with Gooey Jack Cheese
- 3 Days Until Sex and the City: The Movie
- 4 Days until Sex and the City: The Movie
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- This Week's Top 10 List
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Tag Archives: rest
Tidbits from the Long Run
Today is a Rest Day, and after the past week, I had hoped to be able to sleep in and get up just before the first football game.
You see, this past week I forced myself to get back to early morning running. I used to be that person who was up at 5 am without an alarm and out the door on the run by 6 am. Then summer came and I took advantage of the long days of sunlight and ran in the evenings, or even at lunchtime on some days.
Now that I'm 8 weeks out from the NY Marathon, I decided it's time to get back into the habit of early morning runs.
Since I work from home for the most part these days, I can get out the door by 7-7:30 am and be back at my laptop by 8:30-9 am (and yes, I usually work till lunch without a shower — TMI?).
I ran 3 days this past mid-week — Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. If you include the 7:00 am Weight Training Workout on Friday, and yesterday's long run, that's 5 consecutive days of early AM workouts. Here's a quick rundown of the past week, followed by thoughts on yesterday's long run:
Sun, 9/2:
Rest Day
Mon, 9/3:
1700 meter Swim in 40-minutes at 8 am. It was Labor Day and I thought the pool would be crowded with the usual 6 am crowd who decided to sleep in on the holiday and show up a couple of hours later. I was wrong; the pool was empty and I had a lane to myself for the entire workout. It's funny how swimming seems so much easier when you have the black line all to yourself.
Tues, 9/4):
7.48-mile Run in 1:20 and done by 8:30 am. The first early morning run of the week had me feeling like a zombie on the first few miles. Not for long though because after a 15-minute warm up, I was running 10 3-min pick ups with 2-min recovery; i.e., walking. As terrible as I felt at the beginning of the run, I felt really good by the end.
Wed, 9/5:
5-mile Run. Since it was an easy run, I left the Garmin at home and took my time trying to wake up on the first few miles yet again.
Later that afternoon I had a training session with Trainer Dave at Seal Point. As usual, we went through a TRX circuit, but this time it was shorter simply because he changed the angles of the exercises which vastly increased it's difficulty.
Thurs, 9/6:
6.78-mile Run in 1:08 and again, done by 8:30 am. The workout was to run 6 miles at 9:45 pace with a 60-sec walk break after each mile. To make sure I got the actual 6-miles of running, I stretched it out and then added a 1/2-mile cool down. I wore my Zoot compression tights, which felt fantastic. My legs didn't even feel taxed at all.
Fri, 9/7:
My intention was to go to a 6 am Spin class, 7 am Vinyasa Yoga class, then my PT appointment at 8 am. They're all in the same building in the City, which meant that I would have to leave my house by 5:30 am. Well, I overslept by an hour and didn't get to the gym until 7:15 am, missing both classes. So I did PT exercises on some of the weight machines before my PT visit, then decided to take it easy for the rest of the day.
Sat, 9/8:
15.04-miles in 2:37:51
Tidbits from the Long Run
The 'Hood
I went to bed on Friday night with the intention of running the same route along the Embarcadero that I've run for the past 3 weeks. But I woke up and decided to just run my regular 5-mile loop in my neighborhood 3 times. I've done this before, especially for runs that start with a "2."
I stretched the first loop out to just over 6-miles, then ran 5-miles on the second loop, leaving just under 4-miles for the last loop. It worked out well except for the fact that my neighborhood is infested with (mean) geese that fully believe that they own the roads. I kid you not, there was a moment where a flock of them parked themselves in the middle of the path and neither I, nor the other runners and walkers could pass. We had to stand there and cautiously shoo them aside.
Oh, a Rottweiler also chased me. If you're keeping score, that's the 3rd one in the past year in my 'hood. At least this time there was no physical contact, just some chasing and barking (and me yelling at the owner).
Compression and Chafing
Since the compression tights worked so well on Thursday, I decided to use them for this long run. I used to have a pair of CW-X compression tights, but the quality wasn't very good so I got another pair from Zoot this past Spring.
I've used the Zoot Recovery Tights for a few years now and knew it was a good brand. Well, if you recall, I got injured in May so I haven't used the new pair very much. In fact, maybe just once or twice before, and not for a run as long as 15-miles.
The fabric texture is a little different than your traditional running tights. I wasn't even sure if it was supposed to be worn as an undergarment. I even called them to ask. They said it was up to me, and since nothing "showed", I used it by itself.
Now if you've ever worn compression anything, you will know that it's a workout in and of itself just to get it on. But once on, it's fantastic to run in. I swear, my legs felt great the entire time (well most of the time). So great that I ran my fastest miles at the end when I felt dead tired. My legs found this strength that just propelled them forward. I think the compression had something to do with it. BUT…
When I got home and got in the shower I screamed. I suffered. I chafed badly in those areas where the fabric bunches up and it's difficult to smooth out. Like behind the knees. And in the hip flexors. Oh, and not to mention the waistband — we're talking a raw, red ring around my entire waist. Ow. While I'm tired, I really don't have much muscle soreness from the run, just a lot of soreness from the chafing. So it's a toss-up as to whether the compression tights are worth it or not.
Final Thoughts
Considering the fact that I took a 60-sec walk break after every mile, I'm pretty happy with this 10:24 min/mi pace. (And yet, at the same time I'm not sure if I ran it too fast.)
To put things in perspective, this was my longest run since the 22-miler I did on May 5th (and this week was the highest mileage since then too).
It was hard. At the end of the run I couldn't imagine running another mile longer. Then again I thought the same thing after I ran 13.04 miles just 7 days prior. But I know I will. During this long run I was able to find a long-lost focus and was able to dig down deep inside and find the gumption get it done. This was something that I had lost a long time ago; it was nice to find it again.
I Run To Be…
I run to be….sore?!
I did not expect to be this sore after Nike. Yes it's the hardest half course I've ever run. Yes, the hills were endless. But I did not run very hard for the majority of the race so needless to say, I am surprised, disappointed and a little freaked out about how sore I am.
{cheers for awful race photos – what a fake smile}
My legs were tired post race on Sunday, but I didn't think they were too bad. I slept well that night, but on Monday morning I woke up with a terrible headache. I was also so tired that I couldn't even get out of bed. I felt like I had run a full marathon – not kidding. I had ambitions of doing an early morning Bikram Yoga class, but I couldn't even make it to the office, let alone the yoga studio. I (barely) managed to drag myself from the bed to my couch where I spent the day working from home. I think the massive headache was from dehydration but I managed to get an RX from my doctor for it and also hydrated like a mad woman.
{i have no idea where this photo was taken – i have no recollection of various points on the course}
Later that the day I had a 2-hour massage. After the San Francisco 2nd Half Marathon destroyed my legs I had called my massage place and asked them to schedule me with the therapist who had the most knowledge on kinesiology and physiology. They scheduled me with the most amazing and knowledgeable therapist and I have seen him after every race since.
{thank goodness they didn't catch me walking up this hill…}
As usual, he spent the first hour doing Thai massage. I had never had a Thai massage before I started seeing him but now it's my favorite kind of massage. Its involves a lot of stretching and deep tissue work, and is highly interactive. The best way I can describe it that it's essentially "passive yoga" meaning the therapist helps situate you in different poses.
{I'm still heel striking – so much for the magic shoes…}
It was during the first hour of my massage that I realized (which is a nice way of saying I yelped in pain) just how beat up my legs were. I tried so hard not to destroy them too much during the race, but I guess I did. My glutes and quads are so not happy with me.
The second hour of the massage was a "Flush" aka a deep/sports massage. My therapist found all sorts of knots I didn't know I had, and not just in my legs either. He told me I had "boulders in my shoulders." I honestly think I could have used a third hour.
Today I felt more rejuvenated and finally made it to a Bikram Yoga class after work. It had been 6 days since my last yoga class and it felt like I had taken 10-steps backwards. I couldn't even touch my toes until the very last sit-up of the class. My right hamstring/glute is chronically tight, but I always still touch my toes. Sad.
Overall, both the massage and Bikram class left me feeling improved – a lot better. My quads are feeling almost back to normal, and I'm hoping with a few more classes this week (my goal is at least 4 more by Saturday) I'll find that limber feeling again.
But I have to admit that right now, my mind is a little in panic mode. If I am this tired and sore after running just a half-marathon, how am I suppose to run a full marathon in less than 7 weeks?!
{can someone please photoshop me into this photo instead of this girl?}
Happy Saturday
Today was the first weekend day in a long time where I wasn't up at the crack of dawn. I had 8+ hours of much needed, restful sleep…
Yes, sleeping till almost 7 am is sleeping in for me.
It's the first weekend day in a while that I wasn't rushing off to a workout, yoga class, or to meet friends for a run/race.
It was SO NICE to spend the morning lounging around, catching up on blog reading, tinkering with my own blog and eating dark chocolate pretzels in bed at 8:45 am. Oh yes, I did.
Later today I'm heading up to Crissy Field in the City for a Bay Area Blogger's Meet-up. I'm so excited to see my bloggy friends and meet new ones! We're going to hang out and watch the Blue Angels Show – after all, it's Fleet Week in San Francisco!
Happy Saturday!


text: Individual Egyptian deities could be shown in different guises that communicated various aspects of their complex natures. For example, the goddess Hathor could be depicted as a cow, in human form, in composite cow-human form, and by various symbols. Cow-headed figures of Hathor such as this were particularly popular in the region of the northern Egyptian capital of Memphis.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Pakistan's ruling PPP on Wednesday denied that the former President Pervez Musharraf was given a "safe exit" after his resignation under a negotiated settlement guaranteed by "international and local" stakeholders, saying that no such deal was struck.
The senior PPP leader and the Presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar contradicted reports in the media that President Asif Ali Zardari had confirmed holding negotiations with international guarantors to give indemnity and safe passage to Mr. Musharraf after he stepped down as President last year.
His statement came amid criticism from the opposition PML (N) on Mr. Zardari's reported comments at an 'iftar' he hosted on Monday.
"In the chat with journalists (during the 'iftar'), there was no mention of negotiations with so-called national or international guarantors to give immunity to Musharraf subsequent to his exit," Mr. Babar said.
The main opposition PML (N) of former premier Nawaz Sharif has demanded that Mr. Zardari should apprise parliament and the people of the deal arranged by international powers.
Senior PML (N) leader and the leader of the opposition in Parliament Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan said Mr. Zardari's comments were "violative of national sovereignty."
In the wake of PML (N)'s criticism, Mr. Babar clarified that Mr. Zardari had told the journalists that "national political leaders and parties had held negotiations among themselves to chase Mr. Musharraf out of office...."
Keywords: PPP, PML (N), Musharraf, Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, safe deal, foreign gurantors


text:
Archive for the 'Teacher POV' Category
Reviewing ROBOTC Concepts After a Summer Off
There is a bevy of materials to help a teacher get started teaching the ROBOTC Curriculum. But what about the teacher that has made it through the curriculum and has a robotics class returning at the beginning of the school year? Whether that teacher is preparing to enter a robotics competition or is planning on creating a cool ROBOTC project, the teacher will still need to determine what the students have retained from the previous year.
Students that have made it through the ROBOTC curriculum should be able to use variables and functions in their programs. A great way to assess this would be to utilize the Robot Virtual Worlds. Students can spend the first week of school trying complete all of the missions within Operation Reset. Working with Operation Reset affords teachers the opportunity to differentiate this beginning diagnostic. Students that have retained more information can work independently, while those students that need more assistance can get the help they need. This is just another great application of Robot Virtual Worlds in the robotics classroom.
If Robot Virtual Worlds is not an option, you can apply the same concept with a physical robot. For students that are already proficient with ROBOTC, a good challenge to begin the year with would be the Chasm Detection.
Another great tool that a teacher can utilize is the debugging of code. This can serve as a good one or two day review of ROBOTC syntax and logic. If a teacher is anxious to get started with a project and wants a quick review, this may be the way to go. One of the nice things about using code is the teacher can get some quick and individual feedback from the students. If time allows, a teacher may use one or two examples of code, see where the students are, and then design a challenge for them. Here is an example of code that the students could troubleshoot.
Hopefully this gives you some ideas of how you can reintroduce ROBOTC to your students. A seamless beginning to the school year will help with all of the projects and activities that you may have planned for the rest of the school year.
– Jason McKenna
Which Robotics Kit Should I Use? VEX Edition
Now more than ever, robotics educators are faced with the important question of which kit they should purchase and use. This key question has been made even more intricate in the 2013-2014 school year due to the addition of the new robotics kits, VEX IQ kits. This article will help break down each VEX kit, their capabilities and target audiences, and allow you, the educator, to make an informed decision on which kit is best for your particular classroom.
The VEX IQ system is the brand-new robotics system from Innovation First International (IFI for short, makers of the VEX Robotics Design System). The VEX IQ can be used with any of the all-new hardware and sensors, including a unique plastic snap-fit structural system.
- Sensors include a gyroscope, color sensor, potentiometer, touch LED, and ultrasonic sensor.
- The base kits (either Sensor or Controller kits) are provided with over 650 structural components, 4 plug-and-play 'smart motors', at least 2 touch sensors (or more, depending on kit), and the VEX IQ microcontroller (more information on all available kits can be found here).
- The IQ contains 12 smart ports that can be used to control either analog sensors, digital sensors, or servos/motors; the ports are non-typed and can be used to control any piece of VEX IQ compatible hardware that is plugged into it.
- It also includes a micro-USB port for IQ-to-computer communication and a 'tether' port for direct connections to an VEX IQ Controller.
- Debugging and programming information can be displayed on the backlit LCD information to increase ease-of-use in real time.
- Wireless communication between the VEX IQ microcontroller and a VEX IQ controller is provided via a set of 900 MHz radio adapters.
- The VEX IQ system will be fully legal in the new VEX IQ Challenge (designed specifically for the VEX IQ system), for students ages 8-14.
- Recommended use: Middle School.
One of the mainstays of the educational robotics world is the VEX Cortex platform. Originally released in 2010 by IFI, the Cortex can be used with the VEX Robotics Design System's hardware and sensors.
- Includes over 300 metal structural parts, 4 powerful DC motors, the VEX Cortex microcontroller, and a wide variety of fasteners, gears, and other miscellaneous hardware.
- Sensors include touch sensors, an ultrasonic sensor, integrated motor encoders, line following sensors, and a potentiometer; additional sensors are available outside of the base kits.
- Wireless communication between a VEX Cortex and a VEXNet Joystick Controller is possible by using the 802.11b/g VEXNet USB Adapter Keys.
- The VEX Cortex system can be used in the VEX Robotics Challenge (Middle, High School, and College divisions).
- Recommended use: advanced Middle School, High School or College.
We understand that choosing a robotics kit is a tough decision. The number one factor in determining which kit is right for you is the students; depending on the skill level of the students, it may be better to challenge them with a more advanced kit (VEX Cortex) or they may prefer to learn with a beginner kit to get them started (VEX IQ.) No matter which kit you decide to use, though, you can rest easy knowing ROBOTC will fully support all of these platforms.
Which Robotics Kit Should I Use? LEGO Edition
Now more than ever, robotics educators are faced with the important question of which kit they should purchase and use. This key question has been made even more intricate in the 2013-2014 school year due to the addition of the new robotics kit, LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3. This article will help break down LEGO's kits, their capabilities and target audiences, and allow you, the educator, to make an informed decision on which kit is best for your particular classroom.
The LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 is the all-new robotics kit from LEGO Education (creators of the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT system). It is fully compatible with previous NXT hardware (except for the battery), including all plastic structural pieces and sensors.
- Compatibility with the MATRIX and TETRIX metal systems is expected in fall 2014.
- Those starting a classroom from scratch need not worry; the EV3 comes with a total of 541 elements, including a multitude of structural parts (beams, connectors, wheels, gears, etc), 4 different sensor types (color sensor, gyroscopic sensor, ultrasonic sensor, and touch sensor), 3 motors, and the EV3 micocontroller or 'brain'.
- The EV3 microcontroller sports 4 sensor ports, 4 motor ports, a internal Bluetooth adapter, and a USB slot which can be used with a WiFi adapter for wireless connectivity (as well as microSDHC card slot which supports cards up to 32GB in size).
- It utilizes a Linux-based firmware which allows for on-brick programming and datalogging.
- The EV3 is already legal in First Lego League (ages 9-14), but we are still waiting on information on when it will be legal for First Tech Challenge (High School) competitions.
- Recommended use: Middle School (EV3) or High School (with MATRIX or TETRIX kit).
Now, let's take a look at the LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT V2.0. Released in 2009, the NXT platform utilizes a plastic snap-fit hardware structure system, with 431 elements included in the base kit.
- These elements consist of both structural pieces (beams, connectors, and axles, to name a few), three interactive servo motors, the NXT microcontroller, and ultrasonic, light, sound, and two touch sensors included.
- There are also many third-party sensors available from sites such as Hitechnic, Dexter Industries, and Mindsensors.
- The NXT is also fully compatible with the MATRIX and TETRIX metal systems.
- Wireless capabilities include built-in Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity (provided by an external Samantha Module adapter).
- The NXT is currently a legal microcontroller for both the First Lego League (FLL, ages 9-14) and First Tech Challenge (High School) challenges.
- Recommended use: Middle School or High School (with MATRIX or TETRIX metal kit).
We understand that choosing a robotics kit is a tough decision. The number one factor in determining which kit is right for you will come down to the students; depending on the skill level of the students, it may be better to challenge them with a more advanced kit (MATRIX or TETRIX kits) or they made need to start with a simpler kit (LEGO NXT or EV3 kits). No matter which kit you decide to use, though, you can rest easy knowing ROBOTC will fully support all of these platforms.
Organizing a Robotics Classroom
Getting your classroom organized for the beginning of the school year is an arduous task for even the most experienced teacher. It can be even more demanding for those that teach robotics. You've got the robot kits, you've been trained in ROBOTC, but how do you set up your class for the first day of school? The goal of this article is to help answer the question for both new robotic teachers and teachers that have been teaching robotics for years.
As we all know, a robotics kit is more expensive than a textbook. Moreover, because robotics kits contain so many small pieces, they can be much more difficult to take care of than a textbook. As a result, keeping your kits organized is crucial. If using a LEGO MINDSTORM NXT, EV3, or TETRIX robot, one way that I have found that can be very helpful is to name the NXT brick. Then, give the same name to the kit. Now, assign the kit to the group of students in your class. If the students know that they are responsible for that kit, it goes a long way towards them acting more responsibly with the kit. If using a VEX robot, you won't have the same ability to name your brick, but you can still able to label your robotics kit.
Which students are assigned to work together is also something that the teacher must put some thought into. Once again, maintaining the kits is of the utmost importance. Therefore, I am not going to allow students to work together if I feel that will not take care of the kit. Some students are more organized and careful with the kits than others. I always try to have one of those students in a group. I try to have the kits named and assigned before the first day of school. If I don't know the students, then I may have to adjust the groups as we progress throughout the beginning of the school year.
Once the kits are organized, the teacher can then start to think about how their curriculum items are going to be accessed and utilized. A math teacher has a plan for when their students have a question about a topic, or when a student is confused about a particular concept. A robotics teacher has to have the same type of plan in mind. The beauty of teaching robotics lies in the fact that students are intrinsically motivated to find answers to their problems because they are highly engaged. Some students will still be conditioned, however, to try to elicit the answer from the teacher instead of reasoning through a problem on their own. Robotics teachers need to create a plan so the students can work towards being independent and productive problem solvers.
To that end, a good approach to a complex challenge is to examine what needs to be done before the challenge, during the challenge, and after the challenge is complete. Before the challenge, students should be focusing on create flowcharts to organize their program and writing pseudocode to reflect those flowcharts. During the challenge, students should focus on commenting their code and debugging techniques. Afterwards, students should be afforded the opportunity to reflect and respond to what went well, what went not so well, and what they learned throughout the process.
Giving students a little bit of structure while they engage a challenging task will go a long way towards ensuring that the students' high level of engagement does not turn into a high level of frustration. Engagement works both ways in that sense: High engagement leads to students that are focused on their task, but can also lead to high levels of frustration because the students desperately want to finish that task. To avoid the frustration,teachers should provide a structure that the students can rely on when needed. Before the school year begins, teachers should spend some time planning students' work, and then the students can spend time during school working their plan.
The beginning of the school year is always a challenge. As teachers, we understand that unforeseen difficulties will always arise. However, going into the school year with as much planned and organized as possible helps us to focus on those unpredictable events that will undoubtedly occur.
Check out how we organize robot parts at the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Academy:
-Jason McKenna
Robotics Back to School Blog Series
It is that time of year again … backpacks on our backs, buses on the streets, and lessons being planned. Yes, we are going back to school! To kick start the school year, we are introducing a six week robotics back to school blog series that highlights the technical and pedagogical side of planning for your robotics classroom. John Watson, from ROBOTC customer support, and Jason McKenna, a K-8 Gifted Support Teacher in the Hopewell Area School District outside of Pittsburgh, PA, will be sharing with you tips, tricks, advice, and recommendations on prepping your robotics classroom and curriculum.
As each blog is posted, the topics below will turn into hyperlinks, so feel free to bookmark this page!
- Organizing a Robotics Classroom
- Which Robotics Kit Should I Use? LEGO EDITION — VEX EDITION
- Reviewing ROBOTC Concepts After a Summer Off
- Setting up ROBOTC and RVW for the Classroom
- Robotics Curriculum Breakdown
- Setting Up Robots: LEGO EDITION — VEX EDITION
- Differentiated Instructions
- Troubleshooting Common Issues in ROBOTC and RVW
- Handling Common Teaching Issues
- Advanced ROBOTC and Robotics
- Assessment and Extension Activities
If you have any questions or would like to start a conversation on any of the topics, feel free to leave us a comment below!
A Teacher's POV: My Child Wrote Code?
Originally posted on Grow a Generation Blog
I took Grow a Generation to a recent Zumbathon fundraiser for the Yellow Ribbon Girls. Several kids meandered over to the table while the moms were working out. I invited them to play around with the Scratch programming window that was opened on the computer. One girl, I think about 10 or 11, became enamored with Scratch, asking how to make the cat she choose as a sprite move around the screen. I showed her a few command codes and encouraged her to experiment. Intent, she focused as hard on that screen as the 200+ moms focused on their workout. When the workout was over, her mom, exhausted and drenched, came to grab her hand and walk off. It took several attempts by me to convince the mom to actually look, and several more attempts to explain the daughter had not been playing a game, rather programming a new one. She had programmed her cat to dance a Zumba workout. Even then, the mom didn't seem to understand and finally looked closer to let her child explain the code she had put in place. The mom was incredulous, "You mean my daughter actually programmed this?"
I spent this week working with some brilliant young people as they were introduced to Alice 2, a free drag and drop educational programming language that allows students to create computer animations using 3D models. Our theme was Zany Animals and each student was tasked with inventing a creature and animating it with special qualities. J.K. Rowlings inventive imagination supplied fuel for our creativity while we looked at the etymology and origins of some great Harry Potter creatures (Basilisk, Phoenix, Hippogriff, Boggart, and Thestrals). The Discovery channel demonstrated some very real incredible animals and provided a template for our short nature documentaries. We discussed the ethics of animal experimentation and watch some videos of the current status on cloning, using animal to create pharmaceuticals and synthetic proteins, and grafting technology onto animals.
One of the uncles (a young man in his late twenties) stopped mid-week and looked around at the fun we were having. He shared his remembrances of computer science class in high school, a black screen with detailed code he could not make work. He had walked away from high school convinced Programming was something he could not learn.
His comments, alongside the mom's at the Zumbathon, have me wondering about marketing. Only five students enrolled in the camp. While other factors played a part, how do I advertise to a generation who cannot conceive a child can begin to write code (and have fun doing it)? How can we work to allow not just the technology teacher and the media lab director, but also the classroom teacher encourage computer programming and the creation of digital artifacts in the creative expression of their students.
I have had to journey my own learning curve this summer. I am taking the CS2N Summer of Learning class in ROBOTC. The Alice 2 tutorials I did in class were adapted from the CS2N Introduction to Alice class that is available free on their website. I learned alongside the kids and eagerly accepted the wonderful help of two area middle school STEM heroes who run their own programming classes in the homeschool network – Fiona and Joseph Chaney.
The camp was such fun. The kids learned to select an environment and create an establishing shot for their animals habitat. They then created their creature by selecting the object of an animal and changing colors, textures, ear size, nose size, arm length, etc. They started animating their animal to demonstrate its incredible abilities and changing camera angles to tell a story. Finally, they added sound and narration to their animation. All of this was done while learning basic computer care, where to save and recover files, and how to deal with constant messaging of "Alice thinks you made an error" and carry on through frustration. The kids will be using the animations they created to enter the CS2N Nature Doc-u-mentary competition.
Two learning leap moments stood out. The first was a child who had originally placed two dragons into the scene and they create a 'method' called fight. He dragged the method into the editor box and couldn't figure out why they weren't fighting. He had not yet connected the need to write the script for each movement of each dragon to create the method. The rest of his week was spent focused on getting a dragon to flap his wings. It tied in beautifully with a video on the last day about how computer animation team created the Thestral flight scene in the Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix movie. This boy was breaking down the abstract concepts of 'fight' and 'fly' and beginning to think in terms of modeling, algorithms, and sequence.
Another moment came when a student wanted to have a turtle disappear into his shell. I found a brief tutorial online (the Alice tutorials are out there, but they are not as easy to find as the Scratch tutorials) and he was able to follow it. When I checked back in to examine his code, I was so impressed how he could walk me through the control structures he put in place for sequence, conditions, and parallel execution!
High points included sitting outside on a gorgeous rain free day in the shade under the tree at a picnic table at Baden Academy as students typed away on their netbooks creating their animals, inspired by the new surroundings and summer breeze. Another was the look of such pride as parents and grandparents applauded to see the student creations on the screen in the lab at the end of the week.
Embarrassment of the week – despite a Ph.D., I could not visualize the need to invert the image on the iron on for the shirts – so if you see a smiling child wearing a shirt with a picture of their Zany Animal and all the text is backwards, know that you are looking yet another erratum of Dr. Ellen.
I close with a recent Facebook post from a mom: "John made this video in his computer class this past week. It is short but he has never done anything like this in the past. Wish the class was longer than five days. He loved it."
Enjoy the kids work – and don't forget to add your comments!
Bob Bobson
FireBall the Devious Hamster Crook
Moon Dragon
Turtle Chase
ROBOTC Teacher – Jeff Maxwell
We've featured a couple of robotics students the last few weeks, but this week we showcase a robotics teacher who uses ROBOTC and Robot Virtual Worlds in the classroom. Check out Jeff Maxwell's interview on why and how he uses Robot Virtual Worlds with his students …
A Teacher's POV: Using Robot Virtual Worlds in the Classroom
We continue the new section to our blog called Teacher's POV (Point of View) with another post by Jason McKenna, a K-8 Gifted Support Teacher in the Hopewell Area School District outside of Pittsburgh, PA. He took the time to give some examples of how you can use Robot Virtual Worlds in your classroom.
Robot Virtual Worlds is a powerful tool to teach ROBOTC to students. The unofficial motto for Robot Virtual Worlds is "No Robot, no problem." That is absolutely true. If you are just starting a robotics program, or if your budget just can't handle the cost of physical robots, Robot Virtual Worlds is a powerful tool for teachers.
However, the use of Robot Virtual Worlds is not just limited to replacing physical robots. Even if you have dozens of physical robots at your disposal, Robot Virtual Worlds can still be a powerful addition to your curriculum. Here are some examples:
- Differentiating Instruction. One of the hardest things for a teacher to do is to teach to where each individual student currently is in the curriculum. Robot Virtual Worlds allows teachers to do this. Let's say you have a student that is struggling to learn some of the beginning ROBOTC concepts and another that is breezing through the curriculum. With Robot Virtual Worlds, you can easily create a challenge for each student. Creating a challenge for a student is easy. A new challenge can always be created in the Robot Virtual World Level Builder. Additionally, if students are working in Palm Island or Operation Reset, one student can program their robot to make turns while using timing, and the student that is progressing faster can be shown how to use the Gyro Sensor. In this manner, a teacher can differentiate instruction within the SAME lesson. That is the goal for all educators, and it can be achieved easily with Robot Virtual Worlds. To use another example, let's say a student quickly solves a basic movement challenge (ex. Robot Slalom) with a physical robot. Instead of having to wait for the rest of the class to finish, that student can use the Curriculum Companion Pack to solve the same challenge virtually. Only now, the student can use encoder values to move precise distances, instead of just timing.
- Teaching to Mastery. Because Robot Virtual Worlds allows you to teach programming concepts faster (Physical vs Virtual Programming Fall 2012 Study Results), it also affords teachers the opportunity to present more repeated practice to the students. Missions in both Operation Reset and Palm Island reinforce all of the fundamentals of programming that are found in the ROBOTC Curriculum. For instance, if a student has just learned how to line follow with their physical robot, they can then complete missions in both Operation Reset and Palm Island that also require line following.
- Introduction to New Students. As teachers, our days are filled with the unexpected. One of the most challenging surprises is when you are told that you will have a new student in class because the student just moved to your district. Your class is 3 or 4 months into the ROBOTC curriculum, and your new student has no experience with ROBOTC at all. Here is where the Robot Virtual Worlds came be a lifesaver. Instead of having the student jump into whatever challenge the students are doing with physical robots, the student can watch the lessons from the ROBOTC Curriculum and complete the challenges in the Curriculum Companion Pack. After the student has begun to learn some of basics of ROBOTC, he/she can be introduced to the challenge that the rest of class is working on.
- Beginning of the School Year. When students return from summer break, some will have retained all or most of what was taught to them the previous year. Others will have retained far less. With this example, Robot Virtual Worlds can be used as a pre-assessment that can then be used to help direct that teacher's instruction. For example, a teacher can create a challenge in the Robot Virtual World Level Builder that asks the students to utilize different programming concepts. By doing this, a teacher can see what skills need to be reviewed and what skills the students have retained. This is a tremendous time-saver. Most teachers work under the assumption that they had better review everything before moving on to a new concept. Using a pre-assessment eliminates this need. Robot Virtual Worlds are a perfect fit for this pre-assessment.
- Robot Virtual Worlds Levels Builder. This is a great tool for, once again, those unexpected occurrences in the classroom. Let's say you you've been pulled into a meeting without a previous notice. A substitute has been sent to your class for coverage. You're a little hesitant to let the students practice with the physical robots because the students are just beginning and the sub will not be able to answer any of their questions. You don't have time to introduce a challenge in one of the Virtual Worlds; therefore, you quickly tell the students to open the Levels Builder and tell them to create challenges for each other. The students are now engaged and busy, and you can proceed to your meeting.
Those are 5 quick ways that Robot Virtual Worlds can be a big help for any teacher, not matter how many physical robot a teacher may or may not have. Robot Virtual Worlds are not just a replacement for physical robots, they are a tremendous asset in and of themselves.
Unsure what Robot Virtual Worlds is? Check out this video …
Thank you, Jason! If you are a teacher who would like to share your experiences on our blog, send us an email to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Top Images – Code designed by Brennan Novak, Teacher designed by Juan Pablo Bravo, and Robot designed by Simon Child all from The Noun Project.
Teacher Appreciation Week Challenge Winners
During Teacher Appreciation Week, we challenged students to send us stories about their awesome robotics teachers, mentors, and coaches. We received some great stories and are excited to announce the top three stories!! Each teacher will receive a 365-day classroom license for Robot Virtual Worlds. Below are the list of winners and the stories submitted by the students.
You think you've seen awesome but you haven't met Miss Liberty! In 2009 she convinced our elementary school principal to let her start a robotics class. At first, she volunteered her time to teach 24 of us after school (we were in 3rd and 4th grade)…it was so much fun! She made learning how to program seem really easy. We used both NXT-G and ROBOTC.
Then, she loved doing it so much, she founded a STEM non-profit to start robotics and engineering programs throughout our community. She gave a ton of her time to help start robotics programs at elementary, middle, and high schools and then her "robot fever" spread to the neighboring school districts. She began teaching at multiple schools, starting FIRST teams at all levels, and helping us realize there was more we could do with our future then we ever thought possible.
In our community, because of her passion, we now have three school districts with: 4 high schools with actual engineering and robotics elective classes, 3 middle schools with engineering/robotics electives, and two elementary schools with technology rotations of programming with robotics. To top if off, she recruited other awesome teachers to help with the after school programs and every year there are over 32 schools who have full-time robotics teams…all because she rocks. (oh…and she helped the Palm Springs Air Museum raise over $400,000 to build a technology center for kids who want to do robotics, but it isn't offered at their school!).
Well, we aren't in elementary school anymore, but she continues to open up her house for our rag-tag group in addition to all the classes she teaches. We love her so much. She is enthusiastic about making sure we "learn how to learn"; thinking critically about everything we work on, from strategy, to psuedocoding, to prototyping out designs. She always answers our questions with questions, and has a neat way of helping us break down complex issues into tiny bite-size pieces.
But best of all, she encourages us to be "Fruitloops in a World Full of Cheerios" and challenges us to the best of who we can be and embrace our quirkiness.
Yeah…Miss Liberty is awesome!!!!!
X-Treme Team (and the kids of the Coachella Valley)
"We know what we are, but not what we may be." – Hamlet Act IV Scene V
A life beyond what we can perceive is a tall tale to tell indeed. The future is uncertain, opaque, and daunting. We can never truly grasp what it entails, and it often seems unreachable. Yet visions and plans of a future that we may influence lie entirely in our hands, and these dreams may be brought to reality through the wisdom, guidance and eccentric nature of one great man. Mr Graham Conlon is truly a delight to all. His enthusiasm, insight, good-humour and remarkable wit has propelled our team onwards and upwards to unimaginable renown. Whilst this may be marked as pretentious, there are no delusions of grandeur here. Mr Conlon has been a wonderful and exemplary mentor, showing us that with careful organisation, a calm approach, and a dry joke or two, we can affect and shape a collective future for the team. Regardless of the final outcome, we are taught that the journey that we embark on as a team is far more significant; That growing and developing as a team has more value than success. He centers our main focus around building an exceptional team that can then build, control and influence an exceptional robot. From there, the rest is our own doing.
Mentor from Reseda Regents Robotics
*We have not got official word from this coach to use his name in the article, so it has been removed from the story.
I do not write to you today about a mentor of my team, at least not a formal mentor. Instead I write of VRC#20 mentor. I recall him asking why I "wasn't smiling" very much during the 2011 world championships as he handed me a completed score sheet with a win for red alliance. I find it strange; that single comment brightened the rest of the competition for me (even though I wasn't sad, just tired) and forever made me a bit appreciative of what he does for robotics. Each year, my team (VRC#599) hosts a VEX tournament for teams in our area that services around 40 teams each year. As such a large event, we draw volunteers from numerous sources and rely heavily on volunteer support. Amongst the volunteers stand STEM teachers, college teachers, students, engineers, and parents. At my very first event, I knew the volunteers from my team and no one else. Within a year I recognized each face and knew each volunteer by name. I see the Reseda Regents Robotics mentor in the morning donning the bright Reseda Regents blue. Just as soon as his team is registered, the Reseda Regents Robotics mentor has put on the striped referee shirt. At every event, he does the same. You see him in bright blue, you see him in black and white. One would expect his black and white referee uniform to juxtapose his Reseda shirt just as the black juxtaposes the white. One would expect an on/off relationship of volunteer to coach; a relationship that leads him to coach his team and volunteer as two separate entities. His Reseda blue very well may be the black and white of the Referee shirt or the gray of a volunteer shirt. In everything he does, he presents a team that inspires. Reseda blue stands out amongst the field reset crew. Reseda blue stands out amongst the queueing team. Reseda blue stands out amongst the half assembled fields. Reseda blue stands out amongst my Robodox green. Reseda blue stands out because team 20, Reseda Regents Robotics, and everyone else emulate an outstanding mentor and teacher whose Reseda blue stands out amongst everything he does.
Account provided by Chris Miranda of VRC#599, Robodox
Thank you to every one who sent in their stories and thank you to ALL teachers, mentors, and coach for everything you do for your students!
A Teacher's POV: Robotics in a STEM Classroom
I'd like to welcome a new section to our blog called Teacher's POV (Point of View) that will allow guest bloggers who are teachers, mentors, and coaches to share some of the lessons they have learned while teaching robotics. Our first guest blogger is a good friend to the ROBOTC family, Jason McKenna, a K-8 Gifted Support Teacher in the Hopewell Area School District outside of Pittsburgh, PA. He has been kind enough to put together some blogs about his experiences teaching robotics.
As teachers, we are constantly looking for ways to make the subjects that we are teaching relevant. Students are always asking when they will ever use a particular concept, or how what they are learning applies to a real life scenario. Admittedly, teachers sometimes have a hard time answering those questions.
Thankfully, teaching Robotics and computer programming puts those questions to rest. Because technology is so ubiquitous in students' lives, students will immediately see the benefits of learning how to program. Moreover, Robotics is the perfect platform to show the application of math and science concepts to everyday scenarios.
In addition to all of that stuff that we educators like to talk about, students just have fun programming a robot to do something. Add in the allure of some competition, and you have yourself a pretty engaged classroom.
With that in mind, I decided to have my 8th grade students participate in a line following car race. Students were to program their robots to follow a line as fast as possible. Of course, the trick is the robot has to stay on the line. While following a black line, the robot has to decide (using a light sensor) if it is on the black line or on the white part of the mat. For the competition, the students added some PID concepts to their line following. As many of you already know, PID is used in many control systems, from your car, to your homes, to large scale factories. The students and I discussed how PID is basically a control system that tries to calculate an error and make adjustments to a control system based upon that error. The robot calculates an error (how far it is off the black line) and then makes adjustments to the motor speed based upon the error. That is what makes it proportional: the movement is based upon the error. Large error equals a large correction whereas a smaller error creates a smaller correction.
The students were able to apply some of the concepts they are currently learning in Algebra to their program. For example, they are utilizing the slope intercept formula (y=mx+b) to find their turn. Y is the turn distance, x is the light sensor reading (the error), and m is the change in y (maximum and minimum turning power) divided by the change in x (maximum and minimum light sensor reading). Students get to apply an important math concept to a fun and engaging scenario that has real-world applications.
The students then decided that they wanted to see what would happen with two light sensors. The students adjusted their code, conducted some iterative testing, and surveyed their results.
In conclusion, one really sees how Robotics and ROBOTC meld perfectly with the goals of a STEM classroom. Really, the only limitation is a teacher's (and students') imagination.
– Jason McKenna
Thank you Jason! If you are a teacher who would like to share your experiences on our blog, send us an email to email@example.com.
Top Images – Code designed by Brennan Novak, Teacher designed by Juan Pablo Bravo, and Robot designed by Simon Child all from The Noun Project.


text:
From: NJ, United States
Genre: Pop, Latin Rap, Hip-Hop
Alex Caceres, known in the industry as Logical, was born and raised in Newark, NJ. Logical started out as a poet in high school and his childhood friends dared him to try and write poetry to music. He was very surprised at how easily it came to him and how much he loved doing it. His first recorded track was so well received then and there to take his music to the next level and recorded his first EP, titled after his first single, Someone Like You. He has always had a wide range of musical tastes, includin…


text:
AdventureMotoUSA seeking contributors.
AdventureMotoUSA is seeking contributors! AdventureMotoUSA.net is a new online magazine catering to Adventurebike enthusiasts. We are currently interviewing contributors on all levels, from content to tech. Contact us to see how you can get in on the ground floor of a national publication. Resumes accepted, but experience or writing ability not a prerequisite. If interested, please contact email@example.com
How do you find your magazine-Google came up with nadda....
oh yeah???
Bill Eakins
[QUOTE= Resumes accepted, but experience or writing ability not a prerequisite.[/QUOTE]
Hmmm.. I always kinda fantasized about becoming a moto journalist. Since writing ability is not a prerequisite, I might just put in for this.:D
Who's got a dirty mind???
I love this is the best time ever for Adventure Bikes and they all do dirt with the right tires or not.
yer email inbox in full.
IT guy needs to expand the incoming server size. You might be maxing GoDaddy.
I'm also a geek.
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text: Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd., (BMRCL) has said it would offload the contractor of civil works of construction of the viaduct on Reach 3 between Swastik and Yeshwanthpur because of delay in the execution of the work. In a release, BMRCL said the viaduct construction work for a distance of 5.1 km was assigned to IDEB – SUCG JV on November 7, 2008 at a cost of Rs. 209.57 crore. The contractor was lagging behind in terms of time by about four months and the progress had been only 8 per cent of the targeted piles to be completed.


text:
Windows Help
It's free to register, to post a question or to start / join a discussion
Vista connection drops if left idle for 20+ seconds, XP laptop connections fine
Likes # 0
Posted November 14, 2011 at 8:44PM
This started happening after receiving a new Modem from Talktalk.
I have 2 laptops with XP and 1 laptop with Vista connected to the same modem. The 2 XP laptop's connections are fine but the one with Vista cannot stay connected if left alone for a short period of time, it turns into Local Only and stops loading web pages until you try surfing the internet again. Any form of keeping the connection downloading something i.e. downloading content from web pages, playing an online game or downloading a file will keep the Vista connection connected until the download stops.
I have unchecked the power saving option in my Network Adapter in Device Manager, that is not an issue.
Also the internet on my iPhone is the same as the Vista connection. It plays up as well.
Thanks for any help.
Likes # 0
Posted December 12, 2011 at 12:05PM
If you haven't already solved your Vista problem - you could have a look at this. Am assuming you are talking about wireless connection.
Check that your Vista machine has the same security settings as your router - the IP addresses need to be the same.
Check to see if your wireless network adapter needs updating - go to device manager to do this
Check the TCP/IP protocol settings - look at this article
If IPv6 is checked uncheck it leaving just IPv4 checked.
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Songwriters Hall of Fame bestows honors
Guitarist Stephen Stills thanked women and politicians for Crosby, Stills and Nash's induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York.
Stills was on hand at the hall of fame's 40th induction ceremony along with bandmates David Crosby and Graham Nash to receive the music industry honor, Rolling Stone magazine reported online Friday.
I have to thank all the great women who dumped me and all the dumb politicians that did things that (inspired me) to write songs, Stills said at Thursday's ceremony.
Rockers Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora were also on hand to be inducted for their work together in the group Bon Jovi.
If you write one song that comes across decades, you're lucky. If you write a body of them and you're recognized in the Songwriters Hall of Fame, it's prestigious, Jovi said prior to be honored.
Singer-songwriter Jason Mraz was awarded the Hal David Starlight Award and crooner Tom Jones earned a Howie Richmond Hitmaker Award.


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Japan's exports tumble on global spending freeze
TOKYO Japan's exports – once a key driver of growth – tumbled faster than ever in February as a deteriorating economy forced consumers on every continent to put the brakes on buying new cars.
The country's carmakers, which until last year boasted massive profits, are among the biggest casualties of Japan's deepest recession since the end of World War II. Iconic brands Toyota, Honda and Nissan face what could be their bleakest business year ever.
They have all responded aggressively to try to stem the damage, reducing shifts, suspending factory lines and announcing thousands of job cuts over the past few months. Economists say they've never seen Japanese companies move so quickly to adjust inventories, helped by their greater reliance on temporary contract workers who can be eliminated more easily than full-time employees.
Overseas shipments in Februrary plunged an unprecedented 49.4 percent from a year earlier, the government said Wednesday. The figure marks the sharpest decline in the world's second-largest economy since the Finance Ministry began compiling comparable data in 1980.
Demand, particularly of motor vehicles, plunged in all regions of the world including North America, Europe and Russia.
The International Monetary Fund expects Japan's economy to contract 5.8 percent for the 2009 calendar year, though many economists predict it could be far worse.
The unemployment rate stood at 4.1 percent in January, but the figure doesn't account for workers who have simply dropped out of the labor market altogether. So-called discouraged workers, who have stopped actively looking for a job, are counted in Japanese labor data as part of the "non-working population" instead of the unemployed.
A recent report by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare estimated that nearly 158,000 "non-regular" employees in Japan's manufacturing sector will have lost their jobs between October and March.
In separate industry figures released Tuesday, Toyota Motor Corp., which is forecasting its first annual net loss since 1950, said its global production plunged by nearly half in February from a year earlier. Honda Motor Corp. reported a 43 percent drop in global output, while Nissan Motor Co. said its worldwide production declined 51 percent.
Overall industrial production fell a record 10 percent in January, and February figures, scheduled for release Monday, are expected to show a further contraction.
But Goldman Sachs economist Chiwoong Lee in Tokyo said exporters' moves may be paying off, shedding a glimmer of hope on Wednesday's otherwise dismal data.
Although exports to China fell almost 40 percent, the contraction eased for the first time in seven months, particularly in the electric equipment sector.
"The overall downtrend in exports is unchanged, but in sectors where inventory correction has gained traction, we are starting to see signs that declines are halting," Lee said in a note to clients. "A full recovery is still far away, but further deterioration is a diminishing possibility, and we expect exports to trend flat at low levels."
The global slowdown also began sapping domestic demand for imports, which fell 43 percent in February from a year earlier. As a result, Japan posted its first trade surplus in five months, breaking a run of four straight months in the red.


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After six years away from the game, Mystikal is set to headline a concert for Mardi Gras.
Fat Tuesday marks the rapper's return to the stage with the Mystikal and Friends concert at the Mahalia Jackson Theater of Performing Arts in New Orleans.
The concert takes place just over month after his January 11 release from prison. The former No Limit soldier has been sentenced to prison time on charges of sexual battery and extortion in 2004.
There's no word on who else is scheduled to perform at the concert, scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. on February 16. Tickets for Mystikal and Friends are available at Ticketmaster.com, priced between $36.65 and $63.10.
– Sonya Eskridge
Here's more:
Master P won't accept excuses
P. Miller pledges help to New Orleans


text:
development yahoo
(Mister Wong community recommendations)
most popular brand new
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text:
Gal-X or Mvam Prometheus class
View Single Post
Career Officer
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 575
# 12
Originally Posted by
Are the pets from the mvam good in combat i heard they sometimes go off course
All npcs are dumb in this game. You'll find most of the time your mvae pets getting very close to the Borg cubes (think its a dev glitch due to how wide a cube is) and when the Borg explodes, so your other 2 parts of the mvae. But it really doesn't matter, all npcs have all power levels set at 50, so other than some attack patterns they spawn (apb and apd are the only one that really matter for you due to debuff and defense increase) you won't loose a big deal. So best is to consider the pets don't exist and you're on your own, safer this way.
Hear! Sons of Kahless
Hear! Daughters too.
The blood of battle washes clean.
The Warrior brave and true.
We fight, we love, and then we kill...


text:
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2014 Alwan for the Arts Auction and Exhibition Set for Shirin Gallery, 6/26
Alwan for the Arts, the premier organization promoting the contemporary arts and cultures of the Middle East in the United States, is pleased to present the 2014 Alwan Art Auction. The exhibition and reception will take place on Thursday, June 26, 2014, from 5 pm to 9 pm at Shirin Gallery, located at 511 West 25th Street, Suite 507, New York, New York, 10001. Alwan has partnered with online auction house Paddle8 to allow a global collecting community to participate in this benefit auction. The Paddle8 Benefit Auction will be live for bidding from Monday, June 16 to Monday, June 30 at paddle8.com/auctions/alwan.
The 2014 Alwan for the Arts Auction will feature artwork by over 30 world-renowned and emerging Middle Eastern artists, providing an opportunity for established and new collectors to acquire works, while supporting the mission of Alwan for the Arts.
Artists featured in the auction include:
SAMIRA ABBASSY, JAISHRI ABICHANDANI, ETEL ADNAN, ALI AHMAD SA'ID (ADONIS), AMINA AHMED, MOUNIRA AL SOLH, DIANA AL-HADID, SAMA ALSHAIBI, HAIG ALVAZIAN, AMBREEN BUTT, ALI CHERRI, RUBY CHISHTI, ALI CHITSAZ, LINDA CUMMINGS, ROYA FARASSAT, MARIAM GHANI, SERGE HAMAD, MAHMOUD HAMADANI, AIDA IZADPANAH, PAYAM MOFIDI, NAEEM MOHAIEMEN, KEVORK MOURAD, DENISE NASSAR, FARIDEH SAKHAEIFAR, SADRA SHAHAB, NEGIN SHARIFZADEH, KAMRAN TAHERIMOGHADDAM, KATHERINE TOUKHY, KATAYOUN VAZIRI, SHADI YOUSEFIAN, and more...
"There were two central organizing principles for the work selected for the auction. First, a majority of the artists are from the Middle East or its Diaspora," says Negin Sharifzadeh, curator of the auction. "Some have lived outside of their native country for many decades, while others are much newer to navigating the creation of art in a new cultural context."
The works by the artists selected for the 2014 Alwan Art Auction embody the essential between-ness of being in the Diaspora, or even being in exile at home. Their work wrestles with universal themes, avoiding the obsessive recreation of native themes. Yet their roots still imbue their works, in ways both subtle and obvious.
"I have also chosen to include two video works in the show. It is a medium still under-represented within shows of artists from the region," Sharifzadeh says. "I am hoping to help integrate this no longer new medium into the context of the art gallery and as work to be collected, either as video editions or prints made from the work."
"The art included in this auction means to be politically engaged," says Ahmed Issawi, Artistic Director of Alwan for the Arts, citing the work of Marwan Rechmaoui, a Palestinian artist residing in Lebanon, who will be featured in an exhibit at the New Museum in July, 2014. "Artists Ali Cherri, Mounira Al Solh, and Maya Chami, also Lebanon-based, share the same sentiment, in their own ways, of trying to work out norms, habits, and ways of communication in a society that is plagued by perpetual conflict and instability."
Issawi continues: "Diana Al-Hadid was born in Aleppo, Syria, and her architectural work is layered with discrete civilizational references. It is as if to replicate the city of her birth, now engulfed in ruins of many past histories and civilizations, artifacts, and present conflicts. Al-Hadid's work is at once constructed and transparent but has an imaginary or "dream-like" quality. As such, it embodies material labor and a sense of weightlessness. In her sculptures, panels, and drawings there are always a room for the ghost to walk in and breathe, whereas Mahmoud Hamadani, from Iran, uses simple lines and traces in a perpetual search for form."
The Shirin Gallery NY is located at 511 West 25th Street, Suite 507, New York, NY 10001. Call 212 242 4684 for more information.
About Author
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More words related to relinquish
verb. leave a place or responsibility
- give ground
- give up work
- give way
- go
- go away
- go to bed
- go to one's room
- go to sleep
- hand over
- hit the sack
verb. pull back, go away
verb. comply, endure
verb. give up; resign
verb. give up; let go
Roget's 21st Century Thesaurus, Third Edition Copyright © 2013 by the Philip Lief Group.Cite This Source


text:
Trevor Parr@rourke active 2 days, 4 hours ago
Trevor Parr commented on the post, New Tilke images reveal Baku track's narrow corners 7 months, 2 weeks ago
Why don't they use someone else besides Hermann Tilke?-Most of his tracks are soooo boring-Variety is the spice of life,surely!!!
Trevor Parr commented on the post, Sport and politics collide amid dreary Russian race 7 months, 2 weeks ago
Another Hermann Tilke circuit-boring!!!Why the hell don't they use different people.
Trevor Parr commented on the post, Double points finale now likely to decide title 7 months, 2 weeks ago
They MUST drop this ridiculous idea,whoever wins will not want to win The World Championship in this way,wish they'd get rid of it this year.
Trevor Parr commented on the post, John Button, father of Jenson, dies aged 70 1 year, 4 months ago
Very sad,he was always at the races supporting his son and a real character,I'll always remember his reaction when Jenson won the world championship,amazing.He will be missed.RIP.
My thoughts to JB and his family.
Trevor Parr replied to the forum topic Video: Why Webber and Alonso got reprimands in Singapore in the group F1 1 year, 8 months ago
Pathetic,Mark had a bad enough race as it was!!!-doesn't look as dangerous as some people are saying.I know F1 has to have rules but seriously………….
Trevor Parr joined the group F1 1 year, 8 months ago
Trevor Parr commented on the post, Bahrain rated best race of the year so far 2 years ago
Bahrain was a little bit better than it normally is,awful circuit,they should dump it from the calendar but I understand they've signed a new deal,oh well!!!
It was a great shame that Fernando's DRS packed up […]
Trevor Parr became a registered member 2 years, 10 months ago


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This member hasn't added any personal information yet.
Leave habhater1 a message to find out more.
Forum Post: Hotel
Posted 04/29/2013 09:02:48 EDT
Driving up from ny for game 2 sat thinking about milenium bostonian any insight and how longs the walk to the garden from there
Forum Post: Here's the Schedule
Posted 04/08/2012 02:24:53 EDT
And again the defending stanley cup champions get the snub of the national broadcasting community
Forum Post: Rookie Games
Posted 09/12/2011 08:26:34 EDT
the game today will not be tellevised in newyork as it is not even open to the public the game tommorow might be tellevised on CSN NY as it is open to the public either way i will be at the game tommo more »
Forum Post: Bruins rookie camp attendees
Posted 09/07/2011 01:29:10 EDT
guys ill be at the rookie game against the islanders as i work 5 mins away from nassau coliseum ill report back after the game to let you guys know how it went and how the younger guys look im excited more »
Forum Post: sept 12 rookie game @ nassau coliseum
Posted 08/31/2011 01:19:23 EDT
kinda a shot in the dark here but im going to the game at nasau coliseum on the 12th any bruins fans from NY also heading out to the game if so tix are only $10 if your interested if not ill report ba more »
Forum Post: dicipline = play smart...... not uninspired
Posted 04/15/2011 08:53:28 EDT
does any one recall durring the season when the bruins we beat by the habs 4-1 all julien preached was dicipline and does every one remember that horror show last night the same game plan was preached more »
Forum Post: Finaly got my Game 2 Playoff tickets today
Posted 04/08/2011 09:13:55 EDT
i got my tix through a ticket broker site executive suite 636 for $191 a piece yesterday i had to lock em up it was too good to pass up espicially if they play the habs have a great time if any one ne more »
Forum Post: game 2 pregame pints??
Posted 04/08/2011 03:55:45 EDT
no guy i live 20 min outside of manhattan there arent many bruins fans here not to mention none of my friends like boston so rather then bring up a group of loudmouth yankee and ranger fans i figured more »
Posted 04/08/2011 03:05:41 EDT
I-like-hockey that sounds about rite the best part is i never have to leave my seat some how i found suite tix for the game for the price that balcony seats were going for on stub hub if you want i wi more »
Posted 04/08/2011 01:23:08 EDT
i am so amped thanks guys more »
Posted 04/08/2011 01:20:51 EDT
sounds like a good plan and in respect to the drinking part thats a no brainer more »
Posted 04/08/2011 01:16:11 EDT
lol thanks bailey whats a good place near causeway to go pregame ? more »
Posted 04/08/2011 12:56:07 EDT
sorry about that scooter i over reacted a bit there just dont want people to get the wrong idea that im trolling around here but thanks i cant wait for the game hopefully they can put one in the W col more »
Posted 04/08/2011 12:34:58 EDT
lol good one scooter not trolling or looking to set up a sting opperation just a bruins fan driving up for the game and figured it would be nice to meet other people who share the same pasion for the more »
Posted 04/08/2011 11:58:03 EDT
anyone no takers bueller? bueller? more »
Forum Post: So excited for my 1st game ever in the playoffs in Boston
Posted 04/08/2011 11:56:04 EDT
hey stanley where are u sitting im also going to game 2 tried to get a post for a pregame party going but no takers so far more »
Posted 04/08/2011 11:27:24 EDT
hey everyone my name is andrew been following you guys but never contributed for like the past 5 seasons i have been a diehard B's fan since birth not kidding 2 days after i was born my pops went to t more »
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text:
But based on its relatively successful track record in business computing — its revenues there were $23.8 billion in the second half of 2013 – up 10% — with a whopping 82% gross margin — it does have a chance in cloud computing.
The problem is that Microsoft faces strong competitors in the cloud. These include Amazon, IBM, Google, and Salesforce.com — with Amazon dominating, according to Synergy Research Group.
For Microsoft's stock to grow, I think that its revenues and profits will need to streak ahead of revenue and earnings expectations for at least four consecutive quarters.
The greatest hope for Microsoft doing that is for Nadella/Gates to unleash a flurry of competitively superior products that can together boost its revenues substantially by taking market share in mobile, social, and cloud.
If it could create new markets unbloodied by competition – the kind of blue ocean innovation that I think Microsoft needs – I would consider that as a possible reason to buy its stock.
I doubt that being a fast-follower or a creator of new markets will work for Microsoft. So I do not view Nadella/Gates as a reason to buy its stock.


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Surprise: Aussie Carbon Tax Contributes To Business Insolvencies
One would think that Australia's politicians would have gotten the hint that their "carbon tax" and cap and trade programs are really, really, really unpopular after the Queensland elections in early 2012, where the Labor Party, the major force behind all the legislation, was reduced from the the leader party to not having enough seats in Parliament to be considered a recognized political party. Alas, no, they want to continue down this stupid "green" path, which is contributing to companies going under
(Daily Caller) As U.S. lawmakers debate imposing a tax on carbon dioxide emissions, evidence is emerging that Australia's carbon tax has hit businesses hard.
News Limited Network reported the country's carbon tax was contributing to a record number of firms facing insolvency. Data from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission showed that a record 10,632 businesses faced insolvency for the 12 months to December 31 2012 – up from 10,481 for 2011.
Australia's largest manufacturing firms asked the central government to scrap the nation's carbon tax as it disadvantages local companies that are attempting to compete on a global market.
Looks like the carbon tax will reduce CO2 output by helping companies go out of business, leaving manufacturing idle and Aussie's sitting on the couch jobless and without the money to pay for electricity.
Origin Energy managing director Grant King said that the carbon tax as well as other green programs made up as much as 30 percent of small and medium sized businesses' electric bills.
Warmists do not care, they are saving Gaia from a minor increase in global temperature, and rather than practicing what they preach, they force everyone else to suffer.
Australia's tourism industry has also been impacted by carbon pricing. A study commissioned by Tourism Accommodation Australia says the carbon tax will add $115 million in costs to hotels and motels.
Those costs will go directly on the consumer. Well, in those cases where it's allowed, since parts of the law make it illegal to pass on some costs to consumers. The companies have to eat the costs. All supposedly to stop the mostly natural cycle of being in a warm period.
Crossed at Pirate's Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.
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