Here's a link to Robert Louis Stevenson ballade Heather Ale.
I enjoyed watching it.
you might do as well.

Learning vocabulary with Memrise

Hey guys.

I have been using the Memrise website lately as a means to learn and, mainly, to remember new vocabulary. According to the own website:

"We use mems to help you form vivid, sensory memories. We test you continuously, always making sure to give your brain just the right workout. We remind you of what you've learned at scientifically optimized times so your memories are always growing stronger, and never forgotten."

More about the method here.

There are many different courses on Memrise, for example, vocabulary for IELTS, CAE, general english, advanced, etc. I decided to make my own course and add to it the words I have learned on my 6 months in school. My aim is to contextualise the words as much as possible, making sure the meaning is understood, and to associate the meaning with another information (image, example sentence), making it easier to remember.

If you want to check my course out, the web address is Advanced English Vocabulary. Feel free to give any feedback and/or to suggest new words.

Isabela's article‏

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/266809.php

• What is the emphasis on results in people who are conditioned to the practice of musical instruments?

• Which conditions could justify the better performance in the brain of those people with musical training?

Stock

It goes without saying that a successful trader should be able to read charts/markets and determine whether price is more likely to go up, down or continue horizontally, trade only in a well-known market and a market that they are interested in.

That is why I decided to choose the following markets: pharmaceutical market as the closest to medicine, personal products and food products markets which are well-known by every ordinary consumer.

The Pharmaceutical market in the game is represented by four companies. They are Actavis, Astra Zeneca, Glaxo Smith Kline and Novartis, which are famous in Europe, especially in the Eastern Europe. All of them have already taken their niche in the pharmaceutical market and they focus on the development and distribution of generic products. However, some of them have got through hard times. For example, GSK sold its preparation Fraxiparine to it's closest rival in order to cover trade losses in the market.

The second, food market chosen is represented by Danon, Kellog Co and Kraft Food. These three companies specialise in producing and distributing food products, they have run for quite a long time and share huge portions of the market. Moreover, in my opinion, people might stop buying durables and furniture, but they will  be always in need of food.

The last market is presented by companies such as Avon, J&J, L'Oreal and so on. My ideas concerning the profitability and stability of these companies are similar to those from the previous group. 

There is one company that does not match any of the groups mentioned above. It is Hasbro. I have chosen it just because I like Transformers.

Our anthropologist friend!

Take another look at this talk:

http://www.ted.com/talks/wade_davis_on_the_worldwide_web_of_belief_and_ritual.html

And decide:

What is the true meaning of the ancient cave paintings?

In what sorts of ways, giving examples, are all humans linked?

What metaphor is drawn between Western nations and the people of Polynesia?

Explain the relationship between Earth, as in the 'living planet', and 'community' among people.

What is the relationship between the Elder Brothers and the rest of society?

How have some of the societies he refers to been disenfranchised?

How does he see this situation being resolved?

Thank You Folks...

Today was my last one in Delfin, as you already know.
This brief post is just to say thank you to you guys, to Anthony, and to the school for this great month.
I hope to see you again in these months in Dublin, and I whish you all the best!

See you Folks!!!!

Antonio

Here's a link to the Miley Cyrus video we discussed:

and here's one to the Newstalk audio clip that we listened to, as well as most of the letters:

http://www.newstalk.ie/Read-Sinead-O-Connors-open-letter-to-Miley-Cyrus

Stock market investment - Rafael

I'm not what one would call a risky investor. Even when I'm trying to be more audacious, some part of my brain tells me I ought not to. Therefore, my strategy was to diversify my investments into a risky one and two possibly safe bets. My risky investment was to buy shares from the Alpha Natural Resources company, a large American producer of metallurgical and thermal coal. Natural resources being of critical importance, the share prices for the company have been showing a fluctuation for the last year and the low prices were the factor that made the company's shares attractive to me. My other two investments were made in the IT sector given my background knowledge about them. As a long term approach, I'm investing in Yahoo given the optimism that surrounds the introduction of Marisa Meyer as CEO and her moves to make the company more competitive; this optimism is visible in the upward tendency that Yahoo's share prices have exhibited throughout the last year. Finally, with the current mobile fever I couldn't help but invest in a semiconductors company, specialised in embedded processors. Their shares remained practically stable in the last 5 days but the overall tendency over the period of a month is of a steady increase.

Stock Market

Looking through all the possible choises i went for two options in the Health Care area. The first one is Rockwell Medican Inc which is a medical supplies company, during the last year has been increasing its value and the shares are quite cheap, so i thought it could be a good option. Therefore, this company has created a new drug to treat kidney disease, this drug has been prove and it's about to be released into the market, i think this fact could be a huge improvement on my profit. The next one is called Allience Health Care Services Inc, this option seem to be a safe one, because during the last few year has been continuously growing and has never decreased its value more than 9%. I am going to keep looking for other options, because i didn't spend all my capital in these two companies. Maybe i will invest on technology,this is the field that has evolved more rapidly over the last decade and i am sure it is going to keep up!

Article The Nordic diet... the Scandinavian secret coming over here

Article adress

The author of this article, based on research at Sweden's Lund University, points the reader's attention toward the suggestion that people from the UK and Ireland may benefit from the Nordic diet as it will improve their health. The main point is that a typical menu from Scandinavian countries is rich in fish, berries, breads made from wholegrain and good oils. These products contain vitamin-rich nutrients, antioxidants, natural plant compounds which are highly necessary for our body such as Omega-3,6,9 fatty acids, minerals, vitamin A, C, K and so on. Therefore, substituting calorie-dense food with the Nordic diet, people may lower levels of their harmful cholesterol. Moreover, this type of diet may help to maintain brain functions in adults and improve brain development in children, reduce the number of instances of heart diseases, strokes and cancers.
Although I totally agree with the author concerning the importance and positive influence on health of such a diet, we should also take into account some specific differences between nationalities. For example, Scandinavians may be adjusted to eating oily fish in big quantities, while the average Irish or British person might find it difficult to digest even in small amounts. Another instance could be that an intake of considerable amounts of  food atypical for a particular area may cause allergic reactions, hypersensitivity or conditions related to vitamin overdose.
So, in my opinion, the answer lies not in what particular type of diet a person chooses but in "moderation" and diversity of food they eat.

Follow your grandpa's diet plan

Original article

In this article, the author suggests that imitating the diet of our forebears could be beneficial to our health. The main point of this diet is to avoid processed food and to control portion size. The author defends the idea that, even though our grandparents consumed lots of eggs, sausages, bacon, milk, butter, bread and potatoes, they didn't get overweight. That was because their diet was based around fresh, whole food, they sat down to eat, which encouraged them to eat only when hungry and stopping when full, and by eating in moderation. I particularly advocate a moderate, everything-allowed and fresh-food based diet. It seems highly important nowadays to sit down, forget about smartphones, TV and gadgets and have a proper meal amidst meaningful conversation with people that are important to you.

Edited by Alex

Diabetes

Nowadays Diabetes has become topical problem in every community.In addition it is related to other problems such as Obesity. So, I would like  to talk about Diabetes in general and how it is.

First of all, Diabetes is a group of metabolic diseases in which the person has high blood glucose  (blood sugar) because insulin production is inadequate, or because the body's cells do not respond to insulin, or both.

However, there are three types  of Diabetes.The First one, when the body does not reduce insulin and the second type when the body's cells does not react to insulin or the body does not  produce enough insulin.The last type  affects only on pregnancy women. So,it is the second type which is related to Obesity.

People who have this problem have a much higher risk to their health and weight because of eating the wrong food and drink. They are overweight (obese) because of their metabolic system.

Obese people and people who have Diabetes should erase follow a healthy diet and doexercise to avoid or decrease the risk of diseases diseases for example heart problems or high blood pressure.


www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/diabetes/

"Meta Carto Semiotics" ... fun to say!

http://meta-carto-semiotics.org/uploads/mcs_vol5_2012/MCS_Vol5_2012_Goria.pdf

How are children's maps different from or similar to other ones?

Heya chaps! Here's the video for tomorrow (I got the title a little wrong).

Treat yourself to a homeopathic larger when you're done with it!

The Truth About the 7-Minute Workout

This article talks about an efficient way to do exercise in only 7 minutes. The 7-minute workout helps you to burn fat and improves your metabolism.

The workout is an example of high-intensity circuit training (HICT) and became famous after its appearance in an academic article published in ACSM'S Health & Fitness Journal.

The purpose of the exercises is to build strength in all major muscle groups, and to create a balance of strength throughout the body. It seems that HITC provides many of the fitness benefits of prolonged endurance training but in much less time. 

The exercises should be performed in rapid succession, allowing 30 seconds for each, while the intensity must be around 8 on a discomfort scale of 1 to 10. Those seven minutes should be, in a word, unpleasant. 

The upside is, after seven minutes, you’re done.

http://blog.womenshealthmag.com/scoop/the-truth-about-the-7-minute-workout/

Hi Guys! I think there was a problem with adding authors, so if you didn't get an e-mail please contact me at wabty@hotmail.com and I'll add you to the list!

Let's get blogging!