Skip to main content

Home/ Groups/ Words R Us
Rss Feed
Sort By: Most Recent | Popular Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Lisa Stewart

What a Half-Smile Really Means - 54 views

www.wired.com/...60232

facial_expressions body_language microexpressions wordsrus Ekman

shared by Lisa Stewart on 05 Jan 10 - Cached
  • Kathryn Murata on 26 Jan 10
     
    I wonder what the effects of possessing the skill to read others' facial expressions would produce. Would it strengthen our relationships with people or weaken them?
  • anonymous on 29 Jan 10
     
    When the article said that misreading emotions is worst than not knowing of the emotion at all is worst, I question whether reading emotions is even worth it. Also, compared to a century ago, the divorce rate has skyrocketed. Could the lack of reading emotions be the cause of this increase? Emotions are innate and humans have always read or not read emotions. What's the difference between now and then? Freedom? So what if you can read someone's emotions? If you can't assist the person in his/her tragedy or emotional stress being able to read emotions is worthless. In addition Paul Ekman said that the percent rate after his lessons on DVD rose to 80-85%, but that still leaves 15%-20% of mistake. As i previously said, the article says that misreading emotions is worst than not knowing of the emotions at all. There's still of chance of being worst. Are we really accomplishing whatever we are trying to do by learning how to read emotions?
  • Kai Aknin on 03 Mar 11
     
    This is a very cool article, as it has caused me to become more aware of other people's reactions - sometimes I know that someone is holding an emotion in, but hopefully, through observing their facial gestures, perhaps I can find out how they feel.
Lisa Stewart

Attention Students: Using Facebook 'can lower exam results by up to 20%' « Th... - 35 views

casitdev.uoregon.edu/blog

ADD facebook attention

shared by Lisa Stewart on 06 Oct 10 - No Cached
  • Lisa Stewart on 03 Mar 11
     
    This is an interesting correlation, but is it really causation?
  • Michaela Tsuha on 03 Mar 11
     
    Wouldn't the rigor of classes taken and other extracurricular activities also play a role in GPA? Wouldn't that also be a variable in their research? And a stalker button? Why would they even install that anyway?
mmaretzki

Radiolab: Bonus Video: Words - Radiolab - 11 views

www.radiolab.org/...bonus-video-words

shared by mmaretzki on 01 Oct 10 - No Cached
  • mmaretzki on 01 Oct 10
     
    I think you'll enjoy this video, which plays with language/words visually.
  • Lisa Stewart on 02 Oct 10
     
    Thanks, Mark. I just now embedded it on the Moodle page for everyone. Nice find!
Lisa Stewart

Etymologic: the toughest etymology (word origin) game on the Web - 12 views

www.etymologic.com/index.cgi

etymology word_game wordsrus

shared by Lisa Stewart on 15 Nov 09 - Cached
  • gy game you'll be presented with 10 randomly selected etymology (word origin) or word definition puzzles to solve; in each case
Lisa Stewart

Memory for Musical Attributes - 33 views

cognet.mit.edu/...chap13.pdf

brain memory pattern music song_lyrics

shared by Lisa Stewart on 27 Sep 10 - No Cached
  • Lisa Stewart on 27 Sep 10
     
    includes a section about song lyrics and a good introduction to the cognitive aspects of memory Excerpt: "The experimental data corroborate our intuition that the memory representation for lyrics seems to be tied into the memory representation for melody (Serafine, Crowder, and Repp 1984). Further evidence of this comes from a case report of a musician who suffered a stroke caused by blockage of the right cerebral artery. After the stroke, he was able to recognize songs played on the piano if they were associated with words (even though the words weren't being presented to him), but he was unable to recognize songs that were purely instrumentals (Steinke, Cuddy, and Jacobson 1995)."
caldwell marchant

what effects does music have on the brain? - 26 views

www.essortment.com/...musiceffectbra_rqxt.htm

brain music effect

shared by caldwell marchant on 21 Sep 10 - Cached
  • Michaela Tsuha on 03 Mar 11
     
    How can music increase or decrease blood pressure? Change digestion? Can music really cause sickness? Maybe plants react differently?
Lisa Stewart

The "Angry Gamer": Is it Real or Memorex? | DIGITAL YOUTH RESEARCH - 26 views

digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/...92

trash-talk smack-talk gaming_language

shared by Lisa Stewart on 22 Oct 10 - No Cached
  • “Trash-talking” (also known as “smack talk”) is very common on Xbox Live. However, its origins are non-digital: it has been used in traditional sports for centuries and it took the center stage during the final game of the World Cup, when an Italian player, Davide Materazzi, provoked football legend Zinedine Zidane.
  • Some argue that the brutal and ruthless nature of the game itself encourages rudeness. In fact, the first-person shooter is the most intense, graphic and explicit genre: in these games, players go around shooting each other in virtual scenarios that range from World War Two battlefields to sci-fi spaceships. If gameplay can be considered a language, the FPS has a very limited vocabulary. The interaction with other players is mostly limited to shooting – alternative forms of negotiation with the Other are not contemplated. The kind of language you hear during a game of Halo, Battlefield or Call of Duty evokes the crass vulgarity one can find in movies depicting military lives, such as Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. This should not surprise, considering the close links between military culture and the videogame industry [note 1]. However, the focus of this short article is not the military-entertainment complex. What I would like to discuss, instead, is the figure of the “Angry Gamer”, a player of videogames that expresses his frustration in vocally and physically obnoxious manners.
  • It comes as no surprise, then, that the “Angry Kids” of the world are trying to elevate their rudeness to a new form of art. They outperform each other by upping the ante in vulgarity and vile speech. Their model is the now legendary “German Angry Kid that caused a major political outcry in Germany when it was “discovered” by the mass media
Alec LaClair

Tip Sheet: An Admissions Dean Offers Advice on Writing a College Essay - NYTimes.com - 30 views

thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/...tip-sheet-essay

college_essay

shared by Alec LaClair on 12 Sep 11 - Cached
  • begin contemplating their college essays this summer
    • Jenna Frowein
      Jenna Frowein on 12 Sep 11
       
      I think that beginning your essay early will help.
  • it is one of the few things you can still control.
    • Jenna Frowein
      Jenna Frowein on 12 Sep 11
       
      This is nice to know, but also makes me a littler nervous too.
  • If you try to cover too many topics in your essay, you’ll end up with a resume of activities and attributes that doesn’t tell me as much about you as an in-depth look at one project or passion.
    • Jenna Frowein
      Jenna Frowein on 12 Sep 11
       
      But how do we know which activity, attribute, or passion is the most important or meaningful for the college application essay?
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • simple things in life that make the best essays.
    • Jenna Frowein
      Jenna Frowein on 12 Sep 11
       
      I really like this. I think that when you turn something normal and simple into something unique and interesting, that shows a lot of creativity and is actually really exciting!
  • Tell me something I couldn’t know just from reading the other parts of your application.
    • Jenna Frowein
      Jenna Frowein on 12 Sep 11
       
      When the application covers so much, how do we find something that we already haven't shared on the application? Oh! I know, your personality! :)
  • Show me why
    • Jenna Frowein
      Jenna Frowein on 12 Sep 11
       
      Show, that's always my problem. How do we show what is inside of us?
  • Don’t rely on “how to” books
    • Alec LaClair
      Alec LaClair on 19 Sep 11
       
      i feel like too many people do this, people tend to rely on other people/things, but i believe that it should just come from the heart
  • Stephanie Wong on 14 Sep 11
     
    This advice is really, really helpful. I agree that it's important to focus on something specific that you're passionate about. At the same time, it's hard to expand on this and be detailed/focused throughout the entire essay. I like the advice of being humble and not showing off because the way you write and your topic can tell a lot about who you are as a person.
  • ...2 more comments...
  • Ian Sekiguchi on 14 Sep 11
     
    The two things that I liked the most about this article, was that it told the importance of showing a side of you and not telling it. I think that writing a compelling and vivid story is an extremely effective way to make your essay memorable. Second of all, I liked how the article said not to talk about the things already mentioned in the application. I think that its important to portray a side that the admissions officers would never be able to get out of simply reading statistics (scores, gpa, extracurriculars, etc...).
  • Alison Kamikawa on 14 Sep 11
     
    I think this was really helpful. It was really interesting when it said that this college essay is one of the only things you have control over and it made me change my view of this essay. At first, it just seemed like something that the college board reads to brighten up their own day, but now it made me think that this could actually be beneficial for me. I may not have control over what questions go on the SAT or if I can change my GPA, but I have total control over what I write. I also thought it was interesting to read that students shouldn't write to impress the college board. I would think that students would want to write about personal events that make them look good for the college.
  • anonymous on 14 Sep 11
     
    I think the best bit of information i took from this article, is showing how the struggle of overcoming some great difficulty. On a general sense, if I were to do an essay on some type of failure, I think the best way to continue the essay would be to show how I was able to push past this downfall, and learn from it. It's important to let the reader understand the hardship you went through and show them how you made the best of a seemingly terrible event.
  • Justin Lee on 14 Sep 11
     
    I think this tip sheet really summed up most of the other articles into a concise, helpful article. Overall, I learned that, in terms of the essay, colleges don't really care about any particular achievements. Instead, the colleges are looking at your voice to see what type of person you are. You should stray from writing about others and focus more about your own feelings and thoughts. Finally, college essay readers have seen all of the generic essays before, so there are more pros than cons in taking a risk by saying something controversial.
Nick Pang

10 Tips for Writing the College Application Essay - Professors' Guide (usnews.com) - 29 views

www.usnews.com/...-the-college-application-essay

college_essay

shared by Nick Pang on 13 Sep 11 - No Cached
  • Mark Wo on 14 Sep 11
     
    "Be concise, Be honest, Be an individual, Be coherent, Be accurate, Be vivid, Be likable, Be cautious in your use of humor, Be controversial, and Be smart" HOW?!?!?!?!?!?!? Quite a bit to take in and remember while working away on a concise paper which may or may not decide our future. Just a few small nuggets of gold (interpret as you please): "If you go over 700 words, you are straining their patience, which no one should want to do." "Not everyone has to be the star at everything." "The whole application is a series of snapshots of what you do. It is inevitably incomplete. The colleges expect this. Go along with them." "If you write about Nietzsche, spell his name right." "Subtlety is good." "Be funny only if you think you have to. Then think again." "It is fine to write about politics, religion, something serious, as long as you are balanced and thoughtful. Don't pretend you have the final truth." "Colleges are intellectual places, a fact they almost always keep a secret..." From this, I take: Be human. But be an awesome human.
  • ...3 more comments...
  • Kellen Hirai on 14 Sep 11
     
    This article gives guidelines that I trust in and will take into consideration when writing my essay. However, I don't think that people should limit themselves too much or all follow the same guidelines. Like some of the other articles exemplified, it is difficult to choose an appropriate topic, and restricting yourself with too many rules could have a negative effect.
  • Miles Provencher on 14 Sep 11
     
    I honestly don't agree with the "be controversial" bit. Many of us are applying to classic, old-school colleges and universities. If someone wants to attend a deeply catholic school, there's no chance their pro-choice paper will be thought of as a good one. I totally agree with all the other tips, though.
  • anonymous on 19 Sep 11
     
    I agree with Kellen, the guidelines given are great advice and are also given by a reliable source so as a result I will take what has been written in the article into consideration. But at the same time, as mentioned by Kellen, they do restrict the senior who is putting together their essay a little too much which is something that I do not like nor agree with.
  • Erin Nishijima on 19 Sep 11
     
    4. Be coherent.  I thought that this website was really helpful because I am known to like to write a lot and sometimes want to write so much that I ramble a lot.  I don't want to sound busy but not scattered or superficial either.
  • Tara Ito on 22 Sep 11
     
    I feel like by setting up some of these guidelines, it is kind of changing our experiences or ideas we want to write. We have to find something coherent to the question and on top of that be likeable. what if what you think is likeable isn't the same as what the college people want?
Lisa Stewart

YouTube - Microexpressions - 13 views

www.youtube.com/watch

facial_expressions body_language microexpressions wordsrus

shared by Lisa Stewart on 05 Jan 10 - Cached
  • Kai Aknin on 03 Mar 11
     
    Very cool results. At first, I wasn't sure if there was actually a way to gather this data, but it appears that with lots of training, it can be quiet easy to find things out!
  • Lisa Stewart on 04 Mar 11
     
    If you're interested in learning more about it, consult Paul Eckman's research into microexpressions and the Facial Action Coding System (FACS). The animation industry depends on FACS, in fact!
  • Lisa Stewart on 05 Mar 11
     
    Take a look at Dr. Paul Eckman's research on Facial Action Coding System, also bookmarked here (FACS)
Lisa Stewart

Final Report: Intimacy | DIGITAL YOUTH RESEARCH - 31 views

digitalyouth.ischool.berkeley.edu/book-intimacy

teens relationships texting

shared by Lisa Stewart on 13 Sep 10 - Cached
  • Lisa Stewart on 13 Sep 10
     
    research-based on digital technologies and teen "courtship" practices
  • Taylor Nishimoto on 03 Mar 11
     
    This is really interesting because it fairly accurately depicts teenagers use of technology in relationships. Also it's something a lot of people in Words R Us can relate too...
Christie Obatake

The Use of Music in Learning Languages - 23 views

mste.illinois.edu/...Literature%20Review%201.htm

shared by Christie Obatake on 18 Sep 10 - No Cached
Scott Granger liked it
    • Christie Obatake
      Christie Obatake on 03 Mar 11
       
      I am currently taking Japanese and I like to listen to Japanese music. When I am listening to a Japanese song and the lyrics contain vocabulary or grammar that I have learned in it, it helps me to remember what I learned in class.
Lisa Stewart

How Do Different Types of Music Affect Memory Recall? - 29 views

jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/...Draft2.HowDoDifferentType.html

brain memory pattern music song_lyrics

shared by Lisa Stewart on 27 Sep 10 - No Cached
  • Lisa Stewart on 27 Sep 10
     
    although a work in progress, it's useful for its annotated bibliography
Alex Cheung

'Some of the More Mundane Moments in Life Make Great Essays' - NYTimes.com - 26 views

thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/...essay

shared by Alex Cheung on 13 Sep 11 - No Cached
  • Here’s an essay that’s sure to make an admissions officer reach for the triple grande latte to stay awake
  • “I spent [choose one: a summer vacation/a weekend/three hours]
  • struck by the number of students rhapsodizing about expensive travel or service projects in exotic locales
    • Shermann Alconcel
      Shermann Alconcel on 20 Sep 11
       
      Elaborate and fancy isn't always better than simple and concise
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • On the other hand, Mr. Springall was working at Cornell when an applicant revealed that while waitressing she got angry at a customer and spit in his food before serving it. “Immediate red flag,” Mr. Springall recalled. “She makes poor choices.
    • Alex Cheung
      Alex Cheung on 20 Sep 11
       
      This really exemplified the "fine line" between things, and I'll have to be sure to check my essays to make sure nothing "bad" is revealed, or at least misunderstood.
  • Cedric Char on 14 Sep 11
     
    I was surprised by this article and by the fact that sometimes, our seemingly boring moments in life has the potential to transform into a great college essay. This article made me change my views of college essays and reexamine what topics I want to write about.
  • ...15 more comments...
  • Rachel Marison on 14 Sep 11
     
    I think this is really interesting because I have never really thought about what an admissions officer would be thinking of as he/she reads a really cliché essay. This really makes me want to work harder to come up with less cliché topics and essays.
  • Ian Sekiguchi on 14 Sep 11
     
    I feel like the "bad" example that they used was really effective, because it highlighted the fact that the essay itself says nothing about the writer's character or personality. Instead, that essay talked about the misfortune of others and the worldly possessions of the writer. This makes me really want to focus on writing something that displays my personality/mind.
  • Alison Kamikawa on 14 Sep 11
     
    I thought that this article was very interesting because it made me realize how critical some of the college admission boards are. They won't accept any "cliche" topics such as service projects, however I feel like community service are indeed one of the most important experiences in life that influence people. This makes me think that the colleges examine not so much the grammar or clarity, but more of who stands out among everyone.
  • Kandace Izumi on 14 Sep 11
     
    This article really makes you think of all the experiences to NOT write about in your college essay. I think it's interesting that humbling experiences (such as helping out the less-fortunate) are not always beneficial to you when it comes to college acceptance.
  • Alison Nichols on 14 Sep 11
     
    I think that this is a really helpful article because it helps give a new perspective on what they like and that they think the best essays are the ones that make them laugh or cry instead of the cliché college essay.
  • Cody Lee on 14 Sep 11
     
    I agree with the statement made in this article that it is harder to think of a specific personal experience to write about than actually writing the essay. But this essay also made me realize that you can shape an ordinary story into something interesting and worth reading to boost your chances for admission.
  • Ryan Souza on 14 Sep 11
     
    I think that this article explains in depth what kinds of stories shouldn't be told, which is why it is helpful. For example, the essay where the person wrote about torturing frogs when the mascot is a frog. It shows bad examples and explains why they're not so good, such as not writing about being apologetic or epiphanic.
  • Kellen Hirai on 14 Sep 11
     
    This article made me realize the importance of choosing a good essay topic. The examples that were used in the story effectively showed the importance of choosing a topic that is appropriate and unique at the same time. It also highlighted the importance of the essay, as the article mentions some top students that were denied because of an inappropriate essay topic.
  • Kai Lapschies on 14 Sep 11
     
    This article tells what kinds of things to write about and what not to write about. You can write about something inappropriate if you want but it should include some kind of realization. It should be unique to you even if the story was mundane. It would be best if you try to leave the reader feeling an emotion.
  • Miles Provencher on 15 Sep 11
     
    I'm glad I read this one.... I'd never thought about how many papers admissions counselors have to read... writing concisely and interestingly is much more important than I originally thought.
  • Joshua Chen on 15 Sep 11
     
    I never thought about how something that you have done that is seemingly daily or routine could be something that astounds other people who live a very different lifestyle then you. You also should be careful of giving off the wrong impression when writing about something bad that you did in the past.
  • Griffin Bolan on 15 Sep 11
     
    I got a huge kick out of reading the user comments on this article, my favorite being one who recommended to screw worrying about essays and worry about sports and ethnicity. This article definitely puts your essay into perspective. One out of thousands. There people have seen it all which is why its even more important to be honest.
  • anonymous on 19 Sep 11
     
    This article made me realize that because college admissions offices have read thousands of essays, there's a high chance that someone has already written about what you want to write. The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about college essays, is talking about something that will make you look good to the admissions. But what I never thought about before was that it doesn't just have to be something extraordinary, it can be the simplest experience; it just has to be something that is unique to you.
  • Shawna Ciano on 19 Sep 11
     
    I feel like this article stresses how important the college essay it is, and how the topic of your essay can either make or break you, but it doesn't give much advice on what to do. It does give helpful insight on what not to do, but doesn't give any good examples of topics. It was helpful to know how the college admissions directors will be reading the essays to find out who we are.
  • Philip Siu on 19 Sep 11
     
    After reading this article I discovered that it's okay to take take risks and writing about a funny experience, but don't take take it too far as to making your essay controversial or an essay that may offend the school mascot.
  • Kristi Ikeda on 19 Sep 11
     
    I liked the ideas this essay shared because I realized that if I were to have written my college essay prior to reading this article, my essay would've been similar to the majority of students who submit college essays. This site stresses the importance of being different and that having humility, humor, and personal stories in college essays are attractive. But the article did imply that there are limits and that some things such as torturing animals and showing inconsideration to other people, are inappropriate.
  • Kylie Kam on 05 Sep 13
     
    It seems more common now for counselors and advisors to recommend writing about everyday things, but with our own personal "flair." So it was helpful to read in this article about how there are some negative everyday experiences that are important to leave out.
1 - 20 Next › Last »
Showing 20▼ items per page