The Technology of The Ball Drop

    Tech Tuesday is a place for all things technology.  Here we will discuss both low tech and high tech thing-a-ma-jigs.

  

Image found here: 

https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/images/new-years-ball-drop-1606862641.jpg

Image found here:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7842085/Millions-ring-new-year-ball-drops-Times-Square.html

 The end of the year is a big thing, every single year. People make resolutions and look forward to a reset. I think that the end of 2020 is an even bigger thing. We have all joked about what a dumpster fire 2020 has been and we feel as if the change of the calendar year may be just what we need to change the crazy chaos we have been feeling this past year.

    When the ball drops on New Years' Eve, I know it will bring many of you a sigh of relief and this is why today's post will be all about that ball. You have all heard of the ball, right? The big lighted sphere that drops every year in Times Square, in New York City? If not, where have you been? Anyway, I digress.

    Ever think about why dropping a ball down a flag pole was something anyway? In the 1800s, time was important to the shipping industry and the navigation of ships. Captains aboard those ships relied on an instrument called a chronometer in order to calculate their positions. Often, these would be a little off, so a captain, Robert Wauchope, had the idea of a ball drop on shore to signify a certain time each day that would help nearby ships set their chronometers. Cities built these fancy timepieces and the ball drop idea began.

    The actual ball drop in New York City to commemorate the new year first happened in 1907. The seven hundred pound, five foot diameter ball was made of wood and iron and had one hundred 25-watt incandescent bulbs attached to it. Artkraft Strauss, a sign company built it and for most of the 1900s the sign company was in charge of that ball.

    In the 1920s the wood was replaced with iron, making a four hundred pound full iron ball. In 1955, that iron was replaced with aluminum. It was much lighter at one hundred and fifty pounds and had more lights, a total of one hundred and eighty.

    The lights on the ball were traditionally white. But for a bit of time in the 1980s, it was red and had green lights on the top to represent an apple and the tourism ad theme of "The Big Apple."

    In 1995, the ball got a makeover with added aluminum skin, twelve thousand rhinestones, new strobe lights with 180 halogen bulbs and computer control. The new tech ball only dropped a few times because of the changing of the millennium in 2000 and the need for an even more special ball that year.

    The redesigned ball for ringing in 2000 was a Waterford Crystal and Phillips lighting collaboration. The new ball was made completely of crystal and had the latest of lighting technology, but again that ball didn't drop more than a few times because the ball was again redesigned in 2007.

    2007 marked the one hundredth anniversary of the ball drop and it was definitely appropriate to again redesign the ball. The old halogen and incandescent bulbs were replaced with newer and brighter Phillips Luxeon LED lights. A total of 32,256 LEDs to be exact. There are now 2,688 Waterford Crystal triangles, which cover the twelve foot diameter ball. This high technology weighs in at about six tons and has a color palate of about sixteen million vibrant colors.

    Up until 2008 the ball was set up and taken down each year, but it now is a permanent fixture at One Times Square atop a flagpole of The Times Building.

    *If you would like to learn more about the history of the ball drop, I found lots of info here:

https://www.timessquarenyc.org/times-square-new-years-eve/nye-history-times-square-ball#:~:text=HISTORY%20OF%20THE%20NEW%20YEAR'S,to%20signal%20the%20New%20Year.

    *I also found the wishing wall amazing.  Here you can make New Years' wishes and they turn them into a piece of confetti to be rained down on New Years' Eve participants in Times Square.  I wrote one for this year, but you will have to wait until next year.  Read about it HERE.

Christmas Cheer Via a Christmas Star.

      Media Mondays is a place for all things media.  From social media to news media we will cover everything concerning communication.

So.  This week something is happening in the skies that hasn't happened in nearly 800 years.  We will be able to witness Jupiter and Saturn being the closest to each other they have been since the middles ages.  This is called a "great conjunction of planets" and I am super excited for it.  Because this is happening so close to Christmas, this is also being labeled The Christmas Star.  Now, isn't this something to bring a little cheer to your season?  I find it no coincidence that this little miracle is happening now in the middle of a very weird year with the pandemic and all.  I am going to think of it as a special little gift from the heavens to us, showing us the eternal love our Creator has for us all.  The heavens have been a big part of the Christmas story too, remember the wise men being lead by a star to see the Savior in Bethlehem? So, Merry Christmas. Who knows if this was what happened for that great journey, but it's fun to think about, isn't it? Get out there and see for yourself today, December 21st.

    Maybe you don't know this about me, but I am super into all things celestial.  Looking up at the night sky is one of my favorite things.  I can tell you lots of useless information about the universe and beyond, and you can bet I will be out in the cold on Monday to see this phenomenal occurrence.  An extra bonus is that there is also a meteor shower going on at this time and that is an added bonus to this little gift on the Winter Solstice.  (Yea for the days starting to get longer!)

    Seeing this is a Media Monday post, if you would like to read more about the Christmas Star here are a few articles that I liked:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamiecartereurope/2020/12/18/how-when-and-where-you-can-see-christmas-star-planets-then-shooting-stars-on-the-solstice-this-week/?sh=727672625348

https://www.space.com/jupiter-saturn-great-conjunction-2020

https://www.wbtv.com/2020/12/20/are-we-about-witness-star-bethlehem-this-christmas-week/

Also, I am a slacker so here are a few Flashback Friday Pictures that could have been published last Friday:

Last year in our matching pajamas.

..

Ellis at his favorite place in Green Bay
The National Railroad Museum.

My favorite tradition at IHS
Hoodies for all!

Baby Z with Santa at Ellis' preschool.

Ellis with Santa.

Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa's.

A favorite place to visit:
The Botanical Gardens in Madison, WI.

Thirsty Thursdays: A Bright Spot in These Dim Times

 Thirsty-Thursdays are a place to talk all things thirst. Thirst can be actual, physical thirst and direct us to the subject of tasty drinks, but it can also drive us toward a mental thirst, the thirst for information.

    Life has been a bit different the past nine months or so. Work has been really different for me the past nine months. This school year is the most challenging I have faced in my nineteen years of teaching. I am learning lots of new technology things to keep my classes ready to go fully online at any moment, and I am also trying to find new ways to motivate students, who already have a hard time being motivated.

    Let's be honest here, I, too, am having a hard time being motivated. See, pre-covid, I had a lot more going on outside of work. I don't consider myself the most social person, but I am realizing more and more that I need a social outlet. With the whole idea of "social distancing" I am not getting even the little amounts of social interaction that I crave and need. I have gotten into a rut. I have hit my snooze several times everyday. Recently, I have gotten in the habit of just setting my last alarm out of my four pre-set alarms. It feels silly and a wee bit pathetic. I am just not motivated to get up and get going like I usually am. So, I totally get my students' lack of motivation, but I also realize that they need to be motivated or we are going to lose a lot more graduates than we usually do.

    So, basically there are reasons we need a little bright spot here and there. One of my co-workers has created "Thirsty Thursdays" for us at work. Here, we can visit her stash of flavor syrups to add to our sodas to celebrate the end of days with students(See Fridays are student free). It's the clean version of cocktails at work. I look forward to this every week. I don't know how this little thing brings so much light, but it does.

    What is my drink of choice, you ask? I love a extra dirty Coke Zero. I add coconut and half and half to my Coke Zero and instantly I am on some beach somewhere enjoying a "mixed" drink.

Seeing it is December and I love Coca Cola, I think you need a little bright spot that can be found within Coke's yearly Christmas Video. Enjoy:

    Coca Cola has been in the business of Christmas Advertising since the 1920s when ads featuring Santa appeared in popular magazines. Most recently, the ads often feature polar bears and are amazingly cute. These cute commercials started in the 1990s. I love how they are often family themed and overall just plain fun. Enjoy a few now:

    If you need a little bit more of a pick me up, be sure to do what Coke would tell you and "Have a Coke and a smile."

Be As Little Children

 

Writing Wednesday is a place for me to write whatever I want to write.  

Pic found HERE

So.  You have seen A Charlie Brown Christmas.  If you haven’t, please go take the next thirty minutes and watch it.  You will not be disappointed.  

In the short animated flick, Charlie picks a tiny scraggly tree. This choice is a little rebellion of all the commercialization of Christmas.

I’m not sure if my mom was making the same protest.  I think I remember her saying a few times that she felt sorry for the trees that didn’t get picked(we usually cut down our own tree at a cut-your-own-tree place).

This tree isn’t as spacious as others my mom picked through the years.  She explained to us that she liked how the space allowed for more room for her ornaments.  True, these trees made for lots of room, as evidenced by the next picture.

Look at all the room for all those ornaments.  In fact, if the tree could bear the weight, you could put small children or small animals as ornaments in that tree. 

Some may gawk at these silly little trees, but they were a family inside joke.  We would often pick on my mom about them and carry on about our silly “Charlie Brown” trees.  To be honest, it wasn’t ever the decorations that made christmas for me.  I don’t remember a whole lot of those ornaments, but I do remember the time we spent around the trunk of those trees and the time we spent together going and picking them out.  I remember how we would wake up early and my parents wouldn't let us go into the living room until a certain time.  I remember how we would first go into the hallway where the stockings were hung on the stairway edge and discover our first surprises.  Funny thing, I don’t remember any of the trinkets except the fact that there was always some sort of yummy chocolate in those stockings.  I remember how my family always would hide my last present, the big one, the one I was waiting for, the only one I really asked for and by the time they showed it to me, I had given up hope to get it. Funnier yet, I don’t remember many of those big presents either. 

You see, Christmas isn’t about how perfectly you decorate, it isn’t about the presents you receive, and it certainly isn’t about a perfect tree. Christmas is about memories, it’s about traditions and it is most certainly about spending time with loved ones.

May we look past all the decor and the pressures to have a perfect holiday and just take in all the magic that is Christmas.

I may or may not have a little bit of my mom’s taste in trees, by the way.

I’ve been calling our tree the “Ghetto Tree” this year.  It is the top of a blue spruce Reuben cut down in our front yard.  I was mildly joking when I said we should use its top for our Christmas tree this year.  Reub thinks it is great and we don’t need to go buy a tree as long as the needles don’t fall out.

Truth is I actually do love it, even if it curves far away from the wall.  I love that it reflects this cool gray color from the blue needles.  I love that it was once a part of our yard.  I love that it was free and that we made most of the decorations on it.  I love that it sits in my home, where we now are creating traditions for our own children.  I love that the magic of Christmas is reliveable as I watch my kids being excited. 

May we all become children again(I’m the littlest one on Santa’s lap).  Search for the light.  Search for the magic.  Search for peace, joy and comfort.  That is the true message of the season. Find the reason for the season!

 

Eyes on other Things.

   Tech Tuesday is a place for all things technology.  Here we will discuss both low tech and high tech thing-a-ma-jigs.

    “Mommy!  Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!  MOMmy! MOMMy!  MOMMY!!!!!!!!!

“What, Zarah?”

“Mommy, eyes on me.”

She has a pretty great point.  She is one hundred percent more important than my phone.  Being face to face with her beats any scrolling of Instagram or Facebook, the two apps who grab a lot of my attention.

So, one day I decided to come home and put the phone on the charger.

“Okay, guys, I am putting my phone on its charger and you have me for the next two hours.  What are we gonna do?”

I look down at two very shocked, deep in thought faces.

“For reals,” Zarah said, not really knowing what I fully meant.

“So, like Mom, we can do anything?” Ellis inquired.

“Of course, within reason so that we are still safe and happy.”

“Mommy, can we drive our truck around the neighborhood?,” Zarah asks.

“You bet.  You guys get to decide what we do.”

And off we went. Ellis drove first and took us around our block and past some of our friends’ houses.  He was so excited to be able to see an Appa(a character from The Last Airbender) sticker on the back of a friend’s van. Zarah took her turn and went around another part of our neighborhood.  I walked slowly behind.  It was a pretty day and I was glad to be out in the sunshine.  Little did I know that this one little gift of time would help the rest of the night be more calm and relaxed. 

We carry technology around all day.  It often makes life easier and we have a world of information at our fingertips.  It isn’t a bad thing necessarily, but we do need to realize that sometimes we need to plug it into the wall and leave it alone: free from its influence.  I’m happier and have happier kids when we have real together time, what they like to call “Mommy Time.”  Mommy time is low tech and sometimes you just need to go low tech.

Having eyes on other things is needed. Give yourself a break. See what happens. Comment about how it goes.

Everything You Didn't Think You Needed to Know about Snapchat

 Have you ever sent a Snap?  Have you ever received one?  Do you even know what I am talking about?

    Snap is what you do on Snapchat.  Most people have heard of this picture messaging app and automatically think of teenagers, because, let’s be honest, teens are the ones snapping most.  I have a few students who have to take multiple selfies in one class period and I have no doubt they are sending a Snap message to a friend, who is also in class somewhere and who also should be paying attention instead of staring at the phone that they have so sneakingly stashed in their crotch area.  (No really, they think they are sneaky, I just think they are weird.)

    So, you have heard of Snapchat, but do you know anything besides the “disappearing” pictures or the fact that teens love it? Maybe it is so bizarre to you, that, like me, you never had the desire to learn about it.  

    Well, here are five things that you have wanted to know about Snapchat but didn’t know until today that you actually wanted to know them.

1. Snapchat Beginnings:

    Snapchat Inc. met its beginning in July 2011. Three friends, who were attending Stanford, came up with the idea.  Well, actually two, Reggie Brown and Evan Spiegel launched the idea and asked Bobby Murphy to write to code for them.  Their idea sprang from the idea that people were worried that their bosses may see embarrassing pictures that they posted on Facebook.  The trio thought that if there was a spot to share those often embarrassing but entertaining photos without the permanence of Facebook, it would be appreciated.

2. Daily Use of Snapchat

Little did the three creators know that not only would Snapchat be appreciated, but that it would be used by 238 million people daily. Each day each active user opens the app over thirty times a day, sends on average 35 messages and spends about 50 minutes within the app.

3. What exactly are these people doing within the app with all that time?

The main thing people do while using Snapchat is to send “Snaps” to their friends. A Snap is basically a photo or video that lasts on the recipient's screen for a maximum of ten seconds and then it “disappears”(of course, anybody can screenshot these images making them not disappear). Users can also post a “Story” which is a maximum 10 second video or photo that appears on their profile for the next twenty-four hours.  (If you are using Instagram or Facebook, both of these have borrowed this concept from Snapchat).  There is also a “Discover” page within Snapchat, which is much like a news page, where popular user’s and advertisers' content is posted.  

4. Why do teens love Snapchat so much?

There are a few things that draw teens to this app.  One of the biggest draws really is that everybody is doing it.  A few of the teens I talked to actually said that they use Snapchat to not only send pictures back and forth but for many of them it actually is where they send text messages the most.  This isn’t surprising because texting via Snapchat makes it harder for parents to see what they have been sending(their messages disappear after being read) and they can send videos and pictures to friends a little more conveniently than through regular text messaging. 

5. What are some things that are controversial about Snapchat?

From an adult standpoint, lots of what Snapchat is all about is a bit controversial.  But some specifics are very controversial.  For starters, Snapchat’s Discover Page, which is accessed by swiping left from the home screen, is a place for all sorts of questionable content.  Content from people, publishers, companies, and other users can randomly pop up.  And this content isn’t always appropriate especially for teens and young people.  It is like a huge page of random stuff and there really isn’t much control over what content shows up.  

Snapchat also has a Snapmap, which is a place where users can share their location with their friends. Obviously, having everybody know where you are can be a bad thing, especially if a teen makes friends with people they don’t even know in real life, like the creepy guy who is also a predator.   

A little less creepy but still a little concerning is a feature called “Our Story” which users can submit their stories to and Snapchat chooses which content is shown to all of Snapchat. In order to submit to “Our Story”,  you must have your Snapmap enabled, basically showing your location to anybody who happens to see your content, which through “Our Stories” can be seen by any Snapchat user.  

Probably the controversial part of Snapchat for parents is the “For My Eyes Only” folder.  Here, users can save content and nobody can see it but them, literally.  It is password protected and encrypted.  Even if the user forgets the password, it is so protected that even Snapchat can’t help get the encrypted content back.  So, if you are the parent, and you are trying to keep an eye on what your kids are doing on Snapchat, you can’t access this section.

One of the most interesting things I learned about in my searching was that there actually is pay for content on Snapchat.  Here users can set up extra content that is only seen by paying users.  Hello, this is an instant opening for Porn content.  I bet Snapchat is making lots of money for some of these pay for content users.

So there you have it.  Everything you didn’t think you needed to know about Snapchat.  If you feel like doing anymore research yourself, here are a few of the websites I visited:

https://www.snap.com/en-US/privacy/privacy-by-product

https://www.verywellfamily.com/what-is-snapchat-and-its-use-1270338

https://www.snap.com/en-US/

https://www.netnanny.com/blog/five-things-every-parent-needs-to-know-about-snapchat/

Flashback Friday: The Magic of Basketball

 Flashback Friday is a place for all things reminiscence.  Flashbacks can be personal recollections or they can also be looks back to the “Good Old Days” of our collective past.

Sixth Grade Alice

     I was five-six in sixth grade; the tallest girl on the court.  I was pretty okay.  One of my friends once told me that she hated playing against my school, Lincoln Elementary, because of me and how I was “so tall!” 

    I remember many evenings spent shooting for endless hours at the hoop my dad put up in our driveway.  I would shoot until it was too dark to see the hoop. In the bitter cold Wisconsin winters,  I remember shoveling the snow so I could keep shooting, even with frozen fingers.  Basketball was my escape from teenage boredom and all the drama.

    That is why I’m coaching basketball now.  I know that playing is the escape my boys need from their lives at times.  I know how playing gives them the opportunity to excel at something. I know that the court is a safe place for them; their escape from drama both at home and in their social spheres.  I know that basketball can save them from the boredom that can sometimes get them in trouble.   

    I’m glad I got the passion for basketball when I was so young and that I still get to be a part of the magic that is basketball season.   I still like to win, and hope we do a lot of winning this season(Covid permitting….BOO!).

Playing Center like all Tall Girls Should

Always Playing.  Behind Lincoln Elementary, Wausau, WI

Election Haiku

 Thirsty-Thursdays are a place to talk all things thirst. Thirst can be actual, physical thirst and direct us to the subject of tasty drinks, but it can also drive us toward a mental thirst, the thirst for information.

It's Thirsty Thursday

Thirsty, thirsty for closure

Covid; election

Sleepy Joe or Trump

Caring starts to escape me. 

Maybe that's the plan?

Election drama

One, two, three, four, start over. 

Hire two-year olds?

Having chest pain

Perhaps a heart attack? Or

Election panic. 

Which Candy was called "Chicken Feed?" and Other Wacky Halloween Facts

 Wacky Wednesday is a place for all things wacky.  Here we look at the silly, funny and weird things around us.

Happy Halloween week. I have waited all year for this week.  At work, a few of my fellow Halloween loving co-workers have cooked up a “spirit week”(fitting, no?).  Each day this week we have dressed up based on different themes.  Monday was our favorite character, Tuesday was dress as a student day, today was superhero day, tomorrow is what we are actually being for Halloween (seeing it is the last day we will have students before the big day on Saturday), and Friday is pajama day(because we can!).  

I love being able to celebrate Halloween all month long and this week has solidified in my heart my love for all things spooky.

If you are like me, you probably think you know lots about this holiday.  But here are a few wacky facts about Halloween that even me, the lover of all things Oct. 31, didn’t know:

1. Candy Corn was once called “Chicken Feed”

Maybe you, like me, also find this candy repulsive, but it is fun to know that it was once called chicken feed.  I think they should have just marketed it to farmers with chickens and saved us all. (Sorry if you are actually a fan of candy corn.  Can I call you a chicken now?)

Read more about candy corn’s origins here: https://www.eater.com/2018/10/24/18015026/halloween-what-is-candy-corn-pumpkin

2. Trick or Treating gets its origin in Celtic Culture

The Festival of Samhain was celebrated by the Celts.  Basically, on the evening of Oct. 31, the Celts believed that the dead came back to earth. Considered a sacred night, the people would gather to pay homage to the deceased through sacrifices.  In order to keep the lost souls from anger, people would leave out food. They would also dress up in animal skins to disguise themselves and to scare the unwelcome spirits. I guess they only wanted to honor the dead, not interact with them.

Read more about Samhain here:

https://www.history.com/news/halloween-trick-or-treating-origins

3. You can thank the Irish for the tradition of carving Jack O’Lanterns

The Irish have a myth about a character named, Stingy Jack.  Jack was tricky

and fooled the Devil out of money.  When it came time for Jack to die, heaven 

wouldn’t take him and the Devil wouldn’t let him into hell, making him a wanderer 

on earth.  The Irish began carving scary faces into turnips and other squash to 

scare Jack’s wandering soul away.

Read more about Jack here:

https://www.britannica.com/story/why-do-we-carve-pumpkins-at-halloween#:~:text=In%20Ireland%2C%20people%20started%20to,were%20native%20to%20the%20region.

4. We don’t know where the word “witch” comes from

The best guess is that it comes from the Wicca term “wicce” which means 

“female sorceress”.  There are other possible meanings which you can read

more about here:

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/53438/10-weird-facts-about-witches

5. Why Black and Orange

If you look around right now, you will see lots of different shades of orange in our great fall foliage.  We also see various hues of orange in pumpkins.  Orange is a harvest color and fall  is all about harvest.  Black on the other hand is a perfect complimentary color to orange.  They just look good together.  But Black also is symbolic of darkness and evil which fits really good with the all spooky vibes of Halloween.

Read more about Halloween colors here: 

https://www.bustle.com/articles/182109-why-are-orange-black-halloween-colors-the-symbolism-behind-this-tradition-might-surprise-you#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Halloween%2Dfocused,of%20the%20fall%20harvest%20

 

High Tech Pumpkins

 Tech Tuesday is a place for all things technology.  Here we will discuss both low tech and high tech thing-a-ma-jigs.

Technology often makes life easier.  Some may say that technology makes us lazy.  If this is the case, I am so glad that I can be lazy while making my jack o'lantern each Halloween. Let’s compare these higher tech alternatives that have revolutionized pumpkin carving to their low tech counterparts.

1. Candles vs. LED Lights

The low-tech candle could make for a hot mess inside carved pumpkins.  And if you had a windy night, there would be no way that candle could be lit or stay lit.  

With an LED light, you never run into that problem and you can also have any color light you can imagine.  You also could get a light that flickers like a real candle or you could even get a strobe light to make for a real spooky pumpkin.

2. A Sharpie and a Knife vs. a Pattern and a Specialized Pumpkin Carver

I have created lots of jack o’lanterns in my forty-three years on this planet: some good, some better and some amazing.  Technology has made it so I can, without that much artistic ability, make a work of art out of any squash.  Back in the day, I only had a sharpie and a scary, cut-off-your-finger kind of knife( manned by my father, when I was too little to carve).  The marker would smear all over the face of the pumpkin and the cut edges would always come out jagged or parts would get cut off that I didn’t intend to have cut off. Today, you can search online, print off a template and then use your fancy cutting kit to punch holes around the design and then cut in the exact shapes, with your specialized pumpkin cutting knife, creating your desired design..

3. Spoon vs. Pumpkin Scooper

I think the worst part about carving pumpkins is hollowing out all the slime and seeds from the center.  It is so gooey and moist, which I can only handle for a short time.  With the spoon, not only does it take longer, but it also makes you more susceptible to rubbing into the slippery sides of the pumpkin.  With the Scooper, you are able to get more guts out and with it’s shorter handle, you do not risk getting sticky from the sides.

So, the moral of this post is that we should be very thankful that we have technology.  We should not just be thankful about the compex sort of technology you are reading this on, but we should also be thankful for the little tech things that help us enjoy the best of holidays.