danaleeling

With the shift to the smaller memory footprint Lubuntu distribution in the mathematics and science laboratory, some of the computers no longer have the Ubuntu Software Center that accompanied the Ubuntu distributions running the Unity desktop. The software center could be re-installed, but for the demi-power user the Synaptic Package Manager  provides more control with an easy to navigate and comprehend interface. The Synaptic Package Manager is under system tools under Lubuntu 11.10 and earlier versions. The package manager is password protected. Click on Search in the top center to start a software search. Note that in this blog one can click on any image to enlarge that image. The search term will hit in both package titles and package descriptions. Variations can by useful. The above search will not turn up Lybniz  because the word graphing does not appear in the description. For Lybniz, the words mathematical and graph do appear, both will hit indi...

Unlike Abiword and Gnumeric which integrate automatically with the Lubuntu LXDE 11.04 desktop and the PCManFM file manager, LibreOffice.org does not integrate as fully and uses its own internal dialog boxes. The result is that saving a LibreOffice.org file to one's USB flash drive requires navigating to the USB drive in the file system. This procedure is also true for any other package that does not use the PCManFM file manager under Lubuntu. After plugging in the flash drive, a dialog box will ask if one wants to open the USB drive in the file manager. If one selects to do so, the USB drive appears in the PCManFM file manager as seen below. Note that the USB flash drive is located in the /media/ folder. The /media/ folder is where removable media appear - flash drives, floppy disk drives. When working in LibreOffice.org, as seen above, performing a Save as... calls up a LibreOffice.org dialog box open to the home folder. The above computer is called mathsci, thus th...

Every term in MS 150 Statistics I use a Tanita scale to measure the students weight and to estimate their body fat. The data is primarily used, with names stripped out, as number sets to play with during the term. Secondarily this provides information to a sample at high risk of obesity and associated metabolic syndromes, number two on the planet by one measure. The students become inured to my exhortations to exercise, eat right, and to track their numbers. Because I get to see the students numbers, I always feel that sharing my numbers is incumbent on me. Although I do try to take a daily pill for my health, my health habits are not yet well aligned with modern heart attack prevention guidelines. Blood pressure 100/70 is down year-on-year for a second year.  Weight: 140 down four pounds.  LDL: 103, was 86 last year.  HDL: 47, up from 41. I was a tad low last year, this year I just edged up over 45. Fish oil recommended but not taken.  Cholesterol: 165....

Clara, Jennette, and Joanie presented ground hard taro cooked in an umw, effectively a hot rock oven. Pohnpeian: rotama. Pingelapese: sero. Mwoakillese: rodma. Mortlockese: Amahd. Kosrae: rodoma. After cooking in an umw the rotama is pounded with the petiole of a palm frond. Rotama is made from hard or swamp taro, known as mwahng on Pohnpei, mweian on Pingalap, pula in Mortlockese, and pahsruhk on Kosrae. In traditional times on the outer islands the women had primary responsibility for tending the taro while the men handled fishing and climbing tasks. Joesen and Noeleen presented fermented breadfruit from the outer islands of Yap such as Woleai and Eauripik. The raw ingredients were actually brought in from Yap, Noeleen prepared the maare.  The leaf wrap is ti leaf - Cordyline fruticosa. Pauleen, Barnson, Trisha, Verginia, Con-ray, and Maylanda from Kitti, Pohnpei brought in mahi umw, koahpnoair koakihr, and uht sukusuk. Above is breadfruit umw, mahi umw, o...

This term I tried riding my RipStik across the paper on the porch outside of the classroom without using water or dye.   Two sheets of poster pad were lightly taped to the cement on a rainy day. Donnalyn assists with a measurement that found the two sheets are 167 centimeters long. I then rode my RipStik across the two sheets while timing the run. The cement is quite rough and has red mud ground into it. The result was a nice stippled sine wave line on the paper. The 167 cm run took 1.84 seconds. The first run was untimed, the traces of it can be seen at the top of the paper above. Below I have used marker to trace the path of one of the wheels. I covered wavelength, linear board velocity, frequency, period, and wave speed before I ran out of time. Amplitude will have to wait until Wednesday. The dry cement imprint was far superior to the dyed water track approach . Above one can see more clearly the slightly brown, stippled wheels tracks crimped into...

Laboratory eight and the week in which it occurs focuses on weather, climate, and clouds. Monday began with a series of short videos on the impact of climate change on Pacific islands. The first video opens with a king tide event that flooded lower Danpei on Sokeh's island. A king tide coupled with trade wind swells and La Niña led to coastal inundation and structural damage to homes on the north coast of Kosrae in the same time frames. Monday evening brought a heavy rain cell that caused flash flooding. One car went off the road on Mount Dolon, exact cause unknown but likely weather related. On Wednesday an odd double ice bow in cirrus decks aloft formed, likely the result of two cirrus haze layers. Both images have been balance enhanced using GIMP .  Thursday was drawing clouds day. Jessica Nanpei sketching. Board notes from Thursday. This term I covered tides, neap tide, spring tide, king tide, trade wind sea level surge, and La Niña sea level rise on ...

Presentations on healing plants of Micronesia Pauleen described the use of plumeria sap on small cuts. Verginia presented the use of the seeds of Premna obtusa ( topwuk ) to cure a fungal skin infection known as kil sarawi. Noeleen presented Woleaian uses of Morinda citrifolia ( leele ). She covered the use of a coconut oil emulsion of the leaves for massage therapy, the fruits for treating diabetes, and the use of the roots to remove areas of white skin (possibly tinea versicolor ). Maylanda Mikel covers the use of Idahn woal for pwiriamwei (also pwirimwei), the treatment of fright in babies. Fright, or startling, leads to illness in infants. Trisha  covers the  use of Parina laurina (ais) to treat rashes. Ais is mixes with grated coconut. Ais is widely recognized and used in Micronesia. On Kosrae it is known as ahset, in Chuuk as ayis. Christlynn holds Piper ponapense , apparently known as aanees in Chuuk  Neelma presente...