#the funny thing is I didn’t even need hw help at the time I understood the math concept I just wanted to be on tv

[eternal-reverie]

did anyone else feel bad for local tv channels as a kid because they had lower production values and the subjects they covered seemed bland and so then you just started watching out of pity???

[koolkat9]

HWS Germany Ship Event 2021: Day 1

Prompt: Highschool

Paring: GerEng, side of Itapan

Promposal Gone Wrong? Or Right?

“You and Arthur are going to prom right?” Feliciano asked.

Ludwig almost choked on his food at the sudden question. He, Feliciano, and Kiku were having lunch and of course, as usual, Feliciano was complaining about the cafeteria food (why he didn’t just bring his own was the question Ludwig always had but never voiced), so when he suddenly asked about prom, Ludwig was thrown off slightly. Honestly, he wasn’t planning it. He and Arthur weren’t big on social events and were quite content just settling in at home with a movie. But now that Feliciano was bringing it up, he had never asked if Arthur was interested and maybe he should have. It was a tradition and if done right, very romantic, and Arthur tended to like both.

“I-I don’t know. W-We haven’t really talked about it?” Ludwig stuttered out, picking at the sausage he had prepared for himself that morning.

“You have to Luddy! It's tradition. Picture, you and Arthur, all dressed up in nice suits, low lights, music blaring. A slow dance comes on, you both look at each other hesitantly, but you end up taking his hand and guide him to the dance floor. Wrapping your arms around each other you begin swaying, you tell him how much you love him and-”

“Okay I get the picture,” Ludwig grumbled, his cheeks now bright red. That scenario did seem nice, but he still wasn’t sure.

“You should talk to Arthur about it first,” Kiku suggested, “if you do end up going, you can ride with Feliciano and me.”

Kiku was a breath of fresh air. As much as he loved Feliciano and his enthusiasm, he could be a bit much at times. Kiku balanced him out with his calm and level-headedness. They were the perfect match for each other and surprisingly worked out really well. He gave them an assuring smile and agreed to ask Arthur.

Not long after, said Brit entered the cafeteria, his eyes scanning over the room. When his eyes met Ludwig, his lips twitched into a small smile and he made his way over. With a quick kiss on Ludwig’s cheek, he took a seat beside him and took out his lunch. “Did I miss anything,” he asked, looking around at the three friends.”

Feliciano turned to Ludwig, nodding towards Arthur and encouraging him to ask his question.

“Just prom things,” Ludwig replied, trying to keep his nerves out of his voice. He let out an awkward cough before continuing, “S-Speaking of... I-I was wondering...how do you feel about it?”

Arthur quirked a brow. “Well, I haven’t thought about it. But it's one of the last events of our high school year so maybe...u-unless you don’t want to.”

“I don’t mind. I-If you’d like to go. Kiku and Feli are also going if that’s any incentive.” Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his two friends watching them with fond smiles and Feliciano was clearly suppressing a squeal. He never understood why his relationship seemed to bring so much joy to Kiku and Feliciano, but he never asked since it wasn’t hurting anyone so why bother? 

Ignoring their antics Ludwig turned his attention back to his lover who seemed to be mulling the idea over. “Alfred has been bugging me about it,” Arthur finally stated, “And a night out with friends would be nice.”

“So it looks like we’re in agreement.” Arthur gave the German’s arm a squeeze before turning his attention to his meal.

Ludwig couldn’t help but feel elated even though he wasn’t one for parties, but anything with Arthur made him happy. This feeling did not last long however as he recalled the tradition of a ‘’prom-prosal.” Was Arthur expecting one? Did he want one? Or was Arthur going to take the lead in this? Did they even need one in the first place since they were dating? Should he ask? But they were usually a surprise, weren’t they?

“Love...is everything okay?” Arthur asked, pulling Ludwig out of his thoughts. “We don’t have to go to prom if you don’t want to.”

“N-Nien, it's nothing like that. I’m just…”

“Overthinking?”

“Ja…”

They had almost forgotten Feliciano and Kiku were there until they announced their departure. “I think we better get going, Feli. We got that big project coming up this week so let's get to class early to get the best supplies.”

Feliciano scrunched his nose up in confusion, but then it dawned on him what his boyfriend’s true motives were. “Oh, si. Bye Lud, bye Arthur!”

And so the other pair of lovers were left alone at the table. They fell into casual conversation, Arthur hoping to get Ludwig’s mind off whatever he was thinking about. It seemed to be working as he was engaged and there was a slight smile on his face much to Arthur’s relief. Soon enough, however, the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, and Arthur and Ludwig parted ways for class.

---

It had been a couple of days since Ludwig had agreed to go to prom with Arthur and since then he had been stressing over it, specifically if a promposal was in order.

“I say go for it,” Gilbert, Ludwig’s older brother, suggested, “what’s the worst that could happen? Who could be mad at a grand romantic gesture?”

“I-I don’t know...he..we aren’t big on that kind of thing. And what could I even do?”

“Well...do something unique to you. And like you said, you guys don’t do grand so don’t worry about whatever everyone else is doing, Do something unique to you.” 

With a ruffle of Ludwig’s hair, Gilbert got up and headed to the kitchen to start dinner.

“Something unique to us,” Ludwig muttered to himself. His phone buzzed and a message popped up on his screen. Of course, Feliciano was asking if he had any ideas yet. After typing a simple reply of ‘I’m still thinking’ he exited the messaging app to his home screen. He lingered on the background photo. Arthur, laughing, cheeks pink and face covered in batter and flour. Ludwig couldn’t help but smile at the picture and the memory it brought. 

It was from one of their first dates. Both of them liked baking so Ludwig had invited Arthur over to teach him how to make Kuchen. Despite Ludwig’s nerves, things had been going well until he had to mix the batter. He had become distracted one way or another and ended up setting the mixer too high leading to himself and Arthur becoming covered in batter. He expected the Englishman to be angry since he was often quick to temper, but instead, he was met with the beautiful sound of Arthur’s laughter. For a moment his brain stopped working and just listened, mesmerized by it. He had snapped the picture shortly after to save the moment. Looking back, he was surprised Arthur had let him keep it, but then again, the man was full of surprises. He often let Ludwig get away with things no one else could, which he was grateful for.

As he admired the picture, an idea came to mind. Practically jumping from his spot he ran over to the bookshelf, skimming through for a particular one. He eventually came across an old, brown-covered book whose title read “Beilschmidt Rezepte.” He flipped through it eventually landing on a simple cake recipe. 'What's more us than baking?’ Ludwig thought to himself as he grabbed a piece of paper and began writing down the needed ingredients. 

---

The next day, Ludwig got to school even earlier than usual to ensure everything was in order before Arthur arrived. He placed down the box, opening it to make sure the icing didn’t smear (he had brought some extra tubes of icing in case he had to fix anything) and luckily it was untouched. The words ‘Will you go to prom with me?’ were written in clear, loopy green letters. 

“Ludwig?” A familiar voice called, causing the German to immediately shut the box. Arthur walked up behind him, guitar in hand and a quizzical look on his face. “What are you doing here so early?”

Ludwig felt his cheeks heat up, feeling as though he had been caught. “W-Well you...you see…I...here.” Without another word, Ludwig shoved the box towards Arthur.

“Ludwig…” Arthur broke out into a fit of laughter leading to Ludwig’s blush deepening. His chest became tight and something like humiliation began to sink in. Usually, Arthur's laugher was a beautiful sound for him, but he couldn't help but feel hurt, thinking Arthur was laughing at him and his promposal. At least no one was around to witness this awkwardness.  

“What’s so funny?” Ludwig finally hissed out.

His laughter finally began to die down. “I’m...I’m… so sorry love. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad, it's just...I had been planning something too.”

Before Ludwig could reply, Arthur put the cake aside, pulled out his guitar, and began to strum a familiar tune.

“Wise men say

Only fools rush in

But I can’t help falling in love with you

Shall I stay?

Would it be a sin

If I can’t help falling in love with you.”

Ludwig was left speechless as his lover’s sweet voice filled the air, proclaiming his love loudly. The green eyes that Ludwig loved so much remained fixated on him as the song continued. It sent the German’s heart fluttering and made his throat tight. 

“Take my hand

Take my whole life too

For I can’t help falling in love with you

For I can’t help falling in love with you”

And as the song came to an end and Arthur lowered his guitar, he gave Ludwig a loving smile before saying, “Ludwig...will you go to prom for me?”

“I don’t know Arthur,” Ludwig replied, a smirk growing on his face as he picked up the cake once more, “would you go to prom with me.”

Arthur let out another laugh, “Of course my darling.” 

And so the two made their way inside to the cafeteria where they got some plastic utensils and shared some cake before everyone else arrived. 

[aureuscor-blog]

HW 11

1) Do you think we will find intelligent life in the universe? Why or why not?

I do think we will find intelligent life in the universe. It is arrogant and unreasonable to think we are the only intelligent life in the universe. The universe is so enormous, how could there NOT be other intelligent life somewhere? It is just a matter of time. Will we find them soon? No, perhaps not. Yet, to me it is very odd that we haven’t found anything yet, or actually the other way around… that some other far more advanced alien civilization hasn’t found us yet. Or maybe they have, and we just don’t know! This question doesn’t specify a length of time, so I have to yes without a doubt we will find intelligent life. It might just take a thousand years. Or a million.

2) Suppose you had a coupon for a free robot. The catch is it can only do one thing. But you can get a robot that will do whatever one thing you like, just not anything else. What would you want your robot to do, and why?

I would want a robot that could farm enough food for my family. The only thing humans really need to survive is food. If all else failed - if I lost my job and my home, if I had no access to money, if society crumbled, if the apocalypse came and went – the only thing I would need is a ramshackle hut in a year-round warm climate near a source of fresh water and my robot could farm all the food my family needs.

3) Imagine a robotic future. Would it possible in such a future for labor to be free? For example, suppose there was a law prohibiting anyone from being paid to do work. Could the human race survive in the face of such a law?

If being “paid” only meant in money/currency/gold, not any other bartering system, then maybe… But even so, I would have to say no. There would be no incentive for anyone to want to work. Unless it was something akin to a hobby now, something someone just did because they truly loved it, why would people do anything for free? And it would certainly be a limited number of trades people did for fun, and some others I would imagine would never be done.

Also, how would people buy things? If everything were free and available to all because robots produced everything, there would still be limited resources and a finite number of robots capable of producing a finite amount of “stuff.” So who gets what? Everyone can’t have a beach front mansion. Everyone can’t have any and every thing that they want. Without a form of currency who decides who gets what? Why should someone else have more than me? Why should I have more than someone else? Yet, why should everyone be limited if more “stuff” is available?

Would everyone need to be cookie cutter-ed into sameness? Even at that degree of equality, people would still have other wants and desires. Not everyone can have a home equal to X amount of square feet per each family member in a comfortable climate. We would run out of room in “nice” weather areas. Plus, some people would prefer colder climates if they like skiing or dislike bugs. And what about areas with natural disasters? Some people would be relegated to tornado alley for lack of space elsewhere. How is that fair?

This only considers living arrangements. There are sooooooo many other things that would suffer from the same fairness problem. Evil and unjust as it may be, money keeps things in check. And there is always the American Dream (carrot) that you can always make more money and buy more “stuff.”

4) Comment on the movie Transcendant Man. What do you agree with, disagree with, what do you look forward to, are apprehensive about, etc.

Even though he was a little… out there, I am most inclined to agree with the AI Engineer. I think Kurzweil is too optimistic, and some people are too pessimistic, and there is just no way to know what to expect. Also, the technology isn’t here yet for the kinds of things Kurzweil thinks are going to be possible. The neurobiologist made some compelling points as well. Kurzweil may be a very accurate future predictor, but he doesn’t know neurobiology. The brain just doesn’t work like “regular” technology. I don’t believe we will ever be able to make true artificial intelligence. The idea of enhancing ourselves has merit, however. And that I would be very interested in! I would absolutely relish the ability to integrate a computer with my brain to be smarter. And just think what the human race could accomplish if everyone were a genius! Not to mention the medical implications. I don’t know how I feel about the idea of immortality for all, but to be able to live longer, and always be healthy  - no more sickness, no more suffering and pain – that is an incredibly worthy goal to which to aspire. Overall, I think Kurzweil is an extremely intelligent man who has invented some amazing things and helped many people along the way. However, he is led by his emotions and wishful thinking with regards to immortality and merging with computers. It is unfortunate that his Dad passed away when he was so young (22ish?), but he is grasping at straws to bring him back from the dead while simultaneously trying to keep himself alive forever. I don’t think either will happen.

5) Create at least half of a first draft, or whatever is appropriate, of your presentation. (This is in contrast to your paper or other project.) For example, you could create some slides. If this requirement does not fit your situation, do something else equivalent, and explain what you did.

I made 15 powerpoint slides (with animations) for demonstrating the science in my story. I really wanted to include some drawings, but I have not had much time to sketch anything out. I am considering purchasing some relevant images from shutterstck etc to include. Although, it is not imperative that I illustrate every part of the story. Then I just need to record myself reading and it’s done. I am so excited - it’s turning out so well!

6) (Grad students only) continue with the book you obtained. Read the next 20 pages. State the book title, author, and page numbers you have read. Then, discuss those pages. Explain what you agree with, disagree with, and how your views compare with those of other reviewers on Amazon or elsewhere.

This week, I read pages 154-178 in Michio Kaku’s Physics of the Impossible: A Scientific Exploration into the World of Phasers, Force Fields, Teleportation, and Time Travel on Starships.

It is funny to read this now because quite a bit of my research for my project touched on some of the same topics – solar sails, nanoships, and a space elevator. Kaku’s discussion on these topics pretty much mirrors everything I read. The only novel thing he suggested was using the nanoships to push the solar sails. I hadn’t come across this idea in any of my research.

Kaku begins the chapter discussing the eminent demise of the Earth, as well as the rest of the solar system, when the sun burns it all up. This struck me as funny too when I read it because we just read Asimov’s The Last Question. Of course, the situation itself isn’t funny… just the timing.

He also discusses the dangers of space travel – muscle atrophy and nutrient deficiency, meteors, and radiation – and the idea of suspending humans during space travel. The latter touched on the problems with cryogenics too. I didn’t know freezing our brain isn’t actually a feasible way to “come back” someday. As Kaku explains, ice crystals can destroy cell walls!

I still agree mostly with positive reviewers of this book. And in this case, I very highly disagree with the negative reviews that complained of not enough actual physics. This chapter is one I am glad didn’t have more science. I am sure I wouldn’t have understood any of it! The light, casual conversation about these topics was perfect for me.