You know CNN is bored when…

…they ask if you’ve been creeped on.

 

So it prompted me to ask this poll: 

Obviously it’s anonymous. Trust me.

Go for it kiddos.

Zac Efron’s gay (literally), Bieber = ??, and other winnings before SB 2011.

Today we focus on the following: Spring Break, my need to plan better, and Bieber and Gomez again.

First:

That’s what I need to do. Apparently I should have probably just gone on last night because my physics quiz, even after studying last night, was still hard as heck. But now it’s officially Spring Break for me! WOOT.

So karma finally caught up to me. After months of bashing Tumblr and hating on Twitter, WordPress finally crashed today. But at least it wasn’t due to server maintenance problems…rather WordPress apparently faced a dDoS or a distributed denial of service attack. Basically, a little birdie tells a whole bunch of computers to start sending requests en masse to one website; eventually, this massive load of requests for a site or server crashes the server. It’s a common type of attack, but there are some drawbacks to it (don’t ask me what, just click the damn Wiki link).

Anyway, there are reports that Zac Efron might be gay. I was kind of expecting Bieber to be caught first…but, speaking of which, apparently Selena Gomez has a split lip. Now, OK, that’s cool…except Bieber was in the car with her too (see yesterday’s post). Which can only mean one thing…and it’s going to bother me.

BIEBER’S A VAMPIRE (pre-puberty obviously, so the fangs aren’t all grown out yet).

Why am I scared about this? Because now all the girls who like Twilight will inevitably fall in love with Bieber, and all the Bieber fans will love Twilight as well.

May God save us. I’m going to go to Rum Runners tonight to get away from this madness. #winning

::yawn::

in case you didn’t pick up the Alligator this morning but somehow read this blog before you pick up the Alligator this morning

• Meyers and Reynolds won. TJ won the treasurer position. Not really a big surprise.
• I don’t know anymore whether to believe  ”emmanuelgoldstein”, the commenter who claimed he had insider information that Progress would probably pull off the upset. He was probably a Progress propaganda troll just trying to hype up his party’s hopes (can’t blame him). And while you can tell he tries to talk big, I’ll let you decide whether what he said was really true or not (I personally think some of it is just “interesting”, from the people I talk to at least) 
• We also won’t know (although I certainly would like to know), if SigmaChiRobert claims to be who he is. Watch him be a pledge, that’d be something…(but more likely just another Progress propagandist).
• It’s really disheartening to hear that turnout was actually lower this time around, despite the first day being good. In fact, 1100 less people voted this time around.
• The Alligator notes that Progress won 11 seats compared to 1 in the Fall. The Alligator also forgot to mention that the opposition to Unite last semester was a joke (it still was this time around, but less of a joke).
• My friend and floormate from Freshman year, Michael Andrews, got the Engineering senate seat! A big congratulations to him and I am sure that he will fight for what’s right for both his college and for this University
• No, I’m not Pro-Unite, or even Pro-Progress.
• The Apple Store is down right now. THE APPLE STORE IS DOWN RIGHT NOW.

What did I learn today and yesterday?

So here’s a bunch of stuff I learned:

• My “readers” obviously care more about Justin Bieber cutting his hair than what’s going on in Student Government. Fair enough.
• Falafel ain’t bad, especially with Tzatziki sauce (thanks Jillian!). Kind of could make me go vegetarian to be quite honest with you. But do we really have a place here in Gainesville devoted to falafel? Interesting.
• Voter turnout was slightly higher on the first day compared to last year, but not considerably enough to warrant concern that there’s a possible shift in power.
• Progress is potentially more out in force compared to yesterday, but it’s still kind of paltry to be honest.
• The “bring out the dog” thing is so 2010, people.
• APPLE’S COMING OUT WITH THE iPAD 2 NEXT WEDNESDAY OMG OMG OMG.
• Apple’s also coming out with a MacBook Pro refresh. For those of you who just got MacBook Pros in the past month, I feel sorry for you.
• The Asians are definitely out in force to get their guy Anthony Reynolds into office. You can’t really go around campus without seeing an Asian person wearing a Unite shirt.
• President Obama has ordered the Justice Department to not defend the Defense of Marriage Act, basically potentially opening the door to gay marriages in the future. (sorta kinda, don’t quote me on that please).

::yawn:: I’m tired, nap time.

Bieber cut his hair, and other unintelligent news.

So Day 1 of elections is finally over, and that’s one more day for some particular people to find “I Voted” stickers to feign the appearance that they actually voted either to not be dogged upon by either party to go vote (even though I’m sure there are some unobservant idiots who still ask you to vote when you’re clearly wearing an “I Voted” sticker) or for other reasons. But it’s one more day for both parties to get those last minute votes…and it looks like Unite, even though it’s been the majority party for a while, wants to still do that while Progress….where are you?

Seriously, the ratio of Unite:Progress people in and around campus was about 7:1 (not including people wearing stickers…and there was only one person wearing a Progress sticker). I know Progress may not have the budget to make as many T-shirts, but stickers + red shirts would have helped? Outside the Reitz at 2PM, only Unite. At 3PM? One Progress person and 5 Unite people. (Hint: When you’re not the majority party and you change your party name/merge thrice in three semesters (Student Alliance –> Independent Coalition (bullsh**) –> Progress) you tend to confuse people a lot, including myself).

Other than that bit of unintelligent news, I really don’t have any other bits of unintelligent news…except…

OMG BIEBS CUT HIS HAIR. 2012 IS REALLY TRUE (I JUST SAW A WHOLE CONVOY OF “THE END IS NEAR” TRUCKS COMING INTO UF TODAY MEANING THE BIBLE GIVER-OUTERS ARE OUT IN FORCE PROBABLY TOMORROW. GREAT. WHY I’M TYPING IN CAPS IS BEYOND ME YAYYYYYYYYYYY).

Related Articles

• Justin Bieber cuts hair, Internet explodes (salon.com)
• Justin Bieber Chops Off His Hair (omg.yahoo.com)

2011 UF SG Elections – Whatever you do, go vote.

So, yes, I know, it’s the morning of elections, and you probably only care because that means there’s only one more day until you’re not bombarded with flyers anymore. Understandable. But take some time today to actually go out and vote. I don’t care who you vote for, I really don’t. But if you want a shot at bettering this campus (and I know some people do, there’s been a rallying cry for better parking on the east side of campus), go vote. I will take this time, however, to promote who I think you should think about for the next two days.

This has probably been a more interesting election than usual, just from simply gauging how the Alligator wants to actually somewhat sensationalize it this year (look at yesterday’s front page, the Meyers/Schneider mosaic should have probably demonstrated that to you). And, quite frankly, it serves to be a GOOD election for the most part. You have two very capable and prominent people of our student body going at it. Ben Meyers, Senate President and visible on pretty much every issue Unite has represented. He has served as their “working” spokesman, and one could argue that he’s done more positive work than Ashton has (although, in her defense, she hasn’t really done anything positive or negative…). Then you have Dave Schneider, who I’ve had the opportunity to be around a few times (we were judging the same debate competition late in the fall), and who I’ve known to be likable but more importantly passionate and aware. He has led many of the rallies against block tuition but also has shown his voice numerous times about other issues regarding UF and state, local and national affairs.

With that being said, here are my “endorsements”, although frankly I don’t think I can be called a pundit so therefore consider these “suggestions potentially worthy of thought”.

For Executive Branch, in general: Draw, with very slight edge to Progress

I really don’t mind either party taking the executive branch this year. Ben Meyers seems like the kind of guy who will actually get stuff done and listen to the people that have elected him to serve. Whether that be the entire student body or just a sliver of that student body remains to be seen, but to say he has no experience or to say that his personality isn’t right for the job would be mistaken. Dave also has experience, both inside SG and just, in general, being the voice of the masses. As the Alligator put it, you can just clearly imagine him with megaphone in hand, rallying for a cause. The best rabble-rousers don’t necessarily make the best leaders, but Dave’s also a mature and intelligent person (unlike Ben Cavataro), and I’m sure he doesn’t strut across 13th just waiting to be hit by a car. I only give a slight edge to Progress because I believe change is still needed, but I would not mind trusting Unite this time around.

Special Endorsement – Michael Andrews, College of Engineering, Unite Party

Have you ever met a guy and the moment you met him you knew that he was going to do great things? That’s Michael for you. I first met him freshman year up here; he lived only a few doors down from me at Hume (4th floor, far side, representtt), and is probably one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met up here at UF. Along with that knack for being personable comes his leadership experience; he is currently Vice President of the UF Chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He also is by all means a smart cookie; he’s currently a TA for a C++ class (translation: programming).

A friend put it to me pretty bluntly last semester: the Engineering seat is one of those rare seats that’s actually hard for Unite to get. Prime example is last semester, when my former classmate Melissa Devenbeck tried running for this same seat last year and did not get it, even though I thought she was more than qualified to receive the seat (didn’t know much about the other guy, but I don’t think it matters). Granted, I think it was maybe a disguised blessing because now she’s President of her sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, and she also helped get her team to New York City after winning a Nielsen case study contest here in Gainesville. But at the same time, I’d like to help Michael out as much as I helped Melissa, because I think he’d be a fine candidate for Senate (and possibly even President down the road), and he’d truly listen to the needs of all students, but especially those in his College.

Anyway, those are my suggestions and obviously they’re merely suggestions. Happy voting (for the next two days)!!

5 months away

The countdown truly begins for the MCAT in just a few days, Tumblr reminds us of how cool its error page is (we haven’t heard from Twitter whale in a while have we?), a prominent but controversial UF administrator is on her way to Northwestern, another prominent but now controversial football player was seen with green green, a modified Turducken, and a big good luck to all of the people who are embarking on the journey known as Career Showcase at UF (tomorrow’s for all the biz peeps, Wednesday’s for all the engineering peeps).

The Second Coming.

Of tests.

Ugh.

Really? This (round of tests) is the scariest thing for me for Halloween. It used to be a time that I could prove what I got. Now it’s time for me to prove how much I DON’T got.

Anyway, these two videos helped me through the day, maybe they will for you too:

• Dangerous package at Social Security Office. Someone protesting socialism? Social security payment gone awry? What was so dangerous about this package? It was full of…DANGEROUSLY CUTE KITTEHS.
• Baby monkey riding backwards on a pig. That’s all. Oh, the song is catchy too. (credits to Neha)

 

Oh dear blog, how I’ve missed thee.

I wish I could say that I’ve been enjoying life carefree and that’s why I’ve been avoiding blogging lately, but that’s the exact opposite case of what I’m facing. Here’s what I’ve been up to lately:

• Research has started back up again, but I’m really excited this time around because I actually get to play with some data. What I’m about to say is really nerdy but I like trying to discover trends and analyzing/finding patterns in data and giving interpretations about what various statistical packages/tests may tell. That is a really long-winded sentence, but you know what I mean.
• I’ll also be starting up a new volunteer job that’s somewhat hybridized with my research; it’s more or less a science outreach program where we go into some elementary schools and help some of the kids learn basic FCAT science concepts. Later on, after FCAT, it’ll be more anti-obesity based.
• I’m not going to lie, grading essays is hard. There’s, admittedly, a personality conflict that rages inside of me because a part of me wants to criticize these essays to oblivion but at the same time a part of me wants to give them the most benefit of the doubt.
• Procaryotic Cell Structure and Function is going to be the absolute death of me.
• I’m not doing anything for my 21st I’ve decided; there’s simply too much I have to study for. I’m sure that might change when I come back to Gainesville Saturday night.

Anyway, I have a special (not really) present for you all: The first chapter to that new book I had hoped to finish before school began but, of course, never even really got started. If you want to find anyway to procrastinate further, this might be the answer for you. But it probably won’t be.

And so the September of 21 officially begins

Today also, obviously, marks the 9th anniversary of the September 11th attacks. We remember the innocent lives who perished that day as well as the firefighters and policemen of NYFD and NYPD who bravely risked their lives to save many, many lives on that Tuesday. Also, in light of the nonsense about the Quran burning, we remember that as Americans we are tolerant of all colors, beliefs and religions. 9/11 hurt everyone, not just in the United States but around the world.

Today marks something really interesting: the first in the string of September birthdays. Every year we’d all be like “oh wow that’s impressive, that’s a lot of birthdays in one month”. But this year marks something completely different: this year marks the year of the 21.

Some of us have waited weeks for these days, others of us have waited since we turned the last milestone age: 18. Regardless, 21 represents the start of the final frontier. It doesn’t represent the end of exuberance and youthfulness by any means, but it does represent the beginning of the end for that. I mean pretty soon we’ll all be going off to either graduate school or the workforce but regardless we’ll be doing big things, all of us.

Everyone of course knows the other actual tangible perk to the 21: full legality (well, minus rental cars in some states…pooey). But with more legality comes more responsibility. And while yes the age of 21 feels like we’ve just entered a brand new theme park with no lines at all the rides whatsoever, it also comes with the need to be more responsible about ourselves.

All that I’m really saying, I guess, is that I hope everyone has a kickass time with whatever they’re doing this month and the rest of this year, because it’s going to be one hell of a crazy ride. But just as important be healthy, be safe and be aware. Noone wants a fun night to go sour all of a sudden, and we all want the fun to last as long as possible, right?

So Happy 21st Birthday to all my September friends: Tousley, Mark, Melissa, Rachel, Kishan, Jillian, Anisha, the Arroyo twins and Nico. Thanks for blessing us with your presence and, of course, for all of your birthdays being clustered in such a favorable way hahaha. But seriously, let’s do this rightttttt. woooooooot.