AS:90030 - Part Two

This time we had to make up and type out our own half a page about either : "Do you think that lowernig the drinking age to 18 was a good idea? Gives reasons," "why do you think girls drink more now than they used to?" or "What are you reasons it is so danerous to drink and drive?"

The question I choose was: “What are the reasons it is so dangerous to drink and drive?”

There are many reasons that is it a dangerous and in most cases a stupid idea to drink and drive. First what do we mean when we say “drinking”? Some may think I am referring to drinking any liquid because really that is all the word drinking means but in this case (in this report) I mean drinking as in consuming alcohol.
Alcohol is a drug, it messes with the signals that go to and from our brains, making us feel dizzy and not think and look at something in the same way as what we would if we were completely sober. When someone is dizzy and not able to control their behaviour fully and even if they can they will not be taking in information the same rate and at the same level as someone who is completely sober, do you really think it is a good idea to let them drive? What if someone suddenly jumped in front of their car, their brain wouldn’t be able to work fast enough to make the body act in a way where no one will get hurt.
Not only does it make us dizzy, slower, feel sick and light headed but it also can affect each individual’s behaviour in different ways. For example you may have seen ads on T.V where there are people who get really mad, sad or hyper as they drink and get more and more intoxicated; those ads are quite accurate.
Everyone is affected different and some more than others should not be aloud behind the wheel of a car. Say you had a drunk person behind the wheel who gets quite mad as the night goes on and then you have another drunk person but one who deals with the over dose of alcohol in a different way say by going very happy or emotional. The first person is the one more likely to crash or just crash into someone out of anger and the second is much more likely to annoy the first one. Neither should be on the road but neither have enough clear thought to do different.
Like the ads say it’s not the drinking it is how we are drinking. Most behaviour is bad when you are under any influence of drugs and behind a wheel. If you must drink, be wise and have a sober driver.

AS90030 - Part one

Women and Alcohol

She has a glass or two of wine and feels it go straight to her head. He has the same amount to drink and feels fine.
Researches confirm something many women have always suspected – It takes less alcohol for a woman to feel tipsy than it does for a man, and it’s not all to do with body size. Even if a woman is the same weight as a man and drinks the same amount of alcohol, she will end up with a blood alcohol level a third higher than his. It will also take a third longer for her body to eliminate the alcohol from her blood.
Why alcohol affects women more than men and is potentially more harmful is one of a number of topics covered in a booklet produced by the Alcohol Advisory Council.
Alcohol affects women more than men because women have higher proportion of body fat and less water in their bodies than men. This means that once it is in the bloodstream of a woman, the alcohol is not as diluted and has a stronger effect. So even if a woman is the same size as a man, she will generally be affected more quickly and feel the effects for much longer than the man will.
Both males and females have an enzyme in their stomach designed to process alcohol into a safer substance, yet for reasons that are not yet clear to scientists, this enzyme is 70-80 percent more effective in men than in women. If the liver of a healthy young woman is compared with that of a healthy young man, it will generally take her liver longer to process one drink than his, and a person starts to feel drunk when they drink alcohol faster than their liver can process it.
New Zealand research has found more women are drinking and the amount of alcohol consumed by women is increasing. Young women are also drinking more, and what is particularly concerning is that a significant proportion of young women are adopting a pattern of drinking similar to their male counterparts – this is, consuming large amounts of alcohol in one go.
Other topics included in the booklet are alcohol and women’s health, alcohol and sex, alcohol and pregnancy and alcohol and breastfeeding. There is also a guide to how much is too much and sections on getting help and advice.

Source: www.alcohol.org.nz 24 July 2000

My typing speed

I am very proud to say I have gone up from my last typing best, making it to 82 wpm. I have a feeling it is not going to be easy to get my wpm much higher but my goal is to get to 100 wpm before I finished school in three years from now.

Any advise I have for anyone trying to bring their speed up is, just stick to it, I know it takes a lot of practice but it is worth it in the long run. Also don't rush it, take your time and get all fingers pushing the right keys, it makes it so much faster.

Font Personalities

Over the last week we (being my class) were given a sheet and told to practise designing and displaying words in a creative way. For example if we wanted to write the word "spider" we would write it then decorate the lettering with spider webs and maybe a spider hanging down.

On the left you can see the work I have done. I didn't find it to difficult really, just had a little trouble thinking of new ways to show and put across my ideas. I think this would be a good way of catching someones eye. It would get them interested in the image then wanting to see what the poster (or something else along those lines) was about. You don't really need a lot of talent either or even a computer, just a pen, piece of paper and imagination.

Keyboarding

Over the course of this term we have spent a lot of time practicing typing, for example using the right fingers and getting speed up to a high level.

On the left you can see one of the projects we were given to test our knowledge of where to place our fingers. It was a fun activity all in all I hope I did a good job.

Right now, from the results of my last typing test, I can type 78 wpm and most of the time be accurate in each stroke. Sadly I have not found my typing has improved much because of the fact I have been typing for years already and more or less this is just revision, letting me check myself on finger placing and things like that.

Setting up the Blog

I found it wasn't that difficult to get everything thing set up and looking decently nice. Blogspot has a real "carry you through, step by step" way of doing things, definitely making everything simple and nice and easy to get to. Keep in mind that is just what I think. I already had a Gmail account, which I use regularly at home, saving me time. I didn't want to waste a lot of time trying to set a new one up, organizing the outlay of the blog and the most important, getting the blog under the right name and place.

Once I had my account up all I had to do was quickly write and post my profile and have a bit of fun playing around with very interesting colours and themes for the layout etc. All in all thumbs up to a great website.