Saturday, November 19, 2011

Winter

I’ve been pretty busy lately, mostly doing uninteresting schoolwork. I’m taking a free online database class form Stanford University, which is somewhat time consuming but a lot of fun. I am learning how to query databases in SQL, write XML validation files such as DTDs or XML schemas, design databases in Boyce-Codd Normal Form, or use UML to automatically create data base schemas. The class is over in a few weeks and I will have more time to work on some video projects. I am hoping to do some sort of seasons video from video I have been shooting over the past few months. I will have to see if I have time.
image
A XSLT transformation that finds all countries that have more than 3 languages spoken within then, then outputs into the below table. (Queries this XML file)

Country Population Area # of Languages
Pakistan 129275664 803940 8
Iran 66094264 1648000 7
Georgia 5219810 69700 4
Macedonia 2104035 25333 4
Switzerland 7207060 41290 4

Last weekend I traveled with my DDF team to Wrangell. Since we had to stop in Sitka on the way, it took us about 26 hours on the ferry to get there. We all slept on the ferry, and got in to Wrangell at 1:15 am. The tournament was pretty fun, and I did okay in all of my events. I tied for 2nd place for an oration I wrote on gay slurs in schools. I won half of the debates that I was in as well, which was pretty good, considering that my partner was relatively new and it was the first time I had every been second speaker.
When we got back from the tournament, there was two feet of snow on the ground in Haines. The day after we got back, it snowed another foot and the wind picked up to 30 mph (gusts to 50). The snow was very dry and powdery, meaning that it blew around quite a bit. For example, I went and walked around through the waist deep snow for a bit. When I came back a few hours later, you couldn’t tell I had made a track. Because there was poor visibility and snow constantly drifting across the road, they canceled school (which doesn’t happen very often up here). DSC_1540DSC_1559DSC_1595FortSnowBFDSC_1601
Before                                                   After
I went outside and dug a fort in the snow and just had fun in the snow in general. The snow drifted up two about three feet high against the garage door, so that when you opened it there was a flat, three foot wall of snow. Unfortunately, some of the snow got caught in the door and it didn’t shut all the way. When I noticed it 30 minutes later, so much snow had blown in there there was a 3/4 dusting on everything by the door. I had to spend a half hour cleaning everything off.
My parents are out of town for a few weeks. Michelle, a friend of ours, is watching my sister and I. My parents actually get back tomorrow.

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