• Esnob. En el siglo XVII, la universidad de Cambridge decidió admitir a algunos plebeyos becándolos y para distinguirlos del resto de alumnos anotaban en la matrícula la expresión "sine nobilitas" (sin nobleza, en latín). Con el tiempo el término se abrevió.

• Eslogan. Este anglicismo proviene del gaélico, siendo su forma original " slaugh claim" (grito de combate), utilizado por los viejos clanes escoceses.

• S.O.S. En 1912 (tres meses después del hundimiento del Titanic), las letras "SOS" fueron instituidas como la llamada internacional de auxilio. La Organización Marítima Internacional precisó que las letras no son abreviatura de la frase "Save Our Souls" (Salvad nuestras almas) ni tienen otro significado especial. Los "tres puntos-tres rayas-tres puntos" (• • • - - - • • •) "son fáciles de recordar y de transmitir en código Morse en el cual S=". . ." y O="- - -". 

• Sandwich. John Montagu (1718-1792), cuarto conde de Sandwich (Inglaterra), era un jugador empedernido. Un día, estaba tan metido en el juego que le pidió a su sirviente le trajera "cualquier cosa para comer en el lugar". Al rato, el criado se presentó con una bandeja de alimentos. El conde, sin abandonar su puesto, cortó unas rodajas de "roast beef", las colocó entre rebanadas de pan, y comió el emparedado sin interrumpir el juego. Tan orgulloso se sentía lord Sandwich de su creación que no dudó en mencionarla en su testamento, como el mejor legado que dejaba a su país.

• OK. Durante la guerra civil en Estados Unidos, cuando regresaban las tropas a sus cuarteles sin tener ninguna baja, ponían en una gran pizarra " 0 Killed" (cero muertos). De ahí proviene la expresión 'O.K.' para decir que todo esta bien. Su expresión con el dedo pulgar en alza proviene de los circos romanos, donde el emperador perdonaba, con este gesto, la vida al gladiador derrotado.

 • Gringo. Hay varias versiones. Una de ellas dice que en la guerra entre Méjico y Estados Unidos en 1847, los norteamericanos vestían uniforme verde y los mexicanos les gritaban "green go home".

• Arroba @. En la Edad Media se usaba como una abreviatura de la preposición "ad" (en). En los primeros sistemas de correo electrónico @ se utilizó por varios motivos: porque era un signo muy reconocible, porque ya se usaba en la informática y porque estaba en los conjuntos básicos de caracteres.

• Alarma. Durante la presencia musulmana de la Edad Media en la península ibérica, las armas se situaban en el centro de los complejos amurallados a la espera de los ataques de los enemigos. Con la expresión “al arma” el vigía avisaba de los inminentes ataques.

• Pepe. En los conventos, durante la lectura de las Sagradas Escrituras al referirse a San Jose, decian siempre 'Pater Putatibus' y por simplificar 'P.P.'. Así nació el llamar 'Pepe' a los 'José'.

• Popurrí. Galicismo (pot pourri – olla podrida) que procede de un guiso español de la Edad Media que tenía gran variedad de ingredientes. De ahí que se lo llamara olla podrida porque sólo los acaudalados podían permitírsela.

•  Cacique. Esta palabra deriva de “cakchiqueles”, los jefes políticos de las tribus centroamericanas taínas, que significaba: "el señor responsable o autoridad de los hombres".

 Algunas expresiones que usamos frecuentemente también tienen una historia curiosa:

• Mostrar los dedos en señal de victoria. En la batalla de Angincourt en 1415, los franceses propusieron cortarle el dedo corazón a los prisioneros de guerra, ya que sin ese dedo no podrían disparar jamás sus arcos. Sin embargo, los ingleses ganaron la batalla y les mostraron el dedo corazón en señan de desafio. Otras versiones indican que mostraban los dedos índice y corazón (V), como muestra de la victoria.

• Poner los cuernos como acepción de infidelidad tiene su origen en los vikingos. Sus jefes podían escoger entre todas las mujeres jóvenes de su territorio a la que estimaran más convenientes para contraer matrimonio o simplemente como amante, si éstas estaban casadas. Cuando el jefe hacía efectivo este derecho, en la puerta de la joven se colocaba una enorme cornamenta de alce, naciendo la famosa frase: “Te pusieron los cuernos” o “eres un cornudo”.

• Hacer la cama. En las noches, los ciudadanos del Imperio Romano construían sus camas rellenando con paja un saco de tela. La paja debía ser vaciada cada noche para secarse. Por eso, las camas tenían que volverse a hacer cada noche. Esta práctica continuó hasta el siglo XV, y en algunos países todavía más tarde. De ahí proviene la expresión "hacer la cama".

• Poner los puntos sobre las íes. Cuando en el siglo XVI se adoptaron los caracteres góticos era fácil que dos íes se confundieran con una "u". Para evitarlo se colocaban unos acentos sobre ellas, que con el tiempo se convirtieron en los puntos de la i latina actual.

This playplace was inside on of the biggest shopping centers i have been to yet. And there are a lot here in Tokyo. But this one had a good section of men's stores. Yes! Stores dedicated to men's fashion, casual, semi-formal, formal, sportie, the odd but cool mixture of these genres of style found only in japan, and Boots!!! stores. I found the boots i have been looking for for so long. But they did not have my size (i.e. the biggest size in Japan 28 cm.). The guy said that in a week they may have my size so i will probably return this weekend.

Same time as when i found that crazy kid's playground.

This part of the Kanda University of Foreign Languages (神田外語大学）. The campus is much prettier than Austin College with this amazing new library and student center. The next picture is of than new building. Its so cool. I would never leave this university if i had a choice.

This picture is kind of an inside joke with Carla and my hostmother. In Japan, especially Tokyo, convenience is everything so regardless of the fact that this liter of tea is 4x cheaper; Japanese still buy the really expensive vending machine tea because its convenient and LIGHTER! hahaha so i look really foreign or 外人ぽい。

Overgrown and unkempt... those weeds are about a foot and half tall at least. Kind of eerie... but interesting. But since its Japan, it is definitely not dangerous.

Art Photo for John...

Back in 2006, when Google acquired startup @Last and its 3-D modeling product, SketchUp, most observers saw it as a nice add-on for Google Earth, perfect for "hobbyists and enthusiasts." But since then, the SketchUp program has blossomed into a tool in its own right, used by design professionals to fashion everything from consumer products to urban landscapes to country homes.

Green design professionals are particularly taken with the program. Widely praised by architecture and design community for its "intuitive" nature, SketchUp, one of the few 3D rendering programs on the market, is also by far the easiest one to use. And its integration with Google Earth and the Google 3D Warehouse have elevated the program from a simple design tool to a location-based, product-inclusive architectural design powerhouse.  As a result, SketchUp is nurturing a growing ecosystem of green design startups.

Begin at the beginning
Getting energy, water and carbon information into the design process early on was once a costly, if not impossible, endeavor. But the sooner modeling and analysis tools are involved in the process, the bigger the questions are that designers can ask, and the more impact they can have on the final design.

"The software tool you choose is always going to arise from the question that you're asking," says Chris Meek, a University of Washington professor who heads up the Integrated Design Lab in Seattle. "What role do these tools have in their design process? What's it going to affect in the design?"

Out of the box, SketchUp offers some great features for green design, which the cleantech-happy Google has been quick to promote. Because it integrates smoothly with Google Earth, SketchUp users can punch in the actual latitude and longitude of their project site to visualize buildings in their real-life context. That not only helps designers communicate to their clients how the project will look, but allows them to accurately model how nearby landscape features and structures will cast shadows over the building -- useful for fine-tuning a building's site orientation or window placement to cut energy use, or for positioning solar panels.

The proof is in the plug-in
A handful of startups (and even the federal government) are working to soup up the SketchUp toolbar with energy analysis plug-ins that support even more detailed information about materials used and spatial relationships within the building. For the startups, it's a way to raise visibility for their own proprietary tools.

Integrated Environmental Systems (IES) offers VE-Ware, a free energy and carbon analysis tool that benchmarks designs against the energy reduction goals of the Architecture 2030 Challenge, as a free Windows-only plug-in. The professional versions of IES's Virtual Environment software can provide more detailed analysis and its consulting practice can help make sense of the data analysis for those new to the world of green building design.

Demeter, an energy analysis plug-in from Greenspace, lets users dig deeper into how much energy their design might use by taking into account details such as surface materials. By gathering this kind of information, the program allows architects to quickly export the model to Green Building Studio, a sophisticated analysis program developed by Greenspace Green Building Studio Inc. that was acquired by Autodesk (s ADSK) in June, and run a complete energy modeling analysis report. (Since it requires users to export their data, this plug-in isn't available for those using the free version of SketchUp. The Pro version, which integrates presentation tools and allows users to export their models into other design programs, costs $495 a pop.)

It's what's inside that counts
With a growing number of green designers using SketchUp, green building product manufacturers have gotten into the game as well. SketchUp integrates seamlessly with the Google 3D Warehouse, and as architects pull together models of their home designs, they can stock their models with everything from paint to doors to dishwashers from its reserves. Need a toilet for your bathroom model? Find one in the 3D Warehouse and download it into SketchUp.

For the many startup companies marketing green building products, SketchUp can be an inexpensive way to break into the market. While not every green building product manufacture is already SketchUp savvy, the easy-to-use program lowers the bar for learning. If that’s still too much of a challenge, Blue Marble Project is one startup aiming to get green building product companies into this market. Started by the guys who launched Go2School, an educational podcast series on using SketchUp, Blue Marble Project creates models of a company’s products with information about their size, shape, surfaces, environmental properties and even their SKU numbers. The company, launched in 2007, has been gradually adding new clients, including Whirlpool and West Elm, according to co-founder Mike Tadros.

While integration with Google Earth allows SketchUp to position digital models in the real world, the 3D Warehouse lets green design move the other direction as well.

This article also appeared on Businessweek.com.

Yesterday, as I have a feeling all Tuesdays are destined to be while I am here, was quite hectic. I had 3 classes, well sort of. My first class, The Bloomsbury Era, didn't have class class, but instead we went on a walk. The walk traced the steps of Clarissa Dalloway at the start of Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf so we started out at Westminster at the Houses of Parliament and then made our way to St James's Park, past Buckingham Palace, where incidentally we saw the changing of the guard, through Green Park, and over to Piccadilly. It was a neat way to experience literature in a distinctly London way. After the walk ended up she took us to some other places. We saw one of the neato blue plaques for Jimi Hendrix and George Frederick Handel, where John Adams lived when he was in London, Eisenhower's wartime headquarters, and even the US embassy, just in case, lol. One place we saw too was the club where Oscar Wilde was given a letter calling him a sodomite that launched the libel trial that ruined him. Alas, that space is now a DKNY which I find utterly depressing.

While we were walking towards the American Embassy, and I don't quite remember what road we were on, I had one of those moments where I knew that I was utterly outclassed. We are wandering about, most of us dressed in jeans and tee-shirts and we are passing those crazy expensive designer boutiques. You know the ones I'm talking about, ones that an average person like me could spend a month's salary just to buy a single outfit, if it even made it that far. Places like Burbury, Dolce and Gabana, Hermes, Prada, Armani, the famous jewellers Aprey, and Sotherby's auction house. We all just knew that we were out of our league, although I may just venture back to go Burburys because even though I could never in my life afford, or indeed justify, spending $1500 on a trench coat, Burbury makes beautiful ones and it would be nice to go look at them.

Other than that yesterday was pretty much just class. Went to two classes and read half of A Room with a View by E.M. Forester. I just came home at about 9 and relaxed until I went to bed at about 10.

Today was nice, only one class, and it was 19th century lit, which is a great favourite of mine. We were discussing Austen's Northanger Abbey which I hated the first time I read it. However that was 2 years ago, and while I didn't particularly love it this go, I did see redeeming qualities in it. Sometimes it really does pay to revisit some books after you have grown both intellectually and personally. I am currently reading Frankenstein, which have read 3 times before and hated each time, so I don't have high hopes for liking it this time, but I'm going to read it again. Who knows.

After class let out I ate a quick lunch that I had packed (I'm taking my lunch as often as I can to save money, go me!) and then went to the giant Waterstones in Piccadilly. My guidebook says that this megastore is the biggest bookshop in all of Europe. For me, I imagine that the feeling was something akin to entering Mecca for a Muslim. It was HUGE. I spent well over an hour just browsing about in it, drifting from floor to floor, section to section. I encountered the familiar and the new. It was wonderful. Even more impressive, especially for those of you who know me well enough to know that it is rare that I emerge from Barnes and Noble without having bought something, I made NO purchases. I was sorely tempted mind you, by a British copy of Harry Potter and by the Centenary Editions of the James Bond novels. I've never actually read a Bond novel, but I am a big fan of the movies and I would like to. This isn't to say that I won't go back and purchase them at a later date, once I have thought long and hard about it, but I didn't make the impulse buy today, which is good for me. I can't tell you how many books on my shelves were the result of an impulse buy. It seems that everytime I enter BN with the intention of getting a specific book I emerge with that book and at least one, if not more, that just looked interesting. I am a tremendous bibliophile, but I also prefer to own my own books. Yes it will be a huge pain to move them when I get my own place, and one day, hopefully many, many years from now when I pass, my children will look at my books and say to themselves "What in God's name was Dad thinking, hoarding all this crap for all these years" (but at that point I'll be dead it it will be their problem, not mine).

Having purchased nothing, I ventured back to the res hall, for my favourite of all house hold chores, laundry day (note that that was just dripping with sarcasm)! It is an absolute rip off. The washing machines are tiny, so you can't wash that much stuff and it costs 2 pounds to wash and another to dry. By the time I bought soap and did laundry it cost like 7 pounds. What a rip. Boo. Oh well. I have to wash clothes. I just feel like there are better things to spend 14 bucks on. Although I did manage a good catnap and to finish a novel while my clothes were in the wash.

My plans for the evening, settling down with Frankenstein and a hard cider, were put on the back burner when Ryan suggested an impromptu trip to ASDA for some supplies. Being myself in need of some staples in the kitchen, I put the school work on hold (if you don't know, that is a major step for me) and went to have some fun with friends. We had a ball just wandering about ASDA. I bought a few things I was craving- pizza and fruit juice-- as well as some things I had no need for whatsoever- a DVD, but in my defence I looked into renting them at it cost 3 pounds, and the one I bought was only 2 pounds, so I actually saved 2 dollars. It was a fun way to while away 2 hours. I did eventually return back to my hard cider and book, although all I managed to read was the introduction, biographical notice, and first chapter.

Ok, and now for something else I've noticed. Not many men are wearing ties any more. Are ties out? Did I miss the memo? I noticed this a couple of days and have been watching out for it to see if it was just a fluke, but it doesn't seem to be. I see plenty of men dressed in suits, and not casual things, I'm talking black pinstriped power suit things, with no ties on. This morning I would say that only a quarter of men I saw wearing suits had neckties on. The rest were just wearing the button downs with an open collar. Call me traditional, but I rather like a good necktie and thing suits look funny without them.

I also just want to say a big thank you to every one who has left a comment on my blog or sent me an e-mail about something they saw on the blog. I love getting feedback on what I am writing and doing. It is great to know that people are actively reading this blog and interacting with me. I may not directly respond to the comments, but know that I am reading all of them, taking them to heart, and I am thankful for everyone who has taken the time to write something. You guys really are great!

And finally, because a dear friend sent this to me and I thought it was adorable, here is a great picture of my buddy Owen doing his version of my pose from the maze at Hampton Court. Who says kids aren't impressionable.

Also, the kid broke my camera and there was a mild amount of panic before the host family loaned me their old one. I loaded my card into it and was off.

First, a tribute to the dead camera. If you look closely, you can see that the outermost lens piece is dented in such a way that the camera won't turn off. It's appreantly irreparable in Japan, but a replacement is forthcoming.

Breakfast! About half the time, breakfast is Western style - some form of bread (toast or raisin roll), egg (fried or boiled), a little bit of lettuce and some ham. Otherwise it's rice, miso soup, and some veggies. I always drink mugi-cha or barley tea in the morning, since the only milk they have is whole milk and I'd rather not puke on the way to school.

*sigh* I really wonder what the camera thouht I was focusing on. In most parts of Japan, people can park their almost anywhere around the subway station, for free. Most of the time, they don't even lock them up. However, near my station, you have to hook your bike up to this little doo-dad and pay a 100 yen to get it back at the end of the day. The cause of much griping on my host father's part.

Side note - it feels really strange to refer to my host-parents as "parents." There's no physically possible way for them to have a daughter my age. At all.

After a twenty-minute bike ride (parking space finding time included), a fifteen minute subway ride and a ten minute walk, I arrive at Nanzan University.

Typically, every gathers around the building that holds the Center for Japanese Studies office until it opens at 9AM. There's usually stuff about moved or cancelled classes, corrected quizzes, and 'you lost something, please come pick it up' notifications in our student boxes, so it's a good place to start the day.

You'll just have to imagine me sitting in Japanese class for the next three hours, as I didn't think they'd take kindly to pictures being taken.

Instead, have a picture of one of the classroom buildings. Most of us had forgotten that Nanzan was a Christian unversity (though, a rather lax one) until we saw this.

Japanese class ends around lunchtime everyday and most of us tromp down the hill to eat at one of the school cafeterias. The food is okay and it's cheaper than a hot meal might cost elsewhere.

Lunch for me is usually tonkotsu ramen at the cheapest cafteria...

...and something to drink from the vending machine. While you can find almost anything to drink in one of these things, including beer and hot tea, Japan is sadly lacking in the food vending department. I've yet to see anything besides ice cream offered.

Lunch is usually followed by more classes or, on this particular day, a trip to the computer lab with Joanna to check our e-mail and Facebook. Technically, we shouldn't be doing this, but many of us don't have access at home and bend the rules a little.

The way home can be...daunting. This is a hill I climb in the morning and skid down in the afternoon on the way to the subway station from school.

Finally, I leave you with an image that represents a lot of my time here - waiting for the darn train to show up.

I’m in OVTA, which is an overseas training center.  There are rooms from which you can live in like a hotel.  This place is meant for IES orientation, training and just recuperating from the time change. 

I don’t quite understand who these other people that stay at OVTA.    

Jet lag was the most minimal that I have experienced thus far.  Perhaps, it is because I did not sleep more than 2 hours before I went to my 10:10 am flight to Japan.  The flight was made especially pleasant by the seat changed one with a view to one of a view of my boyfriend, Nick.  The plane was not fully booked, so I was able to utilize the pillows, blankets and empty seats. 

The orientation at OVTA is endurable but still boring.  It seems that I always pay attention when it is least important and don’t pay attention when it is the most important.  It is mostly about how to get around by foot around Makuhari City (the home of the main IES Tokyo center, OVTA and Kanda University) and by train around Chiba prefecture, banking, or academic stuff (which is basically the same in the US).    

The people so far have been a fair mixture of interesting characters, but I have yet to really commit to friendship with anyone.  There are perhaps a few that I find interesting.  All will remain unnamed however.  One is an urban planning major who is from the Caribbean neighborhood of Brooklyn.  Another is a modest, friendly girl originating from Hong Kong from John Hopkins University.  There is a guy that seems easy, relaxed and genuine that helped me and Nick on a couple of occasions when we could have lost valuable possessions. 

There are truly are interesting people all around, but I am trying to avoid the drama that often comes when a small number of people collide, forming alliances and perpetuating prejudices through each other. 

It is lucky that I have weaknesses.  I am lucky that I am not too perceptive about other people and my actions so that it is not obvious to me when people are not especially nice.  Also, I am lucky that I am not very reactionary when people are mean.  I am usually too surprised when the situation occurs. 

Today, I was given a tour of Kanda University and information on my field placement.  A field placement is basically a sociology lab where you are placed in an unpaid  internship/volunteer/work situation to analyze social organization of Japanese people in your internship/volunteer/work.  My field placement is with a non-profit organization that works with niito.  These are young uneducated, unemployed people that find it difficult to leave their nests.  This may be for a variety of reasons some relating to mental illness perhaps and some not.  I guess this is for me to research. 

I admit that perhaps having Nick around gives me some confidence because I know that I at least have one person around that I can connect with. 

This may sound silly to compare making friends to finding a stable romantic relationship, but it is like that.  For me, it is a rollercoaster of reading body language and finding a balance of taking risks and withholding myself.  I know that supposedly most people respond best to those who are interested in them, but in my case, I can be a little overly enthusiastic even when I am not even trying. 

The food in Japan is just as wonderful as I remember it.  The milk is amazing, and the ramen and soba are always appetizing.  The curry I had was disappointing though I think it may be that I just don’t like the heaviness of Japanese curry in the first place.  I rather eat nato, fermented soybean, than the curry.  At least, I know that one is good for me. 

Like in America, buying from the supermarket is often cheaper than buying from restaurants all the time.  In restaurants, I usually buy meals for about 300-500 yen  (about $3-5,  exchange rate is $1 to about 110 yen) because I am usually not very hungry; however, most proper meals cost more than that than lesser.  In the supermarket, I realized that I was overpaying for my bottled green tea.  I would pay 150 yen for a vending machine bottle when I can get about 2 liters for only 158 yen, so I bought the 2 liter.  Now, I am just refilling my small vending machine size bottle and keeping the 2 liter in the fridge. 

Code words:

Nick and I have a code word for hot Japanese guys "Lisa."

We also have a code word for underage hot guys "Keri."

Blog later. Pictures later. 

Anyways, first thoughts.

It's hot. It's really, honestly, murderously hot. Add to that 90% humidity that results in the occasional downpour, and you have 26 very unhappy American college students. The orientation trip in Inuyama turned out to be a lot better than I had feared. Inuyama is about an hour's bus trip outside of Nagoya, thought we never really leave civilization. We stayed at a traditional Japanese inn (a ryokan), called Geihanryo.

It was a neat place - our IES guides made sure we did a lot of neat things; we ate traditional inn fare, visited the local castle, and saw a demonstration of cormorant fishing. I'm planning on doing a few more detailed posts at a later date, when I have more time, but for now I'll leave you with some highlights from the past few days.

This is Inuyama-jo, which was seriously about 100m away from the inn. The second day, English-speaking Japanese volunteers led us around the whole castle. Very cool.

After the castle tour, we were treated to an abbreviated Japanese tea ceremony.

Finally, the ramen shop where almost everyone ate lunch both days that we were there. Tiny little place, run by an older couple with a little help from their elementary-school-aged nephew. Lots of fun sitting at the bar and slurping down noodles.

Starting from tomorrow, I hope to have more regular internet access, though it's likely I won't be doing any posting on the weekends. I'm planning my next entry about food, though, coming sometime next week!

Johannisstrasse is our starting place... In an old brick building tucked away on a backstreet, behind the bustling Orianienburgerstrasse with its many restaurants and shops, the IES center has already become a home, a root, a comfort to us all. The facilities are nicer than I had ever expected, very modern, but with an inviting atmosphere. The staff is wonderful, so enthusiastic and helpful. I doubt my concerns and questions will ever go unresolved...

The center is a mere 7 tram stops from where I live. I can leave my apartment with twenty minutes to spare and make it to class early, with even enough time to dash around the corner and get a cup of coffee for a Euro (my best find so far! haha). My apartment is adorable! I haven't counted yet, but I would wager that in a good 15 steps, I can make it from one end of the apartment to the other... IT IS PERFECT! The perfect portrait of metropolitan life. The kitchen, a tad bit smaller than the upstairs bathroom at my father's house, peeks out over the sidewalk lined with trees and benches. Three little stools fit underneath the kitchen table, roughly the size of Desi's writing desk, and we pull them out and share Apfelsaft (apple juice and mineral water) at night. Laura, my host's daughter who is home for two weeks from university in Heidelberg, has already stolen my heart. She is helpful, welcoming, and almost exactly my age! To say it has been a comfort to have someone to talk to isn't enough... her company has been a blessing, and I will be sad to see her leave the house. She has invited me out to meet her college friends tonight, and I cannot wait to go.

Ina is as impressive as I had imagined. Her career seems thrilling, and she devotes much of her time to it. I haven't had the chance to visit with her much, but the time we have shared has been quality. I anticipate this host experience to be quite different than it was in Austria. We are both adults, and therefore must carry on with our individual, booked lives. She is there for me, will share a cup of coffee in the morning if I'm awake, but my time is my time, and she never makes me feel obligated to be home. It is wonderful, to be that respected and considered. I appreciate her hospitality very much. It will be a wonderful semester in her house.

The computer lab is nearly empty, and I should grab a bite to eat before my next session. Missing you all.

Gruss aus Berlin

xx Bristol

Conventional solar cells are unable to soak up infrared; that gives them a theoretical absorption limit of just over 40% of solar energy.

In practice, they only absorb about 30%. The new material, though, can harness both visible and infrared photons, so it has a theoretical maximum efficiency of 63%, its creators say.

The performance of intermediate band solar cell (IBSC) relies on finding a way to use more of the solar spectrum. The researchers added titanium and vanadium to get a material that exhibits an intermediate band, half-full of electrons, within what -in ordinary semiconductors- constitutes the bandgap, EG.  The group of researchers was led by Perla Wahnon, from the IES, and Jose Carlos Conesa, from the Institute of Catalysis of the Spanish National Research Council. 

However, while the material's theoretical absorption limit is 63 percent, that doesn't mean the finished product would have that efficiency in the real world. Nevertheless, since the theoretical limit percentage is higher, you can also expect a higher real world efficiency percentage. Scientists are already working to develop solar cells made of the new material. 

The Institute of Solar Energy pursues this line of research as part of a European program to extract the most of every single photon available in the full solar spectrum. Through the Professor Antonio Luque, it is the coordinator of the FullSpectrum project, that has reached several interesting milestones and efficiency records in other areas as well, such as multijunction solar cells.

In this recent post, I noted that a blogger had cited a datum for private school tuition levels in the U.S. in 2003-04, attributing it to NCES. Since I knew that tuition levels aren't collected in the Private School Universe Survey, and that the most recent datum I'd seen from NCES was from 1999-2000, I wondered whether the blogger had mistakenly used an old datum, or if NCES was putting out new private school tuition data and I missed it.

Turns out it was neither! Well, not really.

I've been offline for a few days while moving, and when I got back I discovered a very nice note from Bill Evers at IES. He says NCES does indeed still collect private school tuition data, but in the Schools and Staffing Survey, not the Private School Universe Survey. (You can't tell your surveys without a scorecard.) It's collected every four years.

But I don't have to feel bad about missing it, because the updated data haven't been incorporated into the NCES web tables yet. If you know exactly where to click, though, you can access it.

Many thanks to the good people at IES for 1) collecting the data we need, which is a huge job that they do very well, and 2) taking a minute to straighten me out on this question. I've said some hard things about IES's recent misadventure publishing that HLM study of private schools, but I hope nobody doubts my respect for their work in all other regards.

Em meu trabalho de pós coloquei na parte onde versei sobre a Matiz Curricular e Ações para os cursos de Design de Interiores sobre isto também.

Normalmente quando vemos alguma nformação sobre isto dentro das IES percebemos que o trabalho todo é desenvolvido voltado para alguns poucos cursos na maioria das vezes. É comum vermos por aí EJs de administração, direito, contabilidade, economia entre outros. Mas e de Design? E de Design de Interiores/Ambientes? Poso estar muito enganado, mas nao tenho informação de nenhuma existente no país.

A EJ é de suma importância na formação acadêmica pois é através dela que o profissional chegará ao mercado com menos falhas que ocorrem pelo simples fato de quando existe uma prática (projetos) normalmente são coisas fictícias. É comum vermos professores pedindo para que os alunos inventem o perfil (briefing) do cliente. Porém, quando este cai no mercado depois de formado, a coisa pega pesado. Isso em qualquer área profissional.

Lidar com o mecado, com o público, com o cliente é muito complexo e a formação acadêmica não é suficiente para isso. Não sem a presença de uma EJ para completar ou fechar o ciclo.

Objetivos de uma EJ:
- Proporcionar ao estudante aplicação prática de conhecimentos teóricos, relativos à área de formação profissional específica;
- Desenvolver o espírito crítico, analítico e empreendedor do aluno;
- Intensificar o relacionamento empresa-escola;
- Facilitar o ingresso de futuros profissionais no mercado, colocando-os em contato direto com o seu mercado de trabalho, além de noções de administração de empresas, finanças, marketing, responsabilidade social etc.
- Contribuir com a sociedade, através de prestação de serviços, proporcionando ao micro, pequeno e médio empresário especialmente, um trabalho de qualidade a preços acessíveis.

No caso de Interiores/Ambientes, uma EJ é muitas vezes preferível à um estágio.

Num estágio normalmente o aluno fica retido em segmentos específicos o que prejudica a plena formação do profissional.

Já numa EJ, o aluno vai deparar-se com situações e questões reais do mercado e clientes. Ali ele terá de atuar desde a captação ou recebimento do cliente até a entrega o produto/projeto executado assim como ocorrerá na vida não acadêmica posterior à sua formação. Logo, este profisional recém formado (ou egresso como preferem alguns) terá maior facilidade e dinamismo em sua atuação profissional. Muitos erros cometidos por recém formados só ocorrem por este tipo de falha em sua formação.

É um ponto muito sério e importante a se pensar por parte dos acadêmicos e uma ação emergencial por parte das IES abrindo caminho para a implementação deste tipo de projeto dentro de sua estrutura.

Se gostou da idéia e desejar aprofundar-se, uma referência nacional em EJ voltada para o Design é o site da Silvia (http://silvialp.com/ej/) que já vem lutando pela implementação deste tipo de projeto nas IES desde o NDesign de 2004 que ocorreu em Santa Maria-RS.

Faça a sua parte, seja acadêmico, professor ou IES, por um Design sério e respeitado!

El IES José del Campo está situado en Ampuero, saliendo hacia Rasines a la izquierda.

Si quieres más información, haz clic aquí.

Son inteligentes, mucho, pero también complicados en igual medida. Si te los ganas, todo va a ir muy bien, pero nunca dan un cheque en blanco, nunca te puedes sentir seguro, ni cómodo. Eso sí, te hacen sentir la satisfacción, que difícilmente se consigue, de que les interesa aprender lo que tú quieres enseñar.