Say what?

*(Unless otherwise stated, all dB values are re 20*10^-6 Pa)

"Can my iPod to that?"

I ended my last post by promising things to come, mainly pictures and some rantings of Robert Randolph. I regret to inform you that these things will have to wait; I am in no mood for them now. Instead I will enlighten you on the subject of iPods and sound pressure levels. It all started with the headlines this morning, something about someone sueing Apple because their all-too-famous iPod can produce 115 dB. Now, there is quite a simple solution to this problem: don't turn the volume all the way up! Obviosuly. Well, this got me going, and it seems to me that someone who would sue over something to simple might be exagerating a bit. I knew what I had to do. My work was cut out for me.

The first task was to determine what pressure corresponds to 115 dB: 16 Pa. I then grabbed my iPod and my old headphones and headed for Rani's room. I explained the importance of this project to him, and he readily came into the hall to help out. I was to stand at one end of the hall, holding the headphone at shoulder level with the iPod volume turned all the way up, while Rani walked away from me until he could no longer hear the music. This approach didn't work so well. Rani made it to the end of the hall and he could still hear the music coming from my iPod. I went back to my room to find a message from John offering his help. I went to his room and explained everything. We decided the best approach was to go outside and measure the distance using an old baguette, which we estimated to be 22 inches using a $50 bill. We stopped by Dan's room, because what sane acoustics student wouldn't want in on this action?

Having finally left the building, the three of us stood by the path and prepared to make history. I was to hold the iPod, Dan and John were going to walk until they could no longer hear it. So we began. They walked. I stood there. They marked where they stopped. We measured the bricks that lined the path: three bricks to a baguette. John counted off the bricks to the point where he and Dan had stopped: about 46 meters. Now for the technical part of the experiment. Assuming spherical spreading (pressure * radius = constant), and that they stopped walking when the sound was at the threshold of human hearing (20*10^-6), we found the constant to be 0.00092. Then we assumed that, when placed in the ear, the source was at a distance of 1 mm. This yields results of 93 dB. That is quite a bit different from 115 dB. We decided that maybe the man had taken his reference in water instead of air. That calculation yielded 119 dB, which is closer, but an absurd assumption. We pondered together the effects of the source being to close to the ear, and the assumption of spherical spreading not holding for this specific case. We parted ways still having not answered our question in a satisfactory manner.

On our way downstairs, John and I had a thought: what if he and Dan had failed to hear the iPod due to background noise? That would mean that the pr constant was incorrect, and the pressure at 46 meters was actually that of typical background noise. Assuming a background noise of 25 dB, then pr=0.016, and the new sound pressure level was 118 dB! That actually makes sense. So it turns out that the guy wasn't totally crazy after all. We fully intend to get out hands on a sound pressure level meter and determine the background noise at the Technopole. Then we'll have a better idea as to how right or wrong we are.

And that is what today was all about: acoustics experiments at the Technopole. I'm sure you've enjoyed all this technological mumbo-jumbo. You never know when you might need it.

What a Riot!

Good evening to everyone! Finally a free evening for some quality blogging. Today I took an Acoustics test. I'd have to say that #3 unnerved me and ruined the second half of the test. For some reason I just couldn't get what the question was asking. I wasted too much time on it, and didn't finish the last problem. I was close to finishing, though, so I won't lose many points. I feel good about the overall test. It's at least an 80, worst case scenario, probably more like a 90.

In other news, I almost died today. However, I assure you, I am quite safe now. It was after dinner and I was reclining in my chair playing guitar. Since no one else was in the apartment at the time, I decided that singing was in order, too. Normally, singing doesn't put my life in danger, but this particular instance was different. I was in the middle of a vibrant chorus from Ants Marching when it became necessary to take in air. "Take these chanceeeeeeeees." Big breath. Oh no! Trouble! Evidently the toothpick that I had in my mouth was light enough to be sucked in by my massive breathing. I realized this not a moment too soon, and stopped mid-inhale. I had narrowly avoided swallowing a toothpick whole! So, the free life lesson for today is: don't sing with a toothpick in your mouth.

I am currently enjoying my newest discovery, www.youtube.com. You can search for all kinds of videos there. My find for today was a video of the Dave Matthews Band playing at Red Rocks. Louisiana Bayou is the song, and they are joined by Robert Randolph and a few other guests. Oh man, are they having fun! The fanbase has been torn since their latest album was released. Was Stand Up their best studio work? I'd have to argue no. Have they lost their edge and musical ability? No way! I didn't get to see them live last year, so I didn't get to hear the songs transition from the studio to the stage. I wasn't sure how well that would go. This video is proof that the boys are still on fire! Nearly 9 minutes of the most jamming Louisiana Bayou I've heard.

I guess now would also be a good time to discuss the current goings-on in France. The youth (which means high school and college students) are currently rioting and striking. Why, you ask? Because of a bill that allows students to be fired easier. Right now firing is difficult, so companies are cautious when it comes to hiring, because mistakes are costly. This bill makes it easier to fire young workers, and thus reduce the risks of hiring them as well. Well, for whatever reason, the students think this is a horrible idea. The obvious solultion? Burn and smash things that belong to other French citizens. Let's riot! But wait, we have work....oh, I know, let's strike! Instead of working and making money, we'll all strike and riot together, smashing and burning stuff! That will fix everything. And that's what's been happening.

Next post: a quotation from Robert Randolph, a picture or two, and more!

The Big Test

Tomorrow I have a midterm in Acoustics I. I've been studying for the past few days, but somehow I still don't feel that great about it. This week has the potential to be rough, but I'll be glad when it's over. I can't believe that this semester is almost finished! It has flown by, and there is still so much to do before it ends. I know that posting boring thoughts like this are no fun, but I've been too busy to have any adventures lately, so day to day life is pretty boring. I'm sorry. It will get better. My goal for tomorrow is to rise with the sun, so to bed I must go!

A Puzzle: HTML and The Princess Bride

This is a puzzle post. Figure it out, if you can!

Hypertext Markup Language: that is what HTML stands for. Believe it or not, that's actually what is allowing you to read this. Why do I bring this up? Because today I tried my hand at writing a bit of code in HTML. It's all Dan's fault. He got me started and now I'm addicted. I spent most of the day reading about and trying different tags and their attributes. My personal project was a short page detailing the basics of how to use HTML. I am very proud of it. One day I will know enough to write the code for this blog, and it won't be so generic.

The latter part of the day was spent eating and watching a movie. I had salmon for dinner (and a lot of it, too). After that a bunch of us watched The Princess Bride. Dan had never seen it. How is that possible? In other news, the laundry ate one of my socks today. That's the first time I've lost a sock since I arrived in France. Oh, I almost forgot. This morning I awoke to a loud BOOM! It sounded like something had exploded. Stephen said it shook his desk. John, who was walking to the post office at the time, also heard the great noise. No idea what it was, though. Maybe we'll never know. Well, that's all folks!

Night Picture

Here's the picture I kept trying to upload yesterday.

This leads me to believe, there's light enough to see.
-David Crowder 

One Step Closer

Many moons have passed and still no sign of a significant amount of detailed information has appeared...but I am one step closer to keeping my word.

Remember that Micromechanics class that just won't go away? Well, the homework was turned in today. Was it complete and correct? Not exactly. I did the best I could, though. Despite the fact that I have yet another homework due in a week, I feel better having the first two assignments off my back. I also made an effort today to find out some very important information concerning a math test. It has been rumored that I have to retake an oral math test from last semester due to a less-than-average grade. Let me tell you, I didn't want it to be true! It's bad enough taking numerical methods once, let alone repeating any part of it, no matter how small. Thankfully the rumor is false. Yes! I passed the class. I got the lowest possible passing grade. Think I'm cutting it close? I call that efficiency. Maximum benefit from the least amount of effort. That's not really how I feel. It's just the result of doing math in French for the first time with three different teachers in a different education system. Work hard in school, kids. You'll need that differential calculus later in life.

So, as you can see I am feeling a good bit better not having to worry about such things as tests and homeworks. It is already quite late here, so I'll ramble on only a little bit more. The other night I took the trash out after dark. The moon was high and the clouds looked as if a giant tiger had clawed right through them. I wanted to take a picture. I probably spent half an hour taking pictures of the night sky. When I looked at the pictures back in my room I was surprised. They didn't come out as I expected. See for yourself. (just as soon as I can get the picture posted!)

Micromechanics and Crowded Streets- for Pete's Sake!

So it has been a while, and there is still no update on what's been going on. I'll explain, which will count as an update, although not as thorough as the big one yet to come...

My life for the past 9 days has been devoted to micromechanics. What on earth is micromechanics? I'm glad you asked! Micromechanics is basically the application of continuum mechanics at the micro scale. It is used to develop composite materials, which can be as simple as bricks with straw (like in the old days when the Israelites were in Egypt) or be cutting edge like carbon nanofibers. Micromechanics is one of the two courses that I am taking right now, and we (all 5 people in the class) were supposed to have two homeworks due today. However, due to our inability to solve simple Fourier Transforms, prove properties of the Dirac Function, and correctly assign boundary conditions it didn't get finished. We were all scared for our lives, (and there's quite a story behind that) but it turned out fine. The homework is now due on Wednesday, and the weekend has been officially ruined. Moving along to some cheerier news...

I am the proud new owner of the Dave Matthews Band's Before These Crowded Streets. I think this CD is in the running for best CD of all time. In fact, I know it is. Glancing through my music library I see only two other albums that are worthy opponents: the Hook soundtrack and David Crowder Band's Illuminate. So, a freebie for you: if you don't own these incredible displays of musical talent, go get them. Needless to say I have been listening nonstop to the Crown Jewel of my CD collection since yesterday. My girlfriend thinks I'm crazy. I think she obviously hasn't spent enough time listening to the CD yet. It's addicting. My roommate, who hasn't listened to DMB since high school, even pulled it out. I know he's at least on his second time through the CD today. My favorite track at the moment is The Dreaming Tree. Sad, yet hopeful. It's a night song. A warm, summer night somewhere in the South. Ah, the memories brought back by the dreaming tree.

I was going to continue on about something, but now I can't remember what it was. Something good. Oh, yes. I'm good now. Today I had a stroke of brilliance. I was standing in the kitchen about to go grocery shopping when an image of this huge bottle filled with orange liquid appeared in my mind. This could only mean one thing: Texas Pete. Oh, if only I could get my hands on some of that liquid gold I could make hotwings for dinner. Why hadn't I thought of this before? I was pretty sure Cora had Texas Pete in the foreign food section; my roommate thought so too. To make a long story short, I looked all over the store to no avail. Obviously, the powers that be had hidden the Texas Pete and were trying to deter me from making this spicy delicacy. Yet I will not be discouraged! Next time, I will return with stealth and the element of surprise, and Pete will not escape. Why is this so important, you ask? Because in France there is no such thing as "spicy food". They need my help introducing them to the pleasure that only comes when one's mouth is on fire and tears are flowing freely. It is my mission, nay, duty, to endure the hardships that come in order to acquire the Texas Pete and help this country where I currently reside...

And so ends this entry. More to come as I have the time.

A (real) Update is Coming

I really wanted to update the blog today, but school just won't allow it. I was going to say something profound about imaginary math, but for now that will have to wait. Acoustics has taken up the majority of my time over the last few days. The rest of the week will be devoted to Micromechanics homework and my PFE, so I probably won't be able to enlighten you about the math until the weekend. I know the suspense must be killing you! To hold you over, I'll give you a link to an excellent website. Enjoy!