Epics of India

  I often remember in English classes that I would study vocabulary words in order to do well on vocabulary quizzes. Maybe one day those words would make their way into my writing, and I would be able to pick the perfect word for any situation. However, that's really all I remember about those vocabulary words - the fact that I knew them at one point. Now, I use Google's define feature whenever I come across words I don't fully remember. For example, didactic - I thought this was a particular style of prose, but according to Google it means more than that: Definition and etymology of didactic, screenshot of Google Definitions I hope this post is helpful, but doesn't come off as didactic!

I spend a lot of time at the Rawl Engineering Practice Facility working on robots for my competition team. Some people on my team even list it as their "Home" location on google maps because of how often we spend time there. Many people don't know where this building is, and it's often hard to explain to someone unfamiliar to the engineering quad, so I thought I would demonstrate how to put a google map into a blog post by showing where I spend most of my time on campus:

I used ImgFlip.com to create a meme that all OU football fans will enjoy: This meme is about the horns down controversy that has plagued OU for the last two football seasons. Since Sam Ehlinger said he remembers everyone who has ever disrespected the University of Texas, hopefully he sees this meme and remembers how funny it is!

Tech Tip: Countdown Widget I chose to add a countdown timer to my blog so I can look at how long I have to decide on what graduate school to go to. I've been accepted into 4 programs so far, and I need to make a decision by April 15th. Since I am applying for a masters degree, it is a pretty difficult decision to make, as funding is not very forthcoming unless you are very committed to doing a PhD. So this timer will remind me that I need to be thinking about this important decision some more in the coming month. It also sits nicely next to my weather widget that I added last week!   Countdown timer on my blog's sidebar

Every day, the first thing I ask is "Alexa, what is the weather like today?" and my Echo Dot tells me. This is how I decide what to wear and what to expect for the day, which is especially important since I walk to class. Sometimes I have to ask Alexa multiple times because I am too tired to remember things in the morning, so adding a weather widget to my blog can only drive the point home further, right? I added the weather widget using the instructions on the course page . Bonus tech tip - the Accuweather widget got discontinued in 2019, but I recommend the DarkSky widget that is mentioned on the course page. The instructions are the same for this, so you should definitely try this tech tip! Screenshot I took of the widget on my blog

I haven't used Google's Timer in the past, mainly because I didn't know it existed! In the past, I've used a pomodoro timer to make sure I can balance work with breaks and not overload my brain. I have not used that solution in a while, but I am thinking about getting back into it now that I can use google to set a timer easily. All I have to do is type "set a timer for X minutes" and google takes care of the rest. It also has a stopwatch, so I can see how fast I get things done. Screenshot I took of Google's timer