2012/03/22

Wiki Assignment

          BlackwaterRiver. Photo by Jim Clark.   
                     By Clark, J. The Blackwater River
            From (http://fiddlefreak.com/2009/12/08/coal-country-mp3/)

The following paragraphs are for update the scientific stub in Wikipedia – Blackwater (coal).

During coal preparation, certain wastes like blackwater are produced.  The untreated blackwater can damage the ecosystems and people themselves. Blackwater contains numerous amounts of hazardous substances, including carcinogenic compounds and heavy metals, which make it extremely dangerous; the blackwater damages everything it touches. 
According to 2005’s coal production country list, China (2,204,729,000 ton) produces the most coal in the world, followed by United State (531,822,000 ton) and India (407,013,000 ton).

China, as the largest coal produced country, but failed to hander the coal waste. Certain companies give up the advanced blackwater treatment, because those technologies are too expensive for them. Eventually they dig a huge hole in the ground to dispose the blackwater. Every year, 2.5 million ton of untreated blackwater are discharged into the hole. Regardless it would seep into the aquifer below.

A blackwater recycling system can reduce the damage of blackwater. There are several types of recycling system, for plant use, garden use, even for drinking water. The following system is for plant use only. First of all, let the blackwater settle and added primary colony of bacteria to work for 24 hours. Then let the backwater goes into three separate rooms, which are Aeration, Sludge settling and Irrigation.
Aeration step
Once the blackwater is injected into this room, bacterial settle and multiply on the sludge particles, digesting a variety of nutrients and oxygen from the sludge.
Sludge settling
After the aeration step, the blackwater goes into a sludge settling chamber. Sludge sinks to the bottom, and partially treated water is forced upwards through a mechanism that has another bacteria biomass covering it. This colony of bacteria then consumes most of the oxygen in the mix and breaks down any remaining solid particles.
Irrigation
The remaining blackwater passes into the irrigation chamber where it is clarified and chlorinated. This process required by the local health authorities.
After the last step, the machine would pump the recycled blackwater out automatically. The treated blackwater is no longer harmful to the environment or people.



I have to say, Wikipedia is not reliable because everybody can create an account to edit the information online. Beside no one would correct the mistake. Like our TA – Erin Dul said, on average there are three or more mistakes in Wikipedia. Well, we should never ever use Wikipedia as our academic research.
I don’t understand why, when I Google something, the Wikipedia site always pop up in the first place. So when you have no idea what the topic is, Wikipedia might be a good tool to get an idea what is that. 





External Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwater_(coal)

We both have the same idea of Wikipedia, unreliable but still useful.
Internal Link: http://www.ales204n-briggs.blogspot.ca/2012/03/wonderful-world-of-wikipedia-wiki-sites.html

2012/01/25

mY Facebook Page

We are asked to create a new Facebook page as a business card. Actually, Facebook page is useful. Facebook page also can be very professional; this page just likes a copy of my resume. Once I created the new page, everyone can see what is on there. The Facebook page is a free way to advertising me.



This is my page, so I can write anything I want. The purpose of the page is for my potential employers. So in my page info, I added my academic history, work experience, skills, volunteers and personal information. Through the information provided, people can know me more, the professional side of me.

Facebook page is very important for communication. When we created the page, the page is there forever, unless you delete it. Also, everyone can find you on Facebook. Honestly, before this course, I did not know the social media tools like Facebook can be used professional, which means the professional people can communicate globally. The people in all over the world can see my resume.

Social media such an interesting tool, we can share the latest news, articles and events.




Internal link: http://www.facebook.com/messages/?setup#!/pages/Crystal-Hs-Page/305626309490070?sk=info
External link: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/04/facebook_starts_counting_conversations/

2012/01/19

Introductory post

That is a picture of my parent, my younger brother and me, took by my uncle. We were in Expo Shanghai 2010, before my flight to Canada.

 My name is Qiyun Liang, but I prefer my English name Yvonne, then you guys can remember my name. I am from a city near Hong Kong, small but very pretty. Now is the first term of my second year in the University of Alberta, I am major in Nutrition and food. I hope I can transfer to Nutrition Major next semester.

I really miss the summer in my hometown. Study abroad is not easy, away from family and friends; study a new language and an entirely new culture in a new country. Communication is very important between me and my family, friends due to the distance. Because my parent does not know how to call me, so I have to call them regularly, like once a week. Sometime I am very busy with assignment or exam, I forgot to call them, they would leave me bundle of message on QQ, something like MSN. Once my father told me, because I forgot to call them, my mother just couldn’t sleep all night. She was wondering whether something bad happened to me. Since that time, I call my mother every week, no matter how busy I am.

Professionally, as an international student, I have a hard time to understand the information are available to me, also, I don’t know what other information are available. Until this term, I went to meet my faculty‘s international advisor, Pamela Minty, she totally understands my situation. According to her advices, I apply to become a Campus Sustainability volunteer, and join Nutrition and Food Sciences Students Association (NuFSSA). This is my second year in Canada, my life finally moving to the right track. 

Internal LINK: lutonghuang.blogspot.com
External link: http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/uai/index.cfm