Where have you been?! (Personal Response)

I'll try to make this post as short and painless as possible. SkyAkes is now officially on hiatus until I get more time out of college, and on the other dealings I'm working on at the moment. HOWEVER, this doesn't mean the end of my internet presence-- far from it.

Feel free to click the image and get redirected to my new website.

The truth of the matter is, I've been taking on a more laid back hobby that allows me to enjoy my weekends, and not spend 3 hours after midnight (weeping and crying) trying to write up an article for the week. Ever since I informally dropped SkyAkes, I've been taking on photography as a protégé-esque expansion on the things I've been doing (and I would love if you would join me on the journey).

However, I still haven't been honest completely with you all. And at this point, I believe that everyone deserves an explanation for all the months I've been gone; one of the main reasons why I never actually came back (other than time-constraints) was due to my incessant need of equilibrium.

What I mean is, every time I looked at my homepage, I kept seeing the unpolished blob that was my "blog". To me, it was too unrefined, too amateur-esque, and too engrish-ingrained. With that said, I briefly had plans to go through all of my old articles in the archive and re-edit them to modern standards. Along with that, I was hoping to embrace a more proficient (I hated the fact that I didn't cite old sources or provide a more in-depth explanation of things in the past) writing standard in the future. These plans started for about 2 weeks before I stopped.

They quickly fell short after the pressures of getting into college got in the way, and SkyAkes felt more and more like a escape from reality than a fun-writing exercise it started out to be. And by the end of the day, I slowly realized that the current archive/set-up was a giant mess, and the best thing to do would've been to start anew, and on a fresh domain.website. If SkyAkes were to live again, it would be through a true revival-- no more defibrilliations on old stock.

But, with no promises being officially made, and with time troopering on, feel free to join me on my new photography website: ambientAspect

Thanks for the great times.

~Norman

3 Reasons To Get a Pocket Knife

With pocket knives having nothing to do with my recent obsessions, I'm here to present the case for getting a pocket knife (no secretive pocket knife lobbying here-- we're public about our pocket knife conglomerate sell out).  The thing is, the good ol' fashion pocket knife has found itself phasing away from everyday Joe's/Jane's pockets, despite its practical use. While a touchscreen phone with a highspeed internet access is useful in 65% of real-life situations (did you know that most statistics are created at-the-moment, 87.69% of the time? It's true!), nothing quite beats the "sharp edge" that a knife provides. Below, I'll discuss three reason to put a pocket knife in your "every-day-carry".

I totally didn't just use this image because it was open-domain. Totally not!

3. Practical Everyday Use

Haven't we all had that loose string in our shirt or jacket, that threatened the entire livelihood of our garments? With the heart-pumping stress of sharply pulling down on the loose string, and possibly risking the rapid unraveling of your sweater at the start of your day, wouldn't it be better if you had a unspecified sharp apparatus that could effectively cut such a problem? Along with cutting loose strings, a handy pocket knife can easily help you open envelopes, cardboard boxes, and even hard-to-open plastic packaging.

Look at all those uneven wrinkles and creases! Won't anyone think of the children?!

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Quick Fact: Why breathing through your nose is better than your mouth

I think it's safe to say that we've all heard the saying ,"Breath through your nose, not your mouth", from our physical education teachers and/or our extremely well-rounded friends. The problem is, nobody ever tells anyone why this is the case. Other than looking like a absolute snob with poor jaw posture, what are the actual physical benefits of breathing through your nose? Is it really worth breathing two times faster through your nose than to simply inhale and exhale through your mouth? Simply put, yes.

Look at how snobby your lungs look! I don't think we can be friends anymore.

First off, breathing through your nose is much actually healthier if you consider the contaminants in the air. One very special area that your nose has and your mouth doesn't, is the nostrils/sinuses. Through the use of the nostril hair, mucus, and nitric oxide, foreign objects and bacteria are mainly prevented from entering the body. What this means is that if you happen to inhale at the same time a large mosquito flies across your face, there's a smaller chance that it'll follow down your respiratory system. (The hairs in your nostril will likely prevent it from entering) In a manner of speaking, you can think of your nostrils as life's natural gas masks.

However, if your town becomes the target of a biological cluster-bomb, you may want to put one of these on.

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4 Ways To Avoid Alzheimer's

Alzheimer's is one of the most common form of dementia in the world today. Over 26 million people worldwide have been diagnosed with this disease and considering that it's currently irreversible and incurable, it's practically a death sentence for the people who receive the news. To make things more tangible, people generally live seven more years after their diagnosis of AD and after a certain stage, the procedures for "care giving" is simply to relieve discomfort until death. With Alzheimer's being such a serious complication, we suggest that you read the following timeline before death for the sake of knowledge and then continuing to the rest of the article.

Stage 1: Normal Function

This stage is pretty much as it sounds, your memory and cognitive abilities are only as limited as you've trained them. Considering that Alzheimer's is usually diagnosed at around the age of 65, you still have your whole life ahead of you if you're young.

Stage 2: Very Minor Impairment

Technically, this is the first stage of the Alzheimer's progression. At this stage, the person will only experience minor memory lapses and small everyday confusion. It's nearly impossible to detect Alzheimer's at this stage since the only symptoms can easily be mistaken for stress or sleep deprivation. Considering how minor they are, you'll hardly notice them; it could be as simple as those short lapses you get when you enter a room, or even which cabinet you keep you bowls in.

Stage 3: Minor Impairment

At this point, your confusion and forgetfulness may have increased by a few folds. By now, it would be visibly noticeable to the people around you that you've been becoming increasingly forgetful/confused. At stage 3, it's probable that you'll have slight difficulty remembering new things that you've just learned, such as names and words. (It could be as simple as stuttering for about three seconds while trying to recall a person's name) along with trouble organizing and planning for the future.

While possible, it is still difficult to detect AD at this stage.

Stage 4: Mild Impairment

By now, the clear-cut symptoms of Alzheimer's would be evident. Instead of simply forgetting a new person's name, you may/will suffer from moderate cognitive decline. Things such as managing money, planning a crazy retirement party or even recalling events that happened hours to days ago will become increasingly difficult. (Or at the very least, more difficult than before) At this stage, some people may become increasingly moody and emotional when in socially or mentally demanding situations. This stage is also called "early-stage Alzheimer's Disease".

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Mac vs PC

So you want to buy a computer, but you don't know which one to buy? This article should clear up some of the confusion when selecting a computer. Today, there are 3 main operating systems. OSX, Windows, and various Linux distros. When someone talks about a "Mac", they usually mean a computer that is assembled by Apple with OSX installed. When someone talks about a "PC", they usually mean a pre-assembled computer or a self-built computer with a Windows and/or Linux OS. That being said, I will now compare the two.

* Before I start comparing I should mention that Apple is a HARDWARE company because OSX is not entirely a product of Apple (See below) and their only original parts and profits come from the hardware. Buying an Apple computer to use OSX is the same as buying an expensive motherboard just to take its capacitors. Therefore, any advantage OSX has over Linux and Windows can easily be achieved on both computers (See compatibility below) *

1. Price:

Without a doubt the PC has always cost less than a Mac with similar specifications. For example, a $3500 Mac Pro can be similar in specs to a $1000 PC. However, the Mac OS costs less than Windows, so it might not be worth paying the $2000 premium. Also, most Linux distros are free.

                                       Although this is somewhat outdated, the idea still stands

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