Now that you’ve watched the Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder video, I’d like you to discuss it with each other. In your discussion consider the following (but you can bring up other points you see as relevant too):

What is the problem identified in this video? Do you think it was solved and if so, how? If not, why not?
Would you have approached this problem differently? Why/why not?
How do you see this video relating to your Engineering Proposal assignment?

Mark Rober tried to pick up a hobby in bird feeding and watching. He put out a birdfeeder to attract the birds in his neighborhood, only for the squirrels to break his feeder and steal all the food. He kept trying by buying more bird feeders, but the squirrels always found a way to break the feeders and steal his food. His solution to this problem was to give the squirrels food as well, but with a twist. He set up his bird feeder like normal, but below it, he built a special squirrel feeder that dispensed walnuts. The only way for the squirrels to get to this feeder was to complete an elaborate obstacle course that Mark Rober designed and built himself. His idea worked, and in the end, Mark developed an affection for the squirrels. He decided to dismantle his obstacle course and instead create a periodic feeder that dispensed walnuts for the squirrels, away from the birds. In my opinion, I think he solved his problem since the squirrels stopped eating the bird feed and destroying the bird feeders.

I would have approached this problem similarly. My first instinct would be to buy better and better bird feeders. I would try different areas to place them, and see if I could outsmart the squirrels,  as I’m sure Mark Rober did. Eventually, though, I would realize that outsmarting the squirrels wouldn’t work, as they seem to get into everything.  Finding out how to compromise with the squirrels and work with them would be my second idea, perhaps by installing a second feeder somewhere else. Honestly, I could also try to kill them, but that would be awful and also maybe illegal.

There may be bigger problems that also require an engineering solution. These solutions could be more than just hobby projects. They could cost thousands of dollars and involve many workers.  An Engineering Proposal is necessary for everyone to be on the same page. Mark had a similar issue. His wife was worried about the safety of the squirrels when he was implementing the trap doors and catapults.  Because of this, he implemented safety measures for the more intense parts of the course.  I’m sure telling this idea to his wife had parallels to an engineering proposal.

Now that you’ve watched the PB&J Challenge (Exact Instructions) video, I’d like you to discuss it with each other. In your discussion consider the following (but you can bring up other points you see as relevant too):

1. What challenges does this video highlight about precision of language and communication?
2. How do you see this video relating to your Technical Description assignment?
3. Did this video change the way you view technical communication? Why or why not?

One of the challenges highlighted in this video was that the kids assumed that their father knew what they were thinking or what they meant when they wrote their instructions. When the dad would read one of the instructions literally, his son would often add in another detail that wasn’t being followed. This detail was often something in the son’s head that he assumed his dad already knew. This highlights a very frequent issue when it comes to miscommunication in general. This issue being someone’s intent being misread because they didn’t say what they meant clearly enough.

We are taking mundane everyday objects and explaining them in detail in this assignment. If someone were to ask me to describe what a pencil is, I would probably just tell them that it’s a tool that lets you write on paper. If they also asked how to use it, I would tell them that they need to sharpen it first, and then use the tip of it to write. My descriptions assume that the person I’m describing this to has a lot of prior knowledge. I’m assuming they know what a pencil sharpener is, what side of the pencil the tip is on, and how to use that tip to write words. This is similar to how the kids in this video assumed that their dad knew things like what side of the bread to spread jelly on and what side of the knife to use to scoop peanut butter. 

Even though the peanut butter sandwich experiment is an extreme example, it does change the way I see technical communication. The idea is that as we go through our school year and career paths, there will be some concepts that become as easy and obvious to us as making a peanut butter jelly sandwich. It’s important to remember, though, that we understand these concepts because we have a slew of common knowledge built up after taking many classes in the past. Most people outside of our professions don’t have the same academic background as we do. When there are miscommunications and misunderstandings, it can feel as frustrating as the little boy in the video feeling like his dad isn’t doing his instructions according to his own common sense. We need to take a step back and recognize any implicit assumptions we may have made when giving someone explicit instructions.

Create a new thread and write a paragraph or two on a topic about which you have specialized knowledge, and can use specialized terminology to explain the idea or instruct the reader. For example, you might write about effective techniques for executing certain skateboard maneuvers or how to execute a yoga position such as a “downward facing dog.” Try to baffle your audience through jargon–they will have to guess what you are trying to write about. Make it tough for us to guess!

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Here are some tips on how to improve your  speed in _________ without having to memorize every single OLL and PLL perm.

One thing you can do early on is make sure you’ve already solved the cross in your head during the examination period.  That way you can focus on the other steps while you solve your cross. There’s a good way to practice this on your own. Start your solve as usual, but instead of the normal inspection time of 15 seconds, take as much time as you need.  Your goal right now is to try and map out the least amount of moves you need to solve the cross. It should almost feel like you’re creating an algorithm in your head. Then, close your eyes and see if you can solve the cross using the algorithm you created. It will be hard at first! It might take you several minutes to figure out your move sequence. But once you can consistently solve your cross with your eyes closed, then you can gradually cut down on the inspection time you need to come up with your cross algorithm. Eventually, you should be able to solve the cross with a brief glance.

The reason this is so useful isn’t just because you cut down on a step, but now you can use that extra time to scout out your F2L pairs BEFORE you insert them. A lot of F2L time is wasted looking for your pairs, since doing your F2L case algs and insert algs are relatively quick. The goal here is to try and make each step an opportunity to look ahead to your next step.   If you get good enough, you should be able to figure out which OLL alg you need for the top layer right when you’re inserting your last F2L pair. PLL should be fairly easy if you know a good amount of perms. Even if you haven’t memorized much, and you’re still doing intermediate 4LL CFOP, this should still cut down your times significantly!

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In a reply to your original thread, rewrite the paragraph (or two) so that a general audience (someone with zero expertise in your topic) can understand it. Were any of the guesses right? What did you have to change so that your audience could better understand you?

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Here are some tips on how to improve your speed in solving a rubiks cube without having to memorize a bunch of insane algorithms.

Contrary to how you would think to solve a rubiks cube, you don’t solve it by completing one side at a time. The way 99% of people solve a Rubik’s cube is by solving it in “layers” instead. So naturally when you start solving you would start with your first layer. Your very very first step is to complete what is known as the White Cross. The white cross is essentially a completely solved white side of the Rubiks cube, but without any of the corners of that white side in the right place, hence the cross pattern. Completing this part takes a little bit of thinking but should be fairly easy. Most people gloss over this step and try to improve their times on the later steps since they are harder. However, if you can manage to create your white cross faster (and eventually without even looking!) then you can significantly decrease the amount of time it takes to solve your cube.

Remember when I mentioned that the white cross is just the white side of the cube without the corner pieces? Well, the very next step after the white cross is to try to find these missing corner pieces and place them where they need to go. The idea behind doing your white cross without looking is that you can now focus on finding those corner pieces while you solve your cross. This pattern of looking ahead to your next step while you complete your current step is a key part of solving your cube faster and it all starts with solving your cross as fast as you can.

Most people were able to understand what I wrote since they had learned to solve a rubiks cube before. I’m sure most engineering students dabbled in speedcubing once, it’s simply in our problem-solving nature!
To rewrite my tutorial, I omitted a lot of unnecessary information that would hinder comprehension instead of helping it. I also simplified the complex ideas, basically just explaining why they were important instead of exactly what they are.